After Jongin had left the two, Chanyeol and Baekhyun had a humorous discussion about what Jongin would have been doing during the time being. “See you tomorrow, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun chuckled and patted the boy’s head. “Young Seja must get some sleep, hm?” he tilted his head, and turned to leave. Grabbing his wrist, Chanyeol forced Baekhyun to sit back down on the bed. “Chanyeol.” He said and tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

                “Sleep over, Baekhyun, it’ll be fun! We haven’t had one in so long!” Chanyeol pouted, making Baekhyun chuckle and sigh. “Sleep with me, Baekhyun.” He said it with a demanding tone. Without any more complaint, Baekhyun snuggled into the blankets next to his best friend and slowly fell asleep.

                The two woke up the next morning, Chanyeol’s head on Baekhyun’s stomach and Baekhyun’s hand in Chanyeol’s mouth. “SEJAAAAAAAA!” Jongdae’s shout rang in the palace. Baekhyun quickly got up, almost rolling off the bed if it wasn’t for Chanyeol’s head holding him down. “Baekhyun! What did I tell you about the seja? He’s a future king, you cannot just—“

                Chanyeol rubbed his eyes and grabbed Baekhyun’s hand sleepily. “Don’t yell at him, Jongdae, I asked him to sleep with me.” He yawned, and looked at his eunuch. With a sigh, Jongdae nodded.

                “The Daebi mama is looking for you, seja.” Jongdae huffed, and let in the maids to help Chanyeol change.

                “Halma mama?” Chanyeol blinked in confusion and let the maids take off his robe. “That’s a first.”

                Baekhyun followed Jongdae out of the room and fixed his hair with some of his spit. As soon as he was out of Chanyeol’s ear radius, Jongdae yelled at him for not keeping his distance from the seja. It was okay; Baekhyun was used to this kind of pep talk, and kept it a secret. If Chanyeol knew about it, Jongdae would probably be killed by now, because of how protective he is over Baekhyun when it really should be the other way around. I mean, Baekhyun was the bodyguard, after all.

                Chanyeol bowed and plastered on his Prince smile. “Good morning, halma mama, how are you this fine day?” he asked as he settled down across his step-grandmother. Chanyeol had heard that his grandmother passed away when his father was only ten, making her his step-grandmother. He never really liked step-grandmother, she was scary and he felt like he was being choked by her aura.

                “I’m quite well, seja. I just wanted to see my little seja.” The response had a cold feeling behind it, which made Chanyeol shudder a bit. “Are you feeling okay, seja? I wouldn’t want our future King sick.”

&&

                Kyungsoo eyed his sister and huffed. “I thought you said that dress was too revealing and bright for your liking, Kyunghee.” He raised a brow, making her sister flustered. “Is this because of that Jongin guy?” The part about Jongin slipped out when Kyungsoo asked his sister where she was going, unfortunately.

                Kyunghee swatted her brother away and slipped into her shoes. “I’ll be back before dinner, don’t worry. See you later!” she shouted and skipped out of the house with the basket held tightly in her hand. Her dreams were finally coming true, a boy actually liked her… and quite possibly vice versa. She stopped herself from getting too excited about the reunite and looked around for the fabric market. Kyunghee made sure her braid was neat and clean while she was looking around at the colors of the fabric.

                She was wearing a colorful, bright, and cute hanbok that complimented her. Kyunghee always thought it was a waste of money and time to dress up, especially in bright colors because it was such a contrast to her boring life. Who knew, maybe Jongin could change that. If he ever learned how to tell time, that is. Kyunghee sat down on one of the stools and flipped through a book that was placed on the windowsill. “Kyunghee!” a familiar voice shouted in her ear, making her flinch.

                “J—Jongin?” Kyunghee placed her hand over her chest and heaved up and down with a painful expression on her face. “Oh no… I can’t…” Jongin blinked abnormally, knowing that he messed up again. He quickly hopped in from the window and went by her side.

                “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—“ Jongin was interrupted by Kyunghee’s giggles. “…Hey.” He smiled in relief and placed his hands on his hips.

                “Sorry, I just had to.” Kyunghee laughed, which sounded music to Jongin’s ears. “That’s punishment for coming almost an hour late.” She said and shut him up as soon as he opened his mouth to make excuses. “But you’re here now.” She smiled and grabbed the basket from behind her. “My mother asked you to have some of these, a little token for saving me yesterday.” Kyunghee handed him the petite basket and Jongin looked inside curiously. “Now, what did you want to do?”

                Jongin smiled and looked outside. “Isn’t it a great day to have a picnic?” he grinned at the girl and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the shop abruptly. Soon they reached the outskirts of the busy town and placed the basket down. “I brought some snacks along too.” He held out two treats just for the two of them from his pocket. “I wrapped it with cloth, it’s clean.” He said when he saw her expression.

                Kyunghee looked up at the boy from the treats. “These are so expensive, how did you get them?” she blinked, making Jongin blink back at her with a blank expression. “I’ve always wanted to try them.” She took a bite out of the treat and smiled widely, making Jongin smile along with her.

                Jongin and Kyunghee talked about simple things like visible changes from different seasons they enjoyed seeing, favorite colors, and flowers. Actually, it was Kyunghee who brought up flowers and wouldn’t let go of the topic. Jongin didn’t mind, he enjoyed seeing the girl so intrigued in something. It reminded him of the time he saw her at the river, busy looking at flowers. He looked up from Kyunghee’s hand and smiled at her. “I’ll write you letters. Letters on flower paper, I’ll send them to you.” Jongin said, and leaned in to kiss Kyunghee gently on her forehead. “Remember to write back.” He smiled, and separated for the day with promises.

&&

                “There are more of them out there.” Hushed voices were everywhere, and the door slid open to reveal a veiled woman. “Mama.” They said in unison with a bow. With a nod from the Woman, everyone was seated and quiet.

                A short but enthusiastic man seated closest to the Woman started the meeting. “Everyone here today will now follow mama’s orders and her orders only. Anyone who goes against her words will become enemies of ours, and will receive death as punishment. If you’re not ready for the commitment, get out now while you have a chance.” No one stirred, not even in their seats. “Now, we will start the meeting.”

                The Woman’s mischievous smile was seen from under the veil as she scanned the room for her followers. “What an intelligent group of people.” She said in content and shot a glance at the short man, who took out a scroll. “I have found people. People that could be against us, people that are related to the King, all of them are threat to us. I have a list, and we will kill them. All.”

                Whispers and mumbles filled the room, and a man cleared his throat. “If we do all at once, won’t they recognize what is happening?” he asked, his voice trembling from fear.

                The Woman shook her head. “We will commence when time comes. For now we’ll just observe and wait.” She rested her arm against the armrest of the chair. “Time will come soon, which called for this meeting. If this plan becomes a success, all of us could be under the rightful King who will set things our way and give us ultimate power.” Cheers were heard and were quickly hushed. “We have no time to dilly-dally. Get ahold of everyone on the list and spread them out so nothing seems suspicious.”

                A man, who had the Woman’s beautiful features, looked up from the scroll. “Mama, remember not to get you tangled in this plan. Please do be cautious.”

                The Woman scoffed. “Are you worrying for me, now? No need for that. This is all for you, my dear.” And with that, she was gone with a few of her other men.

&&

                Baekhyun almost fainted at the news. Jongdae had pleaded Baekhyun to tell Chanyeol about the recent happenings, and he wasn’t even sure if he could spit it out of his mouth. He thought that if he actually said it, it would come true and it’ll be his fault. Chanyeol was finished eating dinner and had a ‘1:1friendship bonding talk’ that Chanyeol made up to have an excuse to make Baekhyun stay longer as usual. “Chanyeol, I have to tell you something.” Baekhyun sighed and blurted out, making Chanyeol’s eyes widen.

                It would be a lie if Chanyeol said that he never felt attracted to his best friend, but he didn’t know the brunette felt the same way—“Your father caught the infectious disease going around the kingdom and it’s spreading. Quickly. The Doctor said he might not make it this month.” Chanyeol almost threw up from the unfamiliar string of words… a string of words that should be forbidden to say aloud. “Jongdae asked me to tell you because he didn’t have the balls to say it. Literally.” Baekhyun laughed at his own joke. He stopped himself and turned sober. “Bad joke, huh. Chanyeol, I—“

                Chanyeol forced a smile in front of his best friend. “It’s okay, my Dad is the King, he’s strong enough. I mean, he has all that power, he’ll be okay.” he got up from his chair, or attempted to, without falling on the ground. Everything felt like it was spinning and he felt nauseous. Baekhyun quickly ran to his side. “Baekhyun, tell me it’s going to be alright. Tell me that nothing bad is going to happen.” Baekhyun watched Chanyeol’s round eyes drown in tears. “This is not a request; this is a demand as seja of this country.” He pleaded as tears streamed down his cheeks.

                Baekhyun, with a help of Jongdae and the crew, got Chanyeol dressed for sleep. After receiving permission from Jongdae, who agreed without hesitating one bit, Baekhyun slept over the seja room. Chanyeol had his head rested on Baekhyun’s lap, snuggled in his blankets. His eyes were red and swollen, but Baekhyun didn’t say anything about his appearance. Chanyeol and his father, the King, probably had the closest relationship a King had with his son. Due to the King’s lack of wives and concubines, Chanyeol was the only son from the immediate family. The happiness Chanyeol felt around his father was probably greater than anyone. Baekhyun couldn’t even compete with that. That relationship was soon to be broken due to an infectious disease. Baekhyun didn’t know how the eighteen-year old seja would be feeling at the moment, but probably hundred times worse than he felt when he first heard it. The King was like a father he never had to Baekhyun.

                Baekhyun patted the seja’s hair with a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be okay, Chanyeol. Everything will fall into place.” He said with a soothing voice that lulled Chanyeol to sleep. With that, the traumatized seja was in deep sleep for five days. Five full days of chaos.

                “Mama, he is only asleep, you mustn’t worry. You must take care of yourself.” Baekhyun reassured Chanyeol’s mother and helped her stand from his bed on the third day.

                “At least he is not awake to feel the tremendous amount of pain.” She said with a violent cough. “Baekhyun-ah, please be there for my seja when he wakes. Never leave his side and protect him. As Wangbi, I order you, this is now your permanent duty.” These were the last words of the Wangbi before her death two days after. Now Baekhyun was the only one that they could count on to tame the wild seja after the tragic deaths of his parents.

                When the seja awoke, Chanyeol was traumatized even more after the fact that the syndrome made him miss his farewells with his one and only parents. Baekhyun held the troubled seja’s hands and forced eye contact. “It’s not your fault, Chanyeol. You couldn’t have done anything to stop it, it was time. It came a bit early, but it was still the scheduled time for them.” Baekhyun said and trapped the seja in his warm embrace.

                “What kind of parent doesn’t even give their son a chance to say goodbye?” Chanyeol screamed and thrashed in the brunette’s arms as he sobbed loudly. Baekhyun swallowed the tears at the sight of his hurt best friend.

                                It was unfair, how God had taken both of their lives at once.

                                It was unfair, how Chanyeol was immersed in sleep during the quick days they passed away.

                                It was unfair, how all the happiness and bubbliness was out of a boy like Chanyeol in five days.

                                It was unfair, how Baekhyun could do nothing but watch.

                “Seja. Please eat something. You’ve been starving yourself for days, you must get yourself together.” Baekhyun said in an authoritative tone as he held up a spoon of porridge. It had been a week since the deaths occurred, and Chanyeol had become voluntarily mute and uncooperative.

                “The current seja is emotionally unstable for the throne, it is only logical that Daebi mama rule until his mental condition is back to normal.” The Council had concluded, which only made Baekhyun even more worried. Jongdae had given up trying on helping Chanyeol’s condition after almost getting stabbed by him with broken glass. He still stood on Chanyeol’s side during the council meeting and attended every one for information and kept Baekhyun up on the information.

                Jongin dropped in the palace once or twice a day, slamming his fist on the door. “Seja! Please get yourself together, you must stay strong. Not for yourself and your sake, but for the people. Think of the people, seja! You’re their new rightful ruler, you cannot keep them confused and lost. It’s dangerous out there, seja. Please, at least let me in so I can whack some sense into you!” There were no responses for each visit other than Baekhyun coming out to apologize to the frustrated boy.

                It had been two full weeks of Baekhyun attempting to get Chanyeol’s senses back together. No one was allowed to make visits. The only one allowed in Chanyeol’s room was Byun Baekhyun, his one and only best friend and body guard. “Chanyeol. Look at me.” Baekhyun said, and sat in front of the boy. “Daebi mama has been sitting on the throne for a week. You have to show them who is worthy of it. The King’s supporters are dying one by one and I’m sure it’s Daebi mama’s work. Chanyeol, I know you’re young and hurt but you have a country to look after. Only you can, Chanyeol.” Chanyeol’s dazed and unfocused pupils angered Baekhyun even more, causing him to slap his best friend’s cheek. “One or two days of this were enough. I can’t help but give up if this ends up being months… and even years, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun burst into tears, which stopped Chanyeol from completely losing it right then and there. If it wasn’t for his tears, Chanyeol might have been gone. Forever.

                As seja, he was to be strong. He was the next King of Joseon, wasn’t he? But all he wanted to was to run away from the position. The throne suffocated him. Everyone around him could never look through his stupid, wide grin to find his pained expression. He just wasn’t ready.

                There was nothing in particular Chanyeol accomplished by himself. He created his first pottery at the age of six, and found out that his pottery was exchanged with a professional’s just to make the seja look talented compared to the others. When he played hockey against some soldiers at the age of ten, he won with the winning goal. Then, he overheard Eunuch Kim thanking the soldiers for letting the small seja to play with them. 

                Everything was done for him. There was no way to express how he really felt. Even the clothes he wore were chosen by his servants, and the way he should speak was taught by a tutor. Unlike any other, Chanyeol was not ready to be King. He prayed every night that his father would end up reigning forever instead of him.

                But there was one boy who could see through Chanyeol and his name was Baekhyun.

                “I like this one better than the other one.” Chanyeol bent down to look at his own work, the pottery that wasn’t suited to be the seja’s pottery, shattered on the ground.

                Baekhyun placed a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I like this one too.” He smiled reassuringly.

                “Chanyeol, don’t cry. I thought that last goal was really good! No one could fake that out of you.” Baekhyun would reassure his best friend when they ran into Eunuch Kim who quietly thanked the soldiers. He quickly grabbed Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him out of the hallway and into his room. Baekhyun would sing for Chanyeol’s reassurance, louder, over Eunuch Kim’s voice.

                Now it was time for him to reassure Baekhyun, to stay by his side.

                “B…Baekhyun.” Chanyeol shakily whispered as he watched the brunette fill his beautiful eyes with tears. It hurt Chanyeol. The deaths of his parents hurt him a lot, but he had to overcome. He couldn’t let his best friend suffer through it with him. He had to stand up against the power. “I… I’ll do… I’ll do it.” He whispered as he brought his best friend into his arms. Baekhyun had been so brave throughout the events that Chanyeol almost forgot he was in the same situation as the seja except for his title. The King and Queen had been like his second parents and he was sixteen, just like him. Chanyeol wiped the brunette’s tears away. “I’ll bring power to the worthy ones, Baekhyun. Thanks for the slap in the face.” He smiled for the first time in weeks, a real one.

--

author's note !

you bet 's going down now : )
oops i should watch my potty mouth- anyway.
here's the second chapter, hope you somewhat enjoyed it!
hopefully we get this intro stuff over with and get into the juicy/cheesy plotline aha...hah.
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