Suddenly, there's a gun to Seokjin's head. His eyes dart to the holder of it, Ex-general Han looks ready to blow his brains out.
Jaehwan reaches for the gun and grabs it by the barrel, pushing it away from Seokjin. "What do you think you're doing?" he hisses, looking at the old men dead in the eyes.
"He's an intruder. And a spy nonetheless. We must dispose of him immediately."
The pain at the back of Seokjin's head has returned. Honestly, what was it with everyone trying to kill him?
"No," Jaehwan says firmly, reaching down to lift Seokjin from where he laid in someone's arms. "No one is allowed to touch him." He glares at the Ex-general. "Understand?"
There's no reply, Jaehwan grabs Seokjin by the arm and swings that arm over his shoulder. Seokjin doesn't have the strength in him to protest. A part of him is still shocked. Jaehwan was a rebel. Jaehwan, who said he had absolutely no desire to marry the king, had lied to him.
A hand goes to his waist. It takes him a few seconds to realize that he was walking, Jaehwan supporting him and guiding him away from the group of rebels. Seokjin shuts his eyes as a sting erupts throughout his back.
"In here," Yeonjun's voice says. Next thing Seokjin knows, he's being laid down on something soft. He opens his eyes, he's back in the boys' room.
"Get me some bandages, alcohol, and pain killers," Jaehwan tell Yeonjun. "Also a clean rag and a bucket of water."
Yeonjun runs out. Ex-general Han peeks his head inside.
"Lee Jaehwan-ssi, you shouldn't—"
Jaehwan slams the door in his face.
The room becomes silent upon the slam of the door, minus Seokjin's harsh breathing. He wants to say something, has so many questions he wants to ask but he can't bring himself to do it.
Jaehwan beats him to it. "Fuck, Jinnie." He's anxiously running his fingers through his hair, walking towards him from across the room. "Fuck. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same thing," Seokjin manages to say. God, his back was killing him. "You were the last person I would've expect to be here."
"I can explain," Jaehwan says, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Really, I can. Just..." he purses his lips together, "just not right now."
"Why not?"
"I don't have a lot of time right now. You're also hurt pretty badly. I'd rather talk when both of us are in the proper condition to."
Bullshit. Seokjin wants to call bullshit, but he bites his tongue. Jaehwan has been lying to him since the beginning. Lying to his face. Donghyuk he could care less about, they never got along with each other anyway. But having someone be his friend since the start of the competition and finding out that their friendship might have another purpose, that hurt. Seokjin had probably been used without knowing.
A part of him is telling him that he's being ridiculous. Jaehwan said he'll talk and of course Seokjin will listen. He has enough time to listen if he manages to stay alive here. Depending on what the other says, Seokjin might even forgive him.
But right now, all he can think about is the bombing, the people injured that night, the soldier that was shot on stage, and how Jaehwan probably also had something to do with it.
The door clicks open. Yeonjun is back with the stuff. Behind him, HueningKai is carrying the bucket of water.
First thing Jaehwan does is reach for a container of pills and a glass of water containing a straw. He brings both to Seokjin's lips. Seokjin glances at the label on the container before taking the pills into his mouth and swallowing it down with the water. Jaehwan hands the empty glass back to the kids then turns and looks down Seokjin.
"I'm going to treat your wounds," he informs. "Meaning I'm going to have to take off your clothes. I hope you don't mind."
Seokjin weakly shakes his head. He doesn't mind.
He's regretting it almost immediately when it seems like his clothes isn't coming off. His wounds have turned into nasty scabs, his clothes were stuck to said scabs. So when Jaehwan is removing Jin's shirt, Seokjin yelps as he feels as if his skin is being ripped off.
They soak his clothes so it's easier to remove. Yeonjun places them in a plastic bag once they come off.
Jaehwan turns him over after they've run a wet rag over him, cleaning off the blood from his skin. He grabs a clean towel and damps it in alcohol.
"I'm so glad you're alive by the way," he comments as he brings the cloth to the wound, Seokjin hissing at the contact. "I, I almost went insane when I heard you were dead. I didn't want to believe it."
Seokjin doesn't reply. His whole being right now is concentrating on not screaming his lungs out from the sting of the alcohol.
"The king went back for you," Jaehwan continues. "That's what General Min told us when he came out of that mess with Jimin. We were all sent to Changdeokgung Palace to wait, since it was learned that rebels infiltrated Gyeongbokgung Palace."
He drips some alcohol directly to the wound. Seokjin muffles his face into the pillow underneath him.
"When the king finally joined us at Changdeokgung Palace, he looked a mess. I've never seen him like that. And he didn't even look our way, just went straight to his quarters. That was when one of the soldiers told us what happened. Told us you most likely got buried under all the debris and concrete."
"You should tell them I'm alive," Seokjin comments, voice strained. "Tell Namjoon and Tae that I'm alive."
Jaehwan stills for a moment, bites his lips and sighs. "I... I can't. At least not right now."
Seokjin doesn't need to ask why. It was obvious. would ask Jaehwan how he knows, Jaehwan would have to tell him. Jaehwan could get in trouble, their plans would be foiled, etc.
"At least...tell Taehyung."
A knock at the door interrupts them. Someone pokes their head in once Jaehwan tells them they can come in. It's another kid. One that he hasn't seen yet. "Jaehwan-ssi, I have to take you and Donghyuk-ssi back now before they notice you're gone."
Sighing, Jaehwan hands the rest of the things to Yeonjun. "Take care of him. Make sure he heals well." He walks towards the door and stops, turning his head back to look at Seokjin on the bed. "I'll be back to talk," he says before he walks off.
Seokjin doesn't see Jaehwan for two whole weeks. By now he's practically healed, so his kidnappers decide to handcuff one of his hands to the bunk bed to prevent him from snooping around again.
HueningKai and Taehyun all take turns watching over him while Yeonjun and Beomgyu go off and work back at the palace. Other than the kids, no one bothers with him. He guesses that the other rebels have taken Jaehwan's warning seriously.
For the most part, it's not all too bad. Sure, he's handcuffed all day and has to be followed to the bathroom when he needs to poop, pee or shower, but he has meals brought in and has a TV in the room so he mostly spends his time watching dramas. At night, he watches The Reveal.
The Reveal hasn't showed much new content, nothing exciting. Majority of the show consists in just showing the candidates studying or walking around the palace. Yeonjun says it's cause without the King, the show can't move on and unfortunately for them, the king has locked himself in his quarters since the bombing of the Olympic stadium.
Seokjin was getting worried. Was Namjoon okay? Staying locked up in a room can't be good for his health. And Yeonjun said that the palace staff hadn't seen him leave once, the only one entering and exiting the room being General Min.
There was something else bothering him as well. While watching The Reveal he had noticed that the show at some point had stopped showing Taehyung. Seokjin hadn't seen his face on the screen once since he's been announced as dead.
That was probably what worried him the most. Yeonjun and Beomgyu don't want to tell him anything and he's growing anxious everyday the more he thinks about something happening to Taehyung. Was he eating? Had Jaehwan conveyed the message that he's alive?
A knock on the door brings him out of his thoughts. "Seokjin, it's me."
Jaehwan. Seokjin takes in a deep and sits up, mentally preparing himself. "Come in."
The door opens. Jaehwan quietly steps inside and closes the door behind him. Seokjin feels his face muscles tense. He's angry. Who the hell makes a person wait two weeks to explain himself? Seokjin has tons of questions, wants to know what the hell is going on and if he's ever going to be let loose.
Standing awkwardly by the door, Jaehwan sighs and makes his way to the bed, taking a seat. "Let's get this over with."
Seokjin nods and then waits.
"Before I start I want to clarify something," he says, looking down at his hands. "At no point, have I lied about our friendship nor wanting you to be the one to marry the king."
A brow raises on Seokjin's face.
"My dad is part of the court council. Our family has been for years. Generations and generations of politicians serving the palace. Those sort of families tend to get greedy. They start to want higher positions, be it through them or the next generations. His goal was to make one of his children marry into the royal family. My mom got fed up with my father's obsession over the idea of one of his three sons becoming royalty and left him, taking us with her."
"The morning the letters for the competition were sent out, my dad appeared at our door. Told me it was about time I became useful as a son. He made a deal with me. He'd put my name on the list of candidates, even though I wasn't there originally, and he'd leave us alone. I agreed because he said all I have to do is join the competition, not win it. But apparently my dad had planned on making me win from the beginning."
He lets out a huge breath and stares up at the ceiling. "I didn't even think I'd make it this far. Top thirty? How? The king had never even spoken to me and obtaining the public's favor of me was never in my interest so how the hell am I still here? I found out that my dad had a bit to do with that. He's been rigging a lot of the public voting."
"What about BigHit?" Seokjin asks. "What about Ex-General Han and his daughter?"
A frown appears on Jaehwan's face. "Ex-General Han is a bastard. The guy has been wanting to overthrow the royal family for years now. His daughter too. She was supposed to take on his role as the palace general but the queen appointed General Min instead. Thank God too. The last two kings died because Han himself planned their murder. His plan with my father is to make me marry the king, have him murdered and then have his own daughter marry me. He's the real leader of the rebels."
Involuntarily, Seokjin gulps. His hands are shaking. "By rebels you mean the kids and everyone else in this building? Why are they so against Namjoon being king?"
He shakes his head. "No. The people wanting to overthrow the royal family aren't civilians. It's people within the palace. Government officials. Royal advisers. People who just want more power. Those are the real rebels. This company is just a normal entertainment company. They're just involved because they're being threatened by people of power. Got unlucky."
Seokjin pinches the bridge of his nose, takes in deep breathes. "Okay," he whispers slowly. "Okay, I get the picture now." He raises his head. "So what's going to happen now?Your father isn't just going to let me go free isn't he?"
"My dad wants you dead."
The blood leaves Seokjin's face.
"But I won't let that happen." He pats Seokjin's thigh soothingly. "I have a plan. But you're going to have to completely trust me for this to work."
Could he though? Seokjin wonders if this could be just another web of lies. Still, he couldn't just sit around here anymore. Not when it seemed like Namjoon and Taehyung were suffering. "Okay, fine. What's your plan?"
"We're going to fake your death."