Until Then (Stray Kids Hwang Hyunjin)

One (Suzy)

"Kill me!" Suzy screamed as she felt her body ache and sting as if heated needles were being stabbed into her skin.

Her skin felt like it was burning and as for her insides, well they felt like they were frozen and all of them seemed as though they were slowly giving up on her.

"Stab me! Stone me to death! Hang me! Burn me! Anything! Just stop this pain! Please!"

Ill. That's was they referred to how she was feeling as. Suzy didn't feel ill, no, she would have wished to be ill with the worst illness ever than this. She felt like she was dying, in fact even that much is an understatement. Anything, literally anything would be better than this.

Suzy had never been the type to wish death upon anyone, even her greatest enemies and yet here she was, screaming for someone to her pain in the only way she could think of.

Many of the servants had to camp out in her room to make sure she doesn't try to kill herself for the third time that day. But as the day progressed, the more pain she was in and the louder the screams became.

The fourth princess's screams could be heard throughout the entirety of the large castle, disturbing the rest of the royal family who were simply trying to eat their supper.

"Must she be that loud?" The fifth princess, Hyuna questioned in annoyance. "She's been at it all day! I could barely write any of the letters I have to sent out my town's people. And I can't afford to delay the letters any longer!"

Her older sister, Eunbyul, the first princess rolled her eyes at yet another one of Suzy's screams.

"She just wants attention, that's all. She's just like her mother and that disgusts me! I guarantee you she just has a simple headache or something and she's trying to get sympathy," Eunbyul uttered before glancing at the ninth prince, Jeongin. "Don't take offense to it, it's only the truth and you know it."

Jeongin wanted to protest but couldn't. It wasn't in his place to argue with the sisters especially when their mother sat beside the King at the table.

Not even their older brother, Chan had the courage to argue despite knowing their assumptions were wrong and just plain mean.

It wasn't that he feared them...He didn't. He feared his mother. She was the First Queen meaning almost every event that happened in the castle was through her wishes and sadly, majority of them was to kill someone.

It was evident she was biased towards her two spoilt daughters and treated everyone else like a commoner, even her son.

But Chan was the King's favourite. And you may think that would give him authority over everyone but his mother was bossy and manipulative. Somehow she managed to give herself a solid position above the King and made him agree to all of her wants and needs.

Everyone knew who was the real head of the family.

But no one could mention a thing.

"What are the pharmacologists doing? Why is Fourth Princess still in so much pain? It's been almost a week and yet her condition has only gotten worse!" The King spoke up as he looked at his main servant.

"They have been mixing all their best herbs and medicines together, your majesty," the main servant responded. "There's no cure they can find to her illness."

The King sighed.

"I will check on her after dinner," the Eighth Prince, Seungmin spoke up. "There's bound to be a cure. How can you have an illness yet no cure?"

"Because it's fake," was the First Queen's response. "She isn't sick. She's just faking it!"

She turned to the servants.

"Go tell her to shut herself up or she'll end up like her own mother."

The servants instantly did as she said, sprinting across the castle to get to the Fourth Princess's room.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Chan mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?" Her tone was blunt, even to her own son.

"Nothing, your Highness. I was just reciting something."

She huffed as his response.

"Recite quietly then...no one is allowed to give that girl attention or sympathy. Ignore her, pretend she's not there, got it?"

There was a chorus of yeses but all of them were hesitant.

"But what if she makes more noise and we can't sleep?" Hyuna asked.

"Let me handle that."

The Queen turned to the King's main servant before gesturing for him to lean closer in.

"Prepare a rope, and place it in her room...if she actually wants to kill herself, the servants must allow her to use it. If she doesn't use it, bring her to me...I'll teach her a lesson...one her own mother learnt very well."