21 Awake

"Where are the Hwarangs?"

"Ummmmmmmmm . . . . . . . . "

Jinseok slaps a hand on his forehead.

"You mean to tell me that you didn't inform the Hwarangs of the situation?"

Jimin waves his fan.

"Well. . . . . . you see. . . . ."

"So you didn't inform them."

Taehyung and Jungkook nod simultaneously.

Jinseok sighs, "Let's go over to their dorm and inform them then."

AT THE HWARANG'S DORM. . . . . . . . . . . .

All is quiet and calm. Each one of the Hwarangs sleep soundly, their breath slow and even.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK-KNOCK!

The series of rapid, furious knocks wakes Miyoung from her sleep. She stretches, as she walks over to the door. When her hand has just touched the handle, hands snake out from behind her and grab her. The hands wrap around her neck, causing Miyoung to be short of breath. The person choking her pins her onto the ground, knowing that if they leave Miyoung standing, there's a chance their identity will be discovered when Miyoung breaks free of their hold. Thus, the attacker decides to exert more pressure, onto Miyoung's neck.

Miyoung claws at the hands, trying to get at most a gasp of air.

[It hurts.] The voice inside her head screams. [It hurts so much! I can't — I can't breathe! I can't— AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!]

Unexpectedly, the hands release her, and she falls limply to the ground.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR. . . . . . . . . .

"On the count of three," Jimin says nodding towards Taehyung. "1. 2. 3!"

The two brothers knock the door down with their shoulders, dust flying from the act.

The princes cough.

"Do you have a lantern Namjoon?" Jinseok asks.

"Yes, Jinseok Hyung, I just lit it."

"Good."

The princes enter the room, the light from Namjoon's lantern spilling throughout the room. They scan the room, and don't see anything wrong.

Hoseok takes a step forward and trips on something.

"What was that?" Hoseok asks, clearly startled.

Namjoon shines the light towards Hoseok. The light lands on a body. A body of one of the Hwarangs. And, it's a Hwarang they know quite well.

Hoseok points at the young man laying on the ground.

"Isn't that—"

"That's Jun," Jungkook affirms.

"What's wrong with him?" Taehyung asks.

Hoseok bends down.

"Namjoon can you step over here? I think I need some more light."

Without a sound, Namjoon moves to Hoseok's side.

The light lands on Miyoung's face, and neck, revealing red marks on her pale neck.

"Aren't those?" Hoseok says pointing to the red marks.

"Those are marks from a person trying to choke him," Namjoon says gravely.

Miyoung groans.

"Ughh, my neck hurts."

Miyoung sits up rubbing her neck. Her eyes land on the princes, and she immediately springs up.

"I didn't know that you were here your Highnesses. If I had —"

Jinseok raises a hand stopping Miyoung mid sentence.

"Do you remember what happened Jun?"

Miyoung nods.

"I was heading to open the door. I had just woken up, and I heard someone knocking. So, I went over to the door to open it. But, before my hand had even touched the handle, someone grabbed me from behind, and started choking me."

"Is there anyway for the attacker to escape this room?" the Second Prince asks.

Miyoung shakes her head. She points to the walls which do not have any windows.

"There's no way for the attacker to escape. Other than the door, there's no other exit. . . . ."

"That means," Namjoon says as his rubs his chin. "That the killer who's been killing off palace servants is in this very room."

Miyoung nods.

"Well," Yoongi says, "We can at least eliminate one person, and that's Jun. Jun had been attacked, thus he's not the attacker. The question is who amongst these Hwarangs would be the killer? Their all capable of carrying out tasks such as killing. So, it's hard for us to eliminate another person."

Namjoon nods. He looks towards Miyoung.

"Do you know anyone that would not kill, and would is less likely to be the killer?"

Miyoung responds without missing a beat.

"Baekho, Taeyang and the Twins."

"Which leaves," Jimin interrupts, "the solitary Hyunwook and the rather strange Min. Right?"

"Yes."

"Well, we can't really be sure, but let's just eliminate Taeyang, the Twins, and Baekho from the equation," the Sixth Prince says.

"But," Namjoon says continuing Taehyung's thought, "Since we only know that one person definitely can't be the killer, it's safe to just consider all the rest of the Hwarangs a killer."

"What should we do then?" Jungkook asks clulessly.

Jinseok looks at Namjoon.

"What should we do brainiac?"

"I think we should just observe the actions of the Hwarang for the next couple days and see if anyone does something suspicious."

"Agreed," Jinseok says.

"Well then, Jun," Jinseok says. "We'll be off. Tell us if you find someone suspicious."

"Yes your Highness."