Rapunzel (Seventeen JeongCheol story)

Chapter 21 - Key

A/N: Thank you so much for 1.7K on this book *cries* And welcome, new readers!! I'm so glad seeing that you like this story so much, it means a lot to me!

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Queen Taeyeon was having a pleasant conversation with some guests when suddenly noises were heard from outside the ballroom. Someone was definitely fighting someone because the sounds were so loud that they could be heard even from inside. The queen excused herself and started walking towards the door slowly, making sure not to gain more attention than what her appearance already gets. She stopped in her tracks and took a sudden step back when the double door flew open and someone she wasn't expecting the slightest entered the room.

'Key' she said blankly, staring at the king of Shawol Kingdom she's been enemies with for the past 2 decades. The dark haired man was wearing an armor on his body and stopped in the middle of the room as his soldiers also flooded the ballrom, acting like he owns the place.

'Taeyeon' he nodded his head almost politely. As politely as possible seeing that he just barged in on a masquerade ball he wasn't invited to at all. The queen stood in a healthy distance from him and held the eye contact with an unreadable expression.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'I came to get my revenge' growled Key.

'After all these years? You decide to get revenge for something I told you a million times I didn't do, on my son's birthday party??' yelled out Taeyeon in disbelief. By now the guests all backed away, most of them out of the ballroom already, meanwhile the queen's guards, including Soonyoung and Seungkwan all gathered around her. Seungkwan huffed to himself silently. Looks like tonight isn't the night when he's asking Hansol out either. Him, Soonyoung and the other guards all reached for their swords, Key's people copying them immediately.

'No need for that' said Taeyeon holding up a hand, seeing what they were up to. 'Don't you think we can talk this out maturely, Key?' she asked in an amused tone. Weirdly enough when Seungcheol suggested it, talking seemed to be a bizarre idea, but now she felt like she has to be the bigger person. Key was being childish. Just like in their childhood. The king raised an eyebrow.

'What do you expect from me?' he asked back.

As Taeyeon was about to speak, suddenly two figures, a taller and a shorter one crashed inside the ballroom from the direction of the castle garden, both of them out of breath.

'Mom, there's a witch out there- oh' gasped Seungcheol. He had never met Key before, but he saw pictures of him many times, and the color of his people's uniforms (pearl aqua) also gave away that they came straight from Shawol Kingdom. The king's presence could be felt all over the room, just as much as Taeyeon's. The huge ballroom was definitely too small for the two rulers to share.

And they didn't even spare a glance to Seungcheol and Jihoon as they were still having a staring contest. The tension in the room was too much.

'I'm not going to just talk after all these years' said Key.

'If you say so' shrugged Taeyeon and suddenly she pulled her dress up on her leg, revealing a sword that was hidden under her clothes the whole evening. Key smirked and pulled out his own sword too, finally all the guards doing the same thing. Seungcheol quickly urged Jihoon towards the stairs before reaching for his own weapon.

'Just like old times' grinned Key staring at Taeyeon.

'Those were wooden swords, Kibum' said the queen quietly. Key narrowed his eyes and metal hit metal as the king and the queen and all the guards started fighting each other. Seungcheol quickly joined in with Soonyoung and Seungkwan.

'Nice way to celebrate your birthday, huh, Prince?' asked Soonyoung. Seungcheol dodged Key's soldier's hit and nodded.

'Better than a boring masquerade party' he panted.

'If I don't survive this, tell Hansol I loved him and I'm sorry for missing all my chances of asking him out!!' screeched Seungkwan, fighting back another soldier.

'We need to survive too to do that, Kwannie' said Soonyoung with a chuckle which was pretty random in the middle of a sword fight.

All of a sudden someone spoke up again, loud enough that their voice filled the whole ballroom.

'Well, well, well. So we meet again after all these years' spoke a female voice, making everyone in the room turn towards her. The middle aged woman in the long dress was standing in the doorway. Seungcheol widened his eyes.

'That's the witch!' he said quickly. 'She attacked me outside and she hurt Jeong-'

'Gothel?' spoke up Key in disbelief and he lowered his sword, his people following his example immediately. Taeyeon stared at them in confusion.

'You know each other? Who is she?' asked Seungcheol. Key looked at him for a split second before looking back at Gothel.

'We used to know each other a long time ago. We were friends-'

'Friends?! Friends?! You loved me, I know you loved me!' shouted Gothel. Key shook his head.

'No, Gothel! I never loved you! It was you who couldn't understand that...'

'It doesn't even matter now' looked at him Gothel blankly. 'Seeing that we all gathered together like a big happy family, I can feel a bit of a... how do I put this? Tension in here' she continued talking as she stepped closer, her heels clicking on the floor of the ballroom.

'Obviously!' said Taeyeon and glared at Key. 'He just shows up uninvited on my son's birthday!! How long have you been planning this, Key? And what have you done to the guards outside, hm?'

'None of them got hurt, but they won't remember anything' glared back Key.

'You attacked my country with absolutely no reason!'

'You kidnapped my son!!' shouted back the king.

'I said this a thousand times: it wasn't me! We were friends, why would've I kidnapped him?!

'It wasn't her who kidnapped him' smirked Gothel evilly. 'It was me.'