New Order: Chapter Three

[pinkframe]

Title: New Order
Author: Pinkframe
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, Sex, Violence, Death
Main Pairing: Shim Changmin/Hwang Tiffany
Other in Chapter Pairings: None
Genre: Drama, Angst, Romance
Concrit: Yeppers
Summary: After over ten years of war and destruction, a new order is put into place. In a world with no hope, eighteen year old Tiffany has found herself in charge of her orphaned cousins, twelve year old Jessica and five year old Taemin. A powerful general from the war, Lee Soo Man, has founded a new regime with his five most trusted soldiers, Yunho, Jaejoong, Yuchun, Junsu and Changmin, at his side. But power and corruption run deep and secrets even deeper.




“Lady Hwang,” Ri In called. I was sitting on a couch in the women’s lounge, reading the first newspaper that had been released since the end of the war. It had taken a week for it to be approved by Soo Man. I loved the idea that I was reading only what he wanted me to read. “Lady Hwang,” she said again.

This time she got my attention, “Yeah?”

“I just got word that the High King has ordered a girl be brought in for Crowned Prince Jaejoong,” she said, staying as formal as possible. Since Boa had taken her responsibilities being Soo Man’s wife, I was left in charge of managing the women within the Fortress. That’s what it was being called, the Fortress.

“What’s her name?” I asked, looking to the far wall. There were only two windows on every floor, and most days I didn’t even get to see them.

“She’s Japanese, her name is Otsuka Ai.”

“When is she getting here?”

“In a few minutes. Do you want to greet her yourself?” she asked.

“I guess,” I sighed. I had nothing better to do.

“We should be waiting at the door, then,” she said, bowing to me. I stood and followed her out the door and down the hall to the same door that I had walked through when I had entered this life. I would never have expected it to become what it did.

While we waited the few minutes for the new girl to arrive, I looked at Ri In, “Who takes over after me?”

“This one,” she said, motioning to the door that some new face was about to walk through.

“Why did Soo Man choose her?”

“Don’t ask me,” she sighed, looking to the ground.

A few minutes later Lieutenant Kim walked in the door, a small and beautiful Japanese girl in tow. “Welcome,” I said, slowly bowing to her. Ri In and the few other maids who had joined us did the same. “Feels like a lifetime ago I saw you, Kibum.”

“I was at the wedding,” he said, waving a hand.

“I guess,” I replied with a smile. “My name is Lady Hwang. I wanted to greet you, but Ri In will take you from here.”

“She doesn’t speak Korean fluently, but she seems to be conversational,” he said. “Hell, maybe that’s why he chose her.”

I sighed, “We’ll work around it, I guess.”

“I’ll take her now,” Ri In said, bowing slightly to Kibum.

“Good luck,” he said, tipping his hat to her. “If there are any problems, call me in.” The words echoed in my mind like a curse.

I stood there and watched as Kibum walked out the door. Ri In and the few maids were gone by the time I turned back around. I returned to the room I shared with all the other women and pulled out my paper. There was a short article about all the great things the High King had accomplished during the war. I was intrigued by what I read.

“During the early days of the war, the High King worked his way through the ranks to acquire the title of general. He came from a small family in Seoul. His father was also a lifetime member of the armed forces, but sadly died just before the war began. The High King’s mother was killed in a bombing about half way through the war.

“Once promoted to general, the High King began work commanding covert forces in charge of eliminating enemy spies. He was able to uncover information exposing several spies and used his top team, the same team that the Crowned Princes were a part of, to take them down and secure victory in the war.

“When the war was over, the High King was the ranking general in the military. For this reason, it was felt by him and the Crowned Princes that he was most qualified to take command. Since the end of the war, he has successfully founded a school system, begun providing jobs for the millions of survivors and married his long time love, the High Queen, Kwon Boa.

“Today it is clear that, without the help of the High King, many of us would be dead. He is truly a great leader, worthy of all the praise and honor we give to him.”

I sighed as I laid it down, wondering how much of what I read was true. I knew from what Dana had told me that most of what the papers published was propaganda, and based on the censoring of this particular paper, I was inclined to believe absolutely none of it.

As the “lady” of the house, I didn’t have many responsibilities. I had to oversee what everyone was doing, and greet any newcomers. Other than that, I just sat around and watched as everyone else did things. I never saw much of Boa. She was always on the upper floors. I assumed that was what would become of me as well.

When Ri In came into the room, Ai was completely made over. The little girl who had stood in front of us terrified in the door way was more of a woman. Her hair was still damp, but she looked completely dignified.

“Hello again,” I smiled.

“H-h-hello,” she slowly stuttered.

“You can come with me the rest of the way,” I told her. “Thanks, Ri,” I added, before turning on my heel to walk toward that dreaded staircase. “Just tell me if you don’t understand something,” I told Ai, as we reached the stairs.

“Yes, Lady Hwang,” she agreed. I hated being called that.

“You’re not allowed up here unless you’re personally invited by the High King, the High Queen or one of the Crowned Princes,” I told her, again echoing the words that had been spoken to me not so long ago. She nodded. “You’re not even allowed to leave the ground floor without invitation.” Another nod.

We hit the landing for the second floor and I led her around. Already I had so many bad memories of that floor. I felt bad leading Ai around, knowing that in less than a month’s time, when Yunho and I were going to be married, my role would become hers. I wondered if that had been the way Boa had felt.

Slowly I opened the door and spoke, “Your highness, the High King’s choice for you has arrived.”

“Bring her in,” Jaejoong said. He was sitting on his bed, reading a copy of the same paper I had been reading. This was the only part of the day that didn’t almost completely mirror my first day.

“Your highness, this is Otsuka Ai. The High King thinks he is best suited for you,” I told him, pulling Ai forward. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the ceiling.

Jaejoong stood up and walked toward us. He took her chin in his hands and tilted her face either way, “She’s very beautiful. Suits the High King’s taste, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

“Don’t’ bring her back before the wedding, though,” he said, turning to return to his bed.

“Yes, your highness,” I said, bowing to him and turning to leave. Ai bowed as well before following me out of the room.

“Did I do something wrong?” Ai asked as soon as the door was shut.

“Of course not,” I consoled. Before I was able to say anything else, I was shocked by a call from a very familiar voice.

“Mommy!” Taemin shouted from behind me. I turned around to see the little boy running toward me, Changmin slowly walking behind him.

“Hey, little one,” I said, scooping him up in my arms. I hadn’t had the chance to visit him that day. I thought he was in classes.

“Is she the one for Jae?” Changmin asked, stopping a few feet away from us.

“Yeah,” I replied, kissing Taemin on the head and then setting him down.

“Mommy, mommy, look at this,” Taemin said, jumping up and down. “Changmin gave this to me,” he held up a little toy airplane with a wide smile on his face.

“That’s so cool,” I said, kneeling down to look closely at it. “Did you say thank you?”

Taemin’s mouth fell open and he looked at me in shock, “No, I forgot to.”

“Well then you better go say it,” I said, waving my arm in Changmin’s direction.

The little boy ran over to Changmin, all the while shouting, “Hyung! Hyung!” When he reached Changmin, the tall man squatted down so that his eyes were on level with Taemin’s. “Changmin,” my boy whispered, “thank you for the aero-plane. I really like it.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Changmin replied, ruffling Taemin’s mushroom shaped hair. He stood and looked at me, “Why don’t you stay up here with the two of us for a while?”

“Of course,” I said, bowing a little. Bowing, bowing, always bowing. “Ai, you can go back downstairs. Ri In will help you find something to do.”

“Okay,” she said, slipping away down the hall.

“Hey, why don’t you see if you can break your record for how fast you can run around the whole hall,” Changmin said to Taemin.

The boy’s face lit up, “Okay! Time me!”

“I’m timing,” Changmin said, pretending to look at his watch. “Ready, set, go!” and the boy was off.

“Why are you so interested in him?” I asked as I watched Taemin run as fast as he could down the hall and around the corner.

“Let’s just say I have an emotional investment in him,” he replied, leaning against the hall and staring at me.

“What kind of emotional investment?”

“I knew his father,” he replied, looking me square in the eye. “I told you that already. General Kim was a good man.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I said, my heart ripping and the denial of my uncle’s existence.

Changmin took a few steps forward, a few inches separating us, “You know exactly who I’m talking about.”

“Hyung! Hyung! What was my time?” Taemin yelled, barreling down the hall toward us.

“Oh! Looks like fifty seconds!” Changmin said, scooping Taemin up in his arms before he could run past us. “You know, it’s lunch time. I better get you back down stairs.”

“Do I have to?” Taemin whined.

“Yes. I’ll get in trouble from that mean lady Taeyeon if I don’t have you down there in time,” Changmin lied. No one got the Crowned Princes in trouble. “Why don’t you go get your things from my room and I’ll talk to your mom for a second.”

“Okay,” Taemin agreed, jumping down and rushing down the hall to Changmin’s room.

“I want you to have dinner with me tomorrow night,” Changmin said when Taemin was a decent distance away.

“I don’t think-“

“Do you have plans with Yunho?” he interrupted.

“No.”

“Then you have plans with me.”

I looked down for a second, “I don’t know if that would be appropriate.”

“I think you should know something,” he said, his voice becoming demanding and a little terrifying. “If you say no to this, I’ll write you up for disobeying a command from a Crowned Prince. Now, usually that would only get you a little punishment. But Yunho wants you gone. The only thing keeping you here is that the High King doesn’t see any reason to get rid of you. He even kind of likes you. One little slip up, though, and Yunho will have all the ammunition he needs to get rid of you. Now, you don’t want that, do you?”

“Are you blackmailing me?” I asked, my voice no more than a faint whisper.

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve ever done,” he replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow at six.”

Before I could argue any further, Taemin returned and Changmin picked him up. The three of us walked to the staircase and descended to the first floor. I watched Changmin carry the boy to the room where the children stayed.

“Are you okay?” Ri In asked, when I returned to the women’s quarters. I was clearly shaken.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to smile.

She smiled back, placing a hand on my back, “That’s good to hear. The dress maker is here to fit you for your wedding dress. It’s so close now.”

“Yeah,” I said again. I was getting married in a few weeks. My fiancé hated me. And Changmin definitely knew something about my relationship with Taemin.