Hi! >.<

I apologise for the long hiatus. Many things happened but I will try to update again soon.

Here are four consecutive updates to make up for something... I hope. Sorry! >.<

And and if you find this update somewhat poor in quality, I apologise beforehand too!

Please do stay and read and I love you guys! *bows*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning…

Waking up to a dark room, when the candles have already burnt out and melted into a red puddle, a despondent man rubs his stubbles angrily and sits up in a huff. Rubbing the soreness away from his forehead, the man looked out of the slightly parted window just as the first ray of sunlight lights up the musty room.

Sighing loudly, the lone man gathered his inner clothes and pushed himself up, sweeping his messy mop of hair from his face. Kicking aside the empty porcelain vats that lay domain beside him, the man lumbered out of his room.

“Junsu…” “Junsu yah…” The man knocked on the door of the neighbouring but got no response. Instead of panicking, the man actually chuckled a little to himself as he runs his fingers through his thick black shoulder length locks. Sliding open the heavy door and staring into the vacant room, the man sauntered in and sat down, taking his time to inspect the untidy pile of bedding and strewn contents all over the desk.

“I think he is gone… search the palace…” The man ordered briefly after coming to a conclusion. It appears as though someone had been busy escaping in the middle of the night and Yunho, the dishevelled man, is feeling more relieved than upset, strange enough. Convinced that Junsu has finally given him an indication, the man is not surprised that the wedding proposition had scared the young one off.

“Brat.” “I wonder if he brought enough clothes…” The king muttered to himself, not too worried about Junsu’s ‘missing’ status, a stark contrast from how the entire palace is now bustling with life and searching every nook and cranny for their lost prince.

The king immediately got down to penning his thoughts on a piece of paper, crouching over his brother’s short desk as he writes as legibly as he can in Japanese.

Yuchun dono,

I feel apologetic to have to send you this message but I have apparently failed at providing my brother a proper upbringing.

He has run away from home and will not be found for as long as the marriage is still valid.

Pardon me but I believe that we might have to negotiate again. Come to meet me in my palace anytime and we shall talk over tea. I am definitely more hospitable to guests so please do not worry about your visit here.

I am pleased to let you know that the offer for half the land is still valid.

Yours sincerely,

Yunho

Swiftly folding the piece of parchment and trying to fit it into his envelope, the king proceeded to brand the message with a royal seal and made his way over to where Jejung is residing. Whistling as he moves along, the places he passes is silent as people tries to make sense of his queer behaviour.

“You.” Yunho addresses the said person for the first time, not bothering to knock as he slides the door open, startling the person within. Pulling the front pieces of his kimono together, Jejung quickly turns away from Yunho.

“Take this and go home.” Yunho did not give Jejung enough time to react or probe before chucking both the letter and him back into a carriage waiting outside, sending him on his way home. “Pass him the letter and don’t come back!” Sighing loudly, the beautiful person resigned to travelling back home for the second time, wandering how many times he will be pushed around before the two kings finally decide to stop their childish ball-passing. With him being the ball this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile… on the other side of the forest…

“NO!!! HYUNGIE!!!” A loud shrill cry of panic emitted from a single tree in the middle of an afforested area caused a few birds nearby to flutter away from their nests in fright. A moderately loud thud follows immediately as a single being crashes down past the shorter branches. It is hardly monkey and grogginess is the likely cause of the clumsy crash landing.

With head spinning as he tries to take in the greenish scenery in front of him, the human looked up and sighed dramatically upon spotting his bundle still stuck up on the tree branch where he was sleeping on. Squinting as he jumps up and down, like he was bouncing, the person gave up trying to retrieve his package using the shortcut method and started climbing the tree instead.

Sliding down a couple of times and scraping chunks of tree bark into his own mouth, the person could not but sulk loudly as he fails to make his way up every time. Realising that he has no idea how he got up there in the first place, the person cursed under his breath before giving up. Desperation helped him to scale the tree the night before, since there were a pack of wolves hot on his heels then. However, without any adrenaline rush, his arms will not support his weight, even though he is not very heavy.

Giving up after a long struggle, the person resigned to his fate. He is not going to be reunited with his bundle anytime soon even though his money, belongings and whatnots are all in there. Still a little shaken by the bad dream he had, in which his brother was murdered before his very own eyes, the young one slapped himself a few times before preparing to embark on another journey altogether.

The sun is out and the woodland is serene except for the person’s not-so gentle movements. Trudging along as he tries to keep his legs freed of the undergrowth tangling themselves around his shoes. Squeaking a few times upon sinking his feet into cold soft mush, the small figure hugged himself tightly to keep the chilly wind at bay. Shuddering visibly and finally reaching a clearing, the person squats beside a bush and took his time to play with a squirrel that had just burst out from the safety of the perennial plants nearby.

As if anything cute will stop him in his tracks, the small person took his time to feed the small animal some unknown species of nut like fruit he found nearby. It is already near dawn by the time he is done with his mini escapade, which is nothing near successful if he was actually running for dear live.

“Should I go back?” “Hyung will get into trouble won’t he?” The person whispered in a tiny voice, as if afraid someone might hear him. Placing emphasis on all the unnecessary aspects of an escape mission instead, it is very evident that he had lived a sheltered life, like a budding seedling always protected by Yunho.

“What should I do?” Continuing his conversation with a mere rodent, the boy sought comfort in the fact that the tiny creature is reacting, twitching its head left and right while he pouts. “That dream might come true if I don’t go back…”

“But I don’t want to be traded like an animal… like you.” After a long while of soul searching, the young one scooped the squirrel up into his palms and embarked on his way back to the palace. Staring at the shadowy palace building in the distance, Junsu felt tears welling up in his eyes again while he watches the dark clouds loom over the entire vicinity, moving at a high speed as they twist and disintegrate.

The entire night of travelling did not bring him very far out. In fact, he is still going around in circles in Yunho’s gaming zone. It’s not that he is bad with directions. He just couldn’t make himself leave the city compound and head into the wilderness just metres away.

Straightening out his crumpled garments, the young prince swiftly decided to head somewhere he had never gone before. Casting aside all apprehension and unwillingness, Junsu forces himself to accept the fact that he will implicate everyone because of his selfishness. He wants to make things right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POV from Jejung

No one gets it! No one understands oniisama…

Especially this man, Yunho, he does not get it. Oniisama is not one to give up his plans so easily. Everything he does is calculated and has a theory underpinning to it. He wouldn’t budge just because the offer is once in a lifetime or looks too good to be true.

Oniisama is being just himself when he gets what he wants. He will never change. No one will ever be able to guess his thoughts… or see his real intentions. What the marriage is good for? Or what does he stand to gain by insisting on keeping me by that man’s side, I am not too sure either. Power? Probably… Oniisama just isn’t an ordinary human being anymore.

I was praying that he would put to stop to the so-called mission, but he just sent me packing every time. What was I hoping for anyway? Do I even miss home? I don’t know…

How wish I can be freed and leave this life behind…

I heard the boy I met just yesterday has run away, which is why I am on my way back to send oniisama the message this time. Why are we caught up in the middle of all this anyway? Like chess pieces. There is no justification for how that young man and I are treated like that. Our happiness is taken so lightly and it hurts me to think about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of days later… In Japan

“Poor upbringing indeed.” A cold chortle rang out in the eerily silent study of the palace as the shogun deposits the letter in his hands into the small burner nearby. Pouring his tea over the smouldering sheet of parchment once it is reduced to big pieces of brittle ashes, the man smiles at the small figure huddled in the farthest corner of his room.

“Let him know that nothing is going to change.” “Tell him that he either find the boy then hand him over, or I will find the boy for him.” Yuchun concluded and Jejung nodded his head, though not eager to get back to Yunho as soon as possible.

“How is your progress?” The shogun continued nonchalantly, before the prince can make a move. He is somehow more concerned about how far Jejung has gone with Yunho.

“Eh?” The shivering person whispered barely audibly. “I have not. I mean I have…” Stuttering, the shogun already knows what to expect.

Rubbing his temper, the man sighed and patted the space next to him, signalling for his younger brother to sit next to him. The latter complies and grovelled over to the space nearby, sneaking glances at the expressionless man.

Grabbing Jejung’s hand all of a sudden, Yuchun wrapped his thick fingers around the other’s thin pale ones and squeezed the dagger in between the gap there. “I know I haven’t been telling you anything… but our country is in peril.” “We need their resources and to obtain it, we will require more than just empty promises.”

The sudden gentle voice got Jejung a little surprised, but he finally understands what Yuchun is getting at. “You have to be strong.” “Do this without regret.”

“I won’t give you a dateline, but you will promise me to do a clean job.” The shogun concluded after raising the young prince’s hand and stabbing the tatami floor in front of them. Clutching Jejung’s hands tightly when the shogun hears a loud gasp, he repeated the same motion till the prince stops cringing.

“Make sure to do it right.” Yuchun said in a deep voice before finally sending the young prince on his way. Jejung is even more disturbed, restless as he travels back to convey Yuchun’s intentions to Yunho.

Seeing Jejung gone, the shogun gets up as well and reaches for his bow and arrow. Then, slipping out of his formal wear, the shogun slowly pulled on his hunting gear. Testing his bow string, a few servants immediately comes to him, prostrating before him respectfully.

“Bring me the arrows.” Yuchun spoke and they obeyed. No one defies Yuchun especially since they all know what he means whenever he asks for the arrowheads. Those are deadly and unnecessary whenever used for a regular hunting game but no one can contest that.

However, after a few moments of pacing back and forth in his room, Yuchun found himself much calmer and feeling kinder. Yunho never fails to piss him off and every time they come into contact, directly or indirectly. He would feel all insecure and paranoid every time.

He swears to himself that all this will subsequently be resolved once he has the Korean’s younger prince under his custody. Looking forward to the end of the long one week wait, the shogun is frustrated that things keep getting out of hands.

“Get me the turnip heads instead.” The shogun briefly decides to switch weapons.

Strolling out into the open courtyard beside the stables, Yuchun took his time to watch the petals of the surrounding flowering trees falling, floating in the wind as the harsh chilly wind blows them in a single direction away from him.