Yoongi focus

The ministry of personnel had been ordered to release all servants that had been employed for less than five years, and Yoongi had scratched minister Yoon from the list of suspects in the murder cases since he did not consider the man enough of a coldblooded killer to order his own daughter's death; at least not when her being alive secured his position in court. The investigation regarding his underlings was still in place, however.

He suspected the procedure to be similar to the first assassination. The maid had found the knife under her pillow and knew what to do. And what made Yoongi fairly sure was the engraving on the blade that read 'benevolent and good', two words the first servant girl had used as well to describe Namjoon. And if the procedure was the same, hopefully the figure behind was as well.

But since Yoongi had no hand in the business of the ministries and could not go out to spy by himself, he had decided to visit the shrine in the north of the capital. It was a small shrine, barely big enough to fit four people and rarely visited by anyone because of its secluded location in the forest. It was perfect for meetings that should not happen.

When he arrived after half an hour, he bound his stallion to a tree and strolled over to the raggedy shed. He washed his hands, slipped out of his shoes and took off his straw hat, and stepped inside to prostrate in front of the Buddha statue.

After three repetitions of lifting his hands over his head, then to his mouth, to end in front of his chest and kneel, a bald figure in smoke-blue robes joined him.

"I am searching for guidance," the monk said quietly while Yoongi stood up to face him with a bow.

"And guidance you shall receive," he answered, finishing the reversed greeting.

They smiled at each other crookedly.

"Advisor Min is late," the monk said now, not at all sounding like a man on the search for enlightenment but more like an annoyed son of the noble class.

"As you might have heard, yesterday was the coronation of the new king," Yoongi answered unbothered. "Thus, I had no time to visit the shrine."

The monk nodded comprehensively. "The sacred belongs to the sacred, the worldly to the worldly. We shall go outside to talk," he said then and gestured Yoongi to leave the small room with him.

"You start to sound like a real monk," the shorthaired noted amused while he sat down on the stairs that led up to the shrine and slipped back into his shoes.

"After all, I am," the man replied and sat next to him. His attitude changed to business. "There lives a master Heo with a martial arts school in Jungseon. He moved there over twenty years ago with a baby and settled in the mountains outside the town. The school was opened a few years later. Right now, in the absence of the owner, it is handled by a sword master called Heo Chulmoo, a Baekje general fallen from grace during the Northern War."

"That's impossible," Yoongi interrupted. "This general Chulmoo is in the capital right now."

The monk shook his bald head. "The one who is in the capital is the owner of the school who came to Jungseon over twenty years ago, Heo Joonho. The younger master Heo Chulmoo arrived later and helped out with the school whenever Joonho was on leave," the monk explained the details.

Yoongi's mind was working in a fever. First, the master Heo that was currently in the capital had used a false identity, so that Yoongi would find nothing wrong with his story at first glance. Probably only Jungkook knew about the truth but was unaware of the game his master was playing. And second, Heo Joonho was the lost brother of the grand princess Heo of Baekje, which made him king Hwon's uncle and the former minister of war.

"I need to leave," Yoongi pressed out and grabbed his hat to run off. The palace was hosting the missing uncle of king Hwon and treated him like a guest of honor. How stupid had they been! How foolish and blind to employ a random man as a teacher for the prince just because his disciple was the third prince's bedwarmer!

"Stupid, so stupid," Yoongi mumbled to himself when he climbed onto his horse and turned it around to gallop back to the palace.

He had been blinded by the fate that was so similar to his own. A general fallen from grace, making use of his abilities to start a new life somewhere else. He had seen himself in that man, given a new life but lonely and with no one who would understand the grief losing your men. But Yoongi had been played like a fool. He should have only trusted facts, but he had been swayed by emotions. He had allowed another to toy with him, but he would not allow that for a second time.

><

When the royal guard had surrounded the guest quarter of master Heo, Yoongi marched inside, his sword at his hip and cold determination in his step. To his surprise he found the sword master standing in the inner yard of the guest residence without his sword or any other weapon, watching their intrusion like he had expected them.

"It seems like we have to discuss something," he said calmly, making Yoongi's blood boil with anger. How could this man still pretend to be on top of it all when he had played with the trust of their king?

"I could just kill you for lying to the palace," Yoongi growled back, unsheathing his sword by a hand's width.

"I did not lie to the palace. I lied to master Min," the man had the guts to object.

Yoongi wanted to throw away his sword and simply beat the life out of this ruthless man, but he knew he had to follow the procedure. So, he decided to play along. "You'd be surprised how blurred the lines between me and the palace are," he snapped.

"I should have noticed," master Heo admitted. "Now, to settle this. I am innocent, so I will follow you without a fight. But I will only explain myself to his majesty."

Yoongi furrowed his brows. How could this man still pledge innocence when he had been found out lying about who he was? He was the uncle of their enemy, so how could they believe in a single word he said?

Yoongi pondered for a while whether he should just allow the torturers to do their job and press it out of the bastard, but from what he had seen, master Heo would most likely rather die than to reveal anything. Bringing Namjoon in to do the questioning was probably the better way, and then he would send his people to confirm the testimony before they would sentence the sword master.

"Excuse me, master Heo, but I need to make sure you're not running off once we're outside the palace," he said before plugging a needle from his sleeve and walking over to the man to plunge it in his neck. He caught the body when it became limp and ordered the royal guard to do the rest. He would have to inform Namjoon about the news.

But once they left the guest quarter, a voice stopped the convoy. "What are you doing?" Jungkook, followed by general Bang and Taehyung was running towards them with disbelief written over his face. "Isn't once enough? Why are you taking master again?" he demanded to know.

So, the news of last night had not travelled that far. Well, with all the maids dead and the royal guard not letting word slip by power of their codex, how would the rest of the palace know?

Yoongi decided to use that situation to his advantage and blocked Jungkook off. "What's the full name of your master?" he asked.

"Heo Joonho. Why are you asking this?" Jungkook said confused. The young soldier seemed truly unaware of the implications that came with this name. And the fact that he gave up the name without hesitation told Yoongi that the former assassin was likely to be innocent.

"Your master is fine. Let them proceed. I'll explain everything later," he tried to dissolve the situation.

"But master...," the young man said helplessly, looking truly lost.

Yoongi gestured Taehyung to get his friend and take care of him, so the third prince hurried over and slung an arm around the younger. "Advisor Min never does things without a reason. Let him go. We can visit master Heo later," he offered and pulled his friend away from the convoy, but Jungkook's eyes did not leave them when they walked away.

General Bang only bowed politely and went inside his own quarter. Yoongi liked men who knew when to ask questions and when to stay out of things. It made life easier.

With a deep breath, he turned to find Namjoon. Since royal father and son had already moved to the heart of the palace after yesterday's incident, he would most likely find the king there. Normally Yusin would have started to live in the eastern palace by himself, but it was understandable that Namjoon wanted to have his son by his side in times like these. It was not unlikely to become a permanent solution.

And Yoongi had been correct. He found the two of them in the king's study, Yusin using his father's lap as a pillow while the elder's hand calmingly petted his head.

"Come in," Namjoon's voice said quietly when Yoongi arrived in front of the open doors.

Yoongi did and kowtowed to the new emperor, his forehead touching the floor.

"What are you doing?" Namjoon's tired voice asked him, so he dared to look up.

"Applying proper etiquette when greeting his majesty," he replied. After yesterday's happenings he was not sure how much of their delicate friendship had remained, and how much had been destroyed by his act of raw violence.

"When have you ever cared about etiquette around me?" the new king asked him and a weak smile, that not quite reached his eyes, tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Yoongi felt extremely relieved at those words. Although Namjoon did not tell him explicitly, he had made it more than clear that their relationship remained the same as before.

With happiness easing his heart, he sat up and slid closer to the table. "I've got important information and need your presence for an interrogation."

Namjoon's melancholic eyes locked with his and he nodded weakly. "Whatever it takes to end the bloodshed in my palace."

Yoongi nodded back determinedly. "Master Heo is not the one we thought he was. My sources told me that his true identity is Heo Joonho, brother of grand princess Heo and therefor uncle of king Hwon."

Now the young king's face changed from pale to ashen. "How could such a mistake happen?" he demanded to know.

"He used the identity and background of a man that works as the second master of his school," Yoongi explained. "Therefore, I couldn't find a flaw when I checked the Heo family history."

Namjoon huffed in disbelieve. "To use me like this," he breathed out. "To use his disciple for such an excuse. I bet he sent Jungkook out to kill-"

"I beg to differ," Yoongi interrupted the fabrication. Namjoon looked at him with furrowed brows, sorrow overshadowing the clearness those eyes normally held. "Jungkook gave away his master's true name without hesitation."

"That could all be part of the shamming!" the young king snapped at him. "This could all be a grand scheme. Remember when Jungkook was caught!"

"Remember when Jungkook first came!" Yoongi snapped back. "He would've almost killed you before the Gimcheon conflict even began! Stop taking guess-work for facts!"

"You just did the same!" Namjoon cried like a petulant teenager.

Yusin lifted his small head at their ruckus and climbed into his father's arms.

"I am sorry," Namjoon murmured into his son's ear and slung his arms around the small body protectively. "Father will stop shouting."

Yoongi sighed. His friend was right. He had claimed that Jungkook was innocent based on how the young soldier had reacted, not based on what he knew. "Fine," he gave in. "I'll send someone to find Jungkook. But let's visit master Heo now to end this once and for all."

Namjoon nodded in agreement and stood up. "I will find Jimin to watch over Yusin."

Yoongi gestured him to do so, while he walked over to send off one of the guards who stood at the gate to the inner courtyard to find Jungkook.

This would end today.

><

Jungkook focus

"I heard Master Heo wants to talk to me," they heard the cold and tired voice of prince Namjoon. "So talk."

Jungkook rammed his elbow into Taehyung side to stop his friend from pushing him out from the corner they were hiding behind. After seeing his master being taken away a second time for no apparent reason, he had talked the third prince into confronting Namjoon regarding the matter, but they had been too late and had only seen him leave with advisor Min.

Thus, Jungkook had decided to follow them and Taehyung had followed him, with much sighing and complains but still the loyal friend he was. The prison guards had not dared to stop the third prince when they had followed inside, so now they were hiding behind the corner to the cells and listening in on the king's conversation with his master.

"I suppose the palace has found out about my true identity," his master's voice spoke.

Jungkook could not make sense of that. What was wrong with his master's identity? Now that he thought about it, advisor Min asking about his master's full name had been rather strange. But was a name reason enough to imprison someone?

"Since it is like this, please let me explain why I lied to you," his master continued. So, his master had used a wrong name? This was strange.

"My story has its origin over twenty-five years ago," master Heo said calmly. "My sister was gifted with another son, another heir to the throne. He received the name Hwon Hye, the bright one, and was brought before the famous fortune teller of Daejeon."

This bit made Jungkook furrow his brows in confusion. He was aware that, given he was born in Daejeon, his master must have lived there for some time, but since when did his master have a sister who could have a son with the family name Hwon? Was master Heo related to the royal family of Baekje?

"The child was told a horrible future by the fortuneteller. Once he would grow up, he would murder his whole family," master Heo said with a heavy voice. "For we could not allow such a terrible future to unfold, sister and I decided that the child should be hidden away from the world. He should grow up as a commoner with no relations to the palace. Thus, I took the child and vanished the same night, while my sister staged the death of her baby boy."

Slowly it dawned on Jungkook, but his mind kept denying with all its might what was thrown at him with such blunt force.

"When I arrived at Jungseon, I decided that we had come far enough," his master kept on talking. "I gave him a new name and raised him as an orphan. Maybe, had I not been so proud, I would have never taught him the techniques of the Heo family. Then he would have never caused harm to the palace of Silla."

Jungkook's legs began to give in and he felt how he started to hyperventilate.

"You opened the school for him?" advisor Min's voice asked, but Jungkook only had half an ear to listen further. He did not hear his master answer, nor did he need to, to understand what had been said.

"Jungkook?" a quiet voice asked into his ear, but his ears were ringing and his vision became blurry. "Jungkook?"

He was an heir to the throne of Baekje. He was a prince. His real name was Hwon Hye. He could have grown up with a family, with brothers, with a mother and a father, but someone had decided that he was a monster that needed to be removed from the palace.

Master was his uncle! He was his family but had treated him like a disciple of some unknown background! He had been pushed through sword drills and practice day and night until his hands and feet had bled, when he could have played with his siblings in the palace, when he could have been hugged by his mother and spoiled by his father.

"Jungkook," a soft voice spoke through the haze in his head. "Jungkook, speak to me!" it said more insistently, and slowly his eyes could see his surroundings again. A dirty side street, empty baskets, sounds of hooves around the corner, and a face above him. Arms that held him. "Jungkook stop scaring me. Talk to me," Taehyung demanded, but looking at him only made things worse.

Jungkook was like Taehyung. He was a royal son. They should have met during official meetings of their families, playing and doing stupid things together while their fathers were discussing politics, and not under the circumstances of Jungkook wanting to kill his brothers for some silver. He could have had all the silver for free, no need to kill, no need to steal from brothels and end in prison. He could have been engaged to the little princess instead of following her order, Taehyung could be his brother-in-law. Why did someone decide that he had no right to have that? Who decided that he could not have a family?

"Why?" he croaked out to the teary face above him and clenched his fists around the fabric he could grab. "Whyhyy?!"

A gentle hand caressed the side of his face and he was pulled closer against the warm body that held him.

"Why?" he kept on asking. "Why?" While his face burned with salty tears. "Why?"

He asked until his voice was no longer audible and then until speaking became painful. And then he fell asleep.

><

"How long has he been like this?"

"Ever since we left the prison."

"Did you try to wake him up?"

"No. He looked like he needed it. You should have seen him before he fell asleep. I t was horrible."

"If I found out that I was actually a prince..."

"You would not stop bragging and being a nuisance."

"Ow, why did you hit me?"

"Because you deserve it."

Jungkook did not want to open his eyes. He wanted to sleep a little more. He would be executed for his name anyway, so why should he bother to wake up?

"He looks like he is waking up!"

"Are you sure?"

"Jungkook? Uhm, no, royal uncle Hwon Hye -ow!"

"Stop that! He does not need that right now."

"Sorry, sorry."

"Jungkookie, are you awake? Talk to us, please."

Jungkook opened his eyes, but his tongue felt too heavy to speak, so he just stared at Taehyung who was hovering above him.

"Don't be scared. We are at a safe place," the third prince said and smiled at him.

"Yeah," Jimin said not as convinced as his lover. "As safe as a brothel can be."

Taehyung looked over at where the voice of the royal guard came from. "No one would expect me to go to a brothel."

"Yes, you," Jimin deadpanned. "But you can only speak for yourself. This one," he said and pointed at Jungkook from above the headboard, "basically calls the brothels of the capital his second home."

That was exaggerated. Jungkook did not go out that often. Once in a week at most.

"Shut up," he growled at their royal guard friend and instantly had a coughing fit from his hurting throat.

"Oh, he talks," the imbecile had the guts to say while Taehyung was helping him up and rubbed his back to stop the coughing. "Finally awake and ready to celebrate with us?" Jimin's round face looked at him from behind the prince's shoulder.

"What would I have to celebrate?" Jungkook asked flatly while taking in his surroundings. He room was much too pink.

"You have just raced the ranks from personal guard to royal uncle in the blink of an eye. Is that not worth being celebrated?" Jimin asked in a tune that slowly but surely made anger rise in Jungkook's stomach.

"Stop being this damn happy," he pressed out.

"Of course, your royal highness," Jimin replied with a grin and bowed to him. Jungkook kicked after him but was too slow.

"I'll show you how to kneel in front of a royal uncle, you bastard," he rasped and wanted to jump up but was held back by Taehyung.

"Calm down, calm down. Jimin is being stupid," the third prince said and Jungkook was pacified a little bit.

"Whatever gets you back to being normal," the royal guard said sternly, suddenly no trace of joking on his face anymore. "Are you good now?"

With Jimin's serious tone Jungkook's anger dissolved, leaving only nausea and heaviness in his stomach. He nodded slowly. He was not exactly good, but he did no longer feel like the heaven was breaking down on him.

Hwon Hye. A prince of Baekje.

"Absurd," he whispered.

"I do agree," Taehyung added and pressed his shoulder reassuringly. "And I am sure that my brother will not punish something like this."

"Then why are we at a brothel?" Jungkook asked. If he was safe from Namjoon's wrath, then why had Taehyung felt like they needed a safe place.

"Because you are damn heavy," his friend replied nonchalantly. "I could not carry you back to the palace, so I decided to stop here. I thought you might prefer this as well."

Jungkook nodded absentmindedly. He indeed did. He was not even sure if he wanted to return to the palace at all. How would he be treated there? Like a traitor or like a prince? He did not like either. He just wanted everyone to forget about this and return back to the normal life.

"I want to go home," he whispered, feeling new tears at the corners of his eyes.

"Uh, which one?" Jimin asked hesitantly, coming closer again.

"I don't know," Jungkook admitted and his eyes finally overflowed. "I just want to go home."

It was Taehyung who pulled him into a bearhug, muffling his sobs against his shoulder, and Jimin joined a moment later, taking him into their midst and holding onto him while he tried to understand what was wrong with his body.

>><<

For those of you who did not understand Namjoon's reactions: Imagine the whole assassination from Namjoon's perspective. He only saw Yoongi standing in the middle of a scene that horrified him terribly and messed with his mind, and then the man kills two maids in front of him and comes at him and his son. Who would not misunderstand that when overwhelmed with emotion? Only the report of the guards who had been present could tell him the truth, so he gets to know that his fear was misdirected. Also, someone who is head of spy bureau is likely to have blood on their hands, so the surprise is not that big after any misconception is cleaned up.