Hi ya!

A double update for today! I had no time to edit over christmas and eve so here it is! I was only just sober when editing 'em chapters this afternoon so please do pardon any gramatical or spelling inaccuracies...

BTW!! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! LATE BUT STILL MERRY!!

Thank you for the subscriptions and also the comments!! I love you guise as much as always.

Note: The character's personality are somewhat recycled here and there so please let me know if that displeases you. Please don't be displeased tho. *fingers crossed*

And and... the titles are kinda like chess terms since I have ran out of creative juices to make them. Tehee.

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@sorashisora:

I won't be able to update every day like I did previously because I still have a pile of assignments to clear while I squeeze out some time for a little writing and social-ing for x'mas and the upcoming new year. I will try to be consistent when the crunch is over!! Promise to still love me... ? LOL!! *ahem* Pardon me.

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Ancient Korea. Back in the palace.

“Junsu yah!” A tall man donned in his hunting outfit approaches the room adjacent to his. The hallway is quiet as the man takes in a deep breath, ballooning up his cheeks as he gives the stubble laden skin there a few quick reassuring pats. The stress is building up as he moves his heavy feet along the smooth mahogany flooring.

“Junsu yah!” He called out once more, tone sounding so sweet that his deep nasally voice is almost dripping honey. If the person he was searching for isn’t his biological brother then he would sound almost like a ert.

“BOO!!” A sudden blast of high pitched ultrasound and the weight of what feels like a big sack of flour caught him off guard, causing him to stumble forward a little as a small pair of palms covers his eyes, clothed dainty feet scaling his back and waist like he is some sort of mountain. “YUNNO!!” Smiling at the mispronounced name, the tall man reached behind himself and the head of the creature clinging onto his back.

“Junsu yah. It’s hyung.” “Not Yunno.” The man chided playfully as he continues piggy backing the person. The featherweight does not bother him as he ferries them both down the hallway and into the gardens. The king even used a free hand to support the big baby dangling off his shoulders loosely while the other babbles on and on about something. Yunho wasn’t paying attention.

“STOP!” An excessively loud command causes Yunho to cringe as he winces slightly. Junsu had shouted right behind his ear again and the tinnitus is killing him. Patting the king on the headgear once, giggling like a little kid, the late bloomer hopped off his ‘transportation’, which will be Yunho, making his way down to the mini lake.

“Junsu yah! I’m your hyung! Not your horse!” The man laughed a little and ran after the angelic being.

“Yunno!! Our turtle is THIS big now!! I will show him to you!!” The king stopped short as he watches the other wave his hands dramatically, wading into the shallow part of the water. The sudden pang of pain in his heart had immobilised him to the extent where he can barely breathe. Yunho loves his brother and that bright sunny trait for a personality was and still is his pillar of strength, over the years.

As he spaces out, the king felt a hard object being shoved into his grip as someone forcefully pries his fist open. The object is wet and it is only when it started moving that he is finally able to breaks off from his trance.

Staring hard at the terrapin in his hand, the king’s lips quivered as he watches Junsu dart back into the pond. “Junsu yah… want to go for a hunt today?” The man asked abruptly and Junsu stopped in his tracks. It’s been years since Yunho suggested this activity and Junsu is terribly excited though a little stunned. Lovely huge tadpole shaped brown eyes widening, the younger person immediately got out from the water and rushes over to his brother clumsily. “REALLY?!!”

“Yes.” The king replied gravely. Yunho hasn’t brought Junsu out for hunting exercises even though it’s a very popular sport, for the sole reason being Junsu bringing the game back and insisting on keeping them as pets instead of consuming them as promised. Junsu once kept a wild baby boar after incapacitating it with his sling shot years ago. Back then, the boy even nursed the animal back to health.

That’s before Yunho agreed to slaughter it and serve it during a feast to welcome the ambassadors from China. It took Junsu a whole year to forgive him and the boy would scream murder every time they met, literally screaming hysterically, for a good whole four seasons. Yunho never brought him out on hunting trips ever since.

Nevertheless, as annoying as the younger one is made out to be, he is actually a darling, as stubborn as Yunho, but still a sweetie pie.

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POV from Yunho

It’s been more than four years since I ascended the throne. I have many responsibilities… and one of them was to take care of my baby brother. Well… not exactly a baby anymore but still my brother dearest. He is still immature and clueless about many things. Always acting on a whim and behaving like a childish brat but I love him no less.

He is very precious to me.

I have always given him the leeway to anything and nearly everything. He can do whatever he likes as long as there is no damage done. I have allowed him to live like this ever since appa and umma passed away from that dreadful illness.

Su doesn’t say much back then when we were orphaned… but I know he was feeling lost. He was barely adult enough to cope and was acting so bizarre that I got scared. At least he is behaving more normally now. To help him adapt to being an orphan, I stepped in and took up the role of a parent… and even allowed him to call me by my name. All this was to ensure that he does not feel lonely or neglected. I wanted him to know I love and care.

To think that my parents and I brought him up so well just so that demon can ruin him. Destroy him. Corrupt him. Desecrate him. Do everything damn thing to him.

I’m going crazy just by thinking. Thinking about the possible things that he will do to my baby brother… REALLY!! I AM BEYOND UPSET RIGHT NOW!!

The feeling of needing to kill somebody was so great that I have decided to just take it out on nature. I haven’t been bringing him out for hunting since he has the tendency to keep every animal he catches, but I shall make an exception today. No more boars will be freed into the gaming zone though. I don’t need swine as pets. We have enough animals in captivity already. Rabbits. Squirrels. A mousedeer. A raccoon. A couple of other smaller rodents. You name it we have it. It’s a relief that birds somehow scare him.

Aigoo. Who will take care of all those creatures if anything were to happen to him?!

Wait, that’s not the point! I am going to need to do something radical to stop this betrothal from taking place!! I have to!! If he is in Japan, then I won’t be able to protect him anymore. He will have to protect himself… and like that’s going to happen…

Here are my options: Help him escape and send him to the edge of the world? Not a chance. Yuchun is going to hunt him down like a tiny marmot before he can escape…

Teach him to fight? He can’t fight for nuts. Hell even if he could, that demon is no match for him… Pardon me. It is he who is no match for that demon.

What was I thinking when I asked for that demon’s younger demon counterpart in exchange for my Su?! Seriously!! What the hell did I do that for? Asking for trouble is all! Both of them are of the same breed! Born of the same inhumane abomination! Actually, I wasn’t left with a choice…

Come to think of it… I should have fought it out with him back then. I could’ve won though I was in a very bad position. Yet somehow, I think all this is for the better good. Heaven’s will. So what if I did escape this time around? I can’t keep this violence going forever. We can’t go on like that forever and that’s for sure. There is too much to lose. In fact, I was secretly hoping he did propose a peaceful settlement… but like he did say before. Careful what you wish for. Peace always comes with a price or sacrifice. Can I take that wish for peace back?

How do I even tell Su? ‘Hey. Your hyung is getting you married off, and guess what? You are the bride.’ What do I think will happen after that? Well… that depends. He might run away from home. He might become a lunatic... which is fine by me since I won’t mind taking care of him. He might just kill himself… which will make me the guiltiest person on earth forever. My thoughts are a jumbled up mess and I am tired of sorting them out.

I will just tell him the first part today. Should I?

He will be getting an in-law soon… if that’s something worth celebrating at all.

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“Hyung!! Look what I caught!!” An excited Junsu ducks out from beneath the humongous rocks holding a fluffy rabbit in his hand, running towards the royal stallion and its rider, stationed by a tree. “HYUNG!!!” “YUNNO!!!” Irritated by the lack of reaction on the king’s part, the young prince mounted the horse from behind him and gave the bigger man’s shoulder a hard thump, whistling into the man’s ear.

Spinning around, the king finds a rabbit shoved into his face as the mischievous other hops off the horse in search of other small preys. “Don’t you dare kill it Yunno!! She will join Lee sshi in the hutch!! Lee sshi is getting lonely!!” Glaring a warning at Yunho, the king can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Junsu yah! We don’t even know if this bunny is female!! Lee sshi might not like…” The hyperactive human being was off before the king can complete his sentence. “Rude brat!” Yunho muttered to himself under his breath.

Freeing a whole bunch of domesticated animals into the woods on purpose, Yunho just wanted Junsu to enjoy the hunting trip. The younger one does not like using bows and arrows so that means he might never catch anything wild. However, Junsu is nimble and quick so the kim royals always end up with more pets than Yunho have bargained for.

“Yunno!! Can I keep this weird looking fella too?!” Junsu reappears in front of Yunho’s steed after a short while, holding a sloth by both hands, dangling it. “This guy looks sick!! He was crawling so slowly!!” Junsu spoke with so much passion that Yunho can’t help but chortle, almost suffocating the rabbit in his hand as he babysits it for the younger one. “It’s a sloth, Su. He is not sick. That’s just how he is.”

“He will die if he moves so slowly!! They will eat him up!!” “I have to keep him!!” Junsu concluded and Yunho ended up sighing aloud.

“No one will eat him? He isn’t tasty…”

“You ate his relatives before?! How could you!?” Junsu’s pretty brown eyes are wide open in a split second and Yunho wanted to cry. ‘This is the kind of person I am sending to Yuchun’ was the only thought running through his head. Looking at the child-like Junsu, behaving so carefree just makes Yunho immensely upset.

“We don’t even know if this guy is male also…” Yunho added, raising his eyebrow at the annoyingly cute looking sloth. “And I don’t eat sloths. That was just a statement to make you… not worry about him…” With that, Junsu’s frown turned into a smile as he struggles to mount Yunho’s horse again.

“Yunno. Let’s go back. I want to introduce Lee sshi to his wife.” Junsu can tell that Yunho is not being himself, and as dim witted as he appears to be, he is actually pretty bright. The Kim brothers, though close are actually pretty distant as they hardly share their inner thoughts, not wishing to trouble the other.

Yunho is always too busy to accompany Junsu anyway and Junsu on the other hand, had grown up over the years learning not to be a burden to the king. As much as he is an eccentric one and always causing Yunho a headache, Junsu is sensitive and genuinely cares about his brother, never getting himself involved in anything big.

Hugging the bigger man, his brother, from behind, Junsu buried his face into the silky coat on his brother’s back and held on tightly. Wishing to comfort Yunho in whatever small ways that he can, the younger one is making his hyung’s heart ache terribly instead. Sharing short conversations and reacting weakly the whole time, Yunho is dreading dinner, when he will be forced to sit opposite to the all concerned Junsu and possibly share the nauseating news.

“Junsu yah. What do you think about marriage?” Yunho decided to start an interview as they progress along down the hillside, headed back to where they call home in the palace.

“You want to get married, hyung?” “Is Yunno in love?” The younger one has zero inkling about what Yunho meant when he asked that question. Becoming all energetic again, Yunho found himself trapped in a maze like conversation that Junsu started. The younger one never really talks sense. He will just continue on and on like a machine gun without getting to the point, and though Yunho is usually used to it, he is in no mood to digress today.

“No Junsu. No. Not me. You. What if you are to get married?” The king chose his words cautiously after rudely interrupting his brother’s nonsensical mumblings.

“Eh?” The beautiful person replied, hands frozen momentarily as he stops the bunny in his hands.

“You heard me Junsu. What if hyung thinks you are old enough to get married?” Yunho repeated himself, feeling like an idiot since he didn’t even have the heart or guts to state the real reason for which he is asking the question. Junsu is stumped nonetheless. Turning nineteen in a little less than half a month, the recently grown up Junsu had never even bothered himself with admiring anyone of the opposite gender and bodily make up.

Silence greeted Yunho as his stallion’s feet trots along the soft damp ground and the king finds himself losing the will to keep his raging emotions under wraps. “Forget I asked.” Yunho spoke again suddenly before turning around and giving his pillion a weak grin.

“Yunno should get married first. You are old.” Junsu pouted and poked the king’s side playfully. “You are always in a bad mood, hyung!” “If you get married then you will have someone to talk to everyday then you won’t feel lonely anymore.” “You know I don’t have all the time in the world to talk to you since I have Lee sshi, Park sshi, Kwon sshi and Choi sshi to feed.” “If you have children too then they can play with the pets!!” Junsu started his ‘chanting’ again and Yunho is helpless.

“STOP!” “I said, forget I ever asked!” The king raised his voice a little and sighed dramatically, letting go of the reins and scratching the back of his ear. Junsu gets the message and he actually understands what Yunho was asking earlier. He was just trying to change the topic, yet he does not want Yunho to feel troubled by the lack of answers.

“If hyung thinks I am old enough to get married then I will get married.” “But only after Yunno gets married first.” Junsu relented and leant in for a back hug again, muttering in defeat as he draws circles around the older man’s muscular abdomen dejectedly.

A little startled by Junsu’s ‘obedience’, Yunho spun around and casted his now gloomy brother a look of dismay, staring peculiarly at the young man. “Junsu yah? Did you eat something wrong today?” Yunho questioned and Junsu’s frown disappeared once more.