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"Ah, it's you."
Elias raised an eyebrow in question, closing the door with a quiet click as he hung his coat on the rack beside him. "You know me."
The golden-eyed man reclined in his seat, setting off an air of nonchalance around him as he gave Elias a once-over. "You weren't exactly as discreet as you believed yourselves to be when you and your merry band waltzed into my bar."
"Your bar…" Elias echoed, his voice trailing off.
A noticeable tilt appeared on the corner of the other man’s lips. Elias momentarily took note of the kiseru pipe tucked between his fingers as that gleaming gaze trailed slightly up toward Elias' hairline. "I have to admit, if you didn’t reveal your hair I would've not recognized you while disguised."
Elias tilted his head. "Why so?"
"Your lineage, the Everstieds, lives by many qualities. Other than your grand reputation as the country’s greatest fighters and your exceptional skill with the sword, your hair color’s rather distinct.” He narrowed his eyes. “That shade of mauve. Certainly a color that's retained only by someone of your kin." The seated man shrugged. "It wasn't that difficult to connect the dots."
Elias always liked to think of himself as a perceptive man. Reading a person's character after a particular exchange of introductions and formalities was child's play for him. He wasn't one to be easily swayed by first impressions. This was why he was rather hard to fool, even by the most convincing facades. However, it dawned upon him now that even though he'd just met this man in person for the first time, something remotely close to irritation was already bubbling up from deep inside his guts. There was something about the one-eyed gaze and the unnerving smile on his face that was fueling Elias' urge to drive his fist forward, much preferably to his face.
"You know me indeed," he began making his way forward, never once tearing his eyes away from the one looking straight back at him. "Then perhaps you know too that you've situated yourself on my seat."
"Oh, did I?" The man studied said desk and seat with renewed and yet terribly mock interest. He straightened back up with his face twisted innocently. "A force of habit, perhaps. Apologies, I didn't notice."
And yet he made no move to detach himself from his current position, choosing to lay his folded hands atop the desk— Elias' desk —instead.
He sucked in a huge intake of air, wishing it was enough to clear his head and settle his nerves. He was supposed to get this man on their side, not further aggravate their chances of convincing him by letting hostilities and temper prevail over them. Despite his absolute hate to admit it, letting his irritation get the best of him would truly lead them nowhere. And as much as Elias was starting to dislike the idea of working alongside him, even he couldn’t deny that the man would be a huge aid to their cause if he became their ally. That's why he, with a silent sigh, resigned himself to taking the only available seat left and collapsing—a bit too grudgingly—on top of it.
"I assume you already know why we brought you here," he started, trying his hardest to not sound impassive. "Yun, was it?"
"And I assume you already know everything about me too so there's really no need to get to know each other at this point, don't you agree?" The quirk on Yun's lips never left his face as his fingernails made a staccato of taps on the surface of the desk. "After all, you said so yourself. You brought me here."
The nerve of this man—
"Very well then," Elias started, squaring his shoulders and cutting off his own mental remarks before they could escalate into another hateful escapade. "I'll go straight to the point. I'm assembling a league strong enough to take down the government and I need you among our forces."
Yun's eyes widened ever so slightly. "A rebellion," he breathed. "You're raising a rebellion."
"Yes."
The grin fell from Yun's lips. His eyebrows were arched, clearly caught off-guard by the resolute response. The obnoxious tapping of his fingers was brought to a sudden pause as he regarded Elias with a long look, studying him. Elias evenly stared back with a look of his own.
He didn't know how the cogwheels in Yun's brain worked. In truth, he hardly knew much about him at all. He was aware that the data he’d managed to uncover barely scraped the surface of everything there was to know about Yun Cheng. From what he'd gathered, Yun was an only child. He was home-schooled during his earlier years, added to the strict tutelage centered mostly on the matters of State. His mother, however, appeared to be absent for reasons unknown, which was why he was left alone under the wing of his father, the Secretary of State.
He was undeniably clever. Many have said that he bore a striking resemblance to his father, not just in appearance but also in intelligence and tact. Many would even dare claim that Yun could surpass him. Whispers of his name would echo among the masses whenever he was in sight. This was a testament to how society harbored grand expectations of him and his future rise to congress.
But alas, it seemed that even the most promising successor could choose the wayward path. Their country was almost submerged in a nationwide uproar when the news broke out, telling every citizen of how the famed next-in-line Secretary of State had vanished from their family residence. If it weren't for the government baring its fangs, everything would have been thrown into further disarray. Yun's public disappearance was an unprecedented outcome nobody expected coming.
But for Elias, this became a door of opportunity. He just had to get to Yun first before the government did.
It took him and his team months to locate him, and they eventually found him on the outskirts as a barkeeper in a brothel , of all places. Elias knew that Yun had recognized them the minute they entered, but for someone who was trying to lay low, he did not look alarmed. Instead, he welcomed them like usual customers with a practiced grin on his face, one that Elias was slowly growing to hate. It was hard to approach him back then without being suspicious. After all, Yun wasn't the only one trying to avoid the general public's view.
But now, he realized that persuading him into joining them might be an even harder task to achieve.
'You think it's going to be that easy?' was the reply Elias was waiting for, laced with enough smugness to set his composure ablaze. Because at the end of the day, Yun irrefutably did take after his father in various aspects, pride and arrogance included. It wouldn't be a surprise if Yun decided to deliberately beat around the bush with his answer, dangling the prospect of his acceptance in front of Elias before ultimately saying no in the end.
But then, drawing a contrast to what Elias had fully anticipated, the reply instead was "Is this because of my affiliation with the Secretary of State?" and Elias couldn’t say he was stunned that Yun figured that out.
"One of the reasons, yes," he confirmed with a nod. "After all, the person he trained to succeed his position is you."
" Was, " Yun corrected firmly, his mask cracking for a split second Elias almost didn't catch it. But he did, albeit barely: an expression of utter contempt it almost cast a shadow on his face. But it was instantly gone and replaced by a well-placed, monotonous front.
"You must know the government better than anyone else outside of it," Elias continued. "Their standard protocols, the loopholes in their security, insider profiles, data plans in the making, devised blueprints, anything. It's a fool’s game to dive into war when you don’t know where to aim, so we need you to be the brain behind the league's strategy."
"And if you thought me wrong?" Yun questioned, planting his elbows on the desk and leaning his chin against his interwoven fingers, holding the kiseru pipe under his jaw. "What if I refuse? What if I go tattle your schemes to the higher-ups instead? Surely that would end up with more than one head rolling off their respective necks."
"You won't," Elias asserted with eyes narrowed in scrutiny. "You loathe the government just as much as I do. You'd rather play a role in the schemes directed to their downfall than entertain the idea of joining them."
"I wasn't informed that your family was also blessed with ridiculous confidence and clairvoyance."
" So you’re saying it’s possible, then?" Elias pointedly ignored the jab. "And it is not clairvoyance. It's research. It's stupid to fight an enemy unprepared, but it's more absurd to ally with someone you know nothing of."
"Fair point," Yun hummed. Then, after a moment of thought, he raised an eyebrow. "And yet you do not trust me at all, don’t you, Everstied?"
Elias' answer was the very definition of blunt. "Oh, I don't."
Yun huffed out a laugh that sounded too uncharacteristic, even for him, but Elias could see his shoulders going stiff.
"You're terribly mistaken to think that you'll even be able to report us to the government if you decline." His flat tone did nothing to hide the deadly tilt in it. "You used my words yourself. I brought you here. I can also choose to not let you leave this room alive."
Something undecipherable gleamed in the gold of Yun's visible eye, the quirk on his lips taking on a menacing curve. "Is that a threat, Everstied?"
Elias leveled that stare with an impassive look. "Depends on how you see it." He crossed his arms, leaning back with his leg crossing over the other knee.
The atmosphere felt thickened, even more so as the silence stretched, growing heavier by the second. The room seemed to dim with an ominous cloud, like the eye of a black storm circling around with the promise of disaster. The clock ticked by, and every passing second seemed to echo throughout the space. Something, or someone, was waiting to blow up, to touch off with a massive blast.
Neither of them wavered. Yun's spine was straight, and his eyes scorched on Elias' equally ramrod form. Red and golden eyes locked in a wordless race, lying in wait for the first one to yield.
None of them did.
It was only half a second later when Yun decided to alter courses. Reaching under the desk, he pulled out the item he’d been hiding away, bringing it atop the table with a loud slam.
And just like that, the metaphorical dark mist of tension cleared up in the blink of an eye, gone from existence as if it was never there in the first place.
Elias' widened eyes zeroed in on the item on the desk, complete surprise dawning upon him when he discovered what it was.
There, atop his desk laid a rapier with a very familiar form and design. An Everstied sword.
His sword.
"So, that was your tale," Yun began, the lopsided smile back on his face. "You waltz into my bar with your disguises, you order a few drinks to blend in, and long story short we come to this room and you put this elaborate offer out."
"It almost makes me wonder how the State Secretary will react if he ever finds out that his only son is bartending at a whorehouse." Elias thought aloud.
"He'd be rolling in his grave if he were dead, I'm sure." He cracked a light chuckle. "He'd respond worse, though, if he finds out that I've aligned myself with you."
Elias shot him a deadpan glare, not taking the bait. Yun was stalling with his words, and he knew better than to buy any of it.
At Elias' lack of reply, the amusement on Yun's face seemed to brighten even more. He's enjoying this.
"I see where you're going with this, though," he continued, a smile still ever present on his lips as he finally stood from his seat. "You believe that if I choose to run with you and help in the government's destruction, I can be cut free from all,” he waved a hand around him, “this."
He circled the desk, coming to the front and leaning against it. "But what about you?" he asked with a jut of his chin. "Has the mighty Everstied prodigy grown tired of a swordsman's duties that he now wishes to dive into a different setting that entails, hmmm," raising the Everstied sword in his hands to eye level, he regarded it with scrutiny as he pulled it open halfway out of its scabbard, "let's say a counterrevolution against his own country's leaders?"
"Excuse me?" Elias' face darkened, his shoulders going rigid. The shift in the limelight’s focus brought an uneasy set on his form.
"Oh don't give me that look. Contrary to what you think," Yun slid the blade back to its sheath, grinning at the expression the other was shooting him. "I do understand where you're coming from. It's not so bad to live a little crazy, after all."
"Your point?"
"What I mean to say is that you," the smaller man made sure to emphasize by narrowing his eyes, "have a standing in the gentry, especially since you Everstieds serve direct royalty. You have a name. And with the Everstied name, you have power, which you can use to reach far greater heights."
"I believe you're forgetting the part where the monarchy is overthrown and the gentry is no more, therefore the Everstied name holds not the similar amount of power it once did anymore." The way Yun insisted on referring to his family line in the present tense caused an unknown feeling to bubble deep inside him.
"Ah, yes, but your family's reputation remains, does it not?" He slid the sword back to the desk before stepping forward, approaching Elias with a steady gait. "With the right means, the people will listen to you. Even I shall support you then. My father might be furious with me but he wouldn't think twice about taking me back in if I choose to return. I'm his only successor, after all."
Elias' brows furrowed. "Then why bother fleeing when you plan on coming back?"
"I'm not naïve nor blind, Everstied. Even I can see the kind of place our country has become. I wanted out of it. But with you," Yun used his pipe to raise the swordsman's chin, making them see eye-to-eye closely for the first time. "We can take the country back. With the power I will soon hold, I can help you. Why bother with a revolution when you can destroy them from the inside?"
Elias' face fell to a scowl, doing nothing to hide his disappointment. So this was it. In the end, Yun was the State Secretary's son. It was only natural that he'd side with them instead of risking his life fighting with a ragtag group of strangers he barely knew. After all, he had his life laid out for him at congress if he so chose to return. It ultimately cemented the fact that he had always been, and would forever be, Elias' enemy.
He shoved the pipe away from his face with a quick flick of his wrist. "If you are hinting that I should align myself with those bastards you call the government, then I must've really thought you wrong."
He rose from his seat, towering over Yun with an ominous glare before he spun on his heel. "If you're satisfied with the life you claim to be not trapped in, then so be it. I won't stop you." He headed to the door without looking back, pausing only momentarily to take his coat off the rack. After a few seconds of void, thoughtful quiet, he decided to admit, "I admire you, actually."
The grin on Yun's face nearly faltered, caught off guard at the sudden confession.
"That little show of indifference you're putting on is quite impressive," Elias swung his coat on top of his shoulders, "to think that you're able to hold it up this long."
A muscle under Yun's eye twitched. Elias had hit a nerve.
"But don't forget," Elias finally turned to fix him with an apathetic look. And for once, Yun found himself uncomfortable with it directed at him. "You may have released yourself from your father's clutches, but you're not free yet. People are searching for you."
Yun scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know, Everstied." He met Elias' gaze with a smirk. "As far as I'm concerned, the same thing goes for you too."
"I am being hunted, but at least there are no societal expectations chaining me down. You said so yourself. Because of my name, people will listen to me. But you?" His eyes narrowed to a glare. "The people will learn to fear you, just as how they feared your father. "
The grin on his lips didn't fall, but now it seemed to lack the dash of arrogance it once held, making it look almost tight-lipped.
"This leaves you with two choices. Return and gain your place, or be dragged back by force."
Yun crossed his arms almost indignantly. "I don't have to make a choice. I can just do what I do."
"Or you can do it with me," the words flew out of his mouth before he could even pull the brakes on them. "Unless you insist on remaining in your little cage."
"And if I do join you, what then? Does that truly guarantee my freedom? Our freedom?"
"There are no guarantees in war. We could only hope."
"That hardly sounds reassuring." Yun's eyebrows furrowed in scrutiny.
With an exasperated sigh, Elias pulled the door open in one swing. "If this is how you like to spend your days, be my guest. I admit, your offer sounded good, but no. I'm not siding with the very enemy I've set on destroying."
He stepped out of his office without saying another word. He'd said his piece, and was declined. So be it. He walked into the hallway with his shoulders squared and jaw set taut. He was wasting his time here.
He heard a faint creak of the same door he'd opened but paid it little mind, dead-set on getting out of there while thinking of how they'd deal with Yun later on.
His ears had first picked up on light footsteps behind him before he heard it.
"Fine, then."
Elias stopped.
There was a minimal pause in the air, filling the atmosphere with nothing but complete silence as everything went to a standstill.
Fine what?
"I never actually said no, didn't I, Everstied?"
With a slow turn on his heel, he was once again face-to-face with Yun, said man standing only a few steps away from him with Elias' sword in his hands. There was a question at the tip of his tongue. But Yun beat him to it.
"I'll be the talk of the town if word comes out that I’ve allied with you," Yun began, raising the sheathed blade in front of him. "I'll be disgraced, disowned—"
Hunted down, Elias quietly added.
"—by my own family. If not already." His grip on the hilt visibly tightened. But then he looked at Elias with what surprisingly was a sincere look, accompanied by a smile that was void of any malice or mischief; just a small yet genuine curve on his lips. "But I've already decided to join you the second you declared to me that you were raising a revolution."
Elias froze.
What?
"But I needed to assess you and your resolve.” At the questioning look on Elias' face, Yun added. "A mission as dangerous as this one will only amass more risks in the long run, especially if the goal can be effortlessly swayed once an easier way out is offered."
And that's when it clicked.
"We can take the country back. With the power I will soon hold, I can help you. Why bother with a revolution when you can destroy them from the inside?"
That's why the offer sounded almost deliberately enticing.
It was a test.
And Elias played right into it.
"To rebuild something, it must be destroyed first. But doing it from inside something as malignant as the current government is way too huge of a risk. The possibility of being overtaken by the government's influence is bigger than the chances of succeeding, no matter the power you have. I'm sure you yourself have realized this." There was that amused tilt in his tone once again, along with something else that Elias could not decipher. "Forgive me if I've offended you earlier in any way, but," he pulled the Everstied sword half out of its scabbard. "You gave me the freedom to dream a little. That was actually enough to pull me to your side."
Elias was stumped. Now he understood. He was right in the assumption that Yun would beat around the bush with his answer. The bastard was fond of finding an amusing way to do things, that much was obvious now. But he never anticipated this .
He had been played.
The fact that even someone as notoriously vigilant as Elias had been dragged into his game was enough to cement the fact that this man, regardless if he was an ally or foe, was dangerous. The rumors did him no justice. He was very clever—quite threateningly so.
"So," the golden-eyed man spoke up again, dragging the sword completely out of its scabbard at last with one firm pull, its blade catching on a glimmer of the sun's rays and reflecting it across Elias' cheeks. "What do you say, Everstied? My knowledge and strategies for our victory."
With a grace akin to a swan's dive, Yun lowered the sword straight in front of him, leaning slightly forward with his infamous grin donned on his lips.
"Now that's certainly a deal worth taking."