The Shadow King

14.

NAMJOON PACED UP AND DOWN Seokjin's small living room thinking long and hard about what to do next. This had become a norm for him. He was anxious, he wanted to save Star, to be with her but he knew he had to be patient. But the wait was killing him.

After Seokjin and Hoseok came back from the castle the night before, they had all devised a plan on how to get Star out of the castle. However, with Jeongguk and his goons still roaming around the castle premises, it was almost impossible for them to do anything because Namjoon was still a wanted man.

"Namjoon, stop pacing. You'll make yourself more anxious and that isn't good." Seokjin said as he read the morning herald and drank his coffee.

"I can't help it. What if your plan doesn't work?"

"Do you take me for a fool, Namjoon?"

"No, I don't."

"Good, then I would appreciate it if you wouldn't insult my intelligence by questioning whether the plan will work. The charity ball is the perfect diversion for us. We go in, do as we agreed and get Star out of the castle and then, we strike."

Namjoon kept wondering whether getting rid of Yoongi was a good decision. There was no denying that he had done some questionable things in the past, punished criminals in the most inhumane way possible but he was still a good friend; one that was troubled and maybe just needed a little help working through a few issues.

"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts." Seokjin interrupted Namjoon's train of thought.

"No, it's not that I just... do you think killing Yoongi is really necessary?"

Seokjin took his eyes off of the newspaper's front page and looked at Namjoon. "Please tell me you are joking." He said. "He wanted to kill you, had you cooped up in a small stench filled dungeon, he killed many people and had their heads thrown into the river, he kidnapped the girl that you're in love with and you want us to go easy on him?"

Namjoon didn't say anything but simply shrugged his shoulders.

"What does he have over you? Is there something he knows that we don't?"

There was indeed but Namjoon wasn't about to tell Seokjin that. He couldn't risk being another target or even being hated by his best friends so he lied to save himself.

"I just think killing people is wrong, Seokjin."

"But it's okay when Yoongi does it to innocent people, right?"

Namjoon sighed, "That's not what I meant. I'm just not too fond of the idea of murder."

"Do you want to save Star and the whole of Geum Byeol from Yoongi's dictatorship? If you do, you shouldn't have a problem doing this? It's for the best and you know it."

Seokjin was right but something just didn't feel right.

Just then, Taehyung and Hoseok walked in with swords in hand and big smiles on their faces which baffled Namjoon.

Did everyone find pleasure in this but him?

"Ah, good morning." Seokjin greeted them. "I see you've found some decent swords."

"Yes indeed, Seokjin. Only the best. These come from our swordsman who crafted the battle swords from 5 decades ago." Hoseok said. "I still can't he's still alive after so many wars and battles he's gone through. The man is nothing but skin and bones but by God, he's still good at his job."

He handed one to Namjoon and then one more to Seokjin. "It's best to get familiar with the swords before the night of the event. We don't want any nasty surprises."