[HELIA]
The king had been absent for seven days now.
The palace had remained just as empty.
Enforcer So Hee, who had been tasked with the guardianship of the kingdom, stayed in her chambers, never once stepping out. She didn't have anything to say to the people of Helia.
She knew what they had done was supposed to be normal.
But this time, there was nothing normal about what they had done. Nothing normal about the way that the wolves had died, even after trusting the bond that was between their alpha and the mad king.
It was easily the cruelest thing that they had done as Lycan of Helia and honestly it was uncalled for. The invasions had been unneeded.
Helia had all these lands, and if they wanted to take over Kiyoto, they should have been ready for the consequences.
Now, the reality was just settling on them.
The reminder of what they had done, the fact that they had messed with the one place that had miraculously stood even after they invaded all the other packs and won. It was not just a sheer coincidence, and soon enough, the miner started joining the doors.
In these dungeons, Jung Hyuk had remained starved and frustrated. He had no human interactions save for the constant inclusion of the former deed king, who seemed to taunt him more times than he could care to admit.
It was like he was struck in a cycle of insanity and in the middle of it was his dare devil defiance of what the king wanted. Now all he had to see of the world was just darkness and more darkness, and gods, was it a first for him?
Perhaps that was a good lesson, right?
"So, you finally came out of hiding. The kingship is not good enough for you?" Jung Hyuk asked when he saw the king's enforcer stand in front of the dungeons he had been thrust in.
Jung Hyuk never minded. It was always a favorite of his, because on every occasion, Agust always came for him, always. But this was different because it was Agust who had thrown him in there.
The man he had cared for had not even blinked when he had made the decision and that haunted the fuck out of Jung Hyuk because this wasn't how life was supposed to be. It was too much, too hard for him.
It was as if the world was constantly going on, and all he had to say to that was nothing, because he truly didn't have anything that could keep him sane. And it scared him, not that he was about to make that admission to So Hee right now anyway.
"Agust is not yet back," So Hee said coldly.
Jung hyuk stared at her as if that was supposed to mean anything, the king knew what he was doing, didn't he? So Hee didn't think that their mighty king had literally disappeared with the wolf of Kiyoto, right?
Then again, Agust was dangerously in love with Jiminie. He would do what the hell Jiminie wanted and that was a hard truth that even Jung Hyuk had the misfortune of confirming.
Frankly, it wasn't his best time, but what the fuck was he supposed to say to that then? There were so many things happening, and Helia was slowly swelling.
It was just a matter of time before everything went to shit and there wouldn't be unusual to say anything that would make sense.
"Good for him and that wolf, don't you think?" Jung Hyuk said angrily.
So Hee just chuckled sadly.
It was like she couldn't believe that this was what she had come back to. This wasn't supposed to be what friendships were about, but honestly was always a policy that triggered so many people before it even hit the roads.
So, what the hell was this?
"He will kill you. You need to figure out a way to make him not to. What you did was unacceptable, and he might use you as an example to teach the rest of the kingdom what it is like to go against him.
"You crossed a line, Jung Hyuk," So Hee said worriedly, and for a moment, Jung Hyuk wondered if this was really about crossing the line or if this was about the mad king not being able to take criticism.
Maybe he was insane for even thinking like that, but if he was being honest with himself, what the fuck was left for him right now? He had come back for Agust, and Agust had made his choice.
He had come to help Agust rule, and the king chose with his heart. He had chosen the wimpy wolf over the strong Lycan he had beside him, and that something pissed Jung Hyuk off over and over.
There was nothing good about this, and gods was it hard to even think that there was anyone who would come out above all of this. Because in the end, pain was headed their way, and a war that would change their lives.
"He would dare. I know where Hang Zhu is. If he kills me, Agust will never know where his brother is or what he is planning," Jung Hyuk said.
So Hee stilled.
She had known that Chang Zhu was around the kingdom, but she hadn't known that Jung Hyuk, the one who had been with them through and through, would be the first hint at the one thing that didn't make any sense for a while.
It was a generous gamble, and the only thing So Hee felt was pity for this man.
The man who was playing two brothers. The man who was trying to find a way to fit in, a man who would never fit because definitely Agust was never ever going to choose Jung Hyuk.
He had done it once and Jiminie had paid the ultimate price for it.
Anyone with eyes already seen the agony the mad king had been in because of his hurt Erasthai. That was not something that the king would want to happen again, and So Hee knew that too.
"You're crazy. You really have lost your mind, haven't you? Colluding with Chang Zhu? After trying? Who the hell are you, even?" So Hee asked, and Jung Hyuk just laughed sadly.
Of course, he knew this was the most insane of things he had ever done, but Agust hadn't exactly left him with a choice. Agust had not looked in his direction, ever. The mad king treated him like he was just another Lycan in the kingdom.
Agust never cared the right way for him, and even the sex had gotten terrible between them, because Agust would only ever call out to Jiminie while he was deep inside Jung Hyuk's cunt.
And that was something that pissed Jung Hyuk.
He knew what he was doing.
There was no other explanation for this.
"Maybe. But you and I both know that the only thing I ever wanted, the only person I ever wanted was Agust. I have loved him since the first time we met. I halved him unconditionally even when he was angry with me.
"I have loved and stayed beside him when he needed me the most, even when he was pining over a wolf that didn't know his name and hated him. I was there. I was the one he looked at.
"I'd be a fool to let Park Jimin take him from me. If I can't have him, So Hee…" Jung Hyuk trailed off, and so he hated that this had become this was not okay. This wasn't how things were to be.
"Don't… don't say it, Jung Hyuk," So Hee pleaded like she knew there was no taking back what was about to happen. If Jung Hyuk went through with this, everyone would never be alright again.
Helia would be inhabitable, and that was the one thing that So Hee had always fought against.
Yet as she looked at the mischievous, obsessed Lycan in these dungeons, he knew that this man was not going to stop at anything unless he got what he wanted.
That was scary.
Because So Hee knew Jiminie too.
She knew that Jiminie was stronger, faster, and would always, always, have an upper hand. Jiminie was a formidable foe, worse than Agust, and she was sure Jung Hyuk wasn't ready for what would become of him if he went up against Park Jimin of Kiyoto.
Especially not what they had slashed Juminie's pack.
But did Jung Hyuk care about that at the moment?
"No one can," Jung Hyuk said with a smile as he broke free of the chains he had been bound by.