Chapter Text
“I don’t like it!” Jongdae stops packing and stares at Sehun. “Did you hear me, boy?”
“Yes, hyung, I heard you.”
“Then why are you still going on this journey? When we all know there might be a trap waiting for you along the road, somewhere.”
“Which is why I’m going alone and…”
“It’s stupid!” Jongdae babbles.
“I’m going undercover, hyung. I’m masking my scent. Nobody will pay attention to a farm boy on his way to the city market.”
“It’s stupid.” Jongdae repeats. “You’re stupid!”
Sehun sighs. He knows better than to try to reason with his cousin when he’s worried.
“If your father were here...”
“Well, he’s not!” Sehun retorts firmly. “He’s up North helping the King to keep our borders safe, fighting a battle against an unknown enemy.”
“If your father were here, he’d never allow you to go.”
Sehun decides to ignore his cousin and finishes dressing the heavy clothes that would not only mask his scent, but also protect him from any bad weather.
“I can take care of myself, hyung.” Sehun puts both his hands over Jongdae’s shoulders, an attempt to sooth his cousin’s worries. “I promise you, if someone tries to keep me from reaching my destination, they will find their death at the tip of my sword.”
Jondae snorts, but still hugs his baby cousin.
“I miss the times when you actually listened to me.”
“That was when I was smaller than you.” Sehun teases and gets smacked. “Ouch!”
“And smelled better too.” Jongdae lets go of Sehun, scrunching his nose at the foreign scent.
“What’s wrong with the way I smell?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with the way he smells?” Jongdae turns around and hisses at the man standing at the door. “You smell like a true alpha, Sehunnie.”
“It’s Prince Sehun for you, dog.”
“Hyung, please…”
“I should have known this foul scent on my nose could not be only from these filthy clothes.”
“Jongdae hyung!” Sehun has to use all his strength to sound serious and not laugh at his cousin’s antics. “Enough! This is not the way we receive guests in this house.” Jongdae lowers his head, but still hisses at the man. “Jongin, my friend! It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too…” Jongin walks in, but stops midway to deliver a flourish bow. “Prince Sehun.” Then he looks at the other man in the room. “See? I can be polite when I want to.” He smirks the second he hears yet another hiss.
“You two should just fuck this tension off, you know?”
“Me? Fucking a dog? Never in a million years…”
“Who says you’d be doing the fucking, kitty cat?”
“YOU… YOU…” Jongdae blushes even harder when Jongin comes closer to him to caress his face.
“You don’t need to be all flustered. Can you imagine it? You, melting under my fingers, purring under my body, asking for my lips? Because I can, babe.”
Jongdae snaps and pushes Jongin away.
“Never! Do you hear me? This… whatever you’re imagining… this will never happen!” Jongdae stomps out of the room, his face as dark as a tomato. Jongin follows him with his eyes, a promise on his eyes and a smirk on his lips.
“You should go easy on him, Jongin.”
“I tried that already, Sehunnie.” Jongin inhales deeply, trying to catch the sweet scent Jongdae left behind. “It seems the only way I can get any reaction from him is by teasing.”
“One day he’ll lose it… Just be careful. Jongdae is really good with a dagger.” Sehun warns and Jongin acknowledges, smiling. “Now, tell me. What are you doing here?”
“Minseok reached the capital…”
“Oh!”
“Your father knows he can’t stop you, so my brother sent a small squad to escort you.”
“I don’t need…”
Jongin raises his hand to shut him up.
“It’s the king’s command, Sehun.”
Sehun closes his fists in anger. He wanted to travel light and unnoticed, something that will not happen if he’s accompanied by a bunch of loud soldiers.
“What about you?”
“I’m to stay here with another squad to protect your land until you return from your mission.”
“Please try not to get on Jongdae’s nerves.”
“I make no promises.”
“Lord help us all!”
Baekhyun is picking wild berries by the river for breakfast when he hears sounds of a sword fight. He perks his ears and looks around, searching for its source. He looks up and sees a man surrounded by, what seems to be, road bandits at the edge of the canion. He hides behind a tree and crouches to make sure nobody sees him. He watches, in silence, the man fighting for his life.
He’s outnumbered, but still manages to stab and kill a couple of men. Baekhyun actually believes the man has a chance to get out of the situation alive, he’s a skilled swordsman from what he can see. That’s until an arrow hits his shoulder, causing him to stumble. He manages to remove the arrow, but Baekhyun can tell he’s dizzy. The arrow was probably poisoned, because in less than a minute the man stumbles back and falls off the cliff, directly into the river below.
Baekhyun shuts his mouth with one hand to stop himself from making any sound and watches, stunned, the man floating down the river, slowly. He stays still until the men turn their backs to the river and leave. He waits until he hears no sound coming from uphill, then he leaves his hiding place and, against his better judgment, walks towards the river to pull the man out.
He’s thinking the man deserves a proper burial, but to his surprise the man is still alive. He looks at his wounds and sees that, except for his left shoulder, all small cuts and bruises are already healing, which is not a normal trait for humans. He gets closer to the man and takes a sniff.
“A feline?” Baekhyun mumbles. “What were you thinking, entering the wolves' territory all by yourself?
The man opens his eyes briefly and babbles something unintelligible.
“Easy, easy. It’s okay! I’ll take care of you.”
The last thing Sehun sees before passing out is the face of an angel, smiling at him.