adorn

chapter 16

a sudden sound of a strike. a body falls on the ground. the breath weak, head too heavy to look up, one eye swollen, metallic taste of blood in his mouth. the soldier is towering over jihoon, whose whimpers make the benign servants murmur prayers, the others more sensitive ones look away, feeling sympathy towards the boy found guilty with no tangible evidence.

as the victim was being dragged inside, two guards faced a hard time keeping him in their hold. the boy wriggled, scrambled, tried to free himself but in vain. his constant reasoning that he had nothing to do with the sudden disappearance of the king's son was never heard, never considered, never believed. jihoon initially fought for his innocence, however, it didn't take him long to understand that they would rather have him confess the lie than adamantly claim that he did nothing more than be in the wrong place at the wrong time. the boy fell silent, even his imploring to stop vanished, giving the bulky man more space to release his aggression on the villager.

the guard stares at the body curled on the floor, sees the droplets of blood on the tiles, counts how many times jihoon breathed in and out, reckoning that one more kick and the boy won't stand up again. he glances back, his eyes meet with the old man, lounging on the throne. the man acts like an audience in the theater but he is much more than that. the man is the director, he chose the actors, he writes a script, he decides who wins, who loses, who laughs and who cries.

"your majesty, shall I continue? the boy is about to die."

the king heaves his sluggish limbs, two women in beige instantly approach him to give support and the monarch soon gets closer to jihoon. the boy cannot even pay reverence, still, the king gloats. the prisoner is on his feet, silently begging for mercy and a second chance.

"if you tell the truth now, they won't hurt you again. just tell us what you did to my son." the king's voice was cavernous, sending shivers down the spines of everyone gathered in the room.

it wasn't a question, wasn't a request, it was an order. if not given, the one had to be grimly punished. the flopped hands twitched, a low groan filled the room. some servants craned their necks to have a better look at the boy who was still fighting for his life and honor.

"I didn't..." he spits out some more blood, a puddle is formed under his mouth. "I didn't do anything to your son, your majesty."

the king scowled, huffed. swiveling his head to look at the armored man, motioned him to go on, this time he wanted the other to shut this brazen bastard's mouth once and for all. the man bobbed his head up and down, already getting back to have a space small enough so that his leg reaches the tormented body, squashing the intestines, spearing the heart, stifling breath, but at this instant someone dashes inside.

"don't do this! don't...!"

a shriek acutely pierces through the air. he has no sense of direction, his sight is blurry, his lungs are burning and his heart cannot catch up to pump the blood to his whole being, yedam runs forward just to build an obstacle in between the one on the ground and his assailant.

"don't get any closer! I'm warning you!"

his voice fierce, hands stretched ready to push the man away. he hears feeble coughs behind him, the tear of helplessness glides down his cheek.

"yedam. move." is a terse command the king gives. "your behavior is mortifying. get up right now and reflect on your wrongdoings."

"I won't! I won't until you let him go!" the boy is obstinate but afraid, and his father knows it.

he was the one bringing up the kid who was now disobeying his rules. the first rule of the palace said "never contradict or doubt king's decisions". the man sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"move yedam. I won't say this again." it was a growl this time but this wolf didn't expect that there was a husky in the family.

"I won't." was a harsh reply, filled with enmity.

the father sneered at his son upon seeing how one of his hands was now searching for something behind. as soon as yedam felt jihoon's palm, he held it tightly. for the first time, he had his hand covered with ruby-colored liquid. the king decided to put an end to all of it.

"take him away." yedam clenched onto jihoon a little more.

"no, please!" he begged, his body inadvertently falling on his knees. "spare him, I am begging you, father, kill me instead..."

jihoon was sore, his every muscle, every inch of his skin, every fraction of his body, and even looking slightly up at the figure which spread its arms in front of him like a shield caused him a piercing pain in the back of the head. still, he had to look, he had to say it until it got forgotten.

"father...?"

yedam sobbed out, closed his eyes, turned to jihoon, and coated him securely. any minute now he could be taken away entirely, never being able to embrace jihoon in his arms again.

his courageous, gentle, carefree, lovable boy, the one who knew so much about the sky, the sand, gravel, the rivers, nature, fields, storms, and a life remote from wars, weapons, letters, stamps, robes, pearls, rings, hairpins, crowns, thrones, treason and lies.

"I order you to stop right now!" the sentence worked like a magic spell cast on everyone and everything around.

the "wizard" happened to enter the room with no other than hyunsuk, pacing now hand in hand. the king muttered some indecent comment, looking at the person who proved that not only he was invincible.

"king kanemoto. you could have announced about your coming over I would have prepared the scene much better."

the younger monarch let go of hyunsuk's hand, telling him quietly to stay away. yoshinori stood right in front of the king.

"my brother is with your son. they ran away together at night. the boy you are torturing is innocent."

he huffed, emphasizing the last word. yedam trembled, his hands still wrapped around the bleeding body. at this moment yoshinori was his salvation, with his gleaming eyes, his hands passed some thin paper to the king with scribbles on it.

"forgive me, brother. I can't marry yedam. I love doyoung. I will miss you but we are happier now. your dongsaeng."

the king read slowly, some parts even repeated like a mantra. the note soon fall from his numb fingers, his body felt weak, three servants seizing it mere seconds before it splashed on the ground. the crown slid down, massive gold broke the tile in a half.

as they carried the man away, with the crown put back on its place, yoshinori found a smaller hand in his. he glanced at hyunsuk, smiled at him, kissing his forehead tenderly.

"prince yedam."

the said boy was still ashen, but he was now able to take deep breaths. the gratitude weighting his chest, only a faint "yes?" makes its way out but seems to get sucked into the air.

"take care of him."

yoshinori beckoned on the one behind, involuntarily pressing hyunsuk's body closer to his. he saw how yedam looked at the other, the same way hyunsuk looked at him. jihoon managed to stand up, his arm around yedam's neck, the latter trailed the boy with him, sounds of hissing and extinguished yelping followed them for a while.

"your brother loves him."

hyunsuk's eyes lingered on the doors where the pair could have been seen barely a few seconds ago.

he nodded, his eyes containing boundless love and admiration. the crown prince has never seen his dongsaeng so brave, acting against his father's will. doyoung ran away with his butterfly, yedam chose happiness over rules and manners. now it was his turn to live. 

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