Cursed - Enhypen FF

Passageway

Sunoo was stressed. Hopefully his servants and tutors all thought it was because of his schedules.
It obviously wasn't.

Two days had passed since Jay had exposed his plan and they had to work up the details together. It could have used months of planning, however time was running out.
In fact half of their time had already gone by and they needed to leave as soon as possible.

Everyone had taken a specific responsibility regarding their escape. Between food, guard management, packing belongings, they all had a lot of work.
Sunoo had been in charge of food.

For the past two days he had been secretly sneaking in the kitchen and stealing food they would be able to transport, which meant a lot of potted preparations.
Oh boy would they eat a lot of pickles.

As they were leaving tonight, Sunoo had decided that he should take fresh food as well, just to get the journey started.

~

The seven princes of Hyube had to endure one of the longest days of their lives. Every time someone spoke to them or even looked at them, they were convinced that they knew about the escape plan.
However, they hid their stress well. Years and years of facial expression practice had eventually paid off. Even at dinner, when their parents asked how they felt about marrying the princess they stayed calm and politely faked their contentment.

Heeseung had even topped the acting scene by explaining they had had time to reflect on what this marriage would mean for their country and that they were happy to be given an opportunity to help.

However, as soon as dessert had been finished, they asked to leave the dining room. The parents allowed them and it took everything they had not to run up the stairs.

They all headed for their own bedrooms, still acting casual. The princes waited for a long time before the castle went to sleep.
Once it was safe, they gathered in Sunoo's room, where everything had been stocked.

Jay had stolen simple clothes that could pass for farmer's attire in the laundry, and half of them were already dressed, leaving their beautifully embroidered prince clothes on Sunoo's bed.

Jay on the other hand couldn't seem to do it. He really liked his own clothes.

"Come on" whispered Jungwon, who had started changing next to him.
"Alright" agreed Jay, somehow distracted.

"Okay, so" started Sunoo. "I've organized all of our backpacks. Each of us has a change of clothes, some food and water and then, your personal-absolute-must-be-taken-with belongings."

The princes nodded, each reaching their own bag.

"What's next?" asked Niki.
"Well, now we well have to split up in three groups" started Jake. "You all know where the secret tunnel is, just go for it. I'm going to be on the lookout for guards and will go last."

Sunoo had a weird feeling. His stomach was upset and he knew it wasn't because he had taken two desserts.

"Okay, first team, Sunoo and Niki" added Jake. "Then Jungwon and Jay and lastly Heeseung and Sunghoon."
"Remember to engage inside the tunnel but not leaving it before we're all together" said Jay.

The boys nodded.

Tonight they would take their fate into their own hands.

~

Sunoo was sweating. Niki and him had just received Jake's signal and it was time to go. They needed to be fast and discreet, otherwise they would compromise the whole plan.
Niki gently squeezed Sunoo's hand, letting him know that they would do this together.

Sunoo sighed and they left.

The hallways were silent. No candles were lit, which was a good thing for them. Not that they would have needed light anyway. Having spent their whole lives in this castle, they knew it like the back of their hands.
They had reached the end of the hallway and needed to turn left next.
Sunoo and Niki put their backs against the wall and Sunoo looked at their left.

No one.

He went for it, closely followed by Niki.
It went on like this for five long minutes, hopefully without any incident. Finally, they had reached the sanctuary.

It was a gloomy room in which Queens and Kings prayed their ancestors for wisdom. Sunoo had always hated that room. It smelled weird and his mother came out of a praying session she always was in a bad mood.
Nonetheless, tonight, this room would be their salvation.

Niki passed Sunoo to open up the passage. It was a beautifully hidden trap on the wall. The locket made a little noise as it got unlocked, which resonated in the room.
Sunoo held his breath, ready to be caught any instant now.
Hopefully Niki succeeded and the both of them entered the secret passage.

Niki closed it, leaving them in the dark.

Now, they had already seen the passageway, but never had they actually entered it.
Jay had assured them that it would lead outside as he had tested it himself. However Sunoo couldn't help but feel scared.

"Let's light a candle" whispered Niki.

Sunoo hesitated. He would indeed be reassured by some light, however would it be safe?

"I'm not sure we should" said Sunoo. "Plus, if we wait a little bit, out eyes will grow accustomed to the darkness."

Niki sighed but didn't complain. In fact Sunoo was right, after a little while, they could distinguish things a bit better.

"We should get going" said Sunoo. "The others must be arriving and we need to make place."

The beginning of the tunnel was pretty narrow. Both princes were on their knees, suddenly grateful not to be wearing their royal clothes anymore.
The more they crawled, the bigger the tunnel got.
At some point, Sunoo could even stand up. On the other hand, Niki's head touched the ceiling.

"A little bit further please" he asked as Sunoo giggled.

Finally they saw a light ahead of them, which meant they had almost reached the meeting point.
Jay had described it as a circle room that opened up in two other tunnels.

"Alright" said Sunoo. "Now we wait."

And they waited.

There were a lot of noises around them, however it was impossible to determine if it was the other princes or something else.

"Shouldn't Jungwon and Jay be arri-" started Niki as the princes finally heard voices down the passageway.

"Niki?"

"We're here!" said Sunoo, containing himself not to shout.

Jay and Jungwon arrived a minute later, visibly sweating.

"We almost got caught" whispered Jungwon, sitting down.
"Are you okay?" asked Niki.
"I think so" said Jay.

~

More minutes passed, but no one else came. The princes were starting to question if they should go back or not. Something could have gone wrong.

Jay was pacing nervously, his hands on his waist.

"I should go check" he finally mumbled.
"Either we don't go or we all go" said Jungwon.
"I know this passageway better than anyone. I'll be back soon" he said.

Sunoo nodded. He was worried for Hee, Hoon and Jake. He wanted Jay to go check on them.

As Jay reached the entrance of the tunnel, they heard something they wished they never had.

Queen Yang's voice.