Byun Baek-Ho, it turns out, has a younger brother. His name is Byun Baekhyun. 

If the similar names hadn’t been enough of a giveaway, their unmistakable physical resemblance would have been. But the resemblance between the brothers ended there. Where Baek Ho was all sharp angles and severe looks, Baekhyun was soft and timid. His nose slopes delicately down his face, his lips are pink and soft. While Baek-Ho’s voice was high and nasally, Baekhyun’s had a pleasantly deep pitch. Baek-Ho was domineering toward those below him and simpering to the higher ups. He never missed an opportunity to belittle others or throw his weight as far as it would go. Baekhyun was gentle and kind, if a little shy. He walked with his shoulders hunched and his gaze trained on the ground, but still somehow managed to stumble a few steps. 

Baekhyun, Kyungsoo noticed quickly, was terrified of his older brother. 

“You ungrateful little rat. How much more will you embarrass me before you’re satisfied?” Kyungoo hears Baek-Ho’s nasty snarl one night while he’s lying awake in his tent. The guard that had been assigned to watch him during their trip to the imperial city had started snoring uproariously, waking Kyungsoo. 

“I get you out of that pig stye, get you a job at the palace, and you can’t even walk two steps without falling flat on your pathetic face. How do you think that makes me look?”

“… I didn’t want to leave home,” Baekhyun’s miserable reply is barely audible. Kyungsoo raises his brows in surprise, impressed that Baekhyun talked back to his brother. From the previous interactions he’d seen, the younger boy often took whatever Baek-Ho said to him without so much as a peep of protest. There’s a sharp smack and Kyungsoo flinches. Baek-Ho is breathing heavily and Kyungsoo suddenly feels guilty for listening. 

“You can’t hide under that woman’s skirt forever, little Baekhyun. Stay out of my way for the rest of the journey and try to make yourself useful. Maybe a kitchen maid will take pity on you when we arrive at the palace and then I’ll never have to see your face again.”

There’s a rustling from the tent next door where the two brothers are staying together and then silence. Kyungsoo strains his ears, wondering if he’ll hear sniffling or other tell tale signs of tears. In the end, he falls asleep without hearing anything. 

Woo Jiho is stern but not unkind. He’s a diligent soldier, dedicated to his King and his country. Unlike the other soldiers that shied away from Kyungsoo with wary and spiteful gazes, Jiho only regarded the boy with a quiet curiosity. Kyungsoo wasn’t allowed to talk during the journey and, during the first few days, there had been a dispute amongst the party on whether or not he should be bound hands and feet, considering that nobody yet knew what his magic was. Jiho, who seemed to have some authority over the others, had scoffed at the notion, saying that if ten grown men could not handle a boy of fourteen, regardless of any supernatural ability, they did not deserve the soldier’s robes they wore. That had silenced the others, but still no one volunteered when they were trying to decide who would watch the Magic boy throughout the journey. So Jiho took the duty upon himself. 

Jiho does not talk to Kyungsoo, but he doesn’t treat him poorly either. Other than making sure Kyungsoo doesn’t cause trouble or try to run away, he largely leaves the boy to his own devices. When Kyungsoo takes his plate of food to sit next to a lone Baekhyun the morning after overhearing the brothers’ argument, Jiho only follows him and sits on a tree stump, proceeding to open the pouch of pebbles he keeps perpetually on him to play gonggi* with. 

Baekhyun barely looks at Kyungsoo when the farmer sits next to him. Instead, he glances over his shoulder, presumably checking to see if his brother is watching them. Kyunsgoo feels sorry suddenly, not having thought that he might get the other boy in trouble. Baek-Ho is nowhere in sight, though, probably using his position as a direct employee of the palace to bully one of the hapless chancellor’s soldiers to fan him and bring him his food directly to his cool tent. The mean spirited page had little tolerance for the summer heat.  

The boys sit in silence for a few minutes. Kyungsoo is starting to feel awkward and tries to remember what he was trying to achieve in the first place when he’s not even allowed to talk.

“Do you like plants?” Baekhyun blurts out suddenly.

“Wha-” Kyungsoo starts, surprised. He catches himself and turns discreetly to Jiho. The guard tosses his rocks into the air and spreads out his hand, palm down, to catch them. One slips through his fingers and he curses, bending to pick it up without paying the boys any mind. Kyungsoo gives an inward sigh of relief and turns back to Baekhyun with a questioning look. The delicate featured young man keeps his eyes trained on the ground, expression pinched. Kyungsoo feels surprised but also glad to know that the other is feeling at least as awkward as he is. 

“Um, you were a farmer. Do you… like plants?”

Kyungsoo nods once. 

“Oh,” says Baekhyun before lapsing back into silence. Not willing to let go of the conversation now that it’s finally somewhat started, Kyungsoo waves his hand to get Bakehyun’s attention. Once the other boy looks over, the farmer indicates his plate and then Baekhyun’s own empty lap, raising one eyebrow in question. 

“Hyung doesn’t like me to eat until everyone else has finished.”

The farmer frowns at this and offers the other boy his plate, but Baekhyun only shakes his head resolutely. “It’s better to do as he says, or we’ll both get in trouble.”

Kyungsoo sits pensively for a moment then lifts the hand holding the food, wrist angled as if to throw it down the hill they’re sitting on. Baekhyun jumps at this and grabs a hold of his arm in alarm. It’s the first time the other boy has faced Kyungsoo fully on the entire journey. 

“What are you doing? If my hyung sees you…”

The doe eyed boy offers Baekhyun the plate again but the older rejects the offer. Kyungsoo moves to flip the plate over and has it suddenly snatched from his fingers.

“Alright, jeez,” Baekhyun quickly stuffs a sweet potato into his mouth and signals for Kyungsoo to take one too. “We can share it. Happy now?” The farmer nods with a triumphant smiles and takes a potato for himself. 

“Yah,” comes the call from behind them just as they finish polishing off the food. Both boys turn to see Jiho standing and dusting his hanbok off. The soldier only ever calls Kyungsoo ‘yah’ and it occurs to the boy that nobody even knows his name, no one has bothered to ask. 

“We’re packing up. Get ready to move.”

As they walk back to the main camp to help bundle the tents and strap the bags onto the few mules that were provided by the chancellor for the journey, Jiho wordlessly reaches out to ruffle Kyungsoo’s hair. The farmer flinches at the touch, staring at the guard in shock, but the older man only walks ahead without sparing him a glance. 

Kyungsoo takes all his meals with Baekhyun from then on, Jiho sitting close enough to keep watch but also giving the boys some privacy. Baekhyun grows more talkative with each of their meetings, not having any other choice than to fill the silence himself considering Kyungsoo wasn’t allowed to speak. He talked about the things he liked, the things he didn’t like (mainly Baek-Ho). He made observations about the weather and the soldiers traveling with them. Kyungsoo discovered that, despite his seeming shyness, Baekhyun was a quick thinker and had a wicked sense of humor. He made a comment one day likening the appearance of one of the soldiers in their party to a wild boar and imitated his grunting way of speaking in a way that had Kyungsoo giving a startled peal of laughter. Both boys immediately turned to look at Jiho, but the guard only tossed his gonggi pebbles into the air and caught them on the back of his hand. Kyungsoo thought he looked like he might be about to laugh himself, but Jiho always looked on verge of boredom or amusement. It strikes Kyungsoo as odd that Baek-Ho hasn’t said anything to either himself or Baekhyun. Baek-Ho’s daily interrogation sessions with Kyungsoo where he tried to figure out the particulars of the boy’s magical abilities had also stopped without explanation. The farmer, still young and naive in those days, figured that the older boy had grown tired of the fruitless questioning and was waiting for their arrival at the palace for the truth to be forced out of Kyungsoo.

They’re close now, Jiho estimating three, maybe four more days of walking if the heat proved too strong to move during the middle of the day. Baekhyun is quieter than Kyungsoo has grown used to, almost back to the first few times the two ate together. He’s looking at the ground pensively, food on his plate left half eaten and forgotten.

“Kyungsoo,” he starts. The farmer had written his name in the dirt for Baekhyun on one of their earlier meals together when the boy had asked about it. It felt nice for someone to be calling him by name. “You can… talk to me, you know. I won’t tell anyone and it’s not like anyone pays much attention to us.” 

The boy looks at his friend, surprised. His lack of speech hadn’t been a problem before, Kyungsoo’s expressive face and writing on the ground having been enough for communication until now. 

“It’s just,” Baekhyun smiles apologetically at the ground. He hasn’t looked at Kyunsgoo today. “… it feels strange only ever talking to myself. I guess I’m curious about what your voice sounds like. I mean we are… friends aren’t we?”

The farmer feels guilty at that and looks to make sure Jiho isn’t paying attention to them. The guard is leaned against a tree today, seeming to have dozed off. Kyungsoo huddles closer to Baekhyun and puts a hesitant hand on the older boy’s knee, causing Baekhyun to move his face in his direction, though he still won’t lift his eyes all the way. 

“We are friends, Baekhyun.”

Kyungsoo’s first glimpse of the imperial palace robs him of his breath. He wondered how a building could even be so large, the highest roof seeming to brush the bottom of the clouds and rivaling the peak of the mountain that loomed in its background. It had rained steadily the last two days of the journey, but even the thick grey mist could not obscure the sloped rooftops and glow of the lights from the surrounding city. It was as if the stars hidden by the clouds above had all fallen to the ground and been caught there. 

An encouraging hand settles on Kyungsoo’s shoulder to nudge him forward, the farmer having stopped in his tracks at the mighty sight before him. He looks up and catches Jiho’s gaze. The soldier’s sharp eyes seem soft as they consider the boy in front of him and he smiles at Kyungsoo’s awestruck expression. 

“It’s a wonder every time I see it,” He says. “Only been here twice before myself. Almost there, come on.”

His majesty King Kim Minjung is a bored looking man with downturned eyes and a listless expression. He is flanked on both sides by men with winding beards and tall hats, their glistening gold and red hanboks reflecting the firelight in a way that made Kyunsgoo want to shield his eyes. Kyungsoo and Baek-Ho stand before the king, everyone else in the room either kneeling or sat on an embroidered silk cushion. 

“I knew he was Magic right away my lord,” Baek-Ho is sayibg in a simpering voice unrecognized by Kyungsoo. Until then, he had only heard the boy bark orders or yell insults. “The villagers were highly insubordinate, you can see by his age how long they’ve been hiding him. I think they were using his Magic for their own purposes; you should have seen the way their fields were replete with crops despite the drought in that region. I believe you should punish them severely, my king, raise their taxes so they know never to steal from you again.”

“I believe,” says the king irately, “that I can make my own decisions about how to manage my people.” 

Kyungsoo feels a hint of satisfaction at the way the sinister page cowers next to him. He wants to cry out, wants to attack the older boy for the words against his village, his friends, but he only shifts uncomfortably in his bonds. Baek-Ho had decided that he needed to be bound and gagged before being presented to the king, lest he try anything with his mysterious Magic. 

“So, then,” says the monarch languidly, expression bored again. “What can this one do? Breathe fire, make gold? I hope it’s something useful, I have enough trinkets to keep me amused until my death and well into the afterlife.”

Kyungsoo feels sick, wondering if the king means other people like himself when he says ‘trinkets’. His interest is peaked, though, looking forward to watching Baek-Ho flounder cluelessly in front of the king. Until the very end, the page and other soldiers and been unsuccessful in finding out what the boy’s power was. The only person he had told was…

“He can grow things, my king. He sings to make plants grow. He does not need seeds or water, just his voice and he can grow anything he wills.”

It’s like cold water poured over his head in the dead of winter. Kyungsoo cannot help the way his head whips to find Baekhyun kneeled with the rest of their traveling party. The other boy is hunched almost to the ground, only the top of his head visible to Kyungsoo. The action is not missed by the king as his lazy eyes move between the two boys.

“Is that so? He told you this?”

“I saw it, your majesty. With my own two eyes as I was moving through the villages to collect the taxes for Your Greatness.”

The King gives a scoff and leans forward on his cushion. His expression has lost of all traces of idleness, eyes severe and alert. 

“I tire of your lauding, boy. You heard him sing? Saw the plant grow? How do you know all the particulars of his ability? Speak plainly, or lose your tongue.”

Baek-Ho pales at the ferocity suddenly directed at him. This encounter is obviously not going as he had expected. 

“If you will permit, my king,” a new voice starts from behind Kyungsoo, “the boy, Byun Baekhyun, was the one to discover everything. He is the only one who has spoken to Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo willingly revealed the details of his gift to him.”

The young farmer feels surprised to hear his name come out of Jiho’s mouth. He did not think the soldier knew it. 

“Woo Jiho,” says the king, amused. “It is always a pleasure to have brave young men in my court. I’d have you join my guard, but cannot lose your valuable eyes on that foolish chancellor at Seoraksan. You,” he says turning back to Baek-Ho with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Well done bringing this to me. I’ll see that you're rewarded. You’re excused.”

He turns to the rest of the traveling party. 

“All of you, go. Eat and rest for the next two days, you have a long journey back to your mountain. Jiho, bring me that boy.”

Baek-Ho looks shell shocked, turning from Jiho and his younger brother to the bound Kyungsoo with a purpling face as the other soldiers from the town near Seoraksan file out of the room. 

“Didn’t you hear me?” King MinJung directs at him. “You have completed your service. Now leave. You will continue your duties of tax collecting when the soldiers leave in two days.”

Fury shines in Baek-Ho’s eyes as he turns to leave the room without another sound. 

Jiho leads Baekhyun to stand next to Kyungsoo, both boys the soul recipients now of the dissecting gazes from the imperial men on the dais.

“So your  name is Kyungsoo?”

The farmer doesn’t answer, too preoccupied with staring at Baekhyun’s cowering form next to him. The other boy keeps his head bowed, eyes trained stoically on the floor. The King doesn’t seem insulted by Kyungsoo’s lack of a response, only chuckling slightly. 

“A fight between friends, hmm? That’s why it’s better not to have any.”

He pounds his hand suddenly against the wooden floor, causing both boys and several of the counselors clad in red and gold to jump.

“I will not forgive inattention twice, boy. Jiho, remove the gag.” Kyungsoo looks up into Kim Minjung’s sloping eyes.

“Do you like plants, Kyungsoo?” The King asks. The farmer grits his teeth, reminded of his first conversation with the traitor beside him.

“I do,” he says simply. The King only laughs off the lack of formalities and waves away the disapproving looks of his councilors.  

“And your singing makes them grow?”

“…It does.”

“Show me,” the king demands. There is no room for refusal in his voice. Kyungsoo looks around the room. The ground is hard stone and the walls are painted wood of trees long dead.

“I can’t in here,” he says. “There is nothing to grow from.”

The king a brow quizzically at him.

“The page just now said you didn’t need seeds, only to imagine any plant and you can make it grow.”

“Only if there’s dirt, or an already living plant to grow from. If I have a seed, I can make it grow without water, but I cannot create life where there is none.”

The king looks thoughtful at this, but Jiho steps forward and wordlessly pulls the pouch of pebbles from his side. He upends it over his open palm, but instead of the colorful pebbles he always carries, a handful of tiny seeds fall out. The king leans back expectantly as Kyungsoo’s heart sinks further into his stomach. If Baekhyun had betrayed him, he doesn’t know why he should expect anything from Jiho, but it still hurts somehow. 

“Sing, Kyungsoo,” Jiho whispers. “Please.”

There is something soft in Jiho’s eyes, something warm and sad and sorry. Something that tells Kyungsoo he really does not have a choice. So with a heavy heart, the boy bows his head and does as he’s asked. 

* Gonggi is a traditional korean game where players toss stones from the palm of their hand into the air. While airborne, the player turns their hand with the palm facing down and tries to catch the stone son the back of their hand. 

guys i really wanted the childhood arc to be two chapters but it jut sgot way too long (Cries) so there will be one more part to the kyungsoo's childhood. next time we'll get Kyunsgoo's perspective on meeting Jongin for the first time HEYO 

Please check out my other kaisoo fic Blood in the Snow , it's a smexy and maybe angsty (????) vampire story