nytis
coming back late from the orphanage, the three brothers were drained of all energy. their hair all ruffled up and clothing all wrinkled. but on the other hand, they were happy and content with what they had done that day.
thankfully, things between soonyoung and jihoon didn't suddenly become awkward. the two were still the same- soonyoung doing whatever crazy thing that popped up in his mind and jihoon pretending not to care when in reality he really did. well, mostly the same. there was a slightest shift that happened between them jihoon couldn't place his foot on. whatever it was, both he and soonyoung definitely noticed it but chose to ignore it.
the following saturday morning, jihoon couldn't help but let out a burst of sardonic laughter. with the distinct smell of ink and newspaper evident in the air, the boy placed down his cup of water and pulled the paper closer, conforming what he just read.
"what is it, ji?" chan asked tiredly from the couch.
"dongyun, or should i say his majesty, is making another announcement today."
"oh?" chan raised a brow. "what's making him crawl out of that cave of his? did he finally decide to start taking care of his citizens?" jihoon chuckled dryly.
"i don't think that will ever happen. it's probably because someone decided to vandalize the castle walls with blood." jihoon looked at the picture showing large areas of the walls doused in red with the occasional "fuck u"s and drawings of male genitals on it.
he could only think of one person who would do such a thing and that would be none other than minghao. there was something off putting about the vibe that the killer gave off (probably because minghao wasn't like average people), but relatively harmless things (maybe a little disturbing but still, overall harmless) like this couldn't help but amuse jihoon. the boy just hoped that the blood was from animals and not humans.
as chan gawked at the paper, jihoon looked at the closed door of seungcheol's room. he had heard seungcheol getting up a few minutes ago but strangely the man still hadn't left his room. looking at the old clock, jihoon frowned. it's almost ten, he should be up by now...
"hey cheol," jihoon knocked on the closed door. "tell that you didn't fall asleep while getting dressed." there was a loud crash followed by a string of curse words, mildly worrying jihoon. "cheol.. can i come in? i'm coming in.."
hearing seungcheol grunt, he quickly pushed open the door to find the other laying on the ground with crutches on either side of him. "morning jihoon." seungcheol said, while rubbing the back of his head.
jihoon quickly pulled seungcheol up onto the mattress, "what happened?"
"oh, nothing much. just, y'know.." the man reached out for his crutches, "..legs are acting up today." jihoon froze, what? "but don't worry about it ji," seungcheol laughed, when seeing him freeze, "that orphanage visit took a little toll on my legs, that's all. it happens every time we go."
right, it does. shaking the thoughts away, jihoon looked at seungcheol, "need help? or do you want to stay here for now. the king's holding a meeting today, i'm sure you can be excused."
"you worry way too much," seungcheol said, pushing his shoulder lightly, "just give me a minute and i'll be out."
"we still have that.. wheelchair-
seungcheol cringed, "not that thing. now get out of here before i smack you." jihoon let out a little laugh.
"okay, okay. just letting you know, channie and i will be out today for the stupid announcement thing. and knowing chan, he'll probably sneak off to his friends right after. i'll probably be around.." jihoon said vaguely. "anyways, you should rest for today. if you get bored you can call over jeonghan. do whatever, i don't care as long as you don't move around too much."
it was pretty comical watching jihoon, the younger, tell the older what to do. but nonetheless, seungcheol rolled his eyes and nodded because nobody likes dealing with an angry jihoon.
horns blaring, jihoon stood in the midst of the large crowd of people now alone since chan had disappeared the moment when he spotted his two friends. craning his neck to scan the crowd, the boy kept on telling himself that he was looking to see if chan was okay not searching for a certain silver haired boy.
jihoon would never do such a thing.
jihoon gave up when the banners unraveled from the balcony and the same stuck up royal accompanied by his foxy friend, dojin, appeared on the balcony. jihoon could tell that dongyun was in a worse mood than usual just by looking at the look of disdain resting on the king's face.
"dear people of nytis." he started, "i'm sure all of you have heard about the horrible crime recently committed. the beautiful castle walls were found vandalized with pigs blood this morning." his beady black eyes swept across the crowd, "and one of you did it."
the crowd started to murmur amongst each other. "however, we have strong feelings that this vandalism is related to the killer on the loose. my dear people, we need your help. if anyone manages to catch this fiend, they will be rewarded greatly. and killer if you're listening, it won't be long before i catch you. and once i do, there will be a grand public execution waiting just for you."
the image of minghao getting his head chopped off in front of hundreds of people made jihoon shiver. sure, minghao has killed a bunch of people but is it bad that jihoon doesn't want minghao to get caught?
for some reason, the idea of minghao being a bloodthirsty killer just didn't sit right with him. there had to be something else...
"...revealing the surprise today!" jihoon blinked back into reality. "this year, i've planned something special that any ordinary person has the chance to enjoy!" dongyun's cheerful voice rang through the air, " in two weeks time, i will be hosting a grand ball! and instead of it being just for us royals, my dearest helper dojin has chosen a handful of you outstanding citizens to be invited as well."
a ball... like in those fairytales...
a little part of him lit up at the thought of a ball but then again... something about the way dongyun's eyes sparkled made him feel like it wasn't going to be how people were imagining it.
"and don't forget, tax collecting day is right around the corner! make sure you have enough money or else.. who knows what will happen?" the people rustled uneasily. "thank your for your time my people." dongyun smiled down at everyone, "i hope to see some of you in two weeks time."
as the king headed back, the people slowly started filing back to their homes. looking through the people once again, he happened to spot soonyoung looking around. jihoon felt excitement bubble at the bottom of his stomach. wait, no. he wasn't excited. why would he be?
planning to go meet soonyoung, jihoon suddenly stopped in his steps and shuddered. letting out a huff of annoyance he turned around, seeing minghao staring at him while waving his hand. "can you stop with the whole staring thing please? if you have something to say just tap me on the shoulder or something."
minghao smiled and grabbed jihoon's wrist. "how do you like my art?" he giggled.
