“Why exactly are you here?” I questioned, the annoyance dripping from my voice.  Kyuhyun smiled mockingly and replied,

“Taking care of you obviously.  What would your beloved master think of me if I left his precious in his time of need?” I glared at his sarcastic answer and shot him my customary glare.

“You’re so full of ” I began, a devious smile lighting my face as I accused, “Aw, you’re using me to avoid daddy, huh?  Oh poor baby, did mean old papa make little Kyu-kyu cry?”

“Ugh!” he snorted, his lip curling in disgust, “Please, do the whole world a favor and never talk like that again”  I rolled my eyes, but dropped the act, to be honest, the baby-talk had made my stomach churn unpleasantly.

“Either way, I know you’re just using me as an excuse to avoid you father and the meetings”  Kyuhyun didn’t even bat an eyelash as he nodded in agreement,

“True, you’re a convenient way to relieve me of two of the things I hate most in the world”

I blinked at the bitterness that saturated his tone.  For a second his eyes burned, completely black with not even a hint of light.  However, as soon as it came, it disappeared, hidden behind the arrogant mask he wore so well.  Before I could question him on his sudden change, he left the room, apparently in search of something to eat.

I rolled my eyes and easily stepped out of the bed.  The illness had had rendered me unconscious had long passed, and I was perfectly fine.  A mental calculation told me I had been staying with Kyuhyun for about a week now.  I had remained with him under the pretense of sickness even though I had been healthy for the last five days.

I honestly didn’t know why I stayed.  Yesung came every night, demanding that Kyuhyun tell him how I was doing.  The rational part of me knew that deceiving my master was wrong, but I still couldn’t bring myself to return to his side.

I reasoned that the only reason I chose to remain was the freedom I felt.  It was refreshing not to always be under command and it was relaxing to not have to always be respectful and courteous.  Although Kyuhyun was little more than an annoyance, I had to admit his company was not stifling like Yesung’s.

Kyuhyun was a brat and an arrogant bastard, but he never doted on me.  He never went out of his way to do something for me, and I never expected him to.  On the flipside, he also didn’t expect anything from me.  He didn’t really care what I did or how I acted, and he definitely didn’t uphold any of the accepted social standards.

He treated me however he pleased, not worrying about my feelings, and in return I talked to him however I wanted, formality long forgotten.  We argued like stray cats, and engaged in seemingly endless wars of words, each of us slinging insults and jabs like they were arrows.

Yet, amidst our bickering, there was still a certain level of respect.  Maybe respect wasn’t the best word, it was more like polite disinterest.  I never attempted to know his past, and his claims of ‘fixing’ me seemed to be a thing of the past.

Neither of us tried to understand the other, our relationship was merely superficial, scraping only the lightest edges of each person.  Did I trust him?  To an extent I actually did.  I trusted him not to violate me, but only because he made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with such a vulgar act.  However, did I trust him to know the inner workings of my mind?  Not on my life.

I would let him in, but the moment he tried to dig for anything deeper, I put up an impenetrable wall, barring him from further analysis.  The same was true with him, as soon I questioned him too intensely or struck a sensitive chord, he would quickly divert me, keeping me away.

I knew what we had wasn’t really a friendship, at least he wasn’t someone I would call a friend.  But our odd relationship seemed to work, seeing as neither of us had any inclination to seek other society.  Basically, we settled being in each other’s company simply because we found each other less irritating or taxing than anyone else.

I think we had both come to the conclusion that kindness or friendliness were simply the tools of those wishing to manipulate.  I was wary of compassion, viewing it as another way to be lured into someone’s bed, while Kyuhyun viewed benevolence as a way to take advantage of his position.

It was much more comfortable to deal with each other’s cold sarcasm than to accept the false praise and mocking sweetness of others.

True, I knew I was disillusioned, and my view on humanity was not a favorable one, but I made no attempts to change myself.  I had accepted myself and was comfortable with the fact that I would never change.

Seeing as Kyuhyun was gone, I took the opportunity to bathe myself.  I walked into the humid, wooden room that was used for washing.  Unlike my master who insisted on simply lounging in his jade tub, Kyuhyun’s bath was fashioned in a Japanese style.

I quickly undressed and grabbed one of the clean rags used for bathing.  I avoided the black tea scented soap that Kyuhyun used, in favor of a soap smelling of lemons and honey.  I poured a bucket of water over my head then set to scrubbing myself, carefully lathering every inch of my skin.

As soon as I felt clean, I poured another bucket over myself to wash the soap bubbles away then slipped into the steaming bath to soak.  I sat back, watching the tendrils of steam rise from the water in delicate wisps.

I glanced up when Kyuhyun’s voice mused,

“This feels a bit familiar, I seem to catch you bathing an awful lot”

“Funny, I can’t say the same for you… but then again there must be a reason why you always smell so offensive”  He chuckled amusedly, but didn’t attempt to move from the doorway.  I simply ignored him, knowing he wouldn’t try to approach me.

“Your master is putting up quite the little fit trying to get you back.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his tantrum, but I don’t think I’ll be able to maintain that source of amusement for much longer”

“Oh what a shame, looks like you’ll have to attend meetings soon after all” I mocked in false sympathy.

“True, but on the plus side you’ll be pleasuring your master in no time” he bit back with the same light tone.  I didn’t even flinch at the assumption, Kyuhyun had insinuated I was so many times before that I was immune to the whole accusation.

“Hmm, well I suppose I would have to return soon anyway.  The tournament is coming up soon and naturally I would be required to help my master prepare” I mused aloud, my eyes still tracing the path the steam made as it rose.

“Ugh, don’t even remind me of that asinine event!” he grumped, causing me to look at him in disbelief.

“I figured you’d enjoy something like this, getting to show off in front of thousands?  Sounds like something an egotistical like yourself would revel in”  He didn’t even make an attempt to deny my reasoning as he complained,

“Normally I do enjoy tournaments, but this time I have official orders from the Head
General that piss me off”

I noted with mild interest that whenever he talked about his father he referred to him as the Head General.  I wondered briefly why he treated his father as a relative stranger, before deciding I didn’t really care.

I thought carefully about why Kyuhyun would be mad, and I smiled knowingly when I determined the basis of his orders.

“You were ordered to throw the archery match, huh?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes!  All because your goddamned master is supposed to participate in that event!”  I chuckled at Kyuhyun’s obvious outrage and decided to further egg him on.

“You know, my master is the best archer in our kingdom, I bet you wouldn’t even have to throw the match, he’d probably beat you fair and square”

I sat back and watched with satisfaction as Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed dangerously and his tone turned challenging.

“Oh, is that so?” he spat in clipped tones.  I nodded innocently, doing my best to be convincing.  He grumbled under his breath softly, but I managed to catch my master’s name followed by a long string of curses.

Kyuhyun stalked out of the room petulantly and I couldn’t help but laugh quietly.  I was actually looking forward to the tournament now, it seemed like it was going to be much more interesting than I originally thought.

I stepped out of the water and wrapped myself in a towel.  I walked back into the bedroom, and dressed myself.  I sat in front of the fire, drying my hair before standing up and casting a glance around the room.  Once I was satisfied that everything was in place I walked out of the room and left Kyuhyun’s quarters for the first time in a week.

I slowly walked the path that would take me back to Yesung’s bed chamber.  I didn’t bother telling Kyuhyun or saying good bye, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

It wasn’t a huge castle, I would see him eventually.

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Sorry for not updating, I was trying to finish my other story.  Seeing as that didn't happen, I figured I should give this foc some attention.

I started school today so starting now my updates might be less frequent, but I promise to update as often as I can.

Thank you guys for reading! ^^

Music: "Love Disease" by Super Junior (I'm feeling a little bit depressed about my fail love life right now ;w;)