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FIRST LIGHT, LAST DREAM
20 years earlier.
***
Lee Miyeon ran away, from her homeland to a Kingdom across the sea,on the summer solstice.
Four months later,in the fall, she gave birth to a boy.
Red leaves littered the streets, nightfall came early indicating the onset of winter and the seasons of spirit.
Lee Miyeon wasn't a superstitious person by any means. She was a believer –true at heart. She believed in nature,stories and magic. She was magic.
She was afraid,not-afraid—wary of winter, of crossing paths with the spirits and of the eclipsed sun.
Her magic came to her when she had needed it the most. It wasn't flashy or elaborate, it was wild,healing. It made itself known-in the air and in your bones.
The same thing that forced her to leave her home and take refuge in a land, an ocean away.
She'd been apprehensive of raising her son in such a land but the first time she saw her boy, all her doubts were gone.
He was the most beautiful little thing she had ever seen—rosy pale and starry eyed.
She knew she would give her life to save him, in a heartbeat.
The sky had been clear and his destiny held the sun.
She assumed it to be the sign that would lighten up the dark and keep the spirits at bay–a natural protective shield.
Looking at him her own eyes reflected back, it felt like she could handle anything, she could take a hurricane – no problem was too difficult ,no mountains unscalable.
He was her star,her sweet boy.
A month before his second birthday, he fell ill to a mysterious illness.
Miyeon's days went in keeping the fever at bay and nights to soothe his pain and constant crying.
He cried in pain for days and everytime Miyeon felt as if someone was slowly cutting pieces of her heart ,relishing in the pain.
Miyeon had exhausted all her resources,leaving her desperate enough to pray to the gods that rarely listened.
In the north of the kingdom, a golden flower grew from frozen ground.
Three days later, the kingdom had celebrated the birth of their crown prince.
And Miyeon had celebrated her son's recovery.
The illness left him as mysteriously as it had caught him.
The sky had been clear,the stars bright.
A month later,the royal guards turned the kingdom upside down in search of the missing crown prince.
A year later, the King and Queen lit up the first lantern to guide the lost prince home.
Building a tradition shrouded in broken sorrow and some semblance of hope.
10 years later Miyeon kissed her baby's forehead one last time.
Present Day
***
SM☆
It's another day waking up alone. His bed is warm and the sun filters through the window,he opens his eyes to the glowing lights ,painted on his ceiling, in a night sky,the morning light makes it look dull.
It's a shabby job, there's spilled paint on one corner that is badly covered up with a dark blue,He tried his best to copy what he saw but he wishes for someway he could capture it exactly and hold it in his eyes forever to look at because yesterday's memory is not the same as today.
It changes and changes but the core of it stays the same—the calling and desire to catch a simple glimpse of the floating lights from the place of its origin.
Every year,on his birthday, Kim Seungmin stays up till the moon's high in the sky and watches hundreds, thousands of floating lights moving in space like tiny suns afar from the sole window of his room.
Seungmin stops his trail of thought and focuses on the present mission which is to convince Jinyoungto show him the lights as a birthday present.
Jinyoung shoots him down every year but Seungmin has prepared all the counter agreements this time,he recounts them in his head and stands up to brainlessly do his daily chores —washing up, some cleaning, breakfast,watering the plants, and then write something or play the guitar.
He's mindlessly watering the plants on the sill when he feels the slight shaking of the tower; a sign of intrusion and then Jinyoung is tapping on the windowsill to let him in, Seungmin pulls him in by his arm.
The castle works on Jinyoung's command,it shifts itself to provide a stone staircase for Jinyoung to walk up to the window.
It's an advanced skill and always fascinating to watch. Seungmin had asked Jinyoung to teach him this spell and Jinyoung promised him to teach it when Seungmin turns 23 as then he'll have better skills, right now Seungmin only knows how to make a handful of potions that fail half the time.
Jinyoung says it's because Seungmin has the healer's curse. It's very unfair.
"Seungmin-ah." Jinyoung says, his breath comes out heavy and he looks worse than when he left last week.
Seungmin immediately understands what to do. He takes Jinyoung's hand in his own and chants the only spell he knows.
It's simple enough.
The change is instant, Jinyoung's stark white hair softens into black, the lines on his skin reduce, the cut on his cheek fills in and leaves behind smooth unmarred skin, healing any sunburn and taking away all the tiredness.
"That's good, you can stop"
Seungmin drops to his knees, burnt out after the healing. To help someone is to give out his own strength but he has no regrets.
"Soon you won't have to suffer, I have gotten hold of the witch,the ancient scholar, who can give us the cure, you'll be free to enjoy life then and not worry about anyone using you for your power."
Seungmin dare not hope because the cure is the key to freedom. It's the one thing he wants so much it kills him to think about but he turns a polite smile towards Jinyoung.
"That's –that's great news. I'm forever grateful to you. I don't know how can I ever repay"
It sounds awkward to his own ears but Jinyoung doesn't question it.
"We are a family Seungmin-ah, I will always want the best for you. It's your birthday soon–what do you want? A new guitar? Journals? Paints?"
That's his chance. Seungmin sends out a small prayer to not fuck this up.
"pleaseletmeseethefloatinglightsonce."
Jinyoung huffs a long sigh, exasperated, "We've been over this a hundred times child, I don't understand why you insist on having a death wish. This place is a safe haven,one step out of here and they'll put you in chains and use you, magic is treated as something fearful by the weak and as a sin by the fools, your whole existence is a sin for them— they'll catch you, experiment on you, use you for their own gains. The world is a dark, cruel and selfish place."
Jinyoung offers him no window to speak so he tries to interrupt.
"No one knows me, I haven't set a foot out in 8 years,how—"
"So you've forgotten what happened last time"
"Have not– the lights call me, It's a strange pull that becomes harder and harder to resist. I know it, I feel it, I believe it. They come out every year on my birthday. It's a sign.Please—"
"I hate to argue Seungmin-ah, you're always so understanding. Please take some time to cool down, I need to hurry if I want to catch the witch. I'll see you soon"
Jinyoung climbs over the window, the tower shifting to make way for him.
Seungmin moves to the window and shouts "Seongsaeng-nim, seongsaeng-nim at least listen to me, Jinyoung-ssi…"he tries and tries but Jinyoung moves with the wind and is gone before Seungmin is finished speaking
He shakily lifts a glass of water to drink and then pours it over his face, trying to shake away the disappointment and think think think of some way he can fulfil his birthday wish.
One day he will catch the lights and taste freedom. One. Day.
MH♡
Minho is sitting in one of the corner booths of Red-Dragon Tavern, lost in thought,nursing a clear drink in his hand.
Brows drawn together, he contemplates what to eat for dinner.
The red lights on the ceiling reflect on the surface of his glass and a jazz melody plays from the next room.
The musician plays the music based on her mood,today it's a melancholy sound,a tale about estranged lovers.
The sky turns twilight, the shops outside put on candles and artificial lights.
Every few minutes,his eyes slide to the clock on the opposite wall,above the painting of a red dragon.
The rush hours lie ahead and Minho would like to leave without a fight as it's tradition for the tavern to paint its floor with blood,every thursday or really any other day of the week because when you leave drunk hot headed assholes together one of them has got to end up with something broken.
Changbin says it's auspicious,fool's gold.
Changbin knows shit.
He's about to leave when he hears the first drop hit the streets and not even 5 minutes later ,an onslaught of rain, and lightless thunder accompanies it.
A crow cries in the distance.
This is one of the things he hates about Levanter. It's fucking unpredictable, the weather,the people, the festivals,the royal family. Levanter thrives on surprises.
Scandals, Gossip, Secrets.
Love,lust,money.
And the Red-Dragon tavern is the heart of chaos. The place where influential nobles mix with street rats and cheap crimelords.
Dealing with the nobles is worse,according to him, because all of them act so high and mighty like they won't eat each other in a heartbeat.
Dressed in finery with coal hearts.
Rains have a tendency to set his mood off because it reminds him of his mother.
She was unpredictable too and he has always thought she fit right in with the chaos. She was wild,magical —a live tornado.
If she were here,she'd tell him to return home and cancel the deal.
She warned against bad omens—A crow's dead cry in the rain ,being one of them.
(But she isn't here now,is she.).
Changbin moves past his table for the third time in the evening, throwing a wink.
Minho smiles creepily in return and Changbin loses his balance for a second before he rights himself again(Glares never work on Changbin,the only way to throw him off is being soft with him but he makes it a very difficult task.)
Changbin is a poet at heart and a disaster at cooking. How he runs a restaurant without poisoning half the populace is beyond him.
Bless Yang Jeongin who actually manages the restaurant.
The dealers haven't arrived,the rain's downright torrential,completely soaking anyone outside and Changbin winked at him.
These events are a sure sign to return home.(He can blame it on the omens)
He's starting to lose his nerve when his eyes catch the clumsy movement at the door—Hyunjin and Jisung,rushing in the tavern,red faced and wet from the rain, Jisung carrying a heavy bag on his shoulder.
He waves them over and Hyunjin flashes him an apologetic smile.
They make their way to him,dropping heavily in the booth–the table shakes.
Hyunjin and Jisung used to be at each other's throat till they got drunk and accidentally married each other and now they act sickly sweet with each other.
If it gets too much to handle then he has to feed them tissues.
It's too much effort on his part.
They've got their hands in everyone's business-they're worse than Grandma Song when it comes to gossip;they sniff it out like hounds(but lack her charm).
It's usually fine working with them, they're great manpower and quick information.
Han Jisung is cunning–a quokka on cocaine and Hyunjin has probably seen god because he has no reservations whether it's jumping from a hill or diving deep down the ocean to find something but people mostly slip up after one look at that face and deliver information right in his hands.
What they need is someone who can sneak in and be a victor in quick fights and escape.
This is his field of expertise-cheap tricks,pickpocketing and illusions.(He also likes to dance but a useless talent if you lived in the streets and not with a traveling circus)
"I hope you have a good reason to call me here unless you want to end up in the oven?"he asks,nonchalantly.
He didn't really have anything better to do but.
Hyunjin wastes no time to open up the bag and bring out a long cylinder tube custom made to hold paper.
Hyunjin lays the map flat on the table. It's skilled craftsmanship–clear lines,delicate symbols on a strong creamish paper.
He's admiring the map when Jisung takes the forgotten drink from his hand and gulps it down in one go,wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and says"Hyung I love you"
It's not strange for Han Jisung to profess his love to his friends but right before a deal has Minho seeing huge red flags.
It's putting him on edge.
Minho hums noncommittal,folding his arms across his chest and fixes both of them with a poker face.
"Hyung,This is the biggest job we've ever had and if it goes right then it could be the last job we ever do."Hyunjin says,pressing the map to flatten it and remove the folds.
It's detailed,made with a skilled hand but Minho has no idea what he's looking at—some noble's house?a church?
He's slightly anxious about it but curiosity wins over.
"Get on with the details"
Hyunjin does.
***
Minho has been sitting speechless for the past 30 minutes except for a hello to Felix when he joined them mid-conversation.
It's been 10 minutes since Hyunjin explained about the job.
And 5 since Felix left to greet Jeongin.
With each passing minute, he thinks,surely it can't get more ridiculous than this.
And each passing minute proves him wrong.
Between Hyunjin and Jisung,they share half a brain cell and it's about time it's exhausted.
He's so done with both of them. They invited him to the tavern on a Thursday night when he could have been doing better things(like sleeping) to tell him a mystical tale in the name of stealing.
Next time, he is going to charge money just for listening.
This is what happens when people live on cheap drugs and hallucinations and fake marriages.
Hyunjin continues giving more details as if Minho is going to waste more time listening
".....and then we'll wait for you near the east gateway,we already have a buyer and he has agreed….."
"To what?"Minho snaps.
"... to pay 25 million in new money."
Hyunjin finishes.
25?!25 - million!new money?!!
"Twen–how many?million?"
"Twenty five million split 4 ways—6.25 million each negotiable and covered expenses"
He can never make 25 million in his life,even if he works to the bone. Only a handful of nobles have this kind of money.
If the plan itself didn't sound so stupid then the money is a dead giveaway to the real intentions behind it –a trap.
"What do you think?"Hyunjin asks.
"What I think of stealing the crown of the lost prince."he deadpans.
"Yes..it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.I was skeptical at first but I have thought about it very carefully. I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know we could do it.We have people inside the palace. We have everything we need and you're the best in Levanter …. you know that,we'll be set for life and the exhibition is our best chance,there are too many people,security is divided,we'll get you in with the performers,Felix is our inside man,he's going there as the assistant of the head performer and he thinks it's a brilliant plan"
Jisung says with such conviction as if he has done this a hundred times.
"Who is the sponsor?"
"Lee Soo-man"
Lee Soo-man,third cousin to the King and 5th in line for the crown if the King doesn't decide on an heir.
Minho hasn't heard much about him which is frankly concerning except for some nasty rumors.(that he hates Old General Bang and his son because they are a thorn in his side as they pledge strict loyalty to The King.)
And ofCourse Felix would think it's a brilliant plan,it came from his twin afterall.
"You want me to sneak in the vault room before the exhibition starts and replace the crown with an imitation ,climb down the roof and run away when the gates open to general public and meet you at the east gate"
There's really no way around it,it sounds completely bonkers when spoken out loud.
They keep on arguing after this. Jisung trying to convince him,Minho counting all the faults in the plan,Hyunjin going on and on about the money.
At one point Jisung starts using all his limbs to emphasize his point,moving his hands,stomping his feet. He finally stops when his hand hits a server and the server spills the drink on the nearby table.
The alcohol glitters forming an arc for one glorious moment and then comes spilling down on the nearby table.
The man sitting there,a hood covering his upper face,gets soaked in alcohol and the bottle and glass shatter on the floor.
After that it's a shit show(for Jisung) or the evening entertainment (for the rest of the tavern)
Minho sighs and leans back since he has seen this scene a hundred times by now.
It would be suspicious if the man doesn't hit Jisung.
Red-Dragon Tavern and Peace do not mix.
The man hits Jisung square in the face,he's either very brave or very stupid(stupid mostly)considering the man is a new face here and already making an enemy out of Jisung.
Jisung aims for his throat and brings his arm to crush his skull but the man's faster,he ducks and twists his body to get behind Jisung and hit the back of his knees. It looks like a familiar fighting style to Minho,unsure of where he has seen it before.
Pale skin,a full mouth and sharp jaw is what's visible on the man's face,the rest of him is covered in a funeral garb.
It's a blur of fighting, screaming, exchanged bets and people cheering for the one they think will end up less roughed.
It ends with the man and Jisung getting thrown out of the tavern with a cut lip still continuing "Hyung think about it,the mo-.."Jisung stops himself mid sentence "think about it"he finishes.
Hyunjin sighs,rubs his face and puts down damage money for the tavern.
"We can negotiate later but this could change the course of life which right now, for me, is to bandage my idiot,I'll see you later"
Minho nods his head for a goodbye.
What use is money when he ends up on the spike.
He can't take it with him to the netherworld, whatever circle of hell he ends up in.
He's not a naive kid who gets lured by the promise of candy.
They are going to have to find someone else to do it.
He's never gonna agree.
***
The Royal horn blows to mark the first day of Apricus.
It's a bittersweet festival for him,like everything about Levanter.
The last time he watched the festivities was when he was 10.
It stood tall hiding secrets behind every door,clear glass windows glittering where the light struck them. Walls with writing in a long forgotten language ,impenetrable and solid.
The earliest memory of the castle is watching the magnificent building decorated for the festival with flowers and lights ;the various performances for the visiting delegates and the royal family.
Today the castle is a target and the stage for his secret performance.
Changbin has packed his bag with some of his trinkets. Minho hopes he doesn't have to use them.
He has taken a spot in the middle of the line with the other performers at the checkpost.
Felix stands in the front,a venom sweet smile on his face chatting up the guard.
Felix is supposed to get him inside without the physical check and then out of the castle after getting the bag.
Lix is a good actor; he had almost fooled Minho in giving him his family fortune when they met 6 years ago,pickpocketing on the streets with the other orphans.
The guard's cheeks are red, flustered by the freckled man in front of him. He assumes the plan's going well.
The General's party passes by them,he clutches his documents tighter.
The wait is over sooner than he anticipates;
His face remains passive as he hands over his documents (a perfect copy.made by the same craftsman as the map) but his ears burn like sirens.
The guard takes a look at his documents and ushers them inside without question to a room for physical check.
Inside the room,He is hyper aware of all the weapons concealed in his clothes.
A familiar face greets him and relief washes over.
"Have you memorised the path?Felix whispers.
"Yes"
"Good,Do not stray from it or you might get stuck there forever."
"I know"
"Good Luck Hyung,"Felix gives him a hug and goes to the waiting performers in the next room.
The guard shows him a door different from the others that leads to a passage that can get him inside without further checks.
This is the thing about old castles –too complex for no good reason.
The passageway is a labyrinth designed to kill a person unfamiliar with it. He has heard stories about how people die in it because they can't find the way out. It wasn't always like that but slowly people forgot the map to it .There is no physical copy ,it's secret was handed down from one generation of royals to the next but then one of them had suffered an illness that turned his mind to a broken clock before he could pass down the secret to the queen after him.
Levantar history is so crap Minho never paid attention to it.
The queen had ordered her guards to venture into it and made some marks in the labyrinth to solve a part of it but most of it still remained a mystery.
Minho has never been more thankful for his sense of direction than this moment.
He covers his face with his mother's handkerchief,a violet blossom etched on the corner.
The walls look like they've been collecting dust and spider webs for centuries, Minho lights up a small matchet that gives enough light to see some meters ahead.
The floor is cracked at places making it easy to trip over if you don't pay much attention.
Walking on the right along the red mark path leads to the back wall of the keep.
Minho silently moves,sticking to the right side till he comes across the intertwined veins over the sun motif. He extinguishes his matchet and pushes the stone below the sun motif,it opens up to a crawl space that leads to the forgotten gardens where the royal family ancestors lie 6 feet under,adjacent to the back wall of the west hall.
Minho quickly moves out and covers his tracks ,he runs, out of sight, across the garden to the wall disrespecting all the skulls lying beneath his feet.
He starts with the most dreaded part of this job—scaling the wall.
Halfway up Minho knows,one look at the ground and it's over for everyone involved.
Compulsively he looks down—it's terrifying, he feels himself turn to stone, he has always been afraid of heights but this is the only way that pays for food.
In his business if you've any weaknesses it's best to hide them.
Otherwise you may as well carry a board with please arrest written on it.
He might have severely underestimated his height management skill.
Now it's up to him whether to get his skull crushed by falling or continue up.
This is going to be a long day.
He steeles his beating heart and puts his axe between the seams of old stone.
He manages to make it to the wall walk with all his bones intact ,if he had more time he would kiss the floor but he makes haste towards the dome shaped roof window of the grand hall.
He keeps to the parapet, his guard high.
Now it's just a matter of going down and exchanging the crown for the imitation.
A flock of birds flies past his head startling him.
He lubricates the glass with heavy oil and makes a small hole close to the hatchet enough for the flexible picks to fit through to reach the latch.
It loosens in a minute and then opens in another.
He attaches the rope securely and throws the other end through the empty window space.
It's heavily guarded from the outside which only creates a false sense of security if you ask him.
The inside is silent enough to hear a pin drop.
He goes down carefully slowly sliding on the rope and lands on his feet.
The stained glass windows cast a rainbow glow around the hall.
In front of him,sits the crown encased in a glass cover on a pedestal.
It reminds him of the castle itself —an ancient secret keeper , crafted with a certain delicacy that matches the imitation in his hand.
Looking at the real thing he feels almost arrogant with how well the job went.
Not a feather out of place.
He smirks to himself,maybe he can call himself a big shot now.
He exchanges it quickly,the crown is heavy in his hands.
He leaves a jeuremi,his signature wrinkly face on one of the corners of the pedestal. There is no time to admire it,he puts it in the bag and starts climbing up the rope.
He is close to the hatch when the door of the great hall swings open and General Bang walks in and sees the rope dangling from the roof .
So much for calling himself a big shot.
The general looks up,makes a split second eye contact with him and Minho stumbles over in his hurry to get away,He leaves the rope and roof window as they are and takes off.
He runs along the allure to the east side and then down the outer stairs ,he walks in a corridor that leads to the gardens where Felix stands with the cart, waiting to move out.
Felix immediately straightens up, watching him dash through the garden in a frenzy.
A horn blows through the castle signaling a lock down to not let people get away.
Felix moves out of the way
Minho jumps on the horse and runs straight towards the closing east gates ;the horse makes it out but the cart gets crushed in the gates,a stray arrow passes near his ear,he tugs on the reins to make the horse move away from the crowd.
A pack of royal guards follows close,Minho urges the horse to go faster.
The horse speeds up,fast enough that the handkerchief covering his face comes undone,flying behind him to join the dust on the earth.
He moves through the crowd near the gates and takes off towards the forest which is in the opposite direction of the town square and any help he might get.
He doesn't want to endanger anyone else.
How did the General come to the hall when he was supposed to be with the King and Queen overseeing arrangements,he has no inkling except that someone's tongue slipped and when Minho gets his hand on them he'll be sure to detach that tongue.
He knows this part of the forest like the back of his hand. He used to come here to collect herbs with his mother,he turns towards the right to the part where the forest is thicker and terrain not fit for any vehicle.
He moves around the twisted trees,the sound of the hooves of the horses chasing him is distant but still there.
He has managed to outrun most of the guards.
He turns his horse towards the redwood trees where the trees tower over everything in sight and sunlight doesn't make it to some parts on the ground.
He directs his horse towards it. The horse rears its front leg and shakes violently with a loud cry, afraid of something. Minho falls from the horse,his back makes solid contact with the ground —breath knocked out of him.His bag lands some feet away from him with a clank.
He hopes nothing broke.
He stands up as quick as he is able to,which takes him longer than he is willing to admit–slowing his racing heart and taking in huge gulps of air.
His mother had warned him against walking on this path,called it forbidden,in a moment of rebellion he had gone and promptly gotten lost and sat under a tree till nightfall;too tired to walk in search of the right path;his mother had found him and she was so relieved that he got away without a scolding.
He stretches his limbs, one of the bones crack.
Is this what being 20 year old is?Is his life over?
He pushes himself forward on pure adrenaline when he picks on the faint sound of hooves running on the forest floor,growing louder with each passing second.
He takes one look behind him ,throws his bag on a shoulder and runs farther from the city and straight into the heart of the forest.
He moves carefully,trying not to step on the plants but there is no space to move faster without tripping on the thick exposed roots.
Now would be a great time to admit that he Royally fucked up.
He needs to find a way out which seems impossible now that half the palace guards would be searching for him.
Now it's loud and clear,a sole horse coming after him, the horse hoofs' sound like thunder softened by the rough ground in the dead silent forest,all the lead he had gained would be useless if the horse catches up to him.
He sticks close to the trees ,hiding behind the trunks when he catches the horse,ownerless,sniffling at the grass Minho had been standing a minute prior.
He is still behind the tree,locked in an eerie silence holding his breath.
The horse moves in his direction and Minho feels his heart rate pick up.
There's a hundred plans forming in his head,not a single one makes sense.
If he runs now,he can use his size to get into smaller spaces and possibly hide somewhere, he can climb a shorter tree and take cover behind the foliage.
He silently observes, eyes locked on the horse–a medallion around its neck with a name written on it—Kkampton. Fancy,he thinks and then the horse moves again,this time straight towards the tree Minho is hiding behind.
The horse picks up its movement and so does Minho.
He flees;moving farther into the forest,he jumps into the space (big enough for him but not for the horse)between the twined trees .
He keeps his feet light on the ground, lest he end up with a twisted ankle or a horse snack.
He runs into smaller spaces but the horse doesn't give up the chase.
All his energy is being used up to survive,he can feel his legs starting to give up and the horse,the fucking horse is still after—ooff!
He steps on a particularly lush green cover and falls down it,spins?rolls? he has no idea.
Opening his eyes he feels like he broke out of an enchantment.
Or he's dead and this is how after life looks.
An open field.
Not bad,if you ask him,the sky is clear and the ground is green and warm. The air smells of wildflowers and fresh pine. The trees are shorter and an old tower of grey stones and a red turret stands in the middle of the clearing.
He closes his eyes to shake himself off in case it's a dream,takes a deep breath and opens them.
He is still there,in the middle of a clearing,bag strapped to his shoulder.
The tower stands 5 storeys tall menacingly. He goes around it but there are no doors.
It looks like a witch or a dragon's residence.
A solitary window below the turret,hanging vines and flowers on the sill,is the only thing in the middle of grey stone.
His legs are on their final line.
He has no idea when the horse will catch up to him and he knows he won't be able to outrun it this time.
But maybe he can outclimb it.
There is,afterall,no limit to stupid decisions.
***
He has already fucked up once and if he looks down again he is going to have to start over in after life.
He sticks the climbing axe in the gaps between the stone, meticulously finding seams strong enough to help him climb the old stone tower.
Minho feels he still might be able to turn his luck around as he comes within the reach of the window leading to a room(He hopes it is a room and not just a trick of the tower that could possibly lead him into a dungeon or make him experience a freefall,The kind that might make his teeth kiss the floor.) .
He climbs in hastily,taking a heavy sigh and sits down on the floor of the ROOM he just came into.
Why people like to live in high places is beyond him, should just stay close to the ground,practice some humility.
He stands up,wiping his hands on his pants and takes in the room.
It's surprisingly clean and organized; books on the desk,wall filled with drawings and murals,flowers in the co-
A heavy object hits his head and he feels gravity take its hold, losing consciousness.
Maybe the room was not so unoccupied after all.
Minho hears them before he sees them; a sweet voice - anxious and afraid (fair enough. He'd be surprised too if he saw someone break in his room through the window)
He's tied to a chair, hands behind his back in a rough knot- he tries to move his hands stealthily. He's focused on undoing the knot when the person speaks again grumbling to themselves
"Did I kill him…there's no blood though ,could it be internal bleeding?….,Master would be so mad if he finds out"
"Maybe I should pour some water on his face"
Minho opens his eyes before he can get a facefull of water and stares straight in front of him -,at the source of the voice;a boy about his age with innocent puppy-like eyes holding a glass of water.
It's a strangely familiar face.
The boy in turn makes eye contact with Minho,lets out a high-pitched scream and throws the water at him before Minho can open his mouth to calm him.
Minho closes his eyes instinctively,he shakes his head to remove some of the water and stares at the culprit.
"…."
"...."
It's awkward and Minho is not going to be the one to break the ice.
After an excruciating long minute,the boy in front of him speaks up.
"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to do that,are you alright?"he says,a guilty expression on his face.
Minho glares at him unimpressed.
Getting an Apology for Trespassing in someone's room is a new experience, certainly.
The room looks very comfortable and neat, a portrait hangs on the wall in front of him; it's a younger version of the boy in front of him and an old man next to him,they look nothing alike.
It could be a teacher-student or friends,It'ssafe to assume they are not family.
Minho takes a deep sigh (he's been taking quite a lot of sighs,is this a sign of old age?)and gets straight to the point.
"Look, I'm sorry for entering your tower but I had some bad guys behind me. I needed a place to hide and your tower looked cozy. I promise I don't mean any harm so I'll leave right away if you'd be kind enough to return my bag ...uhm.."Minho meant this to come out suave but the words fall flat.
"…"
the boy just stares at him still confused about something(Minho has no idea what ,this looks pretty simple to him - just return the bag and he'll leave, what's there to stare at his face.)
"Do you know I charge people to look at my face" Minho says,not that he's not enjoying the attention but he'd really like the bag in his hands right now which he has got behind his back purely for show- the knot came undone a while back.
"You do?"the boy asks, genuinely surprised.
Should he feel offended?
"What's your name?"Minho attempts.
"What's YOUR name"
"I asked You first" he's getting impatient, maybe he should break free and hit this boy in his empty skull-
"You're in my room" the boy refuses to back down
He is aware that he should practice caution ,the boy, in front of him, could be a hag witch for all he knows, checking him out to practice evil spells later; because what kind of teenager lives isolated in a tower beyond the forest but there's something about him that makes him feel a tiny bit insane and snappy,could be post-traumatic response to climbing high places twice in a day or as Grandma Song says the 'energy' is creating chaos.
"Fine. It 's Lee Minho."Minho obliges.
"Kim Seungmin " the boy- Seungmin returns.
"So if the introductions are out of the way can you please return my bag."
"You said there are bad guys behind you,why?"
"That's none of your business."
"Do you want your bag or not"
"….."
"They want to steal something from me"
"Oh" for someone who asked the question,he sounds very uninterested.
Minho was so wrong when he said innocent eyes. Kim Seungmin is a bastard.
"Where do you live"
"What is it to you?You're so annoying--"
"The bag" Seungmin raises an eyebrow
"where do you live"
Minho grits his teeth but replies anyway, "Where everyone lives ,outside the forest,in the capital."
Seungmin's eyes widen at the mention of the capital,words leaving his mouth uncontrolled, "Do you have floating lights too?"
"Floating lights?" he repeats, puzzled.
Minho's eyes observe the room for hiding place where his bag could be but there are too many of them —in the bookshelf,a secret corner,under the bed in the mattress —nothing stands out,if he does find out then that would be the end of his conversation with Seungmin but for now he is stuck with making small talk with a stranger (or getting interrogated by his captor?Trespassing victim?)
"Floating lights, you know, they glow like little flames,thousands of them light the whole sky making it look almost majestic, they are there every year on my birthd-uh I mean three days from now."
Ah! Minho knows what he's talking about.
"No, I don't know anything about that."he deadpans.
Seungmin narrows his eyes,Minho stays blank.
"Can you return my bag and let me go?"
Seungmin blinks"No,I don't know anything about that"
Minho opens his mouth to respond but decides he is at a disadvantage right now and slumps down in the chair.
"You mean the lanterns of Apricus"
"Yes-that! Have you seen them up close?"
Kim Seungmin goes back to his excited puppy expression so fast–Minho feels he got a whiplash.
"Hmm yes,why do you ask?"
Kim Seungmin wraps his arms around himself and licks his lips, "So...you want your bag —"
"Yes"
"And I want to see the lights–the lanterns of Apri-Apricot…"
"Apricus"
"Yes,Apricus; So you take me to watch the lights and on return, I'll give you your bag and we can both go about our lives peacefully "
"–You want me to be your escort?"
"Not escort exactly, more like a companion"
"–How about this,Kim Seungmin, you give me the bag peacefully and I leave or I forcefully take my bag and leave either way I am not staying here for a minute longer with you forget about 3 days"
"You will not find your bag without me!"
"Then you can die!"
"I'll haunt you forever"
"Sweet Circe,NO!"
It's an impossible negotiation and against his will,nonetheless.
He mentally prepares a list weighing the situation on hand—
Pros
- It's only 3 days and he can negotiate a higher price for added troubles.
- He can use Kim Seungmin as a cover if they run into guards ++monitor the situation in the capital and contemplate the next plan.
- The crown stays safe if he gets caught then it's a matter of escape and selling the crown to foreign black market.
- Grandma Song might help him out and he needs to check in with the others.
Cons
- Three days!
- Extra work + escorting a man to a festival
- Turns out he's a witch and gets cursed
- Grandma Song kills him for being a disgrace.
"You won't find your bag without my help! It's only 3 days!! Please take me with you!!"
Seungmin drops to his knees and does a complete bow leaving Minho completely surprised with the turn of events.
It's embarrassing but also makes it difficult to say no.
Damn Kim Seungmin
He looks at Seungmin like he's contemplating his request even though it's decided.
He waits for five minutes in the awkward silence, Seungmin looks eager to know his answer and a bit anxious (deserved.)
"Fine"he says"but only 3 days, you see the lights and then we return and you are going to hand over my bag — don't even think of breaking the deal or I'll kill you,I really would" he says, cocking an eyebrow,dead serious.
"Cross your heart, a true promise etc etc,Now remove the ropes"
"Thank you so much! I'll return your bag once I experience the festival. It's a Deal!"
"And you're going to follow my command "
"Ofcourse"
Seungmin's face lights up like a thousand suns and he starts removing the rope around Minho's torso clumsily.
Minho rubs his hands and stretches out his limbs once he is free.
"So…where's the entrance of this tower?"Minho asks because he's not going back the way he came in. He's done it twice already and challenging the heights a third time is a very bad idea even by his standards
"There's no entrance, we'll climb out the window" Kim Seungmin replies almost as an afterthought like he's mentioning the weather.
"WHAT"
In the last 12 hours, Lee Minho has been abandoned,almost arrested,(almost) fallen to his death, got himself a boy?man?witch?to look after for half a week and now he's attempting to climb out a 5-storey high window with ropes made out of bedspreads and the whole set of laundry, every piece of cloth in this cursed tower with the said boy?man?witch?.
Seungmin ties one end of the makeshift rope twice around his bedpost, keeps it stable with additional weight and throws the other end out of the window.
Minho takes the lead, securely holding the rope and using his axe(twice the size of his hand) as additional support , to descend the tower.
He calls out to Seungmin to watch him descend, to be careful and wait for him to climb down before he starts his own descent.
Minho is halfway down when he watches Kim Seungmin slip past him on the rope laughing like a maniac and hit the ground with a jump.
You know, like a complete psycho.
Minho makes it down in one piece and the first thing he sees is Kim Seungmin running like a wet dog,barefeet in the grass.
He sits down in the shade,collecting himself and to watch Seungmin run like a fool. Flat ground is really the best.
***
SM☆
The grass is soft and the soil is cool on his feet.
He can shout and scream and run so fast it feels like flying.
Kim Seungmin for as long as he can remember has known no home and no family.
He has lived in middle of nowheres, first 10 years in a cottage in the enchanted forest and now in the tower so high up,he can only watch the world through a window. The world being the sky and trees that never move.
He is born with magic to heal.
He was 10 when he realized his blessings were a curse for himself and for the past 8 years he has been living secluded in the tower.
The only person who has protected him is his master,Jinyoung.
The outside reminds him why he was locked in the first place.
He's paranoid because of what Jinyoung has always warned him against.
He is afraid someone will pull up and say they know who he is ; will see the truth in him and the sin—the thing that separates him from kids his age that live a normal life or at least a free one.
He remembers it clear as a summer sky,the event that led to the Tower and seclusion.
Seungmin always refers to it as the tower,never home.
He wishes for one though,for a million other things but he has lived alone for so long that he is terrified of actually going out and finding out what the world has in store for him and not just daydreaming —love,torture,a thousand floating lanterns, death.
Absolutely paranoid.
He remembers the first time he willingly used his power.
On a girl,blind and bleeding out.
He remembers the metallic rusty smell,blood flowing in the streets,so much of it,in the street,on his hands,on the girl.
He had pressed a hand to her heart and called his power to heal.
They had heard him,he swore,and they'd come.
They had healed her,stopped her from crossing the river to afterlife.
He has felt some life get sucked out of his own body,catching shallow breaths.
Before the girl could open her eyes,Jinyoung had snatched him away, back to their cottage in the middle of nowhere.
The next day,a man had broken into their house begging them to save his dying wife.
He had put a knife around Seungmin's throat.
They'd escaped. At the cost of his freedom.
He feels all of it weighing on his shoulder but it feels a bit more bearable when he can feel the sun on his face and the soft grass tickling his bare feet. He smells the earth, softwood, wild flowers, and new life.
For the first time,he is going to do something very impulsive. But he knows it's right. He knows because the lights call to him just like his power when he first saved a life.
He looks towards the forest,dark and ancient.He wants to run as fast as his feet take him but his traitorous heart screams at him 'what about Jinyoung?'.
And he shuts the thoughts,falling flat on the ground facing the sun.
He looks over to Lee Minho standing near the shade looking annoyed and thinking something.
But what was he supposed to do? Kick the opportunity standing at his door?No.
Even if his escort might be a grumpy man who threatens to kill him every other minute.
As long as he gets to see the lights.
MH♡
"Are you going to move or do you want to lie in the grass forever?"
"I'm coming" Seungmin gets up dusting his pants and joining Minho to walk out the field and into the forest.
Minho guides them through a darker part of the forest;the trees are as tall as his tower.
"Watch out for any kind of noise–birds,trees,humans,beasts –anything can hurt you"
Seungmin looks at Minho,face devoid of any emotion and whispers,"even trees?"
The forest is silent, save for the wind rustling through the trees–even whispers seem loud. "Yes,large,vicious, man-eating trees,they coil their branches around the human body and suck the life out of it."Minho replies gravely.
Seungmin stares at him, horrified,"What kind of trees are they?"
"Man-eaters,tall and gnarled,they especially eat people who refuse to return other's belongings and run away to watch the lights"
Seungmin's face changes instantly from serious to sour. Absolutely priceless,Maybe there is something good about that stupid face, afterall.
Seungmin looks completely deceived,brows furrowed, mouth set in a straight line.
Clearly, someone lacks humor, Minho thinks,but he doesn't so he laughs at the fool who fell for it;a vivacious toothy grin.
Seungmin's mouth opens slightly, to make a retort and then closes back to its original state without a word.
Of Course,Minho understands, left speechless by the best of Levanter.
Minho smirks to himself,"let's go or are you waiting for the man-eaters ?".
He turns and moves ahead before Seungmin gets a chance to cuss him out.
A few miles later, Minho realizes he no longer hears footsteps behind him. He turns to see no one following him.
His first thought is good riddance and his second thought is the bag and the key to it –Kim Seungmin, certified pain in the ass.
He takes off back the way he came and spots Kim Seungmin sitting under the oldwood deep in thought.
"Are you trying to get lost on purpose?"
Seungmin looks a bit conflicted,
"I–uh should I return?If my Master,Jinyoung, finds out he'd feel betrayed. He thinks the outside world is unsafe for me."
Hmm?out of nowhere, Minho thinks, he's confused as to what brought this change of heart but he isn't mad about it.
"Yes,Yes! Your Master will feel absolutely torn,betrayed at the hands of his own very close pupil,imagine how disappointed he'll be. Let's return, Kim Seungmin. The lights are materialistic but your master is your kin."
"......"
"No, the lights are important. Jinyoung-nim isn't going anywhere but the lights won't come for another year and I can't get out of the tower."
"Why can't you ask your master to take you out, Kim Seungmin ?"
"I did. He thinks the world is unsafe and maybe he is right and people can take adv–. I mean,He doesn't want me to get harmed but I really really want to see the lights up close."
Minho can smell shady from a mile and this master person reeks of it.
But well there might be some truth in the world being an unsafe place.
For starters he's unknowingly traveling with a criminal, maybe his master is right.
He doesn't know what to make of this situation,all he really cares for is the crown.
He takes a long, suffering sigh, "I don't know what to tell you but there are still people after me so you better hurry If you want to catch the light and not get arrested as an accomplice" Minho realizes his mistake as soon as the words leave his mouth.
"Arrested..an accomplice?"Seungmin repeats concerned (maybe for his own life now)
"Yeah duh arrested for being too damn sexy"smooth,very smooth, Lee Minho.
Seungmin doesn't look convinced but he doesn't question.(The less he knows the better, Minho is not looking forward to more problems)
"If you want to sulk ,good for you,I'm not going to babysit —wait how old are you?
"Eighteen"he replies hesitantly as if Minho is forcing words out of him.
"You look 30" it's a poor attempt at covering his previous blunder and he knows that.
"You look 30 haha haha." Seungmin mocks him with a spelled out laugh(which threatens to upturn the corners of his own mouth but he reigns it in)."How old are you?"
"Nineteen"Minho says" for now"he adds as an afterthought
"You better call me hyung."Minho says as a peace(for now)offering.
"Hyung..?... I can do that."
Seungmin's whole face changes. It's strange ,watching someone get affected by his words,taking them and turning them into a lightened up face, he's rarely sincere with his words,choosing actions over them.
"Come on,now" Minho says, holding an outstretched hand,palm upwards,towards Seungmin.
He takes it.
SM☆
He wishes he thought this through. He might be traveling with a potential criminal who threatens to kill him one moment and hoodwinks him the next.
Don't go out, the bad men will catch you!
What about the ones that come to his door?
Shit.
He was disappointed about the morning but what Jinyoung said isn't a lie and now he is breaking the one promise Jinyoung ever asked him of. The memory rises unbidden.
"Don't leave the tower"
"But I can't stay here...forever"
"Just wait, I'll find a way to free you of this cursed power . I know a witch who lives beyond the eastern mountains and is known to be a scholar of all kinds of magic"
"Promise me, Seungmin "
"It's good for both of us ,you know you're my only family and I want the best for you"
"I know I am sorry if I gave you reasons to think otherwise. I swear I'll stay here till you bring a cure."
It's been 8 years since that and every month Jinyoung visits him he swears he is getting closer to finding it and today he has gotten hold of the witch.
Every month Seungmin uses his power to stabilize Jinyoung and revitalize him. He comes back sometimes worse-frayed,all because of finding a cure for Seungmin.
He knows this because he feels its effects on him when he uses his magic—tiredness,pain in his bones and hair loss sometimes.
Even though rest and diet puts him as good as before, he doesn't think he can continue like this.
It's just 3 days ,he assures himself, for the fifth time since he climbed out the tower.
3 days with a potential criminal, his brain adds, still echoing sweet laughter over a terrible joke.
Seungmin knows he hasn't lived with a lot of people but he has read books and he knows a number of colorful words.
He had wanted to make use of them when Minho had laughed,a complete change from the first time he saw him and he had swallowed his words,the laugh rings in his head.
His hand is still warm from Minho's ,smaller than his, soft at some places and calloused at the other.
He knows as long as the bag is in his possession, he won't get murdered by the man walking in front of him.
They walk in relative silence till the sun sets. The evening air presses cool kisses to his skin.
He likes everything about the outside.
Sweating in the sun and the air gently cooling it,warm light on his face.
Crispy Forest air makes him feel as if he has reborn and soft grass to stand with your bare feet,cupping delicate flowers in his hand.
A squirrel or two climbing trees and catching small animals he doesn't know the name of.
Walking with someone in the pink twilight no words exchanged between them yet just the presence of another beating heart is enough to make him feel content.
It's almost enough to make him forget the plaguing thoughts…...almost.
Minho stops abruptly and Seungmin runs into him.
"Do you hear that?"he asks unprompted.
Seungmin tilts his head,half-expecting another terrible joke when he hears it ,the sound of running waters.
***
MH♡
If his estimate is right then they are closer to town than he previously thought and if it's wrong then they are lost.
The journey would have been quicker if they had gone the way he came.
Quick but certainly more deadly, he doesn't want one more encounter with that bloodthirsty horse.
He swears he saw murder in it's eyes.If there are any carnivore horses that would be it.
They had moved through the thick forest into the sparse land without much event.
Following the sound of rushing water brings the stream to his view—springing over limestone rocks and tiny pebbles near the banks.
Walking in the forest for hours without any major landmarks had made him feel uneasy.
If the stream didn't come into his view,he would've admitted that they're lost.
Thankfully, crisis averted.
They can follow it to their destination.
The stream extends to the farms that lie near the borders of the capital;from there it's only an hour's journey on any cart that would pull up for them or two if they have to walk.
The water makes him hyper aware of his parched throat.
Under the twilight sky,it almost looks turquoise.
Minho drops to his knees,without preamble,near the rocks to cup water in his hands and brings it to his mouth to quench his thirst,sweet relief courses through him.
Seungmin drops next to him,copying his actions,drinking the water,making a mess of his sleeve.
A stray droplet making its way from his bottom lip to his chin grabs Minho's attention.
Seungmin looks at him"what?"
It's a nice mouth,Minho thinks.
"You drink like a dog,"he says passively.
He doesn't see it coming,one moment he is cupping up water and the next he gets a face full of it,drenching his face thoroughly and soaking the front of his shirt.
He automatically wipes his face ,surprised.
"Look now we match ,hyung " Kim Seungmin says to him,grinning like a devil.
Minho stays silent for long enough to watch Seungmin's smile fall but before he can misunderstand, Minho retorts, "Do you want to drown Kim Seungmin?"
The smile is back,bottom canines peeking up from behind the lip,turning into something mischievous.
"Do you want your bag Minho hyung?"
Minho should throw him in the stream and tie a bag of stones to his feet.
"Continue this charade and even the bag won't be enough for me to keep my hands from your throat "
"You want to touch my throat?"
He takes a long suffering sigh and slumps down near the tree and despite his quick answers he can see that Seungmin is tired too.
He is surprised Kim Seungmin kept up with the walking without a single complaint, anyone not used to it would have tired out way earlier.
"Let's just stay here tonight and tomorrow we will be able to reach the city and then we can rest up and later watch the lights.—you can sleep first"he addresses Seungmin "I'll keep watch"
Seungmin looks like he is going to refuse him or atleast argue but he shakes his head mumbling to himself and lays down on the soft grass,near Minho.
Crossing his arm behind his head to use as a pillow,he shuts his eyes.
Minho sits in the silence,with a crescent moon as his company for the night and the wind passing through old trees as a lullaby,Kim Seungmin next to him.
Seungmin asks without opening his eyes,
["Hyung,Do you still think I'm a dog?
"You're still a dog —a rabid one at that"]
Seungmin hums a reply,Minho doesn't understand and then watches his breath even out.
SM☆
Seungmin wakes up to the sun poking his eyes and the annoying buzz of insects near his ear.
His whole body is stiff from laying on the ground. He tries to stretch out.
He looks around before getting up but it's a nightmare come true.
Lee Minho is gone. He's alone—in the forest, a day's journey away from his tower that is, if he even remembers the way back.
He can feel his thoughts take over and he realizes he doesn't know what to think —maybe Minho just went for a walk to stretch himself up or it could be he went ahead to scout the way or….he ditched Seungmin.
A restlessness rises in his gut.
He walks over to the stream to splash his face with cold water wishing to clear his head and think rationally. He opens his shirt collar and top buttons to breathe a bit easier.
He stares at his reflection in the clear stream water and focuses on it till he calms down, from the mole on his cheek to the slope of his nose and the healed burnt skin in a sun shape on his chest ,below his collar bones.
He remembers reading a story about a boy who obsessed over his own reflection till his doom.
Something hits his back and he turns around to see berries wrapped in a leaf lying near him and a foot farther than it ,Lee Minho standing with more berries wrapped in a leaf in his arms.
"Eat up. I don't want you passing out on me from starving" Minho says, throwing another berry packed leaf towards him.
Seungmin has never been happier to see someone in his life,he could go over and kiss Minho right now,if he wasn't afraid that Minho would pull a knife on him.
"Thank you" he replies relieved, smiling sincerely.
Minho didn't abandon him.
They eat up in comfortable silence and start walking along the stream to the Tavern,as Minho had addressed it.
***
MH♡
They're walking towards the Devil's tavern when for the third time Kim Seungmin says,"Do you think I should go back….would my master feel betrayed if he comes back and finds me gone..what if he needs my help and I'm not there??"
Minho fixes him with a hard look for a minute, speechlessly and then continues walking on.
He didn't walk a wholeday just to return to the tower again, he is going to take seungmin to watch the lights by his neck even if he refuses but he still complies only because he already knows the answer.
"This is the only good thought you've ever had in your life. let's go back "
"No no no I want to see the lights, I can't go back… I can't. "
Minho steals a line out of Changbin's book,never in his life, he thinks,he would have used this unironically but the universe has plans for everyone,"Stick to your principles Kim Seungmin,betray your master and then judge for yourself if it was worth it"
Minho shakes his head and ignores Seungmin for the rest of the walk till the path where the stream joins into a canal and the farms come into view to the left of it.
A blessed old man offers them a ride to the city in his ox-cart.
They offer their gratitude and help to load off some of the goods.
There's little space to sit as it's stacked with selling goods so they stick close to each other.
Minho holds onto Seungmin lest they fall from the cart,one solid rock under the wheel and it might be over for both of them.
It is a bit uncomfortable but better than walking.
The capital comes into view as a cacophony of noises,people going about their work,hurrying carts carrying goods to the palace,decorations put up for tomorrow's festivals.
Hawkers selling candies and fruits and an assortment of festival goods.
Kim Seungmin looks at everything with so much awe in his eyes,Minho's afraid they are going to burst out,he was reserved most of the time Minho spent with him but the shining eyes are a good look on him.
Seungmin unconsciously stops in the middle just to stare at the shops —the seamstress displaying a ripoff of the queen's various dresses,woven tapestries with scenes from war,a couple dancing beneath the moon;toymaker holding a porcelain doll,behind him are clockwork trinkets ; children running around playing.—he has to make him move along by taking his hand.
"I wish I could capture all of it-someway"
"You can admire it tomorrow,I'm starving let's go"
"Yeah" Seungmin replies dazedly, still looking back at the market.
Minho walks in a secluded part of the alley that offers a good view of the capital without any attention and then moves farther from the town square towards a bit unkempt part of the capital where the tavern has its gates open for business.
They get in from the backdoor,frightening the waiters flirting near the door and maybe more than flirting if the swollen lips and dazed looks are anything to go by.
"Where's Changbin?"He asks the shorter of the two.
"Who's asking?"The waiter says,clearly annoyed at being disturbed in his very important task in the middle of the work hours.
"Lee Minho" the serverboy's whole face changes
"O-Oh..OH,I'll call him right away..please come in, have a seat." the waiter hurries away to look for Changbin.
Minho feels puzzled as to what led to that panicked expression.Whatever. He has been told that he gives off an intimidating first impression but he decides it's not his problem.
They move into the main dining hall,Seungmin close to him, still holding onto his hand.
Minho drops it.
They walk to the table at one of the corners of the tavern which is busier than it usually is around noon on a normal business day.
Kim Seungmin's not the only one here for the festival,the travel parties and tourists have arrived from far off places as evident by the crowd on a lazy afternoon to witness the beauty of Levanter on Apricus,it's most celebrated festival.
Everyone knows it's celebrated to guide the lost prince home but the real purpose Apricus serves is just…that,celebration.
The days before the festival are also the height of the swindling season. Every club in Levanter sets up schemes to scam the most out of visiting tourists. It's an unspoken competition.
Seungmin takes the seat opposite him and picks up the menu card in front of him, eyes moving so fast across the page in delight.
Minho flips two of the cups placed upside down and pours water into them from the jug.
"Kim Seungmin, order whatever you want." he says handing a cup of water to him
"Whatever I want?" Seungmin repeats more like a question which, to answer, in hindsight, Minho should have said no.
Kim Seungmin orders a number of dishes from the menu with varying logic
"the name sounds delicious "
"Oh this has chicken in it must be good"
"Hmm, plum blossoms wine? What's that? Hm,Just bring it,I'll find out then"
" rice is a must, I think I can manage 3 bowls"
"Dwaekki soup? Pass–"
Minho rolls his eyes at the last one.
He moves his eyes from Seungmin to the waiter hurriedly noting down his order and then back to Seungmin to watch him seriously order food enough for four adults, Minho thinks he almost looks cute.
"What about you,hyung?"Seungmin turns ,tilting his head to look at him with concentrating eyes.
"I think this is enough." Minho replies shortly.
***
Seungmin eats like he has never seen food in his life— maybe he hasn't, who knows what kind of food service the tower offers?. All his attention is on the dishes in front of him,trying every single thing. Minho watches him remove the bone from the meat like he is an interesting specimen for an experiment. It's akin to destroying the meat.
Minho silently takes the plate from him and removes the bones and cuts the meat into bite sized pieces.
"You looked hopeless, I had to take pity. I have a soft heart after all." Minho says faux-serious and takes a sip of his drink.
"You do," Seungmin says,with no mischief in sight and goes back to eating his food.
Minho chokes on his drink and before he can embarrass himself further, Seo Changbin slides up next to him,eyeing Seungmin up and down.
Seungmin doesn't notice,too busy shoving rice in his mouth.
Changbin has got his confused face on ,the one where he has a hundred questions he wants to ask Minho and he starts with the most important one,
"Hyung you're buying food?"
"No," Minho answers, firmly.
Changbin ignores him to address the waiter passing by their table."I will take noodles and pollock soup and short ribs"
"You own this place I'm not buying you food Changbin-ah"
"But hyung won't you treat your favorite Dongsaeng? I haven't seen you in months and I'm so hungry I can eat a horse."
war flashbacks–war flashbacks move through his head like a play scene.
Changbin looks at him;the picture of innocence and Minho swears his eyes sparkle.
Changbin ignores him in favor of looking at Seungmin who has stopped eating to watch them talk.
Minho clears his throat, "Changbin, This is Seungmin."
"Seungmin, This is Changbin.
That was it,now you can stop looking at him like you're trying to see how his brain works"
"Hyung!" Changbin whines at him but Minho has built tolerance against it.
Minho senses a strange presence that causes shivers to run down his body.
There are more people present today which could be one of the reasons he feels uneasy.
Changbin lifts an eyebrow at that and turns to Seungmin.
"Hello Seungmin,I'm hyung's only friend and by relation we are friends-in-law so you come to me if you have any trouble. "
Changbin blatantly lies,Minho has 3 and a half friends.
Seungmin, to his credit, looks unsure of it but shakes Changbin's hand anyways.
"Friends...I'd like that." And before Seungmin can say something more, Changbin continues, "I've never seen you here before, how did you meet?"
Seungmin looks at Minho,unsure how to answer Changbin when he is saved by the waiter bringing Changbin's order to the table.
"Thanks for paying,hyung"
"Eat dirt"Minho tells him curtly when he sees hushed conversations happening to his side,in his peripheral vision.
It's just paranoia he tells himself and it's not like anyone saw his face save his eyes and hair.
Kim Seungmin looks undisturbed, his sole attention on the food in front of him.
Changbin involves Seungmin in a mundane conversation that doesn't involve tragic backstories sensing the awkwardness in the beginning.
Minho is unable to shake the feeling that they're being watched and before he can fully process their situation,his instincts kick in— "Seungmin"he whispers"Don't look behind me "
Seungmin looks behind him —"I said Don't! I think we need to leave.I'll explain later, c'mon let's move." he turns to Changbin
"Put it on my tab I'll pay you later"
"What is it? You think you're in danger?"
"I'll explain it to you later"
He doesn't wait for Changbin to reply,
Minho takes Seungmin's hand and guides them to the back entrance when a strong hand comes up to rest on his shoulder and a man twice his size blocks their path to the door.
"Would you like to drink with us, gentlemen?"
The man says with a wide smile that is all teeth.
Minho lightly moves Seungmin behind him and puts on his best diplomatic voice,"We're in a bit of a hurry, maybe next time? I'll treat you?"
"Hmm you do look kinda familiar though, wonder what it is that you are so busy with?"
"Say.."—The other man(built like a boulder) brings up a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket,unfolding it and pressing it to form something of the original shape; holding it for Minho to see—"is this person familiar to you?"
Minho catches himself widening his eyes and slips into the mask –naive, airhead, couldn't hurt a fly.
It's a bounty poster—wanted for theft and treason.
Heinous Crimes against the Royal crown of Kim.
All accomplices will be punished for treason.
Last seen: North of Miroh.
Reward for information and live capture.
And in the midst of the page is his face but not his face.
The head is similar and eyes can be given a pass but anything below it is a no-no, completely wrong –the jaw shape,lips, cheeks and sparse facial hair (that he shaves everyday!)–completely wrong shave line(rude!)
The artist has drawn the eyes and head like a 70% match to be generous but the rest is as if the artist got bored and speedran it from a completely different reference.
It's offensive and a hate crime how the men think that the person in the poster looks anything like Minho.
He immediately looks towards Changbin to see if he knew anything about it, Changbin looks surprised himself. He shakes his head when he catches Minho's eyes;a silent understanding passes between them.
Get them out now.
If Minho wasn't taken unguarded he would be almost impressed by the money offered.
"No, Now if you'd excuse us"
The man's partner turns to him and his voice is soft and airy,"This is the fifth person you've accused today,stop embarrassing me,let's just leave Seojun"
"Trust me this one's eyes are the same, we've got the right one this time"(A wrong clock can be right twice a day. Jazz hands)
Seojun proceeds to ignore his partner's all logical arguments(logical but wrong in this case)
Kim Seungmin chimes in "listen to your friend Seojun-ssi, we're tourists,we don't even live here"
Stupid kid.Minho mentally facepalms himself.
"Hush,Seungminnie" Minho lightly digs his thumb in Seungmin's palm to get him to comply.
"How about you both listen to me and make a deal—which is; you'll come with us now and we let your friend go or we kill him and exchange you for the bounty on your head—personally I'm a man of my word and I rarely resort to violence,so it's your choice "
Minho looks around,people are standing now, paying attention to them in anticipation of a new fight breaking out.
All eyes on them.
Some,hungrily waiting for blood to be spilled.
The Tavern usually has fights in the evenings when all the shady losers get drunk together but noon fights aren't all that rare.
Seungmin moves closer to him,
"Hyung, I can distract them for you and then you run " softly whispers in his ear.
Minho looks back at Seungmin to see if it's a joke. Seungmin looks like he's in the middle of deciding whether to fight or flight, a strange determination on his face.
"Shut up idiot " Minho fires back, as if he'd let someone else take the fall for him.
The burly man impatiently rolls the paper in his hand, "made up your mind yet? How would you like to go—with your pretty face intact or without it? I'm much of an artist myself " motioning running a knife from the corner of his eye to the opposite corner of his lip.
Seungmin says loudly "Stop! Please, He's going to make my wish come true."
"What?"the burly man asks,confused.
"Do you not have a wish? Do you not have something that keeps you up at night?"
Is this what he meant by distracting? Terrible.
"Trying to fool us,are you,by saying nonsense?"
"No,I only ask for your understanding and sympathy."
Seungmin moves around the tavern holding Seojun's eyes," The King has a dream, the potter's son has a dream, the seamstress wishes to sew the stars–everyone wants something". Was the food poisoned?What is Kim Seungmin saying?"
Seungmin turns to the help boy from earlier; and asks him, holding his shoulders intimidatingly close, "Do you have one?a dream? a wish? Will you share it..please"
The waiter boy's eyes widen and he screams out the answer as if he's held at gunpoint.
"I want to spend all my life with you Sam"
"See, that wasn't tough."
Sam gasps. Minho too.
Sam takes a step forward.
"You do. Why uh I-I mean why me?"
"Because you m-make me a better person."
Seungmin turns to Minho ,
"Don't look at me like that,you make me want to commit murder."
"Hyung, run." Seungmin whispers.
o-Oh Oh right. Distraction. Yes.
"Enough! Let me tell you about my dream" Seojun says
"We would love to hear that" Seungmin nods his head encouraging him to speak.
Is this plan working?Everything is too bizarre for Minho to wrap his head around.
"It is money—a lot of it,which I will get when I hand both of you to the officials. Now make my wish come true." he ends it with a mocking laugh and cracking knuckles.
His partner looks up to pray to god.
Minho senses a fight brewing in the set jaw and dark eyes of the man,cracking his knuckles, looking forward to breaking some skulls.
Minho knows he won't be able to win this but he can buy Changbin enough time to get them out.
He uses surprise to his advantage, hitting the man straight on his face and then he tries to dodge the oncoming attacks—flexibility and stealth are still on his side.The patrons let out a satisfied howl.
Minho punches his jaw from below his chin and goes straight for the throat.
The man catches himself quicker than Minho expected and plunges at him with a knife. A cheap trick but Minho should have checked for weapons. Ugh. Rookie mistake.
Seojun speaks out his words forcefully
"I.want.the. bounty. on your head" and he throws his knife point blank. At Seungmin. Minho pushes him towards Changbin at a crucial moment,his body moving on it's own and the knife grazes his waist.
He loses his balance,and drops face first onto the tavern's wooden floor,inhaling the dust.
He twists to lie on his back, the man towers over him and punches his face,hard enough that a metallic taste makes its way to his mouth and before he can lift a finger, another punch connects with his jaw.
This one leaves him seeing stars and spots, one more punch and he's sure something is going to break.
The man pulls his punch back to land it again when a sick smash sound fills the room followed by a stunned silence and porcelain shards come flying around him,Minho instinctively closes his eyes against them. He opens them to Seungmin holding a broken wine bottle like a bat,completely horrified and the burly man bleeding from his head. Minho would have grinned then if he could move his face muscles.
But the joy is short-lived when his partner comes for Seungmin from behind.
Changbin shouts at them "Hyung!"
Minho understands immediately, "Seungmin, close your eyes, now!".
Seungmin complies and Changbin throws a flash bomb in the middle of it, temporarily blinding half his patrons.
Minho uses all his remaining strength to get back on his feet,desperately trying to take a step without the danger of falling over on his next. Seungmin gets in his space and places Minho's arm around the back of his shoulder and places his own around his waist to support him.
They exit as the guards arrive at the tavern to inspect the commotion.
He leaves it to Changbin to handle.
SM☆
"I'm fine," Minho insists.
They have made it far enough from the tavern to slow down a bit without the danger of someone immediately catching up to them.
"Should I loosen my hold and see if you can still stand?"
"Yes"
Seungmin does and Minho immediately falls over but before his body makes contact with the ground, Seungmin restabilizes them.
His breath comes out shallow,holding Minho up is getting harder by second and it's a struggle to move.
"Would it kill you to take some help?"
Seungmin is not in a mood to joke.
He is still shaking from their encounter and holding Minho is a grounding presence.
Minho is solid against him and alive.
He's willing to admit it.
He's holding him as much for Minho as it is for himself.
They walk close to the walls of a forgotten alley, cheap graffiti on the walls of peeling paint. It has a weird stench to it that Seungmin has no way of identifying.
"That way and then a left" Minho points to an intersection with blackened buildings around it.
Seungmin turns to the left as Minho said but they end up in a cul-de-sac.
"Hyung, are you sure this is the place?":/
Minho then breaks out of his hold and walks–struggles–over to a section in the wall that looks as ordinary as the rest of it and pushes it,a small brick falls off. Minho puts his hand inside to open up a door, small enough to crawl inside. Minho drops to his knees and enters it,Seungmin follows.
It's a strange kind of storehouse with covered canvases,some statues and trunks kept in a corner covered in dust and very little light entering through the overhead windows covered in grill rails and broken glass[edit] and a hole in the ceiling.
"It's a theater store house,you can probably find a clown costume in one of these trunks"
Minho says looking up from his spot on a dull battered mattress.
He looks paler than when they left the tavern,eyes blinking slowly fighting to stay open,a hand near his waist.
Seungmin moves close to him,"Hyung,Are you alright? Show me your waist."
"It's nothing, it was just a light graze. I'll be fine " Minho waves him off with a shake of his head.
Its unconvincing, "you don’t look fine, you look like you are going to throw up on me”
"How are YOU? you smash bottles at people often?" Minho offers weakly but his voice carries in the empty room.
It's a poor attempt to deflect if Seungmin says so himself.
Seungmin moves closer to him, dropping to his knees but Minho pushes him off,his face is bruised and swollen near the cheek,the colour of blueberries on his jaw.
He takes Minho's hand and removes it from his waist and his breath hitches ,it comes out red.
Minho refuses to meet his eyes.
Seungmin feels his frustration turn to hot tears behind his eyes threatening to spill,
The cloth is drenched in blood—concentrated wine red on the center—the wound is from a jagged object,it can get infected if it's not treated soon.
Minho brings a weak hand to Seungmin's cheek,delicately wiping tears that Seungmin didn't realize have already made their way down his face.
"Hush–Seungminnie,I'm not dying,but it's good to know someone's there to cry at my funeral "
Seungmin hastily wipes his face and takes a deep breath.theres no bite to it, Seungmin has spent his time silently observing Minho since he's the most interesting thing he has seen in past years, which is barely a competition.
Seungmin wipes his face, his hand shakes; he knows what he should do but the consequences….Is he willing to bear them?
He is running out of time.
He decides it's a problem for future Seungmin to suffer the consequences and without any warning presses his hand to the wound. Minho loudly yelps at the sudden contact.
It is a bad idea at best,Minho puts up with him long enough to not inform anyone and the worst that he sends him to the authorities but something tells him Minho isn't too involved with the authorities.
Seungmin hums the incantation Jinyoung had taught him when he could barely speak. He feels it consume his energy to close the wound on Minho’s skin, restoring the smooth skin.
His magic smells like green bamboo,mild with a light floral undertone and it has a calming effect on the receiver.
Minho's eyes are wide open ,Seungmin closes his own, afraid of judgement and opens them only when Minho gathers enough strength to remove his hands from his body.
He waits for Minho to say something,already bracing himself for some sort of transgression,
"I knew you were a witch"
"I'm not a witch" Seungmin says breathlessly, the healing has taken more than he expected.
"As you say magic healing hands"
Seungmin is on edge–defensive of his power,he bites back equally harsh.
"You're a criminal with a bounty on your head, Mister thief!"
Minho brings his face closer to Seungmin's and looks him straight in the eyes, Seungmin refuses to look away and Minho whispers,his voice is heavy,Seungmin can feel his breath on his face,
"Does that put you off?"
"Should it? I don't know?” Seungmin returns.
Minho hums softly at the answer,”you are crazy"
Seungmin doesn't argue, maybe he is. His head is muddled in a fog. This can wait till the morning.
Seungmin moves his hand from Minho's waist to his face, moving it across the bruise humming the spell.
"How does this even work"
"It works on the law of balance.It's not free for all,it takes my energy to heal someone and even that has limits.I can't heal whenever,wherever"
Minho flinches when Seungmin's hand moves above his eye,near the brow so he tries to be gentle.
He holds Minho's face delicately like butterfly wings. He had seen one in their garden and tried to catch it,he hadn't meant for it to happen but a wing had clipped and Seungmin had tried to use his power to heal it but a new wing didn't grow nor did the old one reattach,he did all he could to save it.
The butterfly died the next day.
He asks the dreaded question, just hit everything when it's hot.
"You're not afraid that I'm something unnatural?"
"I mean you have healing powers which is cool"
"Really? Is that all you've to say?"
"What else do you want me to say."
Seungmin doesn't know what he expected Minho to say but it was certainly not a quiet acceptance. He should be happy but it is kind of anticlimactic. He tries again.
"Is that all??My powers are cool?!"
"Kim Seungmin, if you're fishing for compliments then I'm sorry. It's not a good habit to beg for compliments—I don't think you're that great", Minho offers him a tilted smile and his ears burn red.
"It doesn't scare you?"
"Should it? I don't know"
"Don't copy me—I get it you lack originality"
"Bitch."
.
.
"I take it you feel fine then"
"Yes, I could do with some sleep though."
"Same".
He lies next to Minho on the battered mattress, huddling closer to share some warmth.
Seungmin feels a soft lul of sleep taking over him but Minho speaks up,the devil on his shoulder
"Anyways, what nonsense dream were you going on about in the tavern, They're rogues and thugs, Money and Power is the Dream. What I am trying to say is that stunt was so stupid, you should join a Circus, you'll fit right in with the clowns, wear a funky hat"
"That was a good tactical diversion, I could have entangled them in my lies, spun stories around it and then they would have been too confused an—okay I don't what was I doing"
Minho laughs the same infectious laugh and Seungmin laughs along with him till his ribs ache.
"Hyung do you not have a dream something you're willing to cross a million bridges to reach. Something you want so much it kills you every second of every minute of every hour of...."
"I get your point. Has anyone ever told you that you talk like a crazy person? Anyways,My dream is to die buried under the mountain of wealth I will own when I get my hands on the bag and all my limbs functioning so that i don't have to depend on people—you know healthy and wealthy"
Seungmin hums in acknowledgement and whispers a few minutes later, "Is money your only dream?"
Minho doesn't answer him,Seungmin looks over to the slow rise and fall of his chest, even breaths fill in the silence.
Seungmin closes his eyes to it.
It's when Seungmin is tethering at the edge of unconsciousness when Minho answers him.
"I would like to go to my mother's hometown one day. It's an ocean far."
Seungmin doesn't know what to say. He has no mother and no home.
Just a cursed ability to heal people at the expense of his own life.
Sometimes Seungmin wonders when he doesn't sleep and writing down thoughts in a journal are not enough. He sits there looking out of his window at the moon wondering what if someone does take him as a captive, he could save some lives that way. He can exchange his own for someone more important.
Sleep escapes him long enough to watch Minho incoherently mumble something in the dark. They are not words he can understand, they sound like gibberish. He is tempted to wake Minho up but he thinks he has had enough for the day.
***
Seungmin lies on his back looking up to the sky, a hand on his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun partially covered by the clouds. He lazily watches clouds move and take different shapes, the soil smells faintly of rain and a field of wildflowers surrounds him.
Seungmin stays there even when the grass covers half of his body and mushroom grows between the space of his fingers and his feet get covered by hydrangeas holding him at place , the flora slowly makes home over his whole body and the sun turns to a stark white void to Minho but his face looks wrong to Seungmin, twisted.
A cut on his mouth bleeds into Seungmin's own. The flowers sharpen into thorns moving across Minho's face like a serpent.
Minho’s face turns to dust and the weather becomes dark,settling in an endless,starless night suffocating him.
Seungmin wakes up with a jolt,hitting his head on Minho's.
“What the fuck Kim Seungmin are you always this violent?”
Seungmin looks back indignantly, He is glad he didn't wake up alone but how was he supposed to know he'll wake up to an incoming headache from the hit.
"Why were you hovering over me?" it comes out scratchy,he is thirsty,starving and tired to his bones even after sleeping for the better part of the night.
“You were shivering, I was trying to wake you up!.... Nightmare?”
Seungmin nods his head not trusting himself to speak.
“Do you want to talk about it..” Minho continues hesitantly,”What did you see?”
This time Seungmin takes no time to response, “You”
Minho puts a threatening hand on his shoulder,an expression of mock sympathy with a fake flat smile "Hmm?"
He feels a shiver go down his spine,
Seungmin forces out a low laugh, ”Nothing."
Minho moves up from his spot and makes his way towards a rusty trunk.
It creaks open noisily,Minho files through the clothes in search of something but moves onto the next trunk empty handed.
After some rummaging he brings out two pieces of fabric and throws one at Seungmin.
It's a maroon hooded cloak with a golden leaf design at the collar, a hole at the bottom.
It's got dirt over but it's not like Seungmin's any better,his body is grimy from the lack of a bath and his palms have visible dirt over them.
Seungmin Slaps a hand on the cloak to remove some dirt out of it but it backfires when all of it blows in his face, he's left coughing.
Minho giggles, watching him struggle,he has put on his own cloak and it's not like he looks any better, unkempt from the day of travel.
"It's just for sometime, I know a place where you can clean yourself a bit. Let's go"
***
Even if Seungmin had the gift of prophecy in no life would he able to predict that he would be standing pinned to a wall and a knife lodged a hair's breadth away from his face on the mentioned wall, a lady in her late 60s, staring down at him with another knife in her hand ready to throw at the slightest movement and Lee Minho standing near him looking guilty and amused at the same time if that's even possible.
"What are you doing in my house?" She asks, expertly flipping the knife around in her hands.
Her house?Did they break into an old woman's house?. He catches Minho from the corner of his vision. Is trespassing a habit? ,he wants to ask.
What am I doing here? In which bewitched hour of the day did I think of this as anything but a terrible idea spurred on by daydreams. Sabotaging yourself unprompted.
It's not the complete truth he can acknowledge that,when an endearing laugh and a tentative friendship has already taken residence in his heart.
Seungmin breathes in calming himself and tightens his slipping resolve.
I'm not going to think about the tower. The only thing I want to see are the lights.And I'm not going to think about anything else.
"And...you brought a boy." She continues, turning to Minho, eyeing Seungmin up and down.
She wiggles her eyebrows —suggesting something. What? He doesn't know.
But looking at Minho,he understands that it's nothing good if the blushing shell of his ears is anything to go by.
"N-No it's not like that Grandma Song, he's just a ..um..friend, he has come to see the festival"
He watches Minho's composure break from cool to flustered with a tilt of Grandma Song's head and it's cute.
Grandma Song blinks at him in quick succession combing through his lies.
If Seungmin thought Minho looked intimidating at first then he's just a speck of dust in front of Grandma Song.
"You disappear for days and then get the upper half of your face plastered around the city and come to me with a boy. What is it like, then, Minho?"
Minho puts his hands up in surrender," I can explain!"
Seungmin is also eager to listen to the explanation when a mass of black moves between his legs making him jump with a screech.
It's a cat. Grandma Song scoops it up in her arms with a soft hold.
Safe in the arms of its human, it fixes Seungmin with a chatoyant gaze.
He stares back fascinated by the golden eyes.
"Oh She likes you" Grandma Song remarks.
…"and you" she narrows her eyes at Minho, "better explain what is going on"
***
Seungmin sinks in the tub. He moves a hand through the warm water. There is an assortment of bathing goods near him—salts, herbal scents, soaps and oils.
For however short, there is peace.
He closes his eyes to fall into a meditative state and tries to identify all the sounds he can hear—occasional clinking of wind chimes,moving wind,shouting,plates breaking.
Sigh.
Grandma Song and Minho have been arguing for the better part of an hour. Everytime Minho explained something, Grandma Song had another question ready for him, and every answer was met by scrutiny.
She had been strangely hospitable towards Seungmin after an initial explanation of things, it was all half lies —an orphan from the village here to see the lights who helped Minho when he got injured.
He thinks Minho and his (not real) Grandma share the same brand of love.
She offered him cake and tea—it was the best thing he has ever tasted.
The shouting ceases and Seungmin thinks it's a good time to get out. He dries himself off, wraps the towel around his waist and walks out to the attached room.
He immediately averts his eyes, Minho is in front of him;shirtless.
He knows it's nothing to be shy about, it's tge same thing but with more muscles–solid, well defined pecs,soft skin on soft stomach.
It's causing chaos in his head.
Minho gives him a weird look and moves on to the bathroom without sparing him a single glance.
There are clothes placed on the bed, Seungmin puts them on–the shirt's loose and the pants are a bit short but it's manageable.
When they're both dressed, Grandma Song offers them a hearty breakfast.
"Seungmin-ah,there are many things to see on Apricus, don't just settle for the lights, drag him around" she points at Minho ``It's a lively festival for kids your age. Thank you for taking care of him"
"I-I really didn't do much"
"Nonsense, Minho told me how you helped with his injury and allowed him in your house. I do not give credit where it's not due. Is there something I can do for you?"
"You've done enough and I'm yet to thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for letting us stay here and clean up."
"It's no trouble, c'mon don't be shy, just say what you want, we're all friends here," She holds Chucky close to her chest and moves one hand through it's fur."except him-he's a menace"
"I don't have a single grey hair and my bones don't crack every step I take. Oof " Minho says from his spot, leisurely mixing his noodles in the sauce. He doesn't look up.
"I know a way I can make this come true. Don't test me, Lee Minho" Grandma Song narrows her eyes.
Seungmin interrupts them, "When does the festival start?"
"In an hour, we should leave if you want to look at everything." Minho replies.
"Wait a moment," Grandma Song goes in her room and comes out with a pouch, she hands it over to Minho,whispering but the room's silent enough that Seungmincan hear it "take this and guide Seungmin well, Show him all the best things"
Minho refuses to take the pouch and in the same soft voice replies,"you don’t need to give this Grandma, we'll have fun regardless"
"Hush, I'm not asking you, take this or else all your hair will turn grey"
"You're impossible"
"Good child." She says, still holding Chucky and brings her free hand to lightly pat over Minho's head, smiling faintly.
Looking at them causes Seungmin to feel a strange longing.
"Take the coats on the hanger,they'll hide your face and Don't get caught." Grandma Song tells them.
They step out the door and pull up the hood over their head. Grandma Song sees them out,"Seungmin-ah, if he doesn't listen to you –just tell me and I'll make a necklace out of his bones"
Minho gives no reaction except a scared smile.
She kisses them both on the cheek,"Have fun. Bye"
"Bye"
When Grandma goes back in the house, Minho turns to Seungmin and says, "Don't take her literally, she's a sweet person, when her husband died she had no one to fight with and she became quite depressed— fighting was their 'thing'—don't look at me like that, people are weird but the point is bickering keeps her alive and she has a warm heart deep down so don't misunderstand her"
"I never did, she sounds very similar to this one person I know"
"That's good and maybe you can talk about the magic thing with her"
"What do you mean?"
Minho shrugs in response,"She has seen things"
"I'll think about it"
.
.
They turn the corner and Seungmin finally asks what's been eating away at him since yesterday, "Don't you think they'll catch us. Or you at least, Shouldn't we hide somewhere?"
"There's a 90% chance they won't catch me.
The crowd won't realise since the upper half of my face isn't really visible unless the person is very short,and it's the festival eve it will be very crowded, going to some places on Apricus is like surviving in the wild.
They're more likely to search in the abandoned buildings or secluded areas because there's no way I can heal from the injury this fast unless you know ~magic hands~"
"Don't say it aloud."
MH♡
Minho finds himself smiling when he watches Seungmin look around the festival with barely contained glee.
He looks excited and if there were a tail,a million coins, it'd be wagging right now.
The Town is decked out in full regalia.
Hundreds of miniature sun motifs of the Royal family stitched together, hung above the street they are walking on.
The townspeople have painted floral patterns on the sides of the street and fresh murals on walls.
All the shops are open for business —stalls ready to serve the crowd that comes with the festival.
A few more hours and there won't be any space to move.
Right now it's mellow,the musicians thrum out soft melodies on their instruments and people dance in the circle around them, mostly young lovers and children.
He loves dancing,likes how his body moves and he used to drag Changbin and Lix to the center to move together in a ring.
Changbin would refuse to follow his directions and Lix was an amazing dancer but most of all he used to have fun and then his mother would buy all of them candies and any snack they wanted.
Now it's just a fond memory.
The air smells of Chocolate,cinnamon buns and all the food that's being cooked right now. It's nothing short of heavenly. He can watch and hear the sizzling of the fried snacks powering his sensory responses.
Kim Seungmin sniffs the air like a puppy, "Hyung,remember Grandma Song told you to be my guide and listen to me tonight "
"I don't need a reminder"
Seungmin stares at him expectantly.
Minho cuts to the chase " What do you want?" he says with an exasperated sigh.
Seungmin smiles like a cat with a fish.
He holds Minho's wrist instead of answering and runs off towards the smell he is chasing.
The festival takes a wild turn after the Royal Family sets the first lantern to the sky but the sun is still up in the sky casting a golden glow on the streets.
Seungmin guides him to the food stalls,looking around with a wide-eyed gaze. There are all kinds of things to choose from—cheesecakes,honey candy,cinnamon buns,rice cakes,noodle bowls,salt-nuts chocolate shaped like animals—
"I think I'm going to start watering at my mouth " Seungmin licks his lips in a trance staring at the way the chéf expertly prepares a noodle bowl.
"Hyung," he says softly,a request behind his eyes.
Minho opens up his money pouch.
They move from stall to stall and Seungmin likes everything he tries so he decides to try everything.
Whatever food he tried, Seungmin would offer him a bite first and divide the cake into two parts offering him the bigger one.
It would be a lie to say that Minho didn't find it slightly endearing.
It would be a truth to say that Lee Minho's pockets were steadily becoming empty.
A week's worth of food-money went straight to Kim Seungmin's stomach,but it would be fine, once he gets his hands on the crown.
They move on to check out other shops, there's a roadside puppet show telling Levanter's different legends in a gremlin's voice, a shop selling lanterns with customized letters and drawings, a scriptures stall that is exclusively there to rip customers off and the owner isn't even trying to be genuine all the posters stay stupid things that are advertised as (cheap) philosophy.
Heavy is the head that carries all the answers in the world—reign free in the world as swift coursing wind, empty your thoughts.
When they don't love you at your worst then become their worst .
The Fish dreams of the surface, the birds seek wateer, one is all, all is one.
One of the scriptures even contains a typo.
It's really impressive.He looks over his shoulder to tell Kim Seungmin about this fine shop but Seungmin's attention is on the woodworks displayed in an empty shop,quite quaint, there are no customers, no shopkeepers only woodworks displayed on the shelf behind a closed door with a clear glass–it doesn't even have a open/closed sign.
Minho stands next to him and follows his line of sight to a dog carved out of wood with its tongue out and a sunflower on one of its ears. It's brilliant work.
"Do you want to buy this?"
"Can we?"
Minho opens the door,in response, to enter the shop, a bell chimes from above his head, Seungmin follows close behind.
An old man jumpscares them from below the counter, Seungmin and Minho impulsively take several steps back.
Minho tamped down on the scream building in his throat but his wretched heart is racing a marathon.
Seungmin's eyes are wide but he greets the shopkeeper ,"Good evening"
The old man laughs "good evening, good evening, Happy Apricus! What would you like?"
"Happy Apricus! How much is that dog?" Minho asks, pointing at the woodwork.
"A wonderful choice my dear! a steal at only 500 ."
Ah so that's why the shop's empty.
"Is this made of gold?"
Minho says before he can stop himself from showing his surprise at the absurdity of it all.
"It's made by the finest craftsman of Levanter— worth more than gold"
Seungmin whispers in his ear,"Is the price a lot?"
"We can buy food for a fortnight without worrying with this kind of money in the tavern. This man's trying to scam people" Minho whispers back.
If Minho had been alone he would have walked out the shop fast as lightning.
Minho turns to the shopkeeper, "We can pay you 50 and prayers"
"500 and nothing else, I can add a small flower, pretty as your lover"
"What lover? I can pay you 100 for it and anything else is just unfair"
"Say you can't afford it and get out, why you wasting my time? The rich ones will come in sometime and I'll sell it to them" The shopkeeper sits down on a chair bringing out a pipe to smoke giving them a stink eye.
"Hyung it's fine, I don't need it, let's leave."
Seungmin grabs his hand to get them out the shop,"it's ugly anyways"
Minho sighs in defeat.
They sit on the curb near the shop to rest a bit looking at the barely visible stars that shine in the gloaming sky.
"I'll make you a better one" Minho resolves.
"You know woodwork?"Seungmin looks at him dubiously.
"I can learn." and he will, how hard can shaving off wood be?
Fuck that old greedy pig. Where is he even going to take that money to? To buy a special room in hell?
Seungmin laughs at him, amused at his face "How will I ever repay you" he says.
"You tell me. Do you know anything?" It comes out grumpy. Minho is still mad about it. Once he gets his hand on the money he will buy the whole shop.
"Hmm...I can write or sing you a song"
"You can sing?" Minho asks surprised.
"I like to..I am decent at it" Seungmin doesn't look at him when he answers.
"How can I be sure my ears won't bleed, I need to think about my safety,Do you have any safety receipts"
Seungmin smirks like the bastard he is, "you can simply ask if you want to hear a song, hyung. I would never refuse"
He hums a soothing melody which is nicer than Minho expected and his words flow smooth like water. It instantly lifts his mood.
How many secrets do you have, Kim Seungmin?
"Not bad",he says, "Let me get you something sweet."
They're eating mooncakes when Minho spots one of the tabby stray cats that frequents the area,he calls it Coco.
He approaches it with a treat in hand.
He scratches the cat behind the ears and it melts in his hands.
Once he gets the money, he'll take Coco home.
He's going to raise a cat army one day.
Minho senses Seungmin coming up behind him.
There is surprise in his voice when he asks, "How do you do that?"
Minho turns to look at him—"Do what? Play with cats?"
He nods in affirmation.
Minho smirks and then takes on a serious tone like he's about to tell state secrets to Seungmin.
"It's very simple actually, You need to speak their language Kim Seungmin"
Seungmin stares at him puzzled.
"You need to meow back at them, If
you meow back then they'll recognize you as one of their own"
Seungmin looks at him specticaly "I'm not falling for anymore tricks"he says lifting his eyebrows.
"It's not a trick, I promised Grandma Songs —no tricks tonight "
Seungmin hesitates but eventually surrenders, crouching next to Minho, pressed against his side.
"Meow "Seungmin says flatly.
Minho clicks his tongue, "you need to put feelings behind it. Show them your sincerity"
"Say it Once more with feelings "
Seungmin looks at him with apprehension but does it anyway,"meow"he says softly, holding eye contact with Coco. Coco looks at him judgmentally.
If Minho actually understood cat talk then the look Coco is giving them might decipher into What is this idiot doing? He's hardly able to control the laugh bubbling in his chest,he feels his face grow hot from the effort to keep it in but nonetheless Minho places a hand at the small of Seungmin's back in silent show of support,"meow meow" Seungmin says gaining confidence with every meow, stretching out a hand in amity.
Coco decides it has had enough dealing with idiots and slaps the outstretched hand and runs away so fast it's a blur in the streets.
Seungmin looks at it with heartbroken eyes, Minho loses it and he laughs at Seungmin's predicament.
"Don't laugh,hyung, maybe the cat just needed some space"
Minho laughs harder at the stupid attempt for explanation. Seungmin hits his arm to get him to stop, "I'm going to spend all your money"
He turns away, walking towards the direction of the children playing in the red circle near an unlit bonfire leaving Minho,when he stops in his tracks.
SM☆
Seungmin stands there,people going on their way around purposefully,his attention on the mural in front of him.
The sun casts tall shadows on the path that move along with their owners but Seungmin's doesn't.
People scuffle around him,cursing him to move but he stands there unaware.
He doesn't know how long he stands paralyzed by the picture on the wall when Minho puts a hand on his shoulder—a solid presence.
It snaps him out of the trance-like state,grounding him.
"It's the lost prince,The King's golden child,prophesied to bring peace and wealth to all of midland —the reason behind the tradition of your lights."
"Why? Did he start this tradition?" The eyes in the painting are familiar to Seungmin like his own face but he doesn't for the life of him remember where he has seen them.
The lost prince's only a baby in the painting, a heavy crown lying crooked on his head, held by the woman wearing a similar crown,the queen? so as to protect the baby's skull from deforming due to the weight of the crown.
The man in the picture doesn't stare at the front instead focusing on the other two with such a fond gaze it fills Seungmin with a miserable jealousy.
The picture is domestic framed by protection charms and little papers stuck on the floor near it filled with wish notes.
Minho is saying something and Seungmin can hear it but it goes right from one ear to the other and exits his head.
"Pardon? What were you saying?"
"I was saying that you're an ass—nevermind, the floating lights are lit up by the people to guide the lost prince home on a dark night.
He was lost to the Royal couple when he was just a month or so old. There are a lot of stories around it –my favorite is the horror hat– it's a conspiracy that a witch took the prince and turned him into a fire-breathing dragon. This witch wears a 16-inch tall hat that can speak and only the hat commands the dragon.
The most realistic is that a member of the nobility took him to sabotage the king and kill competition for the throne but it's also the most boring one.
Oh-oh there's a cool one too that the prince was stolen by the assassins of Luna and they used magic to turn her into a girl. This girl is said to be a secret weapon of Luna;well versed in everything and she will come to spill the royal blood of Levanter.
There are so many stories…."
"Hyung"
Minho hums indicating that he's listening.
"They made a whole festival to call someone home. Imagine having so much love, you immortalize it and everyone takes part in it.
The prayer that ties the lanterns, it has no words yet it fills the whole sky. Some people are really lucky" Seungmin's face grows hot and his throat is choked up–it's a fairytale dream he is fixating on–Is his mother out there somewhere? Do they miss him? Are they alive? Do they pray for him to find his way home?
"Or be very rich–do you think if an ordinary person did this, there would be a festival?
It's all empty hopes and romanticized stuff Kim Seungmin. I doubt the prince is even alive–really what's the point of keeping the crown prince alive if their target is the throne unless this prince has ~magic hands~"
"Don't. Don't say it aloud."
"Alright. Alright. "
But still he wonders Is the love empty? Does missing someone not break a heart.
Kim Seungmin is lost in his head, Minho lets him be.
He moves ahead to check out the fishing games but his attention is stolen when he hears the musician play the first note of the evening.
The start of the evening's dance.
"Let's go Dance"
"I don't know how to dance"
"Well then learn it" Minho takes him by hand, dragging him to the red circle where people dance till the fire turns to ash.
He holds Seungmin's hand in his smaller ones.It's a clumsy attempt at best but it leaves them in splits.
"Take a right step"
"Whoa"
"Now move your body to the left"
"Is there any logic to it?"
"Of Course, I made this dance"
"So there's no logic"
"Only good people understand it"
Seungmin steps on his foot. Intentionally.
"Ouch..watch your feet"
"Hmm well"
"Don't keep on looking at your feet, how will you dance like this?"
Seungmin looks up annoyed but any words there wipe themselves out from his memory and it's Lee Minho's eyes he's staring in.
They remind him of coffee he drinks every morning that leaves him with a refreshed feeling. They're spinning around the fire with the other people dancing together.
It's a strange feeling to be in a crowd but feel like the only person in the space, Seungmin's not too sure what to call it but it's making him giddy.
The music,the warmth from the fire and the lingering taste from the cinnamon-apple candy Minho bought him, claiming it to be a favorite.
It's so much joy he feels out of breath or maybe it's just the dancing.
Minho stops when a young girl approaches them,flowers in her hair and bright eyes. She pulls on Minho's clothes, "You're pretty brother. Will you dance with me?"she pouts and her cheeks puff out, Seungmin has a sudden urge to pinch them. cute. He answers before Minho gets a chance,"Yes,take him."
Minho crouches down to look her in the eyes, contemplating " Hmm What will you give me if I dance with you?"
The girl searches her skirts for something and pulls out a flower crown from one of the pockets made of white daisies,some of the flowers bent from being placed in the skirt.
She wordlessly places it on Minho’s head, "Will you dance with me now?"
Minho smiles at her,eyes forming crescents
"Will you dance with me,princess?"
The girl gasps,amused"you think I'm a princess?"
"Oh you're not? You look like one!"
Seungmin watches them go,a smile making its way on his face.
Suddenly Minho turns around and places the flower crown on Seungmin's head.
Seungmin looks at him questioning, Minho replies before he says anything
"Don't look at me like that. It's just for keepsake,I'll drop it while dancing. "
The girl perks up,"you come with us too".
Minho replies for him" He will. Everyone must follow the princess' orders." The girl giggles,loving being called princess.
And then there are two hands lightly dragging him to dance.
***
The sun has set, a crescent moon lights the sky and Minho's crescent eyes light his face, a fond smile on his face.
Seori,the girl had introduced herself as,roped them in to play with her and her other friends —a game with overly complicated and ever-changing rules and then she had been called by her mother to get ready for the lantern festival.
Seungmin now stands with Minho, waving her twin goodbyes.
He reaches up to pick out the flower crown on his head to return it, Minho holds his hand to stop him from removing it,"keep it,I'll lose it"
There's something very strange about this evening, no death threats and unspoken words he doesn't wish to misunderstand.
Is this because of Grandma Song? He'll cherish it till it lasts. However long or short.
But the most anticipated part of the evening for Seungmin is yet to arrive. It's so close yet the feeling that something would go wrong is difficult to shake off. If he actually sees the light What then? What is he going to do after that? He dare not dream about the after. It's scary when they get crushed like the wings of the butterfly he tried to save.
"You said the light goes up when the sun sets, when will it be?" He asks Minho, whose eyes are lost in the crowd looking for something.
He distractedly replies,"The Palace Guard would beat the drum and then there's a whole royal procession with General Bang at the forefront. He distributes food,clothes and things like that and then The King and Queen put out the first Lantern to the sky,followed by everyone else—and to answer your question —it's going to start in about ten minutes",He turns to face him,eyes serious;" we need to leave, let's not risk guard encounters now.."
The word leave makes him panic.
Leave? He isn't leaving. What's the point of coming here if he doesn't get to see the lights?!!
"WHAT, do you understand the whole point of this? I want to see the lights. I'm not leaving!"
Minho rolls his eyes," We're leaving the town square not the city,I know a better place to watch the lights!"
"Your better place has been,till now—a gang house,storage room and a grandma's cottage. I'm not too sure about the better place"
"Hey–I lack options. It's not my fault and this place will give you a clear view without a crowd"
"Are we going to climb a rooftop?"
Minho looks offended by the mention of climbing. He shakes his head," Trust me this one time "
"Fine"
***
It is a nice place. In a boat ,in the middle of a lake ,illuminated by faint moonlight and a single sky lantern Minho bought.
Seungmin has only once sat in a boat,he was 8 and Jinyoung had told him not to come out of the cabin —He had felt suffocated and nauseated the whole journey.
The boat they're in is smaller,enough space for two-four people—He sits opposite Minho who is rowing the boat—the night air is fresh and the lake looks shines with crushed starlight on the surface.
He's half sure the boat is stolen,he tests it,"Did you steal the boat?"
"It's only stolen if I don't return it! which I will ultimately." Minho ends with an exasperated sigh,his muscles flexing from rowing.
Seungmin finds himself transfixed at them and then Minho stops and looks up.
Seungmin follows his gaze to an empty airspace; a minute later,from the direction of the castle —a sole sky lantern rises to the heavens.
In a moment, the dark sky is filled with tens of glowing lights and it multiplies to hundreds and thousands till they cover the whole sky.
It's everything Seungmin had ever dreamt of looking out from the sole window in his room and more.
The lights are so close he thinks he can touch them. It feels like home.
A lantern makes its way close to them floating lower and lower,Minho gives it a push and it moves upwards.
"Here,let's lift it up in the sky" Minho pushes the lantern in his hands.
They lift it up together and it rises slowly, higher and higher till it gets mixed in with the others
He looks down to find Minho’s eyes already on him—the lanterns reflect in his eyes like tiny fireflies in the dark and on his face carved from stone by an expert hand.
"Does it meet your expectations?"
"Yes,Yes, Yes everything, it's so beautiful I dont know what to do. I haven't thanked you yet but this is the best birthday I have ever had. " It's too late to realize his slip of tongue.
"It's your BIRTHDAY?"Minho almost shouts.
Seungmin just smiles and shrugs," Really it's been the best. I want to stay here forever. I don't want to go back to the tower"
"Then don't go" Minho's reply is almost instant,he turns his head to avoid looking at Seungmin and to probably avoid acknowledging his outburst.
Seungmin's sure if he could see Minho's ears right now they'd be red.
He himself is stunned into silence by Minho's admission and what it could possibly mean for the future. They haven't talked about what happened in the storehouse.
Seungmin clears his throat, "You'll let me stay with you?"
Minho is silent but only for a moment, "you can sleep on the streets"
Seungmin smiles despite the nonchalant answer,"I think that would still be better than the tower"
Minho brings a hand to lightly thread his fingers with Seungmin's own,"Don't go back, I don't think your master, that Jinyoung-ssi or whatever is a good person if he keeps you locked in a castle. You can hide your power and no one will know. I would have never known if you didn't show me."
Seungmin hums but he doesn't know what to say,he has been thinking about a life away from Jinyoung, he can hide his power or use it in disguise. He can go far away where the scent of his name has never reached.
He needs to think about it thoroughly.
He needs time he is desperately running out of.
Minho drops his hand. He already misses the warmth, craves it, wants to hold it near his beating heart.
Minho rows the boat to the shore and gets out of it,Seungmin following suit.
They're onto the start of something, lingering touch and stolen glances,Seungmin thinks.
Minho turns around to face him,"stay here, you should have told me earlier that it's your birthday. Wait here. Don't move I'll be back before you know it"
Minho turns around, running in the night ,leaving Seungmin to wait among the rocks.
And he does,he waits till his feet ache from standing on the same spot.
He waits while sitting on the rough rock,removing the flower crown to run a hand through his hair.
He waits till part of the flowers get crushed in his palm from holding onto it too tight.
He waits till his heart no longer expects him to make it calm down,it goes crazy with anxiety.
He waits till his palms become sweaty and the moon changes its position in the sky and his thoughts have made a prison of his mind.
It's all in vain.
He hears footsteps but it's not the sight he wanted to see but the one he was afraid to (see.)
Jinyoung
Jinyoung stands a few feet apart from him,dressed like he always is ,meticulously.
But his face looks weary and old.
"Happy Birthday Seungmin,I'd say it's time to go ,Don't you think?"
Seungmin looks at him but doesn't answer.
"He's not coming back, he has left you but I've the present you have always wanted —I know the cure to free you of your cursed blessing "
The cure? Yes! the cure he has always wanted ….or is it... what he wants.
Seungmin feels his brain slowly process everything but it's too exhausting.
He's not even surprised Jinyoung found him, Jinyoung always knew where he was —whether hiding in the tower or when he ran off with the sheep when he was 7.
Jinyoung doesn't know Minho like he does but everything is a mess .
And Jinyoung has the cure. He should take it but why does his chest feel like there are stones tied to it,making it difficult to move.
It's —what to think?
And Minho;where is he? He promised he'll come back soon but it's all empty and cold.
Jinyoung says something that goes over Seungmin's head,he's not paying attention, he just wants to lie down.
He was a comet in the sky and now he is crashing down.
He leaves with Jinyoung but he doesn't want to. There's nowhere else to go.
They were onto the start of something —onto the start of ruin.
MH♡
Minho wakes up to the sun poking his eyes and a sore body,cold creeping in from the floor. Not the most ideal conditions but at least he woke up. Lifting his arm hurts,turning his head hurts,moving his leg hurts. The only movement he can manage with no struggle is rolling his eyes at his condition.
The crying crows in the rain did come to bite him in the ass after all.
He tries to focus on the pain but regret is planted in his heart like a weed,all his thoughts lead to Seungmin at the end.
Did they catch him as an accomplice?
Imagine waiting for someone and then they never come,
Abandoning you on the shore. So funny.
Is he still waiting?
Did he leave?
He moves his hand towards a hidden chest pocket,he closes his fist around the shattered trinket.
Would there be hurt in his eyes?worry?
He doesn't know when he started caring.
It was supposed to be about the bag—which he hope stays hidden forever—fuck the prince!
What he knows is that he is only a means to an end for Seungmin.
But how long does falling in love take—a single sight?eternity?
Wait! love?
No -no,Minho catches himself from going down a dark spiral,he is getting ahead of himself.
He is not in love. He's sure of it–maybe a strange liking–but nothing more than that.
He clenches his fist hard enough that it digs in the trinket—broken,painted a luminous light periwinkle that faintly lights in the dark.
He heaves a sigh and closes his eyes and tries not to think about someone else's.
He had stared at them close enough to see his own face reflect back. Seungmin's face from last night is imprinted on his brain like a brand. Dark Shiny eyes,hair parted around his forehead–the flower crown resting on his head. He had looked Royally devine. Something out of his mother's stories, the lanterns creating a warm halo around his head.Something he might worship. He can get drunk on them–rose blush on his cheeks. Lips right in front of him,he could have stolen a kiss.
He will never admit it though.
You can throw him to the wolves and he will deny all allegations with a smile.
And then he was thrown into a prison. He passed out after 20 lashes on his back.
He'd gone to get a miniature lantern made of cheap moonstone as a present to be reminiscent of yesterday night.
The brutes from the tavern had cornered him at the edge of the alley near the shop,a guard in tow.
The only good thing about seeing them was to witness the head completely banged up. It would leave scars—good.
The guard had asked him who he was working for and Minho would have answered if he knew who the fuck he was working for.
Hyunjin and Han have likely disappeared off the face of earth—well that was his plan too and now he's here doomed to stare at the ceiling with some piece of him still on the shore.
He can't get out right now without any outside help. If he could take this information to Changbin, he might help him out.
The prison door unlocks, Minho closes his eyes. Maybe if he plays dead then whoever it is would leave.
"Lee Minho-ssi"
Minho opens his eyes at the polite address.
General Bang stares at him apologetically.
Minho feels his brain melt–with what mindfuck General Bang has in store for him.
"Marshal General" He replies.
"Chan will do"General Bang—Chan says,it's almost friendly.
It's scary to say the least.
Minho hates the kind of people who don't show their intentions upfront.
He is those people but he doesn't like his game played back to him.
General Bang looks like he has met a ghost.
He looks paler than usual and tired.
He produces an embroidered kerchief from his pocket and puts it out for Minho to take," I believe this is yours"
It is. It is not.
The original owner is his mother but the kerchief works as a protection charm for him. An assurance of her. He'll keep anything that has her name on it,there's no greater treasure.
But it's also the one thing he left behind from his job so he refuses outright "I believe you're mistaken "
Chan lets out an insufferable sigh;he knows he's in for a long time. Good luck trying to get anything out of him
"You look just like her"
Her?Whatever it is Minho won't fall for it.
He stares at him calmly, no indication of recognition anywhere.
"I know who you are"
Well that's the whole point of being locked in the prison. He is a criminal.
He keeps his mouth diligently shut.
"You might not trust me but your mother saved me once and I'm sorry I didn't recognize you sooner but I do now."
This time his silence is more due to the lack of knowledge than to just infuriate the general.
"Do you not remember me;you were there,you helped clean my wounds—I was very young, I was going after my father but I got caught in a scrimmage and your mother tended to my wounds, she saved me;Do you remember?"
Minho doesn't.
His mother saved a lot of people,she was a gifted healer,he helped her when she asked. She was a good person, healing people for dirt money; never asking for the right price.
General Bang could be one of the hundred faces,he searches for such a memory ,there's no recollection.
But He morphs his face into someone who just discovered something important —that General Bang might be the free ticket out of Jail.
"Yes I do I remember now,there was so much blood "
He does his best impression of a serious tone.
Chan searches his face for something,Minho looks at him with innocent eyes.
"No you don't,it's fine because I remember you"
Well that didn't work but whatever gets him out.
"If I saved your life then why did you put up posters around the whole capital?"
"I–I'm sorry,it took me sometime to realize but after—"Chan brings out an old cloth from his pocket and unfolds it.It's an identical copy albeit a bit worn,his mother's handiwork.
"—the guards presented me with your handkerchief,it became all clear."
"Now if you believe me,I have no other intention except to get you out of here"
"And after I get out?"
"Leave the Capital, I can help you with that and if there's anything else,say it right now. Consider it as a repayment of the kindness you and your mother showed me"
Leave the capital… Can he? just like that.
Minho mulls over what else he could ask for, maybe protection for Kim Seungmin.
He will leave, he can go to his mother's homeland, like he has always wanted to.
He can live in the countryside, ask for some capital to get settled.
"Help me find someone and then I'll leave"
Chan just nods his head and places a fist on his chest—the way of the guards to agree to promises.
They shake hands.
Chan throws him a cloak,"Cover your face."
Minho musters all his energy to get up and be able to walk.
He hastily puts on the cloak and walks alongside Chan.
They move purposefully through the dimly lit corridors,no one questions them.
"Does it hurt?
"Why don't you try it and judge for yourself —an unforgettable experience I believe."
Chan guides them through an untouched empty corridor that's covered in gold artifacts.
It's asking to be stolen.
Curiosity gets the better of him,"Why is this place empty"
He is not expecting an answer but Chan obliges, "it belongs to the crown prince, it stays like this in wait for his return. "
Ah the lost prince. Taken at birth. Minho has no hope for the return of such a person. But what does he know. If he were king he would choose an heir and secure the throne..
Instead of waiting for the fabled prince.
Chan takes him through the same labyrinth that Minho had used to enter inside the palace. Old memories.
They walk past the outdoor parlour to reach the stables.
The horses lazily munches grass unaware,Chan runs up to it ,caresses a cheek and then puts the muzzle on.
Chan puts his own hood up, effectively covering part of his face and it looks strangely familiar to Minho.
"Here, get on this horse"
It's the bloodthirsty horse Kkampton.
Minho is desperate but not enough to become horse food. What would be the use of going after Kim Seungmin if he ends up as horse food?
Minho rubs a spot on his hand between his thumb and the index finger to calm himself, he puts a hand on the horse's side and gently touches its coat,he prays for silent understanding and holds the saddle tightly to hoist himself on horseback.
It's uncomfortable and to add to his misery the horse shakes itself to remove the extra weight but Minho holds tight
Chan lets out a low whistle and the horse stills,"where to?"he asks.
The first place to start would be where they last parted ways (involuntarily).
"The lake behind the market"
Chan nods his head and moves forward whistling a tune Minho has never heard before but he figures it is a call for the horses because Minho's own falls into line behind Chan on the very first note.
"We must hurry, hold tight"
Minho does, till the skin of his knuckles become white(not taking chances with the horse.)
Chan lightly whistles again—a new melody.
The horses take off like lightning, Minho digs his thighs in the sides to hold on securely.
***
He doesn't know what he expected. The lake side is empty as it always is.
They had gone to Grandma Song's house which was abandoned.
No sign of life at all,everything gone with the wind—Chucky and Grandma Song are rootless wanderers so he isn't too worried about them.
They'll come back when the moon is in seventh place or Jupiter goes into sixth house and Saturn loses two of its rings.
Grandma Song says things beyond his comprehension.
They visit the tavern but it's closed–it opens late after the day of Apricus because of the previous busy night.
They return to the busy market with no luck.
Chan silently follows him with no complaints even though Minho's sure Chan thinks it's a futile search.
He feels like he used all his luck on meeting Kim Seungmin.
He swears —he's a faithless man and he stands by it but if there's someone listening; hope it shows them the way.
Can the desperate find it?
The sun beats down,Minho swipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his sleeve.
Chan gives him a sympathetic look, Minho doesn't wish to see his own face if even Chan, who he met hours ago, can see the sorrow.
Chan pats his back in comfort.
Minho looks up to the sky,a single thought in his head,anything to find the way.
His hood falls off his head.
"Minnie!"the voice of a child, cheery and bright.
He turns his head to see Seori,wearing a hat too big for her head, calling out his name "Minnie!"
She runs towards him,her flower basket shaking.
He hastily covers his face and jumps off the horse to catch that tiny fireball.
"Hi princess!"
"Hi! Are you here to buy something?—we have new flowers and seeds in the shop!"
"Hmm... I'm sorry princess I'll buy your flowers someday later because today I'm here to find someone"
"Oh! Where's your friend Minnie? I saw him earlier and said hi to him but he didn't reply, I think he didn't even see me!"she crosses her arms against her chest,a pout forming on her lips.
"You said hi to him ..are you sure it was him"
"Of Course, he even had the flower crown clutched in his hand,He was with an old man and they got into a carriage "
An old man?A carriage!!
"Seori,can you describe the man?Do you know what he was wearing, or how he looked?"
Seori concentrates hard to remember all the details
"Uhm he had lines on his face like my grandpa has and he was very tan. He was wearing a black long coat or something I'm not sure,salt and pepper hair and he was tall ….uhm…and looked a bit like a……"Seori eats up her end of sentence.
"Like a..?" Minho tries to coax her.
"a monkey" Seori timidly replies and then she starts rambling,"I mean I just thought so ,he wasn't a real monkey, I mean he had this spiky hair and I don't know,he looked a bit scary but maybe that's just because he was tall…"
The man in the photo with the young Seungmin, Jinyoung.
"Seori -Seori,princess,take a breath,I think I know what you're talking about."
"You do?" Chan asks. Minho ignores him.
"Thank You so much! You're the best!"
"Ah...If you say so."Seori shyly replies.
Minho turns to Chan who is looking at the interaction like he has no idea what to make of it.
"Chan, we need to leave for beyond the forest before it's too late ."
He says climbing back on the horse.
"Alright, show me the way"
"You don't have to come, it might be dangerous"
"Then it's dangerous for you too,I know my limits and I'm coming, whether you want it or not"
Chan reminds him of Changbin –stubborn,helpful,reliable. He has heard good things about the General and some misguided hate but he thinks Chan's a good man. If he was king,he would have passed the throne to Chan.
"I'll return your crown"
Chan's ear turn red like petite blossoms in autumn"you can keep it,It's not real"
Minho feels like he is mishearing a lot of things these days."I'm sorry could you repeat that"
"It was an imitation,the crown you stole"
"It was ….what…."Minho slowly blinks in response to whatever Chan is saying.
Should he look up words in a dictionary?
Imitation?
Maybe he knows the wrong definition.
Chan looks uncomfortable,his sole attention on the horse's mane,moving his fingers through the fine silk.
His jaw is sharp,eyes downcast and the pale skin slowly turning red.
Minho's eyes turn to saucers when realization dawns on him.
The man from the tavern.
"It's you! You mothe—"he catches himself from shouting, Seori is looking at them amused,he doesn't want her to learn something bad from him.
So he moves his horse closer to Chan's and whispers "you motherfucker, you turned Jisung's face into a punching bag; you were already aware of the plan and who's behind it and yet—"
"I know I'm sorry" Chan avoids his eyes"you can curse me all you want but I think someone is more important right now"
Kim Seungmin.
Minho huffs loudly but Chan's right.
"See you! Seori." Minho bids her farewell and they take off towards the forest.
The journey is a blur,he follows the trail and doesn't think he lets his body takeover.
It's a lie to say he didn't think but it was all incoherent except for one thought —Stupid Kim Seungmin and how he might have to suffer imprisonment again.
The horse stops at the edge of the heart of the forest as if it can sense the danger ahead or whatever enchantment restricts them.
Chan looks perplexed, Minho doubts he has been to this part of the forest ever,it's all old trees and poisonous herbs if you know to look for them.
"Where are we going to go from here?"
"Straight ahead" he has no patience to explain anything—he doesn't know what's happened with Kim Seungmin and that's what terrifies him the most.
"There's nothing except trees. Nothing Good lies beyond this "
"Then we're going to seek out Nothing Good"
It's a challenge and he means it.
Chan fixes a sharp eyed gaze at him but doesn't answer. He lets out a shrill whistle that has the horse jolting and jumping straight into the canopy covered path.
Minho's almost impressed.
SM☆
The tower is crumbling, breaking apart from the first stone.
Jinyoung has gone mad ,completely Eccentric.
Jinyoung has always been mad. It's Seungmin who has discovered things in a new light.
Seungmin was so wrapped up in his own feelings—rejection and abandonment—that he tuned out everything else.
Jinyoung told him that he found the cure to free him of his power and Seungmin replied with a monotone affirmative.
He wasn't really listening or if he was then he wasn't processing what Jinyoung was trying to imply.
If someone asked him what the conversation was about, Seungmin would just stare back blankly.
One moment he was sitting there watching Jinyoung mix up ingredients for a potion and then in the next Jinyoung had pulled up a butcher's knife and told him to take off his shirt.
Seungmin had blinked,shaking himself out of the stupor.
Jinyoung came close,and instinctively Seungmin stepped back.
"You have to trust me Seungmin-ah, I can't help you if you won't let me"
Seungmin took another step back.
Jinyoung's face was etched with worry,he looked older and more weary.
"I just need enough blood to fill this "—he held a glass the size of Seungmin's hand —"it's the last ingredient for the spell and then you'll be free "
"I don't want to",Seungmin gulps "I-I-don't want to get rid of it."
"Are you in over your head Seung-ah?"
Jinyoung's tone is saccharine.
"I think i can learn to use it and help others "
"You think–it takes your own energy to heal someone else. Do you think you can control it if I'm not there to stabilize it? Remember you almost died saving that girl in the street?How can you control it?"Jinyoung's voice rises an octave higher at the end of the sentence.
"I have helped you plenty of times,you've never complained once!"
Seungmin fires back. He feels like he's being taken advantage of —this is what happens to people who put all their trust in a person and then they abandon them,he thinks bitterly.
"I can free you of it and you'll never have to worry another day —Do you understand this power can get you imprisoned or killed !!"
"Good.fine.splendid I'm not doing anything right now either and if you haven't realized I am imprisoned in every way except the word–I don't think death's worse if all I have had for company is these walls for the past years of my life"
Seungmin himself is shocked by his outburst but he wouldn't deny that he has never had this thought, he is grateful for everything Jinyoung has done but some thoughts take residence in your head and never leave.
He stares at Jinyoung, afraid that his hostile words would have hurt.
Something shifts on Jinyoung's face,his glamor drops ,there are more white hair on his head than a minute ago and his eyes look red,skin scarred.
Jinyoung laughs and that in itself causes a shiver to run down his spine. Seungmin holds his breath.
"It's good you don't think death's worse, of course it's not,it's the living that's difficult and I love you so much Seungmin-ah I'll put you out of your misery;since you think your life's worthless anyway then I'll offer a truth for good times sake, your blood is just a catalyst —the spell aims at your lifeforce and it will charge the potion,that can heal almost anything in the world. I have used you enough, now you are not needed anymore. dismissed. "
Seungmin feels paralyzed but it's like a door opened up in his brain that leads to a lot of things falling into place and starting to make sense.
Seungmin throws anything he can get his hands on Jinyoung.
He pulls on his hair and takes the knife to his chest,his shirt is torn and then fills a part of the glass ,Seungmin headbutts him with all his strength, the blood loss makes him dizzy but he stands straight, Jinyoung hits some of things from the table and it explodes part of it ,Seungmin ducks behind the wall, the side of the wall breaks away creating a huge hole.
"Escape this place if you can."
Jinyoung places both his palms flat on the ground with a force that causes a huge sound and chants a spell, Seungmin moves away to escape the attack but the tower starts shaking and it's breaking apart piece by piece and it twists into another shape the height reduces and he takes a rope and jump off .
Jinyoung's skin grows withered the more spell he chants
MH♡
Minho and Chan break into the clearing, sun beating overhead. Sweat lines their forehead.
Minho squints his eyes to look against the sun.
The tower is breaking and moving into something of its own.
The sorcery shocks Chan to the core but Minho looks unbothered,"we need to break in"
There's a hole in the wall near the window and it's growing. The ground floor is demolished and the tower tilts at a dangerous angle.
The thick overgrown ivy supports some of it.
Minho spots two people fighting near the window, another piece of stone crashes on the ground
"Seungmin" Minho shouts at the top of his lungs.
Seungmin turns to look at him,Jinyoung throws a stone at his head,Seungmin nearly escapes and then disappears from view.
“Do you have anything to help climb?” Minho asks Chan who has recovered from the initial shock.
“It’s not very high,I think we can manage it.” Chan lifts up his cloak to point at the rope attached to his waist,"The stones shift in a pattern,We need to climb up from the opposite corner,I know what to do —hold onto me"
Minho replies affirmative,not moving his eyes from the breaking tower.
Chan jumps from his horse and races towards the opposite side of the window from the ground,climbs atop the rubble of stones arranged there.
Chan starts climbing to the hole in the wall,stepping on seams,Minho swears wasn't there a minute earlier.
Nothing is stable,the faster they climb,the safer.
Minho follows him, a single rope tied around both their waists,connecting them —all irrational fears out for a very rational one.
They climb into the hole and Chan immediately jumps on Jinyoung.
Seungmin's shirt is torn, and there's blood on his body.
There’s a fresh cut on his chest and above it is smoothed over old burnt skin shaped like a little sun,it looks like an old wound --Jinyoung has so many prices to pay.
Minho wants to put Jinyoung's head through the fucking wall.
The tower keeps on moving
"You came"
"Don't take it to your head" There is no time for sweet reconciliation,they can kiss it out when they are on safer ground,close to the earth.
The tower keeps on moving,stones shifting and moving over each other, it dangerously tilts to the side.
Jinyoung stops fighting Chan,
" You think you can save the day,I'm doomed for hell and I will take you all with me ,how can I leave my favorite apprentice behind huh? Seungmin-ah."
He shakes Chan and pinches the sensitive skin of his forearm hard and drives himself into him like a madman,completely disregarding his own life and using all the dirty tricks to hurt Chan.
Minho moves closer to Seungmin who looks paler than when he last saw him with a split lip and swollen jaw.
Chan overpowers Jinyoung with an arm around his throat, but he isn't faring any better —blood leaking from his mouth and dirt on his face.
Chan looks over at them,his eyes zeroing on Seungmin's chest.
There is shock on his face and his mouth falls open.
He drops to his knees and takes Jinyoung along with him, "Your Highness."
The rumble of stones makes it harder for Chan's voice to carry over.
Minho and Seungmin look at him with the same confused expression, wondering who Chan is addressing.
Jinyoung? Minho knows all the royal elders died in the disease outbreak.
Is it something Chan says when he fights? Like a tradition? If so,It is peculiar of soldiers to say out your highness in between battles.
Jinyoung takes advantage of Chan's attention diversion.
He pulls out a delicate vial from inside his robe.
Jinyoung breaks the small vial full of purple liquid and throws it on the floor; it immediately eats the floor and starts spreading like wildfire to the edge of the room,the curtains catch it and burn.
Chan shifts away from him and the fire.
Jinyoung places both his hands on the floor and chants a spell, voice shifting into a grand cadence, in a language Minho has never heard before.
"You need to leave now! He's going to demolish the tower to the ground —move,move,move!" Seungmin's voice rises in panic.
Minho picks a bottle from the collection placed on the table and throws it point blank at Jinyoung—it shatters on his head, Jinyoung's hands immediately go to his head and come out crimson.
He watches his hands maniacally laughing and goes back to chanting the spell but Chan catches his hands and tries to tie them together struggling with Jinyoung.
The shifting stops but the tower continues to tilt ,the edge where Minho and Seungmin stand tilts close to the ground.
There's nothing to hold onto ,everything crumbles. Minho places his hand on the wall,the stone breaks in his hand ,He looks out and the ground is closer than before.
"Seungminnie" Minho grabs his arms, Seungmin looks like he will keel over any second,"go"
Minho uses the momentum of his own weight to push Seungmin towards the opposite end where Chan stands rope tied to the post, an arm outstretched.
Minho falls through the walls straight to the ground, his whole body experiencing a shock.
He fights his eyes to stay open ,a stone crashes near his leg splaying fine rubble on his face.
Breathing has never taken this much effort.
The sun is so bright and it pierces his heart.
He blinks slowly..just a minute longer..he negotiates with himself ...trying to stay conscious against the pain and the numbness.
Everything moves in slow motion,Minho is skeptical of it.
Kim Seungmin stands above him,bleeding and battered, casting shadows for him to open his eyes better;it's useless.
***
SM☆
"The.. sun..is so…bright" Minho speaks so softly Seungmin's heart bleeds into his.
Seungmin's heart is stuck in his throat, unable to form words that don't sound in one way or form a plea; desperate and kicked.
Animalistic heart .
Please please please.
His throat chokes up to even form any words and his tears melt into him and Seungmin feels life going out of him to someone, a void welcomes him .
He can let go now and it's close and it's sweet . Moving his head in an intoxicating effect, a hand tightens on his wrist painfully digging in and pushing him away but it's all so numb. He can feel the pain and he can't. Seungmin refuses to pull away his hand on the man's hand
A soft voice calls his name ,he opens his eyes to stare into fresh ground coffee brown,weakly staring back at him.
"Your Highness" someone shouts in the distance.
And then he passes out.
***
MH♡
Minho wakes up to a high ceiling and a white translucent canopy over him
And a faint yellow light from somewhere,his brain is too tired to process any details. He returns to unconsciousness.
Minho wakes up again after minutes or hours he has no idea,he is awake enough to look around this time.
Kim Seungmin sits in a chair beside him;head on his shoulder looking uncomfortable, mouth slightly open
Minho is getting neck cramps just by looking at him.(and relief that he didn't waste his effort, and just some tiny heart palpitations.)
He is glad he saved Kim Seungmin, so he can sleep uncomfortably in a chair and Minho can creepily stare because there's nothing better to do.
His left cheek is squished over his shoulder and his hair is pushed to the side,Kim Seungmin has a neat appearance,Minho observes.
He will never admit it though.
The dawn light through the window reflects on his face and makes him look softer than usual.
Seungmin's hand lies close enough to touch, he reaches out with his pinky to trace a five pointed star on Seungmin's hand,too afraid to shatter the silence.
He doesn't wake up.
Minho turns his eyes away from Seungmin to look at the room he's in.
It's nothing short of grand. Soft wood furniture and walls painted a soft cream, begonias in full bloom painted on one of the walls.
Candles line the space in the opposite corner from his bed to light up the space but not too harsh for someone sleeping.
He falls back to sleep.
The next time he wakes up,it is to Seungmin, dressed in a princely attire standing by his bedside holding a spoonful of some green substance, smelling truly vile and bitter.
Minho scrunches his nose to not get assaulted by the strong smell.
Seungmin finally sees that he's up,"You're awake! Hyung, how do you feel?"
Minho tries to speak but nothing comes out due to not using his voice,his throat is dry,he clears his throat and tries again "take this thing away from me"
He pointedly looks at the spoon."No"
"I fell from a tower and this is how you treat me?"
"This will you help get better faster"
"And what about the guts I will spill when I have to taste this–this–thing"
"Hyung,you're going to take it whether you want to or not"
"Are you going to command me?"Minho adds as cheeky as possible"your highness"
Seungmin gets flustered enough that it takes him sometime to recover,"I–you,don't call me that!"
"I still think it's a scam"
"Why? You do look like one."
He's not lying,the strange similitude now that it's been pointed out is clear as daylight.
The old king really does look like Kim Seungmin or Kim Seungmin looks like the old king. Same thing,he shrugs mentally.
"If one of us looks like a member of Royalty then it would be you Hyung–pretty as a flower…"
It's Minho's turn to get ruffled by the open reply. He tries to keep his expression neutral but the growing redness on the shell of his ear gives him away. He can't let Kim Seungmin win."....but you behave like the cat who terrorizes people for fun so where do we go from here?"Minho takes back what he thought.
"Lies! Slander! How does your conscience allows you to even say this,you will become the dirt cats walk on Kim Seungmin"
"I didn't mean it negatively! I am just saying that I can't be a prince. I don't know anything about it."
Minho opens his mouth to argue.
It all happens too swiftly for Minho's liking. Kim Seungmin,satan spawn,puts the spoon in his mouth silencing him.
Minho was right,the taste is so fucking vile he'll throw it back up on Seungmin.
Minho swallows the bitter medicine as the door of the chamber swings open.
General Chan,dressed in the vine red and silver ceremonial armor,the royal crest on its breastplate; stands at the doorstep hesitant to come inside.
Minho clears his throat,"General Bang, you looking to impress someone?"
"Please come in." Seungmin says at the same time.
Chan looks flustered for a second but then it's gone, back to the cool collected General.
Minho isn't sure if it's a wedding or do rich people always dress like this.
General Chan comes near the bed and bows to Seungmin, "Your Highness"
Seungmin looks like he's at the end of his wit,"Please just call me Seungmin"he says resigned,Minho assumes it's not the first time he's asking this.
Chan turns to Minho,"How do you feel,Minho-ssi?"
"Well rested and very hungry"
"The banquet would start in an hour,I'll send someone to help you wash up and dress then if it's fine with you,please join the Royal Family for the meal,It's a request by Queen Mother herself "
Minho lifts an eyebrow and blinks in quick succession,"Meal...with the ..Royal Family...Queen Mother requested it" he repeats it slowly just to check if he heard it right or it's a figment of his imagination, still in the dreamscape.
"We'll be there ,Don't worry" Seungmin answers for him.
"Good. I have to oversee some arrangements so I'll take my leave.Please make yourselves comfortable".
Chan bows again and leaves Minho alone with only Kim Seungmin for company.
"Since you're up we will have to meet the king and Queen now." Seungmin sounds anxious about it.
"You haven't met them yet? How long did I sleep ?"
"Two days" Seungmin moves to the window,drawing away the curtains to let the sun in.
"What were you doing, you didn't meet them?"
"I did but I was tired and bleeding so it was a disaster and there was some screaming and crying involved too—I wasn't the one screaming and crying though if you're wandering and Why are you so interested in how I spend my time. I didn't ask you How you spent the last two days?"
Seungmin continues babbling for a minute or two,clearly nervous about meeting his (alleged)parents as their (long lost kidnapped now found) child who is also the (potential) Crown Prince.
Minho lets him.
***
The banquet is filled with people —Royalty,Nobles,village chiefs,commoners everyone rejoicing for the return of the prince.
The king addressed all of Levanter on how it's a new beginning for the kingdom.
A fresh start to prosperity now that the lost have been found.
Minho tuned most of it out,because it was too sorrowful.
The queen had personally come to him and thanked him.
Minho had no idea how to react,it's difficult talking to new people and the queen with her heavy crown and flowing dress thanking him had made him nervous, he could only shyly accept her gratitude.
Then she took his hand in her own and placed a kiss and Minho wanted to die on the spot,too embarrassed to say anything.
He is still recovering from the aftershock,his skin slowly returning to its honey gold instead of looking like a bouquet of carnations.
Seungmin stands near the podium with a polite smile,Chan standing behind him.
How is Kim Seungmin so calm?There's no storm behind those eyes.
He'll ask him later. Or not.
After the meal,the reunited royal family gets a moment of peace.
The queen is all over Kim Seungmin . Her face is wet, all her emotions have taken over at once,the king stands near but not close enough, he looks happy, his eyes misty,silent tears spilling down his face.
Minho watches his composure break moving close enough to engulf his wife and son in a hug.
Kim Seungmin looks overwhelmed like someone has placed all the world's treasure at his feet and all they ask for in return is his happiness and like he got 3 horns on his head.
Watching them together and happy fills his heart to the brim but a small stab wound still hurts, reminding him of his mother's absence.
Minho walks off ,no longer wanting to intrude over their happy and vulnerable moment.(And he'd rather leave while they're busy before they throw him in the prison. Again. But technically he didn't steal anything so …...)
Goodbyes are, anyway, overrated ,one day you're together, the next you leave. What's the point of crying about it,everything comes to an end.
The flower blooms and they die,people stay and they leave.
So he leaves without one.
He's out of the gates,dragging his feet on willpower alone.
End of a chapter—Return of the lost prince,he's reminded of his own social status not that it ever mattered much to him and how maybe it's his turn to start something new. A new dream (without Kim Seungmin).
Think of the devil— "Hyung! Minho hyung!"Seungmin shouts , Minho refuses to turn around.
It's hard enough to leave without Kim Seungmin calling him,if he turns around now his resolve might just crumble and he might do something regretful(kiss him?kill him?ask him out?).
"Lee Minho!"Seungmin catches up to him ,putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you abandoning me so soon"
What? What does he want?
There are a hundred thoughts in his head but all that comes out is,"I am going to charge you this time Kim Seungmin, your free trial for babysitting is over''
"Take me with you hyung, wherever you're going—another adventure or to your mother's homeland, I won't annoy you and I'm ready to work as your maid"
"What?"
"I said I am –"
"No I heard that,you fool,but you're the prince now and you're going to do prince things now like –tell lies in company,bathe in luxury, get your ass handed to you by people trying to train you,sitting in boring meetings and watch out for assassination attempts, the usual you know "
"I'm not staying at the castle "
"You're not staying at what–are you in over your head Kim Seungmin do you want me to knock some sense into you "
"I've decided, with principles, I'm not staying at any tower or castle ever."
Kim Seungmin is kicking his silver spoon and all it does is infuriate Minho.
"Then stay in the streets,I can't let you freeload with me —my ultimate plan is to eat the rich and you're the richest member of society so watch out"
"Hyung we can both freeload from the royal allowance,think about it, castles and towers give me traumatic stress I'd rather sleep in the rain so I'm coming with you"
Minho understands but he doesn't know what Kim Seungmin means by 'coming with him'–coming like a friend or a friend.
Seungmin's face falls waiting for the answer when none comes and he asks,"Do you not want me to ?"
"I Do"Minho says before he can stop himself.
Kim Seungmin smiles like he can see Minho's glowing heart mirroring the floating lanterns. Damn it.
"I know you can't resist me hyung, it's my turn now let's make your dream come true!"
Minho feels seen through,heart left naked in the golden daylight.
"Do you not have a new dream Kim Seungmin? Like living on taxes or shooting birds, playing your songs for the court."Minho attempts to change the subject
"I do.You're my new dream. I want to have adventures with you, that is if you'll take me."
The words are sincere,no jest in it even if he searches but Minho doesn't know how to deal with this quiet admission.
It's smooth enough that he can file it down as flirting.
When did Kim Seungmin learn to flirt?
He wants Kim Seungmin to shut the fuck up.
So annoying. Maybe this is the right time to cash in a punch before things accelerate,he holds Kim Seungmin by the collar and gives him a chance to backoff, Seungmin doesn't; he stares head on, "Are we just going to stand here all day?" Infuriating.
"I don't think you can handle me" , Minho is serious.
"Why don't you try me then?"
He smashes their lips together,taking both of them by surprise. It's an awkward angle,Minho's lip is too close to Seungmin's teeth.
He pulls back and adjusts them to a better angle.
It's indescribable really, so he doesn't try to make sense of it either.
Seungmin's eyes widen for a moment and then close on their own, he melts into Minho's mouth. Minho grows warm,his face and his ear and Seungmin isn't unfazed either. Minho places a hand on his jaw and neck,the place that's burning and the other on his waist.
He can taste the wine on his tongue.
It's Seungmin that pulls him close till there's no room to breathe.
.
.
"That was the worst kiss I've ever had"
"People have kissed you before? With that personality? There's plenty of time to practice" Kim Seungmin tries to wiggle his eyebrows but he fails,both of them going up and down at the same time.
There's a big smile on his face,mouth stretched all the way and eyes disappearing into crescents
Minho laughs with him.
"So a maid huh?"
They ride off in the sunset to make a life with rose-tinted dreams ✨.
After: a glimpse.
A traveling party moves on the twisty mountain roads in heavy rain at night going to the Luna highlands.The cold creeps in the carriage that contains a family of four, one woman soldier and two suspicious figures with hood covered faces, huddling in the corner of the carriage.
The two strangers were stranded in the rain,they offered the coachman 5 pieces of silver for the ride and the coachman accepted.
The woman soldier has her eyes closed but her senses are alive.
She sits, facing her back to the two men that came in after the rain started, leaning on one side of the carriage. The rest stop is three hours away.
There is a whispered conversation happening behind her that she doesn't wish to be a part of but what can she do? Seal her ears?
"I'd be so embarrassed if I got sick because of running in the rain….and you...your whole thing is healing..How did you manage to get such a burning forehead?" The woman doesn't understand whether the person is puzzled,amused or concerned. Maybe all of it.
"Hyung, I'll heal myself once we reach a rest stop and the rain is not in my hands."
"What if you die before that? I can't be a widower at the ripe age of 23. How will I face Grandma Song?"
Oh? She hopes the person doesn't die, she would like to avoid a rotting corpse.
"Hyung!"whining in a sick voice louder than before, the sick man continues in a whisper,"I am not dying! Stop trying to get rid of me! I am going to pester you forever...hnng" —something the woman can't catch—"don't move your hand..it's cold,feels nice."
The rain is louder and she doesn't hear anything after that she turns around to sit in a more comfortable position. The sleeping form of the person greets her, their head on the other man's shoulder and hand clutched in his partner's.
Some time later when the rain is lighter,"There's a lot to the world you haven't seen yet Darling,rest for your next adventure."