The investigations continue, rising higher in the ranks when time reveal no evidence, and the negotiations continue to struggle with Chousen buying for time. Zhou Mi isn’t at all surprised to observe some discrepancies in his room one day – a paper misplaced, a drawer not left ajar. He replaces the paper and makes a mental note to lecture his subordinates for the carelessness.

He, however, is confronted with a surprising and uncomfortable feeling when he one day receives the orders that Kyuhyun be put under investigation.

“My prince,” he protests after he reads the form Hyukjae has given to him, stamped by his very own seal. “Surely this is not necessary.”

The second prince has an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, Zhou Mi. But it is something that should’ve already been done.”

Hyukjae stands and begins to pace. “Kyuhyun is truly the biggest risk we are taking. He is our most valuable source of information, but he is still a hired informant and thus the mostly likely to defect when tempted with coin. The only reason I have waited so long to order this investigation is because of you.”

Zhou Mi starts, his eyes wide when he sees the words Hyukjae does not say reflected in the prince’s expression – that Hyukjae knows what Kyuhyun is to Zhou Mi; for where else could that unnatural trust have come from?

There is worry and fear in Hyukjae’s eyes – worry and fear for him if Kyuhyun was to be found dirty. But there is also the unapologetic look of someone who knows that something has to be done. And although he and Zhou Mi have become something akin to friends, it is the time for Hyukjae to be a sovereign. “Find out if Kyuhyun is a mole, Zhou Mi.”

There is a pit in Zhou Mi’s stomach at the fearsome thought at what the investigation might reveal – that he has placed his trust in the wrong person. But he hides it, and along with it a mix of reluctance and disbelief, behind polite manner and supercilious tones as he bows.

“Yes, your majesty.”

~*~

Zhou Mi is so sure of Kyuhyun’s innocence that it hits him like a cannonball when he sees the expression on his subordinate’s face when he returns with Kyuhyun back to the establishment, having continued their routine for the sake of distraction.

In those few steps, it all starts to make sense; how astute Kyuhyun is, all his knowledge about them – now revealed not as his own insight but insider knowledge. And who else could have given him that but the Xing? The bag of gold nuggets with the dragon of Xing stamped onto each damning piece that his subordinate hands to him certainly doesn’t contradict.

Zhou Mi doesn’t realize when Kyuhyun has stepped up to him, numb as he is, he probably wouldn’t have felt it if Kyuhyun drove a knife into him, let alone press something into Zhou Mi’s hand. The guard mistake it for hostility, or maybe a desperate attempt to plead innocence. Kyuhyun is pulled away.

But not before whatever Kyuhyun wishes to give is already in Zhou Mi’s hand, next to the bag of gold. And the blue violent winks to him like an unknown mystery to Zhou Mi’s devastated mind.

He stares dumbly, not understanding why Kyuhyun is smiling as he is led away in chains.

~*~

“And he’s most likely been misreporting information on the Xing to us, so anything he’s given so far is most likely useless.”

Hyukjae stares up at the blank face of his friend as Zhou Mi finishes his report. In it, Hyukjae sees everything he feared would happen. He keeps very quiet for a long, long moment, before finally speaking again. “Something doesn’t add up, Zhou Mi.”

“What doesn’t, your majesty?”

“He was found out far too easily. If he is a threat as we make him to be, shouldn’t he have been harder to catch?”

“It could be another Xing trick. Who knows what they’re planning?”

“You know as much as I do what an unlikely theory that is.”

Zhou Mi stays silent, and Hyukjae curses himself for his careless words. Zhou Mi would feel unqualified to offer Hyukjae any theories when his own about Kyuhyun had been so erroneous.

“…There is another possibility.”

Zhou Mi sees what Hyukjae is thinking and physically recoils, shaking his head. “No.”

“But-” Hyukjae tries to reason, but Zhou Mi, who had thought of this possibility in the quiet of his rooms, trying to persuade himself that it wasn’t true and quickly rejected it immediately – so fearful of being wrong again, isn’t close to ready to think otherwise.

“No.” He repeats to Hyukjae’s pained look. “Why are you asking me to reconsider this treason? Weren’t you the one who warned me about this?”

Hyukjae stares in bemusement. “When?”

“When I first met you,” and when Hyukjae still looks confused, “you asked me to be careful when dealing with Zinnia.”

The confusion lifts and is instead replaced with exasperation. “Oh, Zhou Mi. That wasn’t what I meant. What I meant was-”

“Hyukjae?”

Both their heads turn to the door, and Zhou Mi blinks as wide brown eyes stare back. In them, fear and insecurity flash through before the emotions almost seem to gather themselves and hide. And what steps out of hiding behind the door is an impossibly graceful, beautiful and self-assured creature.

“Donghae, I’m sorry. Work has dragged late.” Zhou Mi’s gaze flits from the new arrival and back to the prince. He’d heard rumors, which are now proven not to be rumors at all, but fact. Hyukjae had brought his pet Zinnia home.

He knows he is perfect in keeping his thoughts off his face. Yet, he can see that Donghae’s gaze on him is wary, as if fearful for judgment. “I see… It’s alright. I’ll see you later.”

Yet, the Zinnia walks away with a complete confidence, contrary to the obvious reluctance to leave. And Zhou Mi thinks he now knows what Hyukjae meant, even as the second prince stands to chase after his love.

Hyukjae pauses on his way out, putting his hand on Zhou Mi’s shoulder, because he thinks he owes his friend at least that much.

“Zinnia are delicate creatures, Zhou Mi. Even Kyuhyun, as much as he doesn’t seem it.”

Zhou Mi looks up and Hyukjae smiles, seeing a small silver of hope where there wasn’t any before.

“Sometimes, you get so transfixed by the thorns of a cactus, you forget all about the flower. Have you forgotten, Zhou Mi?”

~*~

Zhou Mi had. He had completely forgot about the witty comments, the tongue-in-cheek looks, all direct at him. Those walks together, their talks where Kyuhyun gave his devastatingly accurate and humorous critique of human nature while Zhou Mi gaped. The times Zhou Mi wanted to strangle Kyuhyun for playing the fool. Kyuhyun’s honest laugh at his expression, and his guileless smile.

And then there was their bedroom trysts. However, as much as Zhou Mi had tried to convince himself otherwise, they were more than trysts. For it wasn’t just lust that assaulted him while moving against another sweaty body, even though it should have only been that. More than just ual gratification, Zhou Mi had slept with Kyuhyun. After all, if that was all there was to it, Zhou Mi wouldn’t have returned to a man who called his cute while kissing its tip. Where was Zhou Mi’s manly pride that he only felt some chagrin before swatting and asking for that same man to get on with it? Where were the thoughts of a politically correct marriage with a pretty girl and an heir at the end of it?

Zhou Mi stares at the crushed blue violet as he has for several hours. It is placed on that wooden box – the self-same one Kyuhyun had given to him not too long ago, saying that he wanted to belong to Zhou Mi and only him.

He remembers what the violet means in the language of flowers, and thinks of the first time Kyuhyun had stuck that same type of flower into his hair so many months ago. And he thinks he knows now what Kyuhyun is referring to, if not to Zhou Mi himself.

Zhou Mi opens the box and pulls all the papers out. He reads through them twice, before calling out to Henli to arrange an emergency meeting with the officials from Xing.

~*~

The Xing officials are disgruntled, but that is only expected. Zhou Mi even has to hide a smile when he overhears one of them muttering under his breath. “This had better not be about that stupid bridge.”

The comment unwittingly provides the last confirmation Zhou Mi needs for his theory. And with it, he faces easily the gathering which Henli has once aptly described as a pack of vultures circling for a chance to descend.

But Zhou has a rifle in his hand this time, and he makes the first shot. “Did you know, ambassadors and officials here in Chousen on official business are exempt from most local punishment excepting that of chewing gum and treason?”

Caught entirely unaware, the vultures stop circling. They settle for staring in astonishment instead. And after a few terse seconds, only one of the officials reply guardedly. “What is the meaning of this, Negotiator Joomyuk?”

“Oh no, no.” Zhou Mi’s tone is mild, but his smile does not reach his eyes. “You know very well what my real title is. Call me by my proper one, Ambassador Chen.”

The complexion of the official pales, and he is about to say something when an older, wiser official interjects. “What is this, Negotiator Joomyuk? Have you dragged us down here at this ungodly hour just to slander us?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it slander.” Zhou Mi smiles, and before anyone can interject. “I received some very interesting information just earlier today.”

Zhou Mi flicks his wrist, drawing attention to the papers in his hand. He makes a show of flipping idly. “These papers contain some fascinating revelations about Xing from an informant of mine. Apparently, Xing has a battalion hidden in Jeju, one of coastal forts? The crown prince wasn’t very happy to hear that.”

If the atmosphere has been terse, now it is almost solid with tension. Zhou Mi surveys the array of expressions before him in various mixed degrees of fear, anger and outrage.

“That was just one of the little nuggets I have.” Zhou Mi paces slowly across the room, meeting every eye with vindictive assuredness. “Would you like to hear more?”

“What nonsense is this?” one of the officials burst out, unable to take what Zhou Mi was insinuating. “Where did you get that information from?”

“Why, from you of course. Probably.” Zhou Mi shrugs. “Most of you here have probably contributed a tidbit or two. I’m not sure. I’ll need to refer to my database, but yes. It’s a close enough accusation.”

“We wouldn’t tell you such-”

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Zhou Mi cut in smoothly. “But you’d tell a man with wide eyes and an innocent smile, urging you to boast about your achievements. Especially if that man was going to repay you in ual favours. Oh, no need to be embarrassed – apparently it’s statistically proven that the highest rate of information exchange happens in bed.”

The man opens his mouth, again to deny it. But Zhou Mi pre-empts him. “One of you figured out the leak when you held a meeting, discussing why we have been so successful on our side of negotiations. You put two and two together, realizing that all crucial information holders have spent a night with the Zinna, Kakutasu. But instead of revealing the spying into the open and possibly gaining an advantage over us, you got greedy. A decision was made to try to bribe the Zinnia instead.”

“It should have been an easy task. Zinnia are notorious for their greed for money, even all the way in Xing. But all of your forgot the premise for it – most Zinnia are ambrosia addicts. Kyuhyun isn’t – he’s allergic. He’s one of the richest Zinnia in the country. He doesn’t need the money.”

“That’s ridiculous,” one of the Xing mutters. Zhou Mi’s voice is sharp as he retorts. “Ridiculous? Why? Because he smiled at you when he agreed to the deal? You were so sure of his cooperation, especially when things began to go downhill for us. You thought he was keeping his end of the bargain.”

“He was.” Zhou Mi reveals to the Xing’s uncomfortable confusion. “Too well. He was keeping more things than what you agreed on with him. Too much for him not to be suspected. We order an investigation which he knew we would, and all he needed to do was to leave the gold you gave him where we could find it. And too late, you realized – but then, he was already caught.”

“You’ve been hoping for us not to suspect your hand. After all, who would trust a Zinnia?” Zhou Mi pauses, his lips curling in triumphant pleasure. He stares at the first two pieces of paper in his hand. The signatures have been changed – a fast but accurate job. Zhou Mi had known where to get it done.

“In Xing, the freedom of es are bought solely by money, just like things.”

The Xing have already begun to back for the door, only to be blocked by soldiers, already alerted early for their possible duties.

“You forgot though, that this is Chousen, not Xing.” And Zhou Mi leaves, letting the sentence sink in even as the sounds of chains and protests fill the air.

~*~

“Your closing lines were a little clumsy.”

Zhou Mi looks up from his pacing in surprise, which quickly shifts into slow chagrin. “Would you have been able to do better?”

“Maybe, if I had time to think about it.” Kyuhyun smiles along with Zhou Mi, and the latter tips his head in invitation.

Kyuhyun stays where he is.

Zhou Mi shakes his head and crosses the room. He feels Kyuhyun stiffen in his arms and sighs. “You know, I knew our reunion wouldn’t be one of hugs and kisses, but this still a bit cold, even if you are injured and trying to keep the extent of your injuries from me.”

Kyuhyun laughs, only to clutch at his side, gasping when he overtaxed his body’s tolerance for pain. Zhou Mi holds on tighter, feeling each racking cough as his own. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. I knew what would happen when I would be caught.” Kyuhyun placates. Zhou Mi still grunts in disapproval.

“Yes. Of course you would know. That was just the stupid part of your plan. The rest was smart, but that part was irrevocably stupid.” Zhou Mi breathes against Kyuhyun’s hair, thinking that he might have saved Kyuhyun some pain if he’d only believed in Kyuhyun sooner. “What if I hadn’t figured it out?”

“I never had any doubt you would.”

“I very nearly didn’t.” Zhou Mi warns, to which Kyuhyun snorts. “It’s true. I had marked you off for a traitor. If not for the second prince who convinced me otherwise, you’d still be in jail, getting another beating no doubt.”

But Kyuhyun shakes his head. “Even then. You are the sort who would realize that some things didn’t add up. Then you would go ask around and realize that the dates of when they conducted the investigation and when you thought they did didn’t correspond. You used that piece to convince the rest of the Board of Archives that my information was legit?”

“You knew?”

“I guessed.” Kyuhyun shrugs. “It was how they confirmed that you had an informant, and that informant was me.”

“You should be the Assistant Secretary of Archives, not me.” Zhou Mi is thwarted again by Kyuhyun.

“No. IF it was anyone else other than you, this plan wouldn’t have worked. It needed to be someone as discerning as you to trust a Zinnia, even if– ”

“Even if I wasn’t in love with you?”

The corners of Kyuhyun’s lips curl. “Yes. Even then.”

Zhou Mi laughs. The memory of the fear and uncertainty gone, only the fact that Kyuhyun hadn’t betrayed him is left. Zhou Mi feels wonderful. “I was right to trust you.”

“Yes. You were. But you were wrong about one thing though”

“And that is?”

Zhou Mi feels lips against his and he reacts automatically. It’s only after they part for breath and Zhou Mi blinks in bewilderment at Kyuhyun, whose expression is as cool as ever.

“You were wrong about the kissing part.”

~*~