The Woman walked into the room and placed her fist on the table. “I gave you guys a week to perform the tasks, and there are three left on the list. How did this happen?” She said with anger in her voice, silencing the already sepulchral room. “Who was responsible for the Do family?” she raised her head from the scroll and made eye contact with the man sitting across from her, in the very back. “Nam, will you kindly explain how this happened? Everyone else did their duties, didn’t they?”

                Nam shuddered in fear as he opened his mouth to speak. “M—Mama, they are neighbors of mine, I couldn’t just—” The Woman raised a brow as she laced her fingers together. “Give me two more days and I’ll fulfill the request! Please, forgive me, just this once!”

                The Woman cackled. “Neighbors, huh? What will you do with that faint heart of yours? I don’t need it, people are already there doing your duty for you.” She flicked her hand.  “I bid you, farewell, my dear.” Her grin turned into a frown as her men took Nam away. “Anyone else?” The room was silent as the members exchanged glances.

&&

                It had been a week since their promise and Jongin continually mailed her poems on flower paper. They’ve exchanged letters every day, and when she heard of his friend’s heartbreaking incident, she sent him a letter of reassurance. It was now something Kyunghee looked forward to, and it became a part of her every day routine. Kyunghee smiled as she clutched the beautiful paper in her arms. She reread the poem written in the letter and blushed. There was a loud knock on the gates and Kyungsoo quickly got up. “I’ll go see who it is.” Kyungsoo said as he stepped forward. Seunghye got up and shook her head.

                Their mother glanced at the door and furrowed her brows, feeling something different from their usual night visits. “Children, stay inside. Don’t come out until I tell you it’s safe.” Seunghye opened the door with a shaking hand and closed the door from behind her. “Who is it, out this late?” she asked in her polite, but demanding voice.

                Kyunghee stuffed the letter in her dress and quickly got up towards the door. “Who is it, do you know?” she asked and turned to Kyungsoo, who shook his head. She poked a hole in the door and looked out. Seunghye was surrounded by black hooded men, all carrying swords.

                One of the men spoke up. “We’re here to collect your children.” He said and held out his sword towards her neck. “I’m sure you were expecting us when the news of the King’s death reached your ears.” Seunghye’s eyes widened. “There’s no place for you and your children, especially since the King’s blood is running through their veins. There’s no way out, the house is surrounded. Now bring out your children. We must speak.”

                Seunghye shook her head. “We have no motive of stealing the throne. Don’t touch the children, they don’t have any wrongs. They didn’t even know they were royal, please, save them.” Kyunghee and Kyungsoo ran out of the room. “I told you guys to stay inside!” She screamed as she waved her hand.

                “Don’t worry, we’ll keep your daughter.” Two men grabbed Kyunghee’s wrists and pulled her away. “Kill them.” The head of the hooded men signaled. With a few slashes and Kyungsoo’s retaliation, they were found dead on the ground. Kyunghee screamed as the men wrapped a cloth around , her tears and screams now muffled. Kyunghee found herself thrown on the ground. Her eyes dilated and it was difficult to focus.

                “H…How much for the girl?” a shaky feminine voice reached her ears as she looked up. She scanned the scene and found herself surrounded by five men, along with one woman. “Give me a price.” Kyunghee was soon sold with three full boxes of gold by the woman.

                As soon as they were out of the hooded men’s sight, the woman grabbed Kyunghee’s hand tightly. “Kyunghee, can you hear me?” she whispered in her ear, making her lift her head. “It’s me, Lady Choi. I’ll keep you safe, I’ll take care of you.” Her voice died down as Kyunghee fainted.

&&

                Baekhyun smiled at the new, erudite seja, who was now flipping through his third book of politics. Daebi was still in reign until Chanyeol was ready for the position, but he attended the meetings himself and overlooked the council meetings. He was allowed a say in the council, and used his power to stop anything that might go against the King’s old ways. “Baekhyun, come here, I must tell you something.” Chanyeol said, his voice low and demanding, different from the old shaky voice Chanyeol had.

                Baekhyun nodded his head and walked towards Chanyeol. “Yes, sir?” he asked and lifted his head. Chanyeol smiled apologetically and handed him a box from behind the desk. “What is it?”

                “It was your birthday a while ago, and I felt bad that we didn’t get to celebrate it.” Chanyeol smiled as Baekhyun opened the box. “It’s new clothes. I noticed that you were getting a bit big for your clothes and I know you only have those—“ Baekhyun smiled widely at the seja.

                Chanyeol felt his breath hitch at Baekhyun’s hug. “Thank you so much. I’m just glad… you coming back was the best birthday gift, seja.” Baekhyun squeezed the boy tightly, making Chanyeol chuckle. “I’ll wear it tomorrow.” Chanyeol’s hand hovered over Baekhyun’s back, but something didn’t let him hold his best friend’s waist. With a clear of Chanyeol’s throat, Baekhyun quickly let go of the seja.

                A bit disappointed by the short skinship, Chanyeol smiled and returned to his studies. “Will I be able to be a good King, Baekhyun?” He asked, his eyes still grazing over the writings in his books. Baekhyun chuckled softly and nodded, his eyes turning into crescents.

                “Of course.”

&&

                Kyungsoo opened his eyes abruptly, and looked at the clothes he was wearing. It wasn’t just a dream, it was real. He was really a part of the royal family and he had really switched clothes with his sister. He sighed and clutched his head as pain engulfed him.

                “Kyungsoo, change clothes with me.” Kyunghee said after taking her eyes off of the door. She had already started getting her top off. “Kyungsoo, it’s obvious that we’re all going to die here on this spot. But if you’re Kyunghee, maybe they’ll spare you. We look exactly alike, if you fix your braid and talk with a higher tone of voice. No one will suspect you. Girls can’t inherit the throne, so they don’t have to kill me. There’s no purpose in me being the survivor. You’re smarter, wiser, and you’re the only one capable of carrying out the revenge for the Do family. Kyungsoo, listen to me. This is the only way.”

                Kyunghee was right about them saving her life, but Kyungsoo didn’t know how to get from there. “Kyunghee, what am I supposed to do now?” he sighed and watched the door open.

Sooyoung cleared as she sat down beside him. “Tell me everything that happened. Don’t leave out a single detail.” Kyungsoo looked at Lady Choi and hesitated. Her eyes showed determination, and she had technically saved her life. Kyungsoo remembered ‘Lady Choi’ and ‘Sooyoung’ from his mother and sister’s conversations before, he could trust her.

He said everything he knew and heard, which didn’t seem to do any effect on Sooyoung. She kept her sangfroid and nodded. “There is only one way. Learn how to play gayageum. You’ll be one of my talented players, so you’ll have a reason to stay. By playing an instrument under my House, there’s no way a man will touch you in a way unwanted, which means you’ll be able to keep your identity a secret. We’ll start tomorrow. The quicker, the better. You must be good. Very good. Good enough to keep the customers around. It’ll keep the suspicions away from the other gisaengs. Are you ready to do this? If not, your survival is useless and nothing good will come to your passed mother and sister.” Her brusque words slapped Kyungsoo in the face. She was right. He was now responsible for the family revenge. He had to keep the seja on the throne and keep the others away.

“I’m ready, Lady Choi.”

“Good. You’ll need the motivation.”

&&

                Jongin stared at the front of Kyunghee’s house and sighed. If he knocked on the door, he would seem like a creep, wouldn’t he? He scratched his head in frustration and quickly hid his face when two women walked past him. “It’s a shame they killed themselves and Kyunghee disappeared. They were to be great people.” The other woman nodded.

                “Excuse me, I’m a friend of Kyunghee’s, do you know what happened at the house? I haven’t seen her in a while—“ Jongin asked the woman who was speaking, and she looked at him with surprise in her eyes.

                “It was probably a week ago, the mother and son were found dead and Kyunghee… she disappeared, she’s nowhere to be found.” The woman stuttered. Jongin thanked the woman and quickly ran into the house and looked around. He knew there was something wrong, a reason why Kyunghee didn’t reply to his letters and poems. Jongin clutched Kyunghee’s hand mirror tightly stepped out of the house.

                Kyunghee couldn’t be dead, she just… disappeared. Jongin wished for the best, but he knew his wishful thinking would never be granted. He was relieved that she wasn’t just ignoring his letters but terrified at the same time that he might have lost her forever. He was going to find out who was responsible for these deaths.

                Jongin sighed as he trudged back into his home. His father cleared his throat, making Jongin look up and bow at him. “Good afternoon, father, have you slept well?” he smiled a bit forcefully as he hid Kyunghee’s hand mirror into his pocket. His father nodded.

                “Are you doing well in school? You must be intelligent; I’ve heard many things about you from your teacher.” Jongin’s father complimented him. Jongin gave him a forced smile. “You must be ahead of everyone else, Jongin. You must be the best.” He said with a demanding tone, and patted his son’s shoulder. “Good work.”

                Jongin’s smile slipped as soon as his father disappeared. He let out a sigh and touched Kyunghee’s mirror in his pocket. Jongin grabbed his horse from the back of his house and rode to the palace. He had to talk to Baekhyun. Even if he didn’t know who Kyunghee was, Baekhyun would understand and help him feel better.

                It only took him a few minutes to get to the palace, and Chanyeol squished him into a hug. “Hey, useless seja, what’s up?” Jongin teased, and pushed the boy out of the way. “I’m not here to talk to you; I’m here to talk to Baekhyun. Speaking of which, where is he, and why are you outside?”

                Chanyeol scratched his head. “Well, I bought him new clothes for his birthday that passed recently and I told him to change into it. I told him to change in front of me and then he kind of kicked me out of the room.” He laughed. “Isn’t he the cutest?”

                Jongin blinked at his cousin and sighed. “What are we going to do with you, seja?” he clicked his tongue in disapproval and opened the door to his room. “Baekhyun-ah!” he shouted, and opened the door to Baekhyun slipping his arms into the sleeves. “I have to talk to you.”

                Chanyeol peeked from behind Jongin and took in his best friend’s pale skin—“For God’s sake, I’m changing! Get the heck out!” Baekhyun threw a nearby pillow at Jongin—who ducked—and hit Chanyeol in the face.

                Jongin blinked. “We’re all men, why are you so—“ Chanyeol whacked him on the head. “What the—“

                “Respect his privacy, young one.” Chanyeol said with a (Jongdae) mock tone and nodded. “One has their reasons for these actions.” He smiled at Baekhyun, who came out with the new clothes on. “I like the colors on you, Baek.”

                Jongin nodded. “Wow, you’ve become a new man. I guess Chanyeol wants you to settle with a woman, huh?” he chuckled. “I have to talk to you guys. Preferably Baekhyun but if you want to tag along, you can too, seja.” He grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and pulled him away to his room in the palace. Chanyeol tagged along, but no one minded.

                Jongin told Baekhyun about everything. From how he met Kyunghee for the first time and how he saved her to the hand mirror now in his hand. “Did you try going to Choigak? Maybe Lady Choi took her in or something. I think you should check there just in case.” Baekhyun said and smiled. “Don’t worry, Jongin, she’ll be fine.”

&&

                It’s been a week since Kyungsoo started playing gayageum and it was killing him slowly. How could girls play this without a change in their expression or position? Lady Choi hit his hands every single time he messed up and when his face cringed. “You must have a smile on at all times. No, not that kind of forced smile, Kyunghee—” Lady Choi chuckled softly and patted Kyungsoo’s head. “I know it’s hard, but you must keep going. You must protect your identity and bring revenge, remember?”

                Kyungsoo nodded. “Yes, Lady Choi.” He smiled with hope in his eyes and continued plucking the strings on the instrument. Lady Choi glanced at Kyungsoo’s clothes and posture.

                “At least your posture is correct. You can’t fix that easily, you know.” She smiled. “Let’s get you some new clothes for tomorrow. I think you’ll need it. Sulli-yah, let’s get ready to go to the market!” Kyungsoo got up from the floor and placed his instrument on the side and looked into the mirror. With a help of some make up and his sister’s barrette, he looked just like Kyunghee. He sighed and shook his head before he could remember the night they—

                “Unnie, umma told you to hurry up. Let’s buy you a pink hanbok, okay? I love pink.” Sulli smiled widely and left the door open. Kyungsoo pursed his lips and draped the head covering over his head and followed Sulli out to the front doors. Kyungsoo looked down at his shoes and waited for Lady Choi to return. “Jongin-oppa! What are you doing here, here to play with Sulli?” His ears perked up from the familiar name but didn’t raise his head. Lady Choi nudged Sulli.

                “Sulli, take your unnie to the market place, I’ll be right there.” Lady Choi smiled at her young daughter and watched the two leave. Jongin turned his attention to the two girls leaving and saw familiar figures—“Jongin, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

                Jongin shook his head, he must be seeing things. “I was just wondering if you were well. Also, have you seen Kyunghee recently?” Lady Choi blinked at the boy and shook her head.

                “No dear, why would she be here?” Lady Choi smiled warmly at the boy. “I must get going, I recruited a new gayageum player for the place, I must dress her properly now. Get to class, Jongin.” She chuckled and walked out of the front door, making Jongin stand there without hope.

                Lady Choi sighed. She knew why Jongin was looking for her, but doubt flooded her thoughts. She had to keep Kyungsoo a secret until she knew he was ready for counterattack. Even from Kyunghee’s lover.