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Everyone knows King Jongdae is ruthless. Sure, his actions are always rightfully justified; always doing what’s best for the kingdom, but the ways he goes about it intimidates and scares not only his citizens, but also neighbours, the entire Royal family and staff.
“And? Are you expecting me to do your work for you, Minseok?”
“No, Your Majesty. It’s just that I-”
“No damn excuses!” Jongdae slams the table in front of him, “I’ve told you time and time again to research on the limitations of the new Laws you are proposing, and I’ve asked you countless of times about it, and yet you’re not even able to give me answer to something as basic as the resources and budget needed. The next meeting better be the last time we are talking about it, or it’ll be your last, Kim Minseok.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Minseok, already sweating buckets, sat down nervously; his body shaking too much from the King’s scolding. The tension in the room heightened, everyone else's nerves getting the best of them.
“Meeting is adjourned. I absolutely cannot deal with this anymore,” Jongdae stood up, chair dragging loudly as he walked out of the room, with his valet, Chanyeol, in tow.
“Your Majesty, we were barely 10 minutes into the 1-hour meeting. There is still 4 items on the agend-”
“I don’t care, Yeol,” Jongdae softens his tone, “Is he back yet?”
“Yes... He is in your chambers.”
Jongdae nodded his head as he sped up his pace, and waved Chanyeol off as he knocked on the door and entered the room.
“Back so soon?”
“Yeah, I…”
“They were being stupid?” Kyungsoo chuckles, “Baby, remember you can’t get angry at them always, they are trying their best.” He cups the King’s face and kisses his lips lightly, “You have to be more patient.”
“I’m trying, Soo. It’s just that… now you’re g-”
“Hey. Look at me. I’m here, right? You see me, right?” Kyungsoo asks gently.
“Y-yes. You’re here.” He leans into the younger’s warm hands, and breathes in deeply.
“That’s right… I’m here. With you, always .”
“Where’s Jongdae?” Yixing asks as he sees Chanyeol outside the door.
“Inside.”
“With…?”
“Yeah.” They both sighed at that. “He needs him.”
“But he’s not there, Yeol. Duke Kyungsoo isn’t there. And we need to make sure no one else knows about this.”
“I know he’s not there, Xing. We all know that, but Jongdae doesn’t. We need to find him, we need to find the Duke before it’s too late.”
“I’ve tried; all of us did. Junmyeon, Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehun. We’ve searched high and low. The Duke has truly disappeared without a trace.”
Chanyeol sighs, “Aish, what should we do?”
“The King needs to get professional help. If anyone else outside from us hears about this, it’s not going to be good for us.”
Kyungsoo gently plays with Jongdae’s hair, in hopes of calming him down.
“I love you.”
“I love you most,” Jongdae smiles up at him, “There was never, and would never be a day I’d stop loving you.”
Kyungsoo pokes Jongdae’s sides, “Sap.” He leans down and kisses the King on his lips anyway.
“Always for you, Soo.”
“I know. It’s the same for me too.”
Jongdae smiles sadly, “I don’t think so.”
“Hmm? Why would you say that?”
“If you truly loved me… why aren’t you here?”
As Jongdae says that, he looks towards Kyungsoo’s direction, only to find the empty space beside him. The framed picture of the King and his Duke on the nightstand looks innocent, but Jongdae knows it will only haunt him for the rest of his life.