Siwon approached the door of his younger brother’s bed room, catching the distinct noises of sobbing and sniffling that came from inside. He then extended his right hand to one of the three men that stood behind him. In the man’s cupped hands sat a slightly oversized apple that looked as if it was coated with lip gloss, which he then placed on the prince’s waiting palm, though he was secretly reluctant to do so.

Siwon silently ordered the men to leave the place after reminding them that he will need their service some time later. When they all had disappeared from sight, the expressionless prince placed triple knocks on the tall mahogany door that knew was not locked. “Kyu,” he called. “May I come in?”

If Kyuhyun forbid somebody from entering his room, he would just state it verbally; (“No,” “Leave me alone,” or “Do not disturb,”) otherwise, there was permission. So when Siwon’s question was only replied by the incessant sobbing and sniffling of his younger brother, he slowly pushed the door open.

There, at the right end of the room, Kyuhyun was huddling on the windowsill with his head buried in his knees. Since returning from the funeral that morning, the nineteen year-old prince had done nothing other than staying in the room, weeping. He had rendered the whole palace upset, while it was already being in a somber atmosphere due to the recent demise of the king.

At the sight of his helpless brother, Siwon shook his head, but a slight smile appeared across his stoic face. The older prince stepped into the room and approached the younger prince, sat beside him and placed the apple aside. Kyuhyun did not seem to acknowledge his older brother’s presence beside him; either because he was so absorbed in his mourning or because he just refused to care about his surroundings.

“That’s enough, Kyuhyun-ah…” Siwon cooed, trying to sound as empathetic as possible while he ran a hand over his brother’s hair.

“Hyung!” Without warning, the younger prince wailed and threw himself into his brother’s embrace. Siwon blinked, trying to recover from the shock Kyuhyun had caused him with the sudden outburst.

Kyuhyun continued to cry in his brother’s hug as Siwon caressed his hair, murmuring some reassuring words. “There, there… You’re going to waste all the waters that you’ve drank.”

And with that, Kyuhyun’s cry subsided and eventually came to stop. But then, at the thought of the water he drank being wasted…

You are what you eat.

His face contorted and he lost it again. Wasting his nourishment never felt so guilty.

Siwon let out a sigh of exasperation. He sure loved to see his younger brother at his weakest point, but sometimes it got burdensome. Seeing the state of the whimpering prince at that moment, he was reminded of his father’s decision of choosing Kyuhyun as the successor of the throne, which had completely baffled him, let alone that it had upset (angered) him.

Your little brother is well-known all over the world – he’s influential.

Siwon curled his lips with latent ire at the memory. Yes, he admitted Kyuhyun was popular, hundred times more popular compared to him. And yes, he was influential – thanks to his popularity. Kyuhyun was a lucky child whose life seemed almost effortless. Whatever he asked for, he would get. Whatever he ordered, he would be obeyed. He did not need to ask for attention – he always had it. Everywhere he went, all eyes were on him. The damsels swoon, the guys cheered, the elders praised.

Meanwhile, in Siwon’s case, it’s a total opposite…

I’m sorry, son. But the people chose Kyuhyun.

Che. That was why he hated people. They were biased, greedy, spoiled and rigged.

Kyuhyun, while being a spoil brat, was a rule-breaker. The royals were forbidden to befriend the ordinary people and peasants; yet, Kyuhyun had countless of them as friends, both in and outside the kingdom and would occasionally spend the whole evening socializing with them.

Despite the traditional rule which stated that non-royal outsiders were not allowed to enter the palace, Kyuhyun would sometimes bring those friends for a hangout at the palace garden. He let them treat the palace like it was their own home, in which they could just eat to their hearts’ content and savor various types of wine and ale. There were times when he would bring the guys to his room, which often irritated Siwon as he could hear all the rambunctious chatter and laughing noises they made.

The king would tolerate that, reasoning that such attitude could maintain good relationship between the rulers and the people as well as avoiding the peasants from rising in revolt. The only time when he would reprimand Kyuhyun was whenever he felt that the noises they made were too loud or when the palace seemed to run out of wine or food constantly.

To Siwon, the king’s toleration for what Kyuhyun did was too much. Breaking traditional rules was a bad example done by a ruler towards the people, allowing lower-ranked people to savor the palace’s nourishments will make them dependant, giving outsiders the access into the palace would put the palace’s secret information at risk; couldn’t the king think about all of that?

Deep down there, Siwon was aware that the king really loved his younger brother; his father loved Kyuhyun so much that he could not easily say ‘no’ to Kyuhyun. Siwon hated that. He hated Kyuhyun and everything about him. Since the younger prince was born, his life had never been right. It all started when he lost his mother…

“Hyung?”

Caught off-guard by his brother’s voice, the older prince snapped out from his trance.

 “Huh?”

“You okay? You were staring into space like a lifeless soul like for about a minute.” Siwon saw Kyuhyun had stopped crying and was looking at him with evident concern. He could already see his face clearly; his cheeks were stained by dried tears and his bloodshot eyes were swollen. Yet, Kyuhyun looked so precious like an innocent child.

Siwon hated that.

“I’m okay. Are you feeling better now?”

Kyuhyun sank back into his brother’s embrace. “No… Things will never be the same from now on.”

“Of course,” Siwon replied. “But things will be alright after a while. Let daddy rest in peace, okay? Here, I brought something to cheer you up a bit.”

He took the apple from his side and showed it to Kyuhyun, who – for the first time in three days – smiled slightly at upon seeing his favorite fruit.

“Where did you get that from?” Kyuhyun asked, releasing the hug. “That’s a quality fruit,” he remarked.

“From the orchard near the river,” Siwon lied, handing the apple over to the younger prince, albeit having no idea as to where the apple was obtained as it was one of his men who had acquired it.

Kyuhyun turned aside and lay down on his brother’s lap, taking a bite of the vermillion fruit.

Siwon did not try to hide his smile. He placed a hand on Kyuhyun’s forehead and began caressing his brother’s head gently. “Is it good?” he asked.

“Sweet,” the younger replied in between chews. “A quality fruit, indeed.”

Swallowing the chewed apple, he thanked the older prince.

“No problem,” Siwon responded. “Don’t cry anymore, alright? Eventually, we need to put the past behind us and move on.”

Kyuhyun’s expression turned somber again as another wave of sadness washed over him. Before he got too overwhelmed and broke into tears again, the prince took another bite of his favorite fruit.

“I know. It’s just that… everything happened like so suddenly. Daddy fell sick, the people want me to be the king and then daddy is gone. Hyung, I never expect this. I’m not ready to for all of this… responsibility. Why do we have to lose daddy right now? Why am I the one who has to be the king? I mean, hyung, you are older than me and absolutely more matured than I am. You have the vibe of a leader and you have all that it takes to be a ruler. Hyung? Are you alright?”

“I’m okay. It’s just like you said, daddy is gone suddenly. I never expect this too,” lies rolling out from his mouth over again.

“Hyung, I know deep inside there, you had always dreamt to be the king. I can see it.”

Taken aback by his brother’s sincerity, Siwon found himself unable to lie anymore. Trying to at least hide his annoyance, he said, “It’s okay, Kyuhyun. I’m fine with that.” At that very moment, he registered the slight change of color on his younger brother’s face. In an attempt to hold back his deviousness for a little bit more, the older prince managed a stoical smile. “It’s going to be a new beginning from now on, anyway.”

“I’m sorry, hyung,” A sigh escaped Kyuhyun’s lips and he pressed his eyes shut for a second, placing the bitten apple on his chest. He looked somehow distracted to catch the hint of slyness in Siwon’s words. Siwon’s smile morphed into a smirk. The younger prince was breaking into sweats.

“It’s going to be over, soon.”

“Hyung, I feel really weird.”

Kyuhyun’s body was radiating more heat than usual and Siwon knew the poison is taking over. He watched as his brother grew paler and more sweats began appearing on his forehead.

“Is it crying has knocked me out or… it’s something in that weird apple?”

“None of that matter,” Siwon simply replied, earning a bewildered look from Kyuhyun, who, with a lot of effort, tried to get himself to his feet. “What does that suppose to mean?” Kyuhyun asked suspiciously with a hint of alarm.

Siwon replied a little bit too casually, “Whatever puts you on the verge of death now does not matter. Like I said, it’s going to be over soon; you will no longer exist and will never be the king. The people will no longer treat me with indifference. It’s going to be a new beginning from now on.”

Struggling to stand up straight and managed to do so for only a few seconds, Kyuhyun stumbled, reached out and clung to the nearby bedpost, wishing to get as far as possible from his older brother, but his strength was draining fast. “I don’t understand… Hyung... Why- why did you say you’re okay… when you want it so badly that you’re eager to kill me… your own brother, for it?

Siwon rose to his feet, his true emotions were no longer hidden. His expression resembled that of a monster; dark, menacing and proud. He sauntered closer towards Kyuhyun, his stance towering over Kyuhyun’s slump. “You’ll never understand, brother. You’re not the one who always got rejected whenever you speak out.”

His mind was a complete mess as reality hit him into a state of disbelieve and bewilderment. Somehow, he was not surprised if his older brother had ever envied him; he had always been aware of the fact that the king had blatantly acknowledged him over Siwon. He really knew it, he was not heart-blind. But he never knew that his brother’s discontent was up to this extent. Absurd. It’s just too absurd. His heart that was already in pain when he lost his father plunged into deeper agony at the fact that his own brother did not mind taking away his life just in order to seize away his throne. It’s not like he had never considered his brother’s feelings. He had actually made future plans to do something that showed how he cared for Siwon but…

Even if there was any effort he did in the present, his brother’s introvert personality was making it hard to attempt. Looks like he’ll never get the chance…

I’m sorry, hyung…

I’m really sorry…

Kyuhyun had no strength to retaliate. He had no strength to even talk. He was not even able to digest his brother’s incessant mumbling at that moment. Not that he cared, though. Let his brother be. Let him be. He was too drained, too wounded and too discouraged to care about anything. Gravity was pulling him down. His world was turning into a blur. His insides were on the verge of exploding.

Eventually, his consciousness finally gave out. Kyuhyun’s grasp on the bedpost slipped and he keeled over, dropping onto the floor in an unconscious heap.

In less than a minute, his pulse had died out. Siwon let go of his dead brother’s wrist, smiling in satisfaction.

Kyuhyun’s body was dragged towards the window, lifted onto the windowsill and was pushed out. Siwon watched as the body descended two stories down before hitting the ground with a thud.

A horrified scream shattered the silence of the palace. Siwon sighed in content, turning away from the window.

A new era has begun.