ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘
─◌✰್ 𝖻𝗎𝗍
❝𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.❞

"So why the hell would my parents hire you to kill the daughter of the Jang family?" Minho voiced the thought that everyone else had been mulling over since yesterday.

Now that Mya and Jeongin had left for Moonstone, taking you with them, the remaining contestants had once again gathered in Minho, Seungmin, and Hyunjin's room. They had agreed that, after breakfast, they needed to talk. Ideally, without the cameras, and, most importantly, without Yeonjun.

"Do you think Yeonjun had something to do with that, too?" Robin asked curiously. "It seems like he's got a hand in everything. He might even know something about my family, and how they pressured me to poison Jisung."

Minho nodded seriously. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he knows about all that, if he's not responsible for it, too. I think he knows secrets about us, all of us, that he just won't tell us."

"Secrets?" Seungmin frowned at him quizzically. "What the hell do you mean?"

Minho swallowed. He wasn't prepared to share your secret. He didn't think he ever would be. But he knew that it was the only way to figure out what was going on around here. Things were just too strange, and while it definitely started from the moment they'd walked into the mansion - if not before - it ramped up even more when Yeonjun told him that he was your dad.

Everyone here needed to know.

"You said you would tell us what's going on," Christopher persisted. "We didn't have time yesterday, but we do now. What's going on?"

Minho shuffled his feet, stalling. Changbin and Alaska had stolen all the space on his bed, and Seungmin was in his chair, so he didn't have a spot to sit. "Well, as a few of you know, Yeonjun pulled me aside to talk to me, right when I got home from my date with Tessa. And he told me that... well, he told me that he's her dad. Her real dad."

His admission was met with a deadly silence.

"What do you mean, real dad?" Lanhua broke the quiet, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "The king is her real father. And unfortunately, the queen is her mother."

Minho shrugged, at a loss for words. "I thought he was lying, too," he admitted. "But it's true, he has no reason to lie. And he seems to have a weird sense of all-knowingness. He knew that I wasn't going to tell Tessa, and he was right. I still haven't told her, and it's eating me up inside."

"You haven't told you, you idiot??" Riley exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Oh, she's gonna kill you when she finds out," Lanhua sighed, covering her face with her hands. "Why wouldn't you just tell her?? That's like setting yourself up for failure."

Felix laughed at her, nodding. "Hua is right, Tessa has a temper."

Lanhua smiled at him, glad to have someone on her side.

Changbin glowered at the man, lip curling back. "Maybe Minho had a reason not to tell her, did you think of that?" He snapped much too angrily.

Lanhua shrugged, sending an equally venomous glare back. "Maybe he should let her make her own decisions about her life, how about that?"

Minho sighed. Her words were too true. He had taken your ability to make your own decisions about the information he had, and he'd made it himself. That wasn't the way a real partner would act. "I know," he deflated, shoulder slumping. "I just- I wanted to figure out what was happening first, before I ruined her life with this knowledge. Lanhua, you know how much she loves her dad. How would she feel if I just told her that they're not actually related?"

Lanhua paused at that, mulling over the words. "You're right about that," she agreed haltingly. "She would be devastated. And you know how she gets when she's upset. She tends to lash out and make bad decisions."

"Yeah, once she got mad at me for eating the last egg roll!" Riley piped up. "She almost tipped the whole table over she was so mad! I got orange juice all down my shirt."

Minho couldn't help but snort at that. "Sounds about right," he agreed, allowing a smile, before sobering again. "But that's exactly why I didn't want to tell her. And honestly, I still don't want to. Does anyone have any idea how we could figure out if he really is her father? She's not adopted. Her mother did give birth to her."

"Maybe she cheated with another man?" Hyunjin asked, grinning. "That sounds like juice the king and queen wouldn't share."

"But we've never met Yeonjun before now," Renee pointed out.

"That's true," Minho nodded. "And from what I've seen, he isn't in any of the citizen records for either Moonstone or Obsidian."

"Also, I don't know about any of you... but has Yeonjun felt... inhuman?" Robin said the last word in a hushed voice.

After a pause, her cheeks turned red.

"I know that sounds insane, but as someone who works with something close to magic, I've come across really weird things! And a lot of the stuff he's done has been very strange. Take that rock that could tell if we were telling a lie or not , for instance. That's not technology, that's magic."

"Or when he seems to just appear without any notice!" Jisung chimed in, shuddering. "It felt like he could just jump in front of you, and not make any noise."

"And I think I've seen him almost float above the ground before," Alaska added. "I guess that would explain the whole 'random appearance' thing."

Changbin frowned at the girl. "Are you suggesting he can fly?"

Alaska giggled, shrugging. "I dunno, I mean doesn't he kind of give fairy vibes to you?? Imagine him with wings!!"

Changbin didn't crack a smile, but Minho could see the mirth buried in his eyes.

Felix was glancing back and forth between the two of them, mouth pulled into a straight line. Glaring at Changbin, he turned back to the rest of the group. "Are we being serious, right now? Do we really think Yeonjun could be magic? I know I've heard of stuff like that before, but I thought it was all fake. You know, fairytales and myths and shit."

Robin nodded at Felix. "Yeah, everyone is meant to believe it's all fake, just for storybooks and stuff. But... my parents read this specific story to me, and it's kind of stuck out to me for awhile. And based off everything we've observed of Yeonjun, I'm wondering if... I know it might sound crazy, but... could he be a dark spirit?"

Renee's nose wrinkled. "Like, not a human?? How could that happen??"

"He looks human enough to me," Christopher frowned, but he didn't seem entirely skeptical.

"I dunno..." Alaska tapped her chin. "I feel like he's done some pretty strange stuff. What's up with his cloak? I don't know if I've ever seen him without it. It's pretty tacky, and makes him look too pale."

Robin nodded. "The story I read was a myth about a dark spirit. He can live forever, and when he needs to, he can transform into human form. But he will always have to wear a dark cloak, which signifies that he is the dark spirit, and helps with his transformation. I don't remember the whole story, because I heard it when I was little, but... it went something along the lines of: he fell in love with a beautiful human, and when she died, he went kind of crazy, trying to get revenge on all of human kind, and the light spirits too, who just stood by and watched his true love die."

"Why would that be Yeonjun?" Minho asked. "How have we jumped from him being a sketchy, smart guy, to him being otherworldly?"

"Well, the dark spirit is known for manipulating others. And they are also all-knowing, especially when it comes to people's darkest secrets, and how to use them for evil. That sounds exactly like him, to me." Robin shrugged. "But we have no idea that's what he is. He could just be creepy."

"I think we should try and find out more about him," Lanhua, ever the decision-maker, piped up. "Do you think we could find this myth somewhere? Maybe in the library?"

Felix nodded at the girl. "That's a great idea! I could go-"

"I'll go with her," Changbin cut in, unable to hide the death glare he sent the stable boy's way.

Felix raised his hands in surrender, nodding awkwardly. "Erm, great! Those two will go."

Lanhua glowered at Changbin, but acquiesced gracefully. "We'll go and check out the library. If what Robin says is true, we could confirm that he is this spirit, and confront him. If the story seems like too much of a reach, we can continue snooping around, and see if we spot anything strange."

Minho nodded. "I was thinking," he began, "it might be a good idea to start snooping now, whether or not this myth is true."

Hyunjin nodded, brows furrowed. "I want to find out just as bad as you do about your family, and how they're connected to JJ and I." He read Minho's mind exactly. Clearly, he cared more about the runaway duchess than he'd been letting on.

"And there could be the potential that they're connected with my family, too," Seungmin added. "I know they're up to something, and if Yeonjun knows what it is, I want to ask him. But we need proof first."

"So what do you propose?" Alaska sat up, glancing at the three men. "We can't just go up to him and ask him, he might try to hurt us."

Robin nodded. "We don't know if he's a danger, but we do know he's somehow all-knowing. He could know we're having this conversation right now. We need to be sneaky. I propose that we try and check out his study."

"He is there like, all the time," Jisung agreed, smiling at Robin. "That's really smart."

Robin raised her brows at him, but smiled back. "You wanna go on a mission with me? Try and sneak into his study without him noticing?"

Jisung grinned. "Hell yeah!" he cheered. "We'll be like spies, on a mission!"

Minho glanced at them all, the plan slowly coming together. "Okay. So Lanhua and Changbin will go with me to the library, and Robin and Jisung will-"

"Here you all are."

Everyone froze, as the bedroom door swung open, nearly flying off its hinges, as Yeonjun entered the room. As always, he was wearing his black robe, paired black boots. He nodded at everyone, a little smirk playing on his face.

"Why is he so attractive?" Alaska hissed at Riley, who nodded in confusion. "Is that part of the whole 'dark spi-'"

"Shut up!" Seungmin hissed at her, and she slammed her mouth shut, nervously glancing at Yeonjun to make sure he didn't hear her.

"I see you're all bonding, very good," Yeonjun smiled, exposing those blindingly white teeth. Minho had to stifle an eyeroll. Maybe he was just seeing things, but he really didn't look human, did he? How had he never noticed? Or was it just the effects of this conversation rubbing off on him?

"I'm gonna have to put an end to the fun, I'm afraid." Yeonjun's eyes glinted in the orange lamplight, his smile never wavering. "We have our next challenge, bright and early tomorrow morning. So I suggest you all get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow morning, at six."

With that, the man exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

Everyone stared after him, speechless. Then, they all glanced around at one another, their nervous eyes reflecting the panic Minho felt.

Never mind the fact they had to wake up dreadfully early, just for another stupid challenge. There was a far more pressing question on everyone's mind:

How long had Yeonjun been standing behind that door? And how much of their conversation had he heard?

laska's note —
oooooh, so our faves have started coming up with a real plan of action against yeonjun! but they've been interrupted, but the devil himself. how much do you think he heard? and do you think he'll do anything to stop them? and what about mya, jeongin, and tessa, who are still back in moonstone? how are they doing? will they bring jj home safely? and i wonder what mya and jeongin are up to back at the yang mansion? and what will tessa have to say to minho once she returns? give me all your thoughts in the comments! 🤭

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
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