"While you have decided to go against the Crown Prince’s wishes and accompany him to the war," Hu Lijing stopped whilst folding the surgeon’s clothes into a Qiankun pouch. His words drawled, contemplative cadence of them sharp in the silent hours before daybreak, "however shall you make it happen? Will you sneak in among his convoy?"

Li Xinyuan paused for a brief moment, a sigh bloomed in his chest, threatening to spill out. "What are you asking?" He watched as the nine-tailed fox spirit spun on his heels with a graceful twirl of his person. Hands fiddling with his wrist braces, the surgeon shifted from one foot to another, a familiar jitter crawling just under his skin.

It was thrilling, the old—intimately known—friend, this defiance.

He held back an irresistible urge to soothe the rampant itch dancing within him, the urge to dig and dig till he reached the deepest part of himself. The one he preferred to keep locked away.

"Xinyuan?" Hu Lijing’s voice pulled him out of the spiralling as he raised his head to look up from the braces.

"Hn?"

"Are you certain you will make do without me?" The fox spirit’s lips pulled down, a crease forming between his brows, "I still insist you reconsider."

Li Xinyuan chuckled, chest rumbling with the sound of it. "So worried for my sake?" He raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile dancing on his lips. Though his words were teasing, the golden-eyed youth could not help but feel touched by his worry.

As soon as he was able to comprehend the surgeon’s question, the amber-haired fox spirit’s face crumbled into a half-hearted scowl.

"Do not flatter yourself, Master. It is merely my duty as your attendant." With that, he returned to folding and shoving the former’s clothes in the pouch, albeit with greater force than necessary. "I doubt your ability to take care of yourself, seeing as the kind of person you are. I would not put it past you to neglect yourself in the flow of work."

Li Xinyuan mirrored his scowl, affronted. "While I acknowledge the verity of your words" —he began checking the things on his person once more— "must you state them with such conviction? I am no child, Lijing. I am capable of self-care."

"Oh, by all means." Hu Lijing replied dryly, every word doused in sarcasm. "What a relief, to see you possess self-awareness, at least." With deliberate carelessness on his part, Hu Lijing tossed the pouch towards him. "I have arranged your clothes, ribbon for your hair, as well as some sweets in here. Do not neglect your health in my absence, dear master."

Hearing the taunt in the tail end of his words, the raven-haired man’s jaw ticked, the muscle of it giving an irate twitch. "It has not been daybreak, yet you seem intent on receiving a chiding, you scoundrel."

Hu Lijing scoffed out a laugh, head tipped back.

Then he was gone, leaving not even through the door but rather through the loosely closed window. Seeing the fleet-footed series of actions, the surgeon’s eyes widened, pupils constricting in surprise.

"Hu Lijing!" At loss of his elegance, Li Xinyuan flung himself towards the window, leaning his body out in the freezing chill of the snowy dark hours preceding dawn. "You foolish sack of coal!"

In response, his ears could only catch the increasingly distant sound of the fox spirit’s cackles.

Disbelief brimming to the brim in his heart, the surgeon reared back, turning away from the window as the divine fox spirit’s laughter faded away from his surroundings. "Oftentimes, it slips me what sort of a being he is."

A proper, bonafide Fox Spirit. Not of just any sort but the one closest to divinity, lacking in just one tail—the nine-tailed divine fox spirit of flames. Divine but ineffably childish. An imp.

As the sound of the approaching carriages grew louder and louder, Li Xinyuan turned towards the door, flicking his sleeves to fold his hands on his stomach to stride out of the room. It was time to face the choice he made on his own violation.

So what if they were not on terms strong enough for a conversation? Li Xinyuan could still sit by him, if only to try and burrow himself under the Crown Prince’s skin. He had not had the opportunity to face Liu Mingyun’s simmering ire other than once during their brief spat.

His anger was... Interesting. Or perhaps it was just his disposition as someone who enjoyed getting under people’s skin, be the circumstances threatening or otherwise.

The surgeon could do with some more of it.

...

The rising cold of the early and dark morn crawled up his spine as Liu Mingyun observed the carriages crawl to a stop. For a mission meant to be taken care of in the utmost discreet manner, the Imperial Will certainly sent their envoy with startling fanfare.

Perhaps, he thought with dry, distant amusement, the Crown does care... Or did Lord Father urged him for this?

There was no way of ascertaining what went through the Heavenly Dragon’s on the best of days. With a shake of his head, the Crown Prince watched the last carriage jerk to a stop and turned around to send a fleeting glance towards the open window of Li Xinyuan’s room.

There stood no one by the window, neither a shadow nor a lurking watcher looking down at them.

So Xin’er had neglected to bid him adieu until the end... How disheartening.

A sigh rolled off his lips in a stuttered breath as the silver-haired youth spun on his heels, willing himself to enter the carriage and embark the long journey to the frontier.

Just when he stepped towards the open door of the carriage, a low noise of crunching snow entered his ears, the sound of it so light, had he not possessed heightened hearing, he would have missed it.

A sudden, ominous inkling crawled into his heart, prompting him to turn around and look.

The world seemed to hold its breath, silence poured around them in a chilling broil. As the winds howled, snow held its breath; walking towards him was Li Xinyuan, in all his glory, white robes dancing with the wind and hair swaying with his steps.

For a moment too long, the Crown Prince found himself wordless in surprise.

"Doctor Baek?" Belatedly, he asked, voice pitched low but no less urgent.

Every step the surgeon took towards him — towards the carriage — was akin to a hammer on his heart.

Li Xinyuan was ignoring him. Right before him.

In a second, a rapid stream of thoughts ran through his mind, entertaining every reason as to the raven-haired surgeon’s appearance at this time.

Whilst he lost himself in thoughts, frozen at the door of the carriage, Li Xinyuan glanced at him briefly and passed by him, his intentions of entering the carriage more than clear.

"Cease." A single word, carrying the weight of a thousand questions, left the Crown Prince’s lips before he could bring order to his mind, hand darting to wrap around the latter’s wrist.

Beside him, the surgeon stilled without a word, back tense.

Slightly, Liu Mingyun turned his head, crimson eyes casting towards him a sidelong glance, heavy and cold.

To this, the Crown Prince watched his intended stand his ground in silence as he pulled his hand away from the former’s grasp.

"I do not find myself beholden to your every command."

Oh. Oh heaven above, such audacity. Liu Mingyun sucked in a sharp breath and drew his hand to let it fall at his side, fist clenched tight.

"Allow me," he twisted to look at the side of Li Xinyuan’s face, hand outstretched and palm facing upwards, "to assist you, then."

Mercifully...

... Li Xinyuan took his hand.