“Excuse me. May I know which road I should take to reach the palace?” A cute tiny voice tries to garner the attention of the passing crowd of women and children but fails as they would simply give him the curious look and turn away. He speaks in Korean, a language they know nuts about.

“Please, can I know the way there? This is urgent!” The person’s cute warbling sounded melodious, but no one is able to understand despite stopping to listen. A few men would stop and stare at the weird looking and dishevelled young human, deciding if he is female or male. The person appears too grimy to look anywhere near appealing, but still exudes a strange type of confident charm.

Dirty but dainty feet, fully exposed to the earth on the ground below is revealed since the shoes were sacrificed along the journey to his destination. Many women would shake their head disapprovingly at the person for allowing his pretty toes to collects dust and dirt, a result of hopping around like a hyperactive bunny.

“Excuse me mister! Can you please direct me to the palace?” The person finally met someone who understands a tiny bit of Korean, being a trader.

“Yeh? Palace?” The middle aged man asked before chuckling, wondering why a beggar will want to go to the palace. No one would expect this person to be a prince or even someone close to staying or working in a palace, considering the terribly torn and tattered outfit.

“No one is allowed to beg in front of the palace, son.” The person replied in broken Korean. Mumbling in Japanese as he tries to think of a way to elaborate the reasons why the person should not even think about going near the palace. “Palace sacred. Shogun sacred. You know?” The man continued, trying his best.

“I know! I need to see the shogun!” The person is all hyped up after finally starting an almost-conversation with a human being in a stretch of two long days of travelling. “I need to speak to him!!” The person chirped and the man simply gave him the face, indicating that he is incorrigible.

“No playing there. Sacred.” The man said again, trying to picture the other from another perspective, in case he or she really isn’t a beggar, imagining the person to be an adventurous Korean ‘tourist’ instead.

“I know! I am not going there for fun! I need to be there for business!” The person maintained a pleasant tone, still patient despite the Japanese business man’s misunderstandings.

Finally, at a loss for words since his Korean is as ‘good’ as it gets, the businessman sighed and waved in the direction of the palace, which is just across the hills. Pointing to the main road leading to the gloomy looking building somewhere at the top of the hills in the distance, the man kindly indicated the direction that the unkempt person should take. Then, frowning at the dirty human, the businessman parted ways with the young tramp.

“THANK YOU!!” The satisfied latter bounced a little as he turns and heads towards the palace, leaving the man to wonder what he is up to.

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POV from Junsu

This is it! I am here!

It took me almost two days!

I lost my shoes and coat. Actually, lost isn’t the word. I traded them for a boat ride cross the sea. The ahjussi was nice and gave me an extra harbour so I was able to reach the capital faster.

It’s a pity that the rest of my belongings are stuck up the tree and all I have is the identification pendant I would rather starve to death than give away.

I wonder why I didn’t just go home though. The journey wouldn’t be so tough if I had just gone home. Actually, I was just hoping that I will get a chance to talk terms with the pretty hyung’s hyung without having to trouble hyungie. I was thinking that if I am able to settle this by myself, than I hyungie won’t be frowning all day long.

I don’t know if the pretty hyung’s hyung will be kind enough to hear me out, but I am determined to say my piece.

I don’t want him to keep bullying hyungie.

I don’t want to stay here.

I wish he will stop bullying the pretty hyung and let him go home too. I can understand how the pretty hyung feels too you see. Who would want to go and stay with someone they barely even know right?

There isn’t much time left! I still have one more day before he comes knocking on our door… if my calculations are correct.

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As the sun beats down on his back, a sloppy looking Junsu continues his journey on the heated up gravels of the partially sandy roads, leading to the palace. Most of the roads are paved with wood but the people there would cast him looks of disdain and that made him really uncomfortable, hence his choice to to walk at the borders and edges of the main roads instead.

Avoiding food stalls since his stomach was growling, Junsu is dying from starvation and thirst along with the pain in his bare feet.

The stones will scratch at his smooth sole skin and the uneven roads made it even worse. Passing a couple of market place, Junsu is tempted to steal since he had nothing to offer in exchange for a morsel, especially when the local cuisines on sale appear really costly. Reprimanding himself for having such naughty thoughts, the young one decided to just spare himself the torturous fragrant and head into woods, which also seems to provide a shortcut towards the palace.

Resting his feet in a small pond he found between the clearings deep within the forest, Junsu is at awe, by how perfectly the bushes are trimmed and how well maintained the trees are. Pondering about why the woods here would give off such a ‘man-made vibe’ when compared to the natural settings of the Korean forest, Junsu is unaware of the fact that he has entered the gaming zone. The gaming zone for royalties.

Spotting an apple tree nearby, Junsu can feel his mouth water as he admires the ginormous fruit hanging so appealingly on the low branches. Scrambling up to his sore feet again, the young prince scooted over to below the tree and jumped as high as he could. A few attempts yielded results as he gets his hands on a single apple.

Then, polishing the fruit with his hands, the young one took a bite and smiled a satisfied smile. Chewing away as the juice spurts out from the torn fruit skin, the prince rubbed off the extra sugary liquid on his lovely full lips with his already dirtied sleeves, not paying heed to personal cleanliness. Who would? Under such circumstances, surviving by pathetically undersized wild berries and fruits for days, Junsu is almost vegan by now.

“OH!” Spotting a peach tree somewhere nearby, Junsu skipped over and managed to get himself a pink, succulent peach as well.

Chomping heartily, since this is his first time getting a taste of solid chunks in days, the young one does not realise a shadow hidden in the distance. Watching him like a predator, the person does not move, though still in the process of figuring out if the small figure beside the tree is human or animal. The hunter assumes ‘he’ is an ‘it’.

All the citizens of Japan know better than to enter the shogun’s private gaming zone, since he is well known to use lethal arrows in his hunt. The fruit bearing trees are also there for a reason, to attract animals. They do not sprout naturally and grow to such sizes without manual fertilisation so most well versed with hunting would sense something amiss about this so called ‘forest’. Anyone but Junsu.

Taking careful aim, the person steadied the three arrows, lined side by side on top of one another, at the slow moving target. The white bulb like end of the arrows may not look the least bit deadly, but they can incapacitate any moving creature long enough for the hunter to move in for the kill or capture.

Releasing the arrows, the predator does not even wait for them to strike his target. Being confident that the small bulk of flesh is going to be his catch of the day whether it likes it or not, the man on horseback bursts out of his hiding place, behind a tall bush and charges forth.

“OWWW!!!” A loud squeal temporarily deafens the hunter as he brings his horse to a halt. Trying to decide what kind of an animal would make such a weirdly adorable human-like sound, the rider makes his horse canter in circles around the fallen creature.

Leaping off his horseback, the hunter, a tall man with bulky muscles, approaches the ball of flesh. The ‘animal’ is wearing clothes. That was the first detail that is registered. The ‘animal’ is curled up into a ball and . That was the second piece of information.

Using his bow to poke the creature, the shogun bent down a little and grabbed the ‘animal’ by its garment. By now, he is already clear that this is no animal he is dealing with. The ball of flesh finally unravels itself upon Yuchun’s urging.

“YAHH!!! THAT HURTS!!” The ‘animal’s’ sudden outburst stunned the shogun for a brief moment and he ended up drawing his katana.

Then, turning to lie on his side, a hand still rubbing at his sore back, Junsu could not stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks and wetting his smudged but pinkish cheeks. With his face smeared with an accumulation of dust and grime, the only feature that stood out is that pair of lovely light brown pupils, with an innocent glow in it. Using a hand to rub at his eyes like a little kid, the shogun is dumbfounded as he watches what appears to be a beggar and fruit thief act like a big baby.

“Arrows?!!” “How can you shoot another human being?!” “Are you human?!” Spotting what was used to assault him, the young one started his non-stop warbling and Yuchun is a little ticked off. He hates it that the perfect silence is broken and he absolutely couldn’t stand Junsu’s high pitched voice.

“You are so mean!!” The latter continued and Yuchun finally understood the language spoken. A Korean beggar is rare in his country and he is temporarily at a loss for words.

“That’s too bad. You are in the gaming zone.” Yuchun said in Korean, calmly, though his thick eye brows are twitching and a nasty scowl is threatening to form on his face

Looking around himself with a bewildered expression, the cute human being quickly got into a sitting position, grimacing as he presses onto the bruising patches on his flank. “You speak Korean!?” Excited after hearing someone speak the language he understands so fluently, the young one finally looks up and stares Yuchun in the face.

The darkly handsome man is dashing but his appearance scares Junsu a little. Making a small note to himself, to be cautious when communicating with this man, the young one even inched a little further away, subconsciously. On the other hand, the shogun can’t help but take an interest in the small, mousy, incredibly huggable person, but manages to push the poking feeling to the back of his mind.

“No.” The Yuchun answers, ironically, in very accurate Korean. Junsu is perturbed by this man’s attitude, especially the lack of an apologetic look as well as non-existent concern for an injured fellow human being. The latter wasn’t even expecting an apology. Junsu feels somehow invisible in front him and that is not a good feeling. The arrogance and apathetic feel Yuchun displays is almost irritating and Junsu IS annoyed.

“You just did.” Junsu retorted but before he can continue, a few royal escorts already have him hauled up and dragged half way across the grassy ground. The shogun briefly decides to spare the struggling latter, not really knowing why, since no one ever talks back to him in such a haughty manner.

“Tsk. You’ve dirtied my arrows.” The man pursed his lips and spoke in Korean while his servants hand him the arrows that hit Junsu. Hearing the man say such mean words, the younger one wanted to talk back, but as much as he craves to do so, he can’t. The guards have him pressed to the ground, lips pressing on the ground beside an earthworm. They will not tolerate him being rude to their shogun, which they hail as a god.