The day had finally come, when all nine boys gathered again as planned to visit Baekhyun's house. The grown ups had no idea about this; they actually believed the boys' excuses.


Luhan told Kris that he was going hunting for a pony at the horse field with Xiumin and Tao, and the king sent them off happily without being suspicious at all, although their stable was already packed with Luhan's pet ponies.


Sehun told Suho that he needed to go with Kai to accompany Kyungsoo to the market to buy some stuffs. The king was a bit suspicious at first, because he knew too well that his son would prefer spending all day on the training field than going shopping for groceries.


Usually it was the servants who went shopping, but this time Kyungsoo helped the princes by explaining to the king that he wanted to go on his own to find certain stuffs he had missed on the food festival the day before. With that, Kai and Sehun insisted that they needed to go with the chef, just to protect him in case if someone would hurt or harass the squishy boy.


To make it safe, they added their excuses of going to the water village with Chanyeol and Baekhyun for refreshing and to see Kai's foster parents. With that last excuse, Suho allowed them to go without second thoughts.


And it couldn't be easier for genius Chenchen to get his mother's permission to go. He simply said he was going out to play with Xiumin and the other handsome boys who had visited them few days ago, and it was enough to make his mother squeal in delight. Especially when the said eight boys turned up at her door, with nine gallant horses behind them.


"Good morning, ma'am!" the eight greeted and bowed in unison.


The middle aged woman kept squealing and fangirling at them, even after they all got on their horses. Chen jumped on a horse Xiumin had brought for him and gave a thumbs up at the chubby boy. Chen's mother recognised him as the one who stayed the night at their house few days ago and, based on her son's own confession; his secret crush. She winked teasingly at Chen, who smiled shyly and waved at her before he dashed away, along with the others.


The princes were in disguise though, wearing normal clothes under their thick jackets, so the people who saw them couldn't recognise them easily. Even Sehun and Kai replaced Monggu and Jjanggu's royal saddles with normal ones.


Everything went well as planned.


Sehun and Luhan were riding side by side at the back of the group. The older had Xiumin's pet fawn in his arm, who kept staring up at the pretty boy's face.


"Stop looking at me, Lulu baby. It's so embarrassing," Luhan jutted out his bottom lip slightly, then giggled to himself.


"Even Lulu falls for you too," Sehun chuckled. "You're too pretty."


"Yah, I told you not to call me pretty," Luhan pouted and kicked the younger's leg. "You can call me cute, but not pretty. I'm still manly."


"Yes, I understand," Sehun nodded and smiled cutely. "You're cute and pretty."


"Yah!" Luhan kicked Sehun harder. The rainbow haired prince whined between his laugh.


Sehun's eyes fell on the two boys riding in front of them. Similar to Luhan, Kyungsoo was holding his pet lamb in his arm. Next to him was Kai, who was staring at the smaller boy quietly.


In fact, Sehun had noticed that Kai had been too quiet since the day before. They hadn't had the chance to talk much, since the crown prince had to take some lessons about royal stuffs with his uncle.


And he had noticed something wrong with the way his brother walked. He had seen Kai walking to his room after using the bathroom, and had he been mistaken? It seemed like the older prince had been walking with a limp. Sehun hadn't had the chance to ask about it.


The day before, Kai had spent the rest of the day in his room. The cut on his thigh was deep and there had been lots of blood, so Kyungsoo had decided treating it normally wouldn't be enough. He had been going to tell their wise uncle about it and ask what to do, but luckily he had met a real doctor on his way. Lay had come to their shared room and stitched up the wound without bothering to dig too much information about what had happened to the boy, and they were more than glad about it. The young man knew well about privacy.


Kyungsoo had stayed by Kai's side the whole time, taking care of him, doing anything to comfort him and cheer him up. Kai had been really happy just by being treated like that, he couldn't ask for more.


But he tried his best to hide his limp and ignore the pain which was still stinging his wound. In result, he put on a blank face most of the time. He just didn't want to worry his brother, especially about Jun coming back with his rage.


"Jongin-ah."


Kai snapped out his thoughts and shook his head.


"I'm sorry, I was spacing out again."


"It's fine," Kyungsoo smiled. "We're having fun today, okay?"


"Yes," Kai smiled hesitantly.


"Don't worry," the older whispered. "You'll get better soon."


Kai chuckled and squeezed the other's knee.


"Thank you."


Few feet behind them, Luhan kept giggling and cooing at the scene.


"They're so cute, aren't they?" Luhan said with sparkling eyes. "I can't believe they keep it just like that. They should take the next move."


"You think so? You may not believe it, but Kai is an expert only on his face. He's actually as innocent as me," Sehun batted his eyelashes. "He's not the Dr. Love like everyone thinks."


"He made me wear maid uniform though," Luhan pouted. "And ugh, the striptease. If he's innocent, how could he ask me to do that?"


"Because even a five-year-old might turn into a ert when it comes to you, my baby deer."


Sehun's laugh exploded as Luhan kicked him and smacked him repeatedly, scolding him with flushed face.


"You naughty! Bad! Bad maknae!" Luhan huffed and puffed his cheeks.


"I'm sorry! I was just kidding," Sehun snickered and pinched the other's cheek.


"Hmph," the deer prince looked away, pretending to sulk.


"Aww, Luhan hyung is mad," the younger pouted.


"Maybe I should apologize with a kiss on the forehead? Or maybe on the cheek? Oh, that won't work," he talked to himself. Then he snapped his fingers, his face brightened up.


"I know! My Luhan hyung would like a peck on the lips. His face would turn red, he would even puff his cheeks like a blowfish. Ah, isn't that lovely?" he giggled and covered his mouth.


Luhan tried hard to fight his smile, but failed miserably. A wide grin cracked on his reddening face.


"You're lucky this time, Sehunnie," he laughed and pinched Sehun's cheek mercilessly.


Soon after, they entered the woods from the horse field and found an uphill path. Chanyeol had marked the path to Baekhyun's house by giving signs on the trees, so it was easier for them to get there. But still, the trees were so dense that the sunlight could barely reach the ground. It was quite dark, and there were rustles here and there, causing some of the boys to snap their heads side to side every once in awhile.


They couldn't be happier when finally Baekhyun's big white mansion came into sight.


After they tied their horses on the trees at the front yard, they ran around and laughed happily like little kids.


"Whooa! This place is huge!" Chen opened his arms and spun around.


"How could there be a house this big deep in the middle of the woods?" Luhan shook his head and clicked his tongue in awe.


"No wonder no one knows about this place. This house, and that one over there," Sehun pointed at the medium-sized house next door, "are surrounded by huge trees. Who would want to go this far? I mean, except if you got lost."


"Yeah my brother found this place," Baekhyun shrugged carelessly. "Maybe he actually got lost."


"Come on, let's get in, everyone!" Chanyeol gathered his friends excitedly and pushed them towards the door.


The tallest boy unlocked the double door and pushed it open, revealing a bright spacious hall painted in cream and white with a big chandelier hanging above it. There were long stairs on the right and left side which met on the hallway upstairs, where there were big colorful paintings hanging on its wall.


"Wow this place is really bright!" Xiumin looked up and spun around. "Looks so heavenly."


"Yeah I like it this way," Baekhyun grinned. "I like bright places more than dark ones."


"He's just scared of darkness," Chanyeol snickered, earning a weak slap on his shoulder from the shorter boy.


At the back of the main hall was the living room, with wide clear glass giving the view of the garden at the back.


The boys let themselves scatter around to admire the place in awe.


"Bacon hyung. I didn't expect your house to be this awesome," Tao said as he brushed his fingertips on a white grand piano at the corner of the room.


"Stop calling me bacon, panda," Baekhyun slapped the younger's head and laughed.


Tao took out his camera and made a girlish pose on the piano. Baekhyun sat behind it quickly, grinned widely at the camera and made a peace sign with his fingers. All the boys' ears perked up after the first click, and in three seconds they all stuck together around the piano and gave their widest grins.


"One.. Two.. Three!" Tao counted. Click!


"One.. Two.. Three!" Baekhyun counted again, then they changed their poses.


"One.. Two.. Three! ... One.. Two.. Three!"


They kept counting and making stupid faces.


"Okay that's enough it's getting weird," Baekhyun laughed and pushed the others away. "Let's see how they come out!"


The boys swarmed around the camera and guffawed at their own faces.


"Look at your face! Oh my god," Sehun's laugh boomed as he pointed at Luhan's laughing face in the picture. He imitated the face and guffawed again, along with the others.


"As if you look better!" The deer smacked him repeatedly while also laughing at himself.


Suddenly a gust of cold wind blew between them all, making them shiver and snuggle together to warm each other.


"Why is it so cold suddenly?" Xiumin hugged himself.


"Yeah it was nice and warm few seconds ago," Chen pulled the chubby boy closer and embraced him instinctively.


Xiumin didn't feel too cold anymore somehow.


"This happens a lot," Chanyeol frowned. "I hope it'll go back to normal again soon, so we can play in the pool."


"Yeah that's right! I hope so," the others replied and nodded sadly.


Baekhyun stood up and approached the fireplace. After it was lit, everyone lied around near it and stared at the fire quietly.


The house's owner sat back down between Chanyeol and Kai, and his knee accidentally bumped on Kai's thigh. The tanned winced and flinched away. He bit his lip and squeezed his thigh near his wound, trying hard to control his face and ignore the throbbing pain.


His sudden move had caught everyone's attention though.


"What's wrong with you?" Sehun asked with concern in his voice. Seeing his brother's suffering expression made him feel really bad somehow, although he had no idea what the problem was.


"N-nothing," Kai looked away.


"Yeah of course it's nothing," the rainbow haired boy furrowed his eyebrows, before he crawled to his brother and sat in front of him.


He grabbed Kai's chin and forced him to look into his eyes.


"You can never lie to me. Spit it out."


After few seconds of no response, Sehun's gaze dropped to Kai's thigh. The tanned gulped and scooted closer to Kyungsoo instinctively.


"Are you hurt?" the youngest put his hand on Kai's knee. The latter bowed his head and chewed on his bottom lip, feeling uncomfortable being the center of everyone's attention.


"Where does it hurt?" Sehun let his hand moved a little bit closer to the wound, while his eyes were still locked on the other's.


Kai's lips quivered slightly. He didn't usually cry easily, but his little brother's concern really broke his heart.


"You should stop touching him there, Sehun-ah," Kyungsoo sighed. He took Kai's hand and squeezed it gently to get his full attention.


They threw meaningful gazes at each other, as if they were talking through their eyes.


"It's okay," the older whispered. "Let them know."


Kai glanced at the others' curious faces before he nodded hesitantly.


Kyungsoo circled his arm around the younger's shoulders and let him rest his head on his shoulder.


"To begin with.. We have good news and bad news. Which one do you guys want to know first?" Kyungsoo asked calmly.


"Bad one," the other boys answered in unison.


"At least the good news can fix our mood later," Luhan added.


"Okay," Kyungsoo nodded and heaved a long breath. He rubbed Kai's arm soothingly, getting a soft whimper in return.


Sehun moved to his brother's side and patted his back.


"So.. We met someone yesterday," Kyungsoo started. "Jongin-ah told me that he was the guy who chased Luhan hyung and Xiumin hyung back then."


"Ooh that drunk baboon!" Luhan gasped and widened his eyes. "He kidnapped me! Who is he? What did he do to you guys??"


Next to Xiumin, Chen's body had turned rigid.


Have they found out it was 'him'..?


"He.." Kyungsoo bit his lip and fidgeted. "He harassed me and hurt Jongin-ah."


Everyone gasped and covered their mouths.


"How dare he harassed our squishy Kyungie!" Luhan exclaimed.


"I don't really mind that part now though."


"He doesn't mind being harassed."


"That's not what I meant!" Kyungsoo threw a cushion at Baekhyun's face and puffed his cheeks. The puppy gaped at the sudden attack and nodded slowly.


"I mean, it's nothing if compared to what he did to Jongin-ah," Kyungsoo pouted. He tilted his head to see Kai's blank face.


"What did he do to him?" Sehun asked impatiently.


"He left a deep cut on his thigh with a pocket knife."


"Oh my gosh," Baekhyun turned pale, while the others started to make a fuss about the said guy.


"How dare he hurt our baby Jongin!"


"He should be extinct already."


"He needs to be arrested for hurting a prince!"


"Who let him escape the zoo anyway?"


"Yah, calm down you guys," Chanyeol shushed the others. "Let him finish it first."


The boys stopped their cussing and paid attention to Kyungsoo again. "Um.." Kyungsoo cleared his throat. "He said he.. wanted to take revenge."


"For what? Failing to Lulu?"


"Baozi!" Luhan slapped Xiumin's shoulder weakly. His pretty face turned red slightly.


"When did you get so straightforward?" he mumbled and cupped his face.


Xiumin looked at him confusedly, while Chen snickered next to him.


"That guy is attracted to pretty boys then," Chanyeol concluded. "I won't let him land a finger on my Baekkie."


Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Luhan stared at each other, then glared at the tall boy.


"We're not pretty boys," Luhan hissed.


"And that is not the reason he wanted to take revenge," Kyungsoo blew his bangs off his forehead.


"It's more.. complicated."


"Just tell them who he is, and they'll know," Kai said with flat voice.


"Tell us already," Sehun pushed.


"He is.. He said his name is Kim Jaejun," Kyungsoo said, almost like a whisper.


"Who is he? Do we know him?" Tao asked.


"No you don't. Only us from K who know him," Kai replied.


"But I've never heard of that name," Chanyeol tilted his head.


"It's Jun."


The K boys snapped their heads towards Chen.


"That Jun?? How do you know it's him??" Chanyeol freaked out slightly. "I- I was his friend and I didn't even know his real name! No one did, except himself and his own parents."


"Of course I know. I helped Luhan hyung, remember? So I met him, and I knew it was him, although he has changed a lot. I even talked to him, and he was really that Jun," Chen explained calmly.


"But.. But how do you know him? Were you his friend too?" Chanyeol asked again, too curious to end it there.


"Not exactly," Chen shrugged. "I helped him once long ago. That's why he listened to me and believed what I said easily when I tricked him to let Luhan hyung go."


"Oh I thought he was just dumb," Luhan nodded to himself.


"No. So, his revenge was cutting Kai's thigh?" Chen asked and raised an eyebrow.


"No, not that," the big eyed boy shook his head. "He said he would make everyone suffer, because everyone has made him suffer too. Everyone hates him."


"That sounds desperate," Baekhyun mumbled, and the others nodded in agreement.


"Sehun-ah."


Kai lifted his head off Kyungsoo's shoulder and moved to Sehun's.


"Don't worry about it, okay?" he glanced up at the blank face.


Noticing the change of Sehun's behavior, Luhan moved to his boyfriend's side quietly. He held Sehun's hand and looked at his face closely. He knew about this Jun guy though, the younger had told him like almost everything.


Sehun didn't say anything. He hadn't even moved a muscle, since the name was mentioned first time.


I'm weak.


That was what came to his mind everytime he remembered the scary boy.


"Sehun-ah," Kai shook his brother's body. "Say something."


"...I'm scared."


Kai widened his eyes. It had been too long Sehun hadn't said those words seriously.


"Don't be scared, I'm still here to protect you, we'll protect each other," Kai hugged him tightly. "Now you're more than strong enough to protect me too, right?"


He knew what was going inside his brother's head, and he'd do anything to convince him that he wasn't weak. Because he really was anything but physically weak.


Sehun looked at Kai with doubt in his eyes.


Am I strong enough to protect him?


"Don't worry about it, baby brother," Kai pecked Sehun's cheek. "No one's gonna hurt you. I let my guard down, but I promise I won't do that again."


Sehun bowed his head and bit his lip.


"Okay," he nodded and smiled. "I'll be strong to protect you."


"We'll protect all of us," Kai squeezed Sehun's hand and flew his gaze to the other boys. "Let's not let him hurt the people we love."


"Yes," Sehun nodded and smiled happily. "I do love you all."


"Awww!" the others cooed and crawled to him to squeeze him tightly. "We love you too, Sehunnie!"


"We'll protect you too, baby," Luhan kissed his cheek and giggled shyly.


"Thank you, Xiao Lu," Sehun chuckled and kissed the deer's temple.


"He thanks him only."


"Yeah well thank you too, Chanyeol hyung and everyone," Sehun rolled his eyes, responding to the tall boy's muffled remark.


The older boys laughed and ruffled the maknae's hair.


"He's so cute, isn't he?" Luhan pinched his boyfriend's cheeks mercilessly.


"Yeah, only when he doesn't put his cold poker face on," Xiumin nodded and poked Sehun's nose.


"I'm warm inside," Sehun widened his eyes and cracked a face-splitting grin. "See?"


"Oh my god that scars my eyes," the bun covered his eyes and turned away, causing the youngest's face to drop again.


"Oh no no no, I'm just kidding," Xiumin laughed and gave him a bear hug.


"Kai-yah! You haven't told us the good news," Chanyeol nudged Kai.


"Oh, that's right," Kai cleared his throat and s