Precious ◈ | Seongjoong/Yungi ✓

Episode 3: Inescapable Compassion ◈ Part 2

Yeosang oversees Dayeol as he organizes the records in the archive. The former officer is the best assistant he's ever had. It's a strange thing to admit, but Yeosang's friends just can't understand the system he's created.

And yet this "prisoner," as Dayeol refers to himself, can.

"How are you so good at comprehending all of this? My friends only ever mess stuff up," the recordkeeper confesses.

Dayeol smirks bitterly, "This is nothing compared to what they do in royal military training."

Yeosang tilts his head. "Yunho went through military training, too, but he still couldn't get it. And he's really smart."

"What? That deserter?" Dayeol shuts his mouth after receiving a fierce glare.

The younger scoffs, "Honestly, if you were in the military, you should know he had every reason to leave."

"Whatever." Dayeol looks around apprehensively and mutters, "Where's your bodyguard?"

Yeosang straightens a stack of paper and moves to put it away in a filing cabinet. "Jongho's actually working with the cargo team for once."

"Huh? I assumed staying in the archive was his job."

"Nope," Yeosang shakes his head and takes another stack of paper while he clarifies, "Jongho is the leader of the cargo and heavy-lifting team. He's just never there because he prefers to be in here, so he often shirks his work onto San and Mingi. More so San since Mingi slacks off a bit, too."

"So, they're irresponsible," Dayeol jeers.

However, the recordkeeper spins around defensively. He doesn't waste a second to correct the older man. "Jongho's very responsible! It may look like he doesn't take his job seriously, but he always stays up to date with what's going on with the cargo team and helps whenever they ask for him. It's just because the team can manage themselves well that he doesn't worry about it.

"As for Mingi's 'laziness' in the early days, that's because of his trauma. Both of them are very hard workers when it counts."

Although he's startled by the outburst in Jongho's defense, Dayeol shifts in his seat a bit at the mention of Mingi. "Trauma?"

Yeosang huffs, calming down and continuing to refill the filing cabinets. "Mingi was severely abused in Seoul Palace."

"Who hasn't been abused in this kingdom?" Dayeol brushes it off.

"You don't get it," Yeosang elaborates, "Mingi watched his whole family fall apart at the hands of his mother. The Tyrant Queen is just as cold and ruthless toward her family, if not more so compared to whatever treatment you had to deal with. I heard that when Yunho met Mingi, Mingi was covered in awful whip scars. It took about a year of special medicine for them to heal."

Dayeol blinks doubtfully. He had been informed with snippets about how the prince was never kidnapped but instead ran away from the palace of his own accord. He couldn't fathom why. While sailing aboard The Wonderland so far, he's hardly seen the prince around, but what he has seen continues to shock him.

The prince looks so carefree here. Was he truly treated so terribly that he left behind a life of luxury in a cushy palace for a risky, ragtag life at sea?

The door clicks open and Mingi lifts his head. Yunho enters the bedroom and heads straight for the dresser to pick a change of clothes. His lack of acknowledgment toward his boyfriend stings the younger's heart.