Chapter Text
A Fateful Encounter
It was 10 days before Jihoon's wedding. He was very happy, as it just happened that the arranged marriage between himself and the lovely countess had worked out well. He had just came back from his fitting, and decided that he needed to get some fresh air. But there was one problem-he wasn't allowed to go outside of the castle walls. Yes, he could go out to the gardens, but that day, something in him told him that he should take a trip outside.
With this in mind, he carefully crept up the castle wall in the garden, and used the tree conveniently growing next to it to crawl up and over the wall. He was small, and very lithe, so the task did not present much difficulty. He then jumped down to the grass on the other side, and began walking down the path that led into town. However, he stopped himself before he could go any further, deciding that it was too risky since he could easily be recognized and caught. Instead, he he went in the direction of the forest nearby. After walking for a few minutes, he arrived at a clearing.
Something had caught his eye.
He crept closer and peeked through the lush undergrowth. His eyes widened, his heart beat faster, and his jaw dropped. In the center of the clearing, there was a young man, probably about his age. He was dancing, and it was absolutely captivating. He himself had always wanted to become a dancer, but he hadn't been given the chance to, of course. He watched the man dance, observing the fluid motions. Jihoon was so entranced that he didn't notice how he was slowly falling forward until it was too late. With a resounding crash, he tumbled forward, head first, into the clearing.
The dancer was startled, and looked absolutely terrified for a few moments. However, he quickly regained his composure and went over to Jihoon.
"Are...you okay?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," mumbled Jihoon with a beet red face while sitting up and brushing off the dirt that clung to his clothes.
"Wait, aren't you the prince?"
"I...yeah. I am," Jihoon said defeatedly.
"What brings you here?" he continued, evidently curious.
"I was tired of sitting around in that castle all day. And besides, it was definitely worth it. Your dancing is amazing," Jihoon said.
"Oh! You saw? You liked it? Thank you, I'm quite flattered," the dancer said, a light pink dust settling on his pale cheeks.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Hey, what's your name?" asked Jihoon.
"Soonyoung. Kwon Soonyoung," he replied.
"Alright Soonyoung, see you...sometime, hopefully. Are you usually in this area at this time?"
"Yeah, usually. Have a safe trip-no, wait, I'll walk you back to the castle just in case," insisted Soonyoung.
"Alright, just be careful so no one sees you," warned Jihoon, and they were off.
Once they reached the garden wall, it was time to part. Jihoon turned to face Soonyoung.
"So...goodbye, I guess," Jihoon said quietly. The truth was, he didn't want Soonyoung to leave. There was something so pleasant about him that made Jihoon want to stay with him. He had felt truly free around him.
"Yeah, see ya," said Soonyoung, and began to walk away. He stopped abruptly.
"Wait. One more thing," he practically whispered as he walked over to Jihoon. Suddenly, their faces were inches apart. Soonyoung leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Jihoon's forehead.
"Stay safe," he whispered, and left, leaving a totally flustered Jihoon.
Even as he lay in bed that night, his heart wouldn't stop racing, and Soonyoung occupied all of his thoughts. He couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow.