The King's Man II
Title: The King's Man
Pairing: Chanhee/Byunghun
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Previous Chapters: One
Disclaimer: They belong to Andy, not me.
Of all the things Byunghun had expected to come out of Jonghyun's mouth... that had not been one of them. He'd considered that maybe he'd be forced into servitude, made to be an attendant or something... or that this was some cruel sort of joke and he'd been fooled into thinking he had a chance to live before he'd be suddenly put to death.
But a wonchung? Him? He just stared blankly at Jonghyun, expecting him to laugh. Surely he was jesting.
"You should feel extraordinarily lucky," the boy said instead, and he sipped his tea. "Not everyone is deemed good enough to be one of us. The king is very selective."
His air of nonchalance made Byunghun's stomach twist.
"I... but I'm not a homosexual," Byunghun whispered, his voice small. Jonghyun looked at him, raising an eyebrow and letting out a derisive snort. "I'm not!"
Jonghyun reached across the table and patted his hand. Byunghun pulled away from the touch.
"Nor am I. Nor is the king." He shrugged, folding his hands in his lap. "I do what is asked of me by my king, and so shall you. Sometimes he just craves a different embrace than the queen can give." He grinned. "It's easy to see why he chose to keep you. Your androgyny must have been very appealing to him."
Byunghun blushed furiously and turned his face away, muttering darkly to himself. If this was why he'd been kept alive... so the pervert king could take advantage of his body...
"Would you rather be dead?" Byunghun licked his lips, slowly becoming aware of how sore they were, and finally shook his head. He didn't want to die. Did anyone? "Then don't complain. Our job is not a demanding one. We stay out of the way, and come when we are called. We do what is asked of us without questioning it. That is the most important part... we do not question him."
That was to be expected, Byunghun knew. One did not make a habit of questioning the king of Joseon. It rarely ended well. More than one person had disappeared in the past after raising their voice against the government... and while this situation called for a different form of silence, he was sure the outcomes were similar.
"You must be very careful from now on. Avoid being bruised or marked, and keep yourself clean. Our bodies are not our own anymore, they are his to do with as he pleases. The king is upset by wounds." Jonghyun stretched a hand out and ran his fingers through Byunghun's long, loose hair. "Soft, just like the rest of you... he'll like this. Don't cut it off, and don't pull it back when you're with him."
Byunghun closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, doing his best to stamp down the nausea that had come over him. This was not what he'd expected when he'd left the wretched little hole where he lived this morning. He'd assumed that by now, he'd either be dead, or home figuring out how to sell whatever he'd managed to snatch. Yet here he was... trapped in the palace of a pervert king, told he was now a sex slave, constantly being touched by this Jonghyun child who seemed far too comfortable with the fact that his own body was a possession.
It was too difficult for him to wrap his head around. Jonghyun slid around the table and took the young man's hands, sighing and pulling him to his feet. Byunghun didn't even resist.
"Come... you need more rest. The king will not call for you for several days, at least... he knows your body needs time to heal." And his mind, time to adjust.
Jonghyun took him from the room, hands securely wrapped around Byunghun's, and led him to their now shared quarters. They'd been given their own pavilion; Jonghyun explained to Byunghun, whose eyes were still closed, that there weren't usually guards at their doors. It was only temporary, as security was currently an issue in dispute.
Byunghun knew it was only to prevent him from running.
The boy took him inside, helping him carefully up the stairs and through the doors; with gentle hands he stripped Byunghun to his underclothes before tucking him into the bed that had been laid out for him by servants hours before. Byunghun said nothing through all of this, and only moved to curl up on his side under the blankets. Within moments, he was fast asleep again.
~ ~ ~
For three days, Byunghun was allowed to remain in his bed for as long as he wanted. Nobody came to wake him, nor did anybody come to demand he follow them somewhere. Jonghyun came and went, quietly most times, though he did stop to check on his new charge every time he passed through the doors. The two shared meals together, one of the few reasons Byunghun left his tangle of blankets, in silence.
On the fourth day, he was told the king expected his presence in the evening.
Jonghyun spent the entire day fussing over him, first forcing him into a bath again (though this time the boy was allowed to bathe himself), then choosing clothing on his behalf. He helped Byunghun to dress himself when he didn't do it fast enough, something he said wasn't his fault because he wasn't used to the strange feel of these clothes, and then forced him to sit down while he rummaged through drawers again.
"You're not putting that stuff on my face."
Jonghyun set down his small kit and nodded. "Oh yes I am."
"No."
In the end, Jonghyun won.
It wasn't as bad as he'd expected, he grudgingly noted when Jonghyun had found him something to look into. His face barely looked as if it had been touched, as most of Jonghyun's work had gone into covering the now yellowing bruise along Byunghun's cheek and eye socket. It was still visible, but it didn't mar his skin in such a jarring way anymore. He licked his lips, trying to displace the reddish tint Jonghyun had put on them, but it stubbornly remained.
Jonghyun was playing in Byunghun's hair, something else the young man had resigned himself to allow, when the guard arrived to escort Byunghun away. He stood, skin paling considerably, and unhappily followed the man out, casting a look back at Jonghyun when the boy opined aloud that one could still see how sickly thin Byunghun was even through new clothing.
He wondered as he was led through the grounds if the guards had been told to kill him if he attempted escape. He fidgeted with his sleeves as he walked, head down, eyes on the ground before him, stomach churning as his fear mounted. Jonghyun had told him not to be afraid, but... how could he avoid such feelings when he felt as if he were a lamb being led to slaughter? How could anyone feel at ease in this situation?
He dimly heard his name being spoken inside the king's chamber as he waited outside. His fingers curled tight into his sleeves, rumpling the soft blue cloth, and he drew an audible, shaky breath. The guard standing next to him quietly laughed at him.
"Enter."
At the call of the king's voice, Byunghun was nudged forward by the guards. He took a few unwilling steps toward the door before stopping, and he found himself being nudged again. The doors were opened in front of him, and one of the guards put his large hand on Byunghun's back and pushed him through. The doors slid closed behind him as he stumbled and barely kept his balance.
The king was sitting behind a table, eyes fixed on Byunghun as the boy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. When he did not immediately move, Chanhee arched an eyebrow at him, a mix of amusement and surprise on his face. His eyes flickered to the shadows for a moment, and he nodded; the tall man that had been lurking there stepped up behind Byunghun and gently touched his waist.
The king laughed at how Byunghun jumped.
"Sit with him," the man whispered, guiding the now trembling boy to the table. "And bow your head, he is your king."
Byunghun followed the orders immediately. He'd heard the shifting of a sword as the man moved, knew that there was one secured to his waist. He feared what would happen to him if he didn't do exactly as the man instructed.
"Don't look so frightened. Minsoo won't harm you unless you attempt to do me injury." Chanhee held out a hand to Byunghun, nodding to his personal guard to instruct him back to the shadows. "Is your body well?"
Byunghun stared at the extended hand, unsure if he could uncurl his fingers from his sleeve long enough to set his own in it. Minsoo cleared his throat, however, and Byunghun somehow found the strength.
The king pulled gently on his wonchung's hand, using his other to slide the sleeve up and bare his arm. There were still bandages on his skin, one or two wrapped over scrapes that hadn't healed. Byunghun flinched at the way the light threw his scars into such sharp relief, and Chanhee slid his fingertips along one particularly large and violent mark that had been inflicted long ago.
"You really are a thief, aren't you," the king murmured, eyes flicking to Byunghun's pale face. "This is from a knife, isn't it... you've been caught stealing before."
Byunghun nodded wordlessly, eyes fixed on the fingers resting on his scar. Chanhee could doubtless feel the shaking in the boy's body as he held onto that arm, as Byunghun fought the urge to snatch it back and run. Nobody touched him. Ever. Nobody. And yet now his entire being was resigned to being touched by a man who believed he owned him.
The king pulled Byunghun's arm, dragging the boy's torso across the table, their faces now far too close to each other for Byunghun's comfort. Chanhee cupped the boy's injured cheek carefully, his other hand tightly gripping his wrist to keep him from pulling away.
Across the room, Minsoo averted his eyes.
"You're so afraid of me now, but you weren't this way when you were caught stealing from me and faced death. Could it be your emotions have caught up to you? Or... are you more frightened because of what you now are, and what it means you must do?" The king smiled. "You find death less terrifying than another man owning your body. How interesting."
"I fear restraint more than death. Death is freedom." Byunghun's voice was soft, his eyes pleading as they met the king's. "How long will you keep me like this, your highness? How long until I've paid for my crime and my body is my own again?"
"How long indeed," Chanhee mused, his thumb running along the boy's cheek bone. He could still feel the swell, the way the skin was tender and bruised beneath the false colouring. "Your life was forfeit the moment you chose to steal from Joseon, and I did you the mercy of taking it as my own rather than extinguishing it. Now you ask for it back? One would think you've no manners."
His lips brushed Byunghun's gently, just a ghost of a touch to make him shake a little more.
"You are mine until death, Byunghun." The boy closed his eyes to hide the anguish that filled them with those words, a pained whimper catching in his throat. "Or until I see fit to release you. Do not forget that."
He let him go, gently pushing him back to his side of the table. Byunghun sat there, still and silent, eyes squeezed shut as the king straightened the papers that had been upset. Chanhee's gaze moved between his work and his soft, beautiful plaything, and he sighed at how submissive the boy seemed to have become in only a few days.
Broken toys were not as fun to play with.
"I don't doubt Jonghyun failed to explain everything to you," Chanhee finally lamented, motioning for Minsoo to come forward again. The guard helped Byunghun to his feet as Chanhee stood, and he carefully led the boy to Chanhee's soft mattress.
When the king's eyes were elsewhere, Minsoo very gently stroked Byunghun's cheek and whispered to him that he would be fine before he stepped away and moved beyond the doors.
"He explained... s-some things... your highness." Byunghun's voice cracked as he spoke. "I know what is expected of me, when I am called to your bed."
Chanhee knelt in front of Byunghun, a soft smile on his face as he pushed the boy onto his back. His hands were quick to undo Byunghun's clothing, taking them off and letting them lay open around the young man; his body was still bruised and battered beneath his coverings. The king looked down at him for a moment, eyes shuttered, before he laid himself on top of Byunghun's half-naked form.
"Today, your only obligation is to stay with me while I sleep." Byunghun blinked at the king slowly as his head lowered to rest on Byunghun's bared chest. "I may be cold, but I am not as cruel as some think. It is only our first time seeing each other, and it is clear you aren't comfortable with me yet. If I were to force myself on you, I fear you'd never be willing to meet with me."
His fingers idly played with Byunghun's long hair as he listened to his heartbeat, amused at how frantic it had been and how calm it had become once the boy had realised that the king wasn't going to demand anything from him. The rythym of it soon put him to sleep, and when his breaths had gone slow and even, Byunghun finally felt his own tension easing. He rested one hand on the back of the king's neck, fingertips brushing against the hair at his nape, and closed his eyes to try and sleep as well.
This was how King Chanhee and his newest wonchung spent their very first night. When Minsoo peered in later to check on them both, he was surprised by the way the two were tangled together, still mostly clothed. He rubbed his chin, staring at them both, and finally let a smile cross his lips as he closed the door.
It seemed King Chanhee had finally found someone he liked enough that he was willing to sacrifice his needs to avoid scaring him off.
Pairing: Chanhee/Byunghun
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Previous Chapters: One
Disclaimer: They belong to Andy, not me.
Of all the things Byunghun had expected to come out of Jonghyun's mouth... that had not been one of them. He'd considered that maybe he'd be forced into servitude, made to be an attendant or something... or that this was some cruel sort of joke and he'd been fooled into thinking he had a chance to live before he'd be suddenly put to death.
But a wonchung? Him? He just stared blankly at Jonghyun, expecting him to laugh. Surely he was jesting.
"You should feel extraordinarily lucky," the boy said instead, and he sipped his tea. "Not everyone is deemed good enough to be one of us. The king is very selective."
His air of nonchalance made Byunghun's stomach twist.
"I... but I'm not a homosexual," Byunghun whispered, his voice small. Jonghyun looked at him, raising an eyebrow and letting out a derisive snort. "I'm not!"
Jonghyun reached across the table and patted his hand. Byunghun pulled away from the touch.
"Nor am I. Nor is the king." He shrugged, folding his hands in his lap. "I do what is asked of me by my king, and so shall you. Sometimes he just craves a different embrace than the queen can give." He grinned. "It's easy to see why he chose to keep you. Your androgyny must have been very appealing to him."
Byunghun blushed furiously and turned his face away, muttering darkly to himself. If this was why he'd been kept alive... so the pervert king could take advantage of his body...
"Would you rather be dead?" Byunghun licked his lips, slowly becoming aware of how sore they were, and finally shook his head. He didn't want to die. Did anyone? "Then don't complain. Our job is not a demanding one. We stay out of the way, and come when we are called. We do what is asked of us without questioning it. That is the most important part... we do not question him."
That was to be expected, Byunghun knew. One did not make a habit of questioning the king of Joseon. It rarely ended well. More than one person had disappeared in the past after raising their voice against the government... and while this situation called for a different form of silence, he was sure the outcomes were similar.
"You must be very careful from now on. Avoid being bruised or marked, and keep yourself clean. Our bodies are not our own anymore, they are his to do with as he pleases. The king is upset by wounds." Jonghyun stretched a hand out and ran his fingers through Byunghun's long, loose hair. "Soft, just like the rest of you... he'll like this. Don't cut it off, and don't pull it back when you're with him."
Byunghun closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, doing his best to stamp down the nausea that had come over him. This was not what he'd expected when he'd left the wretched little hole where he lived this morning. He'd assumed that by now, he'd either be dead, or home figuring out how to sell whatever he'd managed to snatch. Yet here he was... trapped in the palace of a pervert king, told he was now a sex slave, constantly being touched by this Jonghyun child who seemed far too comfortable with the fact that his own body was a possession.
It was too difficult for him to wrap his head around. Jonghyun slid around the table and took the young man's hands, sighing and pulling him to his feet. Byunghun didn't even resist.
"Come... you need more rest. The king will not call for you for several days, at least... he knows your body needs time to heal." And his mind, time to adjust.
Jonghyun took him from the room, hands securely wrapped around Byunghun's, and led him to their now shared quarters. They'd been given their own pavilion; Jonghyun explained to Byunghun, whose eyes were still closed, that there weren't usually guards at their doors. It was only temporary, as security was currently an issue in dispute.
Byunghun knew it was only to prevent him from running.
The boy took him inside, helping him carefully up the stairs and through the doors; with gentle hands he stripped Byunghun to his underclothes before tucking him into the bed that had been laid out for him by servants hours before. Byunghun said nothing through all of this, and only moved to curl up on his side under the blankets. Within moments, he was fast asleep again.
~ ~ ~
For three days, Byunghun was allowed to remain in his bed for as long as he wanted. Nobody came to wake him, nor did anybody come to demand he follow them somewhere. Jonghyun came and went, quietly most times, though he did stop to check on his new charge every time he passed through the doors. The two shared meals together, one of the few reasons Byunghun left his tangle of blankets, in silence.
On the fourth day, he was told the king expected his presence in the evening.
Jonghyun spent the entire day fussing over him, first forcing him into a bath again (though this time the boy was allowed to bathe himself), then choosing clothing on his behalf. He helped Byunghun to dress himself when he didn't do it fast enough, something he said wasn't his fault because he wasn't used to the strange feel of these clothes, and then forced him to sit down while he rummaged through drawers again.
"You're not putting that stuff on my face."
Jonghyun set down his small kit and nodded. "Oh yes I am."
"No."
In the end, Jonghyun won.
It wasn't as bad as he'd expected, he grudgingly noted when Jonghyun had found him something to look into. His face barely looked as if it had been touched, as most of Jonghyun's work had gone into covering the now yellowing bruise along Byunghun's cheek and eye socket. It was still visible, but it didn't mar his skin in such a jarring way anymore. He licked his lips, trying to displace the reddish tint Jonghyun had put on them, but it stubbornly remained.
Jonghyun was playing in Byunghun's hair, something else the young man had resigned himself to allow, when the guard arrived to escort Byunghun away. He stood, skin paling considerably, and unhappily followed the man out, casting a look back at Jonghyun when the boy opined aloud that one could still see how sickly thin Byunghun was even through new clothing.
He wondered as he was led through the grounds if the guards had been told to kill him if he attempted escape. He fidgeted with his sleeves as he walked, head down, eyes on the ground before him, stomach churning as his fear mounted. Jonghyun had told him not to be afraid, but... how could he avoid such feelings when he felt as if he were a lamb being led to slaughter? How could anyone feel at ease in this situation?
He dimly heard his name being spoken inside the king's chamber as he waited outside. His fingers curled tight into his sleeves, rumpling the soft blue cloth, and he drew an audible, shaky breath. The guard standing next to him quietly laughed at him.
"Enter."
At the call of the king's voice, Byunghun was nudged forward by the guards. He took a few unwilling steps toward the door before stopping, and he found himself being nudged again. The doors were opened in front of him, and one of the guards put his large hand on Byunghun's back and pushed him through. The doors slid closed behind him as he stumbled and barely kept his balance.
The king was sitting behind a table, eyes fixed on Byunghun as the boy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. When he did not immediately move, Chanhee arched an eyebrow at him, a mix of amusement and surprise on his face. His eyes flickered to the shadows for a moment, and he nodded; the tall man that had been lurking there stepped up behind Byunghun and gently touched his waist.
The king laughed at how Byunghun jumped.
"Sit with him," the man whispered, guiding the now trembling boy to the table. "And bow your head, he is your king."
Byunghun followed the orders immediately. He'd heard the shifting of a sword as the man moved, knew that there was one secured to his waist. He feared what would happen to him if he didn't do exactly as the man instructed.
"Don't look so frightened. Minsoo won't harm you unless you attempt to do me injury." Chanhee held out a hand to Byunghun, nodding to his personal guard to instruct him back to the shadows. "Is your body well?"
Byunghun stared at the extended hand, unsure if he could uncurl his fingers from his sleeve long enough to set his own in it. Minsoo cleared his throat, however, and Byunghun somehow found the strength.
The king pulled gently on his wonchung's hand, using his other to slide the sleeve up and bare his arm. There were still bandages on his skin, one or two wrapped over scrapes that hadn't healed. Byunghun flinched at the way the light threw his scars into such sharp relief, and Chanhee slid his fingertips along one particularly large and violent mark that had been inflicted long ago.
"You really are a thief, aren't you," the king murmured, eyes flicking to Byunghun's pale face. "This is from a knife, isn't it... you've been caught stealing before."
Byunghun nodded wordlessly, eyes fixed on the fingers resting on his scar. Chanhee could doubtless feel the shaking in the boy's body as he held onto that arm, as Byunghun fought the urge to snatch it back and run. Nobody touched him. Ever. Nobody. And yet now his entire being was resigned to being touched by a man who believed he owned him.
The king pulled Byunghun's arm, dragging the boy's torso across the table, their faces now far too close to each other for Byunghun's comfort. Chanhee cupped the boy's injured cheek carefully, his other hand tightly gripping his wrist to keep him from pulling away.
Across the room, Minsoo averted his eyes.
"You're so afraid of me now, but you weren't this way when you were caught stealing from me and faced death. Could it be your emotions have caught up to you? Or... are you more frightened because of what you now are, and what it means you must do?" The king smiled. "You find death less terrifying than another man owning your body. How interesting."
"I fear restraint more than death. Death is freedom." Byunghun's voice was soft, his eyes pleading as they met the king's. "How long will you keep me like this, your highness? How long until I've paid for my crime and my body is my own again?"
"How long indeed," Chanhee mused, his thumb running along the boy's cheek bone. He could still feel the swell, the way the skin was tender and bruised beneath the false colouring. "Your life was forfeit the moment you chose to steal from Joseon, and I did you the mercy of taking it as my own rather than extinguishing it. Now you ask for it back? One would think you've no manners."
His lips brushed Byunghun's gently, just a ghost of a touch to make him shake a little more.
"You are mine until death, Byunghun." The boy closed his eyes to hide the anguish that filled them with those words, a pained whimper catching in his throat. "Or until I see fit to release you. Do not forget that."
He let him go, gently pushing him back to his side of the table. Byunghun sat there, still and silent, eyes squeezed shut as the king straightened the papers that had been upset. Chanhee's gaze moved between his work and his soft, beautiful plaything, and he sighed at how submissive the boy seemed to have become in only a few days.
Broken toys were not as fun to play with.
"I don't doubt Jonghyun failed to explain everything to you," Chanhee finally lamented, motioning for Minsoo to come forward again. The guard helped Byunghun to his feet as Chanhee stood, and he carefully led the boy to Chanhee's soft mattress.
When the king's eyes were elsewhere, Minsoo very gently stroked Byunghun's cheek and whispered to him that he would be fine before he stepped away and moved beyond the doors.
"He explained... s-some things... your highness." Byunghun's voice cracked as he spoke. "I know what is expected of me, when I am called to your bed."
Chanhee knelt in front of Byunghun, a soft smile on his face as he pushed the boy onto his back. His hands were quick to undo Byunghun's clothing, taking them off and letting them lay open around the young man; his body was still bruised and battered beneath his coverings. The king looked down at him for a moment, eyes shuttered, before he laid himself on top of Byunghun's half-naked form.
"Today, your only obligation is to stay with me while I sleep." Byunghun blinked at the king slowly as his head lowered to rest on Byunghun's bared chest. "I may be cold, but I am not as cruel as some think. It is only our first time seeing each other, and it is clear you aren't comfortable with me yet. If I were to force myself on you, I fear you'd never be willing to meet with me."
His fingers idly played with Byunghun's long hair as he listened to his heartbeat, amused at how frantic it had been and how calm it had become once the boy had realised that the king wasn't going to demand anything from him. The rythym of it soon put him to sleep, and when his breaths had gone slow and even, Byunghun finally felt his own tension easing. He rested one hand on the back of the king's neck, fingertips brushing against the hair at his nape, and closed his eyes to try and sleep as well.
This was how King Chanhee and his newest wonchung spent their very first night. When Minsoo peered in later to check on them both, he was surprised by the way the two were tangled together, still mostly clothed. He rubbed his chin, staring at them both, and finally let a smile cross his lips as he closed the door.
It seemed King Chanhee had finally found someone he liked enough that he was willing to sacrifice his needs to avoid scaring him off.