Hollow Words

Sung Joon wasn't planning on telling the ladies-in-waiting his real identity. When the queen said that he was her little brother, something just snapped. 'Little brother? The queen had been telling him his whole life that he was meant to be king and now he was a little brother!'

'She had claimed that Sung Hoon had taken the throne away from him, that there were people who would rejoice when he claimed the throne but in front of those ladies he was a little brother!.' Sung Joon was now sure that it was all lies. 

His mother, the queen, was actually the one who had been lying to him, not Sung Hoon or anybody else. He stared back at the queen with pain and anger in his eyes. How could she do this to him? He was her child or was he just a tool to her? He needed to know.

The queen didn't notice all the conflicted emotions in Sung Joon's face. All she was thinking was how he could have betrayed him like that. "What were you thinking!" She looked at Sung Joon in disbelief. "Are you crazy!"

Sung Joon lifted his head. Crazy? Why would you say that? I'm going to be the next king. I should introduce myself to my subjects." The queen's mouth opened but closed again. She didn't know what to say. This was what he had been telling him all along.

"That's not how you do things like that. You need to plan these things." Sung Joon shrugged. He walked around and sat in the chair the queen had just occiped. Sung Hoon glanced at Jinwoon. Jinwoon looked at Sung Joon with amusement.

Sung Hoon had no idea what was going on but since Jinwoon didn't seem worried, he planned to just follow Sung Joon. He and Jinwoon walked over and sat down in the chairs near Sung Joon. The queen glared at the two. "Why did you come?"

Sung Hoon and Jinwoon looked at him. Sung Joon tilted his head. "I just told you." The queen rolled her eyes. "You're not an Intersex! How many times do I need to tell you!" Sung Joon gave her a blank look. "This will be the first time. I've always assumed that I was "normal", like you claimed."

"Then where is this nonsense coming from!" The queen's hand was clenched in a fist. She was shaking all over with anger. "You're a boy! Soon to be a man! Why are you getting obsessed with this!" Sung Joon wanted to know what was going on in the queen's mind.

"Then can you explain why I don't have a drop of the king's blood in me?" The queen let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, I will prove to you that Sung Hoon and Jinwoon are lying. I'll call the royal physician over. We'll do the test over!" 

Sung Joon looked at the other who nodded. The queen wanted to walk away but Sung Hoon stopped her. "I'll send one of the guards to fetch him." Sung Hoon indicated for the others to follow him. The queen bit her lips but she couldn't refute. 

They walked outside and Sung Hoon ordered them to get the physician. They wanted to go back inside but the queen wanted to stay outside for some fresh air. "No problem. We'll wait with you." Sung Hoon smirked. "Great idea. The weather is nice." Sung Joon nodded.

The queen couldn't believe that in a few days her son had changed to agree with Sung Hoon. 'Has all my work gone down the drain?' She searched her son's face wondering what they had done to him. "Sung Joon, my baby, can we talk in private?"

Sung Joon smiled. "Why? You have nothing to hide!" The queen's face turned dark. "I... I don't want..." She looked at Sung Hoon and Jinwoon with disgust. "What I'm about to tell you is not for these commoners ears." Sung Joon shrugged. 

"We can talk afterwards. Let's prove the Elder and Sung Hoon wrong. Let's ask the servants to bring out the chairs and table. We can sit outside while waiting." Sung Joon smiled but it never reached his eyes. The queen backed away like Sung Joon had slapped her. 

She was in shock. This was not her Sung Joon. This was someone else. "Sung Joon?!" She turned to Sung Hoon. "What have you done!" Sung Hoon stared at her with confusion. "This is not my son! Where is my son!" Sung Hoon shook his head.

"I've done nothing. I've just told him the truth." The queen was shaking her head. "No. You're lying. This is not my son!" Sung Hoon crossed his arms. "I'm not you. I'm not a manipulative person like you." The queen kept on shaking her head. 

"You called for me?" They turned to the physician standing in the gate opening. Sung Hoon beckoned him to come in. "Lee Ra Mu nim, come inside. We need your service." Ra Mu walked inside. He bowed to them. "How can I be of service?"   

"We need to do a paternity test and a body scan." Sung Hoon pointed at Sung Joon. Ra Mu brows went up. He had never seen the boy before. "And who might this young master be?" He stared at Sung Joon before looking at the other. 

After glancing at the queen, his eyes grew big. "It's you!" He turned to Sung Hoon in amazement. "Your father has raised a benevolent son. I'm pleased to see you bring him inside the palace." The other except the queen looked confused.

"Uhm... Lord Lee Ra Mu. Might I have a private talk with you?" The queen took a few steps towards Ra Mu but Sung Hoon stopped her. "You can talk to him afterwards. We have other things to do. Could you please do the tests first." Ra Mu was confused but nodded at Sung Hoon.

The queen might be the queen but Sung Hoon was the king, even if the crowning was canceled. Sung Hoon words had more authority than the queen. "Let's go inside then." The queen tried to stop Ra Mu but Sung Hoon glare stopped her. She had no power anymore.

  She bit her lips and followed the other inside. She needed to stop Sung Joon from hearing the results but she didn't know how. 'Calm down. Only when you're calm will you find a solution.' She kept repeating the words but she couldn't calm down. 

Inside Ra Mu explained what he would be doing and took out a handheld device. It was smaller than Young's but it had the same functions. Sung Joon pressed his finger on the black button. After that Ra Mu took out a silver handheld scanner. 

It took Ra Mu less than fifteen minutes to do the test. A few seconds later the results were in his device. Ra Mu looked at the result before looking at Sung Joon and the others. "What do you want to know?"

Sung Hoon looked at Sung Joon. "Ask away." Sung Joon swallowed before opening his mouth. "I want to know who my father is and I want to know if I'm Intersex." Before Ra Mu could open his mouth the queen had sprang up. "Lord! Don't answer those questions?"

Ra Mu frowned at the queen. He didn't understand. "Then why did you call me?" The queen gave a strained smile. "Sung... The prince asked you to come, not me." Ra Mu still didn't understand. He turned to Sung Hoon. "I thought you knew everything?"

Sung Hoon nodded. "We know everything but the queen is saying that we're lying." Ra Mu had a deep frown on his face. He turned to the queen before looking at Sung Joon. "Before I tell you what you want to hear. I need to know if you really want to know what I'm about to tell you."

Ra Mu gave Sung Joon a serious stare. Sung Joon licked his dry lips before nodding. "I'm sure." The queen sprang up. "No! Don't want this!" Ra Mu was slowly grasping what was going on. "Sung Joon?" Sung Joon nodded. Ra Mu turned to the queen.

"My patient wants to know about his health." The queen was breathing hard. "As his mother..." Sung Joon let out a bark. "Now your mother? Just a few minutes I was your little brother. What am I to you." The queen turned red. 

"Lee Ra Mu min, please tell me everything." Sung Joon ignored the queen.  Ra Mu glanced at the queen before talking. "You're a copy of the queen, meaning that she is your mother and father. As you are exact copy of her, you're also Intersex." 

The queen sat down with a crussed look on her face. "I... How... I got rid of everything." Ra Mu shook his head. "You were fooled. Nobody can do that." The queen's face was a ugly grimace. She looked at Sung Hoon and Sung Joon with hate. 

"From today on, you can do whatever you want. You're not my child. My son is not Intersex." Sung Joon stared at the queen with a sad look. He stood up. "As if you ever thought of me as your son." He walked out the room, while Jinwoon ran after him. 

  Sung Hoon looked at the queen. "Are you even human?"