~Chapter 36~

Even If it's the End

Key’s POV~

            Today is the last day we will spend together in the palace. After tonight, we will go fulfill our tasks and no one knows how tomorrow will play out. I take out the sword that I have tucked away for so long. As I sharpen it, I remember of the times I was sent on missions to kill people. How long ago was that? I need not remember. I flash back to the time I broke out crying last time Jonghyun, Gun Tae, and I went to the mountains and saw the trios’ future self. I remember how weak Jonghyun looked on that white bed surrounded by strange looking people. Yet, when I was crying because of the full moon, he was there to comfort me. My sharpening slows down as I notice that he is not around me. Why is he not here? He’s always looking for a chance to hang out. I haven’t even scolded at him to leave me alone today yet…

            “Joon hyung,” I come running up to him, who is currently carrying a tray of tea. “What are you up to?”

            “I’m bringing some tea to my lovely Onew, that’s all. He’s been working very hard. Why?”

            “I was wondering how was Jonghyun hyung last night? Was he acting weird?”

            “Oh, I didn’t see him last night. Why, is something up?”

            “Wait, you didn’t meet with him? He told me you had some planning to do.”

            “Nope, we planned everything out a while ago. I even told him to have fun since we only have one more full day left in the palace.” Joon hyung looks sincere, besides, he would win nothing if he lied to me. That means Jonghyun lied to me? He needed an excuse to leave me, didn’t he?

            “Okay, thank you, hyung. I’ll go find him.”

            I arrive at the training area and see Jonghyun hyung strenuously practicing. He is beaming with sweat and his breathing is heavy. His eyes are certainly etched with pain and his expression was stern. Something has to be up. He used to always complain about training. He wouldn’t do it out of his free will and at least not this vigorously. “Ahh,” he hisses as his axe flies out of his hand. He drops his other axe and cutches onto his hurt arm. I rush over to see his injury, but he pulls his arm away and turns the other way. “I’m fine.” He picks up both axes with his uninjured arm and I run over and grab them.

            “What’s wrong?” I ask. He avoids eye contact, but doesn’t take the axes away from me.

            “Nothing, I just cramped up I think,” he sighs.

            “Not your arm, I meant you. Is something going on?” Still no eye contact. “Was it something I said last night?” No reply. “If it was then I’m sorry.”

            “How can you be sorry for something that isn’t your fault,” he finally says. “I was being foolish, not you.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Look, Kim Kibum,” he has never said my full name before. What is going on? “Tomorrow morning, we will go on a mission that may or may not cost us our lives. I was foolish to think that I could get anything done beyond the mission at hand.” He takes the axes from me and looks me straight in the eye. “I came back in time to change this past and no matter what or who gets involved, I should have never wished for anything beyond that. I am going to be okay. Now you, you focus on your own task at hand and just keep yourself alive. To me, that’s enough.” He walks away without a second look. My heart sinks and my mood turns into a deep melancholy. Why did he have to ignore me this entire day? Why does his words hurt me? Why does it sound like he is giving up on me? Is…is there something to give up on? Why does this have to stir up before we part ways?

Minho's POV~

            When the sun rises, the mission will begin. I have thought long and hard about my deal with the Peacekeepers and I am content on what I have to do. I have made my decision. Joon hyung, Key hyung, and I are currently in the kitchen, preparing a meal for our friends. His Majesty has allowed all of us who are taking part in the mission to enjoy a night together, in case things turn out for the worse. We have all prepared a small ceremony and whoever has talents will show them off tonight as a final gift. All the staff members are helping us in their respective positions so this night will run smoothly. The musicians are prepared to play anything we request, the chefs are here to help, and the servants are lighting the night sky with loads of colorful lanterns and candles. This will be a night to remember.

Taemin’s POV~

            “I think this is enough training,” I say and lay down on the floor beside Gun Tae who is dripping with sweat. “At this rate, no one will notice that you switched with me.” I gave Gun Tae one of my outfits and my master gifted him with a duplicate of my spear. His spear looks exactly like mine, but holds no spirit, making it no better than any regular spear. Nonetheless, with my mask, my outfit, a fake spear, and a crash course on my martial arts, he can pretend to be me for tomorrow. In order to aid the crown prince, I am going to pretend to be one of the servants while Gun Tae pretends to be the White Masked Hero, now that he can switch between human and wolf form. Out of all of the Heroes’ Rebellion clan members, Taemin was the one that laid low because I had not status and was seen as an outsider. Only a few people knew who I was and they hold no significance in the dark clans. Besides, Lee Taemin back then was not one of the leading warriors like the White Masked Hero.

            “Hyung, we should come to the party,” Gun Tae says. “We need to act as normal as possible until we lead the trip tomorrow.”

            “You’re right,” I say and we both get up. Gun Tae transforms into his wolf form and I put my mask on firmly. “Let’s dance.”

            The music travels through the cold night air and the dark sky is masked by bright lanterns of many colors. Food and drinks are served with the intention that this may be our last meal. Laughter and cheers forces the music to be played even louder. The entire palace is awake and feasting. Even some of my hyungs got down to business and made dishes of their own. Each of us are performing one way or another, making sure to show off our talents before the big day. Some guards and clan members came up and danced, some sang, some showed up their bodies, and some even made terrible poetry.

            I greet my audience and stand in my first position. The beat starts and I perform my dance that incorporates my martial arts with a twist of traditional dance. My spear twirls and glistens under the candle lights. People ooh and ahh as I flip, twirl, and propel myself up in the air with my internal energy. My white robe flutters in the air, almost like I am floating amongst clouds. I smile to myself sadly, remembering how close I was to debuting as a k-pop idol with my hyungs. All of the dreams from the past have now became fantasies and the reality is much less hopeful. The mask fastening seems tighter than usual today. I guess, I’m even more worried that it will fall off, now that my face is back. I land with my last pose and the crowd cheers.

            Minho hyung comes up and explains to us that instead of playing the flute, he would like to perform a song. We all cheer him on enthusiastically. He takes a breath and all activities and side conversations end, giving him the utmost respect. “The path I try to go back is a maze/The wind that caresses my cheek goes up/I open my arms, it doesn’t matter,/I need an angel’s hand/Cause a devil kissed me kissed me/Why’d you never miss me miss me/Yeah, the devil kissed me kissed me/Kissed me/If I can wash away my sins/I will get on my knees right now/Even if you choke me,/even if you destroy my body/I swear to the sky, I raise my hand/I just wanna be a Soldier/I just wanna be a Soldier/There are painful memories in my heart/I will never forget – In my loneliness,/the last image of you was so beautiful/I wanna be a soldier/I want to be together with you until the end/I kiss your lips/Until I stop breathing/Until the sun rises above the world/I wanted to protect you by my side/I was born to be a Soldier”

            He finishes his song and we all clap. (A/N: These are the lyrics to Taemin’s “Soldier” that I found online and I cut it short. I am pretending that the songs are created in this time period, so it’s not like the people singing these songs are doing covers, but it is either a song they wrote or a song they found that matches their feelings). Why does it sound like he is trying to tell us something? I don’t see why he would sing. He usually just plays the flute and half the time, it’s “Symptoms.” The fact that he chose to sing a song like this…It makes me feel uneasy. Who was he actually trying to sing to?

            My thought gets cut off as the drumming resumes. Key hyung is now on stage, performing a traditional dance. He moves were very powerful, yet gentle at the same time. It was almost like he was water— he can be calm and beautiful yet wild and dangerous. I guess that’s my lame analogy. Jonghyun gets on stage and sings “Selene 6.23.” Is something on his mind as well? He seemed off all day. (A/N: I also try to cut the song shorter but the song is pretty long hehe).

            “Look at my eyes,/I whisper alone as I look at you from far away/Just smile for me once,/I can endure it just by seeing your face/If you are standing at the end of my life,/If I can get closer to you/I can throw away everything/And run to you/Though I extend my hand,/Though I extend it with all my strength, I can’t reach you/It seemed like I got closer so I called you with a fluttering heart/But there’s no answer,/I guess I can never reach you/Even if you tease me by saying this is foolish,/I can’t turn this heart around/I shout out loud (shout out loud and call you),/I get angry but it’s no use/I’m just one out of the many people/That pass by you (pass by you)/I’m not special to you/I guess I can never reach you.” He finishes singing and steps off the stage. I look over at Key hyung who is simply looking at the ground.

The song wasn’t targeted at Key hyung, was it? Gun Tae asks me.

“You think so?” I look down at him in wolf form.

            I mean, I overheard Jonghyun crying last night and I think something came up between them.

            “I see…I hope they’ll make up soon,” I sigh. “It’s like Key hyung is always holding back when he’s around Jonghyun hyung.”

            Maybe they haven’t actually talked about their relationship? They don’t seem like they’re all lovey-dovey like Joon and Onew hyung.

            “Maybe you’re right.” I ruffle his fur. Onew hyung gets on stage and smiles widely. He’s going to sing too.

            Don’t tell me he’s planning to serenade Joon hyung, Gun Tae guesses.

            Onew hyung begins to sing, “I’ve never said this before/To tell you the truth,/I felt my heart beating on that day/Since the beginning, I knew/I wasn’t sure but it felt like our fate/Was already decided/Love is coming to me/It leads me toward you/It feels like a dream that I’ll never wake up from/It really seems/Like a dream/I hope this is a dream that I’ll never wake up from/I hope things will never change/I hope the place where love lingers/Can be somewhere we can be together/It feels like a dream that I’ll never wake up from/It really seems/Like a dream/I remember the day we first met/You came to me on a dazzling and bright day/Thank you so much/For coming to me.” (A/N: this was the OST Onew sang called “In your Eyes.” Yes, I cut it short as well). Joon hyung’s face grows pinker as he embraces Onew hyung.

            I called it, Gun Tae wags his tail. It’s almost like a ‘confess your feelings’ night.

            “Guess I should’ve sung too.” I chuckle.

            “Well, I guess I can’t top your singing, but I can try~” The crowd cheers as Joon hyung clears his throat. “Smiling innocently, /Your voice always/shines on me/Because you are (with me) I can smile./I just want you/If you are (with me) I don’t need anything else/I just need you/Your everything, I love you/Always I'll be by your side/Always I'll be by your side/No matter how much I think, I'm dazed, my head's full of nothing but you./I can't stop, I'll bank my everything on it and try/By your side/Kiss kiss kiss always/Always baby~/kiss kiss kiss only you (wow~)/I wanna feel you more/With all my love I send you a kiss.” (A/N: this is SHINee’s “Kiss Kiss Kiss”). I look over at Onew hyung who is literally hiding his face because of how red it is. “My lovely Onew promised me if I return from this alive, I can kiss him as many times as I want!” The crowd breaks out laughing and cringing at the two men’s relationship. No wonder why the song mentioned ‘kiss’ so many times. He was making fun of Onew hyung’s promise and declaring that he will kiss him many times.

            The crowd settles down as the crown prince arrives. He declares that he shall also do a performance, in honor of his talented warriors. Baekhyun hyung remains in the corner, where he was writing down everything that occurred this entire night. On the other hand, Jimin joins the crown prince on stage and they dance together. There was definitely something graceful about their moves. We clap for the two and the crown prince asks us to raise our drinks. “A toast to tomorrow’s battle!” We all cheer and down our drinks. We look around the party and acknowledge everyone. No matter who returns or who is gone after this, we will all remain friends. We will keep everyone alive in our memories. The dark clans will meet their doom tomorrow.

~Comments are loved~