as the people shuffled in high alert, the intruders were spreading all around the ballroom, trying to lock all possible exits. namjoon, from being distracted into watching attentively, felt his grip on taehyung loosen. taehyung shifted against him until he couldn't feel him in his arms any more. when he looked back, his brother was no longer in his arms, and his book was thrown on the floor along with his pen... he's gone... taehyung what the fuck?!
he quickly picked up the book and decided to search for taehyung using his head. he wasn't sure if he was supposed to move in a situation like this, but he strained to look above every person's shoulder for his brother. he cursed, letting a string of matched calls of his brother's name come right after. he wasn't answering.
he wasn't there...
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hoseok knew something was wrong when someone started screaming. then he knew it was no coincidence that someone would attack knowing that most of the staff and bodyguards were not attending or working at the promenade. it all made sense. his hands trembled around the dagger in his pocket, contemplating throwing it at the people who just entered.
he paused at the sight of the chandelier shattering, its material falling over namjoon and taehyung's heads, but didn't harm them enough. then he saw taehyung move out of namjoon's hug and run away out of sight... probably because he was scared, and hoseok couldn't blame him for it. there were several other children—like five maximum, hoseok didn't count—but they all stuck to their families' sides like glue. everyone was terrified, and hoseok wasn't any different.
the people suddenly made way for intruders in black to pass. hoseok, followed by weisoo who seemed to be in a state of high alert, went to stand in front of namjoon, hand resting on the dagger in his pocket. weisoo's gun was already out, pointing towards the ground, clutched tightly in his hands.
hoseok could hear murmurs of people around him, and he could hear namjoon softly calling for taehyung to come back. however, for now he kept his focus on the people coming his way, all covered in baklava masks. they all had weapons slung over their backs. even though all hoseok could see was the eyes, the person who was leading the crowd of intruders looked terrifying. a sense of dread washed over him when he realized that the number of intruders almost amounted to the number of guests... this couldn't be...
this was a massacre waiting to happen.
"well, well," the leader spoke out, hands on his hips, as his goons spread out to keep the crowd far away from the royal family, and to block the exits. shit, shit, how are seokjin and the others supposed to get it when i call them? hoseok palmed his back pocket for the switch seokjin gave him... but it was way back on the dinner table. he couldn't bring himself to move back and take it without alerting those people. "it seems that all the members of the ruling family are here now! wonderfu—oh wait."
he gestured behind him with his finger. "bring him up."
hoseok felt both weisoo and namjoon tense beside him, both mumbling "taehyung", right by his ears. he swallowed a lump in his throat as the intruders made a path for three people to come forward into the small clearing between hoseok, weisoo and namjoon, and the intruders...
only to be surprised when it was daeho, behind held upright by both arms, looking too tired to stand. his eyes were drooping and half his face had dried blood covering it. there was some blood creeping from beneath his sleeve to the tip of his fingers on his right hand. weisoo sprung from beside him, crying out loud for his father that everyone heard, that it echoed along the silent ballroom. it pained hoseok despite his mind not letting him feel any sort of fury towards the intruders' captive. after all, he was still his stepfather... it also ached him to restrain weisoo from moving forward towards daeho, in fear of the intruders starting up a fight.
namjoon gasped behind him, and weisoo tightened his grip around hoseok's arm that held him back. the two men then pushed the exhausted daeho forward, letting him stumble. that exact moment, weisoo forcefully pushed his stepbrother's arms away and rushed forward to catch his father from falling. after recovering from the shock of seeing daeho's worn out state, hoseok rushed to support him as well, patting his cheek with his palm to get him to respond.
letting him go was a bad idea—the worst. hoseok could only imagine that this was his fault; if he remained here, he wouldn't have been taken away, this would've never happened, especially since he didn't do anything wrong (physically).
weisoo was, on the other hand, tearing up, letting his father lean on him, calling for him and hoping he would answer. all they could hear was daeho's shuddered breaths. this is all my fault, all of it... fuck fuck fuck—
"hm?" the leader of the intruders hummed, taking a step forward. hoseok looked up at him, silently outraged. he could feel namjoon grip the back of his blazer tightly. now not only was hoseok worried about taehyung and the innocent nobles, he also had to add daeho... this was all so hard he didn't know who to put his focus on, he didn't know what to do. he felt like he was going to explode.
"where's the kid?"
a sense of relief washed over hoseok; at least taehyung wasn't there with them. everything just seemed rushed and blurry before daeho appeared, and now he could—at least—relax knowing that everyone was fine. (for now anyway)
the leader shook his head before looking at one of the people beside him, a woman. he patted her chest with the back of his hand then did the same to a man on the other side, pointing up. hoseok looked up immediately, still with daeho in his arms. he saw nothing. what did they want? the nobles have finally quietened down at last, resorting to watching and preparing themselves for the inevitable. the children were surrounded by several adults—although hoseok could spy a kid carrying a knife. he was not about to question that.
"find the kid and kill him."
hoseok struggled to hold both daeho up and namjoon back. while weisoo was carrying more of his father's weight, hoseok tried to carry the remnants of his sanity back into his head. he couldn't be the only one unsettled, but he had to be one of the few rational people. he was not about to get everyone harmed because of some stupid action... but now taehyung was in danger, wherever he is.
what to do—stall. stall as much as possible until i get my hands on the switch. hoseok braced himself and tried to appear steady, but the trembling in his voice betrayed his confident façade.
"what do you want?"
"you." the leader's finger rose up, pointing directly at him. after that, his gun was in the same position, aimed at hoseok's head. that's gonna fail, think hoseok think...
"what did i do to you—what did we do? who are you?"
weisoo and daeho retreated towards the dining table, and the younger bent down to try and make his father comfortably lay on the ground. using his thigh as a pillow, weisoo got on the floor as well, urging his father to respond, but he seemed to be in a daze, getting weaker and weaker. he didn't seem like he lost a lot of blood, just so tired.
namjoon on the other hand, was still holding hoseok's arm in a vice like grip, silently begging him to release him. hoseok knew namjoon would not rest until he found his brother, but not now. not now.
the leader seemed to catch on his plan, because he took several steps towards them, followed by three of his goons. hoseok could see from the corner of his eyes some of the intruders backing up his guests against the wall. there was nowhere to run... hoseok had no idea how he didn't burst into tears—but maybe the shock was a contributing factor to the short circuiting of all his body functions. he was pulled back by namjoon when the leader came closer, until they eventually stopped.
hoseok snuck a glance to the side, trying to see behind him from his peripheral vision. granted he couldn't see much, but he had a sense of logic. it's still pretty far from the table... and namjoon doesn't even know about the switch. the guests are confused and scared yet cautious... weisoo would be no help because of daeho...
what am i supposed to do? what am i gonna do?
YOU ARE READING
Royally Yours ✓
Fanfiction[namseok] Namjoon never thought his life would go beyond working and taking care of his chronically ill, younger brother. He hoped to raise enough money to cure him and that was really it. He didn't expect everything that came along his way: him get...
