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Chapter 1

If it weren't for the small rise and fall of Min Yoongi's chest, one could have easily mistaken the entire grand throne room and all of its content to be a perfectly still image. It was an image filled with intricate designs, extremely fine details, and plenty of gold and black. The Gyeongbokgung Palace of the Jongno district had been refurbished much to the king's liking after he had taken his rightful place, bored by the simple colour tones from his uncle before him. But, alas, the King Agust D was alive and very much in the middle of plotting in the peaceful silence that bestowed the throne room.

That was until the silence was broken by the slamming of one of the large, tall doors. His eyes landed upon one of his royal advisors who stormed halfway down the room before coming to a complete stop. Jin bowed deeply, never forgetting the rules, despite how enraged he appeared to be. Yoongi tried his hardest to withhold his amusement as he took in the angry red flush on the older's face. Pissing off Jin, his most loyal advisor, was an easy task to do. And he wondered silently to himself what he had done this time.

"Min fucking Yoongi," Jin's annoying nasally voice filled the previous quiet throne room. "Would you care to explain to me exactly why you had the jester imprisoned and added to the behead list?"

Ah, yes that made sense why Jin had stormed in there royally pissed off. Yoongi had indeed ordered his guards to imprison the current jester and behead him when there was a spot free. Yoongi's eyes glistened in the brightly lit room, showing off the inner madness within him, highly amused at the entire situation.

"I found him irritating. Much like yourself," Yoongi muttered under his breath, forgetting that in such an empty room, every sarcastic comment would most definitely be heard.

"Is that so?" angry eyes pinned the unbothered king to his throne.

"It is so," Yoongi stared back with defiant eyes, the faintest smirk ghosting his lips.

"Well go on. Add me to the list then. See how well you can function without me," Jin snapped as he slowly walked his way closer to where Yoongi sat with a now bored expression. "See how well you can run this kingdom without me. Because heaven knows who actually runs the show. Certainly not Namjoon. Definitely not you. You can't even decide which pair of gold earrings you want to wear for the day."

"Did your mother never teach you appearances are everything, Jin?" Yoongi rolled his eyes.

"Did your mother never teach you to not behead your jester's simply because they irritated you?" Jin barked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, in fact, she didn't," Yoongi feigned to think for a second, before an insane smile graced his face, one that would have unnerved anyone that wasn't Kim Seokjin.

"You're testing my patience Min Yoongi," the older of the pair growled out. "I may just add my own name to the list. It would be better to be beheaded than keep working for you."

"Yes, yes. I know. Now run along and find me a less irritating jester, would you?" Yoongi dismissed Jin with a lazy flick of the wrist. "I have a feast this Sunday that is in need of a new headline."

"We would have one if you didn't behead them," Jin said, rolling his eyes as he begun to walk out of the room. After all, he did need to find a new jester.

"But did you get my joke, Hyung? A new headline? Because my old jester is being beheaded?" loudly Yoongi called out to the retreating back.

"I got it," Jin replied with a shake of his head as he opened the throne room door.

"Your majesty," said Yoongi in a stern reminder that showed no leniency, even to his royal advisor.

"Your majesty," huffed Jin in annoyance as he bowed deeply before he gracefully took his leave.

Silence once again engulfed the marvelous throne room. King Agust D sat upon his golden throne and contemplated his royal advisor's advice. Perhaps he should stop beheading his jesters. This was, after all, the third one for that month alone that he had ordered to be imprisoned and beheaded. He just couldn't help it, however. All of them told the same old, lame jokes. All had the same old, boring routine. None of them showed originality in their performances.

What the mighty King Agust D craved for in a jester was someone who perhaps dared to cross the line. Someone who tempted fate with witty jokes and captivating performances. He was sick and tired of seeing the same routines he'd grown up with, simply because no one dared to anger the King. But what they didn't realise was the more they stuck in the safe-zone, the more impatient he became with them. Hence why word quickly spread amongst his kingdom of the position being cursed and that death was inevitable if one was to become a jester. If only the idiots used their brains and realised he was merely bored by their pathetic attempts of 'entertainment'.

Yoongi hoped that whoever Jin hired next wouldn't be incompetent like the rest of the babbling fools he had employed in the past. He would very much like to not have to kill anyone for once. Well, unless they had it coming for them. And by the track record, the next jester definitely did not have a good outcome to look forward to. That was, of course, only if they didn't turn out to be exactly what he wanted in a jester. A small - extremely small - part of him hoped for the best for the next one.

>_<     >_<     >_<

Boredom was an unusual feeling for a demon that belonged to hell. More often than not, the trickster could find some type of chaos to inflict on the unsuspecting humans. Use a little bit of invisibility here, throw in an unfortunate accident there, and then he'd have the perfect mixture to entertain himself as he watched the misery ensue. Most times he would end up on the floor in a fit of hysteric. But these days, he found life to be a little lackluster, to say the least.

And perhaps it was that very same boredom that had the low level demon, Jung Hoseok, grabbing a hand-made flyer from a sickly looking woman in the streets near the Gyeongbokgung Palace of the Jongno district. Had he been led there by the whispers he'd overheard from other nearby kingdoms? Most definitely. Any sane demon would be drawn to a place with a supposed death toll rumoured to be climbing every month.

Hoseok hadn't heard a lot about the current King that ruled the land. Only that his people thought he was off his rocker insane. One would only have to look at the name he demanded to be called to know there was no sanity left within him; King Agust D. What sane human would name themselves that? Although Hoseok was not one to speak. He had only allowed the humans to refer to him as Jack for the past two centuries. That had him wondering what name the King had truly been named in life. What a shame it would be if it turned out that Agust D was his real name.

The whispered tales of the unhinged King is what had led Hoseok to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. He already lived on the misfortune of others. So why not travel to a place where the streets reeked of misery and fear. It was almost a breath of fresh air for the demon, having not found a place as pitiful as this in quite some time. The people seemed to cower at his presence as he walked along the bustling streets. It was almost as if they could recognise a madman walking, almost like they could recognise the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

As he leisurely strolled the streets, he read the poster he had taken. 'Jester For Hire'. How curious. This place had been rumoured to be the worst of the worst. And yet the only exciting event that seemed to be taking place was the hire of an entertainer? Bizarre. Although that suddenly sparked a memory from his many nights he'd wandered the streets of other kingdoms. There had been whispers of a cursed position within these walls. Hoseok would actually laugh if out of all the position in a kingdom, the jester was the one that was supposedly cursed.

"My fair lady, may I trouble you for a moment?" Hoseok stopped near a middle aged woman who was scrubbing at a pair of boots, trying to make them shine.

"Of course my dear," she smiled widely, yellow teeth on display, clearly no one had ever dared try to flatter her with compliments before.

"Well you see," Hoseok put on the best innocent, naïve expression he could. "I'm not from around here. I was wondering if you could perhaps tell me about this jester for hire poster and where one could apply for it?"

"Do you have a death wish?" her eyes dramatically widen as she gave him her full attention.

"A death wish? Me?" Hoseok couldn't help the dark chuckle that escaped him, causing many of the passersby to look fearfully in his direction at the sound. "I do not have a death wish yet, my fair lady."

"Well you might as well have one if you are looking at becoming the court jester for King Agust D," the lady hung the rag over her shoulder as she slowly looked Hoseok up and down before she leaned closer and continued to talk in a hushed tone. "We all think that the position is cursed. The only reason they are lucky enough to keep getting jesters is because of how well it pays. The families around here often send one of their male children just so they can survive the winter a little easier. It's quite sad, you know, since no one seems to come out of that job alive."

"Is that so? How curious," Hoseok hummed with a polite smile and a twinkle in his eyes, intrigued by the story.

It took everything in Hoseok to not break out in fits of laughter. So it was true. The rumoured cursed position of the Gyeongbokgung Palace was indeed the jester. However, nothing in her story deterred him from wanting to apply for the job. After all, he could not be killed by any normal methods the humans usually used. Even if he was beheaded, he'd still be able to see, talk and control the rest of his body. All he would have to do is pick up his head and hold it on his neck for a few minutes until it had all healed. He spoke from experience. Left quite a nasty scar for a week before it disappeared, not a trace remained showing that he'd been beheaded.

"So are you still crazy enough to find out where to go from here?" the lady asked with a bit of hesitancy, feeling like she was sending the kind looking stranger to his death.

"Indeed I am crazy enough," a dark smirk lit up Hoseok's face at her comment, eager to learn more.

"Head to the Palace. You'll need to tell the guards that you are there to see Advisor Seokjin about the jester position," she said with a slight grimace. "He's the one that hires people for the job."

"Thank you so very much for your time," Hoseok bowed to the lady, holding eye contact the entire time, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"If you are unlucky enough, I suppose I'll see you at the festival this Sunday," she shook her head as she turned back to the rack of shoes she had previously been working on.

"Wish for me the worst then. I hope I get it," he said in a tone that was rather unnerving, his smirk only growing larger as the lady visibly shuddered.

"You may just be madder than the King," she muttered under her breath, although Hoseok was still able to hear her clear as day even as he begun to walk away.

The citizens cleared the pathway as the chuckling Hoseok stalked through the streets. He had heads turning as he passed, the creepy chuckle unsettling many. Hoseok was thrilled at the possible opportunities he may have if he successfully got this. Although he didn't see there being a problem in being hired. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. He had many charms that he could pull out of his bags of tricks. A bat of an eyelash here, a suggestive compliment there, and of course he could always use a little of his powers if need be.

Oh how Hoseok could not wait to meet the so-called insane King Agust D. As he made his way to the Palace, he imagined all the fun he could have with him. He wanted to find ways to wind him up and push his buttons. He made it his number one mission to annoy the King. Oh how he hoped he was dragged away to the guillotine, only to then laugh in the King's face as his animated head was pulled from the basket.

The dark grin never left Hoseok's face as he walked, caught up in the potential fun he was about to embark on. An air of confidence and arrogance surrounded the mad looking male. The guards that stood at the entrance eyed the suspicious stranger as he approached the Palace. Their guts told them to be on alert, the mischievous twinkle and the unnerving grin being the main reason. And so that was how Jung Hoseok found himself at the end of two pointy, extremely sharp sword tips.

"Well no need to be so hostile boys," Hoseok said with a dark chuckle as he held up his hands, slowly looking the two guards deep in their eyes.

"State your business commoner," one of them barked roughly, neither of them lowering their swords.

"Why, I am here to see the Royal Advisor Seokjin, of course," he replied calmly, gesturing to the flyer in his right hand, the twinkle in his eyes intensified. "I want to be the next jester."

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