Sungyeol and Myungsoo made their way to the elevator to leave their apartment for another day of school. It was Thursday morning. and Sungyeol gleefully held his paper with both hands in excitement. He had never been so proud of an essay, and with a lot of the facts from Myungsoo he knew it would guarantee him a raise for his grades. "Thank you so much Myungsoo, for everything." Sungyeol jumped in the air, unable to contain his excitement and put his paper down. "This might be the best paper I've ever written. All thanks to you. I mean, sure it wasn't my critical thinking, but you know what I mean."

Myungsoo bowed his head, holding onto his backpack straps as they headed to school. "It is of no problem for me. I am glad I can help you in any way."

"So... you and Sungjong told Dongwoo what's going on?" Sungyeol brought up, worried that more people were let in on the secret.

"Your brother had to tell him the truth to stop him from attacking me last night."

"Oh yeah!" As the elevators closed on them for the lobby, it was only the two of them inside. Sungyeol leaned in to murmur softly. "So were you serious when you said there is a Jang Jungho who makes your carpets?"

Myungsoo beamed, remembering one of the carpets he has in his own bedroom chambers. "Jang Jungho was a legend during my time! He was highly regarded as one of the best artisans. He not only makes carpets but he also makes hanboks. In my room, I have a dark blue, black, and golden carpet. Everything he makes he does by himself. He is incredibly gifted and perfected the craft."

"Ah." Sungyeol was curious about a lot more things from the past. "What were the people like in the House of Lee?" he tried to hold himself back, feeling embarrassed by all the questions he asked. "I'm sorry, I'm just curious."

"No, it is not a problem at all." The elevator landed to the main lobby. The two exited out to make their way to school, and Myungsoo continued to speak more of the past. "The House of Lee is a very well respected ruling household way before the House of Kim. They are of older prestige, when a member walked amongst the town everyone knew his or her name. Their ruling was not that long. Only 15 or so years. When the final male of the family died, Lee Changmin, there were only daughters left and could not take the throne. That is how the House of Kim began."

"Damn, really?" Sungyeol seemed disappointed. "No wonder there is only two whole paragraphs about my clan in the history books..."

Myungsoo giggled, amused by Sungyeol's interest in his past. "The women of the Lee clan were still powerful, and as they grew up their family became that of the most brilliant scholars of the Joseon. In fact, one of my teachers is a Lee. I would assume that the House of Lee grew up to be the most inventive people in the world, but now I understand that somewhere along the way was a bad apple." Myungsoo joked along, poking Sungyeol in his arm to make fun of him.

"YA!" Sungyeol had to defend himself, wanting to punch the Crown Prince in the face. "I can be smart when I need to be. I was one of the top ranking students at my high school. I just have rough patches once in a while."

As the two headed out, Sungyeol paid no attention to the sidewalk and almost slipped. Close to falling, Myungsoo grabbed onto his backpack and pulled Sungyeol up right before he could trip right on his face. 

"What the hell was..." As Sungyeol settled, he looked at the ground to see what he slipped on.

A broken plastic bag with raw short ribs spread out across the walkway.

Sungyeol scratched his head. "How the hell did short ribs get on the sidewalk? Someone must have gone grocery shopping and dropped their food." There was not much more he could ponder over, shrugging his shoulders and continuing on his way to make it for the subway.

Myungsoo remembered yesterday, upon Sungyeol arriving back at his apartment Dongwoo, Sungjong, and himself gathered at the window. Sungyeol and Taeyeon seemed to have made amends in some way or another, smiling at each other with Sungyeol even offering his jacket to her before she left. The same jacket that Sungyeol threw in Myungsoo's face when Taeyeon came over. The short ribs came from a bag Myungsoo used to ice his face, and eventually he accidentally dropped it to its doom. Myungsoo continued following Sungyeol, bringing up the situation as bluntly as possible. "So is Taeyeon still in love with you?"

Sungyeol halted his steps with Myungsoo walking into his shoulder. Sungyeol turned around as he started tensing up, sweat collecting at the back of his neck as the T word and L word were both mentioned in the same sentence. Especially to hear it out of Myungsoo's mouth, Sungyeol was shocked.

"Sorry. I saw you outside last night talking to her," Myungsoo admitted, lowering his head because he knew observing them was wrong.

Sungyeol's throat dried up with the admission, his hand almost crushing his term paper as he tried to figure out the best way to answer that question. There was not a single doubt in his mind that he still loved Taeyeon with all of his heart. But the opposite? Sungyeol never got the confirmation, but he forced himself to believe it was possible. "I had a talk with Taeyeon after she looked at this essay actually. All that you need to know right now is that our relationship is on the right track."

Myungsoo smiled, his dimples showing as he was genuinely happy for Sungyeol. "Good. Love is not something that leaves so easily. I have to admit. Since I started talking about Daehyun, I have been questioning my feelings for him and Naeun. You say that I am confusing friendship feelings with falling in love, but I do not think I am."

Sungyeol placed a hand on Myungsoo's shoulder, gently squeezing it to comfort him. "Really, you have a lot of time to think about it. A week to be exact. Don't dwell on this to the point that it hurts your head. Whoever you love, when you realize it it will come with the snap of a finger." To accompany his saying, he snapped right in front of Myungsoo's nose.

Myungsoo flinched a little, blinking and moving his head back. "Thank you Sungyeol. You have been a help to me as well."

"Like I said... you have one more full week to think about this. Love is not something you rush in an hour." Sungyeol and Myungsoo stared at each other, knowing that both of them have been overwhelmed with too many feelings regarding school, family, the facts of life, and an execution. There was so much they could talk about, but in the meantime they had to get to school. Sungyeol pulled on Myungsoo's hand to get their trek to Korea University going. "I don't want to be late."

Myungsoo nodded his head. "What will we do for my final week in 2014?"

Sungyeol bit his lip, who had tried devising a plan for the past couple of days since Myungsoo expressed interest in staying a little longer. "I was thinking that this Saturday, I will take you out shopping in the city so that your final week you can use your own clothes. Whatever you want, I can pay for you as well. My mom just sent Sungjong and me allowance so I have some money to spare."

"Wait!" Myungsoo hugged himself as he wore a brown button-up jacket with a pair of jeans, topped with red tennis shoes. Once again, he wore Sungyeol's Korea University hat. "I like your clothes."

"I know," Sungyeol smirked. "I like my clothes too, but I'd rather wear them myself."

(((())))

The clamor, the crowd, the bright colors. All of it pointing to one of the liveliest areas of Seoul. Myungdong, the premiere creme of the crop for all shopping needs. International stores and Korean stores alike, this place was bustling spot every Saturday for all ages. There was nothing more fun than spending a simple Saturday afternoon shopping for clothes, catching lunch or dinner, or simply walking around with friends.

What could possibly go wrong?

"MYUNGSOO!"

Sungyeol pushed several people aside to grab Myungsoo's arm, pulling him right off the way as Myungsoo almost walked off in front of a moving truck. Myungsoo wanted to cross the street, but happened to choose the time right as a moving vehicle came by. In the effort to save him, Sungyeol knocked right into Myungsoo and fell on top of him to the floor.

"What are you doing!" Myungsoo complained, banging the back of the ground.

Sungyeol quickly brushed himself off and got off the floor, pulling Myungsoo back up before the people around would look at him. "Damnit Myungsoo, how many times do I have to tell you? Vehicles will NOT stop for the Crown Prince! Pedestrians don't have the right of way."

"That does not seem safe. Moving carriages would always stop for people," Myungsoo refuted.

"Yeah. Because horses barely went fast," Sungyeol scoffed.

After getting their act together, Sungyeol and Myungsoo continued to Turning right in Myungdong, the two headed down the road to one of Sungyeol's favorite stores.

"By the way, congratulations on surviving execution!" Sungyeol joked, patting Myungsoo on the back. "It's officially passed your fate of death by two days."

"Thank you Sungyeol." Myungsoo closed his eyes for an eye smile. "It is good to know that I am free and alive."

Reaching an intersection of the street, Sungyeol hooked onto Myungsoo's shoulder to move him to his favorite place to shop: Lotte Department Store. One of the largest multi-level stores, Lotte Department provided everything Sungyeol and Sungjong ever needed. The place housed every type of thing you could imagine, all organized into different sections for your shopping pleasure. The place was easily navigable and their starting area for shopping; a shirt with buttons, a shirt without a button, a shirt with buttons that go towards the middle and end once moving down the waist. Myungsoo was already captivated the first time Sungyeol showed him his closet, but now he realized that his options had always been limited.

"Alright Myungsoo, like I said on the subway here knock yourself out. Don't hold yourself back." Sungyeol turned to Myungsoo and brought his hands out to show everything on display. "Where do you want to start first?"

At this moment, a young couple passed by the two of them wearing very revealing outfits: the female wore a yellow tank top eccentuating her s and paired it up with black skin tights that showed no mercy towards her , while the male wore a tight pair of skinny jeans tighter than anything he had seen in Sungyeol's closet, ripped at the knees and thighs with a v-neck shirt that scooped way below his chest. Myungsoo was shocked, though no the first time he had seen styles like this in the modern era.

"Myungsoo?" Sungyeol waved his hand in front of Myungsoo, who was hypnotized by the male's choice of outfit. 

Finally, Myungsoo spoke out. "Their outfits frighten me."

Sungyeol scratched his head with a nervous giggle. "Yeah. You haven't seen the extremes of fashion until you go to a place like this."

Myungsoo shook his head. "I do not want anything like that."

"Don't worry. I wouldn't subject you to having your s out in public like that."

Wondering what kinds of clothes he could buy, Myungsoo had to think of where it hurt him the most. "Are there any places where I can find something better than skinny jeans?"

"Hey, you said you liked wearing my skinny jeans?"

"I do," Myungsoo tried to jusutify himself. "I have gotten used to it, but I would prefer something looser. I am not used to pants tightening up to the point of the drawers you gave me filling in between my crack and scrotum..."

"OK MYUNGSOO, YOU GET WEDGIES, I GET THE POINT." Sungyeol tried to do his best blocking that mental image out of his head. He never understood the fine line... Grabbing onto Myungsoo's hand, he brought him to an area that he thought Myungsoo would enjoy. "So you're looking for something more comfortable?"

"Yes."

Sungyeol bit his lip as he searched through different racks of what he was looking for. After some digging, moving hangers around, and throwing some strange alien clothing out of the way he found what he was looking for. Taking off the hanger, he presented the item in front of Myungsoo and placed it right at his waist. "Shorts."

"Shorts?"

"Shorts. Shorts are lightweight and easy to manage. They're very airy and pleasant to move around in. All of your special parts won't be bothered. Hell, you bring these back to Joseon and you might start a new trend." Sungyeol handed the pair of shorts to Myungsoo, colored with coral and folded at the edges to land right at the knee.

Myungsoo took the shorts and question and inspected each detail of it, from the pockets to the the seams to pulling it apart to stretch and see how far it would go.

There was one little detail that Myungsoo did not like.

"So my legs are going to show?"

Sungyeol shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, some of your legs."

Myungsoo was skeptical. "I do not want to show my legs. It is not in good decency for a male to wear shorts."

"Come on Myungsoo, I told you that when times go by males and females are wearing less and less fabric."

"But that does not mean I need to stop. I can help bring this era back to where it should belong! Modesty in fashion."

Sungyeol was bewildered by that statement, covering his mouth to try and hold back his laugh. "Believe me prince, we've gone way past the line and there is no turning back."

"Well I refuse to put these on." Myungsoo shoved the pair of shorts in Sungyeol's stomach, acting like the prince he was.

"Come on, don't be like this Myungsoo. Like Sungjong and I have told you multiple times, this is how it is." Sungyeol had heard this speech on multiple occasions from him, and just when he thought Myungsoo was getting used to the times he somehow took a step back.

Myungsoo shook his head. "I will not allow myself to participate in such a flagrant act of indecency, even if it is what everyone is doing it. No Sungyeol. I will not buy those shorts."

(((())))

Sungjong lay on the couch with his laptop in an attempt to start his homework when Sungyeol and Myungsoo finished their day out and entered the apartment. "How was shopping?" he asked. "Did you buy anything?"

Myungsoo was the first to enter with a satisfied grin. "Shorts."

"And eight pairs of them." Sungyeol balanced shopping bags from eight different stores in his arms and threw them on the floor of their apartment. "Everytime Myungsoo walked out with a pair of shorts, he saw another store in passing that had more shorts. In fact, all he bought was shorts."

"Shorts are the new trend," Sungjong hummed, pointing to his thighs at the red pair of shorts he sported.

"I am going to put on a pair right now," Myungsoo announced, grabbing the bright pink bag of Studio K shorts and running to the bathroom, closing the door right behind him.

Sungyeol plopped onto the floor, lying on his back in exhaustion over the busy shopping day. There was nothing he wanted more than to rest after four straight hours of shopping.

"So... how was your date with the Crown Prince?" Sungjong chuckled as he surfed the internet.

"Ya, I told you both situations were accidents!" Sungyeol took one of the bags of shorts and covered his face with it, hiding his embarrassment of being insulted by his brother.

"Whatever," he snided, closing his laptop because he had no use for it anyway. Sungjong placed it on the coffee table and sat himself up on the couch, starting a conversation with Sungyeol to distract him from homework. "How was shopping anyways?"

Sungyeol's voice was muffled. "I don't know, it was alright."

"I didn't understand a single thing you said?"

Sungyeol took the shopping bag off of his face and threw it on the other side of the living room. "I said," he repeated, "that it was alright. In fact, it was... pretty cool." Looking back on their time together, Sungyeol thought about it and had nothing but good things to say about their time spending out. All of it made him smile. "It was a lot of fun honestly. Nothing problematic happened. I had a really good time hanging out with Myungsoo. I only wish he didn't spend 120,000 won of my money on only shorts..."

"Are you serious?!" Sungjong felt like complaining, groaning on the couch and pouting. "I was hoping you would have a miserable time. Nothing but bad accidents happen whenever I'm by myself with Myungsoo..."

"How do I look?"

Myungsoo came out to the living room with a confident walk, showing off his new pair of shorts. The shorts were cut right below his knee, a brown color that was close to gray and contrasted with a lot of his outfits. The shorts were pleated on his sides, also having black stripes running down the bottom for a fashion statement. The shorts fit perfectly around his waist without any tight feeling in his groin, just as loose as Sungyeol explained they would be. Myungsoo was thoroughly satisfied with his purchase. "Do these look ok?"

Sungyeol and Sungjong observed their guest as he modeled the shorts for them with the same shirt he wore out. The shorts fit him well, showing off a distinct style and personality with what he wore. Myungsoo looked a lot more earthy, blending in. Instead of bright hanboks, the darker colors suited him the best.

"Not bad," Sungjong applauded. "You're blending in, kid."

"Yeah." Sungyeol nodded his head, pleased with Myungsoo's outfit. "Not bad at all."

(((())))

It was nothing more than a typical Sunday night at the Lee brothers apartment. As far as typical goes when a prince from Joseon is sleeping in your bedroom.

Sungyeol took up majority of the dining table, scattering different books and documents. Sungyeol switched off between reading up on Regent Bang Sok's implementation of a new irrigation system for farmers as well as finding out more information on Sunggyu. Balancing a quiz and Myungsoo's justice, Sungyeol was a bit flustered getting it together. Switching off from his history book to Sunggyu's diary, Sungyeol grabbed his drink too chug and concentrate.

Myungsoo and Sungjong were in the living room, connecting Sungjong's laptop to the flat screen for a better view.

"Now when you ring ding dong, you squat with your thighs and bring yourself up." Sungjong put his hand out and spread his legs apart, demonstrating the SHINee's "Ring Ding Dong" dance for Myungsoo to follow. Taking it slow, he squat down and stuck his out, emphasizing every move he had to make to perfect it.

Myungsoo glared at Sungjong like he was crazy, scratching his head at the difficult dance and overall strange music video. Their outfits are absolutely atrocious! And why do they have wings like a bird? "I am perturbed by this. What does it mean to ring ding dong anyways? It sounds malicious."

It had been 30 minutes and Sungjong expected Myungsoo to pick up the dance faster. "Maybe you need squating lessons..." Sungjong walked up to Myungsoo, sharing a quick glance at each other. Sungjong placed his hands on Myungsoo's shoulders and provided a gentle smile.

Until it turned into a furious rage and Sungjong pushed him down into a squat that had him barely touching the ground.

"YAAAA!!! SUNGJONG!" Myungsoo cried, grabbing onto his wrists to pull him off.

" IT UP MYUNGSOO! SQUAT IT! SQUAT IT OUT!" Sungjong demanded, only pushing him harder for a tougher squat.

Sungyeol watched the mess from the table and smirked. Bad things always happen when the two of them are around each other. He continued to look at a specific journal entry dated three months after Myungsoo's execution. He got a highlighter hanging off the top of his ear and followed the words with the cap on. 

I admit. I have done some things that I really regret. I have done some unthinkable things. I want to feel depressed. I want to punish myself for my wrongdoings, but at what? The expense of my happiness? I am sorry, my dear cousin Kim Myungsoo... but I need happiness too. I take back what I said before. I do not have regrets.

Naeun, she is my muse, my angel, my everything. Our marriage will mean the world to me.

"You son of a ..." Sungyeol muttered to himself, raising his head to watch Sungjong continually torturing Myungsoo into oblivion with squatting exercises. "Hey, Myun-"

Suddenly, Sungyeol's phone started to vibrate.

Taeyang... You're My...

There was no other person who would be texting Sungyeol with that ringtone.

Text [1]: Kim Taeyeon.

Sungyeol immediately grabbed his phone and shoved it down his pocket to muffle the tune, but both Myungsoo and Sungjong already caught the message. Sungjong stopped his training and left Myungsoo alone all together, standing up straight with chills sending down his spine as he heard the ringtone. Without Sungjong's support, Myungsoo fell flat on his . Sungjong was just too distracted.

Sungyeol wanted the tune to end, getting up from his seat and running as fast as possible to his room to check out the text. Sungyeol's heart started racing, not expecting the call in any way. The butterflies started flying in his stomach, hitting the sides and making him unstable. Sungyeol closed the door behind him, leaning against it and taking one deep breath before looking at the text. She's texting me. What does she want to tell me? Sungyeol slid the phone out of his pocket as the ringtone ended, taking one last glance at reality: one text from Kim Taeyeon. Sliding his thumb against the screen, Sungyeol retrieved the text.

"Hey Sungyeol. I am sorry to bother you, but this Wednesday I have three tickets to go watch a seminar for Kim Hodong at Seoul National University. I was going with everyone in my research group, Woohyun and Shinsong, but both of them can't go. If you want to go with me, and bring Sungjong or something, text me back," from Kim Taeyeon.

It was the breakthrough he wanted. He knew that they could not stay apart for that long, but now knowing for a fact that she still wanted to spend time with him almost made his insides explode. Sungyeol was a nervous wreck. He could not stop breathing heavily, his hands shaking as he spent the next five minutes struggling to send in his response.

"Yes," from Lee Sungyeol.

After the ordeal was over, misspelling the simple word, Sungyeol shoved the phone back in his pocket and let out a sigh of relief. The worst was over, and Sungyeol practically had a date with Taeyeon once more. Well, at least in his head it was a date. He would figure out the details on the +1 to bring. For now, all that mattered is that his ex still expressed interest even after their breakup. The road to recovery.

With a relaxed state of mind, Sungyeol took a deep breath and touched his door knob, twisting it to go back to his studies.

Unfortunately, Sungjong was standing right outside in the hallway with his hands crossed and lips puckered in disappointment.

"Sungjong!" Sungyeol was shocked to see him so soon, stumbling forward and closing his bedroom door as if there was something to hide. "Um, do you need anything?"

"I thought you changed the ringtone for her?" Sungjong interrogated.

Sungyeol tried to make his face as nonchalant as possible. "Not yet. I will soon."

Sungjong shook his head. "What did she tell you?"

"Who is she?" Sungyeol tried to act innocent.

Sungjong rolled his eyes. "Shut up and tell me what happened."

Sungyeol had no choice, shoving his hands down his pockets and taking out his phone to show off to his brother. "Taeyeon asked me to go to a history seminar with her."

Sungyeol's brother showed nothing but worry. "Hyung, you're falling into a trap."

"What trap?!" Sungyeol was delusional, knowing that this relationship would work out. "Taeyeon wants to hang out with me again. Maybe she sees another me that she missed before."

"I know. It's just..." Sungjong banged his fist on their hallway wall. "Damnit Sungyeol! You know I hate showing emotion. but I just have to say this. If it turns out that she only wants to be your friend like what she said when you two first broke up, I don't want you to be in a daze about it. If the truth isn't what you want, I don't want you to get hurt again. I am not going to pick you off the floor again. Literally. The day she broke up with you, I had to drag your arm to your room!"

"I know, I know, don't worry about me. I know all of that," Sungyeol tried to convince himself. In the end, the lingering feeling of getting back with Taeyeon was stronger than ever.

Myungsoo listened in on the conversation as it happened. It was a strange connection he started feeling, but everything Sungyeol did he resonated with. His family, his dreams, his opinions on several different subjects. With the idea of Sungyeol and Taeyeon potentially getting back together, Myungsoo wanted to do nothing but help him out. Myungsoo was a believer of love as well, and even though his thoughts about Daehyun were complicated he wanted to help a friend out in discovering his own. 

"Good. I mean..." Sungjong hesitated, covering his eyes in shame of what he would say next. "We're brothers after all and I care about you kind of sort of maybe..."

"Aww." Sungyeol loved when Sungjong confessed his true feelings of brotherly love, making fun of it any chance he got. He stuck his hands out for a wide embrace. "Hug me!"

"No! Hyung! Stop it! STOP IT!" Sungjong squealed. But it was too late, with Sungyeol hugging his brother as tight as possible and turning him in the air. Sungjong weeped as he begged for his brother to get off of him.

As all of this happened, Myungsoo watched from the living room as the two brothers sharing love for each other. Several thoughts ran through Myungsoo's mind of his own brother Moonsoo. He had not seen him for a long time, and he wondered if Moonsoo missed him. Because Myungsoo surely did, as a single tear ran down his face thinking about the family he left behind. All that he wished for was having the same love and support from his brother to prove himself innocent as he returned back to the Joseon. I will be home soon.

(((())))

"In the most recent diary entry I read, it was the day of Sunggyu's marriage with Naeun. I'm unsure how long after your execution this happens." Sungyeol began.

Myungsoo crossed his arms, squinting his eyes as the plot unfolded. "Your history book is accurate. They really do get married."

Sungyeol nodded his head. "And right before the wedding, he said that all the things he did to get to this point, he did not regret..."

Dongwoo swung the doors of Starbucks and searched for Sungyeol and Myungsoo in line. As Sungyeol was explaining, he raised his hand to show where he was. Dongwoo pushed himself close to the front, where Sungyeol and Myungsoo were the next customers in line to be served. He held his phone in his hand and waved it in their faces, pointing at what looked like an article of breaking news. "Have any of you watched the news recently?" Dongwoo exclaimed, his eyes looking almost worrisome.

"No, what?" Sungyeol asked.

"The CEO of Hyundai, Kim Chung Ho, has gone missing."

"Missing? What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Dongwoo took a deep breath. "But I read in the article that recently they announced a new business plan for energy efficient cars that had stocks fly high. There's an insider that many companies took note. Some people think he even got kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Sungyeol shook his head in disbelief. News like this was once in a full moon. "No, that's crazy. People like him don't ever get kidnapped!"

"His name sounds familiar. Sungjong has mentioned a name like that," Myungsoo chimed in.

"Yeah. Dude, I wonder what Sungjong's going to say." Sungyeol slapped his forehead as he remembered Sungjong met him more than a week ago for a business club meeting. It was fascinating to him how fast time moved, and how in an instant something could be missing, "I hope his family is ok."

"I hope so too." Dongwoo nodded his head as he noticed Myungsoo an outfit different than when he first met him. Instead of being adorned in college memorabilia, Myungsoo wore a much more casual outfit one would wear out on a sunny day. He wore a gray pair of shorts that were baggy around the thigh region, but as they came down to the knee the shorts were tight. Folded at the bottom was a plaid pattern, as well as another plaid pattern imitated at the pockets. On top of that, Myungsoo wore a simple navy blue collared shirt that Dongwoo believed to be Sungyeol's. "Myungsoo, I like your outfit."

"Thank you," Myungsoo bowed slightly. "I bought the shorts, but this is Sungyeol's shirt."

"What were we talking about... Oh!" Sungyeol pointed his finger at the ceiling, then towards Dongwoo to brief him on the current situation. "Myungsoo has this cousin Sunggyu, who I've confirmed to be the actual murderer of Myungsoo's father. He loved Myungsoo's fiance so much, Sunggyu killed his uncle in an elaborate plan that also involved screwing Myungsoo over so that he can also take the throne. It was a win-win for him, and in the end Sunggyu got the throne because Myungsoo's brother Moonsoo is too young."

"This much drama happened in the 15th century?" Dongwoo raised an eyebrow, stunned by how ridiculous that sounded. "Sounds like Cinderella's Sister to me."

"I read this document recently about the servants of the Joseon court, and one of the entries was the day leading up to Myungsoo's dad's death. Here is an important piece of the puzzle: Before Myungsoo had the drinks, Sunggyu was the last person to hold them before he gave them away."

"No..." Dongwoo and Myungsoo said in unison.

"Next!"

It was the three of their turns to order their drinks. They walked up to the counter to place their orders.

Sungyeol took the lead. "One caffe americano... Dongwoo did you want a mocha?"

"Yes," Dongwoo nodded.

"Yeah one mocha. And lastly, give me a hot chocolate with an extra pump of syrup."

As the barista wrote down all the drinks to make, the Dongwoo, Sungyeol, and Myungsoo moved over to the side to wait. For Myungsoo, all of this was comonplace considering the amount of times they stopped here before Sungyeol's classes, in between Sungyeol's classes, and after Sungyeol's classes. Yet, there was still one mystery Sungyeol wanted to solve for Myungsoo's Starbucks adventures.

"You got Myungsoo a hot chocolate?" Dongwoo wondered.

Sungyeol shrugged his shoulders. "Myungsoo has tried everything here and hated it. I've come to the conclusion that maybe our prince doesn't like the coffee taste at all... I'm thinking he will enjoy this hot chocolate."

Myungsoo smiled, not a single clue of what Dongwoo and Sungyeol were talking about it.

"Ok so about the servants... yeah. Myungsoo, what are some of the last things you remember about that night?"

Thinking back, Myungsoo compared the fateful night to everything Sungyeol informed him. "You are correct. When I walked into our palace kitchen, Sunggyu did have the drinks. It was my original task to pour the drinks, but I was running late due to my mother and servant's conflicting opinions on my dress. When I retrieved my chore, Sunggyu was already there."

"If that's the case, that means every drink at that dinner was poisoned. Because Myungsoo didn't taste or do anything with the drinks beforehand," Dongwoo realized.

"My cousin was about to massacre the whole court?!" Myungsoo screamed.

His voice boomed throughout all of Starbucks for everyone to stare. Sungyeol placed his hand on Myungsoo's face to shut him up. "I think that Sunggyu had intentions of wiping out the whole court," he whispered. "But I still haven't figured out that detail yet, because in that case if Naeun had a drink she would go down as well. I wonder... Myungsoo was technically supposed to make the drinks, but would Sunggyu have been a server then? Royalty would not be subject to that, but there are details. Sunggyu could have also snuck in the flowers specifically in King Myunghae's drink when we least expected it."

Dongwoo started rubbing his forehead thinking about all of this. "This really hurts my head..."

"Sungyeol."

That was their cue to retrieve their drinks. Sungyeol took every drink and examined the markings, passing it to each friend accordingly for them to drink. "This really is Cinderella's Sister... or maybe City Hunter?" Sungyeol commented, taking a sip of his drink.

Dongwoo blew a breath into his mocha to cool it off, cradling the cup carefully with two hands. "Now my question is, when you take Myungsoo back to the Joseon Dynasty how is everything going to pan out?" Once Dongwoo found out about their secret, he could not help but find himself being drawn into the story and enigma that was Crown Prince Kim Myungsoo. It was just as riveting as Myungsoo and the new world.

Myungsoo gripped his cup and answered the question. "I will return to the royal court as the exiled prince, and with all the proof in my hand there is nothing I can do about it. Also I have certain people I trust who will support me, such as my right hand man Daehyun, my brother... I would like to think Naeun would support me but I am afraid of coming back and history already taking its course with her and Sunggyu dating. This can all be figured out before Friday." After some time spent cooling off, Myungsoo tried his luck and brought the cup of hot chocolate to his lips, tilting the clip slightly for the singlest drop to fall on his tongue. As he brought the cup back down Myungsoo his lips and beamed, not a single hesitation to it. "Sungyeol, this chocolate that is hot is scrumptious! The best thing I have ever tried at this place."

"See?" Sungyeol jabbed Dongwoo on his waist to show off. "Told you he would like hot chocolate."

The three of them made their way out of Starbucks, another week in modern times unfolding before Myungsoo's departure.

HELLO EVERYONE!

As I have finished my other chaptered fanfic of mine, this one is going in full swing from now on.

In our next chapter, without spoiling much you can expect a very interesting date to the history seminar... As well as... I can't say that part.

Also, a new character will be introduced in this fanfic in two chapters! Who will it be? Well, it a process of elimination you can probably figure that for yourself ;D

LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!

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