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A prince was born in the heart of winter.
Growing up, he was taught the ways of the sword and the bow, both of which he was immensely skilled with. He was shown nothing but love from his father, the king, and his stepmother, the new queen. He had never known his true mother. He was beautiful, like a porcelain doll with dark hair and pale skin. His lips, always seemingly parted in thought; a bad habit which he never fixed, were dark and red. Every bit of him was a masterpiece. And, with each year, he seemed to only become fairer. To this, his stepmother held great resentment.
She was an arrogant woman, who could not bear the thought of anybody being more beautiful than herself. Every morning and every night, she would stand in front of the mirror inside her bedroom. It was long, the glass always shining and pristine, so she could see every inch of herself in the highest regard. Only once had the prince seen it, when he was playing inside the castle with his best friend Yugyeom, and his stepmother had forbidden him to even go near the room the moment he barged into the room.
At the age of seventeen, the townspeople began to label him as "the fairest of them all". He would flush at the compliments, waving them off with his modesty. Yugyeom would tease him, and the fact that the two saw the title as a joke absolutely enraged the queen.
Yugyeom was a huntsman in the kingdom who had pledged his undying loyalty to the king and queen the first time he'd taken up his weapon. The queen summoned him on the day of Juho's eighteenth birthday, and requested that the prince was brought far into the forest and killed. She asked for his heart and liver as proof, and Yugyeom was forced to agree.
Juho followed Yugyeom into the forest with the impression that he was going to sharpen his skills with the sword. He was excited, laughing and joking with his friend the entirety of the trip. He only began to grow concerned when the sun began to hang low in the horizon, the forest darkening with every breath they took.
"Yugyeom," Juho murmured, voice deep and quiet, "why have we gone so far?"
The boy turned, the darkness cast along his fast making him seem long past the age of seventeen. He drew his knife.
The prince took a step back, raising his hands. Heartbroken, Yugyeom lunged at him. In mere seconds, Yugyeom had his knife pressed against his friend's throat, and Juho felt a tear roll down his cheek. When the tear fell, so did Yugyeom's resolve, and he dropped the weapon, sitting back. His hands shook with fear, and he grabbed Juho's to try and still himself.
He explained everything, and Juho knew then he would need to leave and never return, or he would be doomed to die the moment he stepped back into the castle.
The prince ran into the darkness, chasing the falling sun with the night clinging to his heels. Yugyeom stayed in the forest, and luckily was able to kill a boar to take its heart and liver. He brought them back to the castle, and was paid handsomely by the queen for his actions. She carried no remorse or guilt for the "murder" of her stepson.
Juho continued to flee further into the wilderness until his legs could carry him no longer. The sun had given up its struggle against the coming night long ago, and the wilderness was practically pitch black. He collapsed to his knees, shaking from the cold, until he saw lights flickering in the distance. Part of him begged to stay rooted to the dirt he occupied then, but another part of him urged him to keep going, to find somewhere safe to stay with people he could trust.
Slowly, he brought himself back to standing, and made his way towards the sight. A cabin sat nestled in between the boughs of the trees, and Juho practically dragged himself to the door, leaning against the wall beside it with exhaustion. He banged on the wood with his knuckles, hearing a soft murmuring of voices inside.
After a moment of stillness, where even the leaves and bushes seemed to stop rippling with the wind and hold their breath, the door creaked open.
"Hello?"
Juho looked to the door with wide, pleading eyes. Without even saying a word, a boy with curly brown hair grabbed his arm and dragged him inside, sitting him down immediately at a small kitchen table. The prince looked around worriedly, noticing six other boys lounging around the small cabin besides the first, who snapped his fingers to garner Juho's attention.
"Who are you?" The first boy questioned, before noticing the tears still lodged in the prince's eyes. "Oh. Oh! That's no good. Here, uh," the boy lifted his sleeve, gently rubbing Juho's eyes with it. "Don't cry, it's alright."
Feeling as though he couldn't hold himself up any more, Juho fell forward against the stranger, exhausted.
The boy caught him, looking up with panic at the other six. They were all watching, concern evident throughout the room.
The youngest piped up, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall, "is he dead?"
Another, with longer hair than the others, frowned. "You can't ask things like that, Chanhee!"
Chanhee stamped his foot on the ground, pointing at the scene in the kitchen. "So you're telling me that he looks alive to you!?"
"I never said-"
"-so it seems you agree with me-"
"Enough!"
The two jumped at the voice of the boy in the kitchen, who carried Juho back to the main room. Seven beds were pressed up against the wall, and he set the prince on the nearest one. "He's asleep."
"What a peculiar place to fall asleep," Chanhee remarked, rolling his eyes. "Youngbin, where do you plan on sleeping?"
"Probably on the floor?" Youngbin shrugged, settling the prince underneath the blankets.
And so he did.
The prince woke up in the morning, awfully confused on where he was until he remembered the situation he had found himself in the day before. Once again, his eyes welled with tears at the memory of his stepmother and Yugyeom. He wiped at them angrily, sniffling.
The group whom had taken him in the night before had abandoned the home, and Juho worried over staying or leaving. Though, knowing he had nowhere else to go, he went around and tidied up the home, working to distract himself from the situation.
Somebody knocked at the door, and Juho hurried to answer it, wiping his hands absently on a rag he'd been using prior to scrub the floor. He recognized the man as a travelling merchant whom often visited his own kingdom in the past, and prayed that he wouldn't recognize him. Though, with looks such as his, how could somebody forget him?
The man offered him clothing made of silk, and Juho politely declined, sending him off on his way.
When the sun set and the moon was high, the seven returned. Youngbin was pleased to see that Juho was still there, and immediately introduced himself and the others. Juho found himself enamored by the group, and was eternally grateful when they offered him to stay with them until he could find a place for himself.
They warned him to stay away from the doors, and not to let anybody in or let anybody see him, since his stepmother could find out he was still alive. Juho thought worriedly back to the travelling merchant, but shook off the memory, telling himself that the man wasn't going towards his home.
Unfortunately, while Juho slept alongside one of the companions he'd made that night, Jaeyoon, the merchant arrived in the kingdom, telling everyone of 'the fairest man of them all' in the forest. It took no time for the word to spread that the missing prince was still alive, and the queen was enraged that Yugyeom had decieved her.
Knowing her stepson was still alive, she planned a trip to the cabin in the forest.
In the morning, Juho saw the seven off as they went off to work, and he once again began to clean the home. Though, he had already scrubbed it spotless the night before, there was still work to be done, and he began to occupy himself with further menial tasks.
A knock on the door once again shook Juho from his work, and he approached the window cautiously, opening it. He noticed a woman with her face covered by a scarf and hood, and, not realizing it was his stepmother, called out to her.
"What are you doing here?"
She explained that she was another travelling merchant, and Juho hesitantly closed the window and went to the door to speak more openly with her. She offered him a necklace made of emerald and ruby, and though he didn't have much money, he bought it from her.
As she helped him put it on, she yanked on the ends and would not ease up until he fell to the ground, hands posed frozenly above his throat to rip off the necklace.
The queen left after making sure he was still, satisfied that once again, she was sure to be the fairest.
In the evening, the group returned home and ran immediately to Juho. They sliced the necklace from around his throat, and slowly, his chest began to rise and fall with breath once again. His eyes fluttered open, and Chanhee, though he had shown the prince nothing but disrespect the entirety of the time they'd known each other, sighed in relief and helped him to his feet.
The group went off to bed, but Juho found himself unable to sleep. He brought a basket of clothes outside and began to fold them, finding the silence and fresh air comforting.
A woman wandered through the clearing on her way to the kingdom, noticing the boy. Juho did not notice the awestruck woman, however, and she hurried on her way, not forgetting about him for one step of the way to the town.
When he finished folding the clothes, he made his way back inside and crawled into bed beside Inseong, since his was the closest bed to where he was at the time. Inseong opened an eye, saying nothing as he lifted up the blanket to allow the other to get warmer, moving over to give him space.
Once again, as the prince slept, the kingdom was alerted of his state, and the queen was furious as she concocted her next plan on how to kill her stepson. She created a posioned comb using a spell from a book on witchcraft in the castle library, and slept comfortably, knowing in the morning she would be back on her way to the cabin in the forest.
As the sun rose, Juho found himself at a loss of what to do during the day. The seven made their way off to work, once again warning the boy not to open the door and to stay safe.
Juho found a book underneath Youngkyun's bed, and sat at the kitchen table for most of the day as he read it, lips parted in concentration as he made sure to read every single word individually on the page, taking in everything slowly so he could enjoy it for longer. When a knock came at the door, he frowned, standing up to peek outside the window once again. A woman was again standing at the door, but this was not Juho's stepmother. At least, she didn't look like her, as the queen had disguised herself thoroughly as to avoid him realizing. He called out to her, wringing his hands together nervously.
"Who are you?"
She looked upon him and smiled, waving a basket of wares gently. "I'm a travelling merchant."
"I'm not allowed to let anybody in," he continued, moving to shut the window.
"Oh, but it's alright!" She jumped to show off the comb, which immediately caught Juho's attention. It shone in the light, glistening sweetly with the poison Juho didn't know made up the object. Cautiously, he made his way to the door.
She sold him the comb and offered to brush his hair with it for him, to which he agreed, and stooped down to allow her to. As soon as the teeth carded through his hair, he fell back onto the floor and writhed until his knees were pressed to his chest, and, believing he was dead, the queen left, once again believing she was the fairest again.
Though, something didn't seem right, and so when she arrived home she planned one more trip to the cabin. To accompany her this time, she found an apple and cut off its stem before injecting it with poison. She settled it inside her basket, along with many others, and went off to bed, weary from her travels.
When the seven returned home, they didn't expect to see Juho laying on the ground, eyes scrunched with pain and his lips seemingly forced into an eternal grimace. Taeyang dropped to his knees and pulled the comb from his hair, and Sanghyuk ran to the kitchen to grab the prince a glass of water.
And once again, Juho opened his eyes tiredly, the tense lines that sprung up from his pain fading away as his body fought off the rest of the poison in his system.
He fell asleep that night next to Youngkyun, the two of them finishing the book that Juho had been reading earlier that day together.
Sanghyuk woke Juho early that day to explain to him, very thoroughly, to not allow anybody into the house. That he was forbidden to buy anything, and that for good measure, he should stay away from the windows and door as well. Juho agreed, and soon said farewell to the group as they left to return to work.
He sat idly on the edge of Taeyang's bed, before laying down to rest a bit more before the group came home.
Soft knocking on the door awoke him, and he stayed still, waiting for it to go away.
However, after a minute of nonstop knocking, he made his way to the window and pushed it open, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He completely forgot about his promise to Sanghyuk, leaning forward onto the sill.
"Hello?"
A woman smiled at him, most of her face concealed by the cloak she was wearing. "Hello!"
Juho worriedly went to shut the window, but the woman spoke before he could, and he grumbled to himself as he opted to listen to her.
She showed off the apples she was selling and offered him one, and, seeing nothing wrong with an apple, he opened the window further and took one from her. He found it odd that it had no stem, but the woman took one for herself and bit into it, so he assumed his was fine as well.
The moment he took a bite and his lips brushed the broken skin of the fruit, his eyes began to drift shut and he fell against the wall, sinking down to the floor. The apple fell from his fingertips and rolled across the kitchen, settling finally against one of the table legs.
The queen left the cabin, finally knowing that she was the most beautiful once again in the kingdom.
The seven returned to find Juho unresponsive underneath the open window, only assuming the worst when he wouldn't wake up. Taeyang gently raised him up into his arms, setting him down into his bed. A storm was raging outside, leaving the eight locked in the house until the clouds decided to dissipate.
Juho's chest rose and fell, but no matter what the group did, he would not wake up.
Inseong pointed out that it seemed as if even the heavens were mourning the loss of the prince, and Sanghyuk yelled at him to be quiet. The seven didn't speak after that.
Hours later, as the thunder and lightning still cracked and reigned down outside, a swift rapping against the door dragged the group out of their stupor. Sanghyuk frowned, crossing his arms. "I'm not getting it."
Taeyang refused to leave Juho's side. Chanhee had fallen asleep next to Taeyang, and Youngkyun wouldn't look up from the floor. Youngbin opened the door, and invited somebody inside.
A tall man with black hair entered the room, water dripping down from his hair and clothes and onto the clean floor. The group watched him, and he watched them, caution on everyone's features besides Juho.
"Hello," he started, slowly kneeling. "I'm prince Seokwoo. I'm seeking refuge here for the night."
Nobody opposed, and he slowly made his way to the side of the bed when he'd noticed Juho laying there.
At this point, Chanhee had awoken and glared at the man the closer he came, Taeyang needing to hold him back from doing something rash when Seokwoo was knelt beside them.
"What happened?" He whispered, a hand gently moving up to brush aside the hair falling in front of Juho's face, which framed it beautifully. He frowned, the back of his hand carresing the prince's cheek. Juho shifted at the touch, turning towards him. His eyes stayed shut, however, but the group watched the interaction, nobody saying anything since whatever the prince was doing was working.
Hesitantly, Seokwoo moved his hand down to wrap around Juho's, fingers slowly intertwining. Juho's followed suit.
As if he'd been possessed by something, Seokwoo slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Juho's. The group watched in a stunned silence as their guest kissed their friend, extremely suddenly and without having even ever saying a word to Juho.
Thunder clapped from outside, and Taeyang tightened his grip around Chanhee when the younger tried to yank himself away to hit the prince in front of him. And, albeit an odd interaction, Juho's eyes slowly fluttered open, gaze resting immediately on the stranger in front of him. The two seemed locked onto each other, neither saying a word or moving. They were frozen in place. Shyly, Juho smiled, fingers tightening around Seokwoo's. Seokwoo smiled back, biting the corner of his lip awkwardly.
Jaeyoon sighed in relief from behind them, and breaking the silence, Youngbin jumped up and practically shouted with joy. Juho startled, sitting up to look at them.
Seokwoo leaned back, keeping their hands together tightly.
Slowly standing up from the bed, Juho shakily gained his balance and wrapped his arms tightly around Seokwoo's shoulders. "You saved me," he whispered, just loudly enough for the two of them to hear. He knelt against Seokwoo, head resting on the man's shoulder.
Seokwoo nodded, not understanding yet the pain Juho had endured in the last few days, but kept his grip tight around the prince. Juho clung to him weakly. Seokwoo made sure to keep his arm around the other firm, letting him know he was there for him, allowing Juho to fall against him fully.
"I'll keep you safe."
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