“Thank you, Sehun.” Baekhyun thanked Sehun for the nth time and looked over at Seulgi. “I can’t believe they did this to her.” He mumbled, holding Seulgi’s hand. Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with concern.

                “Apparently she is suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, and physical abuse. But she’ll be able to heal over time.” Sehun said, and stood up to stand in his usual corner.

                Baekhyun looked at Seulgi, then up at Chanyeol with the saddest eyes Chanyeol had seen in a long time. The last time he saw Baekhyun this upset, it was when Chanyeol was suffering from his parents’ death. “She’ll be okay.” Chanyeol wrapped his arms around his tiny frame.

                “She almost died because of me.” Baekhyun whispered, his tears now soaking Chanyeol’s garments.

                Chanyeol shook his head. “She almost died because of me. Not you, but me. She sacrificed her life for the me, for the country.” He rubbed his thumb against Baekhyun’s cheek. “Don’t cry, Baek. She’ll be okay.”

                “Will she really?” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol, his eyes spilling out tears.

                “Yes, and I’ll make sure of that. The Royal Doctor will be assigned to her.” He smiled, pressing a kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead. Baekhyun buried his face further into Chanyeol’s chest, making Chanyeol scared that he might actually be able to hear his heartbeat. That would have been embarrassing.

                Jongdae cleared his throat. “So, you wanted to see me?”

                “I want you to assign the best royal doctor and nurse to attend this girl, and a guard. She has very important information for us, and we won’t be able to find out until she wakes.” Chanyeol demanded, helping Baekhyun to his feet. “And Baekhee will stay in my room until she recovers.” Baekhyun looked at him in surprise, but kept his face buried in Chanyeol’s. Baekhyun was sure his makeup was now running down his face, he didn’t want to embarrass himself. “And heighten the security around here so that Baekhee and Seulgi may feel safe. Make sure no one finds out Seulgi is staying at Baekhee’s room.”

                Jongdae nodded and glanced at the other servants, who also nodded. They went around to get the doctor and the nurse, and more guards covered the section. Chanyeol gripped onto Baekhyun’s hand gently, as if his hands were fragile.

                Chanyeol ordered a basin with water and a towel to wash off Baekhyun’s makeup, which he did while Baekhyun leaned forward to ease the process. “I can clean myself, you know.”

                “Yes, but I want to do it. Your hands are still shaking and I don’t want you to push yourself to do things.” Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun, who had his eyes closed. “Baek.”

                “Hm?”

                “If you need someone to lean on, just know that I’m here for you.” Chanyeol said, making Baekhyun open his eyes. “I don’t want you to suffer by yourself.”

                Baekhyun placed his hand gently on Chanyeol’s. “I know, Chanyeol.” He smiled. “Chanyeol, I’ve been sacrificing my life for you my entire life, do you think I’ve ever not trusted you?”

                “That’s not what I mean. When you’re hurting, I want you to come to me first. When you’re sad, I want you to come to me first. I want to be the one to reassure you and show affection to you, not Jongin or Sehun. I want to help you when you’re at your weakest.”

                Baekhyun blinked at the straightforward seja. “Chanyeol, is something wrong?”

                “Nothing. It’s just… I get worried about you easily. You know me, you’re the only one I got.” Chanyeol fought the urge to kiss his best friend’s lips.

                Baekhyun blushed slightly, but hid his face quickly. “D—Don’t worry about me, Chanyeol. I’m a big person. Let’s go to sleep, I’m tired.”

&&

                Jongin was suddenly surrounded by nobles and upperclass men asking him if he wanted a drink. He looked at his father in confusion, but his father just gave him a firm nod. “Welcome, Jongin. We’ve been waiting for you to attend one of these meetings. We exist to make you King of Joseon.” The Woman spoke, making the entire room go silent, like it was before Jongin entered.

                “What do you mean? Seja-mama is still alive and he’s even getting married.” Jongin pushed away a glass of soju being offered by a noble.

                Jaejoong cleared his throat. “Ahem, son. You’re speaking too informally to the Woman.”

                Jongin furrowed his brows. “It’s fine, it might be a bit too much for him to take in, Jaejoong.” The Woman patted his son’s hand. “I just want the best future for you, Jongin. You’ll become King, and the righteous blood will be placed on the throne for once.” She growled at the thought of Chanyeol and his dead parents.

                “W—What do you mean?”

                The Woman clicked her tongue. “Your boy is denser than I thought he was going to be, Jaejoong. I’m disappointed.” Jaejoong bowed his head to apologize. “Do you not get it, son? We will force a spot out of the throne for you. You will take over seja’s position as King, and we will rule Joseon.”

                “But that’s impossible, nothing is—”

                “You don’t know what we’ve been preparing for you. We’ve killed off all of the King’s sons, even the unregistered ones. We’ve eliminated all of your rivals, and at the right time, we will also eliminate seja. Then you will be throned king.” The Woman’s lip curled into a wicked smile.

                Before Jongin could open his mouth to protest, Jaejoong gave him a glare. “Unless you don’t want to go along with our plan.” The Woman snapped her fingers, making the guards slide out their swords and hold it against Jongin. “You’ll also be eliminated. I don’t have time to persuade someone who doesn’t want power.”

                “I—I’ll do it.” Jongin said, and gave his father a nod. “I want to be king.”

                The Woman gave him a smirk and clapped. “Good.”

&&

                Kyungsoo peeked out his window and found Jongin trudge out of the Choigak. Kyungsoo ran out of his room and followed Jongin out. “Jongin-ssi!” he shouted. He frowned when Jongin failed to notice him the first time.

                “Ah, Kyunghee.” Jongin smiled weakly. “Did you wait for my meeting to be over? You must really like me, don’t you?” he joked, but his voice didn’t reflect his teasing words.

                “Jongin, are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked softly, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

                Jongin shook his head. “No, but I’ll be okay tomorrow. Rest up, the wedding is in five days, which means the performance is in five days. Remember to find me first at the festival, okay?” he smiled and patted Kyungsoo’s shoulder before leaving. Something was definitely wrong with Jongin, but Kyungsoo couldn’t pinpoint why.

                Kyungsoo went into the Choigak and scanned the room, finding the empty ones and the full ones. He leaned his ear against the one that had hushed voices. “So when Jongin steps onto the throne, it’ll be out reign. He’ll be our puppet.” A female voice cackled, sending shivers down Kyungsoo’s spine.

                Jongin? But the current seja was supposed to be on the throne, that’s why he was getting married. A puppet? Jongin, a puppet? Jongin was the most reckless boy Kyungsoo knew. Then everything clicked. He had to speak to Jongin. He had to persuade Jongin not to go with their plan. If he did, then that would mean Kyungsoo would have to kill him. And that was the last thing Kyungsoo wanted to do.

                “Kyunghee!” Sooyoung shouted when Kyungsoo ran past her in the hallway and out the door. “Where is she going? Dol, follow her.” Dol nodded and followed behind Kyungsoo.

                Kyungsoo turned around to find Dol following him. “Dol, where’s Jongin’s house? I need to speak to him.”

                “Kyunghee-assi, we have to go back to the Choigak, it’s way too late for that. You can ask Madame Choi to send you a carriage there tomorrow morning. Let’s go, assi.” Dol grabbed Kyungsoo’s arm and dragged him back to the Choigak.

&&

                Baekhyun cried himself to sleep, and Chanyeol’s wet robes were the proof of that. Chanyeol tried to get out of Baekhyun’s embrace, but it failed. He had a big morning meeting that he had to attend, but he didn’t want to wake Baekhyun. He stopped and stared at Baekhyun’s sleeping figure, and smiled. He was so beautiful, but he was hurt because of him. He had to be a responsible and good King for the country. So many people were sacrificing their lives for him. He couldn’t let those lives go to waste. He replaced himself with a pillow and got himself out of Baekhyun’s arms. He put on his robes with the help of a few servants and went to the meeting.

                Baekhyun woke up to find Sunyoung smiling at her. “Let’s get ready for the day, Baekhee-assi!”

                After Baekhyun’s transformation, Baekhyun went straight to Seulgi, who had woken up in the middle of the night, according to some of the servants. “Seulgi, are you feeling a bit better?” Baekhyun asked, trying to hold back his tears from coming back out.

                Seulgi smiled weakly, her eyes were too swollen to open. “Yes, mama, I’m fine now. Are you okay? I heard that you fainted.” She tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Baekhyun.

                “You rest, no need to sit up because of me. What happened? Who did this to you?”

                Seulgi chuckled bitterly. “Guess Daebi-mama found out about me giving information about the Hwang family.” She placed her hand over Baekhyun’s. “Listen, Baekhee-mama. You must stop the Woman. She’s the one behind all this. She’s been killing off all of the King’s sons. Even the hidden ones.”

                Baekhyun furrowed his brows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

                “I heard the guards talking about it. The Woman killed off an entire family for her people to reign. Seja-junha is in grave danger, which in turn means that you’re in danger. We cannot trust anyone.” Seulgi whispered only loud enough for Baekhyun to hear. “But there is one child left. She works at the Choigak. She’s the one with a mask over , I don’t think they said her name though.”

                Baekhyun hugged Seulgi tightly—enough so that it didn’t break the girl—and sighed. “That’s so much information, thank you, Seulgi. Thank you. Without you, I don’t know what would have happened. We’ll contact her right away. Sunyoung, could you find someone for us?” Sunyoung came to Baekhyun’s side and nodded.

                “I’m so glad you’re by seja-junha’s side, mama.” Seulgi smiled weakly, and patted Baekhyun’s hand.

                Baekhyun bit his lip from crying again, he had to be strong in front of Seulgi. “Don’t worry, I’ll get revenge for you, Chanyeol, and the country.”

&&

                Kyungsoo sighed, tapping his fingers on his instrument instead of plucking like he usually did. He was glad Dol stopped him before he went to Jongin’s, because honestly, he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t just tell him his real identity… that was too dangerous. Jongin could have already gone to the bad side, the Woman’s side, and it would be too risky for him to tell him that he was one of the King’s offspring.

                “Kyunghee, someone is here for you.” Sooyoung’s voice and a knock woke him up from his thoughts.

                “Come in.” Kyungsoo put on his best elegant smile and posture.

                Two women came into his room, both covered their face until the doors closed. Kyungsoo stood up and closed the windows. “Hello, Kyunghee, I’m from the palace.” A soft, feminine voice spoke from under the covering.

                “W—What does the palace need with me?” Kyungsoo asked carefully, trying to figure out who was speaking.

                “We need your help for our seja-junha. I heard that you were one of the King’s hidden daughters, the only survivor from the massacre, actually.” Kyungsoo’s heart dropped. The seja? The seja had found her? “If there is any information you know about the Woman, we need it. They’re finally making a move and no one is safe, not even you. We want to protect you and bring you into the palace.”

                Kyungsoo sighed. “I could never leave the Choigak, but if I find information, I will definitely stop by the palace. You are welcome to come here anytime you’d like… your name?”

                “Baekhee.”

                Kyungsoo recognized the name somewhere, he knew he heard it somewhere before—“The seja will be getting married to a beautiful young lady named Baekhee, I think. We’ll perform for them then.”

                “You’re—” Kyungsoo pointed at the figure. The girl sitting next to Baekhee swatted Kyungsoo’s finger.

                “Yes, I’m the wife-to-be of the seja. Can you trust us now?”

&&

                “The day of the wedding is coming up, it’s only in four days. That’s when we’ll commence the first attack. Shim Minji will be killed before the festival ends, then the newlywed couples.” The Woman rubbed her thumb against her teacup. “Then your son will be placed on the throne.”

                Jaejoong smiled and bowed his head. “I can’t believe it’s really happening, mama.”

                “We will come into full power, we will eliminate anyone and everyone that went against us.” The Woman cackled, and stood up. “Our age is finally here!”

&&

                “Chanyeol, we found more information. You have a half-sister.” Baekhyun spoke between heavy breathes. Chanyeol looked up from his scrolls and smiled at Baekhyun.

                “Oh how pleasant.”

                “I’m not joking, Chanyeol. His family was killed by the Woman.” Baekhyun took off his coverings and sat in front of Chanyeol. “The other children of your father, they’ve been killed in a massacre. That only means one thing. You’re next on the target list. We don’t know when they’re going to attack, but we have another ear at the Choigak.”

                Chanyeol blinked. “Oh.” He had paid too much attention to their wedding that he almost forgot he was about to be assassinated. “What’s her name?”

                “Kyunghee.”

                “Kyunghee? Isn’t that Jongin’s lover’s name?”

                Baekhyun smiled widely. “Another recruitment to the team that we can trust, then, right? She seemed happy to help. She seemed to know something about the plan but she wouldn’t tell us because she wasn’t sure it was accurate information.”

                Chanyeol smiled back at his best friend. “Thank you, Baekhee.”

                “We can get through this, we’ll protect you.”

--

another short update, i feel like i'm rushing this whole plotline but i'm trYING MY HARDEST.
hope you guys liked the new chapter and thanks for all the commenters, i'll try to reply to all of them! 
thank you guys for reading, xoxoxoxo.

p.s. i can't wait for baekhyun's drama, i can fiNALLY HAVE SOME RESOURCE FOR A TRAILER OR SOMETHING K YA