Hi! ^.^

An update for the weekends...

Do stay and read! I am finally going somewhere!! Hopefully, no one is bored by this lengthy fic! >////< *bows bows*

Also, thank you all for your kind comments and also the subscriptions! *bows*

Someone finally enters the picture in this chapter... Tehee ^.^ 

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Special dedication section: (I am feeling really emotional today)

Thank you, you guise, for your comments! Even though it's kind of late for me to express my gratitude... here goes...

To: KatyMikayla, haewon2010, chu_david,1210therose, yoosulover4ever, likuna, Faye-Chan, iscreamout, maedeh, yunjaetonight, rasetsu_girl, xijunna, Lisepooh, valentinajunsu, cholatta, duckbutt, bambina, anggikim, YOO_love_SU, kpopprincess92, PotterElfB2uties, aenkr28, Portia, pie_su69, susuie, heart2matsu, cheeky_angel, pinkypop, sanasuki, joice1st, imperfectlyevil, jetsora, maelimchu, K-PopDream, imasein, katang, valerie_13, JewElfNita, Yusenkio, babysein, sorashisora, valerie and lastly, Sylvia14!!

Personally, leaving a comment is pretty difficult sometimes, for me especially, since I don't really know what is appropriate to say after reading, so I love you guys for commenting! Even if it's just once or twice!! All is great!! Commenting takes skills as well! And if I had subscribed to any of your fics before, but never left a comment, you are allowed to bash me. :p

Ps: Some usernames are REALLY hard to remember!! How do you guise do it? *claps in admiration*

Ciao~

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“Jaejoong sshi!” A pair of thick warm palms rubbed at the beautiful man’s pale cheeks, the small curve beneath his closed eyes, willing him to open up those two big black orbs.

Now donned in thick cottony garments, the still unconscious man was burning up as cold sweat lined his smooth forehead, soaking his still damp silky locks. His previously expressionless face is now contorted in pain, brows knitting tightly together as his lips twitches.

Dabbing the colourless full lips with water, rubbing off the peeling dry skin there, the same pair of hands caressed them tenderly. “Jaejoong sshi. Wake up.” The pale person did not respond. Hidden in the advisor’s temporary lodging, no one knew he is there except the people involved.

“Did you tell general Choi what exactly I told you to?” Yunho asked, deeply concerned when one of the prison guards came up to him. The man nodded and ushered the advisor out, to have a word in private. It is actually the advisor’s assistant that wants to speak to the advisor.

“Is the crown prince well?” Yunho asked, eye brows raised with concern. Yunho hadn’t had time for the infant since he is too busy tending to Jaejoong and hiding the person.

“His majesty is currently bonding with his baby. The queen… is not rejecting the idea of feeding the child.” Yunho broke into a smile. Relief floods in as he sags down onto his seat. The saga is finally over. The end result is as he had hoped.

Yoochun is over the moon with the reunion of his beloved and his own flesh and blood. Yunho is even more thankful to Junsu for not being a spoil sport during such a critical moment. With Junsu willing to play his roles, Yunho has one less burden and one less headache. He knows it is very cruel and low of him to expect the boy to accept his new family when it was forced on him, but he hopes the boy will not escape his fate, since it is already more or less set.

Yoochun apparently couldn’t be bothered to hunt for the kidnapper’s head himself, and Yunho is secretly gloating that he is put in charge of the task. With him making the calls, Jaejoong will be allowed to live, maybe not to roam outside as freely as before, just as long as he stays clear of Yoochun’s radar.

“They all think he is dead.” The advisor replied while peeping at into the half opened door, assuring Yunho once again when the man asks if anyone had suspected anything.

Yunho had everyone believe that he was about to interrogate the prisoner when he found the person already dead. His even faked an ‘autopsy’, revealing the cause of death as drowning. Apparently, Jaejoong drowned, and the story goes: even though he was still alive when Yunho brought him back, he ultimately died from respiratory arrest from the near drowning earlier, a delayed respiratory distress not uncommon amongst drowning victims. Jaejoong is said to have aspirated too much water for any chances of survival.

“Good. Arrange the carriage. I will head home tonight.” Yunho said thoughtfully. “Remember! No one should know.” With the kidnapper’s case close, Yunho now has to worry about what he has to do to ensure no one ever finds out. Jaejoong is, as long as he is concern, the most uncooperative person he has ever met.

The advisor knows he has a lot of work to do after the healer wakes. He can’t allow Yoochun to find out his selfish deceit as well, since he still treasures their friendship and his head.

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Meanwhile…

“Don’t you dare look!” A shrill tiny voice squeaked from inside the bed, behind the closed partition as a shadow of a taller person hovered hesitantly outside. From the shadows cast onto the translucent clothe, the person inside can see any movements from the opposite side, and vice versa.

Emitted from within the enclosed space of the bed, yelping due to pain, and loud sighing roused the curiosity of the one outside even more. However, trying to accommodate and not annoy the person on the bed, the ‘banished’ man outside just remained silent and backed away as ordered. He rarely takes orders from anyone.

After almost an hour, the tall man outside could no longer suppress the need to peep and slowly parted the curtains, peeked in timidly. Receiving no form of a reaction, the man pushed it and popped his whole head into the gap between the two pieces of fabric, just to gawk for a few second before shutting it, shaking his head stupidly.

What he just saw earlier, that caused him to stare, was a small figure huddled up, back facing the partitions as he holds a baby close. With succession and the baby finally well fed and silent, the figure had proceeded to place the infant down beside him to get dressed.

With pretty snowy skin exposed, from the neck down to the upper back, the figure’s pretty waist is still as it was before. Those thin arms then reached for the sleeves and slide it up along the tiny wrists, draping the loose garments on his willowy shoulders. The man outside could not but wonder how the person on the bed managed to return to his usual form, within such a short period at that. It’s as if nothing has changed.

“Can I… look now?” The big man asked coyly for the first time in his life, very unbefitting of his image. He received no response.

“I’m coming in.” The man repeated himself finally, after a long awkward silence between the two. Hearing no protest, the man reached for the partition again nervously and pulled it apart, revealing the mentioned smaller figure and the infant.

The other is already fully clothed and covered from head to toe with his thick blanket while the baby slept peacefully half a meter away from him, with milk stains still present on his tiny little lips. Restraining himself from not jumping into the same bed and tucking himself in, the man held back a sigh and watched the two dolefully. As ‘exiled’ as he is, the man still wished he could join his new family in bed, but he knows better.

“Should I take him?” The man asked finally, after a long while. The figure beneath blanket shifted a little, but remained silent. The ignored man can only stone, hoping for a reply. “You… want to rest? I will take care of him…” The man tried again.

“… He will get hungry again soon.” A muffled voice came from within the bigger bundle. The voice is sweet, rather than annoyed or jumpy. This brought a toothy grin to the previously ignored man’s face.

“I will hire a nanny… so you can rest.” The man suggested. The figure moved from under the blanket again and with a vague shaking movement of the wrapped up head, the man knows he will not ask any more questions.

“I will be around when you need me.” His cheery ‘good-night’ call begets silence yet again, but the man is far from insulted or touchy. In fact, he is very much comforted and even elated. For the first time in months, the man actually got a reply in a full sentence, from his beloved, in a proper conversation. The progress is akin to a ray of hope, shining brightly.

Glowing with pleasure, the tall man got up after a finger on the infant’s chubby cheeks and hurriedly made himself scarce, retreating to his own tiny little corner in the same room. One would wonder how the king is actually willing to lower his ego enough to bunk on the floor.

The thing is, he often sleep on bare sandy ground while in the camps, a mattress on the floor does not daunt him.

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POV from Junsu

I managed to feed the baby, my son, with the help of the nanny. It felt really weird.

He is hungry. I had to. I think he will cry himself blind if I were to leave him alone. That won’t be nice would it? He sounded so pitiful… I just couldn’t walk away.

As much as I don’t like having that man pacing around outside while I do my thing, I hate to admit that he did not give me any pressure like how I initially thought he would. He didn’t barge in. He didn’t even peek. I am genuinely surprised.

However, I will never forgive him for what he did to me. It was too damn painful for me to erase from my memory. When I get flashbacks about that day, I still get the chills. He is very… strong. Too strong.

For now, I will just leave him be, since he is not exactly invading my personal space and giving me any of his . I can already accept having his presence lingering nearby. Strange enough. As long as he keeps his distance from me, I am fine with him now.

Also, since I know hyung is most probably still alive, I will have one less reason to hate him. I will have no real reason to hate him actually…

My only concern now is for the other beautiful hyung who took care of me. He was with baby… last I remembered… so how did that man get the baby back if the hyung has him?

What happened? Did anything bad happen to that hyung? He is a really nice person. I don’t want that man to hurt him because of me… but I don’t dare to ask him either. I really want to ask about him, but I still don’t have the guts.

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Somewhere at the edge of the northern border…

POV from Junho

It’s been nearly a week since we last heard from him. I am getting really worried.

My men and I would go to the markets and public halls in search of him, but according to the people there, he hadn’t been turning up for a solid week. They need his help too, but he just evaporated. It is never good news when someone disappears without a trace.

I cannot help but start imagining about the things that may have happened. The thousand possibilities… Is he hurt? Is he dead? Is he captured? Who has him? What will they do to him?

Why is my life so tumultuous? TSK!

At first, some months back, I thought I finally attained some form of release by dying… just to wake up and see the light of day again. Then I found out that my baby brother had vaporised as well… with the death of my best soldiers… when they failed to protect him against that beast.

Then now, my best friend and comrade, is missing too. I sincerely hope nothing happened… but I think I know better.

There is no question about his self defense ability. He can fight… and he can stand up for himself without breaking a sweat. There are no doubts about that. However, when I say that, I meant also that it is just not possible that he would pull off a no show suddenly. For fun or out of ill intentions, he will never play his comrades out like that.

He must be in trouble of some sorts! I can feel it in my bones! Just like how it had been for me when the midget couldn’t be located.

The only question is… who can take him on? Besides that beast that is. Don’t tell me that he went on a solo suicidal crusade… because I won’t believe it. Assassinate the king… we made a pact to do that only when we have a pressing need to. Then, what would be that pressing reason if he did attempt assassination by himself?

He is not the type to derive pleasure from murder… unlike that beast.

As much as I need this person to be around, I also want him to be. I need him because he is the only one who can wonder around town unnoticed… but more than that, people around him simply loves him… even though he never put in any effort on purpose to earn their affection. It is obvious why they do… because I love him as well. But only as a good friend is all!

He is the only person who knows everything about what is going on out there… even the midget’s location.  He told me shortly before this disappearance that he has a clue about where the kid might be… but the trail just went cold with him missing as well. Now, there is nothing left. What do I do? What if his disappearance has got something to do with the midget?

I don’t want to lose the two people I care so much about… all in one go!

He is always the one we turn to whenever we needed advise. He practically taught me how to fight properly… always saying that I am too unrefined… saying that my movements are too brutish and retarded. He says that I am royalty too, so I shouldn’t fight like a lowly hoodlum of sorts. Those words gave me a real boost of confidence! I truly appreciate him for that.

He is the first person to acknowledge my presence… even though our kingdom is already destroyed… even though I have failed to fulfil my duty as general. I can sense the sincerity when he speaks so earnestly. I couldn’t trust him at first too… but he managed to dissolve whatever reservations I had.

Even though he never said much about himself, or where he originated from, I never felt the need to dig more than necessary. There is this sense of unexplainable familiarity between us whenever I am with him. I suppose he is more than just a palace physician. I would believe it if one is to tell me he is royalty too.

Being a friend, he is not the warmest, but being a confidant, he is very tight lipped and his gazes can bring anyone to a breaking point, in a good way. I can talk to him about my baby brother all night and he would just listen. He is a very good listener indeed… And also someone with zero diffidence… who is always so sure about what he needs and wants to do. Every word he says reflects a different type of emotion and it is always refreshing to converse with him.

He might be younger than me, but he is much more experienced in many aspects… and is more knowledgeable. You can say I look up to him a lot… ever since his face is the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes after the near death experience.

Like a newborn baby duck, I followed the first thing I saw again. I was doomed to die and return to dust without any significance, but he gave me a new lease of life and something to look forward to. We have a mission planned for many months now… but if he is not around, we will never be able to move forward or carry it out. I plead the gods to keep him well.

Also, my baby brother… I need to find him. He is the cause of my daily moodiness… and I just have to know if he is alive and well too. If he is not, I will end that bastard with my bare hands. I swear! Every one of my comrades knows that the monster’s head is mine if that day ever comes…

TBC

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