Chapter Text
He arrived at the doorstep of his family home carrying the bags of construction supplies he had gotten from the market to bring back to life the long-abandoned property he used to call home. His fabric backpack also heavy with enough groceries for a couple of days.
“Fuma!” The elderly lady living across the road ran to him before he could even get the key out of his pocket. “Good thing that I saw you”, she patted his shoulder. “Taemin- you remember him, right? The older kid from a few houses uphill”. She interrupted herself to confirm and Fuma nodded.
Of course he did, all the kids in the road used to gather to play together while growing up. It definitely wasn’t that Fuma remembered him the most out of anyone. It also definitely wasn’t so because Taemin was his first crush, not at all . “He came looking for you earlier. I think he has a job for you!” She told him excitedly, “go to his house tomorrow morning, he’ll be there then”.
“Thank you”, he bowed slightly before going inside the house. Everyone already embracing his often lack of words.
He left the bags on the counter before getting lost in his train of thought. Taemin had a job for him? What kind? And why?
A small community on their side of the neighborhood meant that everyone knew everything about everyone. After becoming of age to work outside and getting a fixed job, Taemin had stopped coming home often, most times out on what he called “trips”. It wasn’t his business but he couldn’t help but remember the details, he was sure everyone found it just as weird but trusted his word of working for the royal army.
✧* ༻𓂃˖✦˖𓂃༺ *✧
The triple knock announced someone known was outside, it was a code installed since before he was born. “I’m glad you came”, a much more mature man than who he remembered opened the door and greeted him.
Taemin had changed, mostly by small passages of time shown on his face that only someone who had observed him attentively could tell. But Fuma had changed much more, it was inevitable. A city-raised teenager had grown up to adulthood working in the fields of their southern countryside. He was taller, his skin was fairer, his upper body broader, his muscles toned, and his words reduced by half.
“It has been a long time, hyung”. After a quick hug in the hallway that made his skin feel weird he was guided inside to sit at the table.
“I don’t have much time,” Taemin started. “There’s a job available at the palace and I recommended you. I was going to send you a letter and went to ask for your address from old Mai but she told me you had returned a few days ago.”
“At the palace? What can I do there?” He questioned.
“Military, politics, a bit of both”. His face must have given his thoughts away because Taemin immediately added, “don’t worry. You’re not going into my division”.
“But I don’t know anything about that, hyung”.
Taemin got an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table and took a big bite, pointing at him with it. “You do. You have real-life skills, and the perfect character for the job. That’s why I recommended you. Everything else you can learn while at it.”
Fuma nodded, thinking about it. He returned to Goldenmons to make money and send it to his family still down south. A job at the castle probably paid better than anything he could get in the city.
“What do I have to do?”
Taemin smiled and got him a folded piece of paper from his bag. “Go to this address and tell them you were sent by me for Euijoo’s right-hand spot. They’re doing interviews for the general army but since he’s already informed, they should know… I met him while training, he’s probably a bit younger than you but we overlapped often while training because he joined early, if it weren’t for his already chosen spot we could have ended up in the same job. He’s a good guy. He’ll treat you well.” He continued to eat his fruit. “Just don’t mess up.”
✧* ༻𓂃˖✦˖𓂃༺ *✧
Fuma gets to the place where interviews are being held early in the morning of the next day.
The guard at the door asks for his name and he delivers his reply along with the message Taemin had instructed him to say. A small crowd of young men waiting in the central hall gave him strong questioning looks once it was obvious that he was being guided to the second floor immediately, probably jumping through the queue.
He was received by who seemed like a high-rank soldier in a room crowded with several desks. He was asked to take a seat in front of the one installed the furthest from the door.
“Name?”
“Murata Fuma”.
“Age?”
“26”.
“Subgender?”
“Alpha”.
“Marriage and kids?”
“None”.
Like that, sheet after sheet of paper gets filled. He gets asked about his job experience and lifestyle, about his family and friends, about his love life. Calls are made to check his legal background in the government’s system. And he questions in his head what is exactly that had taken him to such a place.
The second step is a physical condition test and he’s taken to a field outside at the back of the site. A group of people gathers in what looks like a military training camp and they power through it in groups of four. Fuma’s team gets the best record, and he quietly accepts the best performance compliment from the instructor. The simple weapon knowledge evaluation is not as easy but he excels still, self-defense skills taking him back to the top of the list later. He ends up with the best score in his group.
When he’s getting up from the stretcher where his health status is surveyed next by a nurse, the soldier who interviewed him first comes back with a thick file in his hand.
“You do seem perfectly fit for the job.” He gives him the file, his name sitting on a corner of the thin cardboard cover. “The cadet here”, he pointed to the younger man standing behind him, “will take you to Mr. Byun”.
“Sorry, who?”
“Mr. Byun. Euijoo . The head of the military.”
The what?
“Congratulations. You’ll be working with him in the palace. For His Majesty The Queen .”