Jongin watched Baekhyun pack for his things. “Are you really leaving for China?” Baekhyun nodded. “Chanyeol told you to never leave his sight. Are you disobeying the seja?”

                Baekhyun chuckled. “First of all, I’m only going there for a few months. Second, he’s the one that suggested me to get the education I wanted. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to find the people who killed my parents.” He said, making Jongin pause. “Don’t worry too much about me, Jongin. I’ll be fine. I’m in the hands of seja’s people.”

                Jongin sighed. “I’m surprised that Chanyeol is letting you go at all, Baekhyun. He’d be the first to object to this.” He said, but grinned. “Too bad you can’t meet Chanyeol’s wife! She’ll be chosen and married with him by the time you come back. You better bring him back a wedding present.” Baekhyun chuckled and nodded.

                It was a big harsh to lie to their best friend, Jongin, but it was the only safest way. If too many people knew about it, it would be a larger risk. Baekhyun was to go to Blue Land to learn about business and the language there for Chanyeol to learn also. Chanyeol promoted a soldier who worked with Baekhyun often, Oh Sehun as his new body guard. Jongdae created the rumor of a noble Joseon family that moved from Blue Land back to Joseon. They were members of the Park family line, and their daughter was coming to become a nominee for the seja’s first wife, the Wangbi.

                Chanyeol looked at Jongdae. “I hope this will work.” He prayed for Baekhyun every night, while Baekhyun was out to learn about his new background and ways of a lady from Sooyoung. It was the first day of the selection process.

                Baekhyun walked into the familiar palace grounds but it seemed new to him. Some girls around him spoke in high tones about how excited they were to be the new queen. Some girls looked miserable. Some girls were being complimented by their servants and—Baekhyun’s eyes met the girl he saw at Daebi’s palace. “Assi, you’ll be fine! You’re the prettiest one here, and I bet the prince will fall in love with you right away!” her servant shouted. Sumin kept her composure, her head held high and her eyes looking straight ahead.

                Baekhyun imitated her posture and walked into the palace. Soon enough, when the girls were all crowded together, their eyes were on Baekhyun and Sumin. Sunyoung, a servant from the Choigak that was most trusted by Sooyoung, acted as his ‘servant’, and Sunyoung smiled. “Don’t pay attention to them and just be yourself, Baekhee assi!” she said encouragingly.

                Baekhyun thanked her with a soft voice and looked around for the Shim family daughter. He waved. “Shim Minji!” he shouted with his well-practiced high tone of voice, and Minji looked up to find the voice. Sumin raised a brow and looked at Baekhyun. “You look so pretty, you did a nice job choosing the colors for your hanbok.” He smiled, which made Minji blush. She was a shy girl, but she was intelligent and beautiful. Baekhyun thought she was perfect for Chanyeol.

                Minji stuttered. “T—Thank you.”

                The test examiners looked around and eliminated the ones that weren’t as pretty as the average girl, and Baekhyun was surprised he made it in. He congratulated Minji, earning another scowl from Sumin. The test examiners made them move positions from the gates of the palace, to a place closer to the actual buildings.

                “We will now begin the second test. The Wangbi of Joseon has to be wise and knowledgeable so that she can help the King with his decisions.” The test examiner shouted for all the girls to hear. “We will now give you questions, and you will write the answers on the paper in front of you. This is testing your education, do well.”

                Baekhyun blinked at the questions and scratched his head, trying to remember. He glanced at Sumin, who looked confident, as usual, and swiftly wrote answers down. He looked at Minji, who was slowly getting down answers as well. Baekhyun closed his eyes and tried to remember the words of Chanyeol’s books. When Chanyeol was getting tutored, Baekhyun usually stood close and guarded the King. He was educated in that sense, and when Chanyeol went through his trauma, Baekhyun read and read, hoping that by the next book, Chanyeol would be himself again. Baekhyun finished when the sun went down, along with a few other girls. Sumin was the first one to finish, and Minji was the second. Baekhyun was surprisingly the third to finish, even though he took a lot longer than the first two girls. Some girls quickly left the exam, embarrassed at the fact they couldn’t answer the questions.

                Chanyeol peeked in the second exam and watched Baekhyun write on the parchment in front of him. He secretly wished that there would be a miracle and that Baekhyun would become his wife, but he thought about it. Baekhyun would have to dress like a girl for the rest of his life and they would need more people to be secretive. Baekhyun got up to turn in her paper, and turned, finding Chanyeol staring at him. Chanyeol smiled at him and waved. Baekhyun smiled back, and brushed off dirt from her dress and stood to the side, next to Minji.

                The test examiners shouted the list of girls that passed, and as expected, Sumin and Minji passed with flying colors. Baekhyun smiled at Minji, and Minji congratulated Baekhyun when they shouted his name. “Baekhee, thank you for today. You helped me get rid of the butterflies in my stomach. See you tomorrow!” she said as she got on a horse with her brother. Baekhyun bowed his head and started walking to the place Jongdae told them to meet when they were done with the testing.

                Sumin looked at Baekhyun walking happily to the location and frowned. She pointed at Baekhyun. “Go see if you can find anything about that girl.” Sumin said and quickly got back home in her carriage.

                Baekhyun arrived at the little house behind the palace. He laid down on the wooden ledge of the house and closed his eyes, reminiscing the memories of the day. It all seemed surreal that he came through the second exam, the hardest part of the whole testing other than the final round. It was more surreal that he tricked the people that he was a girl. Baekhyun smiled and slowly opened his eyes, finding Chanyeol’s face staring down at him. Baekhyun’s eyes widened but laughed. “Oh, it’s you.”

                “Oh it’s you? I’m the next King and all you say is that?” Chanyeol said, mocking Baekhyun’s expression and pouting slightly.

                “Shh, you’re loud, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun sat upright and slapped the seja’s mouth shut. “Why did you even bother dressing as a normal person if you were going to shout to the world that you were the seja?” he whispered, making Chanyeol frown.

                Chanyeol placed his hand over Baekhyun’s and placed it down. “So, how’s testing?” he made Baekhyun rest his head on Chanyeol’s lap. “I know it’s a bit difficult, but you made it this far, no?” he smiled at Baekhyun, who shrugged.

                “I don’t know if I did well, but I am protecting the Shim daughter well. Don’t worry.” Baekhyun smiled up at Chanyeol, who patted Baekhyun’s head gently. “Is everything okay with Sehun? He’s nice to you, right? He’s very skilled.” He nodded.

                Chanyeol shrugged. “He’s not as good as you, which is a disappointment, I must admit.” He grinned at Baekhyun, who laughed. He traced his fingers against Baekhyun’s cheek, making Baekhyun stiffen. “Stay still.” He whispered and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

                Baekhyun’s face turned pink and quickly averted his gaze, making Chanyeol laugh.

                “I’m sorry, you looked so cute with your new hairstyle.” Chanyeol grinned to hide his own nervousness. “You’re a very pretty girl, you know.” He said, watching Baekhyun sit upright and bury his face in his hands.

                “I know, I’m a cutie.” Baekhyun winked, making Chanyeol laugh (again, even louder this time) and hold Baekhyun’s hand. Jongdae hurried to the house and smiled when his eyes landed on the two.

                Jongdae smiled widely and hugged Baekhyun. “You’ve made it!” Baekhyun blinked at Jongdae and looked at Chanyeol, who chuckled. “I’ve been worrying about you all day, and you’ve made it through the second round. I’m so proud of you. When the numbers of the girls dwindle down, you’ll be staying in the palace, so we won’t have to use this house.”

                Chanyeol looked at Jongdae. “Hey, could I stay here with Baekhyun tonight? I don’t want him to stay here by himself. No one knows I’m here anyway, so—” Jongdae looked like he was going to say no, but ended up nodding. Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun, who looked a bit uneasy.

                Jongdae handed Baekhyun comfortable clothes to sleep in. “If you check the closet in the room, you’ll see an outfit for you to wear tomorrow. When you make it through the next round, meet me at the royal garden, I’ll inform you about more stuff.” Baekhyun nodded and watched Jongdae leave. Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun and cleared his throat.

                “It is a bit dark, do you wanna get ready to sleep?” Chanyeol asked, and Baekhyun nodded and got up. “I brought food for you, we should eat.” He smiled and held up a box of food. Baekhyun smiled widely and grabbed the box out of his hand and stepped into the room, followed by Chanyeol.

&&

                Jongin waited all day outside of Kyunghee’s practice room and realized he fell asleep when Kyungsoo woke him up. “Sir, if you sleep out here, you’re going to catch a cold. Go back home.” Kyungsoo said sternly, making Jongin wake up.

                “Oh, you’re done practicing?” Jongin smiled sleepily and looked up at Kyungsoo, who was still wearing the same lace mask. “You look beautiful as always, Kyunghee,” he said, making Kyungsoo’s ears slightly red (he blamed it on the cold) but he crossed his arms sternly.

                “The Choigak is going to be busy, I don’t want you to stay out here in the midst of the chaos. The royal council is coming here for a meeting. You need to go back home.” Kyungsoo said worriedly, and helped Jongin get up. He watched Jongin have a hard time with getting up and placed his hand on Jongin’s forehead. “See? You’ve already caught a fever. Go home and get yourself treated.”

                Jongin shook his head. “But I want to stay here with you.” He mumbled, his eyes starting to close slowly. Jongin almost fell, and Kyungsoo kept his grip on Jongin tighter. “Maybe it’s good that I’ve waited this long, I’m finally in your embrace again.” He said, making Kyungsoo sigh.

                Jongin fainted in Kyungsoo’s arms during Kyungsoo’s nagging. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened when Jongin stopped talking and leaned his face to make sure he was breathing. “Dol-ah! Could you Sir Kim back home, he’s a bit sick.” Kyungsoo shouted, and Dol quickly got up and threw Jongin over his shoulder. “Make sure to inform his parents that he’s sick, alright?” He watched Jongin leave and sighed. Jongin loved his sister this much, but Kyungsoo couldn’t bring Kyunghee back for him.

&&

                Chanyeol and Baekhyun laid down on the blankets after eating and washing up. “Wow that was some good food. I forgot how good palace food was until now.” Baekhyun said, hugging the comfortable clothes Jongdae handed him earlier.

                Chanyeol glanced at Baekhyun. “Do you want me to help you change?” he asked. Baekhyun nodded his head and sat up. Chanyeol put Baekhyun’s hair up in a slight bun while Baekhyun undid the tie of his top and took it off and placed it to the side. Chanyeol gulped at the sight of Baekhyun’s milky skin. He sat in front of Baekhyun and washed his makeup off with a cloth. Baekhyun continued stripping himself of his clothes, letting Chanyeol’s eyes roam not so discreetly around his body. Baekhyun stopped Chanyeol’s hand and slipped on his pants before fully taking off the underskirt. Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun’s bruised chest and scarred back. “What happened to you…?”

                Baekhyun raised his brows and looked at Chanyeol. “Oh. Uhm. It’s really nothing. This was from training and…” Baekhyun held his breath when Chanyeol leaned in and touched his bruises gently. “Chanyeol, I’m your bodyguard, I get trained every day for you.” He chuckled softly.

                “But what about your back? Is that caused by me too?” Chanyeol said, his eyes sorrowful. Baekhyun bit his lip.

                “It was from my wound when my parents passed. The people hurt me too, and when they were trying to kill my mom, I ran in front of her, and I got it.” He felt Chanyeol touch his scar gently from behind him. “I was bleeding so much that I fell unconscious, and when I woke up, your parents had taken me to the royal doctor. My parents were nowhere to be seen, though.” He said, trying to blink his tears away.

                Chanyeol hugged Baekhyun from behind, and rested his chin on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I shouldn’t have asked.” He whispered softly. Baekhyun let a tear roll down his cheek, but ended up letting more drop.

                “I miss them, Chanyeol, I really do.” Baekhyun said in between sobs, and Chanyeol hugged Baekhyun tighter.

                Chanyeol nuzzled his nose against Baekhyun’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I’m sorry.” He whispered and turned Baekhyun around. “Let’s go to bed, alright?” he smiled painfully. It hurt him to look at his best friend like that. It hurt him to look at his first love crying in front of him. Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun’s shirt on and tied the top. Baekhyun continued sniffling but buried his face in the seja’s chest. With his arms around the petite man’s waist, he turned off the light, and the sniffles stopped as Baekhyun fell asleep.

&&

                The last thing Jongin saw before he fainted was Kyunghee’s face, so he was disappointed when he saw his own servant, Minseok’s face. “Minseok, who brought me here?” he asked, and slowly got up.

                Minseok furrowed his brows, trying to remember. “Oh, this muscular guy from the Choigak, I think.” He said, and patted Jongin’s chest. “You must go back to sleep. You’re very much sick, Jongin.” He said and Jongin laid his head back down. “Oh, Dol said to tell you that Kyunghee was very worried about you.”

                Jongin smiled at the sound of Kyunghee’s name and closed his eyes. “Thank you, Minseok. Could I get some water?” he asked, and Minseok gave him a cup of water. “Go to the Choigak and give this to Kyunghee.” Jongin reached for his cabinet and pulled out the mirror he found at Kyunghee’s house.

                Maybe the mirror will help Kyunghee remember something about her past. Even though Kyunghee said she didn’t want to remember her past, Jongin was going to do everything to help her. Perhaps, with Kyunghee’s memories, he could fit the pieces of the puzzle together and find the real reason for their family’s death and the culprit.

&&

                Baekhyun got up the next morning with red puffy eyes, and looked up at Chanyeol, who was snoring lightly. He smiled at his best friend and ran his fingers through his hair. Chanyeol woke up from the movement and slowly opened his eyes. “Did you sleep well?” Baekhyun smiled, making Chanyeol groan and hug him closer. “Chanyeol, Sooyoung will be here soon to do my makeup and hair, I don’t have time to waste—” Chanyeol chuckled.

                “Baekhyun, you talk too much.” He muttered in Baekhyun’s ear, making Baekhyun quiet. His voice was so deep and husky and right in his ear, Baekhyun felt himself slowly getting hot. “You’ll have plenty of time, don’t worry.”

                Baekhyun stayed frozen in his spot until Chanyeol felt the need to let go of him. Sooyoung came by and quickly created Baekhee again, and Chanyeol was speechless as usual. “You better get going, Baekhyun. I’ll go after you get to the testing area.” He smiled and patted Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Good luck, and stay safe, okay?”

                When Baekhyun got to the testing area, the test examiner welcomed him. “Good morning, Miss Baekhee.” Baekhyun bowed his head slightly and smiled, making the test examiner look around to make sure everyone was in place. “Okay, the third test will test if you have given birth before. The Wangbi has to be a , and this test will make sure of that.” Baekhyun passed the test like a breeze, along with Sumin and Minji. Some girls left discreetly or ran away from the palace crying. Soon there was only seven of them left.

                Like Jongdae said, seven of the girls were to stay at the palace and experience the lifestyle. All seven of them would get time to hang out with the seja, and if he liked you enough, then you would be chosen to go to the next round. If not, then you were out. Baekhyun hummed softly as the test examiners explained the palace etiquette. Baekhyun memorized the etiquettes by heart, so he didn’t bother listening much.

                All ten of them got to have a room in the palace and got to look around, but were to be escorted by a working servant girl to get to a place. Sadly, Seulgi was nowhere to be found and Baekhyun was paired with a new servant girl, Joohyun. “Miss Baekhee, this is your room where you will be resting.” She said as she opened the door to a big room.

                Joohyun left to get Baekhyun’s dinner from the royal kitchen, and Chanyeol slipped into the room. “So, how are you doing so far?” he asked, fighting the urge to hug his best friend then and there. He grabbed Baekhyun’s hands instead.

                Baekhyun shrugged. “That one round was really easy. The only hard one was the second one. I must be really dumb, huh? I heard that Minji got all the questions correct. She’s a perfect girl for you, Chanyeol. She’s pretty and—” Chanyeol interrupted Baekhyun’s excited rants with a tight hug. “Chanyeol?” he asked with an awkward laugh.

                “I’m sorry I have to make you go through all of this. I’ll help you get out of it soon. Just try your best, okay?” Chanyeol said, and pulled back to look at Baekhyun. Baekhyun had his usual big goofy smile, making Chanyeol’s heart beat faster. “Uhm. I better get going. See you tomorrow?”

                Baekhyun nodded and watched him leave. He grabbed the table beside him for balance. He thought his legs were going to become jelly when he hugged him so abruptly like that. Baekhyun thought that maybe it was because he was tired, but he decided to ignore the thought. He devoured the food Joohyun brought him and fell asleep quickly.

                Chanyeol was so glad Sehun didn’t have any reaction to him hyperventilating at the memories of Baekhyun from the night before. “Sir, are you alright?” Sehun asked once, and when Chanyeol said he was fine, he turned around to face away from Chanyeol—as if he was giving him some space.

                Jongdae came in with a smile. He shooed Sehun away. “I heard that Baekhee made it to the next round. She’ll go through the next one in a breeze because of you.” Jongdae snickered. “But anyway, the last round is the hardest because she’ll have to answer questions about politics and how to be a queen and—”

                “Baekhee’s not the one marrying me, Jongdae. Remember, it’s the Shim daughter?”

                Jongdae nodded. “Ah, yes. Got too carried away, did I?” he smiled. “Well, I’m glad this is going well. Sometimes I forget and—” Jongdae clapped his hands together. “Alright. So this is the schedule for tomorrow. In the morning you will meet two girls, in the afternoon you’ll meet two girls, and at dinnertime you will meet one girl. You can choose when to meet these girls.” Jongdae gave him a list of girls. Chanyeol randomly picked the girls except he saved Baekhyun for last. “Okay, you can’t bail out on any of them, okay?”

                Chanyeol woke up and endured his morning walk with a girl that went on and on about fashion and cloth material. He couldn’t even remember the names of the girls he talked to in the morning. “How was your morning, Miss Minji?” he asked Minji after they ate lunch. “Everything going well?” Minji was really quiet and shy, but Chanyeol could get some reaction out of her thanks to his jokes.

                Sumin was walking through the royal garden when Chanyeol went to meet her. “Oh, hello, mama.” Sumin said with a polite bow. She smiled at him warmly, but Chanyeol could see Daebi within her actions. Her voice was strikingly similar to Daebi’s and her actions toward Chanyeol were also similar. “The flowers bloomed, didn’t they?” she turned to look at Chanyeol, who was dazing out a bit. “Mama, do you not feel well? Is everything okay?” she asked, a bit of panic and worry in her voice. Chanyeol shook his head and apologized, using his lack of sleep as an excuse.

                Sumin frowned when her time was up with the seja. It felt as if Chanyeol wasn’t interested or wasn’t having much fun with her. “Baekhee, the seja has requested to move your meeting time. You may come now.” Sumin watched Baekhee walk to Eunuch Jongdae, who swiftly guided her to seja’s dining room. Her hunger overtook her and was escorted to the nominee’s own dining room.

                Baekhyun sighed in relief when he got to Chanyeol’s outdoor dining room. It was slightly dark, but the lanterns made it brighter. “Chanye—mama. Nice to meet you, my name is Baekhee of the Park family.” He bowed politely. Chanyeol blinked at Baekhyun’s distance with him but realized they were outside. He cleared his throat and helped Baekhyun take a seat.

                “Nice to meet you, is everything going well? Do you like the palace lifestyle?” Chanyeol asked, sitting across from Baekhyun. Baekhyun nodded with a bright smile Chanyeol loved to see.

                “I love the palace food, it’s almost as good as my mother’s cooking.” Baekhyun smiled, and glanced to the side, seeing Sumin’s servant peeking around. “Well, mama—”

                Chanyeol placed his hand over Baekhyun’s. “You may call me Chanyeol.” He smiled.

                Baekhyun met eyes with Chanyeol but quickly averted his gaze. “Uhm. You may call me Baekhee as well. I mean, if you want to call me that.” He stuttered, making Chanyeol grin. They ate dinner together and walked around Chanyeol’s side of the palace. Chanyeol seemed to enjoy the fact that Baekhyun had to act like Baekhee when people were around. Baekhyun’s voice saying ‘mama’ echoed in his head as they parted and he got ready for bed.

                “Jongdae,” Chanyeol started, laying on his bed with his arms crossed. Jongdae looked up at him to let him know he was listening. “Wouldn’t it be great if Baekhee became Wangbi?” Jongdae chuckled and nodded his head slowly.

                “Yes, I must admit it would be a lot easier and safer for you, mama.” Jongdae smiled, and looked at Sehun, who nodded and turned to the seja.

                Sehun cleared his throat before starting his announcement. “Tomorrow will be a day with meetings for you, mama. There won’t be any more tests until your meeting is over, and the questioning for the Wangbi position will take place with you and Eunuch Jongdae.”

                Chanyeol nodded and bid them good night before falling asleep. He dreamt of Baekhyun calling him mama with his big, beautiful smile.

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sorry for the delay!
I went on vacation and didn't have great access to the internet : (
hope you enjoy, comments and subbies are greatly appreciated!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo