AN: I couldn't resist having Chapter 6 be Six's perspective.  It isn't a very long chapter, but it moves us to a very important plot item that must be resolved if we have any hope of getting anywhere in this thing.

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She wasn't sure what she wanted more right at that moment: to bang her head on the wall, or to bang Yoongi's head on the wall. The man was infuriating at times. If he hadn't been one of her closest friends, she would have given up on him long ago.

Currently, the two of them were sitting at the small table in his quarters, sharing a bowl of fruit as she walked him through the catacomb map, again. It was the fifth time they were doing so since she gave it to him and all they were managing to do was get frustrated at each other.

"You're saying this passage leads to the Choi Yejun pens?" He jabbed his quill at a point on the map and Six closed her eyes, doing her best to bring up the memories of her time under the city.

"Yes," she confirmed, although it was tentative. She knew the uncertainty came out in her voice and peeked up at Yoongi's irritated expression.

"Yesterday you thought it led to the Kim Kyungchul pens." He sent her a withering glare over the top of the map. She returned it.

"Don't give me that look," she snapped. "If you'd just let me come, you wouldn't even need this map." She plopped a grape into her mouth and chewed more aggressively than necessary.

"So, which is it?" he demanded, pointedly ignoring her comment. "CY or KK?"

Six licked her lips and stared down at the map, eyes flickering to the location of the Nam Hanbin pens to orient herself. She mentally walked through the tunnels for the umpteenth time. "KK," she finally said

Lips pressed thin, Yoongi crossed off his previous note and jotted down the letters.

"I think," she added once he'd finished.

"For fuck's sake!" With a growl, he threw the quill down onto the map, ink splattering across the parchment. A few drops hit her cheek but she ignored them, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. They sat there in angry silence for a stretch, attempting to glare each other into submission.

It wasn't like she had purposefully told him the wrong thing originally. The more she thought about the catacombs, the more details she remembered. The more details she remembered, the more details she realized she'd gotten wrong when she first tried to map out the pathways.

Yoongi took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I'm not trying to be short with you," he finally said more gently. "But this is important. If we make a wrong turn, we could miss our chance and the entire mission will be for nothing."

She knew he was attempting to make peace but his tone had done the opposite of placating her temper. "You think I don't know that?" she asked hotly. "You think I'm sitting here in a cloud of sunshine and rainbows, oblivious to the stakes?"

Pushing away from the table, she stood and stalked to his windows. The shutters had been thrown open, letting in the bright, summer sunlight. Leaning on the casement, she poked her head outside and gazed across the distance to the wall that surrounded the castle grounds. Beyond the wall she could see the tops of the village buildings. Past the last dwelling sat rolling hills covered in the dark green of pine and oak, stretching into infinity.

She heard the scrape of chair legs against the lacquered wood flooring but didn't bother to look. A heartbeat later, arms circled her waist from behind. She stood stiffly as he pulled her backwards against his chest. His breath washed over her ear as he planted a light kiss against the shell.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm under a lot of pressure right now."

"Then let me come. I'm more use there than here." She kept her arms crossed, refusing to react to his affection.

"I need someone to remain behind and protect the Jeons." Gently, he turned her around to face him, hands resting lightly on her hips. He pressed his forehead to hers, trying to catch her eyes. He was probably giving her the sad, kicked-puppy eyes and she knew if she looked at him, her anger would dissipate. She didn't want to not be mad at him right then, though, so she kept her gaze averted to the side.

"There are over a hundred guards, plus all the villagers who will take up arms to protect them."

Long fingers gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. Stubbornly, she shut her eyes. She knew it was childish but she didn't care.

"Song," he sighed. She scrunched her nose as he planted a kiss onto each of her eyelids. "If things go badly and it is discovered it was the Jeons behind it, the emperor will retaliate. A hundred soldiers and a handful of farmers will be nothing against his wrath. By some twist of fate, you have magic. Combative magic. Lord Jeongguk is a Healer. Lady Dahee commands no more than a rudimentary control over light and temperature. They need you here."

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "If you fail and he finds out who is responsible, he will send the full force of his army. I am nothing compared to that. At the capitol, I can be of use. I can keep us from failing."

Yoongi licked his lips and shook his head. "I'm sorry."

With a frustrated growl, she ducked out of his grip and moved back toward the table. His stubborn refusal to let her take part in the coup was grating. She couldn't understand why he was so adamant that she didn't go. His excuse that she was needed at the country estate to guard the Jeons was a pile of cowpats. She was an asset in a fight and they were planning to pick the biggest fight in the capitol's history.

He was acting more like a worried lover than a commanding officer. While the lovers part of their relationship was true, it wasn't as if they were romantically involved. She wondered, not for the first time, if he was getting too attached. He had been acting increasingly touchy with her lately. Maybe she needed to end their arrangement before someone got hurt. She didn't want to act too rashly, though, and make that sort of decision while angry.

The ever-impeccable timing of Hoseok saved her from having to dwell on those thoughts for too long. The man rushed into the room as if chased by a wild beast. His face was flushed, his eyes wide with a panic he tried to hide the moment his gaze met Six's.

"General Jung," she greeted tersely.

His lips pressed into a thin line. "Six." He nodded curtly at her before facing the older general. "Yoongi. Can we have a word?" His eyes flicked over to Six. "In private?"

The young woman raised her brows and turned to Yoongi. "This discussion isn't over," she told him firmly. "I'll find you later." Without waiting to see his reaction, she slipped past Hoseok and out the door.

As she was pulling it shut behind her, she caught Hoseok's explosive wail and paused. Common sense said it wasn't her business and she should give them the privacy Hoseok requested. Curiosity whispered in her ear to leave the door slightly ajar and see what was going on. Her utter lack of respect for Hoseok nudged her toward the second option and, quietly, she slipped up to the crack between door and jamb.

"This is bad. This is very bad," Hoseok's voice whined. She couldn't quite see through the space but she could hear him clearly.

"What happened?" Yoongi didn't seem concerned but he had always been able to keep a tight grip on his emotions in a crisis.

"Jeongguk," Hoseok hissed. She heard what sounded like someone sitting down heavily. There was a clunk she suspected was the younger man's head, or maybe his fist, hitting the tabletop.

"Is he okay?" Footsteps drew near the door. Six was about to scurry away when Hoseok's voice stopped Yoongi's approach.

"What? Yes, he's fine." A deep sigh that ended in a groan drifted out of the door. "Yoongi, he kissed me."

Six had to slap a hand over her mouth to prevent a laugh from escaping. That was the urgent matter they needed to talk about in private? General Jung was having boy problems? And, oh boy, what a potential problem it was! The youngest Jeon had made a move on the secondary general. The poor guy was probably having a panic attack.

There was a long pause before Yoongi spoke next. "Well, did you kiss him back?" His voice was droll and Six could tell he was trying as hard as she was to not laugh.

"I... no. I didn't."

Another pause before Yoongi asked, "Why not?"

Six really wished she could see Hoseok's face after that question. She was incredibly glad she gave into temptation to eavesdrop.

"Because!" There was another thud of something against the table. This time she was sure it was his hand and not his face. Pity.

"Oh, that clears that up nicely." Yoongi sighed. "So, is that why you're panicking? Because you've spurned the poor lad and you're worried he'll somehow retaliate? You do know he isn't like that."

"I didn't exactly spurn him."

Licking her lips, Six pushed gently against the door to see if she could make enough of a gap to see through without them realizing it. She was glad Yoongi's hinges were well oiled as the door inched open a thumb's breadth without a noise. Peeking in, she noted both men were sitting at the table with the map. Hoseok had his head buried in his arms while Yoongi munched on a piece of fruit with a bored expression.

"Oh? But you didn't kiss back." Yoongi reached into the bowl for another slice of apple.

Hoseok lifted his head from his arms slightly to gaze up at his friend. "Heechul interrupted."

Yoongi raised his eyebrows. "So, you would have kissed him back?"

The taller man dropped his head back into his arms. "I don't know. Maybe."

Six shook her head slightly. Was this really what they talked about in private? It seemed rather juvenile to her, and she was younger than the both of them.

Hoseok sat up and reached out to fiddle with the quill Yoongi had tossed onto the map earlier. He managed to ink all over his fingers but he didn't seem to mind. "I think.... I think I would have."

"Then I don't see what the problem is," Yoongi admitted, snatching the quill away before Hoseok could make a bigger mess.

Hoseok gaped at the older man, slowly shaking his head. "You're kidding, right? He's a lord, Yoongi. And he's sixteen."

Yoongi shrugged. "He'll be seventeen in a couple months. That's only a three-year gap, same as with Six and me."

Hoseok looked exasperated, huffing and slumping his shoulders slightly. "Six is slave-born, and a girl," he argued, running his ink-covered fingers through his hair, leaving streaks of black in the silver strands.

"And?" Yoongi quirked a brow.

"And Jeongguk is Nobility and male." Hoseok's head met the table again. "She's an adult; he isn't." He wrapped his arms over the top of his head as if hiding from the world. "How can you not see an issue with this?"

Yoongi stood from the table, taking the quill back to the writing desk that sat in the corner of the room. "You're overreacting."

"If anyone else found out about this, I'd be killed," Hoseok's muffled voice bemoaned against the wood of the table.

"Now you're being overdramatic on top of overreacting." Yoongi sighed and leaned back against his desk, folding his arms over his chest. "If he were born a girl, he'd already be considered old enough to marry. If he'd been born a slave, he'd already be working in a pleasure house."

"What's your point?" came Hoseok's quiet question. His pile of arms and head moved slightly to look over at Yoongi.

"That age is a construct of society to enact rules and regulations to control the populous."

There was a stretch of silence before Hoseok sat up. "Huh?"

Yoongi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Am I really going to need to be brutally blunt?"

"If it helps me figure out what the fuck I'm supposed to do about this, yes."

Moving away from the writing desk, Yoongi walked up behind Hoseok and draped himself over the younger's shoulders so that he was whispering in his ear. Six twisted her mouth into a pout that she couldn't hear what the older was saying.

After a few minutes of the men talking in that position, Six gave up on her eavesdropping adventure. She slipped back from the door and wandered down the hall, mulling over what she'd heard. There was nothing she felt obligated to do about the situation; she was merely amused by Hoseok's dilemma. They had never really gotten along and she knew if the roles were reversed, he would be just as entertained at her expense.

However, listening in had given her an idea about how she was going to get herself included on the roster for the trip North. Picking up her pace, she barely kept herself from running as she followed the hallways into the western most wing. Hoseok had mentioned that Heechul had interrupted the kiss, meaning Jeongguk had most likely been in the alchemist's workroom as the potion-maker was rarely found anywhere besides there or the gardens. With some luck, the lad would still be there in the midst of his own full-blown panic. If not, Heechul would know where he'd gone.

With a smirk, she paused outside Heechul's door, straightened her dress, and pushed into the room. As predicted, the young lord was pacing to and fro in front of a snickering alchemist. The lad's hands continually ran through his silvery hair, yanking at the strands in a perfect image of distress. At the sound of the door closing, he spun and stared at Six with open surprise.

She gave him a brief curtsy before planting her hands on her hips, a smile spreading across her lips. "Hello, m'lord. Let's chat."

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AN: I hope it was a good enough chapter.  Next chapter will probably be Monday, and will most likely be Jimin.  And, considering what happened the last time we saw him, could very well involve something smutty >.> Shhhhhh, don't tell.