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taeyong gestured for you to sit down at the table. it was huge. in your head, you counted the chairs. ten. there were ten chairs. that's a lot of people, you thought curiously.

haechan sat down beside you. his eyes were trained on the table, unable to meet taeyong's gaze.

"would you like something to drink?" taeyong asked you.

you smiled politely at him, "yes, please." you were exhausted, not to mention thirsty and hungry. you hadn't even gotten to eat the cold noodles haechan had promised you.

taeyong returned with a glass of water and you thanked him. he also handed one to haechan, who took out with a small "thank you", still not looking directly at him. despite his intimidating demeanor, taeyong was awfully kind.

then, he turned to haechan with an expression that made you understand why haechan was so scared of him. "explain. and don't leave out a single detail."

haechan gulped down his water and began to explain. "i was out at the market this morning. just, you know, to stretch out my legs. and then i saw a crowd of people and i went over to see what was happening."

he looked over at you. "and then i saw her. her name's jieun, by the way. so, she had her dagger on this guy and he was super scared. i don't really know what happened but all of a sudden i saw her lower her dagger and then he threw her to the ground and ran off with her money."

taeyong raised an eyebrow. "you had your dagger up on a full-grown man? that's impressive."

you smiled sheepishly. haechan, with renewed confidence, said, "exactly!"

taeyong gave him a withering glare. "i was talking to her. continue."

"um, well... so i helped her up, of course. you know very well how kind of a person i am."

"yeah, you told her you were gonna sell her organs," mark interjected.

"haechan, you did what?"

haechan let out a nervous laugh. "hyung, i was joking. it was funny. you know i'm very funny too, right?"

"i know that you wouldn't pass up a chance to mess with someone like that."

"yeah, well, it-it wasn't that big of a deal." haechan fidgeted with the now empty glass of water.

"it was a pretty big deal to me," you muttered.

he turned to you, hissing, "you're not helping."

you shrugged. taeyong said to you, "i apologize for his behavior."

"oh, it's fine," you assured him.

haechan cleared his throat. "anyways. as i was saying, i very kindly helped this lady up after she was violently robbed"—you rolled your eyes— "and i took her to a restaurant. because i'm so kind, you know. and we were there and..." his face grew serious. "do you remember those men we ran into last time? i saw some of them outside the restaurant."

mark, who had sat down across from the two of you, looked shocked. "you're sure it was them?"

"yes. i didn't recognize any of them, but i'm pretty sure they're from the same group. they're not regular old bandits, that's for sure."

taeyong pinched the bridge of his nose. he closed his eyes and sighed. "we have to do something about this."

you looked back and forth between them. "um, can someone explain who 'they' are?"

taeyong opened his eyes, a solemn expression on his face. "recently, these strange men have appeared in the city. they've been terrorizing the city people, attacking almost every single day." he shook his head, letting out a breath. "and for some reason, they never get caught."

you frowned, realization dawning upon you. this was exactly what jaemin had told you. you perked up, hoping you could get more information.

"and you don't know who's behind the attacks?" you asked.

"no," replied haechan. "but we've been trying our damn hardest to get to the bottom of it."

"another thing," added taeyong, "they're looking for something. someone."

"who?"

the three of them shared a look. taeyong sighed apologetically. "we can't tell you just yet. we can't really trust you, sorry."

you nodded, but mostly you were distracted by what taeyong had said. those men were looking for someone? your thoughts flew back to the conversation you had overhead in the hallway at the palace.

'have you found him yet?'

'not yet, sir. my men combed through the city, but we haven't been able to find him.'

'double the number of men you have searching for him. i want him found, no matter what. do you understand?'

you gnawed on your bottom lip. you wanted to tell them so badly, but you didn't know how to without revealing the truth behind your mission.

haechan's voice interrupted your thoughts. "god! i can't believe the king isn't doing anything about this. i can't believe jaemin isn't doing anything about this..."

your eyebrows shot up. "jaemin?"

three pairs of eyes turned to you questioningly.

"i, uh, heard that name somewhere... from someone... in the market, i think," you stammered.

haechan raised an eyebrow. "of course. he's the prince."


[a/n]:

AHHHHH IM SO SORRY SCHOOL HAS BEEN LITERAL HELL I'VE GOTTEN AN AVERAGE OF LIKE 3 HRS OF SLEEP THIS WHOLE WEEK AND I HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO UPDATE PLS FORGIVE ME

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