Chapter Text
Hongjoong isn’t the type of person to know a lot about politics (he doesn’t have the proper education for it), but anyone old enough can see the gray parts of the world. The boy doesn’t care about what politicians say; he still thinks that they can’t keep the world running when people are dying because of money, while others throw up just to eat more. He’s been living in the middle of gamblers and slaves enough to notice that money can be the deadliest possession in the world. And it can kill even when you don’t have it.
Like most of the people in the world, Hongjoong is a victim, in more ways than one, of this system. He’s been working since he was six, because his mother, who was also working since she was young, discovered an autoimmune disease and had to give up her place, with much resentment, to her little boy. He’s used to it by now. Had to. Or else his family would end up just another name forgotten in the world’s history.
Sadly, they can’t rely on his father to help. Hongjoong doesn’t know where he is. Some say he was from another city and fell in love with his mother, but he couldn’t stay, and his mother couldn’t leave, so he left even before his mother knew she was pregnant. Others say that it was just a one-night stand between his mother and one of the visitors who came to the city. Hongjoong never asked her about it; he thinks that his mother did a great job in taking care of him and teaching him the basics in life.
Of course, there are schools in his city, but it’s always the children of shop owners that can properly dedicate their lives to studying, while the children of the workers—or slaves, as they’re called, but Hongjoong hates to call them that—are only able to study the first few years before having to lose their lives to working. That’s why, in most cases, the workers teach their kids at home.
At least he has San and Wooyoung, both of whom are the same age as Hongjoong. While San is also a worker, he works in a restaurant, and it makes his time more flexible, so San also helps Wooyoung’s family stall, since the latter’s family has a farm and brings the vegetables to sell in the city. Their lives are definitely calmer than Hongjoong’s when it comes to work, but they have a nice friendship.
Hongjoong hears his name being called at the front of the store, making him leave the piece he was cleaning to position himself behind the counter. He watches the three guys who just entered, one is using the common attire for government forces’ agents, the one behind him is dressed as a monarchy soldier, and the third one is dressed in common clothes; if he wasn’t so close to the soldier, Hongjoong would believe that he’s another client and isn’t together with them.
“You won’t find this part anywhere in this city,” his boss says and finally notices him. “Take care of the front door, boy. I’ll get these men the part they need. If you need anything else, you can ask him. He knows a lot about things.”
The agent nods while smiling without showing his teeth to Hongjoong. He also takes a quick look at the monarchy soldier before following the owner of the shop to the back. The citizen looking one starts curiously walking around the small store, while the soldier stays in his place, his eyes wandering to the shelves, as if trying to see what other things this store sells. Hongjoong can’t help but stare at him.
He has seen a lot of outsiders in this city, but he believes none of them were as pretty and handsome as the guy standing in the middle of this store. His white short hair makes a nice contrast to his black and silver clothes. Hongjoong pays attention to all the details of his body. The lips almost curled in a pout while he looked deep into his thoughts. His waist tightened by the belt, his long, slim fingers, and his long legs were everything that got Hongjoong’s attention and made his mind unable to form a proper sentence. His stomach twitches. Not even his bike races make so much adrenaline run through his body.
His mouth speaks before his mind, “Are you an angel?”
He gets the attention of the man. But he wishes he didn’t. That’s the stupidest thing he could say. Right now, Hongjoong wants to run away or suddenly discover that he can be invisible and hide himself from this guy.
“A what?” He asks back, a sweet smile gracing his lips.
Hongjoong feels a physical pain in his chest as he repeats what he said, “An angel. The most beautiful creatures in the universe.”
Now, his lips let out a soft chuckle. “I fear I’m just a human, but thank you.”
Their attention goes to the other boy, who just took a piece from the shelves and decided to blow it, all the dust going to his face and around him, making him cough. Hongjoong gets him some water and takes the piece from him.
“I hope you didn’t know that you shouldn’t blow pieces in the shelves of a city located close to a desert, or else you’ll look really dumb. No offense,” Hongjoong says and walks back to the counter.
The other guy remains silent, while the soldier supports his hands on the counter before speaking again, “Do you work here for a long time? That man said that you know a lot of things.”
“Yeah, since I was a kid. I didn’t have much choice, my mother worked for him before me,” he answers and fidgets with the end of his jacket. “But, yeah, I understand a lot about ships and bikes.”
“But it’s illegal to have slaves,” the guy adds in a frown.
“I’m pretty sure you know where you are and how this city doesn’t care about government rules,” Hongjoong stares at him. “And don’t call me that. I have a name. It’s Hongjoong.”
“Sorry,” the guy clears his throat. “I’m Seonghwa.”
“But, one day, I’ll win enough races to pay a ship owner from the docks, and he’ll get me out of here. I’ll come back stronger and free every single worker.”
“You’re ambitious,” Seonghwa says with a tiny smile.
Hongjoong thinks about something to keep the conversation going, but his boss and the agent come back, making everyone look at them. He notices how his boss looks slightly upset, and the guy doesn’t have the part he needed. Even though the agent is wearing the red, black, and gold that Hongjoong hates a lot, he looks friendly.
“Let’s go,” the agent says, and Seonghwa frowns at him. “Let’s just go.”
Hongjoong watches them leave before turning to his boss. The man clicks his tongue before saying, “I hate the agents who think anyone will fold to them just because they’re important in most of the cities.”
The boy moves his shoulders. “Some of them are nice.”
“Clear the mess around the shelves, and you can go home,” his boss says before walking to the back of the shop again.
Hongjoong organizes everything, sometimes his mind goes back to the monarchy soldier, but he tries his best not to think a lot about him. He gets his daily payment before leaving, noticing how the city is a little busier now, the gamblers talking about the next race and fights, and some workers buying things to eat—that’s where Hongjoong fits.
It’s easy to get used to the noises and fights around the city, especially close to the food stalls. Hongjoong has been seeing it almost every day since he was three years old, so he ignores most of the angry screams he hears and keeps buying his things, but the sudden commotion towards a group of people gets his attention. He sees the white hair between everyone and walks over to them, getting in between the owner of a bar and the agent.
“It’s an accident, they’re new here.”
The man huffs. “Teach them how to behave here, boy. We don’t care about the colors in their clothes.”
Hongjoong nods and waits for the people to walk away before turning to the three guys there. Once again, he ignores the colors in the taller man’s clothes before saying, “He’s the richest here, which means he can do anything he wants, and no red, golden, and black will help you. Be careful.”
A silence settles between them while Hongjoong organizes what he bought. He looks toward the three men before staring at the desert. It’s easy to see the sandstorm approaching, and Hongjoong is sure the three guys noticed it too.
“The docks are far away. Where are you guys staying until the storm is over?” Hongjoong asks, and Seonghwa looks over to the desert.
“We’ll run back to our ship,” the agent answers, making Hongjoong click his tongue.
“You won’t arrive on time. Stay at my house while you wait, maybe you’ll also find something to help you buy the part you need. My mom knows a lot around here.”
Seonghwa stares at the agent, and the guy does the same, like they’re having a silent talk. The third guy only looks around.
“Okay, it might help us,” the agent answers.
Hongjoong finishes buying what he needs before they walk to his house, the winds getting stronger as soon as they arrive. His mother goes to the living room just seconds after the door closes. She looks confused when she notices the people behind her son.
“They were at the shop today, their ship is at the docks, and they couldn’t run there before the sandstorm arrived,” Hongjoong explains. “Are you feeling good?”
“Yes,” she smiles and looks at the three men. “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Minkyung.”
“Hello, I’m Jeong Yunho, this is Park Seonghwa and Choi Jongho,” the agent answers while pointing towards the other two.
They answer with a “nice to meet you,” almost at the same time, a sweet smile appears on Seonghwa’s lips again. The woman guides the group to the small kitchen, where she and Hongjoong sort out what the boy has bought and also organize something for the other three to eat.
“Is there a reason why you had to stop here? We’re not used to having forces’ agents, let alone monarchy soldiers, walking around the city,” Minkyung starts.
Yunho cleans his hands before answering, “We were going to the capital, but our ship broke its capstan. The closest city was yours, and we couldn’t risk finding another one. It’s alright to sail without a capstan, but it’ll be hard to dock the ship.”
The woman nods. “I suppose you couldn’t buy it…”
“Yes, our money can’t pay for anything here,” it’s Yunho who answers again. “Is there someone who could change our money or accept it as payment?”
“Probably not.”
“There’s the races or the fights,” Hongjoong suggests.
Since this city always revolved around money, the workers and their owners had some ways to have fun. The motorbike races are between a maximum of fifteen workers, between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five, and named by their owners. People bet on three runners: first, second, and third places. If you get one of them right, you win a part of the money, but you also have to pay for the names you got wrong. The owner of the first place also wins some money besides the one from his bet—his worker was the best, after all.
The fights, on the other side, are autonomous. The person fighting gives their name to the owner of the building where the fight happens, and the name of the person who “owns” them, usually the person who takes care of the money. The only rule is to be over twenty years old. It’s a much more aggressive space than the races, not just in the competition but in the crowd too, but it’s something that keeps the money running in the city, so no one will go against it.
“I can join the next race, and they can bet on me,” Hongjoong adds.
“You know I don’t like it when you race, Hongjoong. They’re always running too fast, and I’m always afraid you’ll lose control,” his mother answers, making Hongjoong sigh.
“But it’ll help them a lot! You always say that I should help people…” He exclaims, noticing Seonghwa lowers his head like he’s avoiding watching this talk. “I promise this will be the last time I’ll race.”
The woman sighs, turning her head to Yunho. “You can ask his boss to give his name to the race; it’ll happen in two days.”
“Okay. We promise that we don’t want to put him in danger,” the agent assures, while Seonghwa smiles without showing his teeth to Hongjoong. Jongho just pays attention to the talk while eating his cake.
The next morning, Yunho meets Hongjoong at the entrance of the shop. It’s easy to notice that Seonghwa isn’t agreeing to something the agent said, his face in a constant frown and his lips almost pouting. The taller man just ignores it, like he doesn’t have time for someone throwing a tantrum.
“Good morning,” he says when the shop owner walks up to him. “I’d like to bet on Hongjoong for the race tomorrow. If he wins, you keep the money and give me the piece I need. If he loses, you’ll keep my ship. It’s a brigantine ship.”
The man stares at Yunho for a few seconds before looking at Hongjoong and back at the agent. “Okay, deal. You’re dismissed today to fix your bike.”
The boy nods, going directly to Wooyoung’s stall to call his friends and give them the news—even if he knows San won’t be happy about it. The latter never liked the thought of participating in gambling, even if it’s just to be the person the people are betting on. San just doesn’t like the way people lose their lives for it, how it’s deep into the society they’re living in, and how there’s no coming back after you hit the jackpot. And how it’s so easy to lose all the money, sometimes even your life.
“I can’t believe your mother let you run again,” Wooyoung says with excitement bubbling in his words. He’s carrying a piece for the motorcycle for Hongjoong to change.
“I can’t believe you’re running again,” San answers. It’s clear that he isn’t happy about it. “You promised me that you wouldn’t do that again.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry,” Hongjoong says while getting the piece from Wooyoung’s hands. “It’s just to help them. And I like running.”
“But I wish you were running by yourself and not for gamblers,” San adds in a small pout, making the other smile tenderly while ruffling his hair.
Seonghwa, who’s been watching the talk while holding Hongjoong’s helmet, finally says something, “You don’t like the races?”
“I like watching people racing, I just don’t like the gambling. People lose their lives and everything they own because of that,” the boy answers, and Seonghwa hums in understanding.
The three of them take a step back after Hongjoong gets on the bike, accepting the helmet from Seonghwa’s hands. The boy runs in a straight line to test if everything is alright, going back and taking off his helmet before saying, “Everything is stable.”
“Stable enough for three laps?” Wooyoung asks, and Hongjoong nods, giving San a hug, just to take the pout off the guy’s face. Wooyoung asks his question again, “Stable enough for you to win tomorrow?”
Hongjoong nods, and Seonghwa looks at him with a frown before asking, “You never won a race?”
“Not in first place,” he answers with a tiny smile. “But I will tomorrow.”
The monarchy soldier looks over to Yunho, who has been talking with Hongjoong’s mom while watching the three of them interact, but the agent promptly ignores Seonghwa. It’s clear that both of them have strong opinions about everything the agent has been doing, but neither of them wants to give up their side to reach an agreement.
It’s almost impossible for Hongjoong to sleep that night, but after some tries, he finally closes his eyes. The excitement about finally participating in a race again makes his heart beat fast, and he can’t help but let out some happy squeals while he’s alone in his room. He does have a good feeling about the results of the race, though.
Hongjoong arrives at the place with his mother and friends. Seonghwa is the one who meets him first, while Yunho and Jongho are nowhere to be seen.
“Take care of your friend, boy, or I’ll end up owning him too,” his boss warns when he walks past him, Yunho coming behind not long after.
“What does he mean?” Hongjoong asks, and Yunho clicks his tongue.
“Nothing,” he smiles.
Seonghwa stares at him, but gets ignored as always. This time, though, the white-haired guy finally speaks his thoughts, “The prince won’t like it when he discovers what you’ve been doing.”
“Good thing he won’t know about it,” Yunho says in a smile while caressing Seonghwa’s back, the latter doesn’t take his nice answer.
“You don’t know,” he adds before following Jongho to the stands.
Yunho smiles without showing his teeth to Hongjoong, giving him a fist bump after he puts on his helmet. Wooyoung seems the happiest between the two friends, while San looks like he’s there just for moral support. On the other hand, Hongjoong’s mother is worried, making sure his helmet is well closed and his suit doesn’t have any problems. Just then, the four follow to the stands too, leaving Hongjoong at the starting grid.
The narrator calls each racer’s name before counting down the start. Hongjoong’s in a stable start, his bike quickly taking a fast pace, making him get into the top five in a few seconds. He smiles as the distance between him and the first place gets smaller, the adrenaline pumping in his blood; not even the amount of sand getting in his face bothers him. He just loves running.
He ends the first lap in third place, but it doesn’t upset him because he can see the way the second-place runner’s engine is misfiring, which means that maybe he won’t be able to complete the second lap without losing his place to a few runners. Hongjoong knows that his true problem is the guy in first place; he’s been in a winning sequence of five races, and it’s hard to win against his much more powerful engine.
Hongjoong takes a deep breath before speeding up. It’s been a while since he reached more than 360km/h, so his heart definitely beats faster, and now he needs to physically hold his hands from trembling—he doesn’t want to know what will happen to him if he loses control at that speed.
He can see the end of the third and last lap when he finally got to first place, crossing the line with a good distance between him and the second runner. His bike slides on the track when he pulls the brakes, making him support himself with his leg so he won’t fall.
He’s smiling big when he takes off his helmet and hugs his friends. San’s lips finally leave that pout for a nice smile when he jumps around Hongjoong. Yunho and his mother are also smiling big, while Seonghwa is only clapping with a tiny smile on his face, and Jongho is doing the same as him.
“Here’s your piece, and the boy,” Hongjoong’s boss says when Yunho enters the small shop.
Hongjoong frowns. “What do you mean?”
“He bet on your freedom if you won first place,” the man answers, and Hongjoong turns to Yunho, who smiles.
“Seonghwa is coming with some soldiers to take the piece. Let’s go to your house so you can pack some clothes,” Yunho says, and Hongjoong nods.
He breaks the news to his mother, who smiles happily at him, as if she already knew it. She tells how Hongjoong will have a nice opportunity to live the free life he always dreamed of and give a voice to the workers in the capital. He nods before walking to his room and packing some things.
When he’s leaving, he stops walking to the door and turns to his mother, before looking at Yunho and pointing at her as he asks, “What about my mother?”
“I tried, but he said that no first place is worth two workers,” Yunho answers, and Hongjoong looks at his mother again.
She opens a tiny smile, hugging her son strongly when he opens his arms. Hongjoong caresses his mother’s hair, saying that he’ll come back and take her with him. She just nods, watching him walk through the door.
While walking back to the ship, Hongjoong and Yunho face a strong sandstorm, making them run faster while trying to protect their eyes so they wouldn’t get eye irritation from the sand. As soon as they get inside the ship’s interior, Hongjoong sees a guy as pretty as Seonghwa, even though he never thought he’d see someone so beautiful again.
This guy has short brown hair that looks so soft that Hongjoong wants to touch it to see if it’s real. He has piercings on both ears, the right ear only having just two stud earrings, while the left one has a tiny hoop earring with a chain attached to it. Unlike Yunho’s, his clothes only have black and gold.
“I’m fine,” Yunho murmurs to him. “Hongjoong, this is Kang Yeosang. Yeosang, this is Kim Hongjoong.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Yeosang says, his deep but sweet voice making Hongjoong feel a lot safer than he expected.
“Nice to meet you,” he answers with a tiny smile.
“I thought about bringing you with us, the agents, because you have a deep care for the others, and your mother told me how you always wanted to be stronger so you’d help the other workers there,” Yunho starts explaining. “You’re the kind of person we need in the forces and the capital. We know it’ll be hard for you to lay your trust in the government in general, but I promise we’ll make things comfortable for you.”
“Okay.”
“You can make yourself comfortable, just take care when going to the deck because you may feel your stomach upset, since it’s your first time on a ship,” Yeosang explains. “And don’t walk too much to the left side, it’s where the prince is staying, so we don’t go there without warning to give him space.”
“Okay, thank you,” he smiles, looking around.
The ship is narrowly organized. The only people walking around are the agents and a few monarchy soldiers. There are some suitcases close to the stairs to get into the internal part of the ship, but it’s the only thing around; no random objects are thrown on the floor.
Hongjoong stays inside the ship, sometimes looking at the sea through a small window he found in a place that looked like a kitchen. When the night arrived, he started feeling more anxious, making him feel colder than he thought he would, so he curled himself up on a table in the corner, his body shivering from time to time.
He notices people passing by the door, but none of them enter the room he’s in, so he keeps quiet until he starts feeling sleepy. He’s almost closing his eyes when he hears footsteps again, this time they get closer and he recognizes that white hair going in his direction, the man holding a folded blanket in his hands.
“You’re trembling,” Seonghwa says while covering Hongjoong’s body, caressing his hair. “Isn’t the desert cold at night?”
“It is. I guess I’m just anxious, and it’s making me feel colder,” he answers, searching for a small flower ring he kept in his pocket and giving it to Seonghwa. “Here. People say it brings good luck. I won the race with it in my pocket, so…”
Seonghwa smiles, tying it in his necklace to use it as a pendant. “It’s beautiful. It’ll always remind me of you.”
Hongjoong smiles, watching as Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows, his eyes showing that he isn’t happy. Hongjoong doesn’t like to get into people’s lives, but he can’t help but say, “You look upset.”
The soldier sighs, his lips making a thin line before he starts, “The prince is worried. The king opened the west side of the kingdom—the prince’s side—for merchants to stop by and maybe trade things, and not everyone is happy with it, because the kingdom was fine without it. They said the kingdom was self-fulfilling, so it doesn’t need merchants and trades. The prince thinks it’ll be nice, but some soldiers and people don’t agree, so they’re going against the palace.”
“I didn’t know the royal family worked with the senate,” Hongjoong answers, and Seonghwa smiles.
“The prince is also like a senator for the kingdom, especially the side he takes care of. Everyone needs to have a voice, right?” He asks, and Hongjoong shrugs.
“It’s kinda hard for everyone in the world to have a voice, especially the poor,” he answers, and the soldier sighs again. “I hope I can bring some attention to my city, at least. To the workers, not the shop owners.”
“I’m sure you’ll be an amazing agent,” he answers with a tiny smile. “We’ll have to part ways once we get to the capital, Joongie. But you’ll always be with me. I care about you.”
The nickname sounds good in Seonghwa’s tongue, and Hongjoong feels like it’s right for him to say that, so he doesn’t mind it and watches the way he puts his hand over the ring pendant in his chest, smiling without showing his teeth.
Hongjoong lays his head to the side. “I’ll always think of you, too.”
“Get some sleep, I’ll tell Yunho you’re here,” he says in a tiny smile, and places a kiss on Hongjoong’s hand. “Thank you.”
Hongjoong doesn’t know what he is being thankful for; his brain can’t process anything other than Seonghwa’s lips in the back of his hand. He felt like his whole body answered it, and the feeling of those soft lips is still lingering on his skin. He watches as Seonghwa walks away with a tiny smile shining on his lips, disappearing after he leaves the room. If Hongjoong reacted to that simple action with his whole body, the end of it would be him jumping into the sea, but he controlled himself not to do it and just fell asleep.
He wakes up with Yeosang touching his arm, a gentle smile on his face. “Come here, you can sleep in my room. I’m going to take care of the ship with Yunho.”
Hongjoong nods, getting up and following the other. He notices Yunho entering one of the rooms, nodding to Yeosang before closing the door. If Hongjoong wasn’t so sleepy, he’d ask more about it, but he can barely keep his eyes open. And he also doesn’t know Yeosang this much to just ask things.
It took them four days to arrive at the capital. Hongjoong spent those days practicing spear with Yunho, even though Yeosang isn’t sure if Hongjoong will be accepted as an agent. Right now, everything he wants to know is when he’ll see that short white hair and that waist tightened around the belt again, so not being accepted in the forces isn’t his main concern.
After getting off the ship, Hongjoong sees Seonghwa together with the rest of the prince’s soldiers, and he shows him a friendly smile before Yunho gets Hongjoong’s attention by saying that he should follow Jongho and Yeosang while he tries to get a meeting with the master agents of the forces. He just nods and stops behind the soldiers and at Jongho’s side.
“It’s my first time at the capital, but I already hate it here,” Jongho says, and Hongjoong looks around.
“It’s not that bad,” he says, moving his shoulders and looking at the other. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from the same city as the prince. He is nice, isn’t he?”
Hongjoong opens his mouth to answer, but Yeosang guides them to a car, making both of them cut their talk and wait silently until they arrive at a place that looks like a hotel, the prince’s talking with a guy who got called as “senator” by Yeosang and, now, Seonghwa looks more aware of what’s happening than he ever was. Hongjoong can’t deny that he looks more handsome with his serious expression.
There’s a moment when he and Jongho stay in the same room as the prince, but Seonghwa is so focused on the talking that he doesn’t look anywhere except at the prince and the senator. Hongjoong feels a little upset. He wants to have the other’s attention again, but he knows that Seonghwa is working right now, and he can’t stop it just because a boy he met less than a week ago wants them to share stares and warm smiles.
Yeosang moves Hongjoong to another room, asking him to stay there and wait for him and Yunho to be back. He nods to these orders—there isn’t anything he can do right now, instead of following the orders he receives, so he walks around the room just to calm himself down. He’s starting to feel anxious about not being in his hometown anymore, and the thought of not being accepted in the forces creeps him out. Sure, Yunho and Yeosang would bring him back to his city, but he left with the promise of coming back and bringing good things for his mother and friends, so he’ll break the promise if he’s empty-handed.
He watches the movement on the streets, people talking to each other, cars going at the average speed limit, motorcycles looking like they’re going too fast, but Hongjoong knows how they’d look if they were actually running, and some special forces agents are scattered around. It’s a little upsetting to know that big cities controlled by the government have so much security while small cities like Hongjoong’s are always aggressive because money is all that matters, especially for those illegal workers who seek freedom, and no one pays attention to the security there.
After one hour or so, he hears a knock on the door. Yunho and Yeosang are waiting outside the room. The latter seems like he has given up on whatever they were discussing. Hongjoong has seen this type of expression a lot of times in the last four days, and it always means one thing: Yunho is being stubborn again. And now it clearly involves Hongjoong—maybe it involved him since the beginning.
“How old are you?” Yunho asks.
“Fifteen,” Hongjoong watches as Yeosang crosses his arms. He’s clearly older than he should be, and maybe Yeosang tried to convince Yunho that it won’t work for Hongjoong, but Yunho doesn’t pay attention to his coworker’s complaints. “Can I say bye to Seonghwa first?”
“Sure,” the agent smiles, and Hongjoong walks to the prince’s room again.
He talks with the security at the door, and they warn the soldiers inside about Hongjoong, opening the door after they receive a positive answer. The one who greets him is the prince; he looks so much like Seonghwa that Hongjoong almost believes that it’s the soldier who stops in front of him. The prince gives him a sweet smile as a sign to start talking.
Hongjoong bows first (he saw Yeosang doing it before talking, so he thinks that he should do it whenever he’s directing a word to the prince) before adding, “I think I’ll start my training soon, so I wanted to say bye to Seonghwa.”
The smile never leaves the prince’s face. “He’s doing something right now, but we’re sure that his heart will always be with you.”
“Thank you,” he bows again and smiles when Jongho murmurs a “good luck” to him.
The special forces’ office is not too far, so the three of them arrive at the place in a matter of minutes. Hongjoong just watches as the master agents analyze his profile. Yeosang caresses his shoulder to help him ease his anxiety, giving him a tiny smile. After what felt like thirty minutes, one of them finally clears his throat, gaining Yunho’s attention too. Hongjoong knows he’s important just by the red cape over his shoulders.
“He seems amazing, but he’s too old. He’ll be at Yeosang’s age before he even finishes his training to start field training,” the man says. “Besides, you already have Yeosang to help you on harder missions; a special agent only has the right to have one trainer agent helping him.”
“I’m sure Yeosang can take missions on his own,” Yunho says, and Yeosang nods while turning to the other agents.
“We decide when an agent is ready to take missions,” he answers with a more serious tone, and that makes Yunho just nod. “You can leave now. The prince is going back to his city, and we need to see if everything will be alright.”
“Yes, sir,” Yunho answers and leaves, being followed by Yeosang and Hongjoong right after.
Yunho goes back to the hotel to escort the prince, while Yeosang and Hongjoong wait outside in silence. The latter is a little worried about what he’ll do now, but both Yunho and Yeosang seem to have a plan for it.
“How old are you?” Hongjoong finally asks Yeosang, who smiles.
“You’re still thinking about it?” He asks back. “I’m eighteen. Usually, the agents start training when they’re thirteen, it’s two years of training fighting styles with different weapons and one field training, where they follow their trainer on easy missions. Still, some trainees get accepted when they’re fourteen. I was one of them.”
Hongjoong nods. “So you’re expected to receive your first order soon?”
“Yes and no. Not all agents are ready to receive missions when this training period ends. The masters and the head agent are the one who decides it, like they said,” he smiles and looks at the street. “But, after three years of training, you start to have a sense of familiarity with the person who trained you. It’s like leaving a good friend behind. Yunho and I were from the same neighborhood, so we have known each other for a while, and we understand how the other feels the most.”
“How old is Yunho?”
“He’s twenty. He got accepted when he was thirteen, but he was one of the few agents who were so good at their training that, after a certain point, their trainer didn’t have anything to teach them. That’s why he’s a special agent now, and I’m just an agent under his training.”
“For how long did he train?”
“Two years. He received his first mission some months before I got accepted into the forces. I think you can ask for a name and, if the boy is on the trainee list, you can take him to teach. Or maybe we just got lucky,” he smiles.
Hongjoong hums in understanding, and they stop talking when Yunho comes back, smiling at both of them while waiting for the prince to enter one of the cars, Seonghwa following him and barely looking to his sides. He does acknowledge Hongjoong’s presence by making a thin line with his lips when his eyes quickly glance over to Hongjoong’s direction.
“Look, I can’t train you, but I know how much you want to be trained,” Yunho says when they stop in front of the ship. “So, you’ll watch us fighting and try to learn some moves. You know how to use a spear, so you can watch me more if you want. Yeosang will teach you how to use a sword. Meanwhile, the guns… We’ll see.”
Hongjoong nods before they walk inside the ship. This time, Seonghwa is already looking at him, and Hongjoong feels like he has lost all of the air inside his lungs. To have those beautiful, big, dark brown eyes watching him is something he can’t describe; he doesn’t know about life enough to find the words to say what this warm feeling in his chest is whenever he thinks about or looks at Seonghwa. He just thinks that, whatever he feels, Seonghwa’s sparkling eyes translate it perfectly.
It takes them a little more than three days to arrive at the city. Just like the last time, Yunho kept guiding Hongjoong about fights; this time, Yeosang also got to explain something about swords. Yeosang talked about how to sail a ship, because he’ll need to do it one day, inevitably, even if the special agents always have a ship captain with them. It seems easy, but Hongjoong definitely doesn’t know anything about water, the sea, or how it behaves.
The city is pretty. It’s possible to see the main castle from the docks, but Jongho already said that the three small cities have their own palace, where the princes stay. The side they walk to—if Hongjoong remembers it right, it’s the west side one—is where things got messed up. It’s the closest side to the sea, and Hongjoong sees some stalls close to the docks; some people are angry with some monarchy soldiers.
Hongjoong also learns that Jongho’s family has worked for the monarchy before, and now they’re the one who makes tools for the kingdom to use. They will definitely be affected by the upcoming merchants, but Jongho doesn’t look upset about it.
They all walk towards a small village close to the woods, where some soldiers and people are staying to protect themselves from the people fighting against the palace and the soldiers who protect it. A man approaches them, bowing to the prince before saying who he is.
Before the prince can answer, Seonghwa walks in front of him and also bows before saying, “Nice to meet you, I’m Park Seonghwa, the prince and senator of the West Side of the Bluehaven Kingdom.”
Hongjoong looks over to Yunho and Yeosang, the older agent only nodding at him, like asking him to keep quiet while Seonghwa discusses his plans.
Since when did the two agents know it? And how should Hongjoong live the rest of his life knowing that a prince kissed his hand and, instead of him answering something, the prince was the one to say “thank you”? He should just give up living right now, but he knows that it’ll not happen, so he goes back to paying attention to the talk.
“... So I thought we should help,” Seonghwa says. “It’s me who started it, so I’m providing you with my soldiers and my help. I believe they only need a push to understand how the city will work now. Sadly, the push will be a little aggressive.”
The man stares at the prince and at Jongho, who nods at him. “Okay, we’ll gladly accept your help.”
Seonghwa smiles, shaking the man’s hands. Both of them and the two agents start planning how they’ll stop the people without hurting them too much. Hongjoong only watches because Yunho asked him not to get involved in the fight. He feels a little useless, but he knows it’s just for his safety.
Things get a lot more serious when they finally engage in the fight. Hongjoong follows Yunho and Yeosang to the palace, because he needed to find somewhere safe—he’s holding a spear now, but it’s just to make some people fighting lose a little time with someone who won’t really fight with them. Seonghwa and a few of his soldiers go to the prince’s throne, while the agents engage in a fight between people who were once soldiers of the monarchy and now live a happy life with enough money.
Yunho locks Hongjoong in what looks like a room, probably a guest’s room, because there weren’t any fancy things around or clothes inside the wardrobe. Hongjoong tries to leave at least two times, but the handle doesn’t even move, so he stays there until everything seems to be over.
It’s Seonghwa who opens the door, Hongjoong looks at him for a second before reading his expression—it doesn’t seem to tell him anything, but it’s the kind of “we have bad news” expression. Hongjoong follows him to the entrance of the palace, where Yeosang is sitting at its side, his sword thrown to the floor while he looks at Yunho’s spear.
“He’s fine,” Seonghwa warns, and Yeosang looks up. “We’re getting this mess cleaned up. Yunho… We can honor his death after it.”
Hongjoong frowns. It makes sense now. Yunho has told him a million times in the past days that a soldier should never lose his weapon, so the fact that it’s Yeosang holding his spear and barely paying attention to his sword is enough to show that this is the bad news that Seonghwa was going to give him.
Yeosang gets up, sliding his sword in the scabbard and bowing. His face is swollen, and his eyes are red. “Thank you, Your Highness. And sorry for not getting up before.”
“It’s alright,” Seonghwa says with an understanding smile. “I imagine how hard it is. You can stay inside. Hongjoong, can you help the soldiers with organizing the area around the palace again?”
Hongjoong nods. He only helps pick up the weapons thrown around; some people are only getting their hands tied, so they can’t do anything again. He hears some soldiers talking about Seonghwa, thanking him for opening the kingdom for new people because it can help them grow technologically and build a nice relationship with cities and places around the kingdom.
They also seem to see Seonghwa in a nice admiration, because he was definitely more human than the last prince, since the last prince would choose to let those people die in jails instead of letting them explain themselves and their opinions. Besides growing up in a place that was built for him to feel nice, Seonghwa seems to be the kind of person who wants to understand every point of view.
The sun is setting when they finish everything. Yeosang comes out of the palace looking for Hongjoong, saying that they’ll pay respects to Yunho, and the younger follows him right away. The agent still wears his gold and black attire, while Seonghwa has taken off the soldier uniform and now is wearing a full black attire, with some golden details in the jacket, a black cape over his shoulders, and black transparent gloves.
Hongjoong hears what Seonghwa says and notices how that probably wasn’t the first time he received help from the special agents, or at least from Yunho. Yeosang’s words were more caring, showing how he will always appreciate all the things Yunho told him and how important the other agent was for his life. His voice has a hurt tenderness in it, like his thoughts are not just about the years that they shared as agent and trainee.
“What about me?” Hongjoong asks while Yeosang organizes the room for them to sleep, since they need to wait a few days for some agents to pick them up, and they’re also invited to the celebration tomorrow.
“I promised Yunho that I’ll train you,” he sits at one of the beds. “You’ll need to learn the spear from what he showed you. I only know the basics. You can fight with what you know right now, but you’ll have to get better at your defenses.”
Hongjoong nods, Yeosang sighs loudly, and runs his hand through his hair. The younger one understands how hard things are right now, so he starts, “You don’t need to train me now… I can wait for you to mourn him. He’s important to you, so I understand it. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I lost my mother or my friends…”
“Thank you,” he smiles without showing his teeth.
“And can I ask, since when did you two know that Seonghwa was the prince? Because Yunho didn’t seem to know when they were in my city,” Hongjoong explains.
“Seonghwa told us this the night before we arrived at the city. Yunho came to this city years ago when he was just training. It was the other prince, not Seonghwa. When we arrive, and a man dressed as a prince greets us, that is the prince. No matter if one of the soldiers had a very unusual hair color and coincidentally matched with the former prince,” he smiles. “Why are you asking this?”
Hongjoong thinks about mentioning the hand kiss, but he just moves his head to shake the thought away. “It’s because Seonghwa was against all the bets Yunho did in my city, so he said that the prince wouldn’t like it, and Yunho said that the prince wouldn’t know. I thought that you two already knew since then.”
“No, we didn’t. But now that you mention it… Yunho was a bit reckless in your city.”
“Well, he bet the prince’s ship right in front of the prince, so…” He adds, and Yeosang chuckles.
“I promise I’ll be more careful than he was,” Yeosang says and lies down. “And you should be, too.”
“Yes, sir!” He smiles when Yeosang chuckles again.
“Good night, Hongjoong.”
The next day, Yeosang wakes him up with a set of special agent’s clothes, and he frowns at it. Where did he find it anyway?
“Those are mine,” he starts, as if reading Hongjoong’s mind. “The agents always carry a set of clean clothes if one gets too messed up. I’m wearing Yunho’s; I just had to fix them so they wouldn’t be too big. Sit up, I need to see if your hair is too long.”
Hongjoong gets up with a groan, Yeosang touches his hair like he’s patting his head, and then lets out an agreeing hum. “You don’t need to trim it?”
“No. It’s fine,” he says. “Get changed, I’ll be waiting for you outside.”
Hongjoong nods, cleaning his face—this non-stop sailing barely gave him time to take care of his face and the few facial hairs growing around. He gets out after dressing up, Yeosang organizing his clothes and his hair, caressing his shoulders. He can’t help but feel strange to be wearing the black and gold, like he’s being someone he never thought he’d be.
“You look nice, even though we’re breaking a rule,” the older one says and laughs when Hongjoong gets shocked. “Because, technically, I shouldn’t be training you, I don’t have the title of special agent, and you can’t be trained after what they said.”
“We’re not getting in trouble by it, right?” He asks, and the other smiles warmly.
“No, we aren’t,” he assures. “Let’s go, we don’t want to keep the prince waiting.”
Hongjoong nods. He gets more and more anxious as one of the prince’s soldiers guides them to where the celebration is happening—he got so used to seeing Seonghwa dressed as a soldier, so he doesn’t know what exactly he’s going to see today.
When he and Yeosang stop in front of Seonghwa to greet him, he feels like his whole world is spinning. Seonghwa is wearing a white button shirt, the first few buttons open, and his black necklace with great details going down to his chest, right in that small part of skin that’s showing up. He has a gray corset around his waist, the same color as the long pants, and he looks so breathtakingly beautiful that Hongjoong almost forgets to bow.
“Thank you so much for coming,” Seonghwa says, and they both smile. “I should properly thank you now, Hongjoong, for your help in your city. I’m sure you’ll be a great agent.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he says, staring into Seonghwa’s eyes, and the prince smiles before leaving.
“Why do I feel you’re going to turn my hair white?” Yeosang asks, and Hongjoong laughs. “Come on, we’re sitting together with the soldiers.”
Hongjoong nods, following the older to the place they’re sitting. Some soldiers talked about how Yunho was amazing yesterday, and how he was probably the best agent who ever helped them. Yeosang only thanks them, Hongjoong can almost see some tears forming in the corner of his eyes, but he doesn’t talk about it.
There’s a brief moment for everyone to settle in before the prince starts his speech, his eyes shining as he remembers how he used to love all sides of this city when he was a child, and how he hopes that everyone gets to experience the same kind of treatment of being free to walk around the city they love so much—and that their families probably helped building in the past. He thanks the soldiers and the agents for helping him, and Hongjoong feels strange to be thanked for something he didn’t do, but that’s how things will be until he can properly be thanked for his doings.
Seonghwa allows the man they met yesterday to talk, smiling fondly when he thanks the prince for his doings and how, in just a few months, he’s one of the best princes that ever ruled them. After he finishes speaking, Seonghwa says that everyone can enjoy the food and the party. Hongjoong and Yeosang only get some food, sitting at their place again.
It’s nice to distract themselves, Hongjoong chooses to look around while Yeosang tries his best to shake away the thoughts of Yunho’s death—and how he could change it, if he were just a little bit faster. They both watch the people dancing, Hongjoong gets surprised when he sees Seonghwa in the middle of them. He never thought a prince would be so close to his people, especially after what happened yesterday. Although the number of soldiers around sure gives people a greater sense of security.
The prince looks happy as he dances with the soldier who’s used as his decoy, making Hongjoong think he’s interrupting something, so he changes his focus to something else, his breath becoming a little uncontrolled, like someone was grabbing his lungs and heart altogether. He frowns while trying to get rid of it and trying his best not to get the attention of Yeosang, or he’d just spill everything that has been happening (was there something?) between him and the prince. He spent the rest of the afternoon ignoring the other. No matter how much he felt like he was being watched by someone, he didn’t want to see Seonghwa and his decoy together again.
A ship from the agents arrives the next afternoon. It’s a lot different when compared with Seonghwa’s and Yeosang explains that the forces’ ship is made for fighting, so it has a lot of weapons, and the space to sleep is not as comfortable as the prince’s ship, but Hongjoong will get used to it. He just nods, and Yeosang takes a deep breath, stopping at the captain’s side and telling him to explain how the ship works to Hongjoong while he takes a breath.
The explanations are pretty much the same as Yeosang told him days ago, so Hongjoong just watches the captain sailing for what felt like an hour before going to find Yeosang. It’s just the two agents—if you can call Hongjoong that—the captain and two trainer agents who followed the captain just to learn how to sail, so it’s easy to find Yeosang in a big room where a map is open over a big table.
He’s looking at the sea through a small window, but it’s possible to see that he’s lost in thought, Yunho’s spear in his hand, his thumb carefully caressing the patterns drawn on it. Hongjoong knocks on the table twice, gaining the older’s attention, who smiles softly at him.
“You paid attention to what the captain said?” He asks, and Hongjoong nods. “We’ll sail alone most of the time, especially if our missions are close to the capital. But, if we’re lucky enough, we might get a captain to sail with us.”
Hongjoong nods again. “Are you good?”
“Yeah, I just… I don’t feel ready,” Yeosang lets out a blown laugh, looking at Yunho’s spear again. “When Yunho started training me, he was already exceptional, and he was just back from his first mission alone. He finished his training almost a year before because his trainer didn’t have anything new to teach him. So, looking at how I am eighteen and I didn’t receive any orders… I don’t think I’m the kind of mentor you want.”
“If I’m being honest, I don’t know what kind of mentor I’m looking for,” Hongjoong confesses and lets out a chuckle. “I just want to be good at fighting and have at least a voice to reach the capital and ask for them to help my city to stop suffering. I don’t care if I don’t receive any missions.”
“But I don’t think—”
“If he chose you to train me, it’s because he trusts you to do so. I actually think I’d choose to follow someone on their missions instead of just doing things by myself. I might be a little impulsive,” he answers, and Yeosang laughs.
“You probably are,” he says. “You’re fifteen and chose to trust someone to bring you to a completely different city. And is still doing that.”
“My mother always said that I should be somewhere else.”
“I hope you know that motorcycle races are illegal when the participants aren’t professional racers, recognized by the government. And, whether you want it or not, you’ll have to get a license to drive a bike or a car.”
“But I know how to drive a bike!”
“You’ll need to learn how to drive it at a regular speed.”
Hongjoong scoffs. “Fair.”
“Next year you can get the license,” Yeosang says. And then he changes the topic, “There are two doors next to this room, right? The left one is where we’re sleeping. The space is really small, so if you want to sleep alone, you can hang a hammock in this room.”
“What about that door?” Hongjoong asks, and the other looks at the door and turns to him.
“That’s the captain’s room.”
“Makes sense. Will we fight for the captain’s room on our ship?”
“Absolutely not. I’m staying in the captain’s room. I’m your senior!” He adds a much happier smile to his face. “You’ll have to win your own ship if you want to sleep in the captain’s room. It’s either the actual captain or me that’ll sleep there.”
“Don’t forget that I came from a city with a lot of gamblers; I know how to walk my way to victory.”
“Do not challenge me; this is disrespectful.”
Hongjoong nods. “Okay, sorry, sir.”
Yeosang laughs, caressing his shoulder as he passes by the younger. Hongjoong lets out a blown laugh before following the other to the deck. He’s getting used to traveling around on a ship, so he barely feels uneasy about the waves hitting it. But if he had to choose a way to travel around, he’d choose his bike without thinking twice.
When they arrive at the capital again, they’re welcomed by a master agent who escorts them to the forces’ building. Yeosang follows him to the meeting room, while Hongjoong waits outside. The agent is probably giving a mission report, talking about Yunho and how his death happened. After some minutes, Yeosang opens the door again, calling Hongjoong to enter the room.
“We don’t agree that you should take him as your trainee,” one of the agents says. “But Yunho asked you to do it, and we noticed that you took the stubbornness from him, so we’ll let you train him. The training will follow the same course and time as the others, but do tell us if his training goes better than you expected.”
“Yes, sir,” Yeosang answers.
“Come here, boy, we’ll record some information about you to keep track of your development,” the man says, and Hongjoong nods, following him.
They spend some minutes writing everything about Hongjoong—his full name, age, height, weight, and birthday—before a woman enters the room to take some measurements from his body so he can have a uniform that fits him. He also got a key to a room in the dorm. After they’re over, Yeosang thanks the agents again and leaves with Hongjoong in silence.
“Do you want to eat something, or are you not hungry?” Yeosang asks, and Hongjoong shrugs. “Is reality kicking in for you?”
“I guess. But I’m a little hungry,” he answers.
“The training isn’t that hard, I promise. But, if you really think you don’t want to be a special agent by yourself, we can also add the course where you and I coordinate our fighting styles so they can see that we are good together and be more likely to accept if I ask them to make us work together.”
“I think I’m just anxious because I’ll probably miss my mother and friends,” he answers, and Yeosang hums.
“Most of the agents have a diary, just to write their thoughts out. Do you want me to buy one for you?”
Hongjoong takes a deep breath, noticing how Yeosang is genuinely concerned about his well-being even though he’s probably going through a lot in his mind—he doesn’t show it, but the lack of emotions in his eyes tells that he’s still feeling Yunho’s death.
“I don’t think I know how to properly put my thoughts into words, but you can buy it… I guess,” he answers.
“Let’s consider it as a first gift from a teacher to his trainee,” Yeosang says with a smile. “Let’s eat something, and then I’ll buy it for you.”
Hongjoong nods. It’s a little hard for him to choose what to eat—he’s used to soups and stews, so seeing all those fancy foods was a little overwhelming to him. Yeosang ordered something he thought Hongjoong would like, and he knew he was enjoying the food just by his expression.
Deep inside, Hongjoong still felt that creeping anxiety on his back, like something whispering in his nape, saying that he’ll not be enough to free everyone in his city. He’ll be wearing the black and gold colors. Who will listen to him? He is sure not even San and Wooyoung will want something with him.
But, at the same time, he wants to go back to Seonghwa. There’s a warmth around the prince that just makes Hongjoong feel safe, and his stomach is bubbling from excitement. He wants to know if Seonghwa actually thought something about him or if he just went crazy after the hand kiss. Maybe he wants Seonghwa at his side, just so he can admire the other guy closely.