Excalibur

49. Holiday Complications

Teaser: The queen is aware of Yeosang's insubordination, and the knights all gather for the start of a peaceful, yet eventful Christmas night.

Date: December 25th

Even though he wasn't necessarily a part of it, Jaemin had fun watching them all open gifts on Christmas morning. There was a lot of laughter and jokes that were made with him regardless of his new presence in their home.

Seeing Hikari smile nonstop made him happy, especially after the mental breakdown that ensued the night before after they finished eating and laid down for bed.

She would have to see him today after that.

There was a small, evil part of her that made her wish he was comfortable enough on guard duty to stay there all day. Or maybe until the end of time. After crying about it, she became embarrassed before she even got the chance to see him again.

Now she really didn't want to.

Jaemin tried convincing her it would be okay, only for her to freak out about it more. He told her that even if Yeosang somehow did find out, he wouldn't be weirded out or think of her any differently. Yeosang himself said that it was natural for people to have feelings for their friends, but the words fell on deaf ears when said to Hikari.

Once noon came and he finally convinced her that they made a promise to meet at the apartment to Yuqi, she finally joined him in the knight chauffeur's car. Hikari was supposed to teach Jaemin how to cook so they could bring food, but obviously, emotions and embarrassment got in the way.

Mrs. Sakamoto's large amount of leftovers that they brought would definitely come in handy.

As they entered the castle, they saw the queen walking through the foyer and she stopped to look at them. "What do you both think you're doing? You're supposed to be on duty."

"Uh..."

If they said what happened, Yeosang could probably get in trouble for it. The queen's eyes were horribly intimidating though.

It's not like Yeosang wouldn't prepare for this. There was no way he would expect Heiran to not find out.

"Yeosang has been watching over the kingdom all night," Jaemin spoke up and her eyes widened. "He told us to be ready in case he needed us and sent us home."

Hikari glared at him. Why was it so easy for him to just throw Yeosang under the bus like that? The queen clearly didn't look happy in the first place, and it was made worse when she found out he disobeyed her orders.

"Go tell him I want to speak with him!"

She stormed away to an elevator and Hikari sighed. "G-great going."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Lie?"

"How? She was gonna find out eventually anyway."

They both reluctantly went to the west wall while still arguing about it and went up into the lookout where Yeosang was reading a book. Hikari stood behind Jaemin though. If only they could just go back and get things set up like planned.

Then she wouldn't have to face him.

It's not like he knew or anything.

She mentally face-palmed at her unjustified fear.

"Commander, the queen knows about what you did."

"What did she say?" He sighed and put his book mark in before packing up his things.