San wasn't usually an overdramatic person, but he didn't think he'd ever been so cold in his life. Clothed in only the cotton pants and sleeveless shirt he'd worn to bed, he tried his hardest to stop shivering. The guard outside was watching him through the cell bars with eagle eyes and an ever-present smirk, and San didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing him visibly in pain.
Secondary to the cold, San's body was littered with little cuts and bruises. On the seemingly endless journey down, San had been tripped or pushed into the stone wall by the guards countless times. Either these guards were unusually sadistic, or they had been ordered by the Queen to treat him so roughly. But each time they did it, San didn't lift a finger to fight back. He knew how this worked; he wouldn't give them a reason to truly harm him.
And after they'd deposited San unceremoniously into his cell, nobody had spoken a word to him since. Well, that suited San just fine. There was nobody here he would want to talk to, anyway. The Queen might send somebody to torture him later, and surely kill him after. That, San had already accepted. He just wished he'd be able to convince them that this whole thing had been San's doing and hopefully get Yeosang out of too much trouble.
There was no bed on the floor. No blanket or pillow, either. Just the cold, hard, concrete floor and a bucket he supposed was meant to be his toilet.
He sat with his back to one wall, humming to himself to pass the time--and a lot of time did pass. He hadn't meant to but at some point, he must have fallen asleep, until the sound of metal on metal suddenly jolted him awake.
Confused, San tried to see what was happening outside his cell. It was even darker now--some of the candles must have burnt out, but he could make out two figures fighting. One was clearly smaller than the other yet the smaller one was...winning?
San watched the larger one crumple to the floor after receiving a nasty blow to the head. The victor bent down and fetched something from the fallen one's pocket, emerging with a set of keys. They then turned to face San.
"Hey, idiot. You alive in there?"
San wasn't sure whether he should be relieved that the voice was familiar. "What do you think, the guard was just watching a corpse?"
Wooyoung only shook his head as he picked up the remaining lit candle from the ledge on the wall and brought it up to the lock on San's cell. Now that his face was illuminated, San could see blood running down the guard's nose.
"What, are you here to break me out?" San questioned as he watched Wooyoung try and fail to open the lock with the many keys on the keyring.
"Don't ask stupid questions," Wooyoung snapped. Then, after trying a few more keys, "Are you hurt?"
"No," San dismissed. "Is the prince okay?"
"He is...physically unscathed," Wooyoung said. His words were calm but he was rushing so much that he almost dropped the keys.
San pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled forward a few steps before his legs gave out. The cold must have gotten to him more than he realized.
Wooyoung watched with wide eyes. "Just...just wait a second. There are only a few keys left..."
San's eyes strayed to the unconscious guard on the floor. San could hardly believe Wooyoung had managed to best somebody so large with only a bloody nose to show for it. He was stronger than San gave him credit for.
Finally, the gate creaked open. Wooyoung put down the keys and the candle, grabbing something else from the floor before joining San in the cell.
"So, what's the deal?" San asked. "The prince is making you smuggle me out of the castle?"
Wooyoung knelt down beside him. "He is not making me do anything," he said. He held out an article of clothing. A guard's jacket, San realized. "Put this on."
San grabbed the jacket and tried to put it on, but the process was going so slowly due to how much his body was shivering. Wooyoung sighed and forced San's arms through the sleeves himself before buttoning it up. "You'd better warm up quickly," he said. He looked around nervously. "We have a lot of stairs to climb."
"What's the plan?"
Wooyoung rose to his feet and helped San do the same. "I'll explain on the way."
~
Clothed in a full guard's uniform (the shoes, they'd pulled off the unconscious guard), San and Wooyoung made the slow-going ascent back to the main part of the castle. According to Wooyoung, nobody had seen him go down there. All San had to do was avoid being recognized and everything should be fine.
"And what after?"
"And then we will meet the prince. Apparently, you two have some...special spot in the forest."
San immediately knew the place Yeosang was thinking of, but he couldn't quite believe it. "He is coming with me?"
"Not just him," Wooyoung corrected. "If Yeosang leaves, then I will have no reason to stay in the castle."
San said nothing. He couldn't picture the three of them, surviving and travelling together for an unknown amount of time until they found a new place to call home. It wasn't that he wouldn't be able to stand being around Wooyoung; it would be the uncertainty. Not knowing which of them Yeosang would give his heart to.
He felt Wooyoung looking at him. "I know what you're thinking," the guard said. "And I've been wondering the same thing. We'll deal with that later."
So, San left it alone. His legs burned by the time they made it to the top of the staircase, and Wooyoung didn't look to be faring much better. Still, he gave San a stern look after they paused at the door. "Keep your back straight and try not to look anybody in the eye. We will walk quickly but not rush because that will only garner more attention."
"Okay, but I think you're forgetting something."
"What?"
San motioned to Wooyoung's nose. It had stopped bleeding, but the old blood had dried on his face. Wooyoung cursed and wiped at it with his sleeve which, thankfully, was black. "Is it gone?"
San nodded, and then Wooyoung inspected him. "Maybe you should just..." he raised his arms to fix San's hair, but San batted them away.
"I can do it," San insisted.
"You can't even see what you look like!"
"It's fine!" San did his best to pat his hair down and then looked at Wooyoung questioningly.
Wooyoung sighed. "You still look like a mess, but I suppose no more than usual."
He opened the door. It wasn't that bright--it seemed to be early evening, but still bright enough to momentarily blind San who had been used to the darkness. Wooyoung pushed him out and closed the door behind them. "Okay, it doesn't seem like anybody is around. The nearest exit isn't too far away."
It was a good thing that Wooyoung knew his way around this area because San certainly didn't. Not for a while, anyway. Eventually, the halls started to look familiar.
There was a pair of servants further down--the first people they'd come across in the few minutes they'd been walking. One was polishing a vase while the other dusted some nearby portraits halfheartedly. San walked with his back straight but kept his head down, just as Wooyoung had advised.
He thought he was doing well, until...
"Hey," one of the servants said. The one who had been dusting was now looking right at San. "Aren't you the one they took to the dungeons?"
The other servant put down his rag to look up at them, and San knew him as the tall servant Wooyoung liked to eat his meals with. He looked between Wooyoung and San but if he recognized either of them, he didn't show it. "Of course not. Why would he be up here?" He pushed the other servant to focus again on his work. "Stop trying to slack off."
San and Wooyoung continued on. Out of the corner of his eye, San saw Wooyoung give the servant a grateful smile as they passed.
"That was probably your last time seeing your friend," San pointed out.
San fully expected Wooyoung to snap at him, but he only said softly, "I know."
"Are you going to miss this place?"
Wooyoung took in the halls as they walked. "I think so. It has been my home for so long. I do have some good memories here, mostly with the prince."
San stayed silent after that, letting Wooyoung have his melodramatic moment while appreciating his last moments in the castle.
The door that led outside was in sight. If only there wasn't a pair of guards standing right near it. San slowed down, assuming they would take a different route, but Wooyoung pulled him forward. "Just keep going. We have no time," he murmured, which may not have been the right call.
~~~
Yeosang had counted all the way to 900 before there was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it, assuming it was Wooyoung claiming that there was a hitch in their plan and that they'd need to re-evaluate.
As it turned out, it was not Wooyoung who came to see him. "Princess," Yeosang greeted, trying to act normal. "Do you have permission to be here?"
"Not exactly," Yuna admitted. "But I must speak with you, if only for a minute. May I come in?"
Yeosang contemplated turning her away but she looked so desperate, and she said it would only take a minute. That should be okay. He stepped aside to let her in.
Immediately, Yuna eyed the open balcony doors and spotted the rope. "You are leaving?"
There was no point in denying it. "Yes. This place no longer feels like my home."
"But why? This is what I came to speak with you about, Prince. Your mother told me about your acute insanity but I know that is not what happened and nobody, not even Jongho, will tell me the truth."
"No, I suppose he would not want you to know what he has done."
Yuna cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Yeosang knew he could tell Yuna the truth, especially given how much she had always defended San. "San and I have been having...an affair, of sorts."
Understanding flashed in her eyes. "I suspected something was happening, but I was confused because you also seem to favour your guard."
Yeosang blushed. "Perhaps I favour them both."
"Alright." Yuna nodded. "But...what does Jongho have to do with this, then?"
"My brother was the one who first found out about San and me. He is the one who went to my mother with the information."
The princess frowned. "Why would he do that? He must have known what would happen, that you two would be punished."
"I am certain that he knew," Yeosang said. "He stood by and watched as the guards took San away. He did not say a word, just watched."
"I...I cannot believe he would do such a thing." Yuna looked disappointed. "That is so against his character when he is with me."
Yeosang shrugged. "I did not believe he would do it, either."
"He knows how much I defended San in the past, how strongly I feel that him loving another man should not be a crime." By then, she looked close to tears.
"Not everybody is as open-minded as you are, Princess," Yeosang said. He glanced outside. He'd forgotten to keep counting, but he suspected it was almost time for him to leave. "I have to go now. You should leave before anybody finds out you came to see me."
Yuna nodded, backing up. She gave Yeosang a small smile, even through her tears. "Good luck."
Yeosang would need it.