Chapter Text
After two years spent at the northern border, Han Jisung had hoped to rest from the hardships of military life in his hometown.
Unfortunately, reality turned out to be completely different.
For one thing, he had not expected to receive a message from his cousin saying that his family was expecting him in the capital. The contents of the letter had surprised him greatly, although it was understandable. They had not seen each other for at least two years, and Bang Chan had always been like an older brother to him.
Jisung’s father, General Han, had always disliked the royal court. Despite his high position, he had left the capital with his wife and child shortly after Jisung’s birth. He and his cousin still saw each other fairly often. Chan had always enjoyed traveling, and he never minded that the Han family village was two days away from the capital.
Hanyang welcomed him with noise.
The crowd flowed along the wide road leading beneath the towering walls. Merchants called out to passersby, carts loaded with goods squeezed between horses, and somewhere nearby, a group of children ran around laughing, completely unconcerned that one of them had nearly ended up beneath the hooves of a passing animal. Dozens of scents hung in the air, so different from those Jisung had grown accustomed to at the border that, for a moment, he did not know what he was supposed to focus on.
The air smelled of meat roasting over an open fire, fresh bread, flowers, and incense smoke. Somewhere nearby, someone had spilled wine, its heavy, sweet aroma mingling with the smell of horses and people.
Jisung slowed his horse.
The capital was larger than he had imagined.
Not because he had never seen a large city before. Over the past two years, he had traveled through many places with his father, but none of them had been anything like this. Here, everything seemed alive. And so carefree that he felt a tightness in his chest as he wondered whether these people were even aware that there was a war going on.
He lifted his head, trying to see something above the crowd.
“If you keep standing there like that, people are going to start wondering if you’ve only just discovered what a city is.”
Jisung turned around sharply. He caught the familiar scent of an alpha.
Bang Chan was sitting on his horse a few steps behind him, looking at him with amusement.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Jisung had not seen his cousin in almost two years.
Of course, he had received letters from him. Sometimes they were long, though more often they were absurdly short, as if Chan had a habit of remembering Jisung’s existence precisely whenever he sat down to eat or had something urgent to do.
*I got a letter from my Father. He says Uncle should be sending you back soon.*
*Changbin says I talk about you too much. He says I look like a mother who sent her only son away.*
*I don’t know why I listen to him.*
*Come back in one piece.*
Jisung had read that last letter probably ten times.
Now, however, Chan was sitting right in front of him.
He looked a little different. Perhaps it was simply because they were both older. His face was more serious than it had been two years ago, his shoulders broader, and his hair tied high at the nape of his neck. And yet he was still the same Chan Jisung remembered from childhood.
The one who had always considered himself responsible for him.
Jisung jumped down from his horse.
“You’ve grown,” Chan said.
Jisung looked at him in disbelief.
“That’s the first thing you have to say to me?”
“No. The first thing I wanted to say was that you look terrible.”
Jisung laughed.
“You look good too.”
“I know.”
Chan dismounted and simply stood in front of him for a moment.
Then he embraced him without any warning.
Jisung initially stiffened in surprise, but after a moment, he returned the hug. Chan gave him a firm pat on the back, and Jisung laughed quietly.
“I missed you,” Chan said.
It was a simple sentence, spoken almost carelessly, but Jisung suddenly felt a strange tightness in his throat.
“I missed you too.”
Chan pulled away and looked him over.
“It’s really good to see you.”
“You too.”
Chan reached for the bag strapped to Jisung’s saddle.
“I’ll take your bag.”
“Leave it. I can carry it myself.”
“I know.”
“Chan.”
“Jisung.”
“I don’t need help.”
“I know,” he repeated calmly. “But let me at least pretend there’s something I can do for you. You’ve had to do everything yourself for the past two years.”
Jisung looked at him for a moment before letting go of the bag. He shook his head in disbelief.
“You’re impossible.”
“I missed you too.”
They continued on foot, leading their horses by the reins.
Jisung tried to take everything in at once.
Chan led him down the main street, occasionally pointing out a building or a place he thought Jisung should know. Almost everything was new to Jisung. They passed a huge market where silks imported from distant provinces were being sold, then a square filled with food stalls, and finally a street lined with shops belonging to the wealthiest merchants in the capital.
The farther they walked, the more the crowd changed.
The streets became cleaner, the buildings larger, and the people were dressed in more expensive fabrics. Guards appeared more frequently, and servants in impeccably pressed clothes stood outside some of the residences.
Jisung began to understand just how vast the divide was between the world he knew at the border, or in his home village, and this place.
“Most of the officials live here?” he asked.
“In this part of the city, yes.”
“And over there?”
He pointed toward a wide street leading toward the towering walls.
Chan followed his gaze.
“The palace.”
Jisung instinctively looked in that direction.
From this distance, he could see mostly the walls and the roofs of several buildings rising above the rest of the city. Red columns and dark roof tiles stood out clearly against the bright sky. Royal symbols hung above the gates, and several guards stood in front of the entrance.
Jisung could not remember ever seeing anything quite so impressive.
“Have you been there?” he asked.
“Many times.”
“And I never have.” Jisung continued staring at the imposing walls in awe.
Chan looked at him.
“You’re not missing anything.”
“Really?” Jisung asked incredulously. He could not understand why his father hated the capital so much.
“The palace is full of people who can spend an hour discussing a single document and still manage to say nothing specific.” His cousin shrugged. “Then there’s all the etiquette. All it takes is looking in the wrong direction, and you can already have a problem.”
“Sounds awful.”
“Because it is.”
Jisung continued looking at the palace for a moment.
“What is the king like?”
Chan was silent for a moment.
“The king?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m looking at his palace right now.”
Chan sighed.
“His father was a very powerful ruler, and the current king took the throne a few years ago. People say he is even more demanding than his father.”
Jisung looked toward the palace again.
“I heard at the border that he’s ruthless.”
“You hear a lot of things at the border.”
“So he isn’t?”
Chan was silent for a moment.
“I didn’t say that. Usually, I simply accompanied Father whenever he had to go to the palace. I’ve never met His Majesty personally.”
Jisung smiled faintly.
“I see.”
He did not ask anything else.
The Bang family residence was located in a quieter part of the capital, away from the most crowded streets. It was larger than Jisung had imagined from Chan’s stories, although he had never seen it before. He knew it only from letters and descriptions.
In truth, everything here was new to him.
When he passed through the gates, he felt something strangely resembling relief.
It was not his family estate. It was not General Han’s home.
But it was Chan’s home.
And Chan was the closest person he had in the capital.
“Your room is ready,” Chan said when the servants had taken care of the horses. “You can rest.”
“I’m not tired.”
Chan gave him a pointed look.
“Jisung.”
“All right. I’m a little tired.”
“A little?”
“Very.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Jisung followed him inside.
Only now, once he found himself in the quiet interior of the house, did he feel the weight of the past few days. The journey from the north had been long, and the tension surrounding his arrival in the capital had prevented him from feeling tired before.
Chan stopped by the stairs.
“Dinner is in an hour.”
“All right.”
“And don’t go out alone.”
Jisung looked at him.
“I’ve been in the capital for five minutes.”
“Exactly.”
“Chan, I really won’t get lost.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
For a moment, Chan looked as though he was trying to figure out how to answer.
“It’s just… the capital is… different. I want to make sure everything is all right. And I still don’t like that you didn’t bring any servants with you.”
Jisung smiled gently.
“I know. But I didn’t feel the need to. You know my father doesn’t keep many servants.”
Chan nodded and walked away.
Jisung was left alone.
He entered the room prepared for him and sat down on the edge of the bed.
The quiet murmur of the city drifted through the open window. A gong could be heard in the distance, while somewhere on the street, someone called out to passersby. Life continued as though the past two years had never happened.
Jisung looked at his hands.
A thin scar from a wound he had received the previous winter still marked his left forearm. He ran his thumb over it before pulling his hand away.
He did not want to think about the war.
Not today.
Today, he simply wanted to rest.
Tomorrow, he would begin his new life.
He did not yet know what it would look like. He only knew that after two years, he had finally found himself in the place he had thought about for so long.
In the capital.
In his cousin’s home.
Far from the border.
For the first time in a very long while, without an order waiting for him at dawn.
Jisung lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
Outside the window, Hanyang continued to pulse with life.