solis | svt au

19

Jeonghan quietly left his room the next morning, the first key securely tucked in one of his room's many hiding spots. His father was one for suspense and was also quite a busy man, so he wouldn't summon him for a few days at least. Or at least he hoped so anyway.

Going to the library wasn't too out of the ordinary, Jeonghan knew, so he hoped his father wouldn't interfere or do anything to stop him. He did spend most of his childhood there after all.

Its doors were large and imposing, even from a distance, suddenly reminding Jeonghan how daunting his task was.

But at least it wasn't guarded, one of the few rooms to be so.

Jeonghan took a deep breath to steady his nerves and opened the heavy doors with a painfully loud creaking of the hinges. Looking inside, he saw its rows and rows of impossibly tall bookshelves, ladders leaning against each one; the high windows, letting in the early morning light; an area of tables, lamps turned off and ink and quills set aside ready for use.

It looked just like he had last seen it. Pristine and empty. Ghosts and memories haunting its aisles.

He quickly shooed out the sentimental feelings and lonely memories out of the way. He had a book to find, and with that Jeonghan strode in, the magical candles lining the walls lighting up as he went.

His destination was a bit further into the library, the book nestled among fairytales and mythical speculations, but he knew it by heart. He reached the bookcase a few minutes later and climbed up the ladder. The second shelf from the top, at the very end. There it was.

Jeonghan grabbed it and quietly leapt down from the ladder, the precious book securely in his grasp. He was one step closer to unraveling the mystery-

And the door creaked open.

~*~

"Hello?"

Mingyu crept into the huge library, a place with more books than he had ever seen in his life. And man, books were expensive. Which was to be expected since Jeonghan's father was none other than Grand Duke Yoon, as told to him by his roommate, a servant named Hyungwon. Hyungwon had also told him that Jeonghan often visited the library as a child, so it made sense for him to be there, right? Hopefully.

Fortunately, the candles inside were already lit, he thought, his footsteps echoing throughout the large space.

It was quiet. Far too quiet. But he walked on for what felt like ages, and there was still no sign of Jeonghan - until he heard the sound of someone shifting, wood creaking.

"Jeonghan? Is that you?"

Silence. A relieved exhale. Jeonghan popped out from behind the bookshelf just ahead of him.

"Mingyu! Fancy seeing you here! Ha. ha haha..."

Jeonghan's words trailed off into nervous laughter.

Mingyu just stared at him, and the other immediately cut it off and cleared his throat.

"Ahem." Jeonghan almost guiltily approached him, a huge book clutched in his arms. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah..." Mingyu replied, absently scratching at the back of his head. "I have a lot of questions. Would you be willing to answer them?"

Jeonghan winced, looking down at the book in his hands. "I'm-" He resolutely avoided eye contact as he fidgeted. "I'm sorry but I don't think I can tell you now."

Mingyu sighed. He would've been lying if he said he wasn't disappointed, but he knew Jeonghan was the kind of person to clam up if pushed for answers. "Alright." he said, and Jeonghan looked up with a hint of guilty surprise. "I hope you can answer them one day, though."

"Of course. At a better time." Jeonghan glanced at his surroundings. "And in a better place."

They looked at each other for a moment longer before Jeonghan briskly walked over to one of the many empty study tables and plopped the huge book down. A thin cloud of dust immediately rose up with the impact, evidence of how long the place had stood empty.

He then proceeded to flip through it as fast as he could, as Mingyu approached him. "What are you doing?" he asked. It was clear that he wasn't reading it - the pages were flipping far too fast for that.

Jeonghan let out a soft hum in response, too distracted to give any coherent answer. Several minutes passed in this manner as Mingyu tried to spark conversation, only for it to fizzle out as Jeonghan failed to give an adequate reply.

"I found it!"

"Found what?"

"Another clue," Jeonghan replied, holding up up a key, a dully gleaming thing of gold, inlaid with brilliant sapphires. "Hopefully it can lead to answers."

"Could you explain a bit more?"

"Oops sorry, of course!" Jeonghan looked much more excited, more alive, which Mingyu was glad for. Jeonghan then proceeded to explain as much as he could about the mysterious books and the keys.

"So it's like a scavenger hunt." Mingyu said, thinking to himself.

"Precisely," the other replied with a small smile. "Maybe it'll be the key out of here or something."

Mingyu gave a light chuckle. "I sure hope so. This place kind of sucks - no offense to Hyungwon."

"Hyungwon?"

"Hmm?"

"You said Hyungwon."

"Yeah?"

"He's still here." Jeonghan muttered, looking a shade paler as he started to bite as his thumbnail.

Mingyu was starting to feel even more confused now. "What? What about him?"

"It's- it's nothing, alright? Let's just- uh- let's-" Jeonghan glanced at the key in his hand and back at the book. It was open to the chapter about Thala's death, and that left a sense of foreboding in both of them. "Let's solve this first, okay?"

An awkward silence followed, but Mingyu finally acquiesced. There were other problems at hand, and he guess his questions could wait, even as they exponentially increased with each hint at Jeonghan's mysterious past.

"Let's take a look at this key, then."

Jeonghan shot him a grateful yet apologetic look. "Okay." With that, he handed Mingyu the key while he started to carefully peruse the musty pages of the book.