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alittletournesol · 5 years

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Kingdom Of Jinju {MinKey} part 21/33

Chapter 21 : If you love him

Minho had put his royal attire on as he left his quarters, leaving his husband still lazily lying, naked on his bed. Offering a last smile to the other man, who had his face turned towards him and his hair falling from the mattress like an ebony waterfall, he closed the huge door and found himself alone in the east wing’s corridor. This part of the castle was always so quiet, compared to every other one that was constantly filled with tons of lively sounds thanks to the employees getting themselves busy.

The King stretched his back before he walked away, adjusting his collar and running a hand through his brown bangs. It was the first time he was wandering in his palace with his hair free, for Kibum had played with it before his leaving. It was falling on his red and golden coat but the Prince had gathered a few strands into a well proportionate bun, high behind his head. Even if his thick front bangs were also free, this so simple hairstyle was embellished with a new kind of crown : a perfectly cut diadem only made of a pure gold band, that was encircling the sovereign’s forehead.

Somehow, a piece of jewellery that wanted itself so delicate and feminine in a first place, found itself particularly masculine, even virile, around Minho’s head. The latter had got quite surprise when he had seen his husband stand up and rummage in the dressing table’s drawers until he had found this. Reluctant at first, the King had ended up admitting it was suiting him more than he could have imagined. It was all proudly that he entered the main wing of the palace, where more than half of the employees was busy preparing the dining room for breakfast.

The young man bowed his head to every single person who interrupted their respective work to properly salute him, and he smiled at the two house girls who bumped into each other when they both noticed him instead of looking where they were going. As he approached them to make sure they were fine, he recognised Yerim, for this young woman was quite clumsy despite her willing. He had seen the face of the second girl before for sure, but he didn’t know her name.

“Good morning, Yerim.” He said with a soft smile, what made both employees blush as they hadn’t expected to be addressed by the King. “Will there be one day without anyone telling you to be careful ? You are going to get hurt, why are you both in such a hurry ?”

“We are sorry, your Highness, we ran late this morning.” The girl replied, forgetting about the etiquette and staring at her sovereign straight in the eyes. “We were about to bring her breakfast to the Queen.”

“Oh, then it is understandable. Please go, do not make her wait for too long. As for you, my dear…?”

“Park Sooyoung, your Highness.” The second employee answered, bowing at the same time with a surprising grace despite her tall stature.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sooyoung. Would you please let Yerim do this task alone and do something for me ?”

“Your wish is my command, your Highness.”

“Perfect. His Grace is in my quarters at the moment, I summoned him for help earlier and he immediately answered the call, but he must still be over there. Thus, he did not have time to take his morning bath and I do not want him to rush things to be on time for breakfast. Would you please do me a favour and get his bath ready in his own quarters, along with his breakfast ? Then please knock at my door to inform him about it.”

“Bath, breakfast, door. I will do it.”

“Very well, thank you. You may go, just, have you seen the General around ?”

“Yes, your Highness.” Yerim stepped forwards. “He was awake before us and we saw him come back from the village a while ago. He was heading to the yard alone.”

Raising an eyebrow, Minho nodded and thanked the house girls before dismissing them. He couldn’t help but smile when he noticed the shortest one nudging her friend as to congratulate her for talking to the King for the first time. For sure, Yerim had talked to her sovereign a lot, never long conversations but a few apologies and words every time she had been told to be careful, asked if she had hurt herself when stumbling or falling on her knees. She had stopped counting the times she had embarrassingly let him help her to stand up and give her the fallen laundry.

Shaking his head, the King grabbed a pear in the fruits’ basket that was resting on the dining room, and headed outside while biting it. The sweet taste invaded his mouth and it felt so refreshing he felt the need to go back and grab a second one, just out of gluttony. Once he felt content, he walked in the gardens while eating until he reached the yard, and was surprised to not hear any training. No swords hitting each other, no panting breaths from soldiers nor loud commands from the General.

However, the sharp noise of an arrow piercing through the air until it reached its target was beyond recognisable. Minho found himself frowning and raising his hand to his chest, as he slightly rubbed his pectoral above his coat, the space where he had been shot a few weeks before. Even though it wasn’t painful anymore and his veins had come back to normal… he was suddenly hit by the words he had heard from his mother earlier. The spy’s corpse…

Looking up, the King’s eyes had changed : all their softness had made space to determination. He wouldn’t admit it out loud because of his pride, but the Queen had got it right. He hadn’t really thought about that spy despite having been aware that he had been killed and brought to the dungeons to have his body examined. If he was an assassin sent by someone of power, he should present a mark. However, it wasn’t the kind of proof to be found easily, although it was a known fact that a higher authority would mark their spies like oxen.

Minho found it stupid, for the purpose of a spy was to be discreet and not identifiable, but he had thought it was for the best to keep this thought to himself. As he entered the yard, he found Jinki standing at the other end of the space, wearing only his shoes, trousers and baldric, and a quiver’s strap crossing his bare muscular chest. He was stretching a bow without trembling, staring at the target and taking his time to acknowledge the cool breeze before shooting. His arrow didn’t reach the exact center of the circle, yet it was extremely close.

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you practice archery.” The King said, walking towards his friend. “The employees said you were up early.”

“I had some things to tend to.” The soldier replied as he took Minho’s forearm with his hand, the latter doing the same as a fraternally way to salute each other. “And the hunting season is about to begin so I must get back in shape.”

“Do you feel unsure about your precision ? You’re the best archer in Jinju, game fears your only steps.”

“I was the best archer, until you married the God of Hunt himself.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re jealous ? Come on hyung, when did my General start growing irritated from not being the best in something ? It’s not like archery is your master skill.”

“I’m not jealous, not at all. But if he decides to accompany us, I don’t want to make an idiot of myself. It’s been ages since I last practiced, I lost my touch.”

“Well you have a whole month to find it again, the first hunt of the year will start after the next moon. This means you can stop for now and come with me somewhere I need you.”

Jinki raised an eyebrow and stopped his movement as he was drawing his bow again, looking up. But at that moment, it was the King who was requesting his presence somewhere, not his childhood friend. Nodding, he didn’t waste any more time and went to remove every arrow that was stuck in the target, before he store the unused ones and the quiver. After he splashed his face with fresh water and put his shirt and coat of mail on, he notified Minho to lead the way and gave the arrows to the sentry, asking him to bring them to the blacksmith to sharpen them again.

As he followed his sovereign around the palace, the General listened to him telling about what he had in mind. And it hit the soldier just as much, for himself hadn’t really found the time either to think about the spy he had himself killed. He had been so busy travelling to find this flower, then looking after Minho and training his soldiers, accompanying the Prince… he had completely forgotten about his own command to bring the corpse to the dungeons for an examination.

A lump grew in his throat as he remembered how guilty he had felt when he had had no choice but to strike the man with his sword. He had said it, it would have been him or the spy, and he couldn’t die and leave the King without his General and friend. It was one of his duties to stay alive, a responsibility for the sake of the kingdom. However, although he had killed before and as soon as he had seen life leave the stranger’s eyes, he had understood his mistake : an enemy spy could still be useful if captured ; a dead spy was worth nothing.

“Don’t blame yourself, he was a danger.” Minho replied after listening to his friend’s apology. “He almost killed me and you were about to be stabbed, I would rather have thousands of spies dead and useless than you murdered for me.”

“Still, it would have been easier to question him.” Jinki sighed as he opened the dungeons’ door to let his sovereign enter first. “What could we learn from a corpse ?”

“Maybe an appartenance or a hint about it. Father once told me that our physician knew exactly how to examine a corpse to find hidden marks.”

“Let’s hope he’ll do better with an already dead body than he did with yours. He could have let you die if I hadn’t imposed Jonghyun’s presence.”

“He’s quite old, let’s put it down to that. Wait, do you call Sir Jonghyun by name now ?”

“I guess we overstepped my past resentment. I had no choice since you made me meet him so often at school.”

“You’re so bad at lying, hyung. Just admit you befriended him thanks to me, I know he’s a nice person.”

Minho laughed heartily but thankfully didn’t notice the red tint on his friend’s face, for the dungeons were quite dark despite the few small windows on top of the walls. They walked by the few prisoners who looked up, some of them willing to stand up to show their bitterness towards the crowned guy. But the General’s stare and his hand on his pommel were enough to reduce them to silence and force them to sit still. After all, these ones had been imprisoned since before the young King’s coronation.

In no time, they reached a closed room with the royal physician waiting for them in front of the door, and Jinki handed a handkerchief to his friend to protect his nose. If there was a corpse resting in there for weeks, the smell wouldn’t be pleasant. The three men covered half of their face before they entered an extremely small room, the only furnitures being a wooden plank on trestles and a pedestal table with some tools resting on it. Lying on the makeshift table, the spy’s body had turned white, a pallid and waxy white if it wasn’t for the open wound on his abdomen that was dark red, even brown.

As expected, the smell was strong and Minho had to catch a grip on himself before approaching. The corpse had been meticulously cleaned and the King noticed a few marks, yet they were way too obvious to be representative of a potential higher authority that would have commanded his assassination. There were countless small cut scars and something that was extremely common among bandits, assassins and other miscreants : symbols inked under the skin. However, although they showed an appartenance to a gang of rascals, there was only one kingdom that used this same method to mark their spies.

“Baemyeong ?” Minho asked the physician, who shook his head.

“No, your Highness, Lady Taeyeon did not lie.” The old man replied. “I examined the body in minute detail and I can affirm you the following things. There is no trace of ink inside any of his ears’ cartilage, so Baemyeong has nothing to do with this scheme. I did not find any scar shaped as a small hook, which means Pugye is in the clear as well.”

“This leaves us with Maguk and Dongjeo…” The General commented.

“I was coming to them, Sir. I examined his teeth and they are all clean, not a single one has been encrusted with a jewel.”

“A jewel in a teeth ?” The King raised his eyebrows. “It is the first time I hear about such a thing.”

“It is the trademark of Maguk, your Highness. The second kingdom is innocent too. As for Dongjeo, I did not find a single brand on the entire corpse.”

“A brand ?”

“Yes, your Highness, Dongjeo did not change their ancestral way to mark their spies and still brands them. It is nothing but a little burn somewhere on a body, generally well hidden but I know where to look and there is nothing like this.”

“This sounds barbaric… But what does it mean ? If this spy does not show any mark, how can we know where he comes from, who sent him to assassinate me ?”

“Unfortunately, I am unable to prove any appartenance. This means he might not be a spy for someone as high as a kingdom’s ruler, or perhaps he did it on his own initiative which I highly doubt.”

Minho nodded but disappointment was clearly noticeable on his features, along with a strange fear. He wasn’t stupid, if he had been told about any kingdom’s mark on this cunt’s body, he would have immediately taken things in hand by travelling over there to have a talk… but with a pretty nice army having his back. However, he was completely lost in this trap he had just fallen in : the spy couldn’t have tried to kill him only on a personal purpose, it had all been way too premeditated.

The choice of poison to kill a man was often attributed to women, for it was a subtle way despite a still lethal nature. The more he thought about it, the more the King understood the real conspirator had tried to put the blame on someone else. The black kiss’ poison could be found only in Baemyeong, a kingdom ruled by a woman… yet, Minho didn’t think Lady Taeyeon had been personally chosen as the one who would be accused and potentially convicted. It had certainly been pure chance.

The schemer had been smart enough to organise the assassination with details that would make Baemyeong’s rulers become first suspects. However, the Lady had been smarter by reacting fast to prove her innocence, and the King knew he could trust her and her kingdom : he now had a recognised proof to do so, and it felt relieving. But this relief was short-lived, as everything remained a mystery.

With a last glance at the corpse, Minho commanded to bring an unused bath tub and to fill it with salt. He had studied the different ways to preserve a dead body, certainly the most strange thing to learn as a future king, but it was eventually useful so he didn’t complain. He was more surprised that no one has thought about it before, and let the spy decompose in a closed room. Yet they might still need to inspect the dead man again, it was pure eventuality.

“Hyung, where did he shoot from ?” The King asked as he headed outside the dungeons with his friend.

“I saw him from the outer wall, he was literally crouching on top of it.” The soldier replied, walking by his side. “I still don’t know how we missed him, we were certainly too focused on the crowd in the yard.”

“Don’t blame yourself, what’s done is done. And you ran after him, right ?”

“Yes, and it was like… how to say it, he was running in the town as if he knew every single street by heart. I don’t want to get carried away but perhaps it’s someone from Jinju, and that could explain the absence of mark. Why would your own spies plot against you ?”

“Why wouldn’t they ? This said, it can also be a spy who lived there under cover for a moment before executing his plan. But no one told me about a newcomer when I visited my people… they would have told me.”

“For sure, you would have known it if someone had installed themselves in your town.”

“We can’t know more for now, I will think harder about how we can confound the culprit… For now, let’s live like we always do, alright ?”

“I can do that. I will go back to practice and I guess I should test our soldiers with their archery skills as well… how many hunters do you plan to need ?”

“A dozen, not more. And what about Taemin ?”

“He’s progressing a lot, his reflexes are quite good and he’s strong-willed. When I can’t train him because I’m busy, I ask him to practice his sequences and some soldiers report to me about it. He’s good. He will be a very skilled soldier, Minho.”

The King smiled and nodded before he kindly pressed his friend’s shoulder and let him go back to his duties. Even though he wasn’t that close to his husband’s companion, he had seen determination in his eyes since the very first day, and it was something he liked. His candidness was so paradoxal with his wish to become a soldier that it was quite amusing, but he had also progressed about it, considerably. What made Minho even happier about this young boy was the way Jinki had taken him under his wing.

The General could have treated him like every other soldier he had to train, and actually that was what he had done at the beginning to avoid any form of favouritism. However, Lee Taemin had something no one else had, and his mentor had noticed it. All of his recruits are skilled, of course, after all they were trained by the most qualified soldier in all the kingdom, if not in all realms combined. But that young boy… he was something else, there was something in his movements and displacements that was very unique.

Minho was curious about him, and he thought he might propose him to duel someday. Or at least, to take part in one of his trainings. He was so lost in his thoughts that he noticed he had reached the east wing of his palace without even realising how fast he had walked. He was about to open his door when he remembered that the Prince must have gone back to his own quarters by now… The King decided he had nothing to do in his bedroom and headed to his husband’s, gently knocking and opening the door when he heard the other man ask who it was.

As he entered the room, Minho smiled when his eyes met Kibum’s, the latter relishing his bath and eating black grape at the same time. After he carefully closed the door, the youngest approached the bath tub and grabbed a stool to bring it behind the naked silhouette. Without wasting time, he removed his coat and sat on the furniture, rolling his shirt’s sleeves up to prevent them from getting wet.

“What are you doing, my King ?” The Prince asked even though he didn’t make a single move to stop his husband.

“Returning a favour, my Prince.” The other man replied as he put his manly hands on the thin shoulders. “May I ?”

“Sure…”

Kibum smiled and used his free hand to catch his long hair and clear his back, before he slightly leaned on to give more access to the King’s desire. He closed his eyes when he felt the latter plunge his hands in the still warm water, only to pour some on his naked skin. Soon, he felt his shoulders being gently squeezed and he couldn’t help but laugh a bit, for it tickled at first. Minho smiled at the beautiful sound and his wish to do better invaded him, just like every time.

With care, he remembered the way he had been told and showed about how to use his thumbs for a good massage, and put theory into practice. Slowly, he pushed against his husband’s muscles and drew circles on them without loosening the pressure. He once again had no idea about the quality of what he was doing, but he perfectly knew what would give him a hint… and it didn’t last long. Kibum started purring and bent his knees to lean on more and rest his head on them.

The King looked at his profile and felt his heart miss a beat because of the beauty he had under his eyes. The Prince’s features always succeeded in surprising him, as if he grew more beautiful day by day when he actually remained the same man. Was it how it felt to fall in love ? If so, Minho found himself praying he would never stop falling.

“Where did you find such magic hands…?” The Prince eventually asked, his voice low and a smile on his pretty lips.

“I think I learned from the best.” Minho answered, slightly laughing as he kept his magic hands busy on his husband’s back. “Am I doing well ?”

“Of course you are. But I can sense I’m far from being the tensed one in this room.”

Opening his eyes, Kibum stared at the King and slowly straightened up, grabbing a bunch of grapes and holding it above his face to carefully pull one hanging small fruit with his lips. He then moved in his bath to kneel, facing the other man and approaching him enough to touch his mouth with the grape. In no time, Minho had opened his own lips and caught the little juicy sphere, stealing his husband a kiss at the same time. With a smile, the Prince withdrew and sat on his heels, water surrounding him until his chest.

“Tell me what’s troubling you, my King.” He said, eating a grape by himself. “You were going to meet the General, did it not come as intended ?”

“I’m afraid not.” The other man sighed. “We went to the dungeons, to listen to the physician’s report about the spy who tried to kill me. I should have done it way sooner.”

“Well, it’s better late than never, at least now it’s done. And if I guess right, this man is a complete stranger.”

“He is, not a single mark on his body nor any hint on his clothes and weapons. I will have to find another way to know who commanded this attack but I have no clue. According to Jinki, he must have studied the town because he knew how to leave him behind. But my people would have told me if there had been someone new in town lately…”

“Well, maybe it’s not a detail they think about when they see you once in a while, they rather ask you about things. Maybe you should investigate for real next time you visit them ?”

“Do you think so ? It could a good idea… but Jinki is quite busy these days, he won’t be able to follow.”

“My King, can you remind me where you were when I came back from Maguk ? Hm ? Last I noticed, the General was with me at that moment and it didn’t prevent you to dive into danger.”

Saying this, Kibum pretended to raise his hand and hit Minho, who laughed and made a move to defend himself. That was true, he hadn’t bothered waiting for his friend and protector’s return to sneak out… he could do it a second time.

“It might sound foolish but… you’re safer among your people than here, if this spy wasn’t working alone.” The Prince commented as he turned over to grab his towel and stood up, draping himself without any prudishness in front of his husband. “Because no one recognises you over there, I still can’t believe it but you really go unnoticed once you’re wearing common clothes and have your face dirty.”

“You’re right, even a spy wouldn’t expect to see me outside the palace, dressed like a man from the people.” The King answered, standing up as well to offer his hand to the other man and help him leaving the tub. “I will follow your advice, as I often do. I should do it quickly, today would be good.”

“May I come with you ? I… I have to meet Jonghyun to tell him something really important and I think… I think it would be useful for you to hear it as well.”

“It sounds serious, is it ?”

“I would say quite serious. I will just dry myself a bit and see you at the stables ? Can you have clothes prepared for me ?”

“I can, take your time.”

With these words, Minho returned the smile his husband was offering him and he leaned on just a bit to kiss him. It was becoming a pleasant thing to do here and then, when no one was looking, just a short kiss that said enough. And at that moment, he relished the taste of grape on Kibum’s lips, while his still had the remaining taste of the pears he had eaten earlier that morning. It was a sweet combination of flavours they struggled to leave behind as they separated, to better reunite later.

Jonghyun was walking between the classroom’s table, glancing at each student’s paper but refraining from leaning too much on… so the kid he was holding on his hip wouldn’t fall nor feel sick. It had been a first time in his young teacher life, a five years old girl coming to school accompanied by her two years old brother because her mother was too sick at home to take care about him. What was even more surprising was that it wasn’t the mother who had sent her youngest child to him, but her eldest who had quite imposed it.

Both to her mom and her teacher. At first, the blonde man had stood gaping, not sure if he could take care of such a young child while teaching. But the puppy eyes he had received from the lovely Naeun had had too much power on his poor soul. What he hadn’t expected however had been for this young boy to be extremely clingy and to feel so comfortable with a stranger like him. Women, men, now very young children ? Sometimes he hated to be charming.

“Taeho, you are not supposed to copy what Sua writes.” He suddenly scolded, yet still as gentle as usual. “Come on, you can do it on your own because you are…?”

“I am smart ?” The boy answered, tilting his head to the side.

“Exactly. So if I see you head turned towards Sua again, I will hit it with the baby. Understood ?”

“Yes !”

The scolded student couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of being hit with a baby, but he obeyed and worked on his own, what warmed Jonghyun’s heart. All children were doing great progress and could almost read without any difficulty compared to their first lessons together. Despite their young age, they were eager to learn and so hard working that the teacher often had to tell them to slow down and allow themselves to rest, taking them outside.

He was thinking more and more about trying to dispense some lessons on the meadow, because he had noticed day by day how some kids were being distracted by the beautiful weather. And if he had the pleasure to welcome Naeun’s little brother again, maybe the baby would play by himself and not trap him all day long by asking for his arms. That was an idea to think about.

But at the moment, time was running and it was already the end of that day’s class. Jonghyun congratulated all students for their hard work and allowed them to pack their things, warmly watching them do so while chatting with each other. He then opened the classroom’s door and gave them his usual instructions to make sure they would return safely, even asking the eldest children to take the youngest home. And curiously, they really love having this kind of responsibilities and the teacher was always smiling as he watched them taking the little ones by their hand and leading them.

When almost every child had left the school, he noticed the two men standing near the meadow and recognised them easily. He smiled at them and made a hand gesture to allow them to approach, as he put the baby down to let him leave with his sister. However, what he hadn’t planned was for the boy to start whining and grab his pants tightly, refusing to let go and raising his little arms to ask to be carried again. Jonghyun felt his cheeks heating since he was quite observed by the King and the Prince at that moment, but also by Naeun who wasn’t smiling anymore as she knew about her brother’s tantrums.

“Hey, little boy.” The teacher ended up crouching. “School is over for today, and you’re already quite early here. You have to go back to mommy now, alright ? And you can come back tomorrow with your sister. What about i— alright, alright, I’m holding you, don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Minho and Kibum couldn’t help but laugh a bit as the baby started whining even louder at the teacher’s words, and the latter stood up by taking him in his arms… what made the boy stop immediately. But the young girl standing next to all those tall men was growing worried.

“Teacher, what do I do ?” She asked with her little voice, shyer than usual.

“I will take you home, alright ?” Jonghyun gently said. “Can you just wait a bit ? I think these gentlemen want to tell me something.”

“Can I do my homework in the classroom then ?”

“Of course ! That’s a brilliant idea. And I will check them before we leave, does it sound good ?”

“Yes !”

With these words, Naeun joyfully entered the classroom again and ran to her appointed desk, taking all her things out of her hessian bag. After he checked on her to make sure she was starting to work — which he didn’t doubt a single second — Jonghyun eventually turned towards the two men who were eyeing him, then the baby, then him again.

“Well, this is part of the job I guess ?” He said, laughing as he made the boy jump a bit on his hip. “I’m the father of a bunch of kids from all ages now.”

“If you ever need vacation, you can just come whining like him at my office.” The King joked.

“I will remember this ! It is a pleasure to have you here again. I am just afraid I won’t be able to talk with you for long, Naeun is pretty fast when it comes to homework and I wouldn’t want her mother to grow worried because her children are not coming home.”

“It’s fine, we’ll be fast too.” Kibum answered. “I just have something to tell you and it’s really important so… can we sit for a moment ?”

“Sure, should we go inside or is it too private for a little girl’s ears ?”

“Way too private, I’m sorry.”

The teacher frowned, for he hadn’t had the opportunity to see his friend so serious often, or at least not when it was about something concerning him. Nodding, he proposed them to move the bench in front of the door so they could sit on it and he could still keep en eye of his student. The husbands agreed and once they were seating, it became quite difficult for the Prince to say what he had to say. It was like his first worry about this issue were coming back strongly, as if an evil little voice was whispering him that if he talked, Jonghyun would leave.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, and to remember both Jinki and Taemin’s words when he had let them know about the blonde man’s secret lineage. He had to say it, it would be unfair to still hide it and… now that he was here with the concerned one waiting for him, he couldn’t renounce. What he hadn’t expected was for Minho’s hand to suddenly cover his, as the latter whispered that he was trembling, and asked if he was alright. Kibum didn’t know how he didn’t jerk the hand away because they weren’t supposed to show their closeness to anyone…

But it reassured him.

And so, he replied that he was fine and talked. He told everything he had learnt in Maguk, from Queen Hyoyeon’s own mouth. He gave details about the curse, the way to pass it on from mother to child, and the scar that every survivor got. He tried his best to ignore Jonghyun’s face growing paler by seconds passing, and the shocked expression in Minho’s eyes, as he explained what it meant for his friend. He didn't omit anything, he told all the possibilities he had, all potential choices that were only his.

When he was done, it felt like he had taken a weigh off his shoulders but somehow, the lump in his throat was still there. He was fearing the reaction, and even the King’s hand holding his wasn’t enough to calm his racing heart now. Seconds felt like hours, as both royals let Jonghyun digest the news, until the baby on his hip felt the tensed atmosphere and started whining. The teacher cleared his throat and made him jump a bit to calm him, snapping out of it.

“You’re telling me…” He started. “I’m a relative of Maguk’s royal family ?”

“A distant relative, yes, because your common ancestor lived two centuries ago.” The Prince nodded, his voice low and his tone gentle. “You already knew about your disease and how you survived, right ? But I don’t think you knew about the actual disease…”

“My mother has brown hair, she doesn’t have that scar you talked about.”

“My apologies but…” Minho spoke in. “Would you mind telling me if your mother slept with a headscarf ?”

“She… She did, but it was because she took really good care of her hair and… wait a minute. Could it be…?”

“I think she was dying it during the night, Jonghyun, with a special powder from Maguk.” Kibum confirmed. “It’s impossible for her to be brown haired if she passed this disease on you. Or if she really is, she might not be…”

“She might not be my mom… But no, she is. We’re too physically alike to not be mother and son, or from the same family at least.”

“This is… quite an important issue.” The King commented after a moment of silence from the three men. “I guess you need time to digest it, and to think about what you will do with these informations. Of course, the palace’s doors are open as soon as you want to let us know of your decision. Whatever you choose, you will have my support.”

“And mine, too.” The other man nodded despite the pinch in his chest when he said it.

Jonghyun bowed his head as a way to thank them, and he cleared his throat. At that same moment, a tiny voice called for him and he excused himself as he walked to Naeun, verifying her work. When he came back, she was holding his free hand with her little bad hanging on her shoulder, ready to go home.

“I will think carefully about everything.” The teacher said to the royals, who stood up. “And I will let you know about what I decide but… it is quite troubling at the moment.”

“We understand.” Minho said despite his own shock. “Please take as much time as you need. Now take these little sweethearts home.”

Saying this, the King winked at the little girl who smiled and hid behind her teacher, making Kibum roll his eyes. What had he done to hang out with only charming men ? He must be doomed. This little scene made Jonghyun smile and he bid goodbye to his two visitors, wishing them to return safely as well before he left with the two children. As they watched them from behind, Kibum had a smile on his face since he found adorable the way it looks like a family, while Minho grew a bit pale at this same thought.

“Well, now we should question your people about the spy.” The Prince eventually said, turning towards his husband. “We have two good hours before dinner will be served at the palace.”

“Yes… but I would like you to go back home.” The other man replied. “It would look a bit suspicious if I start asking questions about a newcomer, with someone by my side. Moreover, I think it would be for the best if there is one of us at the palace, in case we are demanded.”

“Are you sure ? You know I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone in the streets…”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine as always. But if you want to protect me, please go home and ask Jinki to join me.”

“Alright but… do you have a weapon ? Also, I don’t want return alone.”

“Then let me escort you. And I have my dagger but I hope it won’t be useful.”

Kibum nodded but the way he was offered a smile reassured him enough to smile in his turn. Both men hit the road again through the town, discussing the places were a man under cover would most likely stay to remain discreet. The Prince advised his husband to question storekeepers, for they were certainly the best placed to observe people, along with elderly persons.

As they reached the outer wall and lounged it until the hidden ladder, Minho promised the other man he would do as fast as possible and that he was heading to the inn first, so Jinki should be sent around here. Kibum asked him to be careful until the soldier would be near him, and to use his dagger if needed.

“Stab the thigh to destabilise, hit the balls to immobilise.” He said, making the King laugh. “It’s serious, it works !”

“You will have to tell me when you had to use that method.” The other answered before he put a black strand behind his husband’s ear. “Now go, and take care of the palace for me.”

“Please, you’ll be back in two hours.”

“Who knows what can happen in two hours ! I’ve been shot in one second.”

“Get out of my sight.”

The Prince pursed his lips together and pushed Minho away, the latter never stopping to laugh as he endured his so compassionate husband’s hits against his back. When it stopped, however, he caught Kibum’s wrists and pushed his annoyance to its paroxysm by stealing him a kiss… before he ran away like a beggar. The raven haired man refrained from yelling and grabbed a branch on the floor to throw it at the running man. Yet, once he was alone, he smiled.

For sure he had fallen for that moron.

“Your Grace, the Queen Mother requires your presence in her private room immediately.”

Kibum looked up from the book he was reading in the Royal Library, to look at his mother-in-law’s notorious first female companion, Joohyun. She was a cold beauty, as he liked to call her, because as beautiful as she was, it was so difficult to make her smile. However, he knew that attitude very well for he had been like her in the past, thus he was aware that she was way much warmer than she looked.

“Of course, my dear.” He answered, closing his book and putting it on the coffee table as he stood up. “Please lead the way.”

Bowing her head, the young woman left the Library and walked through the corridors, never making sure that she was being followed. She knew she was. The Prince thought for a second that if she had royal blood, she would make a powerful princess filled with a seductive self confidence. He had had the opportunity to see her in operation with the other female companions and maids, and she was a born leader as well.

He preferred not to mess with her, and it was much funnier to mess with the General anyway. He followed her without saying a word, until they reached a really quiet space, filled with a relaxed atmosphere. That didn’t look too good. Joohyun softly knocked at a door and opened it before she moved to the side, letting Kibum enter.

The Prince was welcomed in a really beautiful room, small but bright, for it overlooked the gardens and the open windows were letting the cool breeze blow on the thin white curtains. It was indeed a private room with only a couch and an armchair, separated by a coffee table on which was resting a tea set ; against the walls, there was an unique bookcase and a few ancient scrolls hanging in a very symmetrical way. And there, sitting in the armchair with a fuming cup of tea in her hands, was the Queen Mother.

Gorgeous as always, as if age didn’t alternate her perfect skin and complexion, nor the brightness of her long hair tied in an usual complex style. That day, she was wearing a rather simple attire, composed of a long white dress with elegant shoulders’ straps, that draped her body beautifully. To cover a bit her naked arms, she chose a see-through shawl, which golden color showed her royalty. She had the presence of a goddess, and Kibum would never not be amazed by her.

“Good afternoon, your Majesty.” He said as he bowed his head, his mother-in-law returning the gesture.

“Good afternoon, your Grace.” She replied before gesturing her hand towards the couch. “Please have seat. Would you like some tea ?”

“With pleasure.”

Jihwan smiled and poured the hot liquid herself in an empty cup, offering it with both hands to the Prince, who accepted it just as politely. They both sipped once before holding their cup on their thighs, staring at each other.

“It has been a long time since we last shared a moment together.” The woman said, her voice soft and welcoming. “I had the pleasant surprise to find a coffer in my quarters this morning, with splendid clothes. Naturally, I figured out it was a gift from his Grace.”

“Indeed, I thought it would please you to have something brand new to add to your wardrobe.” Kibum smiled. “I hope the colours are fine ? I confess I chose everything myself, I refuse Queen Hyoyeon’s help.”

“Oh, did you ? This shade of blue is actually my favourite, so I am really pleased. Thank you very much for all of this.”

“The pleasure was all mine, your Majesty. I look forwards to see you wear one of these pieces.”

The Queen smiled as she sipped a bit more of her tea. She was feeling uneasy, deep inside, but she was doing her best to hide it. It had taken her a few days to realise that, if she couldn’t reason her own son, perhaps she would be luckier with her son-in-law. With time, she had noticed how stubborn he could be as well, however, it wasn’t the same stubbornness than Minho… dialogue seemed more approachable.

But what she wanted to talk about was already hard with her son, and it was hurting her to have to bring it up with someone so concerned. And since their reconciliation after her birthday’s reception, she felt like she was betraying him. She was afraid that this kind man would think she had pretended to appreciate him, for she knew about his tendencies to lose all confidence in himself. She had said it harshly to the King a few days before, mentioning the Prince’s trust issues, and she regretted it.

If she had one flaw, it was this one. She tended to let extremely hard words out when she felt she was loosing control, words that she didn’t always think. As for these ones, she felt extremely guilty to have supposed that her son-in-law trust issues weren’t worth their attention. But how could she approach such a topic without putting his self confidence at risk ? Even more now that he seemed as fond of her as she was of him ?

“Tell me, your Grace.” She eventually spoke. “How do you feel within us now that it has been a few months since you installed yourself in the palace ?”

“Oh, I feel really… satisfied.” Kibum replied with a smile. “It was difficult during the first weeks, to be honest with her Majesty, but everyone remained so warm and welcoming towards me despite my attitudes… it felt pleasant.”

“No one could blame you back then, after all, you left a home to live in a whole new world. The circumstances were certainly not the most suitable to you either, am I right ?”

“You are. I was feeling awkward, but now I am really appeased. The King showed himself patient with me and I am thankful, because Jinju feels like home now.”

“Oh, does it ?”

“Yes, your Majesty. If I may be completely honest… I never really felt at home in Mongje. I was always trying to find my place, but never succeeded. It is a cold place, and the only warmth was my sister.”

“I see… You do not have to talk about this if it makes you uneasy.”

“Thank you.”

Jihwan looked at the Prince, and she was about to speak again when she realised she wasn’t doing things the right way. Neither her son nor her son-in-law deserved to be manipulated like this, she had suffer a painful failure when she had last talked with the King, and she must learn from this mistake. She wasn’t the monster of ice she had once been labelled as.

“Your Grace, I must confess something as well.” She said, sighing and putting her cup on the coffee table before clearing her throat. “I did not make you come only to have tea together.”

“You are intriguing me, your Majesty.” Kibum answered, frowning as he imitated her. “What is it ?”

“Has my son, perhaps, told you about a conversation we both had recently ? A stormy conversation.”

“No, he has not. I noticed your absence these past few days but I have been told that you were not feeling well so I did not insist.”

“I see… Well, then it is my duty to tell you about it. And I apologise in advance because it will not be pleasant to hear.”

“I am all ears, your Majesty.”

The Queen’s eyes had lost all their confidence and power, what made the Prince worry even more about what he was about to learn. Minho and him had been so honest with each other for the past few weeks, he couldn’t look on the upcoming confession with a favourable eye if his husband had hidden it from him. It seemed so serious, to the extent his mother-in-law looked extremely weakened.

And when she started speaking, he could feel colours leave his face bit by bit. Not once did she sound harsh or agressive. Her voice remained soft, low and her tone motherly. However, the words she was saying harmed like hell.

Kibum listened carefully until the end, and he was beyond surprised to see Jihwan’s eyes water. She wasn't the kind to show weak emotions, and the only time she had seen her cry had been when they had thought Minho would die in their arms. And at that moment, her face showed the same pain, for she was worrying herself sick about her son and the kingdom’s well-being. She was trapped between the two, unable to choose one, and the Prince felt how it was tearing her apart although she tried her best to not show it.

She was a strong woman, and from all his twenty years of age, he understood she didn’t mean to harm him with her words. She was more wishing to have him understanding her point or at least acknowledging it, for she had failed with her own son. The lump in his throat was preventing Kibum from talking, because he was becoming conscious about his biggest fear regarding his marriage, becoming real by days passing. Even though his husband had promised him to never repudiate him, it seemed unavoidable.

“I know it is really difficult to hear.” Jihwan said when she couldn’t wait for an answer any longer. “But I have to think about Jinju, and I wish my son could see my point. He is doing wonderfully well as a sovereign and I am beyond proud of him. But… we cannot leave our kingdom with an heir on an heiress.”

“I understand.” The Prince eventually said, what surprised the Queen to the point she widened her eyes, and a tear escaped. “Your Majesty, I have thought about this from the day I arrived. It was… it was a fear of mine, because of the feeling to be used and thrown away. I hope you acknowledge my feelings on this matter.”

“I do, I really do. And when my son accused me of pretending to appreciate you, I answer that I do not. I tried. I tried to despise you because it would have been easier to send you back, I confess it. But how could I ? I saw your true nature and I cannot hate you, for you are an incredible human being, and I would have loved to call you my son, and see you reign by the King’s side.”

“But it is not possible.”

“It is, but it would mean to face disgrace, for my son would have to create an illegitimate heir. I proposed it to him, this is how desperate I am. It has been done in the past and it was forgiven, forgotten. But he rejected the simple thought of it.”

“Your Majesty, would you really accept an illegitimate grandchild ? And what would the mother become ? It would only be hurtful for everyone.”

“I am conscious of this, your Grace, even though it would be the only way to maintain my son and your marriage.”

“Why do you seem so saddened by the idea of annul our marriage…?”

“Because… Because my son likes you, dear. He confessed to me and… I certainly had the wrong reaction because I was not in my right mind and to be honest, it still… it still bothers me but he is my son. I saw him cancel a man’s execution because he refused to go against someone’s love, and I would not be a good mother if I did not do the same.”

Kibum listened quietly but soon, the only thing he could hear was the sound of his heart beating faster. Although the situation was beyond negative for him, although he understood why he had to step out… knowing that his King had confessed his love for him to his mother, and not to him first… it made him happy. And thus, it hurt even more to have no choice but agree with the Queen.

“Do you like him in return, your Grace ?” The woman eventually asked, and none of them knew for sure is she wanted a positive or a negative answer. “Please, I need your honesty.”

“I… Your Majesty, I…” The Prince stuttered before he lowered his head to give it a second thought, and he looked up. “I do.”

“Then try to reason him, I implore you. If you love him and if he loves you, please talk about this with him… perhaps he will listen to you when he does not listen to his mother anymore.”

Kibum pursed his lips together, as the plea was so hard to hear. He didn’t want to leave Minho, not now that he was the only man he had in mind, from the moment he opened his eyes on the morning to the moment he closed them when night had fallen. Not when they had grown so conniving, teasing each other and laughing together after weeks of coldness from himself. This coldness that had slowly be warmed by the King’s kindness… he didn’t want to feel cold anymore.

But did he have a choice ?

“I-I will…” He said, lowering his head.

Days had passed, and the Prince had never found the bravery to confront his husband. He had suffered the imploring stare of his mother-in-law every single day for a whole week, and he was growing anxious. He knew this conversation with Minho was needed, but he felt so happy with him, every single second spent in his company was making feel more alive than he had never felt. When he was having his non-reciprocal relationship with Jonghyun, he had always suffered from the lack of real happiness.

And he was realising it only know, for he was finally feeling it. It was new, it felt so good, so warm, and the simple thought of letting it go was hurting him just as much as a sharp blade stabbing his heart. He had always thought he had deeply loved his teacher, but he had been wrong all this time. It had been about obsession, driven by lust and trust issues. He didn’t blame him for what had happened, he rather blamed himself for forcing him into such a thing, being aware of how irritating he must have been.

But Minho… it was different. Everything felt stronger, the stares they exchanged, the words they told each other, the touches here and there… everything. He longed for his husband’s simple presence after a few hours without him, he missed his kindness and his smile, but also his annoying habit to provoke him only to be nagged and the way he would sulk like a child to the slightest disagreement. He missed everything of him, and Jinki had warned him about it. With his King, it was love he was feeling. He was so in love that it was so painful to have to look at him in the eyes and tell him they would have to separate sooner or later, and that it must be done early to hurt less.

He had wanted to seek advices from Jonghyun, even Taemin or Jinki. But he hadn’t been able to, not when he had seen them so radiant. His blonde friend was living the best life he could never have imagined, doing what he liked the most and having a lover that wasn’t clingy to him. His best friend, this young boy who was becoming a strong man… he was realising his dream and who couldn’t feel proud of him when he was praised by all his seniors ? And the General, who had slowly but surely opened to him, shown the so warm and attentive man he hid inside.

No, he refused to ruin their newly found happiness because he couldn’t have his own. He was done being selfish. And this was how he found himself knocking at the dining room where he knew the King was, alone with a few things to arrange before a reception with a few couples of nobles. He didn’t wait to be allowed to enter, for the simple wait could make him renounce.

As he entered, he was welcomed by this so warm smile that had so much power on him. He felt his legs fail him but held steady, walking to Minho who immediately pulled him with an arm on his waist.

“Missing me, my Prince ?” He asked, stealing his husband a kiss.

“Deeply, as always, my King.” Kibum sincerely replied despite the horrible feeling of his heart sinking. “I long for you as soon as you leave my side.”

“I will join you soon, I’m almost done here. It’s late already, but you are still dressed ?”

“Yes, because I didn’t want to meet you wearing night clothes, not when what I have to tell you is important.”

“You seem afraid… is everything alright ? Did someone hurt you ? Just tell me a name and I will get rid of that rascal immediately.”

“No, Minho. I’m not hurt yet.”

The King raised his eyebrows when he heard his name being called, realising how serious the situation must be. With his hand, he gestured the Prince to take a seat, and sat himself next to him.

“Pray tell, you’re worrying me.” Minho requested, trying his best not to put too much pressure on his already tensed husband. “I’m listening, you can tell me everything.”

“You have to promise me you won’t be angry, because it would… it would be horrible, so please, don’t get angry.” The other man said, only worrying the youngest more.

“I can’t promise that, Kibum. Just spit it out, you’re really starting to scare me right now.”

“It’s… it’s about us, about what we officially are.”

“You mean… husbands ?”

“Y-Yes. I have to be honest with you, I have a conversation with your mother a few days ago and… and she told she had the same with you while I was away.”

Hearing these words, the King’s jaw tensed and he closed his hands into fists. His eyes immediately darkened and Kibum swallowed with difficulty. He had to keep talking.

“Is it true ? Did you refuse any kind of talk about your future ?” He asked. “Then we have to talk about it, you and I, before it hurts us even more.”

“My future is settled.” Minho firmly said. “It is not only mine but ours, me as the King and you as the Prince. There is nothing more to discuss.”

“Minho, wait !”

As the youngest of the two men was starting to stand up, his wrist was grabbed by his husband and he jerked it. He kept showing his back to the Prince, for he knew he would snap at him he looked at him while hearing such words again, from his mouth. But Kibum had no intention to let him escape the room, although he sat still.

“You are a wonderful King.” The raven haired man said, his voice soft and sincere. “Everyone in the palace appreciates working under your command, only some old bags still resist but what do you want ? It takes all sorts to make a world. Your people ? They love you, they know you’re a good sovereign and they never complained until now. You saw them yourself, they’re living happily and even the poorest don’t blame you, they keep smiling and helping each other.”

“What’s the point of this ?” Minho said, his teeth gritting and not turning over. “I don’t see where you’re going.”

“I mean you are doing well, Minho. You are doing beyond well fo your kingdom, and the only thing you’re doing wrong is not thinking about your future.”

“Don’t say anything more, I warn you.”

“I can’t. Your mother is right, it’s not about you and me but about Jinju, who needs to prosper. Please, you have to listen to me and we will find a solution together, I don’t want to leave you eith—”

“Then stop talking !”

Kibum jumped with surprised on his seat when his husband abruptly turned over, his features torn with anger and his fists falling noisily on the table. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and for the first time ever, the Prince felt the need to stand far away from the King.

“If you want to stay by my side, why are you annoying me with such nonsense ?” Minho said, his voice growing louder word after word. “Is it a joke to you ? What we are living, do you think it’s a game ?”

“When did I even say that ?” The other man frowned. “Alright, I see what your mother meant. Do not twist words, Minho, you are hurting yourself on your own responsibility.”

“Then explain yourself ! Why do you side with her when she wants to separate us ?!”

“Because you have to secure your kingdom ! Please, we are adults now, we can’t only think about ourselves.”

“Can’t we ? Funny, coming from someone who cheated on me almost on the day of our wedding !”

“You… you didn’t say that…”

Kibum slowly stood up, but even the tears in his eyes couldn’t stop Minho’s anger. He was facing a wall, a kind that was way too hard to break without breaking ourselves against it.

“Take it back…” He said, his voice trembling as he stared at the King. “You can’t go against me with that, not after everything we shared…”

“You’re about to ruin everything we shared.” Minho sharply said, not even looking at him anymore and boiling on the spot. “I can’t believe she came to you and took advantage of you to turn you against me…”

“She didn’t, Minho, by the Gods just listen to me !” Kibum walked to him and took his hands in his, only to be rejected. “I know it hurts ! I know how hard it sounds to have to be separated, I know !”

“You don’t seem to know, since you’re maintaining we should separate !”

“Sometimes the most necessary things hurt but they’re not less necessary, we both know it !”

“And what do you want from me ?! To send you back to your shitty home when no one appreciates you for what you’re worth ?! To marry some woman and despise her because the only person I want is and will always be you ?! How dare you ask me such a thing !”

“Because you are a King ! You have to think about your kingdom before me, before yourself !”

“I don’t want to hear anything else.”

“Stop being such a spoiled child and open your eyes !”

“You just opened them ! I thought you might, I don’t know, love me ? Turns out I was so wrong about you !”

This was the final straw for Kibum, who shut his mouth and let hot tears roll down his cheeks. It had never hurt like it was hurting at the moment. Suddenly he didn’t have anymore strength to fight back.

“I leaved everything behind for you.” He just said, his voice low and trembling, broken with sobs. “Oh, at first it wasn’t intentional, I was forced to. But I ended up falling for you, for everything about you. And you…”

“Kibum…” The King said, frowning as he started realising he might have gone too far, but his husband made a step backwards.

“If you can’t understand that I’m doing all of this because I love you… then we are already lost, Minho. I never wanted to leave you. Never. But now… maybe I want.”

“Listen, Kibum—”

“No… just… keep quiet and… stay away from me…”

Without waiting for an answer, the Prince rejected the hand that tried to catch his, and ran away from the room, not holding his sobs back. The door knocked open and he disappeared until his running steps couldn’t be heard anymore.

The King remained alone, and he held himself on a chair’s backrest. He was still dumbfounded about what had just happened, and he felt a wide open hole in his chest. He was lost in his thoughts, his eyes watering as well, when he heard steps entering and he looked up, hoping to see his husband… but it was not him. Jinki was looking at him from afar, not approaching him at all.

His stare was strongly disapproving.

“How much did you hear ?” He asked, not confident at all.

“Enough.” The soldier replied. “And this time… you really fucked up.”

Minho couldn’t have time to answer that his friend had already left, running after the Prince. And it was at that moment the majestic King of the First Kingdom realised he was, this time, completely alone.

#minkey #minho #key #kibum #shinee #fanfic #historical #kingdom of jinju #jongyu #jonghyun #onew #jinki #taemin

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thesassycloset-blog · 6 years

Text

Hallelujah

Pairing: BFF JongKey, JongTae, side MinKey, OT5-ish Genre: humor, fluff Rating: PG Word count: 1,544

“Aha, sure.” Kibum nods, then shifts his attention back to his book as he continues “And you hiding from the world that you’re bi but coming out to us 5 years ago—”

“I get it.” Jonghyun grumbles, slumps down on his seat as a victorious smile spreads over Kibum’s face.

“Is that a new song?”

Jonghyun looks sideways.

Kibum has this knowing tint on his eyes and an amused smirk pulling at his lips as he leans over their shared armrest that just makes Jonghyun frown, self-consciously closing the notebook and lowering it to his lap.

“What if it is?” he snaps, chin high in defiance.

Kibum rolls his eyes, laughter gone “Chill, hyung, I’m not judging.”

Jonghyun squints at him.

He would argue. The have known each other for so long — lived together, ate together, had daily sleep overs even when not demanded by their job. They knew each other better than the others did and will ever do, to the point where he just sees there’s something dangling off Kibum’s tongue— how dare he lie straight to his face.

Jonghyun would argue, but that means drawing it out and he’s pretty sure he probably doesn’t want to know.

So, he just ignores the comment and goes back to writing the lyrics — cover pulled just enough to shield it from prying cat-eyes.

“Is it a love song again?” Kibum gets a hum in reply. A short pause “Taeminnie again?”

There it is.

Of course, Kibum can’t keep his comments to himself.

Jonghyun heaves an irked sigh, closes the thing for good and when he turns to his friend to give him a piece of his mind, wide eyes and lips sucked in a tight line, Kibum’s already hiding his laughter within the pages of his own book.

“Yah.” Jonghyun calls out, tone firm but hushed. The rapper pokes out his head, mouth pursed tightly with the effort to hold back a smirk — albeit unsuccessfully “You say it as if Taemin is the only thing I think about.”

“It is.”

He scowls “It is not.”

“Hyung, every song you ever write showcases how gay you’re for him.” Kibum rolls his eyes again, fondly “Your crush is too obvious. I’m amazed it’s been this long and he hasn’t picked it up.”

“I’m not crushing on him. And I don’t only write about him. Couldn’t I be writing about a woman I’m in love with right now? My girlfriend, for example?”

“Do you have a girlfriend that we’re not aware of?”

“...I could have a secret girlfriend.”

“Yeah, right.” Kibum snorts “A secret girlfriend. From us.”

“What does that mean?”

Kibum looks at him with a mixture of contempt and pity “Hyung, you refuse to sit by the windows. Do you think we don’t notice your fear of heights?”

Jonghyun falters, but the scowl only deepens “Maybe that’s a secret I’m not uncomfortable with you knowing.”

“Aha, sure.” Kibum nods, then shifts his attention back to his book as he continues “And you hiding from the world that you’re bi but coming out to us 5 years ago—”

“I get it.” Jonghyun grumbles, slumps down on his seat as a victorious smile spreads over Kibum’s face “That still doesn’t prove I have a crush on Taemin.”

“Of course it doesn’t.”

Just then, Jinki shuffles down the aisle on the singer’s side and Jonghyun watches in apprehension as Kibum shoots out his hand to draw his attention.

“Hyung.”

“Yes?”

“Is Jonghyun crushing on Taemin?”

Said man jerks his head at him, flabbergasted—

Jinki merely glances behind him at the dancer marvelling over the view outside the plane, music blasting through his earphones, and returns impassive to Kibum “Oh, definitely.”

—then jerks back at the oldest man.

“What the fuck?” Jonghyun hisses out, scandalized at their obvious disregard for personal affairs.

“What’s going on?”

Kibum jumps when Minho bends over his seat to get in on their hushed conversation.

“Kibum just asked me if Jonghyun is crushing on Taemin.” Jinki deadpans.

Jonghyun gives up, lets his face fall on his hands.

“Oh, I thought it was something new—”

“Okay.” the man of the hour claps once to cut them short “Thank you all for your opinions, however, you’re all gravely mistaken. I do not have a crush on—”

“What happened?”

Four sets of eyes fall on the head poking from Jinki’s side.

A second goes by. No response.

Kibum notices how Jonghyun kinda shuts down and takes mercy on the poor soul.

“Jonghyun-hyung is writing a new song and we were asking about it.” he shrugs “But it seems like he doesn’t want any input.”

A small pout makes way on Taemin’s face, making him look visibly distraught when he mumbles “Not even from me?” with a voice so pained and so tiny and eyes so big and hurt that, despite all of them knowing how fake everything is, they are sure it’ll still have the intended effect.

Kibum’s point is proven right a moment later, when Jonghyun suddenly deflates, shoulders sagged.

“You know it’s not like that, Tae.” his tone is so sickeningly soft and sweet that Minho and Kibum have to hold back their sniggers.

“Then, can I see?” immediately chirper, Taemin waits for a moment before changing seats and patting the one beside him, beckoning Jonghyun over.

It’s much more hilarious because Jonghyun doesn’t even wait another breath.

Just grabs his things, tucks his head with slight shame at his weak willpower, and flops down on the empty spot.

He’s so obvious.

God.

A wide smile spreads on his face.

He might just be fucking Cupid. Kudos to him.

It’s after everyone has gone their separate ways — Jonghyun safely settled with Taemin and diving right into their own little world; Minho pulling the comforter over his shoulders and going back to his PSP; Jinki continuing on his journey to the bathroom with a shake of his head — that Kibum leans back, makes himself comfortable and closes his eyes for the rest of the flight.

He loves being right.

When Kibum wakes up, the first thing he notices is a familiar duvet covering him from shoulders to toes.

The second thing: incessant chatter on his right side.

And maybe that’s what woke him up, way before his alarm went off, because all the pep grates on his nerves and he turns on his seat, about to tell them off, when he notices the kids have switched places.

Jonghyun is now trapped whether to look out the window and down to the ocean or continue to look straight at Taemin, who’s excitedly going on about something and often pointing things outside that Jonghyun would only peek at. Everytime it happens, the dancer chuckles at his uneasiness and places a comforting hand on his forearm until a stupid half-smile creeps on Jonghyun’s face — then, he jumps back on the topic as if they have never strayed. And everytime that happens, Jonghyun finds himself just a little bit dazed in the energy, the passion, the way Taemin’s eyes crinkle and sparkle or the way his expressions change with the emotions in his stories; he finds himself just a little bit breathless at how Taemin covers his smile when he laughs wide or how he tilts his head when he’s coming down from his high or how he licks his lips when he’s about to go off again on another one of his unusual long rants.

He’s so utterly lost, so far fucking gone in the moment, that he completely misses his surroundings until Taemin stands up and excuses himself to the bathroom.

Jonghyun’s eyes only follow him for three seconds, stares longingly for another five, before he feels a hard gaze boring holes on the side of his face and peeps straight ahead.

He meets an arched brow and mocking look.

His smile falls.

“Okay, so I may have a tiny crush on him.” Jonghyun whispers with a snarl as he lunges for his original seat, the last half of the sentence exaggerated in a higher register that’s meant to mimic the fashionista.

“You have made it this far, yet you keep lying.” Kibum sighs wistfully.

“Okay, a huge crush.” Jonghyun bites back, face burning “And if you tell him, I’ll tell Minho you have a crush on him.”

Kibum sputters.

His eyes go wide, an airy and indignant scoff spills from his open mouth.

“I am not crushing on Minho!” he squeals, completely outraged at the accusation, but Jonghyun shushes him midway and panic helps him end it with a hushed mutter, throwing a few looks around to make sure no one heard.

“How dare you lie to me for the second time today, Kim Kibum.” the singer narrows his eyes menacingly “I know it must be embarrassing with how you hated each other but—”

“I do not like Minho! How can you even—!”

“Jinki-hyung!” Jonghyun taps the shoulder of the man sitting in the row behind them, pulling him out from his music “Is Kibum crushing on Minho?”

“Hyung—!”

Jinki squints at the tall man a few seats away, attention fixed on the penalty shot he’s about to shoot, and returns nonchalant to the pair “Oh, yes. Definitely.”

Kibum gapes at them in horror, back and forth, unbelieving and defeated “I do not—!”

“Oh, good!” Taemin closes the bathroom door and skips down the aisle, wiping his hands dry on his pants. He crouches down beside Jonghyun and looks expectantly at the trio “I’m not the last one this time. What’s up?”

“Well, Jonghyun just asked me if—”

Kibum groans.

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futureshawolhearts · 6 years

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13-17 and 24-26??? 💕💓💞

Sarah!! You always pick the hard ones but im still love you!

Also just a general reminder, my writing sideblog is at @shawol9196

13. hardest character to writeTaemin! I’m love our lil bub but he’s just so difficult for me. Half the time I feel like I make him too childish or too standoffish. That’s probably why he appears so rarely in AUs.14. easiest character to writeKibum’s perspective is easiest, Minho’s easiest to describe. For Teacher AU it’s switched though ;;15. hardest verse to writeIt’s a tie between Vows AU (not posted to tumblr yet) and BFF AU. Vows AU is hard because it’s 2min, which I don’t normally write and there’s a lot more mystery element which I’m not used to. BFF AU is hard because I want it to be Right. A lot of times I just write until it feels good enough and then post, but I started BFF right around December and so I feel a sort of obligation for it (and my characterization of Jonghyun in it) to be the best it can be.16. easiest verse to writeSong Drabble AU is easy because it’s very short tender moments. One shots (esp fem!minkey ones) are also usually pretty easy to write. Poly AU is also usually pretty easy to write, but that’s because half the chapters are just smut anyway.17. favorite AU to writeI don’t really have a fav? It’s usually just whatever one I’m most inspired for at the moment. 24. favorite scene you’ve ever writtenUhhh I don’t have a particular fav so I’ll just list a couple-Disappearance of a Princess (the whole thing is just one scene so)-When Gwi tries to keep Minjung from going back into the lake in Eighth Days-Kibum helping Minho shave in Teacher AU25. favorite line you’ve ever writtenAgain, I’ll list a couple. It’s hard to pick out of like 178K words and 20ish works. -From Bartender AU: ““What is this one called? Teenager repellent? Oops we forgot to leave room for Jesus? Sex in a bookstore?” Minho asks, picking up the glass and swirling it around.”-From Teacher AU: ”This whole time, all these weeks since they met, he’s been trying to figure out what makes Kibum’s company so special that he’d been willing to lay out everything for him. As he falls asleep, he thinks back to earlier in the day, to Kibum’s peach colored cheeks, and realizes that for him, in this moment, it’s love.” -Also, from the wip next chapter of murder & mistresses AU: ““Junghee here says I should throw over my man for her. What do you think, my love?” Gwiboon’s husband laughs and the pitch is much higher than Junghee’s expecting. “If there’s a man in your life, for God’s sake throw him over! So long as you keep me around.”“26. story you’re most proud ofThree way tie between Nature AU, Disappearance of a Princess, and Working Muse. Nature AU because it was my first AU that I really felt dedicated to (though I haven’t written for it in months) and really had to come up with the world all myself. Disappearance of a Princess because I really tried hard with the stylistics of it and I feel like it was really different for me. Working Muse because rather than just capturing one night or one encounter in it, I was able to briefly (well not too briefly, it is 6K) describe a long term relationship.

#in the titles the first link is to AFF the second is to my sideblog #thanks for asking so many sarah #minhoinator #mari answered a thing #mari made a post

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shawol9196 · 6 years

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It’s Only A Paper Moon ((Part of a Twoshot; Minkey; 550ish words))

Prequel to Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, based on the Nat King Cole song you guessed it “It’s Only A Paper Moon”

Kibum’s amazed at how good the gymnasium looks when he walks in. It’s their last high school dance, their senior prom, and Minho had been sweet talked into being on the decorating committee and ended up doing most of the actual work. No matter how much Kibum pestered him, Minho kept it all a secret. The theme was “a night by the moonlit seaside” or something cheesy like that, and Kibum’s blown away by it all. Minho pulls him onto the dancefloor as the band starts playing some jazzy tune he’s never heard before.

“The moon and the sea look lovely tonight,” Kibum whispers.

Minho smiles shyly. “It’s only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea.”

“I can make believe. We should go, this summer, to the real seaside.”

“Don’t you work most of the summer?”

“You could go, and tell me about it.”

“Without you, it’d be a honky tonk parade.”

Kibum laughs and they continue dancing. After a few songs pass, they make their way to the food table to get some punch. Kibum spots a tree to the side, with an empty bench next to it.

“Shall we go sit under that tree? It looks lovely and you can see the sky so nicely from it.”

“It’s only canvas sky hanging over a muslin tree.”

“I can make believe.”

They go and sit, holding hands and enjoying the overly-sweet punch. Kibum’s amazed by Minho’s work, even if he won’t accept compliments for it. They dance some more -- all the paper and cardboard and canvas making it all so much more lovely that it would’ve been before -- and soon the dance is over and they’re heading outside. They both live relatively close to school and had walked rather than drive. Outside, the real moon is shining in the real star ladden sky. Kibum laces his fingers in Minho’s as they make their way to Kibum’s house.

“I hope you had a nice time. I know the decorations were all so phony. I didn’t make them, I just put them up, I hope it didn’t bother you too much.” Minho says once they’re far enough from school.

“Minho, they were lovely. It made it magical, having a moon -- even just a paper one -- to dance under.”

“Kibum, a Barnum and Bailey world would look more realistic than that.”

“Barnum and Bailey also have ticket money and more than two people working, baby.”

“I know I’m supposed to take you home, but it’s only 9:30pm now and I told your mom you’d be home close to 11...I could grab my radio and we could go walk in the park.”

“That’d be wonderful, baby.”

They detour to Minho’s house so he can get the radio and then they walk to the little half lit park that’s halfway between their houses. The radio is a little faulty, dropped one too many times to work well, and it takes Minho a few minutes to get it to turn onto a good station, but soon they’re dancing once more. They hold each other close, Kibum resting his head on Minho’s shoulder.

“The dance should’ve been held outside. Then we could’ve been under a real moon this whole time.”

Kibum lifts his head, gives Minho a soft kiss.

“Even if there’s no moon at all, I don’t mind if it’s with you.”

Minho blushes. “I guess if you can believe in me, you can believe in a paper moon too.”

#minho just wants kibum to have a nice night #they're happy in this i promise #will this turn into an au? i guess youll have to stay tuned #minkey #writing #minho #kibum #1 shot 2 shot just for 1

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taeminuet · 6 years

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Heartbeat (19/?)

Title: Heartbeat Fandom: SHINee Pairings: Jongtae; Minkey; OnKai Chapter Wordcount: 3k Overall Rating: R (Some chapters will be NC-17; these will be marked.) Chapter Warnings: mentions of past abuse, mentions of previous underage sex, vaguely dubious consent, Summary: In which not every problem needs to be fixed and not every person needs to be saved; sometimes you just need support.

1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 7.5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

Chapter 19: Jonghyun

It’s an actual struggle to force himself to function properly. Jonghyun doesn’t know what the fuck is going on, honestly. He’s reeling. The last 36 hours have flipped his entire concept of who he is now on his head. And he guesses it’s not that weird -- there’s something about living in forced routine; when it’s broken, things change all at once, in a rush.

But still, this feels like a lot. He doesn’t understand how someone like Taemin, someone who struggles with trust issues and who Jonghyun has fucked up with not once but several times in the last couple of days is standing here, willing to try for this. But he can see it in Taemin’s face, in the way he’s holding himself -- he doesn’t know any better than Jonghyun how this will go, he’s just willing to try for anything.

Jonghyun might be offended a little if he didn’t get it, wholeheartedly, that concept of being with someone because you need to be with anyone. It’s just that Jinki is better at separating out feelings and Jonghyun isn’t great. Taemin, apparently, is closer to Jonghyun’s end of the spectrum.

And Jonghyun isn’t exactly going to complain about it, because despite everything, despite his fear and how hard he’s struggling with all of this, it’s nice to have someone to sleep next to. Someone who isn’t just a random stranger, he means. It’s something he hasn’t had since… well. In a while.

He wishes he could tell Taemin why. He wishes he could talk about his dreams. But so many of them center around things that he can’t explain, not to Taemin. And that feels like shit when Taemin is giving him so much, but Jonghyun is a coward. He always has been.

Taemin doesn’t seem to mind too much though, because he doesn’t push Jonghyun. Even once they’re out of the shower, Taemin just kind of… hovers, waiting as Jonghyun gets dressed. It’s not patient, really; Taemin being still for too long makes him kind of look like the living dead, just a little, but most of the time there’s this nervous energy that keeps him from seeming like that, a sort of exhausted tension.

It’s obvious what Taemin is doing, and Jonghyun fumbles for a moment, trying to give him something normal. Whatever normal is for them. What he finally comes up with is, “I’m really hungry.”

Taemin blinks, almost like he’s trying to process, and then smiles weakly. “Yeah, it’s been a bit since we’ve eaten.”

“I mean… I ate a little more recently than you,” Jonghyun says, quirking a smile at Taemin, and he doesn’t feel like he’s doing a great job of pulling off his normal facade, but at least Taemin scoffs a laugh, lifting his hand halfway to his mouth, like it’s instinct to cover it but like his limbs are too heavy with sleep to get there before the short laugh is already over.

“I don’t think sucking dick is anywhere on the food pyramid,” Taemin says, shaking his head fondly, and he steps closer.

If not for their stupid banter, it would feel like a scene out of a cheesy romance movie: Taemin, stepping into his space, his hand fluttering for just a second before it lands on Jonghyun’s waist, so close there’s almost no space between them, so close that Jonghyun has to look up the couple of inches to meet Taemin’s gaze. He doesn’t meet it for long -- a moment later, and his eyes flicker back down, hovering around Taemin’s lips. He wets his own without thinking, leaning into Taemin, into his touch, willing to give as much as Taemin wants to take, willing to let Taemin do anything.

Jonghyun forces himself to turn away. The remnants of his dream are crawling through his brain, that neediness. He knows it’s still a part of him and it would be so easy to give in, to pull Taemin back into bed. He knows Taemin would give into him -- he thinks, at least.

Taemin looks at him for a long moment, a flash of something in his gaze that Jonghyun in no way has the empathy to figure out what it is, and then Taemin is cupping his face gently, turning his gaze back up -- Jonghyun doesn’t fight it. Even if he turned away, he doesn’t really have the strength to deny Taemin anything, not even a kiss.

But Taemin only leans their forehead together for a moment, letting their breaths mingle between their mouths. “You’re okay, Jonghyun.”

“It’s…” Jonghyun says, words tangling up, and then takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for just a moment. “Protein, if I had to guess.”

Taemin looks confused for a long moment, and then he lets out another little laugh. “Okay, but man cannot live on semen alone.”

“Debatable,” Jonghyun answers, desperate to get back to normal. “But honestly I’d kill for some bacon right now.”

“I think we can do that,” Taemin says. As he steps away, his hand slips from Jonghyun’s waist to his hand, threading their fingers together. The grip is loose, fingers slack in Jonghyun’s grasp, but it’s more like hesitance than anything, and when Jonghyun tightens his grip, Taemin doesn’t let go.

It feels strange -- Jonghyun isn’t used to this, isn’t used to kindness. He’s used to getting fucked, not holding hands. But Jonghyun doesn’t let go either, and when Taemin pulls gently, Jonghyun follows.

Jonghyun feels nervous, somehow, walking down the hallway like this. After last night, after this morning, after everything, Jonghyun’s just trying to figure out where he stands. There’s so much he can’t tell Taemin. There’s so much he can’t admit to.

He’s spent forever trying to find ways to explain it to people whose traumas aren’t even tangentially related. How the hell is he supposed to explain it to Taemin?

But Taemin is trying to be patient, waiting for Jonghyun to find words he probably never will, and Jonghyun doesn’t know which is stronger: the guilt over that or the kind of terrified hope he can feel welling in his chest because the idea of someone, anyone, who might not push him, might not make him try to explain himself only to ignore all of his opinions on the batter… it’s a nice concept. Not realistic, but nice, and Jonghyun’s long since mastered the art of delusion.

And maybe, just maybe, he can delude himself into thinking that everything is going to be okay when they walk into breakfast, hand in hand, and people start staring. Not all of them of course, but Jonghyun is well-known, if not by interaction than by reputation. A couple of the girls from the female side, two halls down, hoot at him, one of them grinning slightly wildly before leaning over to talk to the empty chair beside her, and one of the staff is looking at them -- one of the nurses who works with Jonghyun frequently and knows as well as he does how strange this is.

The most familiar face though is at a table by himself, and he looks up when they approach, flashing Taemin a tiny, unsettled smile, looking absolutely morose. His eyes dart to their joined hands and then back up, and he bites his mouth together for a moment before mumbling, “I’m pretty sure you guys are gonna get talked to in group if you keep being this obvious.”

“Onew,” Taemin says, because it’s clear from the hunch of his shoulders, the way his voice sounds. Not to mention the terrible sweater he’s wearing, some over-large knit thing that drapes over his hands and hangs halfway off one shoulder, too large for him by far. “It’s okay. If we get talked to, we’ll deflect. It’s fine.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the point of group therapy, but whatever floats your boat,” says another voice from behind them, and Onew seems to jerk a little, clearly startled before he smiles weakly at Key. Key grimaces back. “I feel like this whole thing would go a lot better if we started employing ‘yes, ands’.”

“Yes, and they doctors are gonna have a field day with the amount of bullshit they get from that,” Jonghyun says, because he cannot fathom a world where they all make up random shit and it doesn’t come back to bite any of them. “I mean, I’m doing pretty good on the shut up and let them suffer train. Being open and honest hasn’t exactly worked out for anyone yet.”

“I don’t think anyone but Jinki has tried it to be honest,” Key says, and then glances apologetically at Onew. “Sorry.”

Onew shakes his head, just a little, and then mumbles, “Are you all okay though? After… Well…”

He trails off, eyes fluttering downwards to stare at his lap where his hands are clenched on his knees.

“After...?” Taemin prompts gently.

“I just mean, a lot went on last night,” Onew mumbles. “With Minho and then with your-- your, uhm, your friend.”

And that’s a lot of stuttering, even for Onew. Onew doesn’t fumble too bad until he gets nervous, and while yeah, sure, Onew operates at a pretty constant level of mildly nervous, the way he’s acting right now is a little much even for him. Jonghyun squints at him. “I mean, Tae and I are fine, far as I know. Fine being relative. But what about you, huh? No offense, but you look like someone shot your puppy.”

“Jonghyun, seriously?” Key hisses, glaring.

Onew looks up, eyes wide and startled and sad, and manages, “I don’t have a--” before he seems to understand the joke. Not that it was a particularly funny one, and even Taemin is elbowing Jonghyun in the side, giving him a look.

Jonghyun exhales. “Look, I’m sorry I was a dick last night? I don’t know if that helps at all, but figured I should say it.”

Onew smiles a little, but it’s weak at best. “That’s-- it’s not…” He pauses, glancing at Taemin, and then he balls himself a little tighter and shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

Taemin frowns, reaching out and tugging Onew’s sleeve up onto his shoulder gingerly. “Onew, whatever it is, you can say. Seriously, it’s not going to be the hardest thing I’ve dealt with in the last hour.”

Onew frowns tightly, glancing at Jonghyun, but Jonghyun shakes his head. “The usual. No big deal. But this is not your usual.”

“I mean…” Onew looks even more miserable now.

“Onew,” Key says, voice a little exasperated. “Seriously. Who upset you? Cuz if you don’t tell us, you’re going to hit a stress point and then Jinki will. And Jinki’s ways don’t tend to end well for whoever it was that did upset you.”

Onew squeaks pathetically and then whines. “You’re right. I know. You’re right, I just…” He’s glancing at Taemin again, anxiety written all over his face. He pulls his arms inside his sweater so that it swallows him, bundling up almost entirely, and slides lower in his chair, squirming a little.

“No one’s going to be mad,” Taemin says awkwardly. “Whatever it is you can tell us. We’ll listen.”

Onew whines again, seemingly trying to disappear into his sweater, but after a moment he manages, “I… You have a really nice best friend, Taemin. I just… I just think he’s a little… uhm, absentminded?”

Taemin pauses, frowning. “Okay, I’m not saying that doesn’t 100% sound like him, but what did he--”

And Jonghyun touches Taemin, giving him a look. Taemin has heard Jinki’s story. He has to understand how Onew gets sometimes. It doesn’t really matter what Jongin did, though Jonghyun isn’t entirely in approval of his if he’s enough of a jerk to show up here, freak Taemin out, and bolt. Which… actually, the bolting might be the problem.

“Onew?”

“I told you it’s… I mean, it’s really not,” Onew stutters. “I just… I thought… I really just wanted to say goodbye. It wasn’t anything... “

And god, that’s sad in a way that Jonghyun would make fun of if Onew didn’t look so utterly miserable about the whole thing, to the point where even Minho, who looks utterly bewildered speaks up to say, “It’s okay. I’m sure he just forgot?”

“Babe…” Key says, looking at Minho in something like fond exasperation, because a fresh-off-the-press Minho 700-and-something-point-0 isn’t exactly comforting, but Jonghyun’s a little more focused on the pet name there, raising an eyebrow at Key who shakes his head slightly. Jonghyun raises the other eyebrow as well.

“I can call him,” Taemin says suddenly. “He doesn’t mean to, he just has a lot to think about. I’m sure he remembered halfway home and felt super awful. I can call him, really.”

Onew’s eyes widen. “I don’t-- he shouldn’t feel awful, I’m not--”

Jonghyun rolls his eyes, temporarily sidelining the thing with Key and Minho. “Onew, you’re miles out of his league, honestly. The dude should come apologize. To a couple of people.”

“Don’t be petty,” Taemin says, barely even a serious reprimand as he nudges Jonghyun. “Seriously, It’s not a big deal. I’ll be right back, okay? Jong, get us some food while I’m gone?”

Jonghyun nods, even as Onew blusters an excuse, and Key is looking at Jonghyun now with a similar expression. Jonghyun wants to laugh, but not exactly in a funny way. “So,” he says after a second, “raise your hand if you banged someone last night.”

And Minho and Key don’t raise their hands, but there’s a growing blush on Minho’s cheeks, and Key is glaring, and-- “I’ll help you get food,” Key says. “Minho and I should eat anyways. Minho, are you good here with Onew?”

Minho nods and then, carefully, “Onew? Can I ask--”

“Whatever you need,” Onew says immediately, perking up a tiny bit at the thought of being helpful, even if it’s the semi-weekly Minho update.

Key nods. “We’ll be right back.”

He wheels away towards the food line, Jonghyun following close behind. After a moment, Jonghyun asks, “So you and Minho. I mean, I won’t say I didn’t see it coming, but… Key, you know that he’s gonna--”

“I know,” Key says, cutting him off. “I know. You reminded me of it like two days ago. But, if I’m gonna waste away in here, I might as well do it with a hot guy on my arm.”

Jonghyun snorts, picking up some trays and handing one over. “If we lived in a world where you were that shallow, we’d be fucked. Or at least I would. You know I’m the hottest piece of ass in here.”

“That’s disgusting,” Key deadpans, and then sighs, starting to fill his tray with more servings than just one. “I just… Jonghyun, I know it’s a bad idea. I do. And if this sucks that much then… well, in a few days, it won’t matter. Whatever happens. But I want to try. And I… I want to find a way.”

“I just don’t want you hurt, Bummie,” Jonghyun says, all the same raw honesty he’d shown after knocking Key from his chair.

“I’m already hurt, Jonghyun,” Key says. And Jonghyun doesn’t know what to say to that, so he lets it lie, lets the soft sounds of wheels and the dull background chatter of people eating fill the silence until Key adds, “And you and Taemin?”

Jonghyun nods. “He’s… I know it’s bad. I get it, I do. But… he needs someone to protect him from his own head, and I need someone to keep me out of mine and maybe… maybe I’m just being selfish, maybe I just want a good fuck, but this…”

He trails off, but Key hums in understanding anyways. After a moment, he sighs, plucking a drink off the line -- Minho’s favorite, if Jonghyun’s not wrong.

“We’re fucked, aren’t we?” Key says.

Jonghyun shrugs. “Probably,” he admits, “but there’s worse ways to go out. Though no one here is exactly subtle, and with two new relationships, well… group is going to be hell.”

And the fact that he just said relationship, in regards to himself and Taemin, that doesn’t escape him, even if that makes his throat tighten. There are lots of types of relationship though; it’s a broad category. Jonghyun just has to figure out where in that category he’s even close to.

“My idea of a good time,” Key says sarcastically, but his face is soft, and he’s looking across the room at Minho who’s listening intently to Onew and nodding very seriously. It’s almost cute, even. “Just… be careful, Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun gingerly takes a tray to make it easier for Key to maneuver. “Yeah,” he says. “You too.”

Next Chapter: November 26

Thank you guys so much for all the patience, and I hope you all enjoyed Kinktober~ I should (hopefully) be back on track now with Heartbeat (as well as Asphodel for anyone who reads that~). It really means so much to me that you guys support me and are still reading this. 19 chapters in, and we’ve still got a ways to go. :)

#SHINee fic #SHINee fanfiction #onkai #minkey #jongtae #heartbeat #<3<3<3

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thewatermelonwrites · 7 years

Text

To That Beautiful Place, Chapter 16: Listen...It’s Not THAT Kind of Muffin

Title: To That Beautiful Place

Pairing: Jongtae, side Minkey.

Rating: PG-13, for language

Summary: Princess Diaries AU: On Taemin’s 18th birthday, his uncle reveals an unbelievable secret; he’s the king of Aellyn, and Taemin is next in line for the throne.

Links to previous chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5,Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15

The rest of their day went by in mostly the same manner; once Jonghyun and Taemin finished a movie, they moved onto the next, taking breaks now and then to get snacks. At one point, Jonghyun asked if they could watch Homeward Bound, but Taemin fiercely protested, saying “If you play that goddamn movie, I swear to god I’ll use your shirt as a tissue, and my nose runs a lot when I cry.” Jonghyun grimaced and said that was way too much information, but since it worked, Taemin maintained that it was an amazing tactic. Jonghyun couldn’t argue with that logic.

As the night grew older, Taemin eventually fell asleep on Jonghyun’s shoulder during Fantasia. Taking extra care to not wake him up, Jonghyun held Taemin’s head in both of his hands and placed him on his pillow. With the laptop settled on their legs, still pouring classical music from its speakers, Jonghyun propped himself on his side to silently admire his boyfriend. Taemin’s skin was bathed a dark blue from the light of the laptop, his plump lips parted slightly as puffs of air slipped through them, making Jonghyun wonder how he managed to control the urge to kiss Taemin before they dated. He raised his hand and hovered it above Taemin’s head as if he was going to run his fingers through his hair, but decided against it with a sigh. Sitting up as carefully as he could, Jonghyun pulled his laptop towards himself and closed the lid. He shivered as his bare feet hit the wood floor, holding his laptop to his chest as he stood next to the bed, Taemin’s sleeping figure barely visible in the darkness. After a moment, he tip-toed towards the bedroom door, taking one last look at Taemin. He made sure not to make a sound as he shut the door behind him before turning around and resting the back of his head against it. The grip on his laptop became even tighter as he sucked in a breath, letting it out in an audible sigh, eyes suddenly heavy.

He stood there for what felt like hours, trying to delay going to his own room for as long as possible. The sooner he went to sleep, the sooner he woke up, and he didn’t want tomorrow to come.

Because he knew he had to break up with Taemin.

Taemin barely had a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes before he realized the serious lack of Jonghyun in his bed. He only had a moment to be confused when his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Groaning, he snatched one of his extra pillows and placed it on his face, letting out a muffled “come in”, not really caring whether or not the person at the door could hear.

They did, however, and let themselves into the room. “Taemin?” Jonghyun’s voice asked from beside Taemin’s bed.

Taemin threw the pillow from his face and onto the mattress. He tried opening his eyes a smidgen to look at Jonghyun, but had to shut them tight when the light coming from the windows threatened to blind him. “It’s too bright. Make it stop.” He mumbled, using his arms as an extra barrier from the harsh light.

“Well, it is almost summer.” Jonghyun said, heading towards the windows. Taemin heard something metallic being placed on his glass coffee table before the ruffling of his curtains being pulled across the rods. “You can open your eyes now.”

“So much...effort…” Taemin whined, sitting up on his bed and managing to open one eye. The eye that was cooperating landed on his coffee table. “You got me breakfast again?”

“It’s just coffee and a blueberry muffin, actually.” Jonghyun replied, placing his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t have enough time to cook anything.”

Taemin hummed in understanding, kicked his covers off with his legs, and made his way to one of the loveseats across from the table. “Did you sleep well, then?” He said, taking the muffin in his hands.

“Better than usual, yeah.” Jonghyun lied through his teeth. He actually hadn’t slept a wink, but since he didn’t want Taemin to worry…

He crouched down to sit in the other chair, but Taemin shook his head at him. He paused before Taemin started making grabby motions with his free hand. Belatedly, he stood back up and walked to Taemin, who patted the spot next to him. Jonghyun reluctantly sat next to him, back stiff.

Still chewing on his muffin, Taemin rested his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder, not caring about the crumbs that could potentially fall on either of their laps. “Have you thought about going to sleep therapy?” Taemin asked, taking another bite.

“A bit.” Jonghyun said, hands clasped in his lap.

Taemin finished the muffin in one big bite and lifted his head, facing Jonghyun with stuffed cheeks, who smiled despite himself. He swallowed, with a bit of a struggle, before he said, “You should try it. I really can’t have a sleepy boyfriend. What if you fall asleep during a date?”

Jonghyun cleared his throat. “You know, if I start sleeping more, I may not be able to make you breakfast everyday.”

“Oh yeah.” Taemin said, reaching across the table and pouring the creamer and sugar into his coffee simultaneously. “You know, there’s this new thing called cereal I was thinking about trying. It only takes one person to make it, too.” He sipped his coffee with a small grin.

“In that case, you should definitely try it.” Jonghyun’s smile faltered. “I may not always be here.”

Well, breakfast was a bust, Jonghyun thought, gripping the steering wheel to his limo. But I’m still gonna do it. I’m really gonna break up with Taemin this time. He let out a shaky breath as that last line echoed in his mind.

Fuck. He was actually going to do this.

He sat stone-faced as he ran through how the conversation would go in his mind before his heart nearly leapt out from his rib cage as the passenger door opened. Jonghyun held his hand to his chest as Taemin chuckled, climbing into the vehicle.

“Geez, are you okay?” Taemin said, suppressing another giggle, fastening his seat belt. “I wasn’t expecting you to jump like that.”

Jonghyun took his hand from his chest, heart still pounding, and turned the key to start the limo. “I was just...thinking about stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Taemin asked, leaning towards Jonghyun in anticipation.

Jonghyun spared a glance from the road, startled when he was met with Taemin mere centimeters from his face. He looked away, blushing, and Taemin laughed again and closed the distance with a kiss to Jonghyun’s cheek before settling back into his own chair.

“Why’re you so jumpy today? Is it because of the scary guy in Fantasia?” Taemin cooed in an exaggerated baby tone, pinching Jonghyun’s cheek. “Did he scare my little Jjongie-hyung?”

“Chernabog. And no, he didn’t.” Jonghyun answered, nudging Taemin’s hand away. “And don’t ever call me fucking ‘little Jjongie’ again.”

“Okay, regular sized Jjongie.” Taemin laughed when Jonghyun shot him a glare, one hand covering his mouth and the other clutching his stomach.

It was then that Jonghyun knew this was another bust.

After his plan B fell through, Jonghyun quickly devised his third plan; breaking up with Taemin on the way back home. It was foolproof.

The only downside was that he had to mentally prepare himself all over again. Staring blankly ahead, it took him a moment after seeing Taemin approaching the car to actually register who he was.

And he was not alone.

Jonghyun could only watch from the driver seat as Taemin walked right past the side door, followed by Minho. The back door was opened instead and their excited conversation moved to the back seat, Taemin only pausing it for a moment to quickly ask Jonghyun if he wouldn’t mind taking Minho back to the mansion with them.

He waved his hand in dismissal and started the ignition, fighting the urge to smack his head against the steering wheel.

There goes plan C.

“Karaoke?” Taemin asked, incredulous.

“Hell yeah!” Kibum said, wrapping his arm around Minho’s shoulders, who was sitting on his lap. “I got free passes because my cousin’s sister’s aunt didn’t want them, so now I have them.”

“Should Minho really be sitting on your lap while you’re working?” Jonghyun said, pointedly looking at Kibum’s desk and the still-open laptop on it.

“Like I haven’t done worse.” Kibum replied, rolling his eyes.

“Why me though? Couldn’t you have roped someone else into this?” Taemin whined as he crossed his arms, pretending to be annoyed. He actually really wanted to spend time with Minho, not that he’d ever let Kibum know that.

“Minho wanted you to come with.” Kibum scoffed. “Like I would ever ask you to be our token stick in the mud. I’m not that desperate.”

Taemin opened his mouth in protest before Minho interrupted, “We just have to get him drunk, Bummie.” Minho said, clutching Kibum’s shirt collar. “Come on, we can’t go by ourselves. We wouldn’t even get any singing done.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Kibum replied, tilting his head.

Taemin curled his upper lip in disgust. “Just for that, I’m going to purposefully cockblock you two the entire time.”

“So you’ll come with?!” Minho beamed, nearly bouncing out of Kibum’s lap.

Taemin nodded. “If only just to annoy you.”

“In that case, I’ll leave you guys to it.” Jonghyun said, starting towards the hallway, hands in his pockets.

“Uh, think again dickwad.” Kibum’s voice halted him in his tracks. “If Minho gets to bring someone along, so do I. You’re coming too.”

Jonghyun turned around and glared at Kibum. “Seriously?”

Kibum smiled in a way Jonghyun thought made him look like the devil. “Wouldn’t want to leave Taemin alone with us, now would you?”

“Can you not?” Taemin spoke from the side.

“See? He wants you to come along, too.” Kibum said, gesturing towards Taemin.

“I meant can you not make sexual jokes about me, asshole.” Taemin said, and Kibum flipped him off. Taemin returned the gesture before turning towards Jonghyun. “Although, I would like it much better if you were there with me, hyung.” He said, blush creeping up his cheeks. “It’ll be just like the other day in the video game room.”

Jonghyun met Taemin’s eyes, giving him a soft look that Taemin knew meant ‘yes’. Taemin laughed behind his hand, casting his eyes downwards.

Minho confusedly looked between the two. “Wait, what happened in the video game room?” He suddenly gasped and his already large eyes widened in realization. “Aw sick, I SAT on that couch, you guys!”

“OF THE WOOOOOOORLD!!!!” Minho shouted at the top of his lungs, dramatically falling on his knees. He looked up to his three friends on the couch, seeking approval. Jonghyun clapped while Taemin and Kibum silently ate from their bag of shrimp crackers.

“I…” Minho paused as he breathed heavily, “I feel like you two are judging me.”

“We are.” Taemin and Kibum answered simultaneously, both turning and sneering at each other.

Minho snorted, walking across the dimly lit room to hand the mic to the next performer, who happened to be Jonghyun. “It’s a shame you two hate each other; you’re a lot alike.”

“No we’re not!” They shouted at the same time, before Taemin pushed against Kibum’s face and scooched away from him and closer to Jonghyun.

“Name five differences.” Minho said, plopping down next to Kibum.

Taemin hummed in thought, quickly finding an answer when he saw Jonghyun holding a tablet in the corner of his eye. “I have better taste in men than you do.” Taemin said, wrapping himself around Jonghyun’s arm. Jonghyun tensed and continued searching for a song.

Kibum let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah, I’m so glad I chose Minho instead of an old dude who lied to his boyfriend.” He replied, mouth full of chewed up crackers. Taemin kicked him in the thigh, causing a bit of food to fly out of his mouth as he sputtered.

“Ow!” Kibum yelled, placing his hand over the inflicted area. “You’re not supposed to actually hurt me!”

“Well you’re not supposed to stick your stupid face into other people’s relationships but you did anyways.” Taemin said, sticking out his tongue.

“Oh look, I found a song, everyone listen to me sing now!” Jonghyun stood and walked closer to the television, leaving Taemin behind on the couch, who just laid down where Jonghyun had been.

The sound of a piano playing filled the room as Jonghyun held the mic up to his lips. “You’re so rock and roll, roll,” He sang.

He couldn’t even make it one line into the song before Kibum started talking over him, making him roll his eyes.

“We should be in a boy band.” Kibum said.

“Why? Do you need your dick waxed even more than it is?” Taemin asked, lying on his back. Kibum raised his hand to slap him but Minho grabbed his wrist, interlocking their fingers instead.

“I was being serious. We have you, the dancer.” Taemin opened his mouth to ask how he knew that but Kibum kept talking, “Jonghyun, the singer, Minho, the one no one can figure out why he’s there...” Minho’s eyebrows raised and he stared at Kibum in disbelief. Kibum pecked his lips quickly before continuing, “You know I love you.” Minho pouted but let him continue. “And then of course there’s me, the one who’s good at everything.” He said, smirking.

Taemin spit a bit of his soju out.

“Good at what, exactly?!” Taemin laughed, soju dripping from his chin.

“Oh you know, singing, dancing, acting, being gorgeous, the usual stuff.” Kibum said, counting each of his talents on his hand. “I’m the eighth wonder of the universe.” Taemin laughed again, making Kibum scowl.

“If anyone here is all those things, it’s Taemin.” Jonghyun interrupted, finished with his song. He passed the mic to Kibum, who all but snatched it from him. He rolled his eyes and sat on the very edge of the couch, trying to fit in the small space left that wasn’t occupied by Taemin.

Taemin turned his head to face Jonghyun, eyeing the way he was about to fall off at any second. “Hey dork, you’re supposed to lift my head and put it on your lap.”

Jonghyun paused, eyes darting around uncertainly. He mentally cursed himself before deciding to do just what Taemin had said. It’s not like he could say anything to Taemin right now.

“I’ll prove that I’m the best.” Kibum said, briskly rising from the couch and bounding towards the screen, as if being closer to the lyrics would help him sing better. “Prepare your ears because this is going to break them.”

“Is that a...good thing?” Taemin asked.

“Maybe not for you, but it is for me!” Kibum laughed, high pitched voice reverberating through the speakers.

Taemin sighed, grabbing his soju glass from the table. He was gonna need it for this.

As the night went on, the weirder the song choices became and the louder the boys were. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to make karaoke booths mostly soundproof was a very smart individual. They weren’t too worried about volume control because of the soundproofing. And also because the youngest two were very drunk, the elders having more years to build up a tolerance. However, even in his hazy state of mind, Jonghyun could mentally slap himself for not remembering Taemin’s drinking habit.

“Hyuuung~” Taemin sing-songed, arms grasped firmly around Jonghyun’s neck. He was sitting on top of Jonghyun’s lap, who had placed the palms of his hands awkwardly on the couch cushions.

“What is it, Taeminnie?” Jonghyun asked, choosing to look at Kibum and Minho doing some kind of interpretive dance with the tambourines they had found instead of Taemin.

“Gimme a kiss!” Taemin said, puckering his lips. Jonghyun unconsciously bit his own in worry, which Taemin mistook as arousal, leaning in closer.

Jonghyun’s head hit the wall behind him trying to back away. “You smell like alcohol and shrimp.” He said, placing his hand over Taemin’s mouth and gently trying to push him away. He shouted in disgust after Taemin licked his palm, quickly pulling his hand away.

“I’ll just kiss somewhere else then.” Taemin hummed, lowering his head to Jonghyun’s neck. Jonghyun squeezed his eyes shut; inexperience and alcohol combining into kisses that were wet and sloppy and just plain uncomfortable. Not to mention that Kibum and Minho were still there, tripling the awkwardness of the situation.

“Taemin, stop.” Jonghyun said, lightly pushing against Taemin’s shoulders until he detached his mouth from Jonghyun’s neck.

“What is it?” Taemin smiled, lips shimmering and forehead slick with sweat. Jonghyun nearly groaned.

“I…” He choked out, mouth hanging open dumbly as he searched Taemin’s face. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” Taemin asked, tilting his head to the side.

Taking a deep breath through his nose to help clear his mind, Jonghyun spoke, eyes focused on Taemin’s. “I can’t do this. With you. Not anymore.”

Sitting back on his heels, Taemin’s face went sullen with realization. “What do you mean?” He said, voice suddenly weak.

“We have to stop this, Taemin-ah. I’m sorry.”

Taemin didn’t spare a passing glance as he stood up, shutting the door on his way out.

#jongtae #minkey #fics #chaptered #ttbp

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taenys · 7 years

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♢ shinee world v in la ♢

alright so I’ve finally gotten home and have been able to write a detailed fan account of the whole thing which includes their airport arrival!!! the whole thing ended up being over 2.5k :’))) unsurprising considering who I am (resident essay writer of the internet) but i did try to keep it as short and to the point as possible.

anyways if any of y’all are interested in reading a really emo and sappy essay about shinee and what was undeniably the best day of my life from my seat in the pit, read on!

Airport arrival: I saw Jonghyun’s face so clearly. Key went by me in a flash clinging to him, so I got a clear profile shot. Taemin’s face was covered but his beautiful eyes were visible and I got a very clear look at him. Minho as well, although he was wearing sunglasses, he was tall and brooding. Onew passed before I could see him. Taemin looked at me wide-eyed, inquisitively. I was in front of their van on the sidewalk making hearts at them while they got in and got ready to enter traffic to leave and Minho and Taemin got a clear frontal view of me doing so and both of them smiled, but Taemin’s eyes were on me for quite a while. Once they started to drive away, I waved frantically at them and Minho waved back at all of us.

Jonghyun’s face caught me off guard. I was in a stunned silence when I saw him, his poreless, airbrushed, perfectly chiseled angelic beautiful unreal face. The entire time I said nothing. No words came out of my mouth, no screams. I was silent. In complete and utter AWE. I’ve never experienced that before meeting an idol. At SNSD’s fanmeet, I screamed (to the dismay of Jessica lol). At every concert I’ve screamed as is customary lol. When I saw f(x) at the airport I called out their names. At EXO’s fanmeet I screamed to get Kris’ attention. But seeing SHINee, right in front of me, their beautiful faces materialized, and even more breathtaking than I could possibly comprehend, the 5 boys I have adored so completely for 7+ years, who’s music has been a constant soundtrack playing on repeat every day of my life…I couldn’t formulate words or sounds to express all those emotions. There were none that could do them justice. The love I felt was so fucking overwhelming, as soon as their van started to drive away and Minho’s waving ceased I broke. I cracked. The suffocating sense of adoration and joy at seeing them, seeing my boys, my loves, and my reasons for existence, I fucking SOBBED. Not small tears but full on snot inducing yelps. I literally choked on my emotions. I had to run back into the airport to my mom to hide these tears from everyone else because they were just so ridiculous lol. Everyone else was all giddy and going over their fancams and screaming with each other. I just cried and cried. I could not believe it. I couldn’t process the whole experience. I love them so much, I can’t even begin to tell you guys just how much. I realized it at that airport when I saw them. It was such a different experience than all my other crazy kpop idol meeting experiences.

Also, just as a note, the whole thing about them being mobbed was greatly exaggerated. It only looked that way on camera because we had all unfortunately formed our organized lines in front of the doors, but they ended up coming down an escalator so we all had to run over and form NEW lines from the escalator to the door and so it looks like we all tried to swarm them. They all tend to walk really fast so we didn’t even have the opportunity to form new lines since by the time we got to them, they were already nearing the exit so at that point we all just tried to see them and welcome them as best we could. There were only like 1-2 fans who were being disrespectful and obnoxious, but trust me when I say most of us were filming and following from a safe enough distance or at least trying to.

The concert: As soon as I found my seat, which was in row D in the pit aka the 4th row from the stage, my heart stopped. I was so close. SO FUCKING CLOSE to the stage SHINee would be on. And I was right in the center too, I’d have a clear center super close view of them, and the realization of that was utterly staggering. The energy around me was filled with excitement and glee, but I was in my own little bubble of heart quenching awe and disbelief. I could see my mom and my sister in the row behind me and I gave my mom the “Can you believe this is happening” look and she smiled and nodded. She and Ruby (sis) were experiencing their own waves of excitement but I wasn’t with them to share in it. I was alone where I sat but that was what ended up happening during the ticket buying bonanza. I was able to score 1 pit ticket, and we all agreed it would be mine since I was the “main” fan in our little trio. SHINee was ours, but first and foremost they were mine. But luckily my mom and sister got seats together and only a row behind me, so they were just as close as I was to the stage. While we waited for the show to start the venue played their music and the crowd chanted along to most of them. I sang too with my eyes closed, ready for the inevitable. I had to told myself in the weeks approaching the date that I would do my best to study and analyze every member’s face and mannerisms as best I could. Since I knew they’d move around and switch sides a lot, I knew I’d have an opportunity to see every member at some point. When the venue got dark and the light blared and the first VCR started my heart was racing a million miles an hour. My mind was repeating “this is real, this is happening, they’re going to come out and you’re going to see them, you’re going to actually fucking SEE them. The boys who’ve made your entire life worth living for the past almost 8 years are going to be right in front of you, singing all your favorite songs (because all their songs are my favorites, LITERALLY), and you’re close enough that they’re going to see YOU too,” that last thought being the MOST mind blowing of them all. The people sitting directly in front of me were luckily not taller than me, so my head was higher than theirs when we stood which meant SHINee would get a clear shot at my face when they looked in this direction. I opted to wear these cute aqua cat ears with flowers on them in my hair to hopefully draw their eye.

Finally the VCR ended and we all stood up and we knew it was time. We screamed. I screamed “I’m not emotionally ready oh my god” to the girl sitting next to me (lol). I wasn’t ready and I don’t think I ever WOULD be ready. How do you prepare to see your favorite humans of all time? They opened with Hitchhiking and I was screaming the lyrics along with them, and oh my god they were so close to the edge of the stage, closer to me than I even imagined, I could see every detail of their faces and it was breathtaking. At one point Jonghyun looked directly into my eyes and held my gaze for a few seconds and smirked. What I noticed first was, they’re all so much more beautiful in real life than is even humanly possible, and secondly they were all dancing SO HARD and with SO MUCH INTENSITY it was stunning. They were dripping in sweat after the first 3 songs but MAN did they dance with every ounce of strength they had. Their passion and drive was just astonishing and inspiring to witness. Onew’s dancing was especially impressive. Taemin’s dancing is so fluid and poetic and I can’t believe I got to witness his shirtless godlike body in person so close WOW. Minho is so much more godly than you can imagine. Jonghyun is small (smol) and darling with those sharp cheekbones and puppy eyes. Key is so intense and cat-like in his features which are more defined in real life. Onew is pure gorgeousness, his smile is the most beautiful thing that exists and will ever exist. It’s hard to believe any of them could be so beautiful. I won’t go song by song describing how they looked and how they felt because I’d have to write over 10 pages and who has time to read all of that lmao I’ll just point out the “highlights.” Key’s English. I know we all know it’s great but hearing it in real life was an experience. He sounds so confident and cool, I adore it with my life. When he told us that this was real and we weren’t seeing them through youtube I fucking BALLED. Because that’s exactly what was so shocking and emotional for me, that I was actually seeing them. And they were fucking seeing me too. Minho and Key being playful and silly speaking English added 10 years to my life. Honestly, Minkey are so important. Their banter is the best thing. I couldn’t believe I was experiencing my otps in real life too LMAO. They were all exactly how I knew they’d be. Taemin would be shy and smiley, like the baby he is, Onew would be aloof and dorky and too precious for words, Jonghyun would be flirty and silly and not try out any English lol, Minho would be so cool and sexy during performances but turn into a sweet cinnamon roll during talks, and Key would be the leader, confident and charismatic and intense. They were all so perfect. Jongtae hugging, Taemin speaking English, it was all too cute to witness.

Minho spent a lot of time on my side so I got the most fanservice from him. It was unfuckingbelievable. He is an actual god among mortals I’m telling you. His endlessly long legs and slim abdomen, and that tiny gorgeous face with those huge expressive frog eyes and round lips, his entire existence is bliss. He looked at me and smiled a TON because I was making hearts. Taemin was in front of me at one point too, with nothing obstructing his view of my face since the people in front were small and he looked at me and smiled that babyish smiley of his that I live for. Key looked at me and raised an eyebrow curiously at one point as well. Onew got wide-eyed and excited when he saw me and a few others make the “MVP” with our hands during his line in replay. I can’t express enough just how fucking gorgeous and perfect their faces are. I can picture them all so fucking clearly in my mind, it gives me heart palpitations. Even my mom said afterwards at the hotel that there’s no way they’re real. Speaking of my mom, Taemin is the actual love of her life, so when he did his solo stage of Goodbye she snuck up to the front row just to watch him lol. Also during Savior, Minho came right over to their side and I looked behind me to see if my mom and sister would get any fanserivce since he had a clear view of them in the aisle seat they had, and sure enough I saw my mom smiling the biggest I’ve ever seen from her, and waving at him and he looked at her and smiled and waved back. When the fans around saw that interaction between them, they all started waving too, wanting to get a hello from him as well and so he obliged and started waving around the entire section. But the waving was started by my mom and she won’t let anyone forget it lol. “Remember when Minho waved at you and smiled” has been a constant phrase we’ve been saying at random intervals through the day.

This day meant just as much to her as it did to me. Just seeing them perform was indescribable though. I’ve loved their music and choreo for so long, and witnessing it was a whole different experience. I saw them at SMTOWN, sure, but that was only for a few songs and I was a lot farther from the stage. And even when I think back to that concert, where I saw SNSD and EXO and f(x) and so many other performers, SHINee’s has ALWAYS stood out to me as the most memorable and emotional. SHINee has always been my number one. Seeing them for nearly 3 hours, I sang so loud and so hard (I kept my screaming to a minimum and focused on singing and doing fanchants so they’d see that we love their music here and despite the language barrier, we know their lyrics and hopefully they’d come back again someday soon). I lost my voice by the end and ended up with a sore throat and a fever the next day, but it was well worth it. I also couldn’t walk for the rest of the week lmao It was like I’d run a marathon after living a sedentary life for years and not doing any kind of training beforehand. My legs did not survive. And neither did my heart. I couldn’t listen to or watch anything SHINee related this whole week honestly. Even seeing pictures and fancams of the event (speaking of which, my sister got a fucking glorious fancam of Onew) hurt my heart and so I avoided everything like the plague. It ended too quickly. The whole experience ruined me though. I crave them so much more now. I want to save up to go to Korea to see them since I know they probably won’t do another US tour. I am going to live out the rest of my life just following their careers and loving them unconditionally as I do now, maybe even more so if that’s even possible. If I had the means and the money I’d probably drop everything and become a fansite owner who travels everywhere and sees them and even befriends them.

Their music represents so much for me. It represents the bond I have with my mother most especially. Experiencing all of this with her made it so much more emotional. We’ve bonded over SHINee since the beginning. As soon as I discovered them nearly 8 years ago, I showed them to mom. She was the first person I showed a kpop video too and of course it was SHINee We watched Hello Baby and their other shows together, and she learned about them with me and grew to love them as much as I have. Her and I listened to their music more than anything and their songs, their passion, their existence gave her and I a sense of happiness and motivation in a difficult time in our lives. We all just…clung to SHINee’s music. Their music is just so fucking GOOD. She has her own copies of all their Korean albums in her car and they’re the only thing she listens to. It was my dream, my ultimate dream to go to a SHINee concert with her. I wanted her to see them. I saw them before at SMTOWN in 2012 and it was MAGICAL. My mom didn’t get to attend because we couldn’t afford another ticket but she was in the parking lot waiting to pick us up and decided to get off and wait inside to try and hear some of the concert and she says she heard Sherlock and saw glimpses of SHINee performing through the curtains in the venue and she cried. She cried because she was so happy that my sister and I were there seeing them, and she sang along to the song and felt like she was a part of that experience with us. And now she got to see them with us, and us with her, and it was pure and utter magic.

Anyways, SHINee is my entire life and I will never be over this experience. But man oh man, loving them this much has only made the whole “post-concert depression” about a million times more painful and unbearable than anything I’ve ever experienced. Something that can only be cured by seeing them again. I NEED to see them again.

#personal #fanaccount #shinee #best day of my life is honestly an understatement #the fucking post concert feels are too intense tho #i love shinee 2 much

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rodjbeerventures · 6 years

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Big thanks to my friend Joe, who shot me this beer from Thin Man Brewery. Minkey Boodle is a Sour Ale that is aged on raspberries. Inside this purplish pinkish beer goodness is a 7.8% ABV just waiting to sneak up on the unsuspecting, and it will definitely catch some that just are engulfed by its smoothness. Love the tartness, which is there but subtle enough that it does not take away from other aspects of the beer. There is a nice crisp refreshing quality to the ale as well, but astringency, as well as acidity, is both low making it an ale where more than can easily be consumed in a sitting. Well worth checking out for any sour beer fan, and once again thanks Joe. Check out the video to see and hear more of my thoughts, and if you have had this beer then let me know what you thought of it as well.

#beer #beer review #rod j beerventures #thin man brewery #minkey boodle #youtube

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52shorts-blog · 7 years

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Week 53: Tom Frome

That night we shouted down at the town. It felt like the last time. It always feels like the last time. But you guys don’t patrol up there so we always go back.

I met the boys outside the servo near school. We stole some softy to mix with the hard stuff I “borrowed” from my mum.

Mount Gambier High School. Whiskey.

Afterwards we walked through the school and up to the tower.

Joe Antoni usually ran ahead. Says he can’t walk up steps without running. He’s always pissed at us because he’s too chicken shit to steal, so we don’t share the whisky with him.

As usual, Tom Frome wound us up with his first childhood memory. The way he tells it you wouldn’t think it was the truth. But you should meet his Dad.

Tom Frome Snr. thinks the Japanese are the best at badminton, so before he realised Tom Frome had no hand-eye, they’d be out on the court at all hours. Tom Frome Snr. would say: cock ready. Tom Frome would say: hai. Tom Frome Snr.: cock ready, cock ready, cock ready. Tom Frome: hai, hai, hai, and they wouldn’t start the point until Tom Frome Snr. believed his son. Tom Frome screamed like a military commander at Joe Antoni: cock ready? Cock ready? until Joe stole the whisky and ran up ahead.

The runt can run, that’s for sure. There was no chance of catching him.

By the time we got there Joe had decided to chat-up Amanda Shaw and was busy buying cigarettes to help him with the seduction. Didn’t see him again after that. No, wait, actually, I saw him sucking face on the bench when we followed Dainty down to The Fairways.

Jacob Danticat. The golf course.

It was pretty intense, I suppose, but they still had their clothes on. I assume it was Raw. “Raw” is what we call her. Amanda “Raw” Shaw. Joe had one hand up her top and the other down her pants.

Tom Frome said: nothing but net, Joe, nothing but net. I poured some whisky on them and said something like: disinfect it if you’re cutting her a new one.

Joe told us to fuck off.

Tom Frome was already halfway down the mountain cheering on another pair of rabbits, yelling: Up and in, girls, up and in. It’s a netball cheer. Or so he says.

The idiot wants to be a sports commentator.

We got to the tower around 10-ish.

There must have been thirty or so people there. It’s always tough to tell ‘cause people come up the back of the mountain and then disappear into the bushes. And they’ve all got names like Duck or Cob or Spoke or Cox.

I don’t know their real names.

I’ve been best friends with Tom Frome since we were five. He snorted white pepper at my eighth birthday and couldn’t talk for a week.

Yeah, Tom Frome usually drank, but I don’t know whether he was drunk. I always saw him spit out sips when he thought people weren’t watching.

Yeah, we go to the same school – same classes.

I talked to a girl named Lucy. I think she said she went to boarding school in the city. I didn’t get her last name.

I now know its Gibson. Lucy Gibson.

We were – you know how there’s a light that shines back on to the tower so you can see it from town? She made a dog shadow puppet and I made a fist-shaped head with a beak.

She told me she knew my Mum and I told her my Mum knew a lot of people. She said that must be weird and I said not really because she’s not allowed to discuss her patients. It kind of killed the conversation. I couldn’t stop wondering how she knew my Mum and, you know, what was wrong with her.

Over by the sundial, Tom Frome was giving a lecture on the use of softer balls in junior sport and the bad influence this was having on children, on sports in general. Tom Frome had once watched his little sister play minkey and seen one of those cheap, hollow, plastic balls split in half and blind a kid.

Tom Frome was about to unload about soccer as a safe alternative when the guy he was talking at – Cox or Leper, I don’t know which – walked away.

Tom Frome looked over at me and Lucy and our shadow puppets and asked: How’s your round going?

I clicked my beak a few times and said: still on the tee.

Tom Frome said: Can you believe it? Twenty small girls swinging wooden clubs and they’re worried about someone getting hurt by the ball.

I don’t know why I need to explain all this. It’s just code words Tom Frome borrows from golf: middle middle, in the rough, in the water, just off the green, gimme, mulligan in the clubhouse. Half the time we don’t know what he’s talking about.

I leaned in, but Lucy told me she didn’t do P.D.A. I asked if she wanted to go behind the bushes. She said: no, thanks. I told Tom Frome this and he went over to the rail and started to hang shit on the town.

P. D. A? Public Displays of Affection.

I would say his speech was a little slurred. It was kind of hard to know what he was saying 'cause he was screaming, that is until he started singing his tongue twister: TimBrownfromFromeRoadTomFromefromBrownRoadTomFromefromFromeRoad.

It must have been 2 or 3 when Dainty walked passed and told us: in the bunker, boys.

He was holding hands with Lucy. When she saw me she mouthed something, but I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t help or bye or stop, or anything like that. I don’t know what she said. Or didn’t say.

We followed them down the hill and, like I said, Tom Frome was giving grief to some couple making out in the bushes.

Dainty didn’t really know anyone at the party. But, I guess, neither did we.

The only thing he said about tower parties was that the kind of guys who go are either drunk or stoned or speeding, or talk about the last time they were drunk or stoned or speeding.

No, I didn’t know he was leaving the next day.

I don’t know if Tom Frome knew either.

We followed him down to The Fairways, even though we knew what that meant.

The golf course. What taking someone down there means.

When we got there I thought I heard voices but what with the wind and Tom Frome going on about how he was shit-scared of possums I couldn’t tell where they were coming from.

I asked Tom Frome where he would take a girl – he knows the course pretty well from caddying there at the tournament last summer.

Tom Frome said to head for the old 18th bunker. But when we got there it was empty and there weren’t any footprints in the sand.

Tom Frome said it had taken a pro-golfer six shots to get out of that bunker. After that The Pro spat at Tom Frome, got a fine for his phlegm, and missed the cut.

We’d pretty much given up on finding them and were heading back to the tower.

We were on the 14th green. Tom Frome was making a dash to beat me to the flag. He wanted to have a javelin throwing competition, or something like that. But we heard someone shush someone else.

Tom Frome was pretty loud. Maybe it was a guy’s voice. But it’s no good to you if it’s a maybe, is it?

We got on our bellies and crawled across the green. Tom Frome used the flag as a spear.

We crawled closer, stopping every metre of two to try and hear whispers or, you know, anything else. All the while I thought Tom Frome would throw himself over the lip, yellin’: Surprise, face suckers! Or something just as drunk.

But Tom Frome took on the role of scout, making the three-step signal our baseball coach used for the hit-and-run to get the runner to third-base.

We were on the lip of the bunker, holding our breath, waiting to hear who was going down on who. There wasn’t any noise from down below. Then it came: the sound of a zipper tearing a new one into the night.

Tom Frome elbowed me in the arm and gave me a small smile. If I had to guess what that smile of Tom Frome’s was saying – not that you’ll ever be able to use this – it was saying, you know what comes next.

It was definitely the sound of the zipper coming down.

Nothing happened.

Tom Frome turned on his side and we had a staring contest. After a while Tom Frome started to take long blinks, but I stayed awake, sort of awake with my eyes closed.

I started to hear breathing. At first I thought it was just the wind in the trees, but it was more regular, and only got louder the longer I listened.

There were two people breathing.

I couldn’t tell the difference.

Nobody said anything. I wish she had.

After ten-fifteen minutes a car came along the road. I could just make out the headlights through the tree line. The breathing stopped.

Tom Frome was asleep.

It started up again after… ten-fifteen minutes. There was this shuffling sound, like people trying to get their clothes off. And a pop of a button. I tried to remember what Lucy wore that night.

And then it slowly stopped and the only thing I could hear was Tom Frome chewing cud like a cow, sort of smacking his lips in his sleep.

I woke up and it was almost dawn. There was a grey fog and nothing but shadows.

I shook Tom Frome a little, but he woke up straight away, like he hadn’t been asleep at all. We got up and started to walk towards the 14th tee, back up to the tower.

I didn’t look over the lip of the bunker. Couldn’t tell you if they were still there. I just wanted to get to my own bed.

Tom Frome didn’t say anything.

Then through the fog we heard a metallic whiplash.

Tom Frome yelled: FORE! and got on his belly.

A golf ball whizzed over our heads, followed by: Get the fuck off the fairway!

Tom Frome ran in the direction of the voices but he didn’t know where they were coming from.

I said: Let’s bolt! I didn’t know what to do because Tom Frome was waving his hands in the air and pulling brown eyes and talking gibberish.

That’s when they started teeing off at him.

Tom Frome yelled: How’s that one look, Sandy? It’s in the bunker, Pat, as he kept walking towards them.

Tom Frome yelled: You’re making a major mistake in club selection.

I yelled out Tom Frome’s name five fuckin’ times, but he didn’t stop.

The last thing I heard Tom Frome yell was: That’ll be a difficult lie, motherfucker, take a drop.

I ran home.

It must have been around – well, the sun was up. The fog was gone by the time I got to the tower. I don’t know, somewhere between 8 and 9.

Two days later I got the call from Tom Frome, telling me what Lucy told you guys.

Tom Frome gave me the play-by-play with stats and colour commentary: how much we’d had to drink, who we’d seen, what we’d done, when we left the tower, what time we woke up.

He wasn’t wearing a watch.

Didn’t seem drunk when he woke up.

Tom Frome says he slept all night on the lip of that bunker, that he didn’t hear or see anything or anybody. He didn’t know where Dainty was, or where he went, or who he was with.

Tom Frome said: if it matters, the last time I saw Lucy she was laughing.

The way Tom Frome tells it you wouldn’t think it was the truth. But you should talk to Tom Frome.

E-mail to Mel:

I think I’m going to attempt 52 stories again. There is no ideal time. And I scarcely have the same amount of time that I had at the start of last year. But fuck it. I want to find out what is at the bottom of this well.

It’s also that I looked back on previous resolutions and noticed a pattern: a year delay. The year before I did 100 gigs (last year) my resolution was to do 100 gigs. So, logically, I’m destined to achieve 52 stories. I won’t even need to be conscientious about it. It’s just going to happen of it’s own free will :P

But I’m not going to attempt a trad short story every week. I’m going to wonder and copy and exhume old stuff and make lists of 10 things I could write short stories about. You should try it.

Anyway, I was hoping to finish a more charming story to send you between Christmas an New Year. The original title of the e-mail was 'End with a story’. But it isn’t finished. And now it’s the start of the year. Instead, I send you an exhumed work from 2009. One I’d forgotten about. It was only for a solipsistic scroll through old Facebook status updates that I found a 'comment of praise’. When I opened up the story I recognised the voice: it’s me!

#mount gambier #52 short stories in 52 weeks #centenary tower #golf

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alittletournesol · 5 years

Text

Kingdom Of Jinju {MinKey} part 24/33

(just one hour late in my country, but happy birthday to our most shining light. ♡)

Chapter 24 : Breathe

The afternoon was calm and peaceful at the palace, with a bright blue sky above everyone’s head. It was that perfect kind of weather that allowed soldiers to make their trainings a bit more entertaining : they had been separated in several squadrons, and while some were doing their daily running with their captain, others were distributed in all three yards to practice their skills. Swords hitting each other could be heard coming from here, shot arrows from there.

It was Taemin’s first time training for hand-to-hand combat, and he was lucky to be with some of his closest brothers in arms in this situation. It wasn’t about brutally fighting each other but developing martial arts’ techniques, offensive and defensive ones. Surprisingly, their mentor for this exercise was a quite old man but he was known as the best in his speciality so they didn’t complain. Especially when he had showed them he was still in good shape !

The show the few soldiers were putting on could seem rather weird : working in pairs, they were attacking each other with their whole bodies, only wearing their pants and shoes. As he was flattened against the ground for the third time in a row, the apprentice grunted, pushing his opponent’s leg away from his body. He lied still, catching his breath and looking at the sky, relishing a moment of peace after suffering so many collisions.

“You’re giving up already ?” His partner laughed, standing by his side and hiding the sun from his face while he offered him his hand. “Come on, I’m going easy on you.”

“It’s easy for you, you’ve done that before.” Taemin ranted although he accepted the help and soon stood up, dusting his pants. “Just let me win once at least !”

“You will never learn that way, you gotta accept to be molested a bit. I’m even making sure you land slowly when I could throw you ! See, I have mercy for an elder.”

“Tell that to the bruises I’ll have tomorrow.”

Jongin laughed out loud and gently tapped his friend’s shoulder before he led him to one of the buckets of water that were dispersed here and there in the yard. As both friends washed their face and drank a few mouthfuls as well, their mentor clapped his hands to announce the end of the training after two hours. The relieved sigh Taemin let out didn’t go unnoticed and he blushed when his brothers in arms turned towards him, some holding their laughter back while others gave him a sort of disapproving yet affectionate look.

The young man apologized with an awkward smile and was dragged away by his friend, the latter’s grip showing how strong he was as a rather expert in wrestling. The apprentice exaggerated a painful whine but followed without protesting, knowing that it was better for his butt to escape the foot of the master of martial arts. It wasn’t like Taemin was a bad student, it was quite the opposite : but his face was extremely expressive and he struggled keeping it straight. Could it be joy or annoyance, boredom or cheekiness, his features said it all.

Only Jinki had enough power of a mentor to keep him calm and focused, because a certain bond had grown between them. But as soon as the General was out of sight, the eighteen years old soldier dropped his seriousness in favor of some games with his friends. He had been lucky to find a lot of comrades of his age but rare were those who could ignore the fact he had been taken under their leader’s wing. He didn’t mind the ones who couldn’t, after all he understood his special position might look misplaced to some.

However, he had found Jongin and two other soldiers, the four of them making a joyful gang. They had helped him training and catching up for being behind them, seeing their sessions more as meetings than real working moments. He considered he couldn’t have become a soldier without them, and he was endlessly grateful.

At that moment, all trainings had come to an end and recruits were slowly coming out of their respective yards. Taemin and his friend stood there, waiting for the other two to join them by talking about how they could improve their wrestling skills. Only a few minutes were enough for two young men to reach them, scaring them and tapping their shoulders while laughing. They were all sweating from their training, even Moonkyu who practiced archery and had had to shoot while moving today, when Wonsik had worked his dueling abilities.

Joyfully chatting, the four men walked towards the dormitory they shared and prepared their official military uniforms. Their training outfits were all dirty and soaked with sweat, and that was a rule for them to only wear their uniform when they wouldn’t be practicing ; it was more a way to show off who they were, they should always keep it clean. In no time, the friends were heading to their shared bathroom, getting naked without an ounce of shyness before entering their respective shower cubicle.

“How does it feel to live with us now ?” Wonsik asked the newest soldier while rubbing his skin with soap. “Don’t you miss your personal quarters ?”

“Not really, I didn’t like them.” Taemin shrugged. “They were smaller than Kibum’s but so huge for me, it wasn’t really comfortable.”

“It always surprises me when you call the Prince by his name.” Moonkyu whistled, impressed. “Like my friend is close to our sovereign, his childhood friend ! Isn’t it burdensome ?”

“You know, back in Mongje he was a noble so it doesn’t feel that different here. He’s my closest friend before being my sovereign, so if he ever needs me I will immediately go to him.”

“He didn’t need you for their journey ? You went to all of them but not that one, or did the General not allow you to, now that you’re a soldier like us ?”

“I asked to stay, I have some… business, here, while these two are away. By the way guys, I need your help. We don’t have a permission before a week, right ?”

“Yeah, we’ll have a day-off in six days.” Jongin nodded. “You better not propose another getaway, we really got lucky that time. If we’d got caught…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning it with you. I have to escape tonight, I can’t wait for six days so… I need you to cover for me. ”

Seeing the confused look in his friends’ eyes, the young soldier smirked and made them wait for the moment they would head back to their dormitory to put clothes on. He didn’t want to be heard by any curious ears that could wander around the bathrooms, and he knows the recruits tended to do that a lot… especially with the youngest ones, just to scare them even though they didn’t mean any harm by doing so. It was their way to welcome them in the army !

For sure the three young men didn’t ask Taemin the reason behind his wish to leave the palace by night, when he wasn’t allowed to. They weren’t invasive when it came to each other’s personal life, they naturally talked about themselves a lot to get closer but they knew where the boundaries were. Although Jongin was a bit reluctant at first, the other two’s excitement was enough to convince him to, at least, give this plan a try.

They kept everything secret until night fell, and the curfew rang for every soldier. At that moment, they were all commanded to join their dormitories and get an healthy number of sleeping hours, for their usual awakening was planned once the sun had fully risen. About half an hour after all recruits had went to bed, their supervisor came to check if none of them was thinking of disobeying — the rhythm was always difficult to adopt for the youngest soldiers who had still so much energy to burn.

Once he had left, the four friends raised their head from their blankets and waited a bit more… until Taemin got up, fully dressed with common clothes. While the other three were leaving their bed in their turn but making sure they were wearing their night outfit, the soon-to-be runaway tied his hair in a messy ponytail, strands escaping here and there and covering his forehead and temples. With the discretion they learned to master the past few months, they left the room and quietly made their way out.

Steps by steps, they managed to slip into the gardens, using the trees and several plants to hide themselves from any sentry around. When the lowest outer wall was in sight, they stopped and looked at each other, revising their plan : it was simple, but it called for their acting skills… which they weren’t exactly practicing on a daily basis. As the young men they were, they cheered by quietly doing their secret group handshake, before Taemin left them to discreetly head to the aforesaid wall.

Jongin, Wonsik and Moonkyu waited a few seconds for the other soldier to be far enough before they took a deep breath. Now, it was their turn to create a diversion that wouldn’t get them in trouble. After all, they weren’t in their bed long after the curfew hour… without a word, they decided which one of them would be the best actor and so, the first to leave and be noticed. They couldn’t take too long to decide and it was settled quite fast, Wonsik doing a military salute before he sneaked away from the large bush they were hiding behind.

The young man remained crouched until he was near the closest troop of sentries, and he inhaled deeply before leaving his hiding place. He made sure he seemed to come from the dormitories when he went on the gravel path, closing his eyes and purposely walking slowly and not quite straight. From behind, his two friends watched him and as soon as he had started acting, they followed his path.

It wasn’t long for the sentries to notice them, but when one of them was about to call them, Jongin did a big hand gesture before putting his finger on his lips, immediately imitated by Moonkyu. The elder soldiers grew intrigued and the two who were standing on the ground approached, their comrades still on top of the watchtower and not knowing what was happening. Within a few seconds, Wonsik had almost reached them but was still walking with his eyes closed… pretending to be sleeping.

The other two recruits eventually ran to be at his level and prevented the older man to rudely grab their friend.

“He’s sleepwalking !” Moonkyu whispered, showing his best fake concerned face. “Please don’t wake him up, it could be really unsafe for him.”

“We’re really sorry, he usually doesn’t leave our dormitory or at least the quarters…” Jongin added. “We didn’t wake up in time to stop him. Didn’t the General Lee warn you about him ?”

“Not at all.” The sentry replied. “Why the hell was he sleeping with his sword ?”

“With his… wow !”

All men jumped backwards when Wonsik suddenly unsheathed his blade that was hanging to the baldric he had tied around his night shirt. With his eyes still closed and letting low grunts out, he pretended to hit an invisible enemy, forcing the two soldiers in the watchtower to look at the scene. As the most logical reaction, they left their position and went down the ladders to help their brothers in arms out. It was the signal.

As every single person who could have seen Taemin was now busy trying to control the fighting sleepwalker, the young recruit smirked and climbed over the wall, letting himself slide outside. He made sure no one was making their round near him and smiled before he started running towards the village, not stopping once between the houses and closed shops. The streets were calm at that hour although there was still light in some habitations, but the young man didn’t even notice it.

He only cared about his destination : the school. He arrived in front of the building, out of breath, and held his knees to catch it back. Jonghyun hadn’t lied : it wasn’t easy to go from the palace to his place, but the way was sloping in this direction… it must be even tougher for the teacher to come visit them. The soldier raised his head and sighed with relief when he made out a faded light from the first floor’s window.

Window that was open, certainly to let the cool breeze of this spring night enter and refresh the room. Taemin studied the house’s structure, taking his time to analyse the potential spaces he could put his feet on or grab hold of with his bare hands. It was an advantage that the building was of an old kind, which meant it had beams here and there to hold the walls. It should be easy.

No sooner said than done, the young man was slowly but surely climbing up the school’s front wall. The ground floor’s windows made some perfect grips for his feet to rest on, while he was using the beams to lift himself higher. At some point, he gained too much confidence and went faster, resulting in his foot slipping on a too frail frame and breaking it. Hissing, the soldier waited a few seconds to make sure he was out of danger ; he really didn’t want to fall to his death, not when he had spent so many months becoming the one he wanted.

As he took a deep breath and started climbing again, it only took him a few seconds to eventually reach the open window. He grabbed hold of the ledge and pulled himself on it, crouching and taking care of not making a mess of his friend’s belongings. He stepped over the desk and sighed when he found himself safe, standing on the wooden floor. That was what we could call a cleared mission !

“Taemin ? What the hell are you doing here ?”

The surprise made the young man scream and he turned over while stepping backwards… leading his own body to fall because of the sudden disequilibrium. His butt hit the floor with a rough sound and he grunted, but it was without counting the way Jonghyun immediately reacted, helping him to stand and even dusting his pants.

“What were you thinking ?” He softly asked. “Do you know I have a door you can knock at ?”

“Yes but I need some challenges, and I climbed really well !” The soldier retorted, sticking out his chest as if he had just passed the toughest trial ever. “This said, my hand hurts.”

“Let me see. Hasn’t the General told you to always wear gloves when you climb up something made of wood ? Here, it’s just a splinter so stay still and let me do my magic, understood ?”

“Yes !”

With a smile, the teacher led his young friend to his bedroom, allowing him to sit on his bed while he rummaged in what looked like a makeshift dressing table. The older man had made himself comfortable even though he wouldn’t sleep before hours, wearing light cotton pants and a loose shirt with a large collar showing a bit of his chest. His blonde hair had grown a lot and since he had let it free after combing it, Taemin noticed it was now at the level of the small of his back.

Soon, Jonghyun was sitting next to him, holding his hands open as he carefully used a small medicinal tool to remove the splinter. His young friend made a face when he felt the slight pain under his skin, but he remained calm and waited for it to be over. It hadn’t been a long time since he had last seen the teacher, but he couldn’t tell why he had missed him so much ; the habit of seeing him almost every day when he was the Prince’s tutor was perhaps still hard to forget.

“There, it’s out.” The blonde said before standing up to throw the tiny piece of wood away. “Now will you tell me why you literally climbed up my house ?”

“I just wanted to see you.” Taemin replied a bit too fast. “I mean, you barely come to the palace now so…”

“And you’re a terrible liar.”

With a smile that looked quite sad, Jonghyun came back on the bed and stared at his friend. The latter bit his lower lip ; obviously, he had always been bad when it came to lie to anyone, and this was something he couldn’t improve. Or at least, not when he had lived so many years in the company of the two most perceptive men in all the realm.

“Alright, I lied.” He eventually sighed, giving up. “I just… I just want to talk with you, or should I say you to talk with me. Hyung, it really bothers me to see you so…”

“So what ?” The blonde asked, his voice still low but his tone showing a certain discomfort.

“So… lying. Listen, I’ve always observed you and Kibum hyung, I can read your faces like an open book and something changed on yours. I know it has something to do with the General, why do you refuse to talk about it ?”

“Because there is nothing to say.”

“You’re gritting your teeth, hyung, there definitely is something. I don’t want to have to follow you everywhere until you grow tired and spit everything out just because you want me to leave you alone. You can’t keep all of this to yourself… you’re going to burst out one day and it’ll destroy you. And maybe other persons…”

“Don’t you think the General has better things to think about than me ? Your curiosity is being a threat to your soldier’s behaviour, Taemin.”

“Then I would rather not be a soldier and have you being honest with me !”

“What are you saying…”

The teacher frowned and finally noticed the worry in the younger’s eyes. He wasn’t just being curious and trying to play the matchmaker or something, he really was worried about him. And the way he had just spit his last words out had made him feel like the one bursting out at the moment, his watering eyes betraying him. With a sigh combining guilt and a form of surrender, Jonghyun gently pulled Taemin into a warm hug.

The soldier immediately embraced him, his arms which grew stronger holding him tight and showing how he cared for his well-being. The blonde couldn’t deny it, his training and recent appointment had made a man of this teenager, and not only physically. He had also gained in maturity, commanding respect.

“Look at me.” The elder softly said as he withdrew, holding the other man’s shoulders. “Don’t ever give up on your dream, not now that you fulfilled it. You worked so hard, you can’t pretend to lose everything just because of something like this.”

“I just want you to talk with me, hyung.” Taemin replied. “I… I know you dislike these words, but I can see you love him.”

“Love—”

“Doesn’t exist, yes, I know what you think about it. But you’re lying to yourself, do you know how I can know that ? Because you mentioned your parents the other day, and how they… created this hatred for love feelings you have.”

“What do you want from me ?”

“To be honest, to tell me what made you close yourself to something you’re feeling ? You’re hurt, hyung, you can’t hide it. You’re suffering since the day the General broke up with you, or stopped whatever there was between you. He’s not here, he’s far away for a while so you can talk about him. No one will repeat. Please, just let it out…”

Jonghyun listened carefully to what was said to him, never interrupting nor protesting. He knew this day would come, he had somehow been waiting for Taemin to come to him after he had let his parents’ responsibility in his way of thinking slip. The kid had improved his way to observe people, it wasn’t only looking at their movements and anticipating potential danger… it was now about their thoughts as well, those thoughts that could make one suffer and lock themselves up.

Thoughts that could deprive one of happiness.

“My parents… loved each other.” The teacher eventually whispered. “At the beginning, they were in love and that’s the reason behind their wedding. Of course it was a good opportunity for their respective families since they were both nobles but… it was about love first.”

“I’m listening.” The soldier nodded, unwilling to cut his friend off.

“When I was born, they still loved each other. I think I saw them in love until I was… maybe seven years old ? Then it was just chaos, I was a kid and I just didn’t understand how they could have gone from a precious love to such a raging hate.”

“Did they fight ?”

“No, they never yelled at each other, never hit each other. It was worse because they… they just stopped talking. I’ve never seen them communicate since then, they pretended to still be in love in front of their friends but they never really spoke directly to each other. And you know, Taemin… when there is something wrong going on in a relationship, you should let it out, it doesn’t matter if you yell or stay calm, it… it just can’t be kept to oneself. Because silence is the worst poison ever, it kills you from inside, you… you become a ghost to the other person. It’s like nothing had ever happened, like you never existed in the other person’s eyes anymore. Choosing silence is like choosing the end of everything.”

“But they still talked to you, right…?”

“Of course, but they were somehow taking turns. They never intervened in one’s way to educate me, even if they didn’t agree with this or that. The atmosphere was just poisonous, and when I reached teenage years, it… it got worse. Because I couldn’t breathe at home. This constant silence was oppressing me, and I couldn’t stand how my mother would say that everything was perfectly fine with her husband to her friends. It was all fake.”

“Do you know why they stopped talking to each other ?”

“My mom cheated on my dad. Trust got destroyed and even more because dad found out about it through someone else. I know because mom ended up telling me, after she drank a bit too much. She regretted but she didn’t want to say it, because she had given up. She told me it was a mistake because my dad was working so much he didn’t seem to care about her anymore, until this guy showed up and promised to take the stars out of the sky for her. Truth is that my dad was working relentlessly to get a position with Lord Kim Taehyun, so he could give us an even better life. He succeeded. But he made my mom understand that his success would be beneficial to only one of us : her or me.”

“I guess she chose you… that’s what any mother would do, the happiness of their child comes first.”

“She did. She chose me and sent me as a tutor for Kibum. I left home and was able to breathe, it was like I’d been holding my breath for years to the point I was slowly suffocating. Meeting him, and you… it made me live again. But I promised myself to never, ever fall in the same trap my parents fell in.”

“I see… So… It’s not like you really don’t believe in love, right…? It was just a way to protect yourself, you tried to… how to say it, to believe in your own lie ?”

“Yes. And it worked well at first, I didn’t fall in love with Kibum even though I could have. He was so attached to me, he showed me his love no matter what but I held myself back. I’ve always held myself back.”

“Until you met the General…”

Jonghyun sighed and looked away for a moment, his chest feeling as if it was being compressed from inside by the simple mention of his former lover. He could still remember his touches, the warmth of his breath and the way his voice would always be so comforting, pure honey to his ears. By protecting himself, the teacher had lost more than he had expected.

“I wanted to protect him.” He confessed, and Taemin widened his eyes when he saw a tear rolling down his friend’s cheek. “I wasn’t only selfish, because what happened between my parents could happen to me, or to the person trusting me. I could have been the guilty one in the couple, and no one deserves to suffer like my dad suffered. I was protecting myself but also everyone who was having feelings for me.”

“You rejected Kibum hyung, but not him…” The young soldier said, taking the other man’s hand in his. “Why didn’t you reject him ?”

“Because he rejected me first.”

The sad smile from before reappeared on the blonde’s face, and he turned his head towards the younger man. His eyes were shining with tears that didn’t want to fall.

“And I was caught off guard.” Jonghyun pursued. “When he left, I’ve never felt so cold in all my life. And it was a cold you couldn’t counter, no blanket was thick enough, no fire could burn enough to get me warm. Because…”

“Yes…?”

“Because he left to protect me, from him. From his feelings for me… He decided to stop everything because he respected my vision. He smiled at me, he kissed me one last time and then left without turning back.”

“Were you angry at him for doing this ?”

“No. I was… grateful. Because he did it for me, he knew he had feelings and he sacrificed them for me, because I’m the one who doesn’t want to be in love. But… it… it…”

“It hurt… because you love him and you can’t deny it anymore, now that he’s gone…”

The teacher remained quiet for a few seconds and ended up nodding, slowly, without looking at his friend. And as soon as he admitted it, even without saying it out loud, he found himself taking the deepest breath he had ever taken, his ribcage opening to let his lungs — and his heart — escape their cell. He only needed to close his eyes for all the tears to fall, and a sob shook his body, hurt twisted his features.

Taemin reacted immediately, approaching his elder and taking him in his arms. The other man just let him do, abandoning himself for the first time ever. And there, in the darkness of the small bedroom, he realized it was now real : Jonghyun was in love with Jinki, and more than that, he admitted it himself.

Minho had just finished getting dressed this morning, after he had been woken up by the unfamiliar noise of a few seagulls. In Jinju, he was used to hear nightingales and robins sing in the trees, but he had to admit the seaside was full of surprise. The air’s scent wasn’t the same either, it constantly smelled of sea sprays, a natural marine fragrance that was always accompanied with the sound of waves throwing themselves on the beaches of white sand.

It felt pleasantly different, a soothing atmosphere seeming to hold him in soft arms, gently rocking him. As expected, the spring weather was mild despite the breeze, thus the King was not wearing his ceremonial coat. Instead, he had chosen a sleeveless jacket above his shirt, an item of clothing that was still just as majestic with its golden ornaments. He had noticed when they had arrived that both rulers let their hair free, dancing with the wind and not suffocating under hats ; it had been a very good pretext for him to let his royal headgear in his quarters.

He was walking in the castle’s corridors, his dark brown hair falling on his shoulders and back, with only a golden diadem being noticeable behind his thick fringe. It was the one the Prince had once made him wear, and even though the contact of cold metal around his head had first been unpleasant, Minho had grown used to it. The fact his husband liked it on him was enough of a reason to wear it proudly.

After a few steps on his own, the young man eventually reached the huge doors of the dining room where breakfast should be served. He waited to be announced before entering, his posture demonstrating his inborn magnificence as he walked towards the long table. Standing at its end, the King of Pugye was smiling at him and stretching an arm to welcome his guest.

“Good morning, your Highness.” He gently yet formally said, bowing with respect. “I hope you slept well, are your quarters satisfying enough ?”

“They are, thank you.” Minho smiled in return before accepting the invitation and sitting.

In front of him, a few plates were displayed and included both savoury and sweet dishes. There were so many that he didn’t know what to begin with, but he was waiting for his host and his respective partners to join them. However, when he looked up, he noticed King Yunho had started serving himself.

“Shouldn’t we wait for her Majesty and his Grace to join us ?” The King of Jinju asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, they already had breakfast together.” The other man replied. “My wife is an early bird and she ran into his Grace earlier this morning.”

“It is a pity to not have them with us.”

“His Grace expressed his wish to walk to the sea, but do not worry, he is in great company. We can join them right after we filled our stomaches, if you would like to ?”

“Yes, this is a wonderful idea.”

With a smile, Minho wished his host to eat well before he served himself with diverse dishes. The evening before, when he had arrived at the castle with his husband and their escort, he had been pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome they had received. The Sea Kingdom wasn’t the biggest one in terms of surface area, yet it was counterbalanced by the impressive kindness of its rulers.

Pugye was known for venerating two higher entities : the Goddess of the Sea and the God of the Wind. The old legends said they had fallen in love despite their so different natures, at a period the water was always calm, unmoving and reflecting the sky like an eternal mirror. The wind had first been floating and flying above the clouds, until a hole in one of them had made him discovered the sea, down there. The way the sun was shining on this translucent liquid, making it scintillate, was the most beautiful thing it had ever seen.

It had been how the God had decided to leave the sky and use his power to seduce the Sea. Their relationship had kept growing throughout the years, and their mutual love could be seen every time the wind came down from the clouds to embrace his lover. He was either grazing her or vowed his fiery passion to her, and their shared moments could be seen in the waves that made the Goddess leave her immobile state to move in harmony with her other half.

Following this legend, it had been decided that the Pugye would always be ruled by an imperturbable Queen, with the precious help of a fervent King. For the kingdom was drawing its culture and wealth from the see, it had seemed evident that its inhabitants should venerate the Goddess first, so it was the woman of the royal couple who owned more power.

And Minho had never seen someone who impersonated the Goddess of the Sea better than Queen Boa. She seemed to have been chosen by the entity itself to represent the place that had been built at the edge of the White Sea. From their very first encounter, he had noticed how Kibum had been extremely impressed by her presence, to the point he had stuttered when introducing himself.

It wasn’t a surprise at all that the two of them were spending a time together, for the Queen herself had been pleasantly surprised by the Prince of Jinju. As for him, the King had immediately found a brotherly aura in the person of Yunho, Boa’s husband, and he felt comfortable being only in his presence. They were talking like two old friends who had always known each other, and their talking points weren’t only about royal matters.

After a few moments, they were done with their breakfast and stood side by side as they headed outside. They followed the rampart walk until a descending staircase made of limestones, as white as the polished ones that were used to build the whole castle, yet left with a naturally rough appearance. The last step was covered with sand, leading directly to the long beach that was lapped by gentle waves.

“I suggest you take your shoes off from here, your Highness.” Yunho said as he removed his own. “The sensation of sand going in them is terrible, unlike when you walk on it with your bare feet.”

Nodding, the young King followed the advice and let his shoes on the stairs before allowing his feet to graze the sand, warm and deliciously comfortable. It had been a long time since the last time he had travelled to the sea, but the memory hit him as soon as he started walking on the beach, relishing the sensation under his soles, the sound of waves and the salted, marine fragrance.

They only need a few steps to soon distinguish the Prince and the Queen, slowly walking in their direction and talking. They noticed them as well and waved, both duos going a bit faster to reach each other quickly. As if it was a reflex, Minho and Boa immediately switched places to stand next to their respective husband, and they exchanged a smile.

“Did you sleep well, your Highness ?” The woman asked. “I am sorry that we did not wait for you to have breakfast, I guess someone was in a haste to see the sea.”

“I slept well, thank you, and yes, I have been told you had been kidnapped by my husband early today.” The King laughed, his words making Kibum look at him with daggers in his eyes. “I’m teasing you.”

“Her Majesty and I talked a lot about her kingdom.” The Prince told his husband, smiling. “Did you know the castle wasn’t actually built on a simple cliff, but a huge salt mine ?”

“Oh really ?”

“If we hadn’t this much salt, we couldn’t make our seafood come to you in a tolerable state.” Yunho explained. “We are just lucky that it was here, we never lack and it is a real advantage to our business. Would you like to visit it, your Grace ?”

“Can we ?”

“Of course, I promise you it will impress you. We could show you a lot of places in Pugye during your stay, and also allow you to do a fishing boat ride. Have you ever travelled on the sea ?”

“I have not, but I suppose my first time will happen in your wonderful kingdom.”

Seeing his husband’s enthusiasm, Minho could only smile and let him talk while looking at him and his sparkling eyes. He remembered his uneasiness when they had travelled to Dongjeo, and his extra responsibility when going to Maguk hadn’t let him make the most of his stay there. But here, in Pugye, he was like another man. His face was as fresh as the air and his smile meant everything.

“Before we start our sightseeing, would you please allow me a moment alone with my husband ?” The King politely asked. “We will join you soon.”

“Naturally, your Highness.” Boa joyfully said. “We will be waiting for you in the yard.”

“Perfect, please warn my General about our upcoming walk, I would have coming him with us since he also needs some rest. And if he refuses, do not hesitate to tell him it is an order from you, he will comply more than with me.”

“I see, I will use my power diligently. We will see you in a bit, then.”

Without further words, the royal couple of the Sea Kingdom bowed to their guests and made their way along the beach until they couldn’t be seen anymore. As soon as they were completely alone, Minho turned towards his husband to see him a few steps away, offering him his back as he stared at the sea. The brown haired man slowly approached and smiled when he saw Kibum with his eyes closed, breathing deeply and his long, free strands slightly flying in the wind.

With care, he slid his hands on the other man’s side from behind, until he was circling his waist and holding him against his torso. While putting his chin on the thing shoulder, the King appreciated the feeling of soft hands covering his. Both men stayed like that for a moment, not talking to each other and just relishing this so unfamiliar yet comfortable atmosphere.

“It’s the first time I see it.” The Prince eventually spoke with an emotional voice. “The sea.”

“How do you feel ?” His husband asked, looking at the way the morning sun was shining on the calm water.

“Appeased. It’s like all the worries that remained in my mind just… faded away, by looking at this view. I wasn’t ill but it feels like I healed, somehow. I couldn’t explain.”

“It’s cradling you in a soothing way. What do you like the most here ? The sound of waves ?”

“The smell. The sound is really working like a lullaby and it feels comfortable but… I’m breathing a new air, so pure and… relaxing. I can breathe, and I feel free.”

“Even when you’re trapped by my arms ?”

“Yes, don’t you dare letting me go.”

Minho laughed with a low voice before he buried his face in the crook of Kibum’s neck, putting a soft kiss on the skin he found. He felt the other man’s thumb caressing the back of his hand and slowly turning his head ; when he straightened up, the King found the Prince’s face close to his, his feline eyes quietly calling him. With a smile, he took his time to approach him, their warm breaths melting into each other before their lips met.

The raven haired man rarely was the one asking for a kiss or starting it, yet this time he was feeling so fine that he had only needed this for his mind to be complete. He kissed his husband with an incredible softness, one of his hands raising to hold Minho’s cheek and keep him close. When he eventually withdrew, he pressed their foreheads together and made the most of this intimate moment, in a foreign place that made him feel at home.

“What do you think about walking in water ?” The King whispered, making the other man open his eyes. “It’s different from a river.”

“Can we ?” Kibum asked, his eyes starting to sparkle again at the simple thought of his feet entering the sea. “Is it allowed ?”

“The sea doesn’t belong to anyone.”

As a way to affirm his statement, the younger man let go of his husband and crouched to grab the hem of his linen trousers. He gently rolled them up before doing the same with his own, and it only needed a knowing stare for the Prince to smile and slowly walk towards the sea. He seemed reluctant at first, after all it was his first time and he had no idea how different it could be from a simple river. Would it be colder ? Would he feel the salt against his skin ?

He remained for a moment at the edge of this beautiful area, the tide still not lapping his toes. However, he heard a familiar sound and when he looked up, he saw Minho with water up to his calfs, foam forming around his skin. And when he stretched his arm to offer him his hand, Kibum could only smile and take it, making his first steps in the sea. He didn’t hold a loud inspiration back when he finally felt it.

It was softer than he had expected, and he stared at his feet which he could see through the translucent water. Without saying anything, he started walking alongside the beach, never going further in order not to wet his clothes. He never let go of the King’s hand, the latter interlacing their fingers as they walked side by side, slowly, taking their time to return to the castle.

When a slightly higher wave hit them just under the hem of their trousers, the Prince let a tiny scream out and jumped closer to his husband, who laughed and held him by his waist. Minho felt happier than he had ever felt ; witnessing something that seemed so unremarkable as someone walking in the sea had become the most beautiful spectacle. He was beyond grateful to be the one accompanying Kibum in this first experience, for once.

He couldn’t wait for them to take the rest they deserved, together, by visiting this healing kingdom.

And for sure they did, their smile never leaving their faces by days passing in Pugye.

When their convoy hit the ground of Jinju’s palace again, the King and Prince weren’t feeling as much at peace as they had been in the Sea Kingdom. On their third day in this wonderful place, they had been surprised by a quite violent storm coming directly from the open sea, what the priests had interpreted like a fight between the two divine entities. The God of Wind had then left his lover and was now blowing through the whole kingdom, threatening with anger.

If Pugye’s constructions were all reinforced with stones, preventing them to be destroyed by a tempest, it wasn’t the case in Minho’s kingdom. They had had to shorten their trip for the sake of Jinju’s people, and had travelled behind the storm. The natural disaster had reached their home before them, a dark sky pouring violent rain and the wind only making it even more uncontrollable.

Before they could get completely wet, the two husbands ran from their carriage to the palace, entering the Pearl Room when they were welcomed by the Queen Mother, her eyes showing her anxiety.

“Bless the Gods, you are safe !” She sighed with relief before hugging her son and taking her son-in-law’s hands in hers. “I was afraid you would stay blocked somewhere because of the weather.”

“Mother, we saw this storm in Pugye.” Minho told her while the General was summoning the whole army in the room to wait for their sovereign’s orders. “It was already strong there and will only grow stronger. We can’t do anything against it but we have to protect our people.”

“Was it dangerous back there ?”

“Your Majesty, the wind was powerful enough to break everything that was made of wood.” Kibum intervened. “Every house built with stones was spared so it didn’t did a lot of damages, but here…”

“We need to evacuate the people.” The King decided. “The renovations of the town hadn’t ended and there are some areas with houses that are only made of wood. We have to protect every single person who lives in a place that can be destroyed.”

“What are your orders, my King ?” Jinki stepped in.

“I want two squadrons, the first one will evacuate people whose habitations and lives are threatened and bring them here in the Pearl Room. We will wet up a refuge for as long as the storm keeps going. For the second one, they will split up and go tell every other family to stay in their house, most of them had been reinforced so it will be fine.”

“I will take care of preparing the room.” The Prince added. “Do not let them waste time by taking clothes or blankets, they will have everything here. Also, just in case there are flying debris, take shields and protect yourselves, protect the people you will escort. Do not let them come to us alone.”

As one man, all soldiers answered positively and listened to their General separating them and giving orders to let them go in a methodical way. Kibum couldn’t help but flinch when he saw Taemin in the front row, but the young man looked determined and his older friend tried his best to repress his worries. In no time, the huge room was empty and a few employees were running here and there, moving furnitures away and bringing as much blankets and pillows as they could.

While the Prince was giving his orders in the kitchens to have warm soup ready for the rescued people, the storm grew stronger outside and thunder started rumbling. The dark sky soon was torn up by bolts of lightning, the rain pouring more and more as the wind kept blowing. Panic started invading everyone’s mind but they chased the thought away, making sure to have everything prepared.

When the first persons arrived, a few families with children with one being brought by Jinki in person, they were immediately taken care of by house boys and girls who led them to a space where they helped hem drying themselves. The kids got undressed and wrapped in warm blankets, bowls of soup soon given while the tempest was still raging outside. When the newcomers grew more and more numerous, the King, the Prince and the Queen Mother pitched in to welcome and help, calling for the physician to tend to some superficial injuries caused by debris.

“We are running out of space, your Highness !” Yerim soon said loudly.

And indeed, the Pearl Room was completed invaded when people kept coming. Minho noticed some of them weren’t part of those who must come, but it wasn’t the right time to eject humans who wanted to be safe.

“Make space in the dining room and in the Council Room as well.” He told the house girl. “This should be enough to welcome everyone.”

Nodding, the young woman ran away to comply to her sovereign’s orders, and the situation was handled with no difficulty. After half an hour, newcomers were less and less frequent, until all soldiers were back in the palace with Jinki closing the huge doors behind them. The latter sent his soldiers to help every single person, man, woman or child who needed help or just reassurance, before he made his way through the sitting crowd.

He grabbed the King by his arm and the Prince instantly joined them, the three men standing in the middle of the room.

“My soldiers evacuated everyone who lived in the south of the town.” The General said. “They passed the word so it was easier for us, I had to intervene with the second squadron because some nobles refused to stay inside when their houses were perfectly safe.”

“You did well to do so.” Minho nodded. “I hope we didn’t forget anyone…”

“My sergeant made his report, everyone should be here and they even checked in the endangered houses to make sure they were empty.”

“Were they injured soldiers ?”

“A few, mostly because of the flying objects, but they were taken care of.”

“Can you tell me something again ?” Kibum spoke in, his eyes scanning the crowd. “What areas of the town had to be evacuated ?”

“Mostly the south, where some shops are.” Jinki obeyed. “The barns, the inn, the school and all houses concerned.”

“The school…”

“It’s the oldest building of the town.” The King frowned. “The most breakable.”

“Wh-Where is Jonghyun ?”

The Prince started turning round and round, searching for the slightest blond strand in the crowd. He ran to the two other rooms they had prepared but there was no trace of the teacher. The General’s face turned white and he called his sergeant to make him repeat his report.

“Did you go to the school ?” He hurriedly asked. “Did you check no one was there ?”

“There couldn’t have been any child in the house at that hour, Sir.” The soldier replied, but he knew he had done something wrong.

“Sir Jonghyun is living above the school !” Minho shouted, losing his temper when he saw his husband become pale as well.

“Have you seen him ?” Jinki pressed his recruit. “He’s fucking blonde, have you seen someone blonde in that fucking town ?!”

“No, Sir…!”

Kibum held onto the King as his legs failed him, the latter catching him and calling for someone to bring him water. What he hadn’t expected was for the General to curse out loud before running between the sitting people, towards the door.

“General !” Minho shouted. “Jinki !”

The soldier ignored the calls, he didn’t even hear them. He was thinking about one person only, fear twisting his stomach. He opened the door and went outside, and before he could be caught back by anyone… he had run away and disappeared in the storm.

#minkey #minho #key #kibum #shinee #fanfic #historical #kingdom of jinju #jongyu #jonghyun #onew #jinki #taemin

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alittletournesol · 5 years

Text

Kingdom Of Jinju {MinKey} part 22/33

Chapter 22 : Silence

Days had passed with the sun not being bright enough to bring the light back in the Prince’s eyes. Nights had passed with only the pale moon keeping the King’s company during his insomnias. A whole month had flown by, ruled by silence, until the new moon had announced the beginning of the long-awaited hunting season. And that morning, right before the sun rose, the weather was the perfect illustration of the husbands’ situation.

Cold, with a quite thick fog making everything hard to see through.

It was too early to hear birds chirping to welcome a new day, but the gardens’ grass and miscellaneous vegetation were covered in dew. The fragrance was refreshing, and the slight sensation of humidity wasn’t as unpleasant as Kibum would have thought when he had been woken up an hour before. He hadn’t been resting well at night for the past few weeks, until his best friend had proposed him to sleep next to him just like the good old times.

Curiously, a simple presence by his side had helped him to feel better, warmer, and his nights had become a bit more restful. That morning, he had been pulled out of his sleep by a gentle hand shaking his shoulder, these manly yet soft fingers being Jinki’s. He had whispered that it was time, careful not to wake a still asleep Taemin up, rolled into a ball at the other edge of the bed. The Prince had first frowned, not understanding why the General was coming himself to his quarters… until he had noticed the latter was wearing his archer’s attire.

The first day of hunt had come and with it, Kibum’s first day of leadership for the dozen of hunters who would accompany him almost every early morning for a few weeks. It should have been his husband’s task to lead this event, however it had been decided that it would be him, for his archery skills had impressed more than just one person. Moreover, soldiers had grown respectful of their Prince as an archer, since the day he had come in person in the yard to demonstrate and teach them.

Everything had been settled quite naturally, Minho stepping down and regretfully hiding his tremendous pride towards the man he had married. Since their fight, they had avoided any form of direct communication between each other, or more accurately, Kibum had. The King was standing at his quarters’ window, wearing only his royal dressing gown as he observed the whole scene happening under his eyes.

Twelve soldiers were standing straight in their hunters’ outfit, forming a line and patiently waiting for their leader. It didn’t last long and Minho’s eyes followed two silhouettes coming from inside, which he knew way too well. The first man to join the recruits and give them his salute before commanding them to show their respect to the Prince, was his childhood friend. Jinki, as was his habit, was sticking out his chest and exploiting his intense stare to make himself be obeyed to without a flinch.

Just as usual, his hair was tied in a strict military bun, but he had traded his General’s attire with clothes that were lighter than his heavy coat of mail, and coloured in a way they would go unnoticeable in the woods. Different shades of grey and brown were already making him quite invisible through the fog, and the King knew he would certainly disappear between trees and bushes. On his back, the soldier had tied his quiver and bow, but he still had two daggers hung to his baldric. A sword would have been too cumbersome, but he had to have blades with him.

When he commanded his recruits to stand to attention, Minho found himself leaning on a bit more to watch the second man entering the yard. And his breath was taken away as his eyes widened at the sight of the Prince, walking with elegance and looking like the Elfes of the old legends. His attire was the same as Jinki, but their silhouettes were quite different and it fit closely to Kibum’s body, so deliciously that the King swallowed with difficulty.

His husband’s sleeveless tunic was long to mid-thigh, the fabric covering his shoulders and upper chest dark grey while the rest was a trunk-like brown. To distinguish these two colours, the emblem of the kingdom had been sewed at the exact center of the separating line, the well-known nacreous pearl shaped like a rain drop, circled with golden leaves hanging on a thin line. The whole item of clothing was taken in at the waist, with a thin belt accessorising the ensemble and emphasising the young man’s silhouette.

Under the tunic, he was wearing a shirt of the same shade of grey, with long sleeves and made with a fabric that would keep him warm enough in the morning woods. The end of each sleeve had a golden finish that was distinguishing him from his men, showing his higher status and leadership. To end, he was wearing dark pants and soldiers-like shoes with an extra detail that made Minho frown a bit. He had seen so many of this kind of shoes before, but he was sure that the short heels Kibum had on his had been added recently by their cobbler.

The sovereign couldn’t help but smile at the thought of his husband always adding a bit of himself to everything, even to his traditional clothes. However, it always suited him with a magnificent way that could only be his way, no one could wear heels on hunting shoes as naturally as him. He loved it. As he was done inspecting the Prince’s attire, he looked up to see his face, and the feline features he found so attractive hit him once again. They were even more emphasised by the way Kibum had tied his long hair in a high ponytail, the end of his eyebrows being slightly drawn out.

He was gorgeous, so gorgeous that Minho didn’t hear a single one of the raven haired man’s instructions before he watched him getting into the saddle and caressing his black mare’s neck. He was immediately imitated by the General and a few of the hunters, most of them remaining walkers. The King observed his husband adjust his long bow on his back, the bow he had already seen before and that he knew was really precious to its owner.

He would have loved to call him to wish him good luck for his first hunt, and for sure he would have been heard for his quarters weren’t that high compared to the yard. But he refrained himself, remembering they weren’t in good terms at the moment and that it was all his fault. Countless times, he had tried to talk with him but Kibum had taken the best precautions ever, by asking Jinki to remain by his side at any time. Minho couldn’t do anything against it, and even his childhood best friend seemed to have chosen a side.

So he let him go, leave the palace and lead the hunters, only watching him from afar. When the huge doors closed on this silhouette he wanted to hold so dearly against him again, it was like a cold draught slapped him. He stepped backwards, getting away from the window and sitting back on his bed, alone.

***

The woods were pleasantly calm at such an early hour, as Kibum quietly swept the place with his eyes. Sitting straight on his saddle, he had his forearm raised to prevent any of his soldiers to make a move while he was looking for some game. The fog had reduced and wasn’t a bother anymore, for the first rays of sunlight were piercing through it and giving the leaves and bushes a warm color. It had been a good hour since they had left, and the Prince had made them split into two squadrons.

It would have been way too obvious for animals if a dozen of silhouettes were moving at a same place, so it had been decided that they would cover more of the terrain. Kibum had designated Jinki as the leader of his own team, and they had left to hunt at the border of the forest, where the river was flowing and made a perfect place for game to come and drink. As for him, the young Prince had led the six soldiers left more inside, on the animals’ territory itself.

They had already caught a few rabbits and game birds, but now that the sun was going higher and higher in the sky, they hadn’t much time left. They had had to start their big-game hunting, and Kibum really could brag about his ability to track deers. As he allowed everyone to get their bow ready, he made his mare slowly walk forwards, his eyes never leaving the trail he had noticed.

“There is not only one.” He whispered. “We will not approach them too much, otherwise they will smell us and perhaps hear it when we draw our bows. Once we see them, I want two of you to aim at one of them, shoot their legs to prevent them from escaping so we do not waste our arrows.”

As one man, the hunters nodded and grabbed an arrow in their quiver, already placing it on their bow as they walked slowly. They blindly trusted their leader, and they knew they had done well when, just as expected, they could made out a stag, three does and a fawn grazing in a clearing. Kibum raised his hand to make them stop, and by some moves with his fingers, he noticed the steps to follow as himself untied his bow from his back. As quietly as possible, his soldiers positioned themselves in duos, waiting for a signal to draw.

The Prince could already feel a drop of sweat on his forehead as he was alone to aim at the stag. He would certainly have to follow it and shoot a second time while riding, which he was usually gifted for… To make sure he would weaken the beast enough, he drew his bow not with one but two arrows at once. The slow movement of pulling the string slightly creaked but thankfully not enough to catch the game’s attention.

As he was imitated by the hunters, Kibum quickly glanced at each duo to make sure they were ready, and to give them the signal, he shot first. As soon as they heard the sound of his arrow piercing the air, the six men shot in their turn and their intense training bore fruit. The three does tried to run away when they felt the pain, but their legs were hurt and they could barely make a move. However, the Prince had missed the stag’s sinew and even though it had two arrows stuck in its back leg, he managed to escape.

“Catch them.”

With these words, he abandoned his soldiers as he held his mare’s reins with one hand, the other one holding both his bow and a third arrow. In no time, he made his mount run through the clearing, then between the trees. The hurt animal was slow, but the hunter couldn’t risk to approach it and be hit by its antlers. Just like he had learned it, Kibum held the horse’s flanks tight with his legs to prevent himself from falling despite the trotting movement and his hands not holding anything anymore.

At the same time, he took a few precious seconds to draw his bow and to find his arms’ balance, deeply focusing on his target to the extent it was like he didn’t feel his own body moving anymore. With his two eyes open, he waited for the moment the stag would make the slightest move to turn and leave him behind… and he shot. The animal roared and its back leg failed to carry it any longer, making it fall heavily on the ground.

Seeing this, Kibum grabbed the reins again and pulled them to stop his mare not far from the stag, between some trees, before he let himself slide down. He only needed a few steps to reach the hurt, majestic animal that had three arrows stuck in one leg. Kneeling near it and not within the antlers’ reach, the Prince removed each projectile and cleaned them a bit before putting them back in his quiver. He then tied his bow on his back and took his dagger, but as he was about to put an end to the stag’s suffering, he heard a grunt and bushes moving, way too close.

Since he had participated in many hunts before, he knew exactly what kind of game was approaching, and he immediately stood up to approach the nearest tree and climb as high as possible. His arrows could do nothing to help him, for the animal’s skin was way too thick, it would only anger it. Once he was safe, sitting on a branch that could support his weight, he remembered his mare and glanced at it, raising his fingers to his mouth to whistle piercingly.

Thankfully, Mano had been broken in like all horses of the royal stables, to recognise a few orders only thanks to a particular whistle. As she heard the sharp noise, she reacted at once and galloped away, in the direction of the first men she would meet. If he was lucky, Kibum wouldn’t have to wait too much in a tree before he would get some help… and at the moment he thought about this, he looked down and saw a wild boar approaching the stag. The Prince held his breath and couldn’t help but grow a bit pale when he noticed not one but three young ones following their parent.

A sow. It was even worse. As soon as babies were involved, any female animal would become extremely agressive if feeling endangered. And this animal certainly was one of the most violent in these woods. Kibum couldn’t do anything but wait for it to leave by itself, taking its babies with it. They must have grown curious to approach so easily, but wild boars weren’t the fearful kind… they stayed there for a few minutes, going in circles, here and there.

But a move between the trees not far away made the trapped man look up, and he refrained from sighing with relief when he saw the General on his horse, surrounded by the reunited squadrons. A soldier was holding the black mare by the reins, but none of them was moving, following the command of their leader who had just noticed the animals at the foot of the tree. He was far from being stupid, even him couldn’t fight the mother. Instead, he looked at the trees around him and on the ground, crouching to pick some rocks up.

He then asked a soldier to empty his quiver and replace all arrows with the rocks, before he commanded them to stay where they were. With careful, quiet steps, he walked to a tree which trunk was large enough to hide his body, and he slowly climbed it, making sure to not make too much noise. It took him a few minutes, for he sometimes heard the sow stop moving or grunting, proof that it was observing the woods around it. When he eventually reached a thick branch and sat on it, he saw the Prince at the same height, on top of another tree, and put his forefinger on his lips to intimate silence.

Kibum nodded, unable to take his eyes off of Jinki who slowly untied his quiver to hold it between his thighs. He caught a first rock and made sure to have a good grip on it before looking down : the animals were still wandering around the immobilised stag, he needed to make them go away. The mother wouldn’t be scared if he threw his projectile near or at it, only angry and agressive, able to charge at every tree around it if it could protect its babies. No, he had to be smarter.

Using all his strength despite the branches that were blocking a bit his movements, the General threw a stone away, in the direction opposite them. The noise it made when it fell in some bushes made the animal turn over and tense up, grunting. Immediately, Jinki took a second rock and threw it too, this time behind the sow, which turned again and stepped backwards, its babies hiding behind it. The Prince frowned at first but understood quickly : the goal was to make it sense a potential ambush.

The soldier threw all the stones he had until the animal gave in to panic and survival instinct, leaving fast with the baby boars following. With a huge sigh, Jinki lied against the trunk and looked at Kibum, who slightly laughed at the situation : both of them sitting on top of a tree, their hair quite tangled and their face gleaming with sweat. Once they were sure that the animal was away, the General whistled to make the squadron come to them before he made his way down the trunk. He then approached the other tree and waited for his Prince to be within his reach to catch him by the waist with his consent, putting him on the ground.

“I knew you were gone for big-game hunting, your Grace…” He laughed. “But that was not the kind of big game I had imagined.”

“I was lucky enough to have you coming this way !” Kibum replied, dusting his outfit. “How come you were not at the border anymore ?”

“We were done on our side, unfortunately we could only catch some birds, a doe and its fawn. But I guess you did not face the same disappointment.”

“This is why I prefer to hunt inside the woods, they start coming out in herd. So, what do we have ?”

“We got the three does and the fawn, your Grace !” A soldier proudly said. “We did as told, we approached them and put an end to their suffering. We were loading them in the cart when your mare arrived, almost at the same time as the General.”

“Very well, we were lucky today. Let us just add this stag and I think we can go home for today.”

Not sooner said than done, all hunted animals were in the huge cart, pulled by two horses as the hunters made their way back to the palace. They kept alerted in case they would meet another wild boar, but refrained from shooting any other game they met, for they did not have a lot of space anymore. As they had left the woods and were now travelling through the land, the town already visible, Jinki made his stallion reach Kibum’s mare.

“You have done really well for a first hunt, your Grace.” He said. “It is rare to bring so much game on a first day.”

“Is it ?” The Prince smiled. “Perhaps luck will turn for the next days and we will catch nothing.”

“This is possible. But we are returning glorious today, the King will be proud.”

“Will he…”

The General felt the change in the other man’s tone and he turned his head to look at him. For the past month, he had remained by his side as a way to protect him, at his request, even though he still felt a bit bad for leaving his childhood’s friend’s side. But he had witnessed the fight between the husbands, and as much as he wanted to ignore it, Minho had gone way too far when Kibum had brought up an essential topic. Hurtful, yet essential. That was why he had agreed to stand for his personal bodyguard.

Even though they were still talking to each other formally, spending only convenient time together for royal matters… they both had grown fond of each other and could called themselves friends. Discreet friends. And the way Jinki was staying by his side lately had made the Prince so thankful that he didn’t mind talking about his feelings with him anymore. The General was, unsurprisingly, a really good listener.

“Of course he will, your Grace.” The latter said. “He never stopped being proud of you.”

“How could I know, we have not talked for weeks.” The raven haired man replied, muttering more than talking out loud as he knew he was the one avoiding his husband. “I believe it will please me to see pride in his eyes when we return.”

“Perhaps it is time to put an end to this, what do you think ? This quarrel had gone for so long, I would gladly protect you for another month but I would rather see my sovereigns reconcile.”

“Isn’t it better this way ? With no feelings, there will be no pain later.”

“But there are feelings, your Grace, and mutism does not cancel them. Will you assure me that you do not suffer from the actual situation, more than any other you had or will have to face ?”

“Perhaps…”

“I am the kind of man that ponders a lot, but never as long as you are pondering right now. My King is stubborn, for sure, but I know him for so many years I can affirm that he knows what mistake he made.”

“Why does he not come then ?”

“Your Grace, I am constantly next to you because you do not want him to come.”

Kibum pursed his lips, his face turning a bit red as he realised he was trying to find a pathetic excuse. Of course his husband wasn’t approaching him since himself had made sure he wouldn’t dare to. But Jinki was certainly right, it had been too long already…

“I will think about it.” He said, earning a smile from the General, who perfectly knew his Prince wouldn’t just think.

***

The sound of wood swords hitting each other could be heard from the sparring yard until the gardens, as the impacts were quite vigorous. Minho had been unable to go back to sleep after he had quietly sent his husband off to hunt, and he had felt the need to release his trouble through training. It had been an hour now, and he had been surprised to be quickly joined by someone he hadn’t expected. But the young apprentice had just been as surprised to find the sovereign and not his mentor.

The King had laughed and reminded Taemin about the beginning of the hunting mornings, after what he had proposed him to stay, since he was already there and wearing his soldier in training’s attire. At first, the younger man had refused, for he considered training with such an opponent wasn’t suitable — and out of a very uncomfortable feeling regarding the current situation between the husbands. However, his elder was someone extremely convincing…

That was how they had found themselves sparring with fake weapons, their coats long thrown away as their bodies were heating up because of effort. As expected, Minho was a really good fighter with a sword, but it wasn’t surprising since he had been trained by the General and his father before him. He was more of an attacker than a defender, yet he mastered quite a lot of defensive techniques to avoid the apprentice’s sharp blows. The only thing he could still be discountenanced by were the rolls and spins Taemin was doing to avoid him.

It had been a shock when he had first rolled on the floor to not be touched by Jinki’s blade, only a few days after his arrival in the kingdom… but never had his mentor made him renounce to this particular skill of his. Better than that, he had reviewed his own teaching to include these gymnastics to the boy’s training. What was disconcerting for his opponents could only be an advantage to him, and the General had acknowledged it. The King was having a hard time, for he hadn’t been trained to react to such defensive ways.

“Will you stop rolling !” He ended up protesting, what only made Taemin laugh as he raised his hands to signify a time out. “How come Jinki even allowed this !”

“He said he saw great potential in this ability of mine, your Highness.” The apprentice politely replied, still unable to hide his proud smile. “So he trained it, instead of burying it to make a common soldier of me.”

“I must agree on this, you are far from a common soldier. Give me a minute.”

With these words, Minho put his hands on his waist as he leaned on, catching his breath after such an intense fight where he had had to turn so much to prevent his opponent to hit him during a roll. He was feeling nauseous. Keeping his head high, he walked to the bucket of water on the low wall and filled his flask before completely emptying it in his mouth. Taemin imitated him, the etiquette long-forgotten as he kept staring at his sovereign’s face like he would do with one of his brothers in arms.

“Perhaps you would like to learn, your Highness ?” He proposed, making the other man cock an eyebrow.

“Learn ?” The King repeated after swallowing his last mouthful of fresh water. “What do you mean ?”

“To roll like me, of course !”

“I have never been that flexible, I am afraid. I would just… pop a vessel, damage a muscle, break a bone… all that stuff.”

“You are being quite dramatic there, your Highness. Have you ever rolled in the grass when you were a child ? You will not make me believe that you have not.”

“Well, it was quite different ! I was shorter, slimmer… it was easier for my body to roll. Nowadays, I doubt I could even roll once without hurting myself.”

“I see… The Prince would tell you what he always told me. When in doubt, don’t. I have never listened once to this advice and it did me good ! What about you give it a try ?”

“I guess a try cannot harm me…”

The smile that brightened Taemin’s face was enough for Minho to give in, he didn’t know why he wanted to make that boy happier than he already was. He felt like a responsible brother-in-law and the way his childhood friend was fond of him gave him even more reasons to care about this young person. He was two years younger than his husband and it was clearly noticeable on this excited expression he often wore : a tad amazed him ! Despite that, he showed himself quite mature when it was needed, and the King found that interesting.

At that moment, he found himself not regretting a single time when he rolled up his sleeves to crouch… and throw himself forwards with his palms on the ground, making his body clumsily roll. The first attempt to come back on his feet in one go was a fail, but if there was a quality he shared with the apprentice, it was determination. With tenacity, he practiced his rolls all around the sparring yard, sometimes doing two before standing up. Observing him, Taemin couldn’t help but laugh sometimes, the simple sight of the most powerful ruler in the realm doing such thing amusing him. Yet, he wouldn’t lie : his elder was growing eager to roll perfectly.

“What am I witnessing…”

The soft low voice interrupting this intriguing training caught both men off guard, and they jumped on their feet with their wooden sword in hand… only to find a blonde man they knew too well at the door of the yard. He had an amused smile on his face even though he was trying to hide it, but the way Minho laughed heartily was enough for him to give in and join the laughter, along with Taemin.

“You’re back !” The latter said as he went to his friend, hugging him. “We were trying to wonder if you would ever come back to us.”

“By the Gods, you’re all sweaty and sticky, don’t ruin my coat !” Jonghyun laughed before he bowed to the King who had approached them. “Your Highness.”

“It is good to see you again, Sir Jonghyun.” Minho smiled, bowing his head. “Have you had a good journey ?”

“Without the shadow of a doubt, I grew anxious as we approached the kingdom but I was warmly welcomed. This explains why I am late returning to you.”

The three men took the teacher’s return as an opportunity to put an end to the sparring — and rolling — and they store their weapons while talking. After Jonghyun had been told about his lineage, a month before, he had taken a few days to think about how to welcome this new information. He would have found himself stuck with what to do, if it hadn’t been for the General to step in and advise him during his late visits at his place. For sure it had been concerning, one didn’t learn he had royal blood every day.

He had taken the decision to travel to his kingdom of origin, for he wished to meet his long lost relative and discuss his situation with the Queen in person. His request had naturally been granted by Minho, who had proposed him a considerable escort that the blonde had had to refuse. He didn’t want to meet his cousin while being surrounded by guards, it was more a courtesy call than an official visit.

He had left Jinju for the past two weeks, spending ten whole days in the second kingdom, and the King felt grateful that the first thing he did when returning was to come to the palace. However, the sovereign couldn’t help but feel anxious regarding the decision the teacher could have taken after being able to discuss and ponder his rights related to his status. He guessed they were about to have a whole conversation about it.

“Perhaps we should go to my office, so you could tell me about your visit to Queen Hyoyeon.” Minho proposed as he walked outside the sparring yard, followed by the two men.

“There is no need, your Highness.” Jonghyun replied with a smile. “I do not need any of the things my relative had to propose me.”

“What do you mean ?”

“I must admit that when I was first told about what I could claim, I felt as if I was becoming a powerful person, someone recognised. Oh, I have absolutely no control on Maguk’s throne and to be extremely honest, it does not interest me to lead a kingdom, so that is a piece of luck that I was born a man.”

“Nothing else would please you ? Lands, titles…”

“Not a single one, your Highness. I think I do not need more than I already have here, if you still allow me to stay and be a teacher. These children will need me for some more years, then they will be replaced by their siblings, their own children… I have a duty here and I do not want to leave it behind.”

“You are anticipating quite a long future in my kingdom, it brings me great delight. Not even the ambassador’s title ?”

“Not even this, I do not see myself having a role in politics, I prefer academics by far.”

“Then it is with pleasure that I welcome you back in town. Your presence is always appreciated here.”

“I thank you, your Highness. I hope you have been well during my absence, have things with the Prince evolved in any way…?”

The King sighed, hesitating to answer. The blonde man had shown himself receptive to both his sovereigns when he had been told about their quarrel, even though it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see him choose Kibum’s side, he hadn’t. He had remained true to himself, what didn’t concern him directly was none of his business, and he had only proposed both of them to find him if they needed advices, or just an ear to listen to them. However, with his departure, he had found himself unable to fulfil his sort of mission and it was all natural for him to ask if there was any good thing happening.

Taemin cleared his throat when the ruler was about to reply with honesty, because the huge palace’s doors opened again at that same moment. Standing under the palace’s porch, the three men watched the hunters come back home, lead by the Prince and the General riding side by side. They were sitting straight, exuding magnificence despite their tangled hair — it could only be positive to return from hunt with their appearance a bit messed up.

As the two cavaliers stopped their mounts, the King approached the front yard and was immediately followed by the teacher and the apprentice, sharing a same curiosity. The hunting cart eventually entered in its turn, and they all stood gaping when they saw a stag’s antlers sticking out. As if they felt the need to, the dozen of soldiers gathered and stood to attention, one of them reporting to their sovereign about the hunt and everything they had caught. As he listened, Minho’s eyes looked for his husband and never left him, as Kibum was coming in their direction, still accompanied by Jinki.

And for the first time in weeks, their eyes met, the Prince not rejecting it by looking away. It only lasted a second, though, before the latter smiled to the teacher and his companion and commanded the hunters to tend to the game they had brought. As soon as it was done, he took his blonde friend by the arm and led him to the gardens, asking him to talk to him about his journey.

The King kept his distance, looking at the raven haired man from afar as he had always done for a month, but still it was like a small, warm candle had just been lit in his cold heart.

The same uncomfortable silence had led the day until evening has come. Minho had kept his mind busy by locking himself in his office and working until he couldn’t stand his own kingdom anymore. As the leader of the hunt, his husband had spent hours supervising the soldiers in charge of tending to the animals, and he hadn’t seen him once since his return on the morning.

He had been saved from the boring tasks by a houseboy knocking at his door, informing him that dinner would be served soon. It was at that moment that the King had noticed the sun had set, if it wasn’t for the few warm colours it was still painting the sky with, at the horizon’s limit. With a sigh, the young man rubbed his eyes and temples before he stood up, leaving his office.

His steps were heavy in the corridor as he headed to the dining room, his mental exhaustion having a serious impact on his physical strength. He had been told quite a lot lately that he was disfigured with dark rings under his eyes, but they were all exaggerating because he was the sovereign, the one that should always look good and dynamic. True, his eyes were shadowed because of the lack of sleep, but it wasn’t to the extent he looked like he had been disinterred the day before.

When he arrived at his destination, he noticed his mother was already sitting, waiting for her son and son-in-law to join her as usual. Minho went to sit on his chair at the end of the table, and the deep worry in his mother’s eyes as she looked at him didn’t go unnoticed. The Queen felt terribly guilty about the husbands’ fight, for she felt like she had instigated it by trying to have the Prince on her side. For days, even weeks, her own son had given her the cold shoulder, just like he was himself given by the man he had married.

However, he had been moved by his mother’s distress and since she was, unlike Kibum, open to discussion… they had made up, or at least they weren’t in bad terms anymore. It was still a bit tensed, for the King was still bitter that he had been entirely on his own since the day Jihwan had planned things behind his back.

“I heard the cook made sure to prepare meat for dinner.” The woman engaged her son in conversation. “I wonder if it will be from the big-game hunt or bird. What would please you, my son ?”

“I lack appetite tonight, Mother.” Minho replied, smiling to reassure his mother who was growing even worrier. “Game bird would be enough for me.”

“This and a good night’s sleep. You look terrible…”

“I have been told, yes. I tend to fight with insomnias lately, but it must be because the hunting season made me anxious.”

“Perhaps you would like me to brew you some herbal tea to help your sleep ? It worked well when you were a child, you asked for some even when you did not need it.”

“I will think about it, thank you Mother.”

The Queen tenderly smiled, taking her son’s hand in her and gently caressing it as she felt happy by such a short conversation. They were interrupted by the door opening and they both turned their head to see the Prince enter, followed by the General. However, the latter was quickly dismissed, a first time in weeks. Minho frowned as he watched his best friend leave the room but still remaining near the door : what did it mean ?

“Welcome, your Grace.” Jihwan said, willing to show herself sweet towards her son-in-law who had also been hurt because of her. “You are a bit pale, it is high time you eat something.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Kibum only replied, remaining as closed as usual.

The King observed his husband, hoping for him to perhaps say something else since he had just broken his habit of bringing Jinki everywhere, even in the dining room. But the raven haired man did nothing, he only waited for the few employees to bring dinner. As soon as they were served, they started eating quietly, both men almost saying nothing except for the times they had to reply to the Queen’s questions, whether they were about the hunt or the paperwork.

It had become uncomfortably usual, how quiet and tensed it was around the table. Even the slight evolution for some day, being the Prince accepting to just answer, didn’t seem enough for Minho to feel a bit better. Because his husband’s voice wasn’t the same as before, it was lower and monotonous, without any emotion in his words. And the King missed it, so bad. He needed to hear his soft tone again, even if it wasn’t for him, he just needed it to the extent he was ready to beg him to talk.

Since the soldier wasn’t there, he found himself gathering enough of his courage to say something, and the simple fact he was speaking during dinner made both his mother and Kibum look up from their plate.

“You led a good hunt today, your Grace.” He said, clearing his throat when he felt his own voice fail him. “The result is impressive.”

The Prince looked at his husband, for a longer time than ever since he had stopped looking at him, and it filled Minho with hope. But when he lowered his eyes and muttered a “thank you” almost imperceptible, it was like everything shattered. The Queen’s nascent smile immediately dropped when she noticed the small glint in her son’s eyes fade away as quickly. It was like Kibum suddenly felt uneasy, and he excused himself before leaving the table, his plate not completely empty.

Silence in the room grew even heavier, and despite the General’s reassuring stare towards his best friend, the latter clenched his teeth and leaned against the back of his chair. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong just now, why the other man had suddenly felt the need to leave, when the pink tint on his cheeks at the King’s words seemed positive. For sure he had made mistakes, said things he hadn’t meant… but this unexpected event was like the final straw.

Minho turned his head to avoid his mother’s stare, his jaw tensed and teeth gritted. It was like he was doing his best to keep the last piece of his determination… in vain.

“Just…” He whispered, his voice being stuck in his throat as he addressed his mother. “Send him back…”

“I beg your pardon…?” The Queen frowned.

“I failed, Mother… He’s not happy with me anymore, I’m only hurting him a bit more every day…”

“Son…”

“I will do whatever you want, I will marry whoever you want, just… just save his happiness, please, because I can’t do it myself…”

The way her son was looking so defeatist hit the woman in the depths of her heart, as if she was being stabbed with the sharpest blade ever. She slowly stood up to approach the King, raising her trembling hand to put it on the dark brown hair. And as soon as she stroked it, the young man broke down and gave in to all that negativity that had been invading his mind for weeks.

As she heard her baby’s sobs, Jihwan immediately moved his chair and pulled him against her, holding his head against her chest as Minho buried his face in his mother’s coat. His strong body was shaken by his cries, and the woman softly comforted him by caressing his hair, allowing him to cry everything he had. It was the first time she had Minho in such a bad state in her arms since he had lost his father. For years, he hadn’t cried anymore, he had trained even more intensely to become a good king, with as much strength as a real soldier.

But he had forgotten to grow his heart tougher.

“He looked at you, son…” The Queen eventually whispered. “I don’t think he meant harm by leaving so hurriedly, perhaps he was just… surprised, by the sudden words he was addressed by you ? It’s been a month since you last talked, and it wasn’t a pleasant conversation…”

“I said horrible things…” The young man sobbed. “I hate how I hurt him with such stupid words…”

“I know, I know… But we all make mistakes, Minho, and every mistake can be repaired.”

The King sniffed and eventually his cries reduced, but he remained nestled against his mother and appreciated the hand stroking his hair. He couldn’t take it anymore.

***

He felt cold, so cold it was like winter was back. He couldn’t say for how many hours he had been in his bed, trying to sleep, tossing and turning. The dinner’s incident was still in his mind, and Minho was going crazy. As he sat on the mattress, holding his head in his hands, he sighed deeply and took a moment to gather his thoughts before looking up. He turned his head towards the empty space next to his, where there hadn’t been the print of his husband’s body for so long.

That night, more than any other before, he felt remorseful to the extent he suffered inside. It was like a constant pain in his chest, or was it a complete void that needed to be filled ? He didn’t know, but it hurt and he couldn’t support it, not anymore. Not when he had finally been looked at by Kibum. He hadn’t dreamed it, the Prince had looked at him on the morning, when he had returned, and also during dinner. Even if he had said nothing, even if he had left when his King had spoken to him… there had been something, something happened after weeks.

There were only a few hours left before his husband would have to wake up to lead his second day of hunt, he couldn’t wait more. When going to bed, he had seen Taemin enter his own bedroom and it had been way too late in the night for this decision to be temporary. Of course he had noticed how Kibum had made sure to have someone by his side even when sleeping… but now it was his chance.

He couldn’t miss it. And he needed it.

The King took a few minutes to gather his courage, wondering if he was taking the right decision. But he couldn’t ignore how their eyes had met, it couldn’t mean nothing. Once he made his mind, Minho got out of his bed and grabbed his robe to cover his naked body, tying the belt as he walked to his bedside. There, he lit the oil lamp and took it in his hand before leaving his quarters.

The corridors were empty, quiet and cold. The young man didn’t waste time nor the bravery he had managed to gather, and he made his way through the east wing until the princely quarters. Inhaling deeply, he grabbed the knob and slowly turned it, the door opening with a slight creaking sound. The King sticked his head inside and refrained himself from sighing with relief as he saw his husband in his bed, sleeping and alone. The latter was offering him his back, lying on his side with the sheet only covering his lower body. His breathing was almost imperceptible, proof that he was asleep.

With care, Minho entered fully and closed the door behind him, before he walked towards the bed. Once there, he quietly placed the lamp on the bedside table and put it out, the room enlightened only by the stars in the sky, through the open window. At that moment, hesitation prevented him from moving and he stood still next to the mattress, only staring at the silhouette he loved so much.

He was about to cancel everything, thinking he was doing something way too wrong… but his heart beat his reason and he eventually climbed on the mattress, slowly making its way under the sheet until he was completely lying on his side too. He approached Kibum and carefully moved his hair so he wouldn’t crush it, before he moved forwards until their bodies were pressed against each other. His last movement was his arm circling the other man’s waist and putting his hand on his stomach above his night shirt.

At that moment, he felt the Prince’s body tense up against his, and understood he had woken him up. He suddenly felt scared, his heart beating faster as he feared to be rejected, sent back to his own quarters, in his cold bed with only his worries to keep him company. He didn’t know why he did it, but he immediately pressed his forehead against Kibum’s nape, his grip growing a bit tighter as his hand trembled on his stomach. He had never felt so weak, so needy of just some warmth, some physical contact to feel better.

He didn’t need more, just to be accepted there.

But he had grown so pessimistic, all his bravery from earlier gone. His breathing was broken, as if it was trembling just like his body. He could hear his husband’s breathing as well, a bit louder since he was awake, however he wasn’t able to see his he had opened his eyes. He just waited for the moment he would be kicked away, only listening to silence… until he felt his arm withdrawing by itself, as if his body was doing what it thought was the best thing to do.

However, his heart missed a beat when his hand was covered by another one, long and thin fingers working between his until they were interlaced. Kibum’s body relaxed against his and seemed to move a bit backwards to fit more to Minho’s, like the two adjacent pieces of a puzzle finding each other. Unable to hold it back, the King sighed with a deep, honest relief against his husband’s nape, and he couldn’t prevent a tear from rolling down his cheek, followed by its sisters.

The Prince felt his skin being wet and he softly caressed the other man’s thumb with his, in a soothing way. This simple gesture was enough to comfort the loneliness Minho had felt for so many nights, and he embraced his husband tighter, burying his face against his warm skin. As he closed his eyes, he sensed a slight movement on the mattress but hadn’t time to look up when he felt Kibum’s hand making his go a bit higher than his stomach, placing it on his chest.

There, right under his palm, the King could feel a heartbeat slowly reducing its fast rhythm. And the way it calmed down with his only touch made him beyond proud, to the extent he let it lull him to sleep, his mind definitely lighter.

***

This night was full of invasive thoughts for something else’s mind than the sovereign’s. Far from the royal quarters, from the palace, right at the other end of the town, the General was staring at the ceiling of his lover’s bedroom. He was lying on his back, naked and with dry drops of sweat making him feel pleasantly dirty. By his side, Jonghyun was fast asleep on his stomach, his arms holding his pillow and his head turned towards the other man.

Jinki looked at him, slowly lifting himself on his elbow to have a better view of this young man with blonde hair that was driving him crazy. When the teacher had returned from Maguk earlier that day, it had felt good in the soldier’s chest, as if warmth was back after days of a growing coldness he strongly yet quietly disliked. He had had to wait for the night to fall to be able to leave the palace and meet Jonghyun at his place. And even if he didn’t regretted a single instant the way he had been immediately pulled inside, warm lips pressed against his and hands roaming his body…

He was missing something.

The beginning of the night had certainly been the best they had spent together since they had started this passionate game, both of them giving in to each other and relishing every single piece of them. He felt his skin being covered with shivers as he remembered the sight of the blonde’s body bouncing on his while receiving him, or that consuming feeling when he had tightened his thighs around Jonghyun’s hips while being the one receiving after giving.

He was never going to grow tired of this, he knew it. But it wasn’t enough anymore, he was finding himself more and more needy of something he couldn’t have, something the Prince had wanted before him, in vain. He had to prevent himself from ruining everything.

With an incredible gentleness, Jinki put a blonde strand behind the asleep teacher’s ear, before he leaned on to press his lips against his forehead. While doing his this, he felt an awful pinch in his chest, but did his best to ignore it. Getting out of bed as quietly as possible, he grabbed his clothes an put them on, his eyes falling on a bunch of papers on the small pedestal table not far from the bed. After a short hesitation, he approached and grabbed a charcoal that was almost completely used, starting to roughly write a few apologising words.

“Where are you going…?”

The soldier froze when he heard the low voice coming from the mattress, and he realised he had a tear making its way down his face when he straightened up. He hurriedly wiped it and looked at Jonghyun, who was holding himself on his elbow, his eyebrows furrowed above his sleepy eyes.

“It’s still night, Jinki…” He whispered. “The hunt won’t start before hours, why are you already up ?”

“I… I have to…” The General stuttered before biting his lip, looking away. “I have to leave.”

“What ? Why ? Am I snoring ?”

Jinki couldn’t help but slightly laugh, but it sounded more like a stuck sob than a real laughter. The teacher frowned even more and stood up, walking naked towards his lover and cupping his cheek.

“You’re troubled.” He stated. “What is happening ? You know you can tell me everything.”

“Not everything, I’m afraid.” The General replied, eventually meeting the other man’s eyes. “There are some things that are not good to tell.”

“Still, I can hear them. Why are you running away from me ?”

“Because… because I can’t stay with you anymore, Jonghyun.”

The blonde man raised his eyebrows before he laughed, hiding his mouth behind his hand.

“What are you saying there, silly.” He smiled. “Just come to bed and sleep, you—”

“Jonghyun, I’m serious.” Jinki interrupted him, maybe more sharply than he wanted as his lover froze. “I can’t do this anymore, it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“What are you talking about, one hour ago you were loving what we were doing.”

“I was, and I still would if we were to do it again. I mean it. But… I have to take my distances for a moment, can you understand ?”

“For a moment ? Wait, if I did something wrong or if I hurt you, you better say it so it won’t happen again. I know I can be rough but—”

“By the Gods, it’s not about sex ! I’m having feelings for you, Jonghyun !”

The teacher widened his eyes as the soldier stepped backwards, rejecting his touch. He wasn’t looking at him anymore after his last words, and Jonghyun found himself sitting back on his bed… hiding his body with the sheet. This gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Jinki, who scoffed.

“See, that’s what I wanted to avoid.” He said. “If only I had left instead of writing you that stupid thing…”

“You were about to leave my house with only a letter to explain that you’re in love with me ?” The blonde said, and his tone had changed. “And what did you plan to do after that ?”

“Staying away, I told you. I know what life you decided to live, and I will never try to change you. I’ve been thinking about my feelings for a while now, and I think… I think it will be better for us to stop this. I’m starting to want more than what we’re doing and it’s not fair to you who don’t want more.”

“What did I do, Jinki ? What did I do to make you have feelings, I don’t understand…”

“You did nothing, Jonghyun. It just happened, because you’re you.”

The General sighed when he received no answer, and he approached the bed to crouch before the other man.

“Maybe it was just sex and some friendly time for you, and I won’t blame you for it.” He gently said, smiling to reassure Jonghyun despite the pain he was suddenly feeling. “It was for me too, at first. It’s not just that anymore, and now I must step down and let you live the way you want.”

“Fine.”

The teacher replied this only word, his face closed. Jinki looked at him for a few seconds, hesitating before he straightened a bit up to have their faces close to each other. As if he needed it to give himself enough bravery, he pressed his lips against Jonghyun’s, who feverishly returned the kiss until the soldier broke it. They exchanged one last stare, then the General smiled and put the rebellious strand behind the blonde’s ear again.

And after doing that, he stood up and left, forcing himself not to look back.

After a week, the tension between the King and the Prince seemed to have reduced, at least publicly. They still weren’t talking to each other, not a single word, but something had evolved. Quick glances, discreet smiles or brushes of clothes when running into each other by the side of a corridor… words weren’t needed in moments like these. But what was hidden always was what mattered the most, and Minho had always found a space for him in Kibum’s bed once night had come.

For the past few days and once every employee had gone to sleep, the King had snuck out of his quarters to join his husband in his, sometimes finding him asleep, sometimes not. However, he had always been welcomed by his side, quietly, with a hand holding his or fingers running through his hair. Dark circles had disappeared from under their eyes, they looked fresh-face and it was noticeable to the extent the Queen herself was smiling when seeing them.

That morning, Minho had woken up alone in the Prince’s bed, for the latter had already left to hunt. The young man had spent a few minutes in his own bubble, lying on his stomach and burying his face in his husband’s pillow to immerse himself in the scent he had missed so much. If it hadn’t been for the aforesaid stomach to start grunting, he could have remained there for hours, perhaps he would have gone back to sleep until Kibum would have come to wake him up by himself. He would have love that.

But here he was, up and fully dressed, walking in the gardens after a copious breakfast and talking with the gardener. Heechul was having a hard time with tenacious weeds and needed to tend to plants with a product made in Baemyeong, but he needed his ruler’s approval before sending an envoy to the other kingdom. After he took a look at the flowers and fruit trees and came to the conclusion that these gardens indeed needed some help, Minho dismissed his employee and decided to take a walk by himself.

He didn’t really look at where he was walking, letting his feet lead him wherever they wanted. He found himself near the huge gazebo and smiled, remembering how many times he had seen the Prince peacefully read there, especially at times they weren’t close. It was like a place for him to escape reality, and the King slowly climbed the three wooden stairs to enter this small world.

As he sat on the bench, he focused on what was around him. In the shade of the roof and the falling ivy, even the sun reverberating on the palace’s white stone wasn’t hurting his eyes. He could hear birds chirping, the cool breeze moving the trees’ branches and the distant voices of house girls hanging the laundry. As strange as it could be, it gave a soothing atmosphere and Minho understood why his husband liked it so much.

And to be honest, it was a really pretty place.

“Lost in your dreams ?”

The King was contemplating the ivy hanging here and there when he was distracted by a voice that sent him shiver by only hearing it. As he looked towards the stairs, he found Kibum standing on the last one, arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the column. He was still wearing his archer’s attire, he must have been on his way to get changed when noticing his husband.

“Hello ?” The Prince repeated with a smile. “Is his Highness here ?”

“Y-Yes, yes, I’m here.” Minho replied, nodding vigorously as he stood up.

“No, don’t.”

Kibum approached and sat on the bench, watching the other man join him with his eyebrows furrowed. The latter was so surprised that he was out of words, unable to say a thing and just staring.

“The hunt was unsuccessful today.” The raven haired man said, trying to start a conversation. “A few birds, at the most.”

“That’s a shame…” Minho replied. “But it’s fine, the previous ones were quite good.”

“Yes, they were.”

It was awkward as hell, both men trying to do as if nothing had happened. But they couldn’t, it wasn’t fair to just ignore.

“Listen—”

“Kibum—”

The husbands looked at each other and laughed a bit, before the Prince gestured the King to talk first.

“I just wanted to apologise.” The sovereign said, lowering his eyes. “I should have knocked Jinki out and say it sooner but I guess I was too much of a coward.”

“You’re not, don’t say that.” The raven haired man said. “It was maybe too much to ask for some bodyguard to avoid you…”

“It looks like you, though. What I mean is that it’s all my fault, I lost my temper way too quickly and said horrible things. I… I never meant to hurt you to the point you would… fear me…?”

“I don’t fear you… maybe I did at the moment, because I didn’t know what could be your limits. I guess I shouldn’t have brought this topic up so abruptly so… we both were in the wrong, someway ?”

“I was more, there are things that should never be said. Will you ever forgive me…?”

“I suppose I already did, since I’m here…”

Minho smiled and softly took Kibum’s hand in his, caressing it for a moment before looking at him.

“Did you… Did you mean it ?” He asked, his cheeks turning pink. “When you implied that you loved me.”

“Do I look like someone who would lie about something like this ?” The Prince joked before he wore a serious face. “Minho, do you really think I could have not meant it…?”

“No, I just would like to… to hear it again ?”

Kibum raised his eyebrows and hid his mouth with his hand to laugh a bit, for he hadn’t expected such a request. His husband looked at him and kept smiling : he had missed his laughter so much, the way his eyes squinted and seemed to sparkle.

“I can’t say it like this, Minho, it’s…” The Prince started to say. “It’s… strange ?”

“Come on, it’s just some words.” The King replied, his pout making the other laugh as he poked his side. “Come on.”

“No ! How old are you, five ? Minho, stop ! I swear I will shoot you like the pheasant I got earlier !”

But the brown haired man didn’t listen as he grabbed Kibum by the waist and tickled him, making him jump and try to escape, gently hitting him. In no time, the latter found himself sitting on his husband’s lap, holding him by the neck with tears in his eyes because of his laughter. Both men stared at each other, and they felt stupid. Stupid for having wasted a whole month with a quarrel that could have been solved with some words.

“Then I will say them first.” Minho said, not letting time to the other man to protest. “I love you. And before you say anything, this isn’t some question. You’re doomed, you have to accept it.”

“You’re stupid.”

The Prince smiled and hit the King’s chest, once, then twice, before his smile went upside down and real tears filled his eyes. Minho raised his eyebrows and cupped his husband’s cheek.

“If you cry, I kiss you.” He warned, and looked at the salted drop escaping Kibum’s eye. “Fine.”

Following through with his threat, the sovereign silenced his Prince’s cries by pressing their lips together, holding his cheeks and softly caressing them with his thumbs. Replying to his gentleness, Kibum held his husband dearly against him, returning his kiss despite the tears giving it a salted taste. It tasted more like reconciliation, and it felt like freedom. It was the best kiss they had even shared, by a long way. And they didn’t want it to stop.

A few meters away, a blonde man and a young boy were looking at them with a smile on their face. However, they decided to give them the privacy they deserved and stepped away, walking together.

“I thought they would never make up.” Taemin said. “It’s not like I don’t like sleeping with hyung but he moves a lot and… he tried to cuddle too much.”

“So that was what troubled you.” Jonghyun replied. “Well, congratulations on sleeping alone again.”

“I was kidding. But the two of them were like ghosts, it was horrible… I’m glad this palace will become lively again. And you know, I train with the King often now ! He still has a hard time with rolls, though.”

“Speaking of teaching, I brought you another scroll.”

“Oh, how come it’s not Sir Jinki giving it to me ?”

“Well I was coming over so I guess I could—”

The blonde man interrupted himself and even stopped walking when he saw a familiar silhouette giving instruction to the last soldier in the front yard. The latter quickly bowed and took the brown stallion’s reins to lead him to the stables, leaving the General alone with a bucket of water at his foot, a flask and a piece of bandage in hands. The young apprentice frowned as he watched his mentor crouch and free his hands to plunge one in the fresh liquid. He rubbed it and inhaled deeply through his gritted teeth, before he dried it and opened the flask.

As he poured a bit of his content on his palm, he grunted and both men standing away from him understood it was alcohol. Jinki was tending to a superficial wound, certainly made during the hunt. After he disinfected it with a quite trivial way, he managed to wrap his hand with the bandage and store the little container between his belt and pants to prevent it to fall. Then, with his valid hand, he grabbed the bucket and held it on his hip like a maid would hold a laundry basket.

He was about to walk towards the palace when he noticed he was observed. And even though Taemin waved at him with a smile, the soldier barely looked at him. His face remained closed and he eventually lowered it, taking another way and leaving them behind. The apprentice frowned even more and looked at his friend, who had his lips pursed and looked extremely tensed. It didn’t take too long to the young man to understand.

“Hyung…” He said. “Did Sir Jinki break up with you ?”

“Break up ?” Jonghyun scoffed. “We weren’t a couple, Taemin. It was just sex.”

“Then why do you look so upset ? So… hurt ? And him too ?”

“This is none of your business, I’m sorry but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine, fine…”

With these words, the teacher handed him the scroll he had told him about and without further ado, he left without turning back. Taemin stared at him, dumbfounded. Never had he seen his friend walk with such rage in his steps, in a rush to escape a place. And the look in his eyes… it might be a whole new one in Jonghyun’s eyes, but the young boy had seen it countless times in Kibum’s. Not sooner than during the whole past month.

“By the Gods…” He whispered to himself. “That’s some deep shit.”

#minkey #minho #key #kibum #shinee #fanfic #historical #kingdom of jinju #jongyu #jonghyun #onew #jinki #taemin

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phoenix-angel-suyari · 7 years

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We told Peanut & Minkey when they came home from school today. We were planning to sit them down and talk to them anyway but routine pretty much took care of it for us. Minkey burst into my living room “Shiloh! Shiloh!” Then made a frustrated sound. “He’s not answering me!”

Being 5 and 3 respectively, this being their first experience with death, and given Shiloh was the dog in their lives for literally ALL of their lives to date they didn’t really understand the concept of death. Peanut kept asking why we couldn’t just go back to the vet and bring Shiloh back home. Eventually the “never again” concept of death permeated enough and Peanut asked if we could go to the vet anyway. When I asked why, Peanut said, “To get a new dog.” When I explained that the vet is just a doctor and you don’t go there to get pets, Peanut responded with, “Let’s go to the dog store then!” “We can’t go today,” we explained. “Tomorrow?” “No, not tomorrow.”

“Okay, but not more than next week okay?”

When I asked Peanut why we had to get a new dog right away, Peanut said, “Because we can’t have no dog in the house!” Which, is honestly how the majority of us feel. “But, not another Shiloh because that’s not fair if we can’t have Shiloh home anymore. Let’s get a Duke!” Duke is our neighbor’s massive, ninety pound, 9 month old German Shepherd.

“You want a German Shepherd?” I asked, amused because prior to Shiloh, we’d had two German Shepherds pass on us in succession so we’d gone a different route ourselves after Diva passed.

“Yes. Let’s get a German Shepherd! A big one!”

“You want a big dog?”

Peanut thought about that. “Let’s get TWO big dogs!”

I swear, if it were up to us, we would. Not right away, of course, but in a few weeks time. Because we are not a house that functions well sans dog. (I personally do not like living life PERIOD sans dog.) But, we’re going to have to do a HELL of a lot of convincing to be allowed another one at all. Honestly, we have a better shot at winning the lottery.

#my life #my family

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taeminuet · 7 years

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Heartbeat (4/?)

Title: Heartbeat Fandom: SHINee Pairings: (eventual) Jongtae; Minkey; OnKai Chapter Wordcount: ~3.5k Rating: R (Some chapters will be NC-17; these will be marked.) Summary: In which not every problem needs to be fixed and not every person needs to be saved; sometimes you just need support.

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1 , 2 , 3

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Chapter 4: Jonghyun

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Jonghyun hates group. It’s such bullshit. Yeah, he gets it – socialization is important, it gives them a place to share with others who understand, blah blah fucking blah. It doesn’t mean Jonghyun has to like it.

What the hell do they think is going to happen anyways? They always act like it’s this great and wonderful technique to get them to open up, but usually it’s just shoving a handful of them in a room together and then acting surprised when the volatile ones go off. Too much friction, too much pressure on wounds they haven’t been given a chance to keep hidden.

When Jinki is around, this shit doesn’t happen, because Jinki is actually competent at calming Jonghyun. Or, well, not calming. Giving in to what Jonghyun’s asking for rather. But that in itself is calming so fuck it, Jinki’s clearly doing the best out of everyone here. But Jinki’s not around right now, and Jonghyun’s already not exactly doing great right now.

The new kid, Taemin. He’s pretty. He’s pretty and he looks so soft but he’s got such a harsh edge under there, something bratty and fierce, and Jonghyun can practically taste it on the back of his tongue how good he’d make it. But Taemin doesn’t fucking want him and it makes Jonghyun ache. It makes Jonghyun edgy and uncomfortable, the pressing desire to get Taemin to want him, makes him want to go to his knees right in the middle of this goddamn room if it would help.

It wouldn’t, he knows that much. But when Minho starts smarting off with shit that he very much doesn’t know a goddamn thing about and Key starts lashing out with shit that he knows far too much about, Jonghyun’s not exactly in a place not to snap. It’s fucking horrible, and of course, of course, he gets in trouble for it, even if he didn’t start it. He’d made a joke and Minho had been an ass.

It’s not his fucking fault, but here he is, threatened with isolation, pulled away from the already limited physical contact he does get in here. It’s like they’re trying to break him. They keep saying he’s sick, and then they do shit that actually makes him really feel like it.

Jonghyun hates it. He doesn’t want to be here. Jinki makes it bearable. Even Key, sometimes, on days when he’s not being a complete asshole. But Jonghyun doesn’t want to be here. He doesn’t need to be here. He’d been okay. Mostly okay. Handling it, at least.

Of course nobody else saw it that way. The doctors didn’t. The lawyers didn’t. They never do. They look at Jonghyun and see a bunch of shit he’s not, make up their own logic for why he is the way he is and don’t bother to pay attention to Jonghyun’s opinions on the shit going on in his own head. So here he is, stuck here in this hellhole.

Jonghyun wants to stand up and… and do something. Punch the doctor out. Maybe suck him off if it’ll get him out of here faster, if it’ll keep him from isolation. It won’t, so Jonghyun doesn’t, just sits, stiff and restraining himself, until the doctor is thanking them, like any single one of them has actually said a goddamn thing that matters. It doesn’t. None of it fucking does, because this place is bullshit and group is bullshit and every ounce of whatever the hell they’re calling therapy is such goddamn bullshit.

“Thank fucking god,” Jonghyun grinds out, on his feet so fast that his chair screeches across the linoleum, probably leaving scuff marks along the tile. He ignores it, stalking away, shoving past Minho with a little more force than necessary in his march to the door.

He feels eyes on his back, but he doesn’t stop to see whose they are. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to talk to any of them right now. Or, rather, he does, but only one of them, and it’s definitely going to be a lot more than a talk if Jonghyun gets his way.

Minho, Onew, and Taemin are talking softly, making some sort of plans for the afternoon, and Jonghyun has time to think that good, none of them will get in the way, before the door slams behind him. Jonghyun takes a moment in the silent space of the hallway to take stock of it all, the hot anger under the surface of his skin, the way his breathing is already going heavy and hard.

He hears wheels behind him soon, and he moves away, a few steps in front, faster than Key’s wheelchair. He puts himself in front of Key’s door, blocking the way and forcing Key to pay attention to him. Jonghyun is shaking faintly, he realizes, hands balled at his sides and face twisted into something that he’s sure is far from attractive.

“What gives you the right?” he spits, all vitriol.

Key, for once, disgustingly, is the calmer one. “Look,” he says, with a kind of condescending patience that immediately makes Jonghyun’s temper flare, “things got out of hand, I know.”

“Out of hand?” Jonghyun mimics, voice a little pitchy. “Out of hand? Fuck you, Kibum. Actually fuck you.”

“Say whatever you want about me, I can handle it,” Key says, even if he’s already starting to sound like he very much can’t handle it, because Key’s not exactly the poster-child of handling his own shit, “but you can’t fuck with Minho like that. It’s not cool, Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun laughs. It’s not a happy sound. “Oh, like you don’t fuck with Minho? You practically use the kid as a punching bag. Making doe eyes at him one second and then verbally kicking him in the balls the next. You’re not any fucking better than I am, you goddamn hypocrite. You don’t give a damn–”

“Shut up!” Key snaps, fist coming down hard on one of his armrests, making his chair shudder. “How fucking dare you. You don’t get to tell me how to act when all you care about is finding a warm place to stick your dick! You don’t know the first thing about actually caring about someone!”

Jonghyun goes very cold and then very, very hot in the span of a few moments, a little incoherent noise of rage twisting up in his chest. “Fuck you,” he spits, hissing out the words like something poisonous. “You don’t know the first goddamn thing about my life. Don’t you dare act like you know anything. You got hurt. Fine. That sucks. But I got other people hurt, people I fucking cared about, and you don’t get to turn around and use that against me.”

“It’s not the fucking same and you know it,” Key spits, eyes narrowing, hard and sharp, looking over Jonghyun in some mixture of pity and disdain that makes Jonghyun’s entire body tense.

“No, it’s fucking not. You know why? Because in a couple days, Minho’s gonna wake up and not even know your name, much less that I said something mean about him.”

“Stop it! Shut up!” Key wails, like Jonghyun has shot him. “Don’t fucking remind me!

It’s too far. Jonghyun knew it the second he said it that it was. But they’ve been going too far all morning, so why the fuck not? Why not push it a little further, really grind in that pain. He’s a fucking expert at that by now.

He stares at Kibum, eyes harsh, and then laughs. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, Bummie, but there’s nothing to figure out. We’re all fucked. I’m never leaving this place. Neither are you or Minho or anyone. Maybe the new kid. Come and gone like the rest of them. But us? We’re never going to have our shit together.”

Key slumps, sudden and exhausted in his chair, anger gone faster than a flame without oxygen. “Fuck, Jonghyun, I…” he says. “Fuck.”

Jonghyun feels himself waver, just a little. He’s still pissed. How could he not be? But Key looks so lost all of a sudden, curled into himself, sharp features drawn together in sadness. And Jonghyun… he doesn’t want this. He just wants to be right. He doesn’t want to see Key hurt.

“Bummie,” he starts, unsure.

Key shakes his head miserably. “No, fuck. I’m sorry, okay. I was wrong. I fucking get it. I have to go. Just get out of my way, Jonghyun.”

He pushes past, Jonghyun stumbling to get out of the path of the wheels, but he’s not fast enough. The wheel of Key’s chair catches the edge of Jonghyun’s shoe, one side lifting up, and that shouldn’t be enough to tip Key, but Jonghyun’s still trying to rip his foot away, jerking his foot and disrupting both of their balances, Jonghyun slamming into the side of the chair with his hip as he tries to tug away, and Key – already off balance – tips just enough that the ridge of the entrance between the common area and his own room sends his wheelchair tipping, clanging to the floor with a sound that feels more violent than it has any right to.

Jonghyun recoils hard, cursing under his breath, eyes darting around in panic. It isn’t his fault! It isn’t! But they’ll think it was and he’d get in trouble and, and–

“Fuck!” Key chokes, curling his chest down into the crumple of his legs and squeezing his eyes shut. “Just go away, Jonghyun!”

“No, wait, hold on–” Jonghyun says, a little desperation leaking into his tone, draining the anger possibly a little too effectively. He doesn’t want to get in trouble for something he didn’t do, but he still doesn’t want to see Key hurt. Not like this.

They argue all the time, snipe back and forth because that’s who they are, and because that’s all they can do, but in the end, Key gets it. He’s stuck here too. He’s sick too. He’s closer to being on Jonghyun’s side than a lot of people are, and Jonghyun may find it all too easy to lash out, but he doesn’t ever actually want Key hurt. They’re friends, sort of, as best as you can be friends in a place like this. And seeing Key lying there, on the floor, it feels terrifying, wrong.

He stumbles a little as he steps forward, not entirely sure what he’s doing, and cringes when Key curls away from him with a noise of protest. He can’t do anything about that though – even if he reassures Key that he’s not going to do anything, not be an ass or kick him while he’s (literally) down, it’s not going to be nearly as effective as just proving it. It’s faster and easier to just wriggle Key’s chair away so he can set it upright, glancing over the wheels and checking that everything at least looks like it’s in working order before he crouches by Key.

He stops there, at Key’s side, completely at a loss. Key doesn’t accept help from damn near anybody. Doctors, sometimes. Nurses occasionally. But Key is as independent as he can possibly be, and Jonghyun’s never exactly had a reason before to try and help him out. He has no idea how.

But Key needs help, clearly. Maybe he’d be able to drag himself, haul himself back into his seat, but Jonghyun’s not actually sure if he can, and even if he could, Jonghyun doesn’t have any idea how long it’d take. He’s not just going to leave Key to that kind of struggle. It’s just, in the meantime, he’s not entirely sure how to go about fixing it.

He can’t just pick Key up, right? Key is always careful about his legs, but Jonghyun’s seen them once or twice, and they’re all kinds of torn up. He’s not exactly going to go around touching those when he’s not sure if he could possibly fuck them up worse or not, and Key probably wouldn’t be able to tell him because his nerves are practically demolished. How the fuck is he supposed to do this?

“Bummie,” he asks, laying his hand on Key’s back, “help me help you, dude. I don’t know what I’m doing. How do I–?”

Key flinches again. “Stop it!” he says, voice all kinds of wobbly, no real venom to be found. “Stop trying to help me! I don’t need your help!”

Jonghyun tugs his hand back, eyebrows furrowing. “Bummie,” he says again, his own voice shaking almost as bad now. “Dude, it’s okay. It’s fine– I… I get it. But I’m not just gonna leave you here. It’s not pity. It’s just– that’s a shit thing to do, you know? If you want, I’ll call the nurses, but they’re gonna think it was me, and I don’t– I don’t wanna go into isolation, or–”

He’s sure Key can hear the way his breath catches with genuine anxiety at the thought of it, because Key unfolds a little, twisting to face him. It’s quiet for a moment and then Key nods, reaching up with both hands in a gesture reminiscent of going in for a hug, though Jonghyun wouldn’t expect Key to hug him on a good day, much less right now.

“Here, come here,” Key says, and Jonghyun leans into him, lets Key’s arms go around his neck. “Pick me up around the waist – like, yeah, like that – and just put me back.”

Jonghyun tries to obey, tries not to jostle Key, but he’s half dead weight, only rectified a little by the way he’s trying to hold himself up on Jonghyun with his arms, and Key is technically taller than him, making Jonghyun struggle a little not to drag his feet or something. After a minute though, he manages to get Key halfway in his chair, enough that Key can let go and grab the arms of it. Jonghyun drops into a crouch in front of him, grabbing both arms of the chair and steadying it, watching Key himself up and backwards until he’s settled, manually lifting his own legs and easing them onto the footrests. It takes a minute, and Jonghyun waits nervously until Key looks up at him, face a little red with embarrassment.

“Thanks,” he breathes, and Jonghyun opens his mouth to say not to mention it or no problem or something, starting to pull back, but Key reaches out, smoothing down his hair where it had gotten messed up from Key’s arms around his neck. Jonghyun bites back an almost pathetic whimper, a soft shiver going through him, and he closes his eyes against the sudden rush. He’s not sure if Key notices his reaction or not, or if he’s just being self-deprecating, but his voice is tired and rough when he sighs, “We’re really fucked up, aren’t we?”

Jonghyun doesn’t have a response to that. He might, but he feels a little tongue-tied. There’d been so much going on, so much fucking stress and anger, adrenaline spiking through him, and now everything is calming down and Key is touching him so fucking gently. Jonghyun doesn’t quite remember how to think straight.

“Sorry about today,” Key says after a minute. “We both said some things we regret, but… you know I didn’t mean anything by it, right?”

Jonghyun nods before he even knows the question, some part of him just blindly agreeing, because he’s starting to get a little fuzzy, and he’s honestly not quite sure he knows how to answer questions anymore right now.

There’s… Key knows better. Key knows how he gets, but sometimes they forget or they don’t think Or maybe Key’s just trying to be nice, but god his hand feels nice, and Jonghyun suddenly just wants to feel nice too.

“It’s… It’s, yeah, we… we both said some things. I–” Jonghyun manages, more an echo of Key than anything, trying to remember what Key had said, how to be offended by it. His father. He had made some quip about his dad. He should be angry about that, right? But the anger is all gone, pushed aside in favor of concern for Key, and he doesn’t know how to get it back, and he just… if he just…

He slides to his knees, dropping from the crouch into an actual kneel, his fingers still curled tight around the arms of Key’s chair. He leans in, desperate, wanting, a sudden burst of need to feel good, to stop feeling like shit for a bit. Key can give that to him, he knows he can.

“Bummie,” he gasps, feeling like he can’t quite can’t he breathe, but he’s looking up through his lashes, his expression soft and open. Appealing. He knows how to do it, how to be it. How to make people want him.

“Jonghyun,” Key says, almost a warning. “Jonghyun, no. You need to go. If you’re getting like this–”

“Bummie,” Jonghyun whines, voice gentle, pleading, still breathless. “Bummie, if you want to make it better, please…”

“Jonghyun, no. You know I can’t,” Key murmurs, stroking Jonghyun’s hair a few more times before dropping a hand to his back, big and warm, soothing in a way that makes Jonghyun tip his face up expectantly. “I’m sorry. You’ll be alright, okay? You’re going to be alright.”

He lets go of Jonghyun, prying his fingers free of the arms of his chair and pushing away gently, wheeling himself backward, just out of Jonghyun’s reach. Jonghyun sways, the temptation to follow almost smothering, and he chokes on a noise that he doesn’t realize until a moment later is a sob.

Key is saying no. He’s pulling away. He doesn’t want Jonghyun. It’s–

He never wants Jonghyun. He always says no. Jonghyun knows that. Logically he knows that. But right now it hurts, makes him feel small and pathetic and awful. But no. No. He knows better. He is better. He’s not going to push past a no, not ever.

He shudders, pulling into himself. He doesn’t trust his legs right now. He doesn’t trust himself right now.

“Can I…?” he starts after a moment, and then stalls hard. He doesn’t know how to ask this, because he’s not asking for what he needs so badly right now, and it makes the words too hard to find.

He needs Jinki here to help. He needs his dad here to make it all go away. He needs to not be like this. He needs a lot of things, so many things, and he can’t have any of them. And he doesn’t know how to ask for anything else when there are so many things crowding his head.

He drops out of kneeling, falling on his ass, scooting away from Key and bunching into himself, trying to hold himself together and remember how to breathe, how to think. “Can I…” he starts again, trying to remember how to fucking use words, “Shit, if I… if I promise not to try anything, can I stay?”

It’s not what he wants to ask. He’s not going to try and touch Key without permission – never, god, no, never – but he wants so badly to ask Key to touch him. Not even sexually, just… just his hand back in his hair, even if it’s miserable, even if it makes Jonghyun a fucking mess. It’s not anything like what he needs, not by a long shot, but it’s something, something to make him feel less like shit.

But it’s too much to ask. He knows that. He knows it’s too much to ask, and he hunches into himself, grinding out a miserable, “Fuck it, never mind, just fuck it. I’ll go. Just let me… just give me a second to–”

“If you promise,” Key says, interrupting Jonghyun’s train of thought. “But you can’t get all needy on me, okay?”

“I’m–” Jonghyun says, feeling breathless again for a whole other reason, hope winding in his chest. “I’m– yeah, I’m okay. I’ll be okay. I’ll be back to normal in a second. I just got lost in my head for a minute. I’m good. I’m good, I swear.”

Key squints suspiciously, and Jonghyun knows that wasn’t exactly convincing, but Key just wheels himself over to his desk, grabbing a sketchpad and a pencil, and then looks at Jonghyun. “Come here. I need a model, and you know you’re pretty as hell.”

Jonghyun gives an unsteady grin, scooting closer until he’s leaning against the side of the wheelchair. It digs in a little uncomfortably, but Jonghyun can lean his head against the arm, and after a moment, Key reaches down, running the fingers of his left hand through Jonghyun’s hair a few times, arranging it absently in a way that makes Jonghyun want to fucking melt.

“Thanks,” he says after a minute or two, and his chest is tight, but he’s calm again. Mostly calm. He still kind of wants to fuck Key, but not as desperately, not as needily. This is okay. This feels nice. It’ll get him through.

“No quips about how you’re at dick height right now?” Key asks, almost amused.

Jonghyun shakes his head slowly, not enough to dislodge Key’s hand. After a minute, he hears the scratch of a pencil on paper, methodical and disarming. “Nah, I’m good.”

Key hums, more loose agreement than anything. “I didn’t mean to set you off.”

“No one ever does.” Jonghyun shrugs. “It just happens. It’s okay.”

“I meant earlier. I know that didn’t help.”

Jonghyun shuts his eyes tight. “It’s… it’s fine. Just… I’m fine. Can we not talk about it? I don’t really want to anymore.”

“Yeah,” Key agrees, brushing Jonghyun’s bangs to one side. “Just sit still for a bit. Let me draw.”

“Thanks,” Jonghyun says, because sitting still is easy enough to do, easy enough to trick himself into not thinking too hard, easy enough to focus in on Key’s fingers in his hair and the sound of the pencil on paper. Easy enough to pretend he’s anywhere else but here.

–

#shinee fic #shinee fanfiction #jongtae #minkey #onkai #my writing #heartbeat #jongkey have the most messed up friendship like woah #also guess who set the upload time for p.m. instead of a.m. by accident?#sorry for the slightly late update #it's only about 8 hours late #:s

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