His Circle
At Han ancestral mansion;
Minjun leisurely gazed out the car window as the car drove through two large gold encrusted gates. He filled himself with the familiarity of being home again as they passed by the expansive gardens designed in lovely topiaries. He could even see their flags from this distance. Two flags standing tall and proud. One of the flags was the flag of Han Royalty also known as 'The Bleeding Rose'.
Like it's name, the flag simply contained a beautifully drawn rose at it's center, it's thorns evident, along with the petals bleeding red droplets at it's tips. The second flag was the flag of Country Z. The flag was of two rearing horses facing each other with a red scarf intertwining around both necks of the horses. Everything bore the color of the royal family - red. Red as love, red as blood, but also red as danger or death to anyone that stood as a threat to the country.
Soon, two black expensive luxurious jeeps now stood in front of a huge and tall mansion. The exterior of the mansion gave off an ancient yet modern day feel to it. The front garden and beautiful water fountain added an exquisite touch to the already elegant household. When the two heavily guarded cars had come to a stop, both car doors opened almost simultaneously as three casually dressed body guards alighted from each car.
Two figures - one obviously taller than the other though they were both tall - stepped out afterwards and approached each other as they headed for the front doors. "Hey you, what's with that worn out look?", Minjun asked ruffling Yujun's hair. "You! Seriously big bro, how do you still have so much energy? Don't you ever get tired at all", Yujun complained as he caught Minjun's hand by the wrist to stop him from messing his hair up even more.
Yujun had shiny black hair and hazel brown eyes. He possessed softer features which gave him an innocent, charming and adorable look. He was two years and some months younger than Minjun since he'd already turned 15 in September, while Minjun would be turning 18 in December.
The two had concluded their royal lessons by late afternoon, and headed into the mansion for some rest and a hot bath before dinner. They soon came down for dinner in the dining room and were now awaiting their mother's arrival before they started to eat. Their mother had attended a meeting with some of the elites in Country Z on behalf of their father since he currently wasn't in the country. Like most of the other rooms in the mansion, the dining area shared the same decor of polished black marble tiles, gleaming white walls and ceiling to floor curtains that bled crimson against the walls, with a golden chandelier that illuminated off the walls and floor over them.
Amidst the wait, the boys spotted the head Butler-Butler Wilbert, on a phone call while jotting down some notes as he paced about the place. Butler Wilbert had always been such a reliable person who somehow managed to handle everything and keep them organized. He was also an up-tight formal kind of person, and the brothers loved to tease him about it a lot because of his awkward and funny reactions. Yujun ran towards the old Butler with Minjun quietly following behind him.
"Mr Wilbert where's mum?, Is she going to be home anytime soon?", Yujun asked the moment he reached him. Butler Wilbert instantly ended the phone call and his jottings as he focused his attention on his two small bosses. "Oh young master, little master, you're both down this early?", Wilbert asked surprised. His two small bosses were hardly so early to meal time. "Little master?", Yujun questioned with a crumpled face and Wilbert just nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah how many times do we have to tell you to stop addressing us so formally like that", Minjun seconded. "That's not even the problem here. Even if you do want to address us so formally, why do I have to be called little master?", Yujun complained and Minjun laughed at his annoyed expression.
Yujun hated being addressed as 'little master', and Minjun would sometimes tease him about the embarrassing title he'd been stuck with over the years. "Uhm, pardon me little mas_ I mean Yujun. I'll try my best to keep that in mind. As for your mother, she'll be home shortly so you shouldn't worry. I'll take my leave now", and with a bow, Butler Wilbert excused himself.
"Stop frowning like that now. You'll get wrinkles if you continue like that....little master", Minjun teased and laughed harder as Yujun's frown deepened. "Gosh big bro, you! You're such a bully!", Yujun said, his blood boiling even more at Minjun's unending laughter. He opened his mouth to snarl at him when he heard footsteps approaching. On seeing his mother walking towards them, Yujun instantly forgot his earlier annoyance and ran over to hug her.
"What took you so long?", Laura just gave him a sweet smile before turning to embrace Minjun as well. "Welcome home mum", Minjun uttered with a smile as he hugged her. "Oh my precious Aiden and Ethan I missed you both so much", she said, looking from Minjun to Yujun. "I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. I didn't even tell you I'd be going somewhere and made you worry". Laura hardly worked during the weekends . When the meeting suddenly came up, she'd informed Butler Wilbert along with her boys so they'd know of her whereabouts. However, she'd been so busy and didn't contact them the entire day which wasn't her normal behavior. She understood their worries, though there was nothing to be worried about really.
"You haven't eaten anything yet?", Laura asked as they settled around the dinning table. "We were waiting for you so we could eat together", Minjun replied and Yujun nodded in agreement. Laura's heart warmed at that, "Well I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. Let's eat". The dinning area soon echoed with talks and laughs as they enjoyed their meal. Yujun was the first to excuse himself when he got a call from Sumi.
He, Sumi and Nicholas became a nice trio and were best friends. Sumi didn't really have a lot of friends because people were sometimes afraid to approach her because of her over protective brother Zane. Nicholas was new at school and was very close with Yujun but also clicked really well with Sumi. Yujun and Nicholas were both older than her by a year though they were all in the same grade. The three of them hung out most of the time, and were quite the combination often talked about amongst their peers. Some people had even started to ship him with Sumi since they were together most of the time and were seen a couple of times without Nicholas. He didn't mind the rumors though, and even liked hearing about them. Although Sumi liked Minjun, he was kind of happy that Sumi didn't try to shun the rumors either. "Hey Yujun? Are you there? You better be listening to me", Sumi spoke over the phone when Yujun didn't reply to her question. "Yes yes I'm here", Yujun replied with a smile as he continued towards his room.
...
After Yujun left, Laura turned to Minjun. "Minjun dear, how is everything?". "Good I guess", Minjun replied with a shrug. "Dear.... your father is thinking of introducing you to some people in his circle so he might return before the end of the year". Minjun just stared blankly at her as the entire room fell silent. Laura let a sigh escape her as she then saw the conflicted look on Minjun's face. Minjun on the other hand didn't know how to react to what he'd just heard.
Their father didn't even return for Yujun's birthday and now he was suddenly coming back?, For work at that. He hated the idea of being introduced to the people in his father's circle. Doing that would only mean that he was practically telling everyone that he would take over the family business. He honestly wasn't interested in taking over the family business at all. He just wanted to do what he wanted and follow his passion for technology and gadgets, and even if that meant giving up becoming King one day, then so be it.
His father had let him decide on the subjects he wanted to do in highschool, and he thought that his father was finally giving his opinions and interests some thought, but it seemed that he was wrong. He'd put in his best in everything and was doing excellently well at school too. He'd even tried his best to meet up to his father's impossible expectations just to prove himself, but his father had clearly thought of his dreams as some phase he was going to grow out of. "Okay", was all Minjun could reply his mother as he stood and left. It seemed like his father's priority was the empire and nothing more.
Laura was left staring at her son's disappearing silhouette with drooped shoulders. She could only hope that one day this father and son pair would be able to see eye to eye.