Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At some point in the course of the universe, something shifted in the opposite direction of what it was intended. All of the conditions were perfect for Seungmin and Hyunjin to turn into tragic heroes heard only in the fairytales. 

Seungmin was an orphan, left on the steps of the castle, taken in by the royal family as a playmate to their youngest son, the Crown Prince. He was the first human magic-welder in a hundred years, said to have great power. He was The Chosen One. 

Hyunjin was the Crown Prince, known for having the most beautiful face in all the land. There was a prophecy made on the day of his birth. According to the witch who spoke of the prophecy, Hyunjin would be the key to bringing lasting peace to the land. Through true love, of course.

Seungmin, based on his backstory, should snap at one point and turn on his best friend, the prince. And Hyunjin, based on his backstory, should eventually be able to find true love and use it to defeat the evil, powerful sorcerer that Seungmin should turn into.

And, of course, all of this should happen on someone’s sixteenth birthday, though no one could ever decide if it would be Hyunjin’s or Seungmin’s, since they were the same age. The entire kingdom went into a twenty-four-hour period of terror around both of their birthdays, expecting some catastrophic event.

(By the way, no one outside of the royal family was supposed to know about the prophecy, but in this Northern Kingdom, that loosely translated to everyone outside the royal family knowing about the prophecy)

Regardless, both sixteenth birthdays came and went, and there were no dramatic betrayals or sudden true love’s first kiss (though a good chunk of the kingdom had a theory that the two of them would end up kissing each other and wreck havoc that way). Seungmin and Hyunjin were as thick as thieves and about as normal as all other teenagers in the land.

That was extremely unfortunate, because the two of them were mischievous pranksters who preferred to ignore authority and do whatever they pleased. 

This summer, though, they were about to pull their biggest trick yet. 

You see, the king and the queen planned to marry Hyunjin off to the princess of the Southern Kingdom. It was supposed to be a surprise so Hyunjin wouldn’t resist it, but the two of them had discovered the network of secret passageways within the castle and had secretly been listening in on almost every single conversation made in the throne room for years. 

“Oooh, you think this will be the beginning of the prophecy?” Hyunjin had widened his eyes in mockery at Seungmin, then rolled his eyes. “What a joke. Like I’ll ever fall in love with a princess.”

“That’s okay, you can just ignore her and do whatever you want,” Seungmin had said. “Besides, arranged marriages aren’t done out of love anyway.”

Hyunjin had just shrugged it off before saying, “Wanna pretend to be ghosts in the walls and freak out the staff?”

Now, however, they both stood on one of the balconies, overlooking the streams of staff making trip after trip in and out of the castle, loading up everything they would need for the next three months into the train of carriages parked out front. Seungmin felt a bit of remorse for the staff who had to carry both his and Hyunjin’s trunks, since Seungmin had tried to pack light but had gotten carried away with all the books he wanted to take (summer meant leisure reading time) and Hyunjin was…Hyunjin. He practically packed his entire room into five trunks. Maybe they could hide themselves in the trunks and ship themselves back to the Northern Kingdom to avoid the princess of the Southern Kingdom.

That was hardly realistic, though.

“Maybe we can figure out a way to get rid of her,” Seungmin said.

Hyunjin turned to arch an eyebrow at him, his eyes narrowed against the sunlight. 

Seungmin shrugged. “Just a thought. What if you were so disgusting and obnoxious and rude to her that she had no choice but to go to her father and demand an end to the engagement?”

“You know I can’t act mean to save my life,” Hyunjin said with a sigh. “I can’t be blatantly rude to someone. It makes me feel so awful afterwards. Like I’m dying inside. Not to mention how I relive those moments for years.”

“It’s not that hard,” Seungmin said, shrugging. “You just have to not care.”

“Easy for you to say—you don’t have to care what people think about you.” 

Well, Seungmin did have to worry, because one wrong step meant that he really was as evil as everyone expected him to be, but he didn’t tell Hyunjin that. 

“If I could do it for you, I would,” Seungmin said.

Hyunjin gave him a grateful smile before facing forward again. Seungmin faced forward as well, and the two of them went back to watching the staff load the carriages.

Several moments passed before both of their eyes widened as they said in unison, “Wait.”

Both of them turned to each other, twin looks of mischief on their faces. 

“What if I could do it for you?” Seungmin said. 

“We could trade places and you could pretend to be me,” Hyunjin said. 

“And it would work because the Southern Kingdom has no idea what you look like!”

“And you’ve grown up with me so you know everything there is to being a prince. Well, not everything, but enough.”

Seungmin snorted as he tilted his head to one side. “Are you kidding? I do know everything there is to being a prince.”

“Agree to disagree.” Hyunjin smirked. 

“Agree that I’m right.” Because Seungmin was always right, and if he wasn’t, well, no one needed to know that. 

At that moment, they were summoned to the front steps, since it was finally time to depart.

“We need to come up with a more concrete plan,” Hyunjin said as they headed down. “Make sure that it is so fool-proof that no one will be able to figure it out.”

“We’ll have to get all the servants in on this,” Seungmin said. 

Hyunjin snorted and waved the thought aside. “Easy. Everyone loves to be apart of a grand scheme.”

“And, y’know, they can be bought.”

Hyunjin sighed. “Yes, unfortunately they can.”

Hyunjin could hardly contain his excitement when he bid his father and mother goodbye, though Seungmin wished he had toned it down a bit. He was supposed to be sad, not excited that he got to go off for the summer and marry some princess he had never met before. But Hyunjin was never good at hiding his emotions, and he became extremely excited whenever he and Seungmin had a trick in mind. Seungmin was honestly surprised that Hyunjin’s transparency hadn’t gotten them caught numerous times before.

The trip was five days of travel by carriage, so they had that long to come up with the perfect, fool-proof plan and get the staff involved. Luckily, they had a small number of servants accompanying them—only a few personal servants, some cooking staff, a handful of guards, the drivers, and two heads-of-staff to overlook everyone. It would be easy to convince them all to join their scheme. Though, it might be a bit more difficult to keep the two heads-of-staff from reporting this all to Hyunjin’s father, the king. And they definitely would if they knew that Hyunjin and Seungmin were trying to sabotage a political affair. 

It took one day to get the whole staff to agree, and another two to get the two heads-of-staff on board. Seungmin and Hyunjin had to resort to several different types of bribery in the form of gold, food, a handful of jewels, and ownership of one of Hyunjin’s favorite horses. But hey, it was either this or marrying some princess. Besides, Hyunjin always liked his dogs better (which he had had to leave behind in the care of his twin sister, Princess Yeji).

The journey went by agonizingly slowly, and Hyunjin even asked Seungmin if he could just teleport them all to the Southern Kingdom to cut the journey short. But Seungmin refused, partially because his magic really wasn’t that powerful (it was practically nonexistent at times), and partially because the Southern Kingdom hated magic. In fact, they were the reason why magic had all but disappeared in the human population and why the witches and faeries had gone into hiding. The Southern witch hunts were some of the bloodiest conquests in history. 

Seungmin told Hyunjin all of this on the ride there, to which Hyunjin arched an eyebrow and asked, “Did you swallow a textbook or something?”

Seungmin sighed. “No, but I did reread that section on witch hunts so many times that I’ve practically committed it all to memory.”

There was a snort and then, “Ha, nerd.”

Seungmin also reminded Hyunjin that the Southern Kingdom was a traditionalist kingdom that only accepted male and female relationships and nothing else, which was a bit of a hinderance to both of them. 

“Relax, it’s not like I’m going to run off with some servant boy,” Hyunjin said with a wave of his hand and a charming grin. “Or, if I do, I’m not stupid enough to get caught.”

Seungmin just gave him an unamused look, knowing full well the truth to that statement. But if all went according to plan, the royal family would be so annoyed and possibly disgusted with them that they would call off the marriage and send them home early. Seungmin and Hyunjin would then be able to spend the rest of their summer in peace, where Seungmin would read books all day and Hyunjin would become so bored that he bugged Seungmin to pay attention to him. 

It would all work out in the end. Seungmin was sure of it. 

And then he met the royal family of the Southern Kingdom. 

* * * 

Everything was fine until that moment. 

The carriages arrived in the front of the Southern Castle, which was positioned on the top of some white cliffs overlooking a beautiful, turquoise sea. The castle itself was made out of white stone, all smooth and curved edges accented with gold and blue embellishments here and there. It had wide steps leading to the front doors, where the royal family and their staff of servants waited for them. Members of the royal guard stood along the edges of the stairs, their golden armor gleaming in the warm, summer sun, their blue capes billowing from the warm, summer breeze.

Hyunjin mumbled something like, “It’s go time.” Then he patted Seungmin on the shoulder and gave him a smug smile as one of their footmen opened the door of the carriage. Seungmin took a deep breath and stepped out, dressed in Hyunjin’s clothing. He squinted against the sunlight, seeming to be even more blinding against the white stone of the place, while he was immediately annoyed at the breeze that ruffled his carefully-combed hair. 

He wanted to tell the royal family that placing a castle on the top of some cliffs was a bad idea, because that meant it was always going to be windy there no matter what. And the white stone? So bland and blinding. But, he could wait until dinner to insult them on their architectural tastes. 

Now, however, he had more important issues to deal with. Squaring his shoulders, he strode forward and up the steps. The guards and Hyunjin fell in-step behind him. Seungmin focused only on putting one foot in front of the other, when suddenly the steps had run out, and he was standing only two steps lower than the king and queen of the Southern Kingdom.

Someone from the Southern Kingdom’s staff announced, “Your Majesties, Prince Hyunjin of the Northern Kingdom.”

That was definitely going to take some getting used to. 

Seungmin bowed anyways, doing his best impression of the countless times he had seen Hyunjin bow and, if he allowed himself to say so, absolutely nailing it. 

“Your Majesties,” Seungmin said to the king and queen. “It is a true honor to be welcomed to your beautiful home as your guest.”

He heard Hyunjin snort and then quickly turn it into a cough behind him, but Seungmin stared straight ahead and kept the polite expression on his face. Even though he really wanted to smack Hyunjin right now. 

“Welcome,” the king said. “It is our honor to host you.”

Seungmin just smiled and bowed his head in reply, again in perfect mimicry of how Hyunjin used to deal with guests back home. 

The king gestured to the young girl standing next to him. “My daughter, Chaeryeong.”

Seungmin blinked, thinking she looked much too young to be married off. She was beautiful, in a girlish way, but her cheeks were still rounded with baby fat, and her eyes seemed too wide and innocent. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” Seungmin said, and the princess lifted her hand. 

Oh, god, Seungmin thought right before he forced himself to take her hand and kiss the back of it. He cringed internally at himself, wondering how the hell Hyunjin did this every day without dying a bit inside. 

He smiled at Princess Chaeryeong anyways, but she didn’t smile in reply. 

“I trust your journey was well?” the queen asked. 

“Yes, indeed,” Seungmin said, straightening as he clasped his hands behind his back. 

She gave a curt nod, her pursed lips telling him that she could care less. “You must be exhausted from your journey. Please, allow our son to show you your chambers.”

Seungmin gave a graceful nod in reply as one of the other members of the family stepped forward. Seungmin glanced at him and couldn’t help arching an eyebrow. If he had thought Chaeryeong looked young, the prince seemed even younger. 

“If you’ll kindly follow me,” the prince said, smiling at Seungmin.

“We shall see you tonight, at the ball,” the king told Seungmin. 

“I look forward to it, Your Majesty,” Seungmin replied. Then, with one last bow, he followed the young prince up the rest of the stairs and through the open doors of the castle. Out of the staff, only Hyunjin followed Seungmin, while a trio of guards followed the prince. 

The prince turned to give Seungmin a dimpled smile, saying, “My name’s Jeongin.”

“A bit informal of an introduction, don’t you think?” Seungmin said. 

“My father and mother hope that we’ll become friends due to our closeness in age,” Jeongin replied. 

Seungmin arched an eyebrow, unable to keep himself from snorting this time. “Is that so? You look like you’re barely older than fourteen.”

“I’m barely a year younger than you,” Jeongin scoffed. 

“And there’s the teenage angst,” Hyunjin said, smirking.

Jeongin turned an unamused look on Hyunjin, who continued to smirk back. “And you are?”

“You can call me Seungmin,” Hyunjin said, and Seungmin felt himself die a little more inside.

“Are you the prince’s personal servant?”

Hyunjin practically choked on his spit. “God, no.”

When Jeongin narrowed his eyes at him, Seungmin said coolly, “He is my best friend and personal tutor.” When Hyunjin looked at him, Seungmin smirked and said, “Though, my intellect is far superior than his, so it’s more as if I tutor him.”

“Excuse you, Your Highness,” Hyunjin said.

“I am excused,” Seungmin said. 

When Jeongin just blinked at them, Seungmin explained, “We grew up together.”

“Ah.” Jeongin looked straight ahead as he led them through the halls and up the stairs. He didn’t speak to them the rest of the way, that is, until Hyunjin decided to break the silence.

“Your Highness,” he said. “Prince Jeongin.”

“Yes?” Jeongin’s voice was curt. 

“Forgive me if this is a bit intrusive, but why do you have a set of guards following your every move throughout your own castle?” Hyunjin looked over his shoulder at the three guards for emphasis, then turned forward. “Seems a bit much.”

“You must excuse him, his curiosity and stupidity gets the best of him sometimes,” Seungmin said. 

“And you must excuse Prince Hyunjin, for he sometimes thinks too highly himself and needs to be brought back down to earth,” Hyunjin said without missing a beat. 

Seungmin smirked at that. 

“But really, three guards?” Hyunjin said. 

“Per my father’s request,” Jeongin said.

“You must face many threats on a daily basis.”

Jeongin hesitated for a beat too long before saying, “It comforts him knowing that his only son is protected.”

He stopped in front of a set of doors and turned to Seungmin. “Here we are. Your chambers.”

“I don’t suppose you know where my chambers are?” Hyunjin peeked over Seungmin’s shoulder at Jeongin. 

Jeongin looked him right in the eye and said, “No.”

“A shame.” Hyunjin gave him a smile. 

Jeongin looked at Seungmin. “To celebrate your arrival, my father has planned a masquerade ball for this evening.”

“Sounds lovely,” Seungmin lied. “We shall be there.”

Jeongin blinked. “We?”

“I shall be attending as well,” Hyunjin said. 

“Oh,” is all Jeongin said. 

“We hope that doesn’t cause too much distress?” Seungmin smiled at Jeongin. 

“No, of course not,” Jeongin said. He paused from leaving to give Hyunjin an appraising look, to which Hyunjin smiled a bit too flirty. Jeongin looked away. “The more the merrier.” Then he walked away, his three guards right on his heels. Seungmin glanced at the three guards, unable to keep himself from smirking at how one of them seemed much shorter than the other two. 

Once Jeongin and his guards were gone, Seungmin stepped into his chambers (which weren’t as mind-blowing as Hyunjin’s back at home), took one look at Hyunjin, and then burst into laughter. The two of them laughed completely without shame, the sound echoing in the empty chambers. 

“Oh my god this is going to be fun,” Hyunjin said in between giggles. “I mean, it’s already fun.”

“You already annoyed the prince!” Seungmin said, grinning. 

“Did you think I was flirting a little too much? I think I was laying it on a bit too thick.”

“No, it was hilarious. That glare he gave you—oh my god.” Seungmin laughed again, and Hyunjin did that thing where he smacked Seungmin’s arm repeatedly from laughing so hard. 

“And, just our luck—there’s a masquerade ball tonight.” Hyunjin grinned at Seungmin when their laughter had died down. “I hope you know that we’re going in identical outfits.”

“Oh, naturally,” Seungmin said. 

Hyunjin gave one laugh laugh before turning to look at Seungmin’s set of rooms. He made a face, saying, “Aw, man, you get a balcony?”

* * * 

Changbin didn’t really know what he expected from the prince and his entourage from the Northern Kingdom, but he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. The prince was just as clean-cut and stiff and pretentious as Changbin expected. The only thing about him that seemed slightly out of place was his hair and that was only due to the wind, though Changbin found amusement in it nonetheless. He was already looking forward to the fact that the bastard would never be able to have perfect hair again for the few months spent here on top of the windy cliffs. 

The prince’s best friend or tutor or personal manservant or whatever was a bit of a different story. He seemed interesting enough, but a bit too obnoxious for Changbin’s tastes. And all too bold. 

Though, Changbin assumed he was one to talk.

“Permission to speak freely, Your Highness?” Jisung asked Jeongin. They had just dropped the prince and his BFF off and were now on their way out to the garden, Jeongin’s favorite place to spend his time. 

“No,” Jeongin said.

“Permission for Chan to speak freely, Your Highness?” Jisung tried instead. Chan blinked in surprise, like he had just snapped out of some sort of daze that he always went into when he had to act like some disinterested guard. He looked at Jisung, confused as to why Jisung was dragging him into this. 

“No,” Jeongin said, though he was clearly fighting a smile. 

Jisung was starting to smile too. “Permission for Changbin to speak freely, Your Highness?”

“Oh, sure.”

“What?” 

Changbin couldn’t help laughing at that, and Jeongin grinned too. 

“I’m just kidding,” Jeongin said to Jisung, who looked betrayed. “Besides, like you’d even shut up if I told you to.”

“I can be quiet when I need to,” Jisung said. “Like just now when we were escorting the prince and his manservant.”

“Best friend,” Chan corrected. 

“Whatever.” Jisung waved the thought aside. “I kept all of my sarcastic remarks to myself and I need to let them out. With your permission, of course.”

“Oh, my permission?” Jeongin snorted as they reached his favorite spot by a tiny fountain in the corner of the gardens. He sat on one of the stone benches while the three guards automatically arranged themselves at three points—one behind (Chan), and one on either side of the bench (Jisung and Changbin). Changbin happened to be turned to the side so he could see Jeongin and the area behind Chan at the same time. 

“I am just curious as to what His Highness’s opinion of the prince is,” Jisung said with an innocent smile.

Jeongin shrugged. “Too soon to tell, I guess? He and his friend seem very close.”

“And a bit rude,” Jisung said. 

“They seemed too bold and not polite enough,” Changbin said. 

“Well, I did tell Prince Hyunjin that we should act more naturally,” Jeongin said. “But if they speak so freely like that around my parents, there might be some problems.”

“An understatement, I believe,” Jisung said. He grinned. “I look forward to it.”

Jeongin smirked, then said, “I think that’s enough talking for now, Jisung.”

“I will do my best to stay silent, Your Highness,” Jisung replied. 

And, of course, he stayed silent for a solid three minutes before he started talking again.

* * * 

Hyunjin wasn’t one to be jealous, but after seeing the set of rooms that Seungmin, aka “Prince Hyunjin,” would be staying in, he couldn’t help the wave of disgust and jealousy that swelled up in him when he compared them to the rooms in which he would be staying. 

With two roommates. Hyunjin had never had a roommate in his life.

One of his roommates, Minho, snorted when he saw Hyunjin’s expression at their cramped quarters. “Not the luxury suite you were expecting, hm?”

“It’s just a bit small,” Hyunjin replied, frowning at how there was barely a foot of space in between their cots. 

That was another thing—they had cots. Their mattresses were stuffed with straw. Hyunjin wasn’t entirely sure how sanitary these living conditions were.

“This is pretty big, actually,” Minho said. 

Hyunjin looked at him in horror. “It is?”

Minho nodded, entirely serious, but then their other roommate, Felix, entered and said, “No, it isn’t, he’s just messing with you.”

Hyunjin couldn’t help sighing in relief as Felix set his personal trunk on the floor in front of his bed. Hyunjin’s things had been brought to Seungmin’s room…while Seungmin’s things had been brought to Hyunjin’s. Seungmin had always packed lighter than Hyunjin and only had two trunks, but Hyunjin was incredibly annoyed to find that one of them was entirely stuffed with books instead of anything of use. 

“So, just to clarify, do we still have to speak formally to you?” Minho flopped onto his own cot and watched with amusement as Hyunjin figured out what to do with Seungmin’s things. 

“No,” Hyunjin said. “And, if possible, try to call me Seungmin.”

“Okay, Seungmin,” Felix said, only to shudder a moment later. “Nope, no, I don’t like that.” 

“It’ll definitely take some getting used to,” Hyunjin agreed. He decided to put Seungmin’s trunk of books on the bottom and stack the actual useful trunk on the top. 

“Why are you doing this again?” Minho frowned. “Seems a bit much to me.”

“How would you feel if you had to marry someone you’ve never met?”

“Depends if they’re attractive or not.”

Hyunjin blinked at that, and Minho gave him a flirty smile. “Okay, well, what if they weren’t?” Hyunjin asked. 

“Well, apparently she is, so…” Minho shrugged. 

Hyunjin was faltering, but luckily Felix once again came to his rescue. 

“She’s a girl, so automatically Minho would be against it,” Felix said with a smirk. “He’s so gay he can barely function.”

“Hey!” Minho looked slightly offended.

Hyunjin sighed. “Me too, Minho, me too.”

“I guess it also depends on if there was someone else in the picture,” Felix said.

Hyunjin paused, wondering where Felix was going with this.

Minho was back to giving Hyunjin a shit-eating smile. “Oh, is this possibly because the prince is in love with his best friend, hm?” He wiggled his eyebrows. 

Hyunjin blinked at him, taking several moments to comprehend what he meant, only to exclaim, “Wait, what? You think I’m in love with Seungmin?”

“Hyunjin, in this case,” Felix said.

“He’s in love with himself—that makes so much sense!” Minho laughed.

“No, no, no!” Hyunjin shook his head and gestured for them to stop. “That’s not what this is at all! Seungmin—er, ‘Prince Hyunjin’—and I are just friends.” Hyunjin was a bit revolted at the mere thought of dating or even kissing Seungmin. They were practically brothers at this point and nothing else. 

“A shame,” Minho said. “Everyone in the staff thinks the two of you are secretly together.”

“We’re not,” Hyunjin said. “Seriously, we’re not.”

“Guess you lost that bet, Minho,” Felix said with a grin. 

“Oh well.” Minho sighed and fell backwards onto his cot. 

Hyunjin paused again, turning it over in his mind. He pursed his lips before asking Felix in a small voice, “The entire staff…?”

“Oh, yeah, everyone placed a huge bet on it on your sixteenth birthdays,” Felix said. 

“That was three years ago and nothing happened, though.”

“Yeah, I heard one of the heads-of-staff won the whole pot because he was the only one who insisted that you guys were ‘just friends’.” Felix smirked. 

“Rich motherfucker,” Minho scoffed, making Hyunjin gape at him for such language. 

Felix just smirked and patted Hyunjin on the shoulder on his way out the door. “You’re gonna get to know your staff so well over these next few months, Your Highness.” Then he laughed and left Hyunjin standing there in bewilderment. 

* * * 

The masquerade ball was held in the ballroom, which was decorated for the occasion with blue, white, and gold ribbons and flowers and decorations all throughout the cavernous room. Seungmin and Hyunjin made sure to arrive fashionably late (which was actually because Hyunjin was just late in general and unused to dressing himself for such occasions, so he took forever). The moment they stepped into the room, Seungmin was overwhelmed at the grandeur of it. Everyone went all-out on their costumes, where their masks were nothing short of complete works of art. They had beads that clacked together and feathers that rose like a bird’s plumage above their heads and jewels that sparkled. Not one mask was identical, and Seungmin caught himself smiling in spite of himself at the sight before him. Even the servants who balanced gleaming golden trays with practiced ease as they slipped through the crowd, the guards patrolling the edges, and the musicians playing in the corner all had masks. Theirs were much simpler, but each one was still unique. 

While the point of the ball was to conceal individual identities, it was clear who the royal family were by their presence alone. They sat on the dais, watching the guests spin around on the ballroom floor in a myriad of colors. 

“Do you want to pretend to be yourself tonight?” Seungmin asked Hyunjin as they made their way to the dais. They had deliberately dressed identically, both wearing all white with similar—but not identical—white masks. While Seungmin’s was simple and flourished only with bits of gold and a single flower in one corner, Hyunjin’s was half-gold and decorated with feathers that flared out on one side as well. 

“No, I don’t have any interest in dancing with the princess all night,” Hyunjin said. He smirked at Seungmin, his eyes full of mischief under his mask. “It’s the perfect opportunity for you to make a fool out of yourself and embarrass her.”

“Oh, I have plenty of good ideas,” Seungmin said.

“Oh? Care to share? Besides your terrible dancing, of course.”

“One might involve accidentally tipping a tray full of food or drink onto her.” Seungmin glanced at Hyunjin slyly.

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows. “Minnie, you clever bastard.”

Seungmin smirked and winked at him as they reached the dais. The king and queen immediately looked at him and Hyunjin. The two of them bowed, with Seungmin saying, “Your Majesties.”

The king merely nodded in acknowledgement before his eyes went back to watching the dancers. Seungmin allowed himself to look at Chaeryeong, who looked stunning in a blue ballgown with a low, straight neckline, billowed sleeves, and golden flowers woven into the skirt. Her mask was made entirely out of gold as well, and when she stepped closer after Seungmin asked her to dance, he saw that there was an intricate design of flowers woven together. Seungmin felt a bit of remorse knowing that he was going to have to embarrass her while they danced. 

Fortunately for him, it was more natural than anything. For starters, Seungmin was not the best dancer. He knew some dances, but he wasn’t as graceful on his feet as Hyunjin. So, naturally, he stumbled a few times and stepped on Chaeryeong’s feet, always rushing to apologize, to which she responded stiffly every time, “It’s fine.” She still danced with him song after song, but Seungmin didn’t miss the way she glanced elsewhere the entire time, her eyes full of sadness and longing. He couldn’t help wondering who she was looking for. Suddenly that bit of remorse about embarrassing her later on in the evening came back. Embarrassing her didn’t seem right. 

At one point, he glanced around for Hyunjin but didn’t see him. He could only assume that Hyunjin was amusing himself by dancing with various partners. Hyunjin had always loved to dance. 

The night seemed to drag on and on. Finally, Seungmin’s feet were aching, and he was hungry and thirsty and just exhausted overall. He wanted to go back to his rooms and read. But in order to leave, he would have to find some way to embarrass Chaeryeong. 

He pulled her off to the side, scanning for one of the servants. Just his luck, one of them was heading towards them. At the rate they were walking, Seungmin was sure he could time it just right…

“A drink?” he asked Chaeryeong. “You must be parched.”

He swiped a drink from the servant’s tray, started to hand it to Chaeryeong, and let it tip forward out of his hand. The champagne spilled all the way down the front of her dress, making her gasp in surprise. 

“Oh no!” Seungmin said. “I am terribly sorry! Here, allow me— He turned to grab some cloth napkins off of the servant’s tray, then whirled around and deliberately flung the contents of his drink onto Chaeryeong. This time some ladies nearby and the servant all gasped as Chaeryeong flinched from more liquid soaking the front of her gown. 

“Oh, god,” Chaeryeong said, staring down at her dress, her lips twisting into a look of displeasure. 

“Let me help,” Seungmin said, reaching forward with the cloth napkins to dab at the fabric, which happened to be at the top of the bodice of her gown (done purposely). Chaeryeong looked up at him in horror and a bit of rage while the ladies nearby gasped again. She smacked his hand away and moved as though to smack him but restrained herself at the last moment. 

“Just leave it,” Chaeryeong snapped. She grabbed the cloth napkins from him.

“Stay right there, I’ll go look for more!” Seungmin said. 

“No, that’s not necessary—” Chaeryeong started to say, but Seungmin was already whirling around and slipping through the crowd. 

He darted through the different guests, nimbly dodged a servant with a tray, and slipped out one of the glass doors near the back of the ballroom. It led out to a small courtyard and then the gardens. Seungmin couldn’t help smirking to himself as he slowed his pace, shoved his hands in his pockets, and strolled along like nothing was amiss in the world. 

He still felt bad about Chaeryeong, but that was nothing compared to all the ways he had previously plotted to embarrass her. Now, he was free from the masquerade ball and could go back to his chambers to read in peace. 

As he reached up to undo the ribbon of his mask, he heard a voice behind him say, “Sir, this area is off-limits.”

Seungmin turned around at the same moment he pulled off the mask. He raised his eyebrows at the guard standing there, dressed in the same uniform and suit of armor from earlier that day. But this guard was without a mask. Seungmin took one look at his face and recognized him right away, if his short stature didn’t give him a clue. 

The guard paused, blinking in surprise when he saw Seungmin without his mask on. “Many apologies, Your Highness,” he said, giving a small bow, his gaze lowered. “I did not recognize you.”

“That’s kind of the point of wearing a mask to a masquerade ball,” Seungmin said, holding up his mask. 

“Then why, pray tell, are you not at the ball, Your Highness?” The guard straightened and arched an eyebrow at Seungmin.

“Oh, I got bored,” Seungmin replied. 

“I see.” The guard didn’t look amused. Seungmin smirked at him anyways, taking the opportunity to study his face. He had an interesting face, in Seungmin’s opinion—his face wasn’t conventionally attractive, due to the slightly larger nose and prominent chin and dull eyes, but his features somehow managed to work well together. If Seungmin wasn’t dead-set on getting out of this kingdom as quickly as possible, he would have even said he found the guard attractive and might have invested a bit more interest.

But, he had to remind himself, he was a prince in this scenario. He wasn’t his normal, free self. And princes—especially engaged princes—couldn’t indulge themselves in a common guard. 

Seungmin failed to notice, however, that while he was studying the guard’s face, the guard was also studying his. 

The guard seemed to snap out of it and cleared his throat. “Uh, this area is still off-limits tonight, Your Highness.”

Seungmin glanced around. “It’s just the garden. Shouldn’t the garden be open and free to anyone?”

“Just this section of the garden, Your Highness,” the guard replied. “It’s the queen’s garden. She doesn’t take kindly to visitors.”

“Well, why not? What’s in there?” Seungmin turned to look at the garden just beyond the path on which they stood. 

“No one knows except for the queen’s gardeners.”

Seungmin looked back at the guard, an eyebrow raised. “She has her own gardeners just for her garden?”

“Yes.” The guard tilted his head to one side. “Do you not have that in the Northern Kingdom, Your Highness?”

“Nope.” Seungmin smirked and looked back at the garden. “Let’s go in there.”

“What?” The guard looked surprised as Seungmin started walking towards one of the cobblestone paths that led through an arched hedge. “No, Your Highness, that’s not allowed.”

“Stop me, then,” Seungmin said over his shoulder. 

“Your Highness,” the guard said. Seungmin, admittedly, didn’t think this through, but he saw an opportunity to further annoy the royal family and had to take it. He only felt a bit bad about how this would reflect on the guard, but he was giving him an opportunity to stop him, wasn’t he?

When the guard didn’t reach out to stop him, Seungmin turned around and looked at him as he continued to walk backwards. “You’re curious, aren’t you?” Seungmin said. “You’re curious about what’s in this special garden.”

The guard’s brow furrowed as he glanced at the garden behind Seungmin. His hesitation made Seungmin grin. 

“Clearly, you were just doing your duty,” Seungmin said, making the guard’s eyes flick back to his. “You were on patrol when you saw the visiting prince walking into the forbidden garden and had to go into the garden in order to get him out. And then you just so happened to lose him in the garden and ended up wandering around for awhile until you did find him.” He shrugged. 

The guard squinted at him, but he looked more amused than anything. “Is that so, Your Highness.”

Seungmin just grinned at him before turning back around and walking into the garden. He heard the guard groan behind him, and then there was the sound of the crunching of gravel underfoot and the quiet clanking of the guard’s armor and sword as he followed Seungmin into the garden. 

“I never caught your name,” Seungmin said when the guard begrudgingly fell in-step behind him after they passed under the arched hedge. 

The guard hesitated for another moment, then sighed and said, “You can call me Changbin.”

“You were one of Jeongin’s personal guards, weren’t you?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You don’t have to call me that.”

“Then what do I call you, Your Highness?”

Seungmin almost slipped and said, Seungmin, but he managed to catch himself at the last moment. “Calling me by my name seems a bit too personal,” he said. “You don’t need to call me ‘Your Highness’ after every sentence. Just speak comfortably.”

“You don’t want me to speak comfortably, Your Highness,” Changbin said. 

“Now that you say that, I’m convinced that I do.” Seungmin smirked, already enjoying this way more than the stupid masquerade ball. He glanced around at the garden around them, which was filled with the faintest traces of fog. It was a bit eerie, wandering through a dark garden where the hedges and bushes appeared out of the darkness like mystical creatures from the stories Seungmin and Hyunjin used to read when they were kids. He jumped when a statue came out of the darkness, then forced himself to relax. And once he saw one statue, he kept seeing more. They were placed one after another in even intervals, all on pedestals so they loomed over him and Changbin as they walked past. 

He glanced at Changbin, who kept a blank expression on his face and stared straight ahead. 

“These statues are a bit…creepy,” Seungmin decided to say. 

Changbin glanced at the nearest statue, which happened to be a girl with a look of twisted agony on her face. He raised his eyebrows and quickly looked straight ahead. “No, not at all.”

“Can that sword hack through stone?” Seungmin pointed at the sword hanging in a sheath from Changbin’s belt. “Or is it just for decoration?”

“Only strong blades can hack through stone,” Changbin replied. 

“It’s just for decoration, isn’t it.”

“It is not just for decoration.”

“Do you know how to use it?”

“Of course I know how to use it.” Changbin shot Seungmin a look, then seemed to remember who he was talking to, and quickly arranged his features back into the blank, impassive expression. 

Seungmin, on the other hand, couldn’t help smirking. “How long have you been a guard?”

“Four years,” Changbin replied. 

“How old are you?”

“Twenty.”

“You’re only a year older than me. So you became a guard when you were sixteen years old?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“That seems kind of young to become a guard.” Seungmin frowned.

“It’s not so unusual,” Changbin replied. “My father was a guard. He started training me from a very young age, and then decided I was ready when I was sixteen.”

“So, in other words, you can definitely use that sword.”

Changbin sighed. “Yes. I can use many other weapons as well.”

“Fascinating.” Seungmin just smirked and looked straight ahead, where the hedges blocked their path, forcing them to take a left or a right. Seungmin was beginning to realize that this garden wasn’t just a garden—it was a maze. They decided to go to the left.

“Did your father teach you how to fight with a sword?” Changbin asked. 

Seungmin couldn’t help snorting. “Uh, no. I’m much more suited to sitting indoors and reading and analyzing difficult texts.”

Changbin just hummed at that. 

“I was actually on my way to my chambers to read,” Seungmin said. “I’d much rather be able to sit and read in peace than be at banquets or balls.”

“Unfortunately that is not what is expected from a crown prince.”

It wasn’t. Which was why Seungmin had never been jealous of all of Hyunjin’s duties and obligations whatsoever. Hyunjin loved going out and socializing with the people and the court. Seungmin loved staying in the library and reading all day. It worked out perfectly for them. 

“Perhaps I’m just a bit different, then,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin snorted at that. “Perhaps that’s a bit of an understatement.”

Seungmin looked at him in surprise, and Changbin’s eyes widened a fraction. 

“Forgive me, that was too bold,” Changbin said quickly. 

“No, it’s fine,” Seungmin said. “We encourage honesty and candid personalities in the Northern Kingdom.” That was stretching the truth a bit, but the king and queen certainly didn’t punish those of lower rank just for speaking. Regardless, he gave Changbin a flash of a smile, and to his delight, Changbin gave a half-smile in response. It wasn’t even a full smile, and yet Seungmin thought it made him much more handsome than having that frown. 

Then Changbin stopped walking, his face settling back into that frown. Except, he was frowning straight ahead at something, which made Seungmin look as well. 

They were in a small clearing in the garden, where the path circled around a large, elaborate statue at the center of a fountain. In the moonlight, Seungmin could just barely make out the figures, and he felt his stomach fall down, down, down to the depths of the earth below them.

It was a statue commemorating the victory of the witch-hunters. Seungmin could tell exactly who was who based on the billowing cloak and the chest-plate bearing the symbol of the Southern Kingdom of the soldier in the center, lifting his sword high in the air, while the bodies he stepped on had stone wings sprouting from their backs, the universal symbol of any witch or faerie. The moonlight cast shadows on their faces, making the soldier in the center look ghoulish. 

But what really bothered Seungmin was the fact that the soldier seemed to stare straight at him.

Changbin glanced at Seungmin, then at the statue. “That’s Yang Hyunsuk,” he said. “He’s one of our greatest heroes.”

“Is that so,” Seungmin tried to sound detached, but his voice came out hoarse and weak and small.

“He protected our kingdom from evil witches and faeries and continues to do so to this very day,” Changbin said, but without the usual air of pride like Seungmin expected. 

“You must look up to him,” Seungmin said.

“What?” Changbin looked at him, appalled. “Oh, no. No, no, I, uh—well, he is a very valiant and respectable warrior, but his methods are a bit…extreme for my tastes.”

“Oh.” Seungmin blinked at him in surprise.

“I don’t like that statue,” Changbin said. “It seems too creepy to me.”

“Agreed.” Seungmin exhaled. As he looked back at the statue, he found that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the soldier—from Yang Hyunsuk. An involuntary shiver moved through his body, snapping him out of it somewhat. “We should go back,” he said, quickly turning away from the statue. 

Changbin nodded, though he was now watching Seungmin’s face. Seungmin didn’t look at him as they walked away, though he glanced over his shoulder one last time. 

He could have sworn the soldier’s head moved. 

* * * 

When they stepped out of the garden, Seungmin felt overcome with exhaustion. It was late, much later than he usually stayed out. He turned to Changbin, about to say goodnight, when Changbin said, “I must escort you to your chambers.”

Seungmin couldn’t help smirking at that. “Wouldn’t want me sneaking off somewhere I shouldn’t and getting you in trouble, is that it?”

“It is my duty to make sure all guests feel safe,” Changbin replied.

For a moment Seungmin thought he was referring to the terrifying statue in the garden, but then Changbin added, “And to also make sure they don’t get me in trouble, yes.”
That still made Seungmin smile. “Well, come on, then.”

Changbin smirked back before following Seungmin down the path and into the castle. 

They didn’t speak as they walked through the halls at a leisurely pace. Seungmin was surprised at how comfortable he felt, walking with a complete stranger in silence like this. Usually strangers and small talk and silence made him feel like his skin was crawling. He had only known Changbin for maybe an hour, and yet he felt fine just walking with him like this. 

Part of that, he decided, was because he was so exhausted.

They stopped in front of Seungmin’s chambers, and Seungmin turned to look at Changbin, who looked back at him with the ghost of a smile on his face. 

“I hope I don’t get you in trouble,” Seungmin said. 

“Would you come to my aid if you did?” Changbin seemed amused. 

“Possibly.” Seungmin shrugged. “But then I might get myself in trouble in the process.”

Changbin smirked at that. “Goodnight, Your Highness.”

“Goodnight. Changbin.” Seungmin gave a small smile in reply. 

Changbin bowed before turning and walking away, his hands clasped behind his back. Seungmin watched him until he disappeared down the hall, then went back into his room, looking forward to a bit of light reading before bed. 

However, he discovered that his and Hyunjin’s trunks had gotten switched. Which meant his books were somewhere else in the castle. 

Seungmin groaned but decided that was probably the universe telling him to forego reading and to just go to sleep. 

He didn’t even change out of his white suit. Instead, he sat down on the bed for a moment and was suddenly fast asleep. 

* * * 

At some point in the middle of the night, Hyunjin came into his room, whining about something and yawning and causing a commotion as he stumbled to bed. But then he collapsed onto the fluffy mattress next to Seungmin, put an arm around Seungmin’s waist, and fell asleep within seconds. Seungmin just rolled his eyes before falling back asleep. 

Seungmin awoke the next morning at the sound of someone opening the doors to the balcony, effectively blasting him in the face with morning light. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head, but Felix’s voice sang out, “Rise and shine, Your Highness!” Then he said in a softer tone, he added, “Whichever one of you that is today!”

Seungmin groaned again and peeked past the covers at Felix, who was focusing on setting up a tray full of food on the dressing table. “What time is it?” Seungmin asked, sitting up a bit. 

“Just past midmorning,” Felix replied with a bright smile. “We were wondering where Seungmin went off to last night when he didn’t come back to the room.” His eyes shifted to Hyunjin, who was still snoring away on the other side of the bed. “Guess we solved that mystery.”

Seungmin picked up his pillow and smacked Hyunjin with it. Hyunjin made some sort of strangled noise before pulling the covers over his head. That didn’t stop Seungmin from repeatedly swatting him in the head with the pillow, though. Hyunjin finally decided he’d had enough and smacked the pillow out of Seungmin’s hands before lunging forward and tackling Seungmin to the bed. A laugh bubbled out of Seungmin as he found himself trapped in Hyunjin’s embrace.

“Too early,” Hyunjin mumbled, still holding Seungmin tight as he snuggled into the bed once again.

“I suppose it is for someone who was out all night,” Seungmin said. He gave up trying to pry Hyunjin’s arms off of him and instead just lay there. Felix snorted, and Seungmin shot him an amused smirk. 

At the mention of last night, Hyunjin’s eyes flew open.

“I’m guessing you had fun?” Seungmin said. 

“Yes!” Hyunjin lifted his head, his face lighting up. “Or, I think I did.” He frowned. “I don’t really remember.”

“Oh, great, you got drunk?”

“No, I don’t think I drank anything. I mean, a couple sips of champagne here and there but nothing more than that.”

“Yeah, well, just a bit of gossip from the servant is going around,” Felix said, making both Seungmin and Hyunjin look at him. “Apparently the Crown Prince of the Northern Kingdom was a clumsy mess and spilled an entire tray of drinks on Princess Chaeryeong and then ran off and ditched her for the rest of the night.” He smirked. 

Seungmin’s expression turned smug. Hyunjin looked up at him in surprise. “That’s it?” Hyunjin asked. “The way you were giggling beforehand made me think that it was going to be some grand prank or something.”

“I wasn’t giggling,” Seungmin protested. 

“Maniacally,” Hyunjin said. 

“She’s sweet and a little sad,” Seungmin said, wriggling out of Hyunjin’s grasp just enough to cross his arms. “Plus she looked pretty. I didn’t want to completely embarrass her. So I tried a milder approach.”

Hyunjin grunted. “Well, I guess we still have three months if need be to completely insult them to the point where they kick us out and tell us to never come back.”

“Exactly.” Seungmin smiled. Hyunjin smiled back. 

“Well,” Felix said, turning their attention to him. “Here’s your breakfast. Signal us if you need anything.” He smiled, bowed, and walked to the door.

“Thank you, Felix,” Seungmin called after him. After Felix left and shut the door behind him, Seungmin looked down at Hyunjin with a smug smirk. “So,” he said, nudging Hyunjin, “you must have had quite the night, hm? If you don’t remember anything?”

Hyunjin sighed. “I swear I didn’t go crazy on the drinks. I think…I think I met someone.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” A soft, fond look came over Hyunjin’s face. “He was very sweet.”

“He?” Seungmin groaned. “Hyunjin, we agreed that—”

“I know, I know.” Hyunjin waved the thought aside. “I think I wanted to dance with him but couldn’t. But I think we still found each other after each dance, right before more partners came up to ask us to dance.”

“And then?”

“I don’t know. I’m trying to think.” Hyunjin finally let go of Seungmin and sat up to rub at his temples. “Every time I try to think of his face, it gets so blurry.”

“Well, he was wearing a mask,” Seungmin said. 

“But I can’t even think of what the mask looked like!”

“Did you stay in the ballroom all night?”

Hyunjin hesitated, then shook his head. “Something tells me we didn’t. I think we went for a walk in the garden just to get some air, and I think we were laughing and having a good time, but after that everything stops.” He sighed, dropped his hands into his lap, and looked at Seungmin with sad eyes. “It’s so strange. I can think of what we did, but I can’t remember what he looked like or sounded like.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Seungmin said. 

“Maybe.” Hyunjin’s was crestfallen. “I just…I just can’t shake this feeling, though.” He hugged his hands to his chest, right above his heart. 

Something about his face made Seungmin pause. Usually he’d be one to tease Hyunjin relentlessly about his multiple different crushes that seemed to change from day to day, but there was a note of unusual sadness in Hyunjin now. It was strange.

“I don’t know,” Hyunjin said at last. “I guess I just thought it would be different because he couldn’t see my face, that he’d like me for me and not just for my face.” He sighed. “But you’re right. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t remember him, because he’d probably never actually, truly love me.”

“Good thing I still love you even though you’re a sad piece of shit.” Seungmin smirked at him and nudged him playfully until he got a smile out of him.

“Ooh, be careful about what you say, Minnie, you might cause yourself to snap and curse the whole land.” Hyunjin smirked back at him. 

Seungmin laughed and pulled Hyunjin into a hug, which Hyunjin returned. 

“Come on,” Seungmin said when they pulled away after a few moments. “I’m starving.”

* * * 

Jeongin didn’t know what he expected. He had thought, like a fool, that things would be different last night at the ball. So he had allowed himself to get his hopes up, only for them to be immediately squashed when the next morning came. 

Prince Hyunjin and his friend weren’t at breakfast that following morning, which was a quiet affair between the members of the royal family. Jeongin couldn’t help glancing at Chaeryeong, who poked at her food and pushed it around the plate without eating any of it. She seemed to be in a world of her own, and a sad one at that, based on the look on her face. She always looked like that, though. 

After breakfast, Jeongin decided to go looking for the Crown Prince, since he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do today and thought that possibly showing him and his friend around the castle or the city might be enough to kill a few hours. He found them in the hallway just outside the Crown Prince’s room.

“Good morning,” Jeongin called out.

The two of them turned to look at him and his three guards. The Crown Prince gave him a small, guarded smile. “Good morning,” he said. 

Jeongin searched his face, hope sparking in him only to be immediately distinguished when he saw the blank, dull expression the Crown Prince was giving him. 

He didn’t remember anything from last night, did he?

“Uh, what are your plans for today, Your Highness?” Jeongin asked, forcing himself to still sound cheerful even though his good mood had just plummeted. 

The Crown Prince glanced at his best friend. “We don’t have any, actually,” he said. “We were just going to visit the king.”

“He’s just finishing breakfast,” Jeongin said. “He doesn’t like to be bothered with issues in the morning. So after he checks in on his hunting hounds, he’ll probably be in the war room until dinner.”

“The war room?” the best friend asked. “There’s a war?”

“No, that’s just what they call the room where the king and all his advisors meet to discuss the future of the kingdom.” Jeongin couldn’t help rolling his eyes. “Boring, if you ask me. I was thinking I could show you around the castle and the grounds and maybe even the city?”

“Oh, well, just show Hyunjinnie to the library and we won’t see him for the rest of the day.” The best friend nudged the Crown Prince playfully. 

“Let’s save the best for last,” the Crown Prince said. 

“I wouldn’t say the library is the best.” Jeongin couldn’t help making a face. 

“Is it big?” the best friend asked.

“Oh, it’s huge,” Jisung said behind Jeongin, his voice thick with amusement. “It’ll definitely get you excited.”

“Jisung,” Chan hissed, while Jeongin and Changbin were both trying not to laugh. 

“It’s, uh…well, you’ll see it later, I guess,” Jeongin said to the Crown Prince.

“Oh, if we behave ourselves?” the best friend wiggled his eyebrows.

The Crown Prince just groaned as everyone but him burst into laughter. “Real mature of you,” the Crown Prince said, rolling his eyes. “Thank you for ruining libraries for me, Seungmin.”

“My pleasure, Hyunjin,” the best friend said, still giggling to himself. 

“Heh, pleasure,” Jisung muttered before he and Changbin dissolved into laughter again. 

“You speak pretty freely for a guard,” the Crown Prince said. The amusement immediately vanished from Changbin’s face, while Jisung just smirked up at the prince.

“Because our prince allows us,” he fired back. 

“So, how about we start at the main halls?” Jeongin said, deciding to change the subject. 

“Brilliant idea, Your Highness,” the best friend said while the Crown Prince and Jisung squinted at each other (it couldn’t really be classified as a glare because there wasn’t really much heat, just pure annoyance from one and pure mischievous intent from the other). 

Jeongin gave the best friend a brief smile before their group began walking down the hallways to start their unofficial tour. Jeongin took them to all the major areas of the castle, such as the main hall, the war room (or, outside of it), the banquet hall, both of the ballrooms, and the drawing room. The Crown Prince seemed particularly fascinated by the paintings within the drawing room, while the best friend amused himself by pointing at disfigured faces and saying, “Hey, Your Highness, it’s you!”

“Oh, shut up.” The Crown Prince rolled his eyes. 

Outside, Jeongin took them to the training grounds for the new soldiers and guards, the armory, and the stables. He made sure to show both of them his favorite horse, named Chocolate because of the warm brown shade of her coat. 

“Creative,” the Crown Prince said.

“Her name is Chocolate because she’s sweet and fills you with warm feelings, unlike you,” the best friend said without missing a beat as he stroked Chocolate’s velvety nose.

“I’m dark chocolate because I’m bitter,” the Crown Prince said. 

“You can’t even be classified as chocolate—you’re straight-up cocoa beans.”

The Crown Prince snorted at that and said in a low voice that was only meant for the best friend to hear, “I wouldn’t use ‘straight-up’ to describe me.”

Jeongin knew he meant it as a joke and that Jeongin wasn’t even supposed to hear it, but it still made his heart sink nonetheless.

By the end of the tour, he showed them his favorite places in the garden, mostly in an attempt to cheer himself up. The best friend started frowning and continued to frown throughout the entire walk in the garden. Jeongin didn’t know how to take his reaction other than the fact that he must not like the garden. 

“And this, finally, is the library,” Jeongin said, pushing open the massive mahogany doors of the place. He stepped back to watch the Crown Prince’s reaction and was not disappointed. 

“Holy shit,” the Crown Prince gasped, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight before him. 

The best friend coughed. “Not a proper thing for a prince to say,” he muttered, giving the Crown Prince a pointed look that the Crown Prince ignored. 

“It’s two levels with a special room for particularly rare and valuable texts,” Jeongin said as they entered the library. 

“What kind of rare and valuable texts?” The Crown Prince looked like a completely different person as he looked at Jeongin now, his eyes sparkling with excitement. 

Jeongin shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in there. It’s locked, so only the librarians can get inside. If you want to go in, you’d have to get their permission first.”

“Close your mouth, Minnie, you’re practically drooling,” the best friend said, his arms crossed. 

“Minnie?” Jeongin repeated.

The best friend’s eyes went wide for a fraction of a second before he coughed and said, “What? Did I say Minnie? Oh, god, I meant Jinnie.” He gave an awkward laugh. “His sister is nicknamed Minnie and they look so alike that sometimes it just slips.”

“Hm.” Jeongin frowned. “I thought the princess of the Northern Kingdom was named Yeji? How is her nickname Minnie?”

“Because she’s short,” the Crown Prince said, shooting his best friend a look. He looked back at Jeongin, his excitement gone and replaced with the same stiff, boring expression from before. “She’s mini.” 

“Oh.” Jeongin blinked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Changbin frown suspiciously. When the Crown Prince just gave him a stiff, emotionless smile, Jeongin remembered why he had saved the library for last. “Well, feel free to explore. I have some other duties to attend to today so perhaps I will see you at dinner.”

“We look forward to it,” the best friend said with a warm smile that directly contrasted the prince’s. 

Jeongin gave a curt nod, then darted out of the library. He didn’t even wait to see if his guards could keep up with him as he headed through the halls and out the door and into the garden, right to his favorite, secluded spot by a fountain. The moment he sat down on the stone bench, he almost lost his composure entirely. But he bit his trembling lip, telling himself, I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry—

Because, after all, princes didn’t cry. 

He heard the guards approach but deliberately stared straight ahead at the fountain. “Don’t ask,” he said when he saw Chan open his mouth out of the corner of his eye. “If you ask, I’m going to start crying, and I don’t want to start crying.”

“No one would judge you if you did,” Jisung said. 

“What’s wrong, Jeongin?” Chan asked softly. 

“Other than the fact that the prince is a major dick,” Changbin said with enough intensity that everyone looked at him. His eyes went wide. “Sorry, that slipped.”

“Please reprimand him, Your Highness,” Jisung said.

Jeongin snorted at their strange attempts to cheer him up. “It’s about the prince, actually.”

“Oh?” Chan raised his eyebrows while Changbin looked a bit sheepish. 

Jeongin sighed, wondering if their perspective of him would be ruined forever. He lowered his head and hunched his shoulders as he said, “And it’s about the curse.”

That made them fall silent. Jeongin didn’t dare look at them, though he could assume that they were either giving him disgusted looks or exchanging glances. 

When Chan spoke, though, his voice was nothing but kind. “Does the prince have to do with the curse?”

Jeongin hesitated before nodding. 

“When’d you kiss him, then?” Jisung asked.

“Jisung!” Chan hissed.

“What?” Jisung asked defensively. “You kissed him, didn’t you? That’s how your curse works. The person you kiss immediately loses all memory of you.”

There was a slap and then a muffled sound of protest which made Jeongin look up. Chan was holding his hand over Jisung’s mouth. 

“Thank you, Jisung, for summing that up,” Chan said, looking annoyed. To Jeongin, his face softened as he said, “You don’t have to tell us exactly what happened, Your Highness.”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Jeongin shrugged and looked away, starting to fidget with the rings on his fingers. “I did kiss him. And today he doesn’t have any memory of me whatsoever.” He sighed. “I knew that was going to happen but there was a small part of me that was hoping it wouldn’t be the case. That was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

Chan nodded, dropping his hand from Jisung’s mouth in order to step towards Jeongin and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Wait a second, you kissed the prince?” Changbin asked, a deep frown on his face.  

“You don’t have to keep repeating it,” Chan said through clenched teeth, shooting Changbin a look. 

“I’m just clarifying,” Changbin said. “When was that, Your Highness?”

“Last night.” Jeongin sighed again, feeling even more mortified and defeated than before. “At the ball.”

“Late last night?”

“Why are you interrogating him?” Chan demanded. 

“Because there was no way that you could have kissed the prince,” Changbin said, “because the prince was with me last night.”

There was a beat of silence, during which everyone turned to look at Changbin. Changbin looked back at them, completely serious and completely unaware of what his sentence implied. 

“Hold up, you slept with the prince?” Jisung said. 

“What?” Changbin said. 

“Oh my god, Changbin slept with the prince and Jeongin kissed the prince and basically the prince has been here less than twenty-four hours and has already gotten more action than all of us combined,” Jisung said. “Unless—” he gasped, “—the three of you were together? Threesome?”

“Dear god, Jisung, shut up!” Chan exclaimed, his face turning bright red. 

“I did not sleep with the prince!” Changbin said, his face even redder than Chan’s. 

“Really?” Jisung giggled. “Because how else would you know that he’s, and I quote, a major dick? Huh, Binnie?” He wiggled his eyebrows, and Changbin lunged at him. 

Despite the situation, Jeongin couldn’t help it and laughed. Jisung and Changbin paused from where Changbin already had Jisung in a headlock and looked at Jeongin, their faces lighting up. Jeongin just laughed harder at that, saying, “That does sound very strange when you put it that way, Changbin.”

Changbin groaned and Jisung giggled. However, Jisung’s giggle turned into a squawk of surprise as Changbin suddenly shoved him away from him.

“Let me clarify,” Changbin began. 

“No, then that ruins it,” Jisung complained, regaining his balance and straightening his uniform. 

“Let me clarify,” Changbin repeated, looking straight at Jeongin. “I did not do anything with the prince last night. I was on patrol outside the queen’s garden and caught him sneaking into it. That’s it. Nothing else happened.”

“You’re missing the entire part of the two of you in the garden,” Jisung said. “What happened in the garden, hmm, Binnie? Some forbidden acts?”

Changbin sighed, looking like he was about two seconds away from smacking Jisung. “I walked him back to his room and that’s it. And I did not go into the room, so get that out of your head right now.”

“Are you sure he stayed in his room after that?” Chan asked. 

“Yes,” Changbin said. 

“Creeper,” Jisung said. 

“I was doing my job!” Changbin scoffed. 

“But the prince I was with was at the ball the whole night,” Jeongin said. “He couldn’t have been in two places at once.”

“Unless…,” Chan tilted his head to one side as he thought, “it wasn’t the prince you kissed.”

Jeongin blinked up at him, and Jisung of all people caught on to Chan’s train of thought. 

“It was the best friend!” Jisung exclaimed. “It was the best friend and you had no idea because he was wearing a mask!”

“Brian did say that the prince and his best friend showed up dressed the same,” Chan said. 

“Oh, you were talking to Brian, huh?” Jisung grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at him. 

“I saw him briefly last night because we were both assigned to patrol the ballroom, yes,” Chan said shortly, though his reddening ears gave him away. Jisung and Changbin shared a knowing look. 

“Wait, I’m sorry, am I missing something?” Jeongin blinked. “Brian? Younghyun? Isn’t he Chaeryeong’s personal guard?”

“Yep, the one and only.” Jisung’s grin widened. 

“But he’s a man,” Jeongin said.

“Last Chan checked.”

“Stop.” Chan’s face was now turning bright red. “My point is that you probably kissed the best friend and then Changbin was messing around with the prince at the same time. Case closed.”

“I was not messing around!” Changbin protested. 

“Were you paying attention to the best friend at all today?” Chan asked Jeongin. 

Jeongin thought for a moment, then sheepishly hunched his shoulders. “No.”

“So he could remember you. He could be the one to break the curse.”

Jeongin sighed. “Thank you for trying to cheer me up, Chan, but I doubt it.”

“Just wait and see.” Chan patted Jeongin’s shoulder. “Maybe things will work out.”

“Yeah, especially in that case, you haven’t kissed your sister’s fiancé.” Jisung grinned. “Also, if you mess up and completely embarrass yourself, you can just kiss him and he’ll forget everything! Fresh start!”

Chan just closed his eyes and sighed while Changbin shook his head in disapproval at Jisung.

“What?” Jisung glanced between the two of them. 

“Please give the order for him to shut up, Your Highness,” Changbin said. 

“Like he’d actually be able to follow that order.” Jeongin smirked. 

“I can follow orders!” Jisung protested. “It’s Chan who’s the rebel!”

“What?” Chan protested, his eyes flying open. “Not true!”

“Kinda true,” Changbin mumbled. 

“Name one instance when I was rebellious,” Chan scoffed. 

“Brian,” Jisung said without missing a beat, and Chan automatically turned bright red. 

“No,” Chan pointed at them. 

“I think I’m missing that part of the story, care to explain?” Jeongin smirked. 

“Well, you see—” Jisung began. 

“No!” Chan shoved him, but both of them were laughing. 

Jeongin eventually got the story out of them, but it took several more interventions from Chan and enough laughter to make all of their stomachs hurt. Jeongin didn’t mind, though. He felt a little bit lighter and a bit more hopeful after that. 

* * * 

Seungmin dropped another thick, leather-bound volume on the table, startling Hyunjin. His eyes slid up to Seungmin’s and he arched an eyebrow. “Do you think you have enough?” 

“No,” Seungmin said with a frown as he studied the stack of books on the table. There were technically only four of them, but three of them were thick enough to be divided into two. It would take Seungmin at least three days on each of them. But they were all history books found only in the Southern Kingdom. Seungmin wanted to see their perspectives on the witch hunts. He explained this all to Hyunjin, who could clearly care less, only because there was something else on his mind. 

“I got permission from the librarians to borrow these,” Seungmin added as they carried the books back to his chambers, since it was getting late and they needed to dress for dinner. He had two of the thick books, while Hyunjin was already whining and complaining about having to carry the other two. 

“Lovely,” Hyunjin said, coughing. “Can’t imagine why any sane person would want to read these. Must be why they’re covered in dust.”

“That’s because everyone in the Southern Kingdom is taught this in school,” Seungmin said, kicking open the door to his chambers. “But we’re not. So these books are for us, not for the citizens of the Southern Kingdom.”

“When, exactly, do you think you’ll have the time to read all of these?” 

Seungmin placed the books on the small side table in the sitting room and gestured for Hyunjin to do the same. “During the day. Maybe right before I go to sleep.”

Hyunjin sighed. “Seungmin, no offense, but you really suck at this prince thing.”

“What?”

“First of all, princes aren’t allowed to curse. Second, you don’t sit in your room all day reading. You have to go out and socialize. Establish good relations with the citizens. Specifically the princess we’re supposed to be annoying?”

“But,” Seungmin held up one of the books, “history.”

“No, no history.” Hyunjin shoved the book back down and caused a puff of dust to kick up in their faces as a result. Hyunjin immediately sneezed. 

“I don’t see why you’re annoyed at me, I mean, you’re the one who called me Minnie in front of everyone and almost blew the whole thing,” Seungmin said, adjusting the books so their spines were perfectly aligned. 

“That is besides the fact,” Hyunjin said, pointing at him. 

“Oh, sure.” Seungmin smirked. “Fine, would you like to advise me on how to act during dinner?” He walked into the bedroom, where he had left his trunk. At some point during the day, the servants had come in and unpacked everything into the wardrobe, so he went over to the wardrobe now. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Hyunjin practically tripped over his own feet in an attempt to reach the wardrobe before Seungmin. “Let me choose what you’ll wear! Since you clearly have no idea how to dress as a prince.”

“Excuse me, what is wrong with this?” Seungmin looked down at his tunic, which was dark blue and embroidered with silver, paired with soft, gray pants. 

“It’s too simple,” Hyunjin said. 

“How is this too simple? Do you see all of these stitches?”

“Aha.” Hyunjin held out a red jacket with golden buttons going down both sides on the front and an intricate gold design imprinted on the rest of the red fabric. 

Seungmin’s eyebrows shot upwards. “That’s so fancy, though!”

“It’s dinner, Seungmin,” Hyunjin scoffed. “Put it on. With these.” He threw black pants with subtle golden stitching at him. “And don’t you dare try to smuggle a book with you.”

Seungmin opened his mouth to defend himself, but Hyunjin waggled a finger at him. “Ah, ah, don’t try to lie, I’ve seen you do it before.”

Seungmin’s expression turned smug. “I thought I was being subtle.”

“You weren’t,” Hyunjin said. 

“Good to know.”

“Go change!”

“Yes, Mother.”

Seungmin had to duck to dodge a flying shoe for that one. 

* * * 

Dinner was awful. Somehow Seungmin managed to remember most of the proper etiquette for dinners at the Southern Kingdom. The food was terrible, full of strange tastes that he didn’t care for and only hoped didn’t make him sick later. But the conversation was the worst part. 

The king drove the conversation, though side conversations were allowed. Unfortunately Seungmin’s options were Chaeryeong and Jeongin, both of whom were difficult for different reasons. Talking to Chaeryeong was like talking to a wall, since she gave single-word responses that gave Seungmin nowhere to go in terms of carrying on the conversation, forcing him to think of a new topic. He hated small talk with a passion and couldn’t help shooting Hyunjin an exasperated look, to which Hyunjin had to fight to smother a laugh (he managed to turn it into a cough instead but he was still clearly trying not to smile). 

Jeongin, on the other hand, just stared at Seungmin the entire time, like he was trying to read Seungmin’s mind or something. Seungmin stared back at one point, hoping Jeongin would get the clue and stop it, but Jeongin never seemed to. Annoyed, Seungmin glanced away, his eyes falling on the three guards standing up against the wall behind Jeongin. Only two of them were already looking at him, and Changbin was one of them. The moment their eyes met, though, both of them quickly looked away. 

At one point, however, the king captured all of their attention. 

“Prince Hyunjin,” he said, making both Seungmin and Hyunjin look at him. “Tell me, what is your hunting like in the North?”

Seungmin, quite honestly, had no personal hunting experience, but he did know some vague facts from books and from Hyunjin’s rants about going on hunting expeditions with his father. “Well, we have your ordinary game,” he decided to say. “Deer, elk, moose, mountain lions, and some bears. Every summer, though, there’s one major hunt for the white stag.”

“Ah, yes, the white stag,” the king said. “I thought that was a thing of legends.”

“It is quite real, Your Majesty,” Seungmin replied. “I’ve seen it myself.”

“Have you killed one?”

“No, Your Majesty. It was always my father’s honor to kill it.”

The king nodded slowly. “I am going on a hunting expedition in a few days,” he said. “You are to attend me.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Seungmin said. He glanced at Hyunjin, who gave him a pointed look, which Seungmin mimicked back at him before going back to his food. He heard Hyunjin give an annoyed sigh in reply.

Afterwards, Seungmin figured he should probably try to spend more time with the princess just to hold up appearances, but when he asked Chaeryeong if she’d like to go for a walk after dinner, she brushed him off. 

“I have a previous engagement,” she said. 

“Perhaps tomorrow, then,” Seungmin said. 

“Perhaps,” she said, and left it at that. 

“You’re terrible at flirting,” Hyunjin said at Seungmin’s elbow once she had walked away.  

“Like you could do any better,” Seungmin retorted. 

Hyunjin just shrugged and said, “Aren’t you gonna ask me to go for a walk?”

Seungmin rolled his eyes so hard he gave himself a headache, but they headed out of the castle to the garden. The sun had just set, and the wind had finally died down, resulting in a clear and cool night. Seungmin looked up at the sky as they walked, trying to identify as many constellations as he could. He only recognized a few, due to the fact that the Southern Kingdom had different constellations than the North. Seungmin would have to brush up on his astronomy and learn of the South’s different stories behind their constellations. 

Hyunjin was silent as they walked, but when they neared the section of the garden Jeongin had showed them earlier that day, he said softly, “I figured it out.”

“Hmm?” Seungmin looked at him with a small smile. “Figured what out?”

“What happened last night.” Hyunjin glanced at him before looking straight ahead. “I recognized the sections in the garden from the tour today.”

“So…?”

“They were the same places I went last night after the ball,” Hyunjin said. “But Jeongin mentioned that only he seemed to go to them other than the gardeners.” He looked at Seungmin.

“So…I think it was him from last night?”

Seungmin blinked. “You…you think you were with Prince Jeongin last night?”

Hyunjin nodded and looked down at the ground. “I don’t think he knew who I was, though. He seemed to only have eyes for you today.”

“He did?” Seungmin blinked again, completely unaware. “I thought he was annoyed by me.”

Hyunjin shook his head, his eyes still lowered. 

“Well…” Seungmin frantically thought for something to say. “Do you still like him now that you’ve figured it out?”

“That’s the thing.” Hyunjin heaved a great sigh. “When I figured it out, I felt something, almost like this gut feeling that just told me it was right. It didn’t feel like all my other crushes.” He finally looked up, his eyes wide with hope. “It almost felt like magic.”

Seungmin almost laughed at him, thinking of course Hyunjin of all people thought infatuation felt like magic. He opened his mouth to reply, but then Hyunjin stopped walking, his eyes going wide as he looked at something behind Seungmin. 

“Your Highness,” Hyunjin said, making Seungmin whirl around. 

Speak of the devil, he thought as he saw Jeongin there, approaching almost warily with his three guards behind him. 

“Hello,” Jeongin said, more timidly than usual. 

“Hello,” Hyunjin said at the same time Seungmin said, “Hi.”

Jeongin looked like he was going to say something, but no words came out. Instead he just stared at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin stared back, looking equally at loss for words. 

Seungmin glanced between the two of them, then rolled his eyes and said, “It’s a pleasant night for a walk.”

“It is,” Jeongin agreed, a bit too quickly. 

“Absolutely lovely,” Hyunjin added. 

“Mm, well, unfortunately I am allergic to exercise so I’ll be in my rooms for the night. Goodnight.” Seungmin then put on a smug smirk and walked away before anyone could say anything. 

He heard Hyunjin say, “Wait, excuse me?” But at that point Seungmin was already several feet away. However, he heard someone walking after him and glanced over his shoulder to see Changbin falling in-step beside him. 

“You don’t have to walk me,” Seungmin said. 

“I’m not,” Changbin said. “I’m escorting a visiting royal to his chambers. It’s common protocol.”

“Is it, now.”

“It is indeed.”

Seungmin couldn’t help smirking to himself, turning his attention forward. They walked in silence for a few moments, during which they entered the castle and headed through the halls towards Seungmin’s chambers. 

Changbin broke the silence by saying “It’s a bit early to retire, isn’t it?” 

“Not for me,” Seungmin replied. “I’m exhausted from the long day.”

“I see.” They reached Seungmin’s chambers, but Seungmin stopped and turned to look at Changbin. Changbin looked like he was about to say something, then seemed to think better of it, and said instead, “Goodnight, then.”

“You can just say what you want,” Seungmin said. 

“What?” Changbin blinked, caught off-guard. 

“We agreed that you could speak comfortably around me,” Seungmin said. “So…do that.”

Changbin frowned at him, but Seungmin raised his eyebrows and stared him down until Changbin finally looked away. 

“I was just curious as to what you thought of the tour today,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed, thinking that Changbin was going to say something a bit more insightful than that. “Oh,” he said. He shrugged. “It was fine.”

“Fine,” Changbin repeated. 

“I liked the library.” Seungmin smiled. “I already got permission from the librarians to borrow a few books.”

Changbin smirked. “Is that so.”

“Yep. That’s actually why I’m retiring so early—I’m going to go read.”

“What will you read first?”

Seungmin shrugged again. “I haven’t decided yet. Probably the history of the witch hunts.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow at that. “I thought you were going to say some kind of story, not something nonfiction.”

“I rarely read fiction. I like learning things. Besides, the witch hunts are a story, if you think about it. They have protagonists and antagonists and epic battles, but the cool part is that they actually happened.” Seungmin frowned. “Or, disturbing part, since you were right when you said that the measures that Yang Hyunsuk took to kill witches was a bit extreme.”

“I guess you’re right.” Changbin smirked to himself before adding, “Tell me tomorrow what you learn, then.”

Seungmin couldn’t help smiling. “I will.”

Changbin gave that half-smile of his in response. “Good.” He looked at Seungmin for a few moments, during which Seungmin was waiting for him to say something else. Changbin didn’t seem to realize he was staring until a few moments too late, and he quickly cleared his throat and glanced away. “Uh, enjoy your reading then, Your Highness.”

“Enjoy patrolling,” Seungmin replied. 

Once again, that half-smile appeared on Changbin’s face as he backed up a few steps, preparing to walk away. “Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight.” Then, with one last glance at Changbin, Seungmin pushed open the doors to his chambers. He found himself smiling to himself even as he dressed for bed and settled down on his bed to read. 

* * * 

Jeongin had suggested that he show them the city the following day, but unfortunately the queen caught word of that suggestion. She decided this was a perfect opportunity to force Chaeryeong and Seungmin to spend time together. So, all of a sudden, Seungmin found himself crammed into a carriage with Chaeryeong and her ladies-in-waiting on their way to the city. For once, Hyunjin was not allowed to come, and Seungmin tried not to panic about that. He would be fine without him, he tried telling himself. He could pretend to be a prince for a day without Hyunjin there to give him support. He just have to be confident and trust himself.

However, Chaeryeong was about as unresponsive as she had been in Seungmin’s past few attempts to talk to her. He tried asking her about her favorite places in the city. She said she didn’t have any. He asked why. She said she didn’t get to visit often. Seungmin had no idea where to go from that. 

They ended up going to lunch, then down the street full of flower vendors, and then to a few higher-end shops where Chaeryeong looked around with a blank expression and never bought anything. 

Seungmin tried to think of ways to possibly annoy her or embarrass her because of the plan, but he found himself too exhausted to try. The best he did was sneeze without covering his nose when they walked past the flowers, but that wasn’t even intentional. He just happened to be sensitive to flowers. And he wasn’t about to resort to spilling things on her during lunch this time. 

One of the older ladies-in-waiting mentioned something about buying a new dress, during which they would have to sit and wait for Chaeryeong to try on all of her potential options (and even wait for them to do some modifications while she was still in the shop). At that point, Seungmin was considering several escape options, the most prominent being jumping off one of the various bridges in the city. 

They stopped to watch some street vendors perform, with one of the ladies-in-waiting clinging to Chaeryeong’s arm. She pointed at the different performers, all decorated in elaborate costumes with gold face paint. Seungmin found the performance boring, so he watched Chaeryeong and her lady-in-waiting instead, only to raise his eyebrows in surprise when Chaeryeong smiled. Smiled. And not at the performance, but at the lady-in-waiting, who was watching the performers. But, as Seungmin watched, the lady-in-waiting looked back at Chaeryeong, saw Chaeryeong smiling at her, and smiled back. And they continued to smile at each other, even when a live performance was happening right in front of them.

Something struck Seungmin at that moment. It was both a mental and physical thing, as he made a realization right as something hit him in the back of the neck. He turned around, a scowl on his face, only to blink in surprise when he saw Hyunjin of all people, leaning up against a streetlight, his hand stuck in a bag of peanuts. Standing next to him was Jeongin, who grinned and waved at him. 

Seungmin couldn’t help snorting as he slipped to the crowd and headed towards them. 

“Hi,” Hyunjin said, still smirking. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Seungmin said, smirking back.

“Small world,” Hyunjin said. 

Seungmin crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. “Did you follow us?”

“You just now noticed?” Jeongin grinned. 

Seungmin blinked at that. “You’ve been following us all day?”

“Yeah it’s not that hard. Peanut?” Hyunjin offered the bag to him, but Seungmin waved it off. 

“Why didn’t you save me from my misery sooner?” Seungmin gave him a pointed look. 

“Because where’s the fun in that?” Hyunjin grinned.

“I was seriously considering jumping off a bridge.” 

“Do a flip when you do.”

Seungmin shoved him, and Hyunjin just laughed as he continued to eat peanuts. He glanced over Hyunjin’s shoulder, where the three guards were, as always. But the three of them weren’t paying attention to Seungmin because two of them were too busy teasing the third, who was turning bright red. 

Jeongin glanced over his shoulder at the three guards and gave them a shit-eating grin. “Hey, Chan, you’re welcome to walk around and talk to people if you want. Specifically that person.” He gestured towards Chaeryeong and her party, though Hyunjin and Seungmin couldn’t figure out who he was pointing at within the group. 

“That would be extremely unprofessional, leaving you here,” said the one with the bright red face. Seungmin assumed he was Chan. 

“He’s looking over here!” the third guard said. 

Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Seungmin all looked back at Chaeryeong’s group, where her personal guard—Brian, as Seungmin had been briefly introduced to him—happened to be glancing in their direction. He did a double-take when he saw the group of them, and Chan gave a small, shy wave. Brian smiled in reply before looking straight ahead. 

The third guard was making a strangled, happy noise as Changbin started elbowing Chan repeatedly. 

“Stop it, stop it,” Chan said, but he was blushing so hard that it was hard to take him seriously. “You guys are seriously unprofessional right now.”

“He smiled at youuuu,” the third one sang out. 

“He was just being friendly!”

“Nope, it was definitely a special moment.”

Chan sighed. Though, it was clear to anyone that he was secretly pleased by the fact that Brian had acknowledged him, however small.

“And he’s coming over here, right now,” Changbin said with a smug smirk. 

“What?” Chan’s eyes widened in terror. 

The performance had ended, so Chaeryeong and her party were walking over to Seungmin. Seungmin couldn’t help noticing how Chaeryeong’s arm was still linked with that one lady-in-waiting. 

“Oh, hello, Jeongin,” Chaeryeong said without any emotion whatsoever.

“Hello,” Jeongin said. 

“How nice to see you in the city as well!” the lady-in-waiting said with a warm smile. “Did you enjoy the performance, Your Highness?”

“He was too short to see,” Hyunjin said, smirking. Jeongin elbowed him, but he was fighting to suppress a smile. 

An idea popped into Seungmin’s head, and he turned to Chaeryeong. “Princess, I’ve decided to go back to the castle with Prince Jeongin and his company. With your permission, of course.”

“Do what you want, I don’t care,” Chaeryeong replied. 

Seungmin smiled at that.

“Well, then, we must be off,” the lady-in-waiting said, still smiling at them. “Do enjoy the rest of your day, Your Highnesses.” Then, with a small curtsy, she stepped away with Chaeryeong. 

Before they could walk away, though, Seungmin heard the third guy say in a singsong voice, “Bye, Brian.”

Brian just smirked and said, “Bye, Jisung.” With one last glance at the three guards, he followed Chaeryeong and her ladies-in-waiting through the crowd. 

As soon as he was out of earshot, the third guard—Jisung—shoved Chan. “What the hell was that, man, you missed your chance.”

“Professionalism, Jisung!” Chan said.

“Oh, blah,” Jisung scoffed, making a face at him. 

“You’re lucky you’re good at fighting because you really make a terrible guard,” Chan shot back with no heat. 

“Fight me now, then!” Jisung jumped into a fighting stance. 

“He’s been like this all day and it’s quite entertaining,” Hyunjin told Seungmin, still munching away at his peanuts. “I’m pretty sure if there was a threat he’d just talk it to death.”

Seungmin hummed in response, but then Jeongin turned to look at Hyunjin, his eyes practically sparkling. 

“Where should we go next?” Jeongin asked Hyunjin. “Anywhere you want.”

“You choose,” Hyunjin replied with a fond smile. 

“We’ve already visited all of my favorite places, though.” Jeongin thought for a moment, then gasped as an idea occurred to him. “There’s a lantern show at dusk where they light all these lanterns and release them into the sky and it’s beautiful!”

“Then let’s stay to watch it!” Hyunjin said. 

Chan cleared his throat, making Jeongin look at him. Chan shook his head at him, and Jeongin’s shoulders slumped. 

“We can’t.” Jeongin sighed. “We have to be back before dark. My father’s rules.”

“What?” Hyunjin looked annoyed for Jeongin’s sake. “He gives you curfew?”

“He always has,” Jeongin said. “It’s superstitious, but the witches and faeries come out after dark. Though, I don’t understand why I would have to be afraid of them I mean I already have the—” He cut off suddenly, his eyes going wide. “Uh, it’s just safer to be back on the castle grounds before sunset.” He looked away, avoiding Hyunjin’s gaze. 

“Why would the witches and faeries come out after dark if your kingdom has already killed them all…?” Seungmin asked before he could help himself. 

Hyunjin shot him a look as Jeongin looked up at Seungmin with a sad and confused expression. 

“Like I said, it’s just a superstition,” Jeongin said. “It's something parents tell their kids before they go to sleep that they can’t go certain places after dark or else the witches will kill them in horrible ways or the faeries will curse them.”

“My parents told me that,” Jisung said with a nod. “Said the witches would come and drag me off and eat me alive if I kept talking. They told me that to shut me up, though, because apparently talking would alert them of my location.”

“At least you’ll prove to be a good distraction,” Hyunjin said. 

“Yeah,” Jisung agreed, nodding. A beat or so passed before he frowned and asked, “Wait, what?”

“Maybe we can see the lanterns another time,” Chan said. “But for right now, Your Highness, we have time for maybe one more thing before we have to head back to the castle.”

Jeongin glanced at Hyunjin, who looked back and shrugged. “I know there’s a candy shop nearby,” Jeongin said.

“Let’s go, then.” Hyunjin smiled at him. Jeongin automatically smiled back. 

Seungmin glanced between the two of them, thinking he had left them for barely a full day and already they had become so much closer. But, then again, Hyunjin had claimed he had fallen in love with Jeongin in a night, so Seungmin supposed this wasn’t that difficult to comprehend. 

On their way back to the castle after the candy shop, Jeongin fell asleep in the carriage and used Hyunjin’s shoulder as a pillow. Hyunjin just smiled down at him before settling back in the seat to fall asleep himself.

And Seungmin was beginning to think that he should have just stayed with Chaeryeong. 

They arrived back too late for dinner with the king and queen in the banquet hall. Seungmin planned to ring for the servants to bring food up to his chambers. He was in the mood for some tea as well. 

Hyunjin and Jeongin drifted off together the moment they arrived, leaving Seungmin to go to his chambers on his own. Once he stepped into his rooms, though, he immediately went over to the wardrobe and rummaged for the simplest and softest clothes he could find. When he looked in the mirror, he hoped to look like himself again. Something was still a bit off, so he reached up and mussed up his hair until it was an untamed mess. 

There. That looked more like him. 

One of the servants had brought up a tray of food and tea and placed it in the sitting room. Seungmin went over and sank into one of the armchairs, where he had left the book on witch hunts on the armrest. He picked it up and flipped through it, but couldn’t focus for the life of him. All he could think of was Chaeryeong smiling at her lady-in-waiting, Chan blushing and smiling at Brian, and Jeongin using Hyunjin’s shoulder as a pillow. 

Suddenly his chambers seemed too large and empty. 

Seungmin shoved the thoughts from his head and tried to focus only on the words in front of him. But as soon as he started to focus a bit more, there was a knock at his door. 

Seungmin almost snapped, What?! But he managed to remember his manners and said instead, “Yes?”

The door opened, and Changbin poked his head in. He blinked at Seungmin, looking like he was momentarily at a loss for words. Seungmin looked back at him, frowning when Changbin just stared at him. 

“Yes?” Seungmin repeated. 

Changbin seemed to snap out of it and said, “Apologies. I, uh, have something for you.”

“You do?” Seungmin frowned. 

“Yes.” Changbin hesitated again before asking, “May I come in?”

Seungmin nodded, and Changbin stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He paused for another moment, then crossed the room and held something out to Seungmin. 

“What’s this?” Seungmin blinked in surprise at the book in Changbin’s hands. 

“A book,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin gave him a look. “No shit.”

Changbin smirked at that before saying, “It’s a storybook, specifically. After last night I couldn’t help thinking you might be in need of a story every now and then.”

“Oh.” Seungmin slowly took the book from Changbin’s hands. It was as thick as any of Seungmin’s history books, with a leather cover, but this cover was engraved and decorated. At a glance, the decorations appeared to just be golden swirls. But with a closer look, Seungmin saw that the engravings and paintings were actually tiny pictures woven together. He saw faces of knights and maidens and unicorns and dragons and faeries, all with enchanting flowers and vines flitting between them. Some of the paint was flaking off, especially on the cracked spine, but Seungmin loved it nonetheless. 

“It’s beautiful,” Seungmin said softly.

“It was my mother’s,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin looked up at him, and Changbin gave him his half-smile. “There are a whole bunch of fun stories in there,” Changbin said. “I’ve read them all.”

“Which one is your favorite?”

“Easy. The story of the three dragons.”

“What’s it about?”

“Three dragons.”

Seungmin sighed in annoyance. “I’d gathered that, thanks.”

“Why tell you what it’s about if you can just read it yourself?” Changbin said. 

“Maybe I just want to hear your rendition of it.”

Changbin snorted. “No, trust me, the writing is so much better than however I could tell it.”

“Tell me anyways.” Seungmin gave him his sweetest smile possible, one he knew got Hyunjin to do whatever he wanted.

“Tempting, but no,” Changbin said. “Experience it yourself first.”

“What if I ordered you to tell me because I’m a prince?”

“Then I would use the defense of, ‘you’re not my prince’ to get out of it.” 

Seungmin arched an eyebrow. “You really want me to read this, don’t you?”

“It’s just a suggestion, Your Highness,” Changbin said, his smile growing a bit bigger as he inched towards the door, raising his hands. “After all, I am merely just a common guard.”

Seungmin snorted at that, and Changbin’s smile stretched into a full-on grin. “Read it and get back to me,” he said. Then, with that, he slipped out of the room and shut the door behind him. 

Seungmin shook his head, still smiling to himself as he looked back down at the beautiful book in his hands. He ran his hands over it, feeling the smoothness of the leather and wondering how many hands before him had done the exact same thing in order to find some sort of comfort, no matter how small. It filled him with warmth at the thought of a mother lovingly choosing this book and reading it to her children. He wondered what it would be like to listen to a mother read a story aloud. He had never experienced anything like that in his life. 

He opened the book and spent the rest of the night reading through each story, letting each word wash over him and fill him with that warmth.

* * * 

“What’re you so smiley about?” Jisung squinted at Changbin that night in their shared room. They had finished their patrols and had finally been dismissed to go to bed. 

“Can’t I just be happy for the sake of it?” Changbin shot back. 

“That’s not how happiness works.” Jisung propped his head up as he lay on his bed on his side of the room, watching as Changbin got ready for bed. “So…?”

“I’m just happy.” Changbin shrugged as he leaned down to splash water from the basin in his face. 

“It’s about the Crown Prince, isn’t it?” 

“What?”

“I knew it!” Jisung grinned and pointed at him. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew all that ‘oh the Crown Prince is such a dick’ spiel was just a bunch of bullshit! You actually like him, don’t you?”

“Do not!” Changbin grabbed his towel and patted his face dry. 

“C’mon, admit it.”

“No.”

“Admit it!”

“No!”

“Admit you’re as gay as the rest of us!”

Changbin swatted at him with his towel, making Jisung laugh as he rolled out of the way. 

“I can’t believe you’re falling for a prince of all people,” Jisung said, flopping onto his back as he stared up at the ceiling. “An engaged prince of all people.”

Changbin’s smile faded from his face as he stared down at the towel in his hands. He didn’t respond to Jisung’s question because he knew Jisung had made up his mind whether Changbin denied it or not. And Changbin wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t get the image of the Crown Prince dressed in simple clothes with messy hair out of his head. And before that, it had been the image of the Crown Person from the night of the ball, when he had turned to look at Changbin after removing his masquerade mask. Both were completely different looks of the same person, but Changbin wasn’t entirely sure which one he liked better. 

He shook his head to clear it as Jisung started rambling about something. It didn’t matter which look on the Crown Prince he liked better. Jisung was right—the Crown Prince was royalty, set to marry the princess of the kingdom and possibly become king one day. Changbin was just a common guard from common roots. Nothing about this could ever be anything more than Changbin just wistfully looking at the Crown Prince from a distance. 

“—and oh my god he smiled at me today and I think my heart stopped,” Jisung was saying as Changbin sat down on his bed. 

“Too bad it didn’t stop for that long,” Changbin said.

“Hey!”

Changbin grinned. “Kidding. Who is this you’re talking about?”

Jisung gave a huff as he realized that Changbin hadn’t been listening at all. “His name’s Minho and he’s one of the servants from the North. But I swear with a face like his, he could be royalty for all I know. It looks like it’s sculpted by the gods, just—” He made a kissy noise. “—muah!”

“Have you even talked to him?” Changbin asked. “Or have you just pined from afar?”

“I’ve talked to him, okay!”

“Oh yeah? Anything more than ‘hello’?”

“I told him good morning,” Jisung said. 

Changbin rolled his eyes and flopped backwards onto his own bed. 

“It’s a start, okay!” Jisung protested.

“Yeah, yeah.” Changbin waved him off as he blew out the candle on the tiny table in between their beds. The room plunged into darkness. “Go to sleep, Jisung.”

“When he smiles, I swear it’s like some godlike being coming out of the clouds,” Jisung whispered loudly. 

“Goodnight, Jisung!”

“Fine, fine, goodnight!”

Changbin smirked, knowing full well that Jisung would start talking within a few seconds, but after several minutes passed, Jisung was still silent. He had talked himself into exhaustion and had already passed out. Changbin wished he was surprised, but he wasn’t, to be honest.

But, unlike Jisung, Changbin lay there for a long time, staring up at the ceiling, his mind full of thoughts of a messy-haired prince.

He decided, when he finally started to drift off, that thoughts and dreams were okay. He could allow himself to indulge in a bit of a fantasy and never let it turn into anything more than that. 

His mind took that to heart, and he dreamed only of the Crown Prince, with his warm smile and messy hair. 

* * * 

The following day, Seungmin was stuck in the war room all day, listening to the king of the Southern Kingdom argue with his advisors about the best course of action for a myriad of problems. Seungmin hated how he was the one who had to sit in here all day, listening to the advisors debate about solutions to a problem that really wasn’t that complex. But the king had clearly stated to Seungmin that he was here to observe, not to give any actual input. Meanwhile, Hyunjin and Jeongin were probably off frolicking in the garden. Seungmin couldn’t help scowling, regretting ever suggesting this plan in the first place. 

By the time the council adjourned, it was mid-afternoon. Seungmin was ready to bolt back to his chambers for the rest of the day, but the king ordered him to accompany him to the stables and to the kennels where he kept his prized hunting dogs. Seungmin suppressed a groan and had no choice but to follow. The king droned on and on about how he had selectively bred his dogs in order to produce the finest hunting dogs in the land. Seungmin could honestly care less. At least the dogs were cute. 

Then dinner was right after that, giving Seungmin only a few minutes to change into something more presentable before going right back to the banquet hall and listening to the king once again drone on and on to him about more hunting stories. Seungmin tried to focus, but he was distracted by Jeongin and Hyunjin giggling and whispering to each other all throughout dinner. And then Chaeryeong was allowed to leave the table early! Seungmin was about ready to bash his own head in. 

Finally—finally—after dinner, he was allowed to do whatever he pleased. So he went right to his room, changed, and collapsed into his armchair. But instead of picking up his history book, he picked up the storybook from Changbin. Last night, he had read through all of them, staying up into the late hours of the night to do so. Tonight, he fully intended to go back and reread his favorites and looked forward to spending time in those familiar worlds again.  

But as he finally settled down, there was a knock at the door, which was about as much warning as he got before the door flew open and Hyunjin came barging in. “We’re sneaking out of the castle, come on!” he said, grinning from ear to ear as he marched over to Seungmin. 

Seungmin responded by making a noise that conveyed all of his annoyance and frustration pent up from the long day—which ended up being a very un-princely growl/yell thing.

“Yeah, yeah, whine all you want, come on you homebody,” Hyunjin said, completely unfazed. 

“No, fuck you.”

“We talked about the language.”

Seungmin flipped him off with both hands, and yet Hyunjin continued to drag him up and out of the chair and towards the door. Seungmin tried to dig his heels in, but to no avail. Hyunjin marched him right out of that room, and that’s when Seungmin let loose all of the expletives he had been holding back that entire day. 

“Fuck you and fuck being a prince and fuck being social and fuck making positive connections and—”

“Are you done?” Hyunjin arched an eyebrow. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Seungmin spewed. 

There was a low whistle, and Seungmin looked to see Jeongin and his three guards standing outside his door, dressed casually, all of them with various expressions of surprise on their face. Jeongin looked the most shocked, and Changbin and Jisung looked the most amused. The sight of them just annoyed Seungmin further, and he scowled as he opened his mouth to fire back at them. Hyunjin decided to cover Seungmin’s mouth with his hand.

“You’re not getting out of this,” Hyunjin said. “We can and will knock you out and carry you with us.”

“I will snap your neck like a pencil,” Seungmin snarled, but it was rendered incomprehensible by Hyunjin’s hand. 

Hyunjin smirked at him. “That’s what I thought. Come on!” He dropped his hand from Seungmin’s mouth, only to drag him down the hall.

Seungmin had no idea where they were going, though he assumed that they were trying to sneak back to the city to see the lanterns after curfew, and he was not in the mood to be crammed into a tiny carriage with Hyunjin and Jeongin again no matter how cute they were. But as Hyunjin continued to drag him through the halls and out the door and down the front paths of the castle, he realized they weren’t going in the direction of the stables, but in the direction of the cliffs. 

“Oh, joy, I’ll just throw myself off this cliff,” Seungmin scoffed. 

“We’re going down the cliffs you dramatic asshole,” Hyunjin said, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh, I’m the dramatic asshole? Look in a mirror lately?”

“There they are!” Jisung said suddenly, a grin breaking out across his face. He waved wildly at a trio of figures standing at the top of the cliffs.

Seungmin groaned. “Why are there so many people?”

“Oh, shut up, Seungmin,” Hyunjin said, starting to get annoyed. Changbin and Jeongin looked at him, and his eyes practically doubled in size. “I was talking to myself,” he said quickly. “Loud thoughts, you know.”

Luckily, he was saved by Jisung shouting something at the new trio and running ahead, where one of the three broke apart and ran to meet him. As they drew closer, Seungmin, unfortunately, recognized the three of them. Jisung was laughing and hugging Felix while Minho and Brian smiled from a distance. Chan automatically went over to Brian while rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. Seungmin had no idea why Chan was so nervous; Brian clearly felt the same way about him. The way Brian smiled at Chan said everything. 

“Are we all jumping off the cliff together?” Seungmin deadpanned. 

“If you shove anyone off a cliff, I’m burning your books,” Hyunjin said. 

“Do it, coward,” Seungmin scoffed. “I dare you.”

“Watch your step,” Chan said over his shoulder as he approached the cliffs. 

It turned out there was a staircase carved into the face of the cliffs that led all the way down to the beach, which seemed to stretch on for miles in both directions. The moment they reached the sand, Jisung shoved Felix and broke off running towards the surf. Felix laughed and sprinted after him, and the two of them launched themselves into the waves. 

Hyunjin snorted at Seungmin and punched him playfully in the shoulder before dragging Jeongin into the waves with him. 

Seungmin just watched with his eyebrows set in a straight line, thinking, THIS is what they dragged me out of my room for?

He ended up just standing there, his arms crossed tightly across his chest, as the others all ran and jumped into the waves and splashed each other and—at one point—threw each other into the deeper waves. Minho screamed at the top of his lungs when Jisung tried to drag him in deeper, ending with both of them falling into the water and coming out soaked from head-to-toe but laughing their heads off. Chan and Brian threw Felix into an incoming wave, then proceeded to laugh afterwards. Then Hyunjin and Jeongin were in their own world as they splashed water in each others faces. 

It was kind of amusing, watching them, but Seungmin wasn’t in the mood to be around people right now. He glanced back at the cliff, wondering if he trusted himself to make his way up the staircase himself. The moon was full tonight and the sky was completely clear, giving them more than enough light to see by. But he worried about the other guards seeing him on his way back into the castle and thought it wasn’t fair to get everyone else in trouble. So he sighed and sat down on the sand, wishing he had thought to bring the storybook with him. Not that there was that much light to read by, though. 

He heard someone approaching and glanced up to see Changbin running up to him. 

“Hey,” Changbin said, slightly out of breath and dripping. He pushed his hair out of his face, and Seungmin caught himself staring, thinking it wasn’t fair how attractive Changbin looked in the moonlight without his hair hiding his unique facial structure. 

“Hi,” Seungmin said. 

“Don’t just sit there—come on.” Changbin held out his hand to him. 

Seungmin shook his head. “I’d rather not.”

“Come onnnn.” Changbin’s voice turned singsong. “It’ll be fun, come on.”

“I don’t want to—” But Changbin was already grabbing Seungmin’s arm and dragging him up. Seungmin whined at that and tried to pull back, but Changbin’s muscles weren’t just for show (not that Seungmin was staring—what?). He easily pulled Seungmin along with him. 

Seungmin briefly comprehended the others cheering and laughing at him and he noticed Chan grinning at him, but all of that went by so quickly. The next moment, Seungmin was being tossed into the waves like he weighed nothing. The cold water hit him like a shock as his body sank into it. He felt the waves beginning to pull back, and he quickly scrambled for footing on the ocean floor. When he broke through the surface again, coughing and wincing from the sting of salt water in his eyes, he heard the laughter and cheers and whoops again, even a, “Yeah Your Highness!!” from Jisung. But the laughter died out when Seungmin kept his head lowered and didn’t move, still trying to get the water out of his eyes. There was a beat of silence during which only the crash of the waves was present.

Changbin was at his side now, putting a hand on his shoulder and saying in a soft, concerned voice, “Are you okay?”

Seungmin sneezed, making Changbin lean back in surprise. “Yeah,” Seungmin said, shaking the water out of his eyes and looking up at Changbin. He smiled at Changbin. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Oh, good, because—” Changbin smacked the surface of the water, sending a stream of it into Seungmin’s face. Seungmin instinctively closed his eyes before it hit and was glad he did. He grimaced and took his time wiping the water out of his eyes. 

When he opened his eyes, he smiled at Changbin again and said, “Run.”

Changbin laughed and jumped backwards, but Seungmin was faster. He lunged forward and tackled him, sending them both into the water. When they broke the surface, both laughing, Seungmin wasted no time in splashing Changbin repeatedly in the face. Changbin splashed him back with just as much vigor. Eventually it was Changbin who backed down and raised his hands in a surrender, saying, “Okay, okay, you got me!”

Seungmin splashed him one more time just for good measure, still grinning, before wiping the water from his face and heading for the shore. Changbin followed, and they both collapsed onto the ground next to each other. Seungmin made a face at his dripping clothes and how the sand automatically stuck to anything that was wet, but Changbin didn’t seem to care. He sat back on his hands and stretched his legs out in front of him, grinning as he watched the others continue to play in the surf. 

Seungmin, on the other hand, crossed his legs and focused on brushing the sand off the palms of his hands.

“Hey, look,” Changbin said suddenly, making Seungmin look up. Changbin pointed upwards, at the sky. “It’s the dragon.”

“What’s with you and dragons?” Seungmin said. 

Changbin shrugged. “They’re cool.”

“Cool,” Seungmin repeated. 

Changbin smirked at him before looking back up at the sky. “Actually, I know some history, if you’d like to hear it.”

“Yeah?”

Changbin nodded, still smirking as he pointed up at the sky again. “There’s not just one dragon, actually. There’s three. But the other two aren’t on this part of the sky. They’re all at three different points, but on the right day and at the right time, you can see all three of them just barely peeking over the horizon. They’re still on their journey to the same point.”

“Like in the story,” Seungmin said.

“Exactly.”

“But they’ll never get there,” Seungmin said, frowning. “They’re frozen in time.”

Changbin shrugged. “One day they will.” He looked at Seungmin and smiled. “So you read the story, then?”

“I read all of them,” Seungmin said. 

“Already?” Changbin laughed.

Seungmin nodded.

“What did you think?” 

“I liked them all,” Seungmin said, “but the story of the three dragons was my favorite.”

Changbin smirked. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, I’m really not. I thought it was the most heartfelt. The three of them, despite being so different, find each other in the end. Most children’s stories don’t end well.”

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites because of the happy ending.” Changbin sighed as he looked back at the waves. “My least favorite, though, is the one about the Merchant Prince.”

Seungmin didn’t say anything to that. He remembered that one. It had actually been a happy story, though a bit cliché. The hero—the Merchant Prince—travels the seas on his ship, only to come upon an island full of grieving and desperate citizens. The citizens then beg for the Merchant Prince to rescue their beloved princess, who was taken captive by an evil witch and imprisoned in a tower in the forest. And, of course, the Merchant Prince goes and slays the witch and rescues the princess before taking her as his wife. 

“I always couldn’t help sympathizing with the witch in that one,” Changbin said, making Seungmin look at him in surprise. “The witch really didn’t seem that evil to me. She just wanted a companion because it was lonely living out in the forest. And she didn’t even trick the princess or anything—she just asked if she’d like to come and live in the forest. And then some guy comes in and steals the princess and brutally rips the witch’s heart out.” He looked at Seungmin. “That doesn’t seem right to me. It seems to me like the witch and the princess were the ones in love, and then the Merchant Prince was the villain.”

Seungmin blinked in surprise, momentarily at a loss for words. But then he scrambled and managed to say, “Well, maybe the story was written by him. And since he’s the victor, he writes himself as a hero.”

Changbin shook his head. “It’s sad.”

Seungmin watched him for several moments, vaguely aware of a smile making its way onto his face. Changbin glanced at him, then did a double take and rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at me all you want,” Changbin said, looking away. 

“I’m not laughing,” Seungmin said even as he continued to smile. “This is what I meant when I said I wanted to hear you tell the stories. I like your interpretations.”

Changbin looked at him like he couldn’t figure out if Seungmin was tricking him or not. But when Seungmin continued to look back at him, Changbin’s face softened. “You do?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Seungmin insisted. “Tell me another.”

Changbin snorted. “Which one?”

“What other one did you hate?”

“Oh, that’s easy—the one with the troll.” Changbin shuddered. “I hate trolls.”

Seungmin couldn’t help laughing. “That’s it? That’s your entire interpretation of that one?”

“Enlightening, isn’t it?” Changbin smiled back at him. 

“Groundbreaking,” Seungmin said with a grin. “You should immediately become a scholar.”

Changbin just smirked and shoved his shoulder, making Seungmin laugh again. But then Changbin’s smile faded slightly as he just stared at Seungmin, who was unfazed and stared back. There was that look on Changbin’s face again that suggested that he was going to say something, only to think better of it and keep it to himself. 

“What?” Seungmin said. “Say whatever you want.”

Changbin studied him for a few moments more before saying softly, “You have a nice laugh.”

Seungmin blinked at that, his smile momentarily fading as he stared back at Changbin with wide eyes. 

“Hey!” Jisung shouted, walking towards them and efficiently shattering the moment. “If you two are done gazing into each other’s eyes, we’re going to head back soon before it gets too late.”

“We were not gazing into each other’s eyes!” Changbin yelled back, standing. “It’s a sign of respect to look into someone’s eyes when you’re talking to them!”

“Oh, then you two respect each other very much.” Jisung grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at them. 

Seungmin didn’t see how Changbin reacted, as he was too busy standing up and brushing the sand off himself. His clothes weren’t dry whatsoever, but he wasn’t soaked to the bone like he was before. He could only hope that he would dry off a bit more when they climbed the staircase to the top of the cliffs. 

He didn’t speak much to Changbin (or to anyone for that matter) as they made their way back to the castle, though, without even hesitating, Changbin broke off from the others to walk Seungmin back to his room. Seungmin deliberately ignored the shit-eating grins the others shot at them. 

“Sorry we dragged you out of your room,” Changbin said. “Even though that was hilarious. I was both appalled and impressed when you started cursing everyone out.”

“You would be like that too if you had just spent the entire day with the king.” Seungmin rolled his eyes. “But…I had fun.” He gave Changbin a quick smile before looking straight ahead. 

“I’m glad,” Changbin said. “I had fun, too.”

They had reached Seungmin’s chambers at that point, but Seungmin was too distracted by Changbin’s smile and slicked back hair to notice. He didn’t even notice how Changbin was looking back at him with the same look in his eye. 

Then, softly, Changbin said, “Goodnight, Your Highness.”

“See you tomorrow?” Seungmin said without thinking. 

Changbin’s smile widened. “I look forward to it.”

Seungmin smiled back. “Me too. Goodnight, then, Changbin.”

With that, they parted ways for the night. But as Seungmin drew his own bath and washed all the salt from his body and dressed in warm, soft clothes, he found himself thinking about the guard. He thought about how brightly Changbin had smiled and how hard he had laughed and how passionately he had recounted his favorite—and not so favorite—stories. He thought about how Changbin had looked in the moonlight with his hair pushed back—all the angular panes of his face highlighted, and yet his eyes still soft and warm. 

And of course he thought a little bit about how Changbin’s wet shirt clung to his body, revealing the curves of his toned muscles, but that was irrelevant. 

Above all, as Seungmin settled into his bed, he thought about how much he looked forward to seeing Changbin tomorrow. 

Smiling to himself, he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The hunting expedition was the next day. Unlike some hunting expeditions, though, this would only take one day. They left at daybreak and planned to return at sunset, hopefully with some fresh meat to show for their efforts. 

Seungmin, luckily, had been on hunting expeditions before. He knew how to ride a horse through uneven terrain and he knew his place at the back of the group, since he was only there to watch and not to intervene. Hyunjin, of course, had always been at the front of the group with his father and had even shot some deer before. Despite Hyunjin’s love for animals, he admitted to Seungmin once that the thrill of the chase was addicting. The kill…not so much.

Today, though, their roles were switched. Now Seungmin was at the front, expected to shoot and kill some deer, while Hyunjin was near the back. For once, Seungmin was with Jeongin, who seemed less than enthused to be on this trip. He mentioned this much to Seungmin whenever the king and his guards were out of earshot. Seungmin just smirked, hoping that the king wouldn’t actually make Seungmin kill whatever game they chased. 

However, this trip was just like how Seungmin had remembered the others before it, and that was due to how boring it was. It took hours for the dogs to catch a trail and lead them to anything alive, and sometimes it took hours chasing down the deer as well. Sometimes the prey got away, and sometimes the party just lost it. The hours went on, and Seungmin was already beginning to grow sore from sitting in a saddle all day. At least they weren’t out in the hot sun. They were in the trees, in a pleasant, sparse forest to the north of the castle. A forest, Jeongin said, that was cursed and dangerous after dark. 

“This is where the witches fled during the hunts,” Jeongin said. “There are stories that some kings didn’t actually hunt animals when they went hunting—they actually hunted witches and faeries just for the fun of it. And then others specifically went after the children of the witches and faeries, just because it was fun to see them run before killing them.”

Seungmin really wished he hadn’t said that, because now he was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. 

“Have you ever seen one?” he asked Jeongin. “A witch? Or a faerie?”

Jeongin hesitated, looking like he was going back and forth internally. Finally, he said, “There’s a story that a faerie broke into the castle when I was a baby. Apparently the guards found her standing over my crib in the middle of the night. They thought she was trying to steal me and leave a changeling in my place. But they killed her before she had the chance.”

Seungmin blinked in surprise. 

Jeongin shrugged. “Sometimes I think I see things standing on the edge of the cliffs. Or standing at the edge of the forest. But I can never tell if they’re just my imagination or not.”

Seungmin glanced at the forest around them. Even though he had magic of his own, he couldn’t sense magic in the world around him. And ever since coming to the Southern Kingdom, his magic had been strangely dormant, which was a bit of a blessing, in his opinion. He didn’t have to worry about accidentally letting some of his magic slip and exposing himself to everyone in the court. 

“Have you?” Jeongin asked. “Seen one?”

Seungmin looked back at him. “No,” he said, looking straight ahead. 

“Do you believe in them?”

“I believe they once existed, yes, but I don’t know if they’re really still out there or not.” And if they were, Seungmin wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet one. Part of him wanted to meet someone who had magic like him, so they could tell him how to use it, since he for the life of him couldn’t figure it out. But part of him was afraid that they would be as evil as the stories said and try to kill him.

One of the dogs perked up and suddenly went barking into the underbrush, causing the king to yell out an order before spurring his horse after it. With a sigh, Seungmin kicked his horse into motion and followed with the rest of the group. 

It turned out to be a false alarm. Seungmin exchanged glances with Jeongin and rolled his eyes. 

The day dragged on and on. The sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon when they finally chased after a young buck. The king had the killing shot, and with a bit of cheering from the rest of the party, they finally began the journey back through the forest. 

Seungmin couldn’t help noticing how the shadows seemed to move with a mind of their own as they grew longer and longer later in the day. He told him it was his mind playing tricks on him, that he was imagining things like Jeongin had said. Maybe it was just Jeongin’s stories getting to him. 

At one point, he swore he heard whispering (when the rest of the group was silent), but he couldn’t tell if it was just the wind or not. Another time, he thought he saw a girl standing in the shadows, staring right at him, but when he blinked, she was gone. 

Needless to say, by the time the edge of the forest came into view, Seungmin was nothing short of relieved. He was tired, hungry, and sore and was in the mood for a warm bath before crashing on his bed. With a book, of course. 

The sun was barely hovering above the horizon when the king led them out of the forest. Seungmin glanced at Jeongin, who looked like he was going to fall off his horse any moment from exhaustion. Seungmin smirked at that, only for his eyes to shift to the edge of the forest behind Jeongin.

There, just outside the forest, stood a girl dressed in all black. Her eyes were a glowing shade of red, and they were looking right at Seungmin. 

The moment their eyes met, something in the atmosphere changed. 

Seungmin’s horse jerked, which was about as much of a warning as Seungmin got before his horse suddenly reared, catching Seungmin off-guard. He tried to grab onto the horn of the saddle, but he was already falling. His hand passed through empty air as he fell backwards, off the horse, and onto the hard ground, where a sickening snap cut through the air. Pain exploded from his arm as someone shouted above the chaos.

Meanwhile, the king and his men were struggling to reign in their own horses. There was a shout, and Seungmin glanced up to see Jeongin’s horse galloping back into the forest. Chan and his horse went racing after it, his cape a blue streak behind him. 

A cold wind had began to blow, carrying darkening clouds with it. As the world plunged deeper into darkness, the whispers began. 

The sound of them caused the horses to panic even further, some of them stamping dangerously close to Seungmin. He flinched, but he couldn’t move more than that. Over the wind and the shouts and the terrified cries of the horses, Seungmin could finally hear what the whispers were saying. 

King, king, king, one voice chanted, while another was repeating something that sounded suspiciously like, Chosen One. 

And a third said, Seungmin.

Then, out of nowhere, a horse appeared in front of him, picking up its front hooves before slamming them back down, the sound snapping Seungmin out of his daze. He looked up, right at the face of a guard, who was saying something and holding his arm out to him. 

He thought, in that moment, with the golden armor burning like a beacon in the darkness, the blue cape billowing out gracefully behind him, that this guard looked like some sort of angelic being coming down from the sky. 

“Hyunjin!” Changbin’s harsh voice snapped him out of it. “Get up!”

Seungmin shook his head to clear it and lunged forward. He clasped Changbin’s outstretched arm, and Changbin effortlessly swung him up onto the back of his horse. Then, without so much as a glance back at the forest, Changbin sent the horse galloping across the grounds and towards the castle. 

But Seungmin looked back. He turned and saw that girl standing there. And even as the distance increased between them, he heard her voice in his head like she was standing right next to him. 

Seungmin, she said. 

Seungmin quickly turned his attention forward and tried not to hold onto Changbin’s waist too tightly. 

* * * 

“You’re lucky,” the court physician told the Crown Prince. “A perfect, clean break. After a few weeks in a cast, it should heal perfectly.”

The Crown Prince just nodded, his face completely void of any emotion whatsoever, even as the court physician carefully wrapped his arm and draped it through a sling.

Changbin had to physically hold himself back from numerous things. He had to hold himself back from pacing. He had to hold himself back from chewing away at all of his nails. And, most importantly, he had to hold himself back from rushing to the Crown Prince’s side and pulling him into a hug to let him know that he was safe and that he was going to be okay. 

None of those actions were appropriate for a guard. 

So, instead, he stood there at the door of the infirmary, watching as the court physician tended to the Crown Prince’s broken arm.

“It had to be my dominant arm,” the Crown Prince said when the physician finished wrapping it. 

“Could have been much worse, Your Highness,” the court physician said. “Men have died being thrown from their horses.”

“They wouldn’t have let that happen,” the Crown Prince muttered.

“I beg pardon, Your Highness?”

“Hmm?” The Crown Prince looked up, his eyes wide. “Oh, nothing. Is that all, doctor?”

“Yes, Your Highness, that is all.” The court physician bowed before walking away. 

Changbin finally decided he could move and managed to keep his walk at a slower pace as he went over to the Crown Prince’s side. The Crown Prince looked up at him when he approached, his eyes wide and still not quite there. Changbin supposed he was still in shock. Everything had happened so quickly. 

“Let me escort you to your chambers, Your Highness,” Changbin said. 

The Crown Prince nodded.

They didn’t speak as they walked through the hallways. Changbin glanced at the Crown Prince out of the corner of his eye, his mind already going back to the events of less than an hour ago. He had never seen or experienced anything like that. He had never seen something cause mass panic around the horses so effectively, not even gunshots or cannon fire. And the way the sky had darkened so quickly and how the temperature had dropped…

Changbin had seen the Crown Prince’s horse rear and had seen the Crown Prince fall to the ground and had immediately reacted. Even as the other horses spooked and ran away—Jeongin’s included—all Changbin could focus on was reaching the Crown Prince, who had disappeared beneath all of the stamping, skittering hooves. A sickening feeling had surged through him as he prepared to see the prince’s broken, bloodied body on the ground, but instead he had just seen the prince sitting there and staring at the chaos around him. Other than his cradled right arm, he was completely unscathed, and Changbin couldn’t help thinking it was somewhat of a miracle. 

Or magic, a voice said in the back of his head. 

That change in atmosphere had definitely felt otherworldly enough to be magic. 

Changbin opened the door to the Crown Prince’s chambers for him, and the Crown Prince stepped inside. Immediately, noise exploded from within, and Changbin tensed, still too jumpy from earlier. 

The best friend, who had been waiting for them, surged forward, and grabbed the Crown Prince’s face, saying, “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you break anything? Did you hit your head?”

The Crown Prince blinked, rightfully caught off-guard, and his best friend gasped before pulling him into a hug. The Crown Prince hissed and pulled back, his face twisting with pain. 

“Oh my god!” the best friend said, covering his mouth with his hands. “I’m so sorry! I just reacted! What hurts?”

“I broke my arm,” the Crown Prince said, nodding at where it was stuck in a sling. “Other than that, I’m fine.”

“You are not fine, you’re clearly shaken up!”

“I think it’s you who’s shaken up!”

“Of course I am!” the best friend exclaimed, stomping his foot at the same time. “You fell off your horse and almost got trampled and then Jeongin’s horse bolted with him still on it! And that horse would have continued to bolt if Chan hadn’t caught up to it and literally picked Jeongin up off the saddle!”

“Is he okay?”

The best friend let out a rush of air. “Yes, thank god. Just really shaken up.”

“Justifiably so,” the Crown Prince said. 

The best friend nodded, only for his brow to furrow. “Minnie…that felt like magic.”

“I know.” The Crown Prince looked away. 

“Did you…did you hear them?” The best friend searched his face. “The voices?”

“Did you?” The Crown Prince looked at him in surprise. 

The best friend hesitated before nodding. “I did.”

“What did you hear them say?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t make it all out—they were all talking over each other. But…I heard them say your name.”

The Crown Prince turned away, looking extremely uncomfortable. His eyes fell on Changbin, who stood at the door silently. The best friend noticed him next and cursed.

“I forgot he was standing there,” the best friend whispered to the Crown Prince. “Sorry.”

“Did you hear anything?” the Crown Prince asked Changbin, his eyes wide and searching. “When the horses freaked out, I mean.”

“No, Your Highness,” Changbin said. 

The Crown Prince blinked, his face falling. 

“That’s good,” the best friend said, putting a hand on the Crown Prince’s shoulder, only to quickly remove it when the Crown Prince flinched. “Sorry. I’ll get better at that, I swear.”

“I think I just want to go to bed,” the Crown Prince said. 

“You should eat first.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“That’s just the shock,” Changbin said, stepping forward. “You should really eat something.”

The Crown Prince shook his head, and Changbin looked at the best friend for help. 

“Min, come on,” the best friend said. 

“Stop calling me that,” the Crown Prince hissed. 

“I’m sorry. It slipped.”

The Crown Prince just scowled and shook his head. “I just want to be alone right now.”

“But—” the best friend began. 

“Go.” It came out sharply, and surprise flittered across the best friend’s face. 

“Alright,” he said quietly, avoiding the Crown Prince’s gaze. “Whatever you want, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince winced again, but his best friend was already walking past him to the door. He paused at Changbin’s side and murmured, “You should probably leave too.”

Changbin glanced back at the Crown Prince, whose head was still lowered as he stared at the floor. Changbin wanted nothing more than to just stay and make sure he was okay, but he had to remember his place. 

So, with great difficulty, he nodded and followed the best friend out the door. 

* * * 

Seungmin did not sleep well. 

First of all, he couldn’t get comfortable. Second, his mind was filled with nightmares of red-eyed witches and whispers calling him king, savior, chosen one. He wanted to scream at them to stop, that they had gotten the wrong person, that just because he had some magic didn’t mean he was this all-powerful being. Besides, why would they want someone like him to save them?

He woke in a cold sweat, his half-delirious mind mistaking the shadows of his room as witches. After that, he couldn’t fall back asleep, his body in too much pain and his mind too freaked out to calm down. 

He decided to drag himself out of bed and into the sitting room, where he had last left Changbin’s storybook. He snuggled back into his bed with it, only to discover that the moonlight filtering in through the glass doors to the balcony wasn’t enough for him to read by. There was a candle on the bedside table, and yet Seungmin didn’t know where the matches were. He squinted at it, like it would burst into flame if he just thought about it.

Then, out of nowhere, the candlewick caught fire, illuminating the room and making Seungmin jump. 

That hadn’t been the first time that Seungmin had been able to light candles just with a mere thought, but it was the first time it had happened in the Southern Kingdom. 

The following morning, he ate breakfast by himself in his room, ignoring Felix’s curious look and sending him away as soon as he was done setting the tray down. It turned out that eating with his left hand was not as easy as he thought, and he made a decision at that moment that he would not be eating in front of the king or the rest of the royal family anytime soon. 

In fact, he wasn’t in the mood to be around people at all today. Instead, he dressed himself (which took forever and made him cry out in pain at one point) and went to the library. He knew this was probably the second place anyone would look for him after his chambers, so he found the most secluded area, which happened to be in a tiny corner on the second level of the library. He spent his entire day there, flipping through numerous texts and searching for anything about magic and witches, specifically red-eyed witches with prophecies. He only came across evidence for how evil witches were (worshippers of Satan, demons from Hell, etc), the best ways to kill them (burning at the stake or cutting their hearts out), and some of the most successful witch-hunters in history (like Yang Hyunsuk, the statue from the garden). Basically, nothing of use to Seungmin. 

He skipped lunch and afternoon tea, too engrossed in his research to care about the pain in his stomach or his arm. 

By the time the library darkened enough for the servants to come around lighting  the candles, Seungmin decided it was time to pack up and return to his chambers. He was relieved to find his rooms empty, since he half-expected to find Hyunjin waiting for him. He signaled the servants anyway to bring up some dinner and tea before settling down to review his notes from the day. Honestly, writing his notes had taken the longest, mostly because the quill felt so unfamiliar in his left hand. He had smeared the ink while trying to write, and the letters that he did manage to write were practically illegible. With a groan, he crumpled them up and tossed them aside before slumping back into his chair, his mood souring. 

He didn’t want to be here anymore, he decided. He wanted to go home. He missed the mountains and the pine trees, where the wind didn’t threaten to knock him over or the heat wasn’t suffocating. He missed the familiar castle, where his room was smaller and had fewer potential hiding places for evil witches. He missed the librarians and the scholars, who always tolerated his numerous questions with practiced patience and kind smiles. He missed the king and the queen and Yeji, all of whom were so kind to him and treated him like a part of the family. 

Most of all, though, he missed being himself. He was sick of pretending to be a prince while Hyunjin had the freedom to do whatever he pleased (and spent it all with Jeongin). He was sick of being dragged along to outings with Chaeryeong or sitting through meetings with the king or spending hours on horseback, chasing after some poor animal, and falling off his horse and breaking his arm as a result. 

He knew a lot of this was him being tired and in pain and just cranky overall. But his mood only worsened when he realized he hadn’t even been here for a full week and was already completely done with this whole thing. He had no idea how he was going to tolerate being here for three months. 

There was a knock at his door, and Felix poked his head in, carrying Seungmin’s dinner on a tray. He smiled when he saw Seungmin sitting there. “Oh, look, he is in here,” he said, stepping into the room. 

“Is he now?” Hyunjin stepped in after Felix. He marched over to the couch where Seungmin sat, already opening his mouth to say something. 

“Before you start talking, just do me a favor and don’t,” Seungmin said. “I’m not leaving my room. I don’t care if everyone else is going to the city to have the time of their lives—I’m staying right here.”

“Wow, someone’s in a mood,” Hyunjin said. Seungmin shot him a glare. “People were looking for you all day. They thought you got kidnapped by some witches or something.”

Seungmin didn’t respond. His eyes went to Felix as he set the tray of food on the table. Seungmin’s heart sank when he saw a steak on the polished plate. How the hell was he supposed to cut that with only one hand?

“Let me know if you need anything,” Felix told Seungmin with a smile. “I hope you feel better.”

“Thanks, Lix,” Seungmin said softly, his eyes lowered as Felix bowed and left the room.

“So, how’s your arm?” Hyunjin asked once the door had shut. 

“I want to go home,” Seungmin said. 

Hyunjin blinked, then gave a short laugh. “You can’t go home. We have to be here for the three months.”

“I don’t care.” Seungmin looked up at him. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re in pain.” Hyunjin waved the thought aside. “Or because you’re hungry. Just eat something, get a good night’s sleep, and then in the morning we’ll—”

“No,” Seungmin cut him off. “I’m sick of this plan, Hyunjin. I don’t want to be you anymore. I just want to go home and not have to deal with anyone.” He scowled and looked back at the tray of food. 

“Not that you’ve been very good at being me,” Hyunjin scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

Seungmin looked up at him sharply. “Excuse me?”

“You’re just not very good at being a prince, Seungmin.” Hyunjin shrugged. “You’re not social, you’re not that polite, you don’t like being around people, and you’re not that great at hiding what you’re feeling. Not to mention how the whole point of this was to embarrass the princess so she’ll end the marriage herself, and yet she hasn’t made any move towards that whatsoever. The queen was talking all throughout dinner about getting Chaeryeong fitted for a wedding gown. That seems kind of final, don’t you think?”

“And what, exactly, have you been doing this entire time?” Seungmin shot back. “You haven’t been helping me out. You haven’t even been calling me by your name—you keep calling me Minnie in front of everyone! You just run around with Jeongin all day, not a care in the world. Just out of curiosity, how do you think that’s going to end?”

“Shut up, it’s not like you’re completely innocent either,” Hyunjin snapped. “I see the way you’re always looking at Changbin. That won’t cause a scandal whatsoever, will it? An imposter and a foreign guard? Unthinkable.”

“An imposter?” Seungmin gaped up at him. “That’s assuming that people will find out about this plan.”

“Yeah, well, if you back out now and blow both of our covers, how do you think this is going to go over?” Hyunjin raised his eyebrows at him. “Huh? I hate to say it, but it won’t hurt me at all. It’ll backfire on you. People will immediately condemn you and think you blackmailed me in order to take my place.”

Seungmin swallowed back the lump rising in his throat and looked away. He wished he had thought these things through before agreeing to this stupid plan. This plan had gotten too overly complicated. It wasn’t meant to be anything more than a prank.

Hyunjin sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But I really think that what you’re feeling will pass.”

Seungmin just lifted his good shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. 

“If we really try, then we’ll only be here for another month at the most,” Hyunjin continued. But his voice and face were sad. “Then you’ll get to go home.”

“What about you?” Seungmin still didn’t look at him. 

Hyunjin sighed. “I’ll probably come too. You’re right. Jeongin and I…it’s not meant to be.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know, but you’re still right.” Hyunjin gave a forced smile. “Even though we’re both princes, it can’t happen.”

“You’ve only known him for a few days, though,” Seungmin said. “Maybe he could be the one in your prophecy.”

Hyunjin sighed again. “I don’t think he is. Besides, you know how I am. I fall too quickly, thinking that each one will be The One.” He rolled his eyes at himself and looked away.

When Seungmin didn’t say anything, Hyunjin took a deep, shaky breath, ran a hand through his hair, and said, “Anyways, I should…I should go. I’m meeting Jeongin…again.”

Seungmin finally looked up at him and forced a smile. “Have fun.”

Hyunjin nodded in reply and left his room without another word. 

Seungmin was in a bad mood for the rest of the night. 

* * * 

The next day was the same. Seungmin woke up after a terrible night’s rest, ate his breakfast by himself in his room, and immediately slipped off to the library before anyone could come looking for him. He settled into the same corner as always, though he spent longer than he would have liked to admit trying to write notes. 

By some miracle, he finished flipping through a book on mythological creatures (with nothing to show for it, really, but there was a section on dragons that made him immediately think of Changbin). He stood to re-shelve it and possibly peruse the rest of the section on mythological and fantastical creatures. As he stood at the shelf, though, brushing his fingers along the spines as he read them, he heard footsteps approaching, much heavier than any of the librarians’.

“You’re a hard man to find,” Changbin’s voice said. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re hiding.”

“Anyone who knows me should have thought of the library as the first place to look for me,” Seungmin replied, not looking at him. 

“I did look,” Changbin said. “Yesterday. You weren’t in here. And the librarians told me that they hadn’t seen you come in.”

“That’s because I bribed them.” Seungmin glanced up from the spines just to see Changbin’s reaction. “And I deliberately found the most secluded spot in the library to hide from people.”

Changbin looked surprised and yet impressed at the same time. He had that half-smile of his spreading across his face. “You do realize that that was not the best move after being attacked by witches? Everyone thought you had been kidnapped or something.”

Seungmin lifted his good shoulder in a shrug and went back to looking at the books. 

“How’s your arm?”

“Fine.” Seungmin’s fingers paused on a particularly thick volume that claimed it had every creature known to man catalogued. He started to pull it out, seriously misjudged how heavy it was, and almost dropped it. 

Changbin stepped forward and took it from him. “Why, exactly, are you looking at books on mythological creatures?”

“Because.” Seungmin reached to take the book from him, but Changbin held it out of his reach. Usually Seungmin would have found that amusing, considering he was taller than Changbin by a couple inches, but he knew he couldn’t hold that book in one hand. He sighed and decided to just let it go. He turned back to the bookshelf, grabbed another book that was much smaller and easier to carry, and walked away from Changbin. 

“Hey,” Changbin said, following him. 

“You can go now,” Seungmin said, going back to his secluded corner and sitting down. “Pretty sure you have another prince to worry about.”

“There are two other guards to watch him and it’s not like anything could hurt him when your best friend is around.” Changbin rolled his eyes. “They’ve been practically attached at the hip for days.”

Seungmin paused as he flipped through the thinner book, then proceeded to flip through it, not finding anything relevant. 

Changbin watched him. Then, as Seungmin finished the thinner book and immediately grabbed one he had already flipped through from the stack on the table, Changbin slid the thick book on all mythological creatures onto the desk. “Hyunjin,” he murmured. 

“Don’t call me that,” Seungmin snapped, looking up at him. Changbin looked surprised at his sudden change in tone, but he boldly held Seungmin’s gaze. 

“Have you been sleeping?” Changbin asked, frowning. “You have rings under your eyes.”

“If you’re here to criticize my appearance, you can leave.” Seungmin scowled and looked back at his books. He dragged the book on all mythological creatures towards him.

“You have ink all over your hand,” Changbin said. 

“Don’t care.” Seungmin flipped to the index, looked for the page where it discussed witches and any kind of magic-wielder, and started flipping to it. 

Changbin picked up a leaflet from Seungmin’s notes that was closest to him. Seungmin immediately grabbed for it, but Changbin once again held it out of his reach. “This is illegible,” he said, turning the page around to show Seungmin his sloppy, childish letters. They practically taunted him from the page. “I mean, half of it is smeared out completely.”

“I can read it,” Seungmin scoffed. 

“Really? Then what does that say?” Changbin pointed to a particularly bad section that just looked like ink exploded all over.

“Doesn’t matter, it was irrelevant so I scribbled it out,” Seungmin lied. 

“Did you, now.” Changbin was starting to smirk at him. 

“Yes.” Seungmin looked him right in the eye, unwilling to back down. 

Changbin’s smirk stretched into a smile. He shrugged, then pulled out the chair across the table from Seungmin. He tugged the stack of blank parchment, the pot of ink, and the quill towards him and raised his eyebrows at Seungmin. “Tell me what to write.”

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Seungmin asked. 

“No.” Changbin smiled at him. “Besides, you’ll remember it better when you say it out loud.”

“You underestimate my memory.” Seungmin looked back down at the book. 

“If your memory is so exceptional, then why do you write down notes?”

“Because it helps me further develop a train of thought.”

“So, what were you thinking when you wrote these notes?” Changbin picked up the other notes and started reading over them. His brow furrowed before he looked up at Seungmin. “You’re researching witches?”

Seungmin looked away. “No,” he said, even though the page in the open book in front of him clearly said, in bold letters, WITCHES. There was a drawing next to it of a stereotypical witch—an old hag with a crooked nose and a hunched spine, dressed in shabby, black robes. Seungmin kept flipping, glancing only at the different types of witches listed. 

“Why are you researching witches?” Changbin was watching him flip through the book. 

“Because I’m curious.”

“That must be some extreme curiosity if you’re willing to spend days upon days researching.”

“I like researching,” Seungmin said. “It’s better than sitting in the war room, listening to the king and his advisors argue all day.”

Changbin smirked at that. 

“Besides, reading helps distract me,” Seungmin said. 

“From what?”

Seungmin sighed and glanced up at him. “From everything,” he admitted, looking back down at the book. “From my arm. From this whole situation. From my homesickness.”

“You’re homesick?” Changbin asked softly. When Seungmin didn’t respond, Changbin’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I just did.”

Changbin gave him a look, and Seungmin looked back at him innocently. Changbin smirked at that before saying, “Fine, then. Tell me about home. What do you miss about it?”

“That’s just going to make it worse,” Seungmin said. 

“Humor me?”

Seungmin sighed, relenting only because Changbin, admittedly, looked too cute and curious in that moment. “I miss the mountains, I guess,” he said, looking down at the book just to have something other than Changbin to look at. “They’re always so beautiful at any time of day. Though, right now, there isn’t any snow on them. It’s all melted. And…I miss the forest. It’s not like the forest here. The forest here feels so dark and foreboding. The one at home is much denser, but it’s feels safer.” Seungmin couldn’t help smiling. “And it smells good. It smells like pine.”

Changbin was smiling at him, but Seungmin was deliberately ignoring him. 

“And I guess I miss the castle, just because it’s home,” Seungmin said. “It’s familiar. Though, I’ll admit that the bed here is much comfier than my bed at home.”

“So I’ve heard,” Changbin said, amused.

“I guess I really just miss being able to do whatever I want,” Seungmin said. “People at home don’t really care about what I do. I don’t have to worry about offending someone or making friends or being social. I can sit in my room all day and read and no one cares. But here, I miss one day and everyone freaks out.”

“Maybe people care a lot more, here,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin shook his head. “No, I’m just supposedly more important here.”

“I don’t know, being a crown prince of your own country sounds pretty important.”

“Being a crown prince of a foreign country and stuck in an engagement that he doesn’t want sounds more important,” Seungmin said. When Changbin didn’t respond, he dared to glance up, only to immediately look away. “Never mind,” he said, flipping through the book again. “Enough of me whining. My struggles aren’t nearly as bad as some of the commoners’. I don’t have the right to complain.”

“You’re human just like the rest of us,” Changbin said, frowning. “Just because you happen to be born into a royal family doesn’t mean your struggles aren’t irrelevant.’

Seungmin didn’t respond, only because his eyes had fallen on a drawing in the book of a girl dressed in black with glowing red eyes. 

“Hyun—I mean, Your Highness?” Changbin craned his neck to look at what Seungmin was looking at. “What is that?”

“A witch,” Seungmin said quietly. “A bad omen.”

Changbin was looking at him, waiting for him to say more, but Seungmin shut the book. 

“I think I’m done,” he said.

“What?”

“I kind of want to go for a walk.” Seungmin looked up at Changbin, who looked confused. “I need to clear my head.”

Changbin blinked at him, but then nodded. “Okay. Should we put the books back first, or…?”

“No, the librarians will put them back.” Seungmin stood, gathered up his notes, and started to walk away. Changbin followed.

They dropped Seungmin’s notes off in his chambers, then headed outside. But the moment they stepped outside the castle, a wind carrying the thick scent of rain greeted them. There were clouds brewing on the horizon, just over the ocean. They were so dark that they looked almost black, and just looking at them and the choppy sea filled Seungmin’s gut with apprehension. 

“About time we got a storm,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin didn’t say anything, unable to shake that foreboding feeling as they walked towards the gardens. 

He ate dinner alone in his chambers again. When he bathed and dressed for bed, the sound of the wind howling and battering the side of the castle was almost deafening. The doors to the balcony rattled with every strong gust. Occasionally a flash of lightning illuminated the room, followed immediately by a booming clap of thunder that made Seungmin jump. As he lay in bed, he watched the darkness writhe with a mind of its own outside the glass doors, that sickening feeling still clinging to his gut. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, telling himself it was just a storm and that it would pass. 

But when he slipped into a fitful sleep, he dreamed that the lightning struck the side of the cliffs and that the thunder shook them so powerfully that they crumpled away, taking the castle with it. In another dream, the wind tore the castle apart, and Seungmin fell into the dark, tumultuous sea, where witches dressed in black with glowing eyes clawed at him and dragged him down, down, down. Seungmin awoke with a shout, gasping frantically for air, his lungs still burning with the feeling of drowning. Thunder exploded, and the doors to the balcony flew open, and in rushed a gust of wind carrying sheets of rain. A moment later, lightning illuminated the balcony, highlighting a dark-robed figure with glowing red eyes. 

Seungmin panicked. He launched himself out of bed and burst out to his room, out into the dark halls of the castle. The torches had all been distinguished, and a sickening cold creeped through the stone. Seungmin didn’t know where to go, but he knew he couldn’t go back into that room. So he turned and ran down the hall, letting his bare feet lead him. 

He didn’t comprehend where he was going whatsoever until suddenly he heard voices and laughter coming from the other end of a hall. A warm glow illuminated the doorway, and, like a moth drawn to a flame, Seungmin went towards it. 

Somehow, he had found his way to the servants’ quarters, specifically to the kitchen, where a group of them were gathered at a rickety, wooden table, playing cards and drinking tea. The sight was familiar to Seungmin and created such a longing in him that his whole chest ached. 

Felix glanced up at him, then did a double-take. “Oh, hi, Seungmin.”

That drew the attention of the others. Minho’s eyes went wide as he kicked Felix under the table, and Felix let out a yelp that turned into a nervous laugh. 

“Oh my god, sorry, Hyunjin, I thought you were Seungmin,” he said. “You guys look so alike.”

Jisung blinked at Felix in surprise. “You call your prince by his first name as well?”

“Er, yeah, we’re buds,” Felix said, making Minho snort. To Seungmin, he quickly said, “Come join.” He scooted down on the bench and patted the empty space next to him. Seungmin sat down next to him, hating how he felt so out of place when he used to feel at home sitting and playing cards with the other servants back at home. 

He glanced up at the others sitting around the table, surprised to find Changbin staring back at him from directly across from him. Changbin gave him a small smile, which Seungmin returned. 

“You want in?” Felix asked Seungmin, gesturing to the cards.

Seungmin tore his eyes away from Changbin. “Oh, sure.” 

“No, don’t let him in,” Minho complained. “He wins every single time.”

“Not my fault you don’t know how to count cards,” Seungmin said, arching an eyebrow. 

“That’s cheating,” Minho scoffed. 

“It’s strategy.” Seungmin shrugged. “And luck.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re lucky alright.” Minho snorted. 

Seungmin, at the peak of his maturity, stuck his tongue out at him, and Minho, also an adult, stuck his tongue back out at him. 

The others—Changbin, Chan, Jisung, and Brian—watched this all with various looks of surprise. 

“You two seem chummy,” Chan remarked. 

“Grew up together,” Seungmin said at the same time Minho said, “I practically raised him.” Both of them looked at each other.

Felix took the opportunity to say, “Oh, hey, Se—Hyunjin, do you want some tea?” To cover up his slip-up again, he gave another awkward chuckle and said, “God, you and Hyu—Seungmin act and look so alike. I’m really tripping up over here.”

“I’ll take some tea,” Seungmin said. Felix practically jumped up to get it for him. “Where’s Seungmin?”

“Probably off cuddling some royal,” Minho said. “You know he hates being alone during storms.”

Seungmin did know, because at home, without fail, Hyunjin always climbed into his bed during a summer storm and hugged him tightly until it passed. Maybe that was why Seungmin had so much difficulty getting through this storm. 

“Jeongin hates storms too,” Chan said. He sighed, a fond smile appearing on his face. “They’ve gotten so close lately. I’m happy for them.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy for Jeongin to make friends,” Jisung said, reshuffling his cards. 

Minho snorted. “Oh, honey, they are so much more than friends.”

“I know, I’m not blind.”

“It’s hard enough for Jeongin to make friends, much less a more-than-friend,” Brian clarified.

“Just say boyfriend,” Minho said.

“Here ya go,” Felix said, coming over with a steaming mug of tea and placing it in front of Seungmin. “Mint tea.”

“You’re the best, Lixie,” Seungmin said with a smile. 

“I know.” Felix laughed and sat down. “Also, why is it so hard for Jeongin to make friends? He’s so cute that it seems weird to me that he’d have problems.”

“Well, to put it simply, he’s scared,” Chan said. 

“Also he’s cursed,” Jisung said. 

“Jisung!” Chan and Changbin hissed at the same time. 

“What? He is!”

“Cursed?” Seungmin repeated. 

Chan shot Jisung a look before looking at Seungmin and sighing. “No one outside of the royal family and their closest advisors are supposed to know this,” he said. “The four of us only know because we’re with the royals more than anyone else. But…yes, he’s cursed.”

Seungmin thought back to Jeongin’s story about the faerie standing over his crib when he was a baby. Maybe it hadn’t been just a story after all.

“So what does the curse do?” Felix’s eyes were wide as he looked at Chan.

Chan looked like he regretted saying anything, but with everyone looking at him, he sighed again and gave in. “Whenever he kisses someone, they lose all memory of him.”

Felix blinked, his expression appearing wounded. “What? Oh my god, that’s awful.”

Meanwhile, the blood was roaring inside of Seungmin’s head. 

“What if it’s an accident?” Minho asked, his chin propped up on his hand. “Does it have to be on the lips? Or is it a true love’s kiss sorta bullshit? Does it have to be with tongue? Does he even know that kissing can involve tongue? He seems a little too innocent for that.”

“Minho, do yourself a favor and shut up,” Jisung said.

“Make me.” Minho smirked at Jisung and gave him a suggestive wink. 

Changbin, Chan, and Brian all groaned, making Minho laugh and Jisung blush. Changbin threw his hand of cards at them, since they had all but abandoned this game anyways. 

“I don’t know the specifics of it,” Chan said. “But basically there’s no kissing allowed.”

“Lame,” Minho said.

“Is there any way to break it?” Felix asked, only to blush when Chan looked at him. “Sorry. I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic.”

“Aw,” Brian said with a smile, making Felix blush even more. 

“No one knows,” Chan said. “He hasn’t kissed many people for obvious reasons and the people he has kissed never remember him.”

“Except—” Changbin started to say before he cut himself off. 

“Except Hyunjin,” Seungmin mumbled, but no one heard him.

“Except?” Felix looked at Changbin with wide eyes. 

“Except Seungmin,” Chan said. 

Felix blinked in surprise and turned to Seungmin. “You kissed Jeongin?”

“Uh—” Seungmin said.

“For the love of GOD, Felix!” Minho exclaimed. He pointed at Seungmin. “Hyunjin, not Seungmin!”

“It slipped, okay!” Felix shouted back. To Seungmin, he said, “I swear I’ve been better at keeping this a secret, I don’t know what’s up with me tonight.”

“Ooh, secrets?” Jisung grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at the same time Changbin frowned and asked, “Keeping what a secret?”

“Felix is secretly in love with Seungmin,” Seungmin blurted without thinking. 

“What?” Changbin, Jisung, and Felix said at the same time. 

“Er—that’s right,” Felix said quickly when everyone looked at him. “Oh no, you caught me!” He gave another one of those painfully awkward laughs. “I, uh, he’s always running through my mind, so I can’t help calling everyone Seungmin. Hyunjin just looks so much more like Seungmin, hence why I keep slipping up and calling him that.”

“He’s in denial,” Seungmin said.

“Has been for years,” Minho added. 

“But imagine a servant dating a prince—that wouldn’t work out, would it?” Felix laughed—awkwardly—again. 

“Oh for the love of—” Minho dropped his face into his hands.

“Fuck,” Felix said through a smile.

“Seungmin…isn’t a prince, though…?” Changbin was frowning at Felix. 

“You’re right, but he could be, with that beautiful face of his,” Felix said. 

“Felix would treat him like a prince,” Seungmin said. 

“Yes! That—that was what I meant.” Felix nodded. 

Minho groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “I’m going to bed,” he said, standing. To Jisung, he smirked and said, “You’re welcome to join, since the other two won’t be in there…”

“Oh, fuck, I’m down,” Jisung said, throwing down his cards and jumping up. 

“Nasty,” Changbin called after them. Minho flipped him off behind his back as he led Jisung out of the kitchen. 

Chan sighed and tossed his cards onto the table as well. “It’s getting late. We should probably turn in, too.”

“Can I take Jisung’s bed since there is no way in hell I’m going back to my room?” Felix asked. 

“Sure,” Chan said with a smile as he stood up. That signaled everyone else to get up as well, and Felix started to clean up the mugs while Changbin picked up the cards. 

Seungmin just sat there, feeling sick to his stomach with fear at the thought of going back to his room alone. 

“You done?” Felix asked, gesturing to Seungmin’s mug of tea. 

Seungmin nodded. Felix smiled before taking it away. 

“I hope you feel better, Your Highness,” Chan said, smiling at Seungmin as he passed with Brian. “Breaking bones is not fun at all.”

“Thanks,” Seungmin said. Chan and Brian left, and Felix put all of the mugs in the sink, waving it aside and mumbling that he’d deal with it in the morning. 

“Night, Minnie,” he said, only to groan and say, “Sorry, Hyunjinnie.”

“Sleep well, Felix,” Seungmin said. “Don’t dream too much of him.” He winked. 

Felix blushed at that before shuffling off, leaving the kitchen empty except for Changbin and Seungmin. 

Changbin finished gathering up the cards and slipping them back into their box. “Not going back to bed?” he asked Seungmin. 

Seungmin didn’t know how to explain that he was afraid of witches attacking him in his sleep, so he said, “I can’t sleep well during storms.” That wasn’t too far from the truth, he thought.

“This one’s not too bad,” Changbin remarked, making Seungmin look up at him with wide eyes. “It’s kind of mild, actually.”

“This isn’t bad?” Seungmin exclaimed, pointing at the kitchen window, where the glass pane and the shutters were rattling.

Changbin shrugged. “I guess I’ve seen worse.”

Seungmin looked away, starting to feel sick again. 

“Do you want me to walk you back?”

Seungmin tried not to nod so hard, but it ended up happening anyways. “Please.”

Changbin smiled. “Let’s go, then.” He offered Seungmin a hand, and Seungmin accepted it with his good arm without hesitating. He didn’t miss the look of surprise that crossed Changbin’s face. But as soon as they were out of the kitchen and started to walk through the halls, Seungmin let go of his hand.

They walked in silence, during which Changbin seemed more fidgety and nervous than usual. Seungmin glanced at him, feeling his heart do some kind of flip as he took in Changbin’s casual dress. Seungmin had only seen Changbin out of uniform a handful of times (like that one time at night at the beach), but every time it had the same affect on him. 

Changbin was frowning at the floor. “Why are you barefoot?”

“What?” Seungmin snapped out of whatever trance he was in and looked down at his feet which were, in fact, bare. As soon as he registered this, he started to feel the cold seeping through the stone floor. “Oh, uh. I ran out of my room too quickly.”

“Why?”

Seungmin fiddled with the strap of his sling, staring down at the floor. “I…got scared.” When Changbin didn’t respond, Seungmin quickly added, “There aren’t storms like this in the North, okay? We have snowstorms and blizzards, but those aren’t nearly as terrifying! Those don’t make me feel like the roof is going to rip off! And those definitely don’t make the balcony doors fly open.”

“I wasn’t saying anything,” Changbin said, grinning as he raised his hands in a surrender. “Everyone’s afraid of something, even hard-ass princes like you.”

“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” Seungmin arched an eyebrow. 

Changbin, despite Seungmin’s tone, grinned at him and said with confidence, “A hard-ass.”

“You’re bold,” Seungmin said. He frowned. “Or stupid.”

“Let’s say both,” Changbin said, still grinning. 

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “So, if everyone is afraid of something, then what is such a brave and noble guard like you afraid of?”

“I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm or not, so I’m just going to take it like it’s not,” Changbin said. “And I can tell you right away that my fears are way more irrational than yours.”

Seungmin just arched an eyebrow at him, amused. 

Changbin smirked back before leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially, “I’m deathly afraid of spiders.”

“Cliché,” Seungmin said. 

“And clowns.”

“Reasonable.”

“And tight spaces.”

“But you’re so tiny.”

“Excuse me?” Changbin raised his eyebrows at him. 

Seungmin grinned. “You’re short and tiny. You could fit into any small space and be fine, so why would you be so afraid of them?”

Changbin stared at him for a moment or two before pointing at him and saying, “Listen here you little—” Seungmin cut him off by laughing, and all of Changbin’s attempts to seem annoyed were undermined when he grinned at Seungmin.  

“Not everyone is as tall and regal as you are, okay,” Changbin said when they approached Seungmin’s door. “And my height is the only small part about me.” He winked at Seungmin. “Take that as you will.”

“I see you’ve been spending time around Minho,” Seungmin said.

“He flirts with anything that moves. But Jisung’s the only one who flirts back.” Changbin rolled his eyes. “He’s head-over-heels for Minho. All it took was a smile and he tripped over himself.”

Seungmin snorted. But as they stopped in front of his door, he made no move to open it. Changbin glanced at him, then at the door, almost pointedly. Seungmin opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and stayed silent. 

“Do you want me to check under your bed for any monsters?” Changbin tilted his head to one side and smirked at him.

“No,” Seungmin scoffed. “I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”

Changbin waited, his hands on his hips, but when Seungmin didn’t move, Changbin gestured towards the door. “Go right ahead.”

Seungmin clenched his jaw, squared his shoulders, and pushed open the door. Immediately the scent of rain greeted him, paired with a severe drop in temperature that made Seungmin shiver. Regardless, he stepped into the room, trying not to tremble from fright or the cold. From here, he could see directly through his bedroom door, right to the balcony doors, which were still wide open and swinging from the wind. But other than that, the room seemed fine from where Seungmin stood. 

A flash of lightning lit up the room, illuminating a dark figure standing in the middle of Seungmin’s bedroom. Seungmin couldn’t help it and let out a cry before jumping backwards, right into Changbin. Pain exploded in his arm from the movement, but he didn’t even register it. All he could focus on was the figure in his room, who turned at the sound of Seungmin’s scream. Then it turned and fled towards the balcony doors, where it nimbly jumped over the railing and disappeared into the storm. 

Seungmin felt Changbin move behind him. Changbin put a hand on Seungmin’s good arm to tell him to stay where he was before going forward into Seungmin’s bedroom. Even though he was unarmed, he moved with such confidence and fearlessness that it didn’t matter. Seungmin had no doubt that Changbin could defend himself with nothing but his bare hands.

Changbin checked the room, then went over to the balcony doors. He went outside only to check where the figure had gone. Then he shut the balcony doors behind him as he came back inside and looked at Seungmin. 

“Are you okay?” Changbin asked.

Seungmin tried to nod but ended up shaking his head, still trembling despite his best efforts. 

“Were these locked? Do you remember?” Changbin pointed at the balcony doors.

“I—I never used them,” Seungmin said.

Changbin nodded and looked down at the handles. He snorted. “Well, if I had just taken a closer look before asking that, I would have answered my own question.” He shook his head. “They don’t have a lock on them.” 

“That doesn’t seem safe,” Seungmin remarked. 

“That’s because it’s not,” Changbin said. “Clearly.” He glanced around, like he was looking for ideas. He pointed at the dresser next to the doors. “May I?”

Seungmin shrugged with his good shoulder, since he didn’t know what Changbin was asking, exactly. Changbin took that as a yes and started rummaging through the drawers. Seungmin hadn’t gone through all of them and had only used the ones for undergarments and pants, but Changbin didn’t even go through those. He only went through the top ones, which were full of small handkerchiefs and other linens. Changbin chose a handful of the handkerchiefs and started tying them together. When he had somewhat of a small rope, he tied that around the door handles of the balcony. 

“There,” he said, wiggling the doors just to test it. “Makeshift lock. Though, I guess if someone really wanted to get in, they could just cut through it.” He frowned, while that mere comment made Seungmin’s stomach pitch. “I’ll talk to the king about it,” Changbin decided, turning to look at Seungmin. “That’s a serious safety risk right there.”

Seungmin didn’t want to tell him that if the dark figure was really what he thought it was, then a bit of cloth wasn’t going to keep it from getting inside. 

Changbin crossed the room to stand in front of him, his brows still knitted with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

Seungmin shook his head. 

“What can I do to help?”

“Can you stay?” The words were out of Seungmin’s mouth before he could even process them. He blinked in surprise, already regretting saying anything, but Changbin’s expression softened. 

“Of course,” he said softly.

Seungmin swallowed and nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

“I want you to feel safe,” Changbin said. 

“I’d feel safer if you were here,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin smiled. “And I’d feel better knowing firsthand that you’re safe.”

Seungmin smiled back, feeling a swell of warmth in his chest that chased away the frigidness of the room. 

“Come on,” Changbin said, holding out his hand to Seungmin. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“You say that like I’m a child,” Seungmin said, but he took Changbin’s hand anyways and let him lead him to bed. 

The storm still raged on for the rest of the night, but Seungmin didn’t hear it. For the first time in days, he slept well, knowing that Changbin was sitting beside his bed, watching over him. 

* * * 

Changbin was gone when Seungmin woke up the following morning, but he had left a note on the chair beside Seungmin’s bed in which he had sat all night. Seungmin had tried telling him that he didn’t have to sit there all night and that he could at least sleep on the couch in the sitting room—at least have something to stretch out on—but Changbin wouldn’t hear it. 

“I’ve sat through worse,” Changbin had said with a smile. “Trust me, this is like the height of luxury for a guard.”

Seungmin had rolled his eyes but gave up trying to convince him otherwise. 

That following morning, the storm had passed, and the sky was a brilliant blue. The sun shone through the balcony doors, revealing that Changbin’s makeshift lock had held. Seungmin sat up, wincing from the pain in his arm, and reached for the note sitting on Changbin’s chair. 

Good morning~

Had to leave early because, as you know, some of us have jobs to do and don’t have the luxury of sleeping the morning away. Come find me when you wake up. 

~your brave and noble guard

“Oh, my brave and noble guard, huh?” Seungmin said out loud, but he was smiling to himself. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t have a fluttery, giddy feeling spreading from his chest to the rest of his body. 

That feeling only increased when he flipped the note over and found that Changbin had scribbled something on the back. 

P.S. you look cute when you’re asleep.

And now Seungmin’s face was burning. 

He went through his normal routine by having breakfast in his chambers by himself, though this time, Felix decided to stay and chat a little while. 

“So, Changbin never came back to his room last night.” Felix was smirking. “Any idea where he could have wandered off to?”

“No idea whatsoever,” Seungmin said with a smirk in reply. 

Felix snorted. “At least you have a comfy bed to do it on.”

“We didn’t do anything.”

“I find that very difficult to believe, especially since Changbin hasn’t stopped smiling the entire morning.”

Seungmin paused from eating his toast. “He hasn’t?”

“Yeah, kinda a bad thing for a guard who’s supposed to be stoic and expressionless at all times.”

Seungmin just smiled to himself and continued to eat. 

After breakfast, he headed for the garden, thinking he’d find Jeongin and therefore everyone else at Jeongin’s favorite place. However, he didn’t even make it outside before someone was tapping him on the good shoulder. Seungmin stopped and turned, but whoever had tapped him had moved to his other side, causing Seungmin to stop and turn to look that way instead. 

Changbin grinned at him. “Hi,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back.

Seungmin automatically smiled back. “Bit of a childish move, wouldn’t you say?”

Changbin shrugged, still grinning. 

“What are you so excited for?”

“Guess who got a reassignment,” Changbin said, rocking back and forth on his feet.

Seungmin blinked, his smile faltering. “You’re…you’re not going to be Jeongin’s guard anymore?”

“For the time being, no. He has enough guards at the moment.” And yet Changbin was still smiling.

“So…where is the king sending you?”

“Right here.” 

Seungmin blinked again. 

“I’m your new guard,” Changbin said, stepping back and giving a theatrical bow, flourished with a small wave of the hand. When he straightened, he grinned wider than before, if that were possible. “So, you’re stuck with me twenty-four-seven.”

“What did I do to deserve this suffering,” Seungmin said dryly, but he couldn’t suppress his smile no matter how hard he tried. “How did you get the king to reassign you?”

“I might have overdramatized your injury a bit,” Changbin replied. “Also, he’s quite fond of you, so I worked from that angle too.” He cleared his throat and raised the pitch of his voice so he sounded more polite and sweet than usual, “Your Majesty, in light of certain events, don’t you want to ensure that your future son-in-law is fully protected at all times?”

“Kiss-ass,” Seungmin said. 

“Your Highness, to make it in this world, you need to kiss a lot of asses.” Changbin put a hand over his heart. “I speak from experience.”

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Come on, kiss-ass.” He started walking down the hall. 

“The adventures of the hard-ass and the kiss-ass!” Changbin said as he fell in-step beside Seungmin. “That has a nice ring to it.”

“It sounds like a story in your storybook. The mature version.”

“Maybe I’ll write it someday.” Changbin grinned. 

“Do,” Seungmin said. “I want to read it.”

“Is there anything you don’t want to read?”

“Romance novels.”

“My favorite!”

“You’re kidding.”

Changbin grinned again. “What if I’m not?”

Seungmin just stared at him, momentarily caught off-guard by this new, bright side to Changbin. Changbin was practically glowing with happiness and he really hadn’t stopped smiling for a moment, just like Felix had said. And yet, while Changbin seemed somewhat more immature, Seungmin realized that he liked this side just as much as the cool, fearless sides he had seen up until now. 

“Then that means we have a whole day to ourselves where I can teach you about real literature,” Seungmin said. “And, since you’re my guard now, you can’t say no.” He gave Changbin a smug smirk. 

“Well, I could, and then ask the king to reassign me again.” Changbin smirked back. “But, by all means, do whatever you want, Your Highness.”

Seungmin’s face lit up at that. “I want to read all day.”

“Then do it,” Changbin said. “Even though I feel like I’m going to regret this.”

Seungmin just grinned and tried not to run to the library. 

* * * 

They fell into a routine. They did the exact same thing every single day, and that was to go to the library, where Changbin took notes for Seungmin and carried his books for him and never questioned any of it. Seungmin had feared that this arrangement would become annoying after a bit, but he had spent three full days with Changbin, and other than an increase in playful banter between the two of them, they had yet to get on each others’ nerves. Though, Seungmin assumed that part of that had to do with the fact that Changbin always left him right before dinner and gave him the rest of the night to himself. Seungmin wasn’t entirely sure if that was allowed, but if Changbin ever got in trouble for it, Seungmin was going to defend him. 

Additionally, the king must have decided that Seungmin had had enough for a week, so, like Jeongin and Chaeryeong, Seungmin was free to do as he wished. Which meant he didn’t have any stupid meetings with the king and his advisors, and the queen was often with Chaeryeong, so Seungmin had at least a couple of days to spend by himself before the queen decided to force them together again. 

In all seriousness, Seungmin missed seeing Hyunjin and Jeongin so much, but he found spending time with Changbin to be just as—if not more—enjoyable. Maybe it was because Changbin didn’t talk his ear off like Hyunjin did. Maybe it was because of something else. Seungmin didn’t care—he was just glad to have Changbin’s company. 

On the third night, Changbin didn’t leave Seungmin right before dinner. Instead, his excuse was that he didn’t think Seungmin could effectively eat his dinner by himself, since steak had been served yet again that night. Seungmin might have been offended or embarrassed, but somehow Changbin managed to phase it in a way that didn’t result in either, so Changbin ended up cutting up Seungmin’s food for him before sitting back and waiting patiently for Seungmin to finish eating. 

Once Seungmin was finished, Changbin asked if he wanted to go for a walk. Seungmin accepted.  

And now, they sat a few feet away from the waves, watching the sunset, only a few inches of space in between them.

“Can I ask you something?”

Seungmin tore his eyes away from the sunset to look at Changbin, who was staring straight ahead, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You can ask, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll answer,” Seungmin decided to say. 

Changbin shrugged. “Fair enough.”

He stayed silent, continuing to stare at the sunset while Seungmin stared at him.

“So…?” Seungmin prompted when several moments had passed. 

“Why are you researching witches?” Changbin finally looked at him. “I’d understand if it had to do with…with that incident on the hunting trip, but you were interested in it even before then. So…I’m just curious.”

Seungmin wasn’t surprised at the question, but in that moment, a bolt of fear shot through him. What if Changbin put two-and-two together? What if he figured out that Seungmin could be considered to be some sort of witch merely because he had magical abilities? What would he do? Would he turn Seungmin into the king? He had to, right? Otherwise wouldn’t withholding valuable information from the king be considered treason?

“It’s a bit of a morbid fascination,” Seungmin replied, looking away. “I…I just think the concept of magic is fascinating. And somehow some mortal beings were born with the ability to control it and others weren’t. I just want to understand why.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever understand that,” Changbin said. 

“But I can try,” Seungmin said. He didn’t want to admit to Changbin that it was also because he wanted to understand why he of all people had magical abilities. Although, after the incident, he wasn’t entirely sure of that anymore, since he felt like he already knew the answer.

“So what have you concluded from all this?”

That I might actually be the Chosen One everyone says I am, Seungmin thought miserably. 

Instead, he said, “That we’re completely in the dark about all of this. It’s difficult to get honest facts from such biased perspectives. It’s almost like I need to get primary sources, not secondary.”

As soon as he said that, an idea popped into his head, and his eyes widened.

“Oh no,” Changbin said. “No, no, no—don’t even say it, I already know where you’re going with this and I’m saying no.”

“What happened to a royal being able to do whatever he pleased?” Seungmin scoffed. 

“When those activities directly interfere with my job,” Changbin shot back. “What kind of guard would I be if I let you go walking into a dangerous forest by yourself to go interview witches who—might I add—tried to kill you and Jeongin a few days ago?”

“They didn’t try to kill me,” Seungmin retorted. 

“How do you know? You could have died falling off your horse or getting trampled. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened to Jeongin if Chan hadn’t caught up to him. Did you know that we still haven’t found his horse that ran off? It kept running into the forest and never came out.”

“Probably because horses are prey animals and it got eaten.” Seungmin shrugged. “It was probably a mountain lion or a pack of wolves. Or, maybe, some poor peasant found it and decided to keep it. Or maybe witches and faeries have uses for horses too. Really there are lots of possibilities as to why it hasn’t shown up.”

“You’re not going,” Changbin said. 

“Try to stop me,” Seungmin said. 

“You do realize that I’ve let you get away with a lot of things, right? Like going into the queen’s garden? Or sneaking out of your rooms at night? More than once?”

“Well then maybe that reflects your poor skills as a guard.”

Changbin’s expression darkened, and Seungmin knew he had gone too far. “Don’t force my hand, Your Highness,” he said in an unnervingly level tone. “If I have to, I’ll tell the king.”

It was at that moment that Seungmin realized he would never be able to tell Changbin anything close to the truth about himself. Like a fool, he had hoped that Changbin might be different and that he wouldn’t immediately turn him into the king. But Changbin put his duties as a guard above everything else.

The worst part was that Seungmin could understand why, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Seungmin turned his attention back to the sunset. The brilliant colors had faded with the sun, and the pleasant chill of the summer evening was starting to roll in from the ocean. Seungmin closed his eyes, taking in the rhythmic crashing of the waves and the salty smell in the breeze. 

He and Changbin didn’t speak, the silence a tangible, uncomfortable thing. It was the first time since Seungmin had met Changbin that the silence was painful and awkward, and he found himself hating it with a passion. 

But then Changbin said quietly, “Promise me you won’t go in there.”

“I promise,” Seungmin lied, since he had already made up his mind. 

If Changbin was going to put duty above all else, then Seungmin was going to put the pursuit of knowledge above all else. 

It was the unfortunate reality that those two were not compatible, but one Seungmin had to accept. 

* * * 

Seungmin spent the entirety of the next day scheming. He went through his routine with Changbin like nothing was wrong, but the two of them barely spoke to each other. It was like walking on eggshells all day, and Seungmin hated it. But while he pretended to read (this time he chose fictional books with witches as characters to study from), he thought of ways to sneak out tonight and get to the forest without anyone noticing. He knew going at night was probably the most dangerous time, but he honestly didn’t think the witches or faeries would hurt him. Not after all the things they had said a few days ago during the incident. The problem was getting past the other guards.

Seungmin decided that he could sneak out through the servant kitchens. And if anyone saw him, he’d lie and say he was looking for Hyunjin or that he was fixing a pot of tea for himself and didn’t want to rouse anyone at the late hour. But he wasn’t particularly worried if any of his staff saw him; all of them could be bribed. And most of them didn’t care anyways. 

So, that night, Seungmin did exactly that, though he remembered to wear shoes this time. He also shoved a couple of candlesticks and a box of matches into his pockets, since he knew the forest would be darker than pitch at this hour. 

His only worry was that he was going to cross paths Changbin or any of the other guards, whom he knew would stop him from leaving. Of course, the moment Changbin saw him outside of his rooms this time of night, he would immediately know what Seungmin was up to. So Seungmin prayed the entire way to the kitchens that Changbin wouldn’t be there. 

By pure luck, the kitchens were empty except for Felix, who had gotten stuck with dish duty. Seungmin thought about slipping past him, but Felix heard him anyways. 

“Oh, hi, Seungmin,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “Whatcha up to? Want some tea again? Or are you looking for Changbin? I think he’s in his room right now if you want me to go get him.”

“No, no, you never saw me,” Seungmin said, moving towards the back door. “If anyone asks, I’m in my room and I don’t want to be disturbed.”

That made Felix pause and lower the pan he was cleaning. “Wait, what? You’re sneaking out?”

Seungmin just put a finger to his lips and slipped through the door. He heard Felix hiss something right before the door shut behind him. Outside, he hesitated, listening for any approach of the patrolling guards. When he saw and heard none, he darted along the path and headed straight for the field in between the castle and the forest. At that point, it was a clear shot to the forest, which loomed ominously before Seungmin as he made his way through the field. 

He paused at the edge of it, listening to the occasional cries of some sort of creature from within, some of which were familiar, like the hooting of an owl, but most of which sounded completely terrifying. He peered into the dark woods, wondering how desperate he really was. 

Not desperate. Curious. 

They were just woods. They were fine. Seungmin just had to keep himself from thinking about any dark figures and whispers and he would be fine. 

He pulled out a candle. But as he started to imagine lighting it with his small amount of magic, a hand clasped his good shoulder. 

Seungmin couldn’t help it and let out a yelp in surprise, whirling around and welding the candle like it was a weapon. He expected to see the dark-robed figure with glowing eyes, but instead he saw three faces, all with curious eyes, and after the initial moment of terror passed, Seungmin spat, “What the hell?!”

“Could ask you the same thing!” Felix exclaimed. 

“You followed me?” Seungmin scoffed, lowering the candle with a scowl. 

“I was concerned, okay!” Felix spread his hands defensively. “I don’t know what’s with the two of them, though.” He looked at the other two faces.

“You’re not going in there, are you?” Jeongin’s eyes were so wide that they looked like they were going to fall out of his head as he gestured to the forest. 

“That would definitely be one of your dumber ideas,” Hyunjin said, his lips pursed. 

Seungmin squinted at them. “Okay, Felix I can understand. But what, exactly, are the two of you doing out here? Without your normal entourage?”

“None of your business—” Jeongin started to say when Hyunjin said, matter-of-factly, “We snuck out.”

Jeongin looked at him in betrayal, and Hyunjin told him, “Relax, he’s not going to do anything. Probably because he’s gonna get himself killed and won’t be alive to tattle on us.” He turned his gaze back on Seungmin, pointedly. 

“I’m going into the forest,” Seungmin scoffed. “And none of you can stop me.”

“I’m not going to try and stop you,” Felix said. “I’m coming with you.”

“What?” Seungmin blinked. 

“Me too,” Hyunjin said. “No way I’m letting my best friend go into the forest by himself.”

“Seungmin,” Jeongin hissed, tugging at Hyunjin’s sleeve. 

“You don’t have to come,” Hyunjin said, his expression softening as he put his hands on Jeongin’s shoulders. “In fact, I’d rather you didn’t, especially after what happened a few days ago.”

“But I can’t let you go in there,” Jeongin protested. “What if something happened to you and you never came back?”

“Trust me, witches and faeries want nothing to do with me.” Hyunjin smiled. “You, on the other hand, I’m worried about.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Jeongin said, setting his jaw in determination. “If you’re going, I’m going too.”

“Jeongin—”

“I’m going.” Jeongin stared him right in the eye, probably doing his best to look brave, but Seungmin saw right through that. He was scared out of his mind, and Seungmin didn’t blame him. 

Hyunjin sighed but relented. He dropped his hands from Jeongin’s shoulders and laced his fingers through his hand instead. “Stay close to me, okay?” he murmured. 

Felix glanced at Seungmin, who wasn’t entirely sure if he should be gagging or cooing. 

Hyunjin looked at Seungmin and scowled. “You better have a good reason for this. You absolute dumbass.”

Seungmin just shrugged and said, “You don’t have to come.” Then he turned and walked into the forest. He heard Hyunjin take a deep breath behind him before following. 

The forest was a different creature at night. The trees seemed twice as tall and seemed to curve above them, like they were peering down at them. Sounds traveled twice as far, where just stepping on a twig sounded like an explosion. The shadows seemed to move with minds of their own, never revealing if they were just trees or something else. The air didn’t move at all, but it was much cooler than the open field, enough to make Seungmin shiver every now and then. But he wasn’t sure if that was actually due to the chill or if it was from the fear. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.

He had brought three candlesticks. He held one, Felix held another, and Hyunjin held the third, while he continued to grip Jeongin’s hand so tightly that both of their knuckles were white. Additionally, Jeongin clung to Hyunjin’s arm, his eyes wide and darting around at anything that moved. He didn’t whine like Seungmin thought he would, even when twigs snapped underfoot and the light of the candles flickered and gave the illusion that something was moving out there and when a bird took off screaming in the tree next to them. 

They had only walked for a few minutes, but it felt like hours, and Felix finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper, “What are we looking for?”

“Great question,” Hyunjin hissed. 

Everyone was looking at Seungmin, but he was growing less and less sure of his plan the deeper they went into the forest. “Um,” he said, “witches…?”

“You’re shitting me,” Hyunjin scoffed. 

“Usually they would have found us by now,” Felix said, looking around. 

“This isn’t some silly game, Minnie,” Hyunjin said. “This place is dangerous.”

“And no one thought to bring a knife,” Jeongin said in a small voice. “Or a guard. We should have brought Chan.”

“Or Changbin,” Hyunjin said. “Isn’t he assigned to you, Minnie?”

“Yes,” Seungmin said stiffly. “But obviously he’s not here, and I can take care of myself anyways.”

“Your broken arm begs to differ,” Hyunjin said. 

“That was an accident.” 

“Did something happen?” Felix frowned. “Changbin seemed really grumpy today. Did you fight?”

“No,” Seungmin scoffed. 

“Liar,” Hyunjin said.

“I’m not!”

“Then why are you here right now and Changbin isn’t? There’s no way he would have let you come out here by yourself,” Hyunjin said. “Unless…unless, he doesn’t know you’re out here?”

“Ah, Seungminnie,” Felix whispered, giving him a disapproving look. 

“Shut up,” Seungmin scoffed. “We’re not talking about this right now. We have other things to worry about—”

“Did you hear that?” Jeongin asked suddenly, his voice full of terror. 

All of them paused and fell silent, straining their ears for any kind of sound. Seungmin held his breath out of instinct, but the pounding of his heart was louder.

“I heard something,” Jeongin whispered. “It sounded like a girl laughing. Or crying. I couldn’t tell.”

“It’s just the forest playing tricks on you,” Seungmin said, even as the rest of his body trembled. 

“This isn’t a good idea,” Hyunjin said. “We should go back.”

“If we can even figure out the way,” Jeongin said. “I didn’t want to bring it up earlier, but how are we supposed to find our way back? Every direction looks the same! Plus we don’t know if we’re going in a straight line or not! Or, the forest could be magical and could constantly change so we’ll never find the way out! Or, if we do, then years will have passed and—”

“Jeongin,” Seungmin snapped. “Shut up.”

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that,” Hyunjin shot back. “This was your stupid idea!”

“You didn’t have to come!” Seungmin said. “I didn’t ask you to follow me, but you did anyways.”

“Hey, guys?” Felix was looking at something in the darkness. 

“What are you doing out here, Seungmin?” Hyunjin demanded. “Why did you have this sudden urge to go into the forest by yourself at night of all times?”

“Seungmin?” Jeongin repeated, frowning. 

“Because I want answers, okay?” Seungmin exclaimed. “Is that so hard to comprehend?”

“GUYS!” Felix shouted.

“WHAT?” Seungmin and Hyunjin snapped at the same time, turning to look at him. Immediately, all of them froze, as there, standing at the edge of their collective pool of candlelight, was a dark-robed figure, where only the bottom of its face was visible. 

Jeongin let out a whimper and clung to Hyunjin’s arm, while Hyunjin scowled and stepped in front of Jeongin protectively. 

Seungmin, on the other hand, swallowed, and said, “Who are you?”

The figure moved, and all of them tensed. But all the figure did was reach up and pull off the hood, revealing a girl with short brown hair and tanned skin and, most importantly, normal eyes. 

For a moment, they all just stared at her. Then Jeongin blurted, “You don’t look so scary.”

The girl smirked. “No, you’re all just a bunch of wimps.”

“Have some respect,” Hyunjin scoffed. 

“You’re right, where are my manners?” The girl gave him and Jeongin an exaggerated bow. “Your Highness.” Then she straightened, looked at Felix, and smirked again. “You’re cute.”

“Am I,” Felix said, his eyes wide. 

The girl just continued to smirk at him before turning to Seungmin. Her playful expression faded completely, replaced by a serious one tinged with a bit of awe. “And you. You’re finally here.”

“I’ve been here before,” Seungmin said. 

“Not like this,” the girl said. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” Seungmin said. “Who are you?”

“My name is Ryujin,” the girl said. 

“Are you a witch? Or a faerie?”

“I’m a witch,” she said, making Jeongin gasp. “And I think you’ve gotten the wrong impression of me. I apologize for that, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It was you!” Seungmin exclaimed, pointing at her with the candle. “You’re the one who was in my room during the storm!”

“What?” Hyunjin and Felix asked at the same time. 

“I have limits, okay?” Ryujin spread her hands defensively. “I can’t just go walking out of the forest anytime I want. No one was out during the storm, so they didn’t see me, which made it that much easier for me to reach you. Did you get the book?”

“You’ll have to be so much more specific,” Hyunjin said. “Have you met him? Books are the loves of his life. He’d probably marry one if he could.”

Seungmin shot him a look, which Hyunjin returned. 

“The book,” Ryujin said, bringing Seungmin’s attention back to her. “The book I left in your room. That’s why I was there, not to scare you into wetting the bed.”

“I didn’t see any book,” Seungmin scoffed. 

“Mm, you should look again.” Ryujin nodded and smiled. “It has all the answers you want.”

“Seems too simple.”

“Not everything is as complicated as you think, king.” Ryujin tilted her head to one side, still smiling. “Things can be quite simple.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Would you prefer Chosen One?”

“No.”

“How about Seung—”

“No, just don’t call me anything,” Seungmin interrupted. 

“Seungmin,” Jeongin repeated again, this time more to himself than anything. 

“Look at the book,” Ryujin told Seungmin. “You’ll know it when you see it. It can explain everything much better than I can.” She smiled and started to reach for her hood. 

“Hold on, no, don’t leave,” Seungmin said, stepping forward. “I’m not done talking to you.”

“Oh, well, I’m done talking to you, so, bye.” Ryujin smirked and snapped her fingers. 

“Wait—” Seungmin said right as the forest disappeared around them. Seungmin briefly felt like he was falling, but a moment later, the world around them had shifted. They were standing outside of the forest, right where they had gone in. All of their candles had been distinguished in the process.

“Whoa.” Felix blinked a couple times, taking a step back and swaying on his feet. “That was…something.”

“Fucking hell,” Seungmin muttered to himself. “I’m going back in.”

“What?” Felix looked at him as Seungmin marched towards the forest. He took one step in it, then felt that falling, disoriented feeling again, and was suddenly back to where he had been before he took a step. Seungmin growled in annoyance and tried it again, only to be teleported back again, and again, until finally he took a running start and was then teleported behind the other three. This time, he lost his balance and fell forwards, barely able to stop his fall with his good arm. 

“That made me sick just watching you,” Felix said, coming over to him and helping him to his feet. “She really doesn’t want to deal with you, does she?”

“I don’t understand,” Seungmin said, feeling so disappointed and disoriented that he was suddenly on the verge of tears. 

“Me either,” Jeongin said. “Seungmin.”

Both Seungmin and Hyunjin looked up at that. Jeongin had let go of Hyunjin’s hand and now stood at least an arm’s length away from him as he looked between him and Seungmin. 

“Who are you?” Jeongin asked, sounding like he was also on the verge of tears. “Really. Which one of you is Seungmin?”

There was a beat of silence before Seungmin sighed and said, “I am.”

Jeongin looked at Hyunjin. “So then you’re…you’re Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin hesitated, then nodded. “I am.”

Jeongin just shook his head, his eyes now visibly glistening with tears. “Why? Why did you…” he trailed off, then turned away to wipe at his eyes. Hyunjin moved forward to comfort him, but Jeongin took several steps back, raising a hand as if to ward him off. “No, don’t. Just don’t. I just need to go back and be alone right now.”

“We’re heading back right now,” Felix said.

Jeongin nodded as he hugged himself around the torso.

“Jeonginnie,” Hyunjin began softly, but Jeongin shook his head and walked away. Hyunjin looked distraught, but nevertheless, he started after Jeongin without another look at Seungmin or Felix. 

Felix watched the two of them walk away before glancing at Seungmin. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” Seungmin said, even though he wasn’t sure of the validity of that. “Yeah, I just…need time to think.”

Felix nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Seungmin nodded in reply as they started to walk after the other two. 

After a beat or so, Felix asked, “So, does this mean I can call you Seungmin again?”

Seungmin just groaned in reply. 

Chapter Text

Seungmin was awoken by the sound of a slamming door, which made him jolt awake, still half in a dream where he was back in the forest, being chased by a rider with blazing red eyes on an armored horse. When he opened his eyes, though, he found himself back in his chambers, where the room was full of morning light. Seungmin blinked at the appearance of his blank wall until a figure moved in front of it and blocked his view. 

“So,” Changbin said, staring down at Seungmin with his arms crossed. “Would you like to tell me where you went last night?”

Seungmin took his time dragging his eyes up from Changbin’s waist to his eyes, where he didn’t appreciate how regal Changbin looked, scowling down at him with the morning sunlight setting his features aglow. He looked so annoyed but so attractive. That, combined with the reminder of everything that had happened last night, frustrated Seungmin to no end. 

“For a walk,” he scoffed, pulling the sheets over his head just so he didn’t have to look at Changbin’s stupidly attractive face.

“To the forest,” Changbin scoffed. “When I explicitly told you not to go? And not at night of all times? What were you thinking?”

“Oh, fuck off.” Seungmin peeked out from under the sheets just enough to glare up at him. “Nothing happened and it won’t happen again so you can just calm down.” He pulled the sheets over his head. “It was a complete waste of time.” 

His voice was quieter and sounded so much more defeated than he had originally intended. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep away the rest of the day.  He was sick of trying to understand. In the end it felt like his efforts were just fruitless.

Changbin was silent for several moments. Seungmin almost peeked at him again, but he was stubborn and stayed where he was as he waited for Changbin to speak. 

“Nothing happened?” Changbin asked finally. He didn’t sound as angry as he did before. 

“No,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin sighed in relief, and Seungmin peeked out of the sheets again. Changbin didn’t look angry anymore. Now he just looked exhausted and relieved as he sank into the chair beside Seungmin’s bed. “I hate to say it, but I’m glad,” he said. “I heard about it from Felix this morning that you snuck out last night and to say that I was angry is an understatement.”

“What else did Felix say…?” Seungmin was back to feeling sick to his stomach with panic. 

“Just that he followed you and convinced you to turn back before going too deep into the forest.” Changbin gave a small smirk. “I can’t believe Felix does my job better than me.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Seungmin said, pushing himself up a bit. “You’re one of the best guards I know.”

“Then you don’t know many guards.” Changbin looked away. 

“No, but I know a good guard when I see one,” Seungmin said. “And honestly, it’s my fault you haven’t been able to do your job.”

“Oh?” Changbin raised an eyebrow. 

“You had to go into the garden after me, you had to sneak out with me, you have to spend hours in a library bored out of your mind with me…” Seungmin lifted his good shoulder in a shrug. “I just make your life difficult, don’t I?”

“No,” Changbin said immediately. “If anything, you make it easier.”

Seungmin blinked. Changbin gave him a small smile. The sight of it filled Seungmin’s chest with warmth, and he smiled back without even thinking about it. 

“I’m sorry I went into the forest even though you told me not to,” Seungmin said.

Changbin sighed. “I forgive you. Just, next time, if you’re going to do something stupid, at least just drag me along, okay? I’d feel better being there with you than hearing about it the next morning after everything has happened.”

“It would have been better if you had gone,” Seungmin said. “We were kind of scared out of our minds. And none of us thought to bring a compass or any kind of weapon.”

Changbin just shook his head. “You know, for someone so smart, you really are stupid.”

Seungmin couldn’t help grinning at that.

Changbin grinned back. “So, are you going to sleep the rest of the day away or are we going to go to the library?”

“Sleep.” Seungmin flopped back down onto his pillow and closed his eyes. “I’m tired from staying out all night doing stupid, dangerous things.”

He heard Changbin snort and opened one eye to look at him. Changbin was smiling at him with a soft, fond expression on his face, such a contrast to the sharp, annoyed Changbin he had woken up to. 

“Fine, sleep,” he said. “I’ll just sit here and wait for you to wake up.”

“You could always read,” Seungmin said. 

“I could,” Changbin said. He hesitated, then glanced away, almost nervously. “But…I think I’ll write instead.”

Now Seungmin was completely awake. He opened both eyes and lifted his head a bit. “You write?”

Changbin shrugged. “Every now and then.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I did. Remember the adventures of hard-ass and kiss-ass?”

Seungmin smirked at the memory but said, “Yes, but I thought you were joking.”

“I was joking about that story,” Changbin said. “But I wasn’t joking about writing in general.” When Seungmin just looked at him curiously, he gave a soft laugh and added, “I just like writing stories to pass the time, you know? Reading stories was always fun, but they always ended too soon. So…I sort of started adding on to them.”

“And then you just kept writing,” Seungmin said softly. 

Changbin nodded, that half-smile of his on his face. “Basically. Eventually I started writing original stories, though.”

“Do you ever share them?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes with Chan and Jisung just to pass the time. But…most of the time I just keep them to myself.”

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to read them. Someday.”

Changbin’s smile widened. “I’d like that.”

Seungmin smiled back, realizing in that moment that all of his frustrations and exhaustion from the past few days were gone, and that a warmth had replaced it. It was the kind of warmth that started from his chest but spread all throughout his body, making him feel tingly and bubbly and, oddly enough, excited. Like he could stare at Changbin all day and be completely fine with it. 

Suddenly that was all Seungmin wanted to do today—just sit with Changbin and look at him and hear him talk about his interpretations of popular stories and maybe even rest his head on Changbin’s shoulder or bury his face in the side of his neck—

Seungmin blinked at himself. Where had that thought come from?

The sound of a door opening and slamming made both Seungmin and Changbin jump, and that was about as much warning as they got before Hyunjin marched into the room and fell face-first onto Seungmin’s bed. Then he proceeded to grab one of Seungmin’s pillows and scream into it. 

“Um.” Changbin blinked in surprise, and despite the situation, Seungmin fought the urge to laugh. 

“I’ll meet you in the library,” Seungmin told him, sitting up so he could see Hyunjin better. 

“Sounds good.” Changbin arched an eyebrow at Hyunjin, who was done screaming and now just lying there, motionless. Seungmin just waved him off, and Changbin gave a small bow before walking out of the room. 

Seungmin waited until he heard the door shut before looking down at Hyunjin. “What happened,” he asked, reaching with his good hand to run his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair. 

“Jeongin,” Hyunjin said, his voice full of enough misery to be audible even through the muffle of the pillows. 

“What’d he do?”

Hyunjin sniffed before lifting his head to look at Seungmin, his eyes full of tears, his lip trembling. “He won’t talk to me.”

“Oh no,” Seungmin said softly. 

Hyunjin nodded, his lip trembling even more as the tears slipped down his cheeks. “I tried explaining, but he won’t even listen to me. He threatened to have Chan escort me away. And he said that if I tried going near him again, he’d tell the king.”

“So he hasn’t told the king?” Seungmin knew that wasn’t the point of this conversation, but he had to know. It was a matter of life or death. 

Hyunjin shook his head. He rolled over so he was facing Seungmin and curled into a fetal position. “I just…I don’t know what to do. I was planning on telling him—really, I was—but the timing wasn’t right and now…now I’m worried that I’ve already lost him.” His eyes filled with more tears, and he buried his face into Seungmin’s pillow. Seungmin continued to run his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair, knowing that Hyunjin loved it when he did that.

“I don’t think you’ve lost him,” he said. “I think he’s just overwhelmed. Give him some space—he’ll come around. He seems like a reasonable person.”

“But I haven’t gone a single day since we got here without him,” Hyunjin said, sniffing. “I don’t know what to do. It feels so wrong.”

“I know, but it’ll be okay,” Seungmin said. “If you want, you can just sleep in here all day. I’ll make sure to keep the servants out.”

“Can you…” Hyunjin gulped down his tears, “can you stay with me today? I just…I don’t want to be alone right now.”

Seungmin smiled. “Of course.”

“Thanks, Minnie,” Hyunjin whispered.

“What are best friends for?”

“Cock-blocking.”

“What?” Seungmin’s eyebrows shot upwards as Hyunjin giggled. “Excuse me, what did you just say?”

“If you’re spending time with me, then you can’t spend all day with Changbin.” Hyunjin grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Hence, me cock-blocking you.”

“Okay, first of all, our relationship is purely professional,” Seungmin said. “Second…” he trailed off, trying to think of another excuse, only to fail and sputter, “I can’t think of a second but my point is—no.”

“A very good point,” Hyunjin said. “However, I’m afraid you lack the proper support, so therefore your argument is far weaker than it should be to be convincing.” He grinned again. “That was my impersonation of you when you start to get all scholarly. Good, right?”

“You’re so lucky that I’m in a good mood today, otherwise I would have made fun of your crying.”

“At least one of us in a good mood.” Hyunjin sighed, back to feeling down. 

“He’ll come around,” Seungmin said. “I haven’t been around the two of you very much, but just based on last night, he seemed to really care about you. He shouldn’t care that you have a different name. You’re still the same person.”

“But my real name changes everything,” Hyunjin said. “I lied to him. This entire time. How could he trust me after that? Or treat me the same? Now he knows that I’m not only a prince, but the same prince his sister is supposed to marry. How could anyone see me the same?”

“I don’t know,” Seungmin said helplessly. “I’m sorry, Hyunjin, I really wish I could help.”

Hyunjin sighed. “I know…but I don’t think this is something you can solve, Seungmin. I think it just takes time, unfortunately.”

Seungmin sighed too, hating that there were some things in the world that he couldn’t solve no matter how hard he tried. He glanced away from Hyunjin, his eyes falling on the balcony doors and their still-intact makeshift lock. His eyes then shifted to the left, where, on the dresser, there sat a dark-blue, leather-bound book with marbled edges. Seungmin knew for certain that none of the books he had found in the library looked like that. 

Hyunjin had started to doze off, too exhausted from his breakdown to function anymore. He mumbled something before his eyes slid shut, but Seungmin didn’t hear him. He waited until Hyunjin was sound asleep before slowing his fingers and getting out of bed, careful not to jostle it too much and wake Hyunjin. He went right over to the dresser, his heart pounding harder and harder with every step as he reached for the book, his fingers finally brushing the cover and the answers to all of his questions—

He flipped open the book and felt his stomach plummet. 

It was blank. 

“No, no,” Seungmin whispered as he flipped through the pages, each one as blank as the one before it. Suddenly he was practically tearing the pages out from flipping so powerfully, but he reached the final page, and it was still completely blank. Something inside him snapped, and he grabbed the book, preparing to throw it against the wall or through a window. But at the last moment, he stopped, even though his body physically trembled from the rage. With an insane amount of self-control, he forced himself to put the book down and take a step back. He closed his eyes tightly and breathed in, trying to calm himself. 

And yet his mind was screaming at him. 

WHY WHY WHY? Why was it blank?! What did he do wrong? Why was Ryujin playing such cruel jokes on him?

Why did Seungmin even believe her in the first place?

“Minnie,” Hyunjin whined from the bed. 

Seungmin almost snapped and yelled at him, but he managed to hold his tongue. He took a few deep breaths before replying, “Yeah?”

Hyunjin didn’t answer, just patted the empty bed next to him. 

“Hold on,” Seungmin said. “I have to go talk to Changbin first. Don’t want to leave him sitting in the library, waiting for me all day.”

“You two are cute,” Hyunjin mumbled, a sleepy smile on his face as he closed his eyes. 

Seungmin rolled his eyes and left the room. He didn’t have to go far to find Changbin; instead of waiting for him at the library, he was waiting for him right outside his door. 

Seungmin froze mid-step, and Changbin tensed like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. 

“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” Changbin blurted. “I swear.”

“I believe you,” Seungmin said with a sigh. “I, uh, I’m going to spend the day with Hy—Seungmin. He gets like this sometimes where he just feels really sad for no reason.”

“I believe that’s called depression.”

Seungmin smirked. “No, just heartbreak.” When Changbin didn’t pry and just nodded, Seungmin added, “Maybe we can do something tonight.”

“What?” Changbin blinked in surprise, and Seungmin immediately blushed. 

“I mean, just so it doesn’t look like you’re blowing off your duties,” Seungmin added quickly.  

“If anyone asks, I’ll say you dismissed me for the day.” Changbin smiled. “Which you did.”

“Oh. Okay.” 

“Although…” Changbin looked away, his face growing thoughtful and shy, “I could make the excuse that you’ve been having trouble sleeping due to the fact that you don’t feel safe in your room, so I could say that you’ve asked me to stand guard throughout the night.”

“People might get the wrong idea,” Seungmin said, even though his heart pounded with that excitement again.

“Well, if it’s Chan or Jisung or even Felix, they’ll get the wrong idea no matter how many times I tell them off, so…” Changbin shrugged. “I guess it’s whatever you want, Your Highness.”

“I want to spend time with you,” Seungmin blurted. His eyes immediately went wide as Changbin raised his eyebrows in surprise at him. “I mean, I, uh, I think better when you’re around. Plus you told me not to make any stupid decisions without you, so—”

“I have an idea, Your Highness,” Changbin interrupted, a smile on his face. 

Seungmin took a deep breath to calm himself for different reasons this time. “Yes?”

“After dinner, we’ll go for a walk. That’s what we usually do, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Seungmin admitted. 

“So that’s what we’ll do tonight.” Changbin smiled. 

Seungmin smiled back. “I look forward to it.”

“Me too,” Changbin said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

They stared at each other for a few moments, but then both of them seemed to realize they were staring at the same moment, and both of them looked away at the same time. And both of them were blushing. 

“I, uh, should go,” Changbin said. 

“Right, me too,” Seungmin said. “Hyu—Seungmin gets clingy when he’s like this. I’m surprised he hasn’t come looking for me.”

Changbin smiled at him. “See you tonight.”

“See you,” Seungmin said softly. 

They were back to staring at each other, but this time, they both turned and walked away at the same time. 

And they were both still blushing. 

* * * 

That night, Changbin showed up right before dinner. Hyunjin was still in Seungmin’s room, pouting, but when he heard that Seungmin and Changbin were going for a walk, he practically shoved Seungmin out the door, giggling and singing out, “Have fun~! Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your room so it’s perfectly empty for you two when you come back!”

Seungmin really wanted to smack him but somehow held himself back. 

“Sorry, I know we said after dinner, but I had another idea,” Changbin said when he showed up at Seungmin’s door.

Seungmin arched an eyebrow, amused. “Oh? What’s this new idea?”

“It’s a surprise.” Changbin grinned and gestured for Seungmin to follow him. “Come on, Your Highness.”

Seungmin couldn’t help smiling as he followed, though he noticed Changbin was carrying a bag with him. “Does the surprise have to do with the bag?”

“What bag?” Changbin stared straight ahead. 

“That bag.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Seungmin grinned, and Changbin smirked back at him. Seungmin could tell he was barely restraining his happiness due to the fact that Changbin was practically glowing, just like he had been when he told Seungmin about his reassignment. When they stepped outside into the light of the setting sun, his skin practically turned gold to match his golden armor while his eyes sparkled like the glittering sea. Seungmin felt it in his chest as he stared at Changbin, completely unable to look away. 

Changbin finally looked at him, that half-smile of his on his face, and everything else in the world vanished as Seungmin just stared at him, completely unaware of any other sight or sound or feeling.

Changbin was saying something, but Seungmin wasn’t hearing him. When Changbin smirked and waved in front of Seungmin’s face, Seungmin snapped out of whatever trance he had been in. 

“What?” Seungmin blinked several times. “Sorry, I zoned out.”

“Ah, I’m that boring, is that it?” Changbin smirked at him. “I asked if you’re up for a little bit of walking.”

“Isn’t that what we’re out here to do?”

“Yes, but I want to go down to the beach. So I guess I should rephrase my question—are you up for some climbing in addition to all this walking?”

“Yes,” Seungmin said without missing a beat. 

“Good.” Changbin smiled, his face still glowing, his eyes still sparkling. “Come on, then.”

They walked down the stairs on the side of the cliff, and by the time they reached the sand, it was a constant struggle for Seungmin to hold himself back from grabbing Changbin’s hand. He thought that they would stop to sit on the sand like they usually did, but instead Changbin kept walking, and after pausing for a moment in confusion, Seungmin hurried after him. 

They kept walking and walking along the beach, with the sun sinking lower and lower. But Seungmin paid no attention to how far they walked or how late it was getting, because he and Changbin just started talking about anything and everything. They talked about Seungmin’s obsession with reading. They talked about Changbin’s obsession for writing.

(“It’s not really an obsession, though, I just like doing it!” Changbin protested. 

“So it’s a passion,” Seungmin concluded. “That has the same weight as obsession, it’s just more accepted.”

“Eh…” Changbin just shrugged)

They just…talked. And for once, Seungmin didn’t feel like he had to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He didn’t have to pretend to be a prince or to be Hyunjin. He could be himself and…it seemed to him like Changbin liked him for him. 

“Here!” Changbin stopped walking when the sun was just barely keeping itself above the horizon. He grinned and pointed at the face of the cliffs, where there was the mouth of a cave. Seungmin blinked as Changbin gestured for him to follow. “Come on, come on. It’s not scary, I swear.”

“I thought you didn’t like small spaces?” Seungmin smirked as they headed into the cave.

“It’s not that small,” Changbin said. He sat down on the sand at the mouth of the cave, breathing a sigh of relief. Seungmin sat down next to him and watched as Changbin unslung the bag and set it in front of them. 

“I thought, since you don’t like eating in front of other people, we could bring food with us and eat dinner out here,” Changbin said, pulling out containers of food and setting them on the sand. He paused from opening the container though, his lips pursed. “But…it’s nothing fancy like you’re used to.”
Seungmin raised an eyebrow. 

“I thought, maybe, it would be nice to share my favorite food with you.” Changbin wasn’t looking at him. He was shy, Seungmin realized, and once again it was such a different side to the usual confident and fearless guard he knew. It made his heart swell and do weird flips all over again. “It’s, uh, it’s very common, bland food, though, so…I’ll understand if you don’t like it.”

“I’ll like it,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin glanced up at him. “I hope so.”

Seungmin smiled as Changbin opened the container, revealing different, smaller sections within that each held a different food. One held plain, white rice, another held rolls wrapped with seaweed, another held plenty of vegetables, and another held a sauce. Changbin opened the container of another food, revealing a steaming cup of soup, and then opened a third, during which he had a smug look on his face. 

“These I’m not ashamed of whatsoever,” he said. “These are cream puffs and they’re the best things in the world, hands down.” When Seungmin reached for one, though, Changbin held it out of his reach, saying, “Nope! These are for desert! Also once you start eating them, you can’t stop. Eat something nutritious first.”

Seungmin stuck his tongue out at him, which made Changbin gasp, but then both of them laughed. 

“I even brought you a spoon because I know you can’t use chopsticks with your left hand to save your life,” Changbin said, holding a wide spoon out to Seungmin. 

“How considerate,” Seungmin scoffed, but he really was touched. “It looks delicious, Changbin.”

Changbin gave a small, soft smile in reply.

They talked more as they ate, which was mostly bantering and lighthearted insults than anything (“Can you slurp your soup any louder?” Seungmin said at one point, and Changbin scoffed, “You’re the one with food on your face.” And Seungmin discovered he did, in fact, have rice and sauce stuck to his face). But when they were done, they fell into a comfortable, almost lethargic silence, their stomachs finally full and their hearts content. Changbin was right; cream puffs were the best thing in the world. The two of them had eaten every single last one.

The sun had set long ago, and the stars were beginning to come out. Changbin sighed as they stared at the sea, and Seungmin glanced at him. 

“I didn’t think this through,” Changbin said with a frown. 

“What?”

Changbin glanced at him, then pulled out a thick, leather-bound journal tied together with string, practically bursting due to the curled and used pages. “I was going to let you read this but it’s too dark to see it.”

Seungmin gasped. “Is that your writing?”

“Yep.” Changbin untied it and flipped through the pages. “Full of absolutely shitty stories.”

“Bullshit,” Seungmin scoffed, making Changbin look at him in surprise. “I bet they’re wonderful.”

“How much are you willing to bet?” Changbin smirked. 

“My life.”

Changbin made a face. “That’s not worth much.”

Seungmin smirked and shoved his shoulder, making Changbin laugh. “Do you remember any by heart?” Seungmin asked, scooting forward to look over Changbin’s shoulder at the pages. 

“All of them,” Changbin replied. 

“Tell me one, then.” 

“I don’t know which one, though…” Changbin frowned to himself as he flipped through the pages.

“Or you could make one up on the spot. That would be interesting.” 

Changbin looked up, an eyebrow arched. Seungmin couldn’t help leaning away after realizing with a jolt how close their faces were. “Alright,” Changbin said. “I’ll give it a try.”

Seungmin smirked, and Changbin made a big show of clearing his throat and puffing out his chest.

“Once upon a time there was a prince who was so arrogant and insufferable because of his obsession with his intelligence that everyone forgot his name and only referred to him as Hard-Ass.”

Seungmin scoffed at that and shoved him again. Changbin just grinned and continued, “But Hard-Ass, for all his intelligence, was actually quite stupid and also very cowardly, so one day when he went on a quest to retrieve the Ultimate Storybook, he realized he would need a strong and valiant guard to aid him. And so he met the charming and dashingly handsome Kiss-Ass, who was more than adept in everything. He could sword-fight, he could sail, he could climb mountains, he could charm his way out of everything—but most importantly, he was very strong and could carry one mountain in each hand—”

“He could ramble about himself for days to the point where Hard-Ass wanted to shove him into the sea,” Seungmin interrupted with a smirk. 

“But Hard-Ass was secretly impressed by Kiss-Ass for his many skills, and of course, his large muscles,” Changbin said, unable to keep himself from chuckling as he grinned back at Seungmin. 

Seungmin rolled his eyes so hard he gave himself a headache. 

“Kiss-Ass accompanied Hard-Ass on his quest and effectively saved both of their Asses more times than he could count,” Changbin continued. “They found the Ultimate Storybook, then went back to the kingdom, and lived happily ever after. The end.”

“No, you’re leaving out a crucial part,” Seungmin said with a smirk. 

“Oh, am I?” Changbin smirked back at him. 

“You forgot to mention that they annoyed each other to death.”

“Ay, that doesn’t sound like a good enough ending, does it?”

“Your ending is too abrupt. Did they part ways at the end? Or did they continue to annoy each other?”

“Oh, they annoyed each other,” Changbin said. “They annoyed each other so much that one day Hard-Ass decided he’d had enough of Kiss-Ass’s bragging and decided to shut him up.”

“Good.”

“By kissing him right on the mouth.”

“What?”

“And Kiss-Ass was so shocked that he didn’t talk for a week, during which Hard-Ass got some much-needed reading done.” Changbin smirked. “The end.”

“No, I think Kiss-Ass would come back more annoying than before, but this time he would be constantly asking Hard-Ass for more kisses,” Seungmin said. 

“That is a very good possibility,” Changbin agreed. “So then Hard-Ass would have no choice but to kiss him again and again to shut him up each time.”

“Or he could just gag him.”

Changbin shook his head, though he was trying not to smile. “No, he wouldn’t do that, because secretly, with each kiss, Hard-Ass realized he was growing less and less averse to them, to the point where he actually looked forward to them. And that’s when he came up with his best plan yet. He figured out a way to finally deal with Kiss-Ass once and for all.”

“Murder does seem like a perfect plot twist,” Seungmin said. 

“This isn’t a tragedy, though,” Changbin said, his smile growing larger and larger as the story went on. “No, this is a comedy. And in all the classic comedies, everyone lives, and everyone gets married.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes. Hard-Ass’s brilliant plan was to be stuck with Kiss-Ass for life, because throughout all of their adventures, the two of them had become quite fond of each other, and decided to fully express their love and devotion to each other by getting married. And they lived happily ever after!” Changbin clapped his hands. “The end!”

Seungmin burst out laughing, and to his delight, Changbin laughed with him. The two of them laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt.

“Are all your stories like that?” Seungmin asked when their laughter had died down, but they still giggled here and there. He reached up with his good hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. 

“No, honestly.” Changbin grinned. “Usually I write tragedies.”

Seungmin blinked. “Why?”

Changbin shrugged. “I dunno. I feel like they’re more realistic. Happy endings only exist in stories.”

“But they don’t,” Seungmin said. “Most of the ones in your storybook end horribly.”

Changbin shrugged again. “Maybe that’s why I write so many tragedies. They’re what I grew up with.”

“You…experienced tragedies when you grew up?”

“Actually, no.” Changbin smiled, his eyes distant as he stared out at the ocean. “I had a very happy childhood. With very loving parents. I was one of the lucky ones. I mean, things weren’t easy—training was hard and we were still as poor as everyone else, but I was still happy. I guess the only real tragic is event was the death of my parents.”

Seungmin’s breath caught. “You lost both your parents?”

Changbin nodded. “My mother died first. Shipwreck. And then my father was killed in action protecting the king during a riot in the city.” He sighed. “He died a few months before my initiation into the royal guard. I wished he could have seen it.”

“I’m so sorry, Changbin,” Seungmin whispered. 

Changbin glanced at him and smiled, his face showing no traces of pain. “It’s alright. I’ve healed since then. And I know the two of them are still looking down on me and that they’re proud of me. I’d even like to think that they’d like you very much.”

Seungmin smiled at that. Somehow his heart was swelling even more than it had before, and he had no idea how that was possible. But he did know that in that moment, he wanted to kiss Changbin. At the very least, he wanted to touch him. He wanted to hug him and be hugged in return. He wanted to feel what it was like to have Changbin’s arms wrapped around him, to bury his face into his chest, and to fall asleep listening to the sound of Changbin’s voice or the beating of his heart. 

He almost leaned forward. He almost lost his self-control, especially when he saw how Changbin was smiling back at him. 

But a voice in the back of his head was reminding him that it would never work out in the long run. Look at what happened with Hyunjin and Jeongin, it said. See how they claimed to be in love, but when the truth came out, it destroyed everything?

Seungmin grimaced and looked away from Changbin. Changbin may feel one way towards him now, but when the truth inevitably came out, he would cease to feel that way. Because Seungmin was just another liar. 

Changbin didn’t say anything. He just looked straight ahead at the ocean again. 

They didn’t speak much after that, and Seungmin couldn’t help thinking it was his fault. 

And yet, when they finally walked back to the castle, and they arrived in front of Seungmin’s chambers, Changbin looked at him and asked, “May I do something a bit more bold than usual, Your Highness?”

Seungmin felt a mixture of fear and excitement swirl in his stomach, but he managed to wordlessly nod. 

Changbin did move closer but only to take Seungmin’s hand. Then he lifted Seungmin’s hands to his lips and kissed the back of it. With a warm smile at Seungmin, he murmured, “Sleep well, Your Highness.” Then he released Seungmin’s hand, bowed, and walked away. 

Seungmin was a blushing, frozen mess. He just stood there, his eyes wide with shock, his jaw dropped, his body barely functioning, long after Changbin had walked away. He looked down at his hand, still burning with the memory of Changbin’s touch. Already, he missed it. He wanted more of it. He wanted it so badly that his chest ached. 

When he drifted off to sleep later that night, he dreamt of Changbin holding him tightly and kissing him, alternating between softly and passionately. It felt so real and so true that every inch of Seungmin’s body ached when he woke up, longing for a person who wasn’t there.

He couldn’t help wondering, as he slipped back into a fitful sleep, if Changbin dreamt the same dream.

* * * 

Seungmin’s luck ran out the following week. The queen had decided that he and Chaeryeong weren’t spending nearly enough time together, so she took it into her own hands and forced them to spend the majority of their days together. Which meant, essentially, that Seungmin had to be dragged along to every single activity Chaeryeong did. 

He had thought spending time with the king was bad, but spending time with the queen was even worse. (Though Chaeryeong herself really wasn’t that bad) 

The queen lived to socialize and to throw parties and to eat grand meals and to fill the castle with expensive things. So, naturally, her day-to-day life was filled with activities and with many different high-class nobles as company. That week, he met more nobles than he would have preferred at brunches and croquet games and afternoon teas and dance lessons and dress fittings. He put on a pleasant expression and bit his tongue, but when the day was over, he wanted nothing more than to go throw himself off a cliff (but made do by going into his chambers and screaming into his pillow, in a very Hyunjin style).

Worse, he couldn’t spend any time now with either Changbin or Hyunjin. Of course, Changbin was still there, but he was not allowed to be at Seungmin’s side all day like he used to be. Instead, he had to stay at a distance with Brian. It took some serious self-control on Seungmin’s part not to glance at Changbin all day, though the few times that he did, he found Changbin already looking. 

He still had dreams every single night filled only with Changbin. Some of them were sweet and innocent, some were…not (and he hated those because they made him uncomfortable). But each one worsened the longing in Seungmin’s chest to the point where he couldn’t even fall back asleep and instead just lay there, staring at the wall.

One day, Chaeryeong caught him looking at Seungmin and gave him a rare, knowing smirk. Seungmin looked at her, then did a double-take and gave her a quizzical expression in return. Chaeryeong just looked away. 

Another time, Seungmin, out of pure frustration, blurted to Chaeryeong, “How can you stand this?”

“Stand what,” Chaeryeong asked in that soft voice of hers.

“Stand…this.” Seungmin gestured with his good arm to the world around them, where they were sitting under a terrace at the edge of a field, watching some arrogant nobles do some target practice. “All of this, every day.”

“It’s all I’ve grown up with,” Chaeryeong replied. “I’m used to it.”

When Seungmin looked at her in surprise, she added, as she picked at her tea cake, “You princes think your lives are difficult, but you have no idea what it’s like to be a princess. Being a princess, I assure you, is much more difficult.”

Seungmin had no idea how to react to that, but he did start paying attention more closely. He started seeing how the queen chastised Chaeryeong for everything, how Chaeryeong wasn’t allowed to participate in many activities lest she get dirty or sweaty (heaven forbid), how she had to keep a pleasant, approachable air to her throughout the whole day. Seungmin had honestly thought that she was just quiet and reserved on her own, but now he was beginning to think that that was how she was expected to be, not how she really was deep down. He had a thought that she was as playful and witty and rebellious as Jeongin, but he was allowed to act that way freely, and she was not.

And, of course, he found support for his hypothesis when he saw Chaeryeong with her favorite lady-in-waiting, who Seungmin learned was named Lia. Chaeryeong smiled at Lia more than anyone else. Lia was the only one who could get Chaeryeong to laugh. And Lia was the only one allowed to touch Chaeryeong. The few times that Seungmin had accidentally brushed hands with Chaeryeong, she had shot him death glares. 

Naturally, since Chaeryeong had caught Seungmin staring at Changbin, it was only fair that Seungmin caught her staring at Lia. Chaeryeong had looked back at Seungmin, seen him giving her a smug smirk, and had immediately scowled at him. 

“I think we have a lot in common,” Seungmin told her, and left it at that. 

The last night of the week was scheduled for yet another ball, but this one was on a much smaller scale. Well, it was supposed to be. Seungmin was convinced that the same amount of guests had been invited, but the king and queen spent less on the decorations. Regardless, it was supposed to be a quieter affair, where everyone would sip at their champagne or cocktails and make polite conversations. It gave the king and his advisors an opportunity to speak with the high-ranking nobles of the kingdom. And it also gave the opportunity for the nobles to gawk at and coo over Chaeryeong and Seungmin, who were forced to be together the entire night. 

Seungmin should have seen this as an opportunity to absolutely scandalize the situation, but he was coming to the realization that if he got them kicked out of the kingdom now, he would never be able to see Changbin again. Hyunjin realized that too about Jeongin, which was why neither of them were all too keen about carrying out the plan. But they had no idea how to end it without it blowing up in their faces. They were just stuck for the time being until Seungmin figured out a way to get out of this. So far his ideas were: running away and/or faking his own death. Neither seemed particularly enticing. 

And, of course, Hyunjin was no help. He had given Jeongin space the entire week, but he had still made no progress with him. As a result, he said he didn’t want to go to the ball. 

Hyunjin of all people didn’t want to go to a ball. That’s when Seungmin knew Hyunjin really had it bad.

Seungmin only convinced him to go by saying that Jeongin would also be there and that he would have to listen to Hyunjin or risk causing a scene if he tried to have Chan escort Hyunjin away. Hyunjin didn’t seem to be completely sold on the idea, but he went anyway. 

And now, Seungmin was stuck once again walking around with Chaeryeong. Stuck sipping at champagne. Stuck pretending to be interested in whatever shrill noblewoman was cooing at them. Stuck trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm, since the queen had claimed he could not wear his sling tonight because it would “ruin the aesthetics.” 

Stuck trying not to glance over his shoulder at Changbin at every single moment. 

Like the rest of the week, Changbin didn’t need to follow Seungmin so closely tonight, so instead he had been assigned to patrolling the entire ballroom with Chan and Brian while Jisung got stuck with patrolling outside.

The few times that he did glance at Changbin, Changbin was already looking at him. At one point, Seungmin gave him a pleading look and mouthed, Help me. Changbin just looked away, but Seungmin could see him trying not to smile. 

Then Seungmin looked back at Chaeryeong, and when they two of them were alone for the time being, he remarked, “Lia looks lovely tonight, don’t you think?”

Chaeryeong stiffened and glanced in Lia’s direction, which Seungmin could tell she had been trying not to do throughout the entire evening, but had ended up doing it more frequently than she thought. Lia was standing off to the side, talking to the daughter of one of the nobles, smiling and laughing. 

“She always looks lovely,” Chaeryeong replied, looking away. Her expression and tone were void of any emotion whatsoever, but Seungmin could see right through that. 

Seungmin just smirked as he sipped from his champagne, and Chaeryeong scowled at him. 

“And Changbin looks the same as ever,” she said. 

“He does,” Seungmin agreed. “He always looks funny.”

Chaeryeong looked surprised at that, but Seungmin was smiling. She opened her mouth to say something, but then another noble approached, and she fell silent. Seungmin was half tempted to snap at them to go away, since Chaeryeong never talked and he wanted to hear what she had to say. Instead, he kept his mouth shut and a polite smile on his face. 

Halfway through a conversation during which this old, fat noble ranted about how the peasants he employed were so lazy and rarely wanted to work (even though his workdays were around fifteen hours long), Chaeryeong looked so uncomfortable that Seungmin interrupted the noble and said, “That’s fascinating, perhaps you could take it up with the king?”

“What?” The noble blinked at him. 

“Or, you know, you could consider that peasants are human as well and that even they can’t be expected to work fifteen hour days while you hardly work one,” Seungmin added. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Chaeryeong is beginning to look very pale and faint.”

“Oh, yes, I think I need to lie down,” Chaeryeong added, catching onto Seungmin’s plan. She pretended to sway on her feet, right into Seungmin’s bad arm. He managed to contain his expression, even as pain exploded from his already throbbing arm. 

“Let’s get you some fresh air,” he said. Then, with that, the two of them walked away at a brisk pace, leaving the noble gaping after them in confusion. 

Seungmin saw Changbin move out of the corner of his eye, but Seungmin quickly shook his head at him and waved him off. Changbin stopped, though his expression seemed pained and skeptical at the same time. 

Seungmin and Chaeryeong stepped out into the cool, night air, and both of them breathed sighs of relief at the same time. 

“Thanks for catching on,” Seungmin said. 

Chaeryeong nodded, already reaching up to wrap her arms around herself. 

“So,” Seungmin said as they started to walk. “You and Lia?”

“You and Changbin?” Chaeryeong said without missing a beat. 

Seungmin gave a small smile. “Not really.”

“You spend all your time together.”

“Well, yeah, he got reassigned as my personal guard for the time being.”

“Even before that, though.” Chaeryeong glanced up at him. “I heard he saved you when the witches attacked you on the hunting expedition.”

Seungmin knew he was blushing, but he ignored it and said, “He did.”

“And you two clearly look at each other in the same way.”

More blushing. “Yes, out of annoyance.”

“Can I ask you something, Your Highness?” Chaeryeong said. 

“Of course,” Seungmin said, thinking this was probably the longest he had ever heard Chaeryeong say anything in one go. 

“Are you interested in girls at all?”

There was a beat of silence, during which Seungmin looked away, swallowing as his face continued to burn. Chaeryeong just looked at him, her face nothing but curious, like she already knew the answer. 

“I’d like to keep myself open to that option, but…most of the people I’ve been interested in have been boys.” Seungmin didn’t look at her. 

“I like girls,” she said without missing a beat. 

Seungmin looked at her in surprise, though in reality he really wasn’t that surprised. He supposed he was just surprised she had admitted it so easily outside. “So you and Lia really are together?”

“Yes,” Chaeryeong said. “We have been for months. Long before my father suggested this arranged marriage.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? We could end this right now and go on with our lives.”

Chaeryeong shook her head. “It’s not that simple,” she said quietly. 

“Why not?”

“It just…isn’t.”

“Or,” Seungmin said, beginning to grow angry, “are you just so conditioned to act quiet and submissive that you’re too scared to stand up and rock the boat a bit?”

Chaeryeong looked at him, her expression completely blank. “Perhaps,” she said. 

Seungmin clenched his jaw in frustration but shook his head to clear it. “Let’s go back inside,” he mumbled, turning sharply on his heel. Chaeryeong kept up with him easily, and for some reason that annoyed Seungmin further. But he knew he was just growing tired from the long day and was cranky from the pain in his arm. He just wanted to leave this ball and go back to his room. But upon entering the ballroom once again, the queen came out of nowhere and swept them both away, up onto the dais. Someone clinked the side of their champagne glass, signaling everyone to fall silent and turn their attention to the dais, where the queen stood with Seungmin and Chaeryeong, beaming from ear to ear.

She had an announcement, she said. A very special announcement indeed. They finally had a date for the wedding!

Pause for effect. 

It would be two weeks from today! 

Seungmin felt his stomach and heart plummet at the same time. The cheers and applause of the ballroom turned into white noise as he looked at Chaeryeong. She was staring at the floor, as submissive as ever, but when she felt Seungmin looking at her, she slowly lifted her eyes to his. She looked apologetic. Seungmin just clenched his jaw again and looked away, at the crowd, where he looked past all the fake faces until his eyes fell on Hyunjin, who stood alone near the back. 

Hyunjin looked shocked, and Seungmin scowled at him. 

When the queen finally released the crowd’s attention (and therefore Seungmin and Chaeryeong), Seungmin tried not to dart away from the dais and slipped through the crowd, though it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. People kept stepping in front of him, trying to offer their congratulations. Seungmin managed to give polite smiles and one-word responses before he practically shoved his way past and headed to the doors of the ballroom. 

Hyunjin was already there, and he opened his mouth to speak.

“Not now,” Seungmin said.

“But—” Hyunjin began, but Seungmin waved him off. 

“Jin, I’m about this close to snapping and I don’t want to snap at you,” Seungmin said. “Please just…leave me alone.”

Hyunjin stared at him, his eyes full of hurt and disappointment. “Alright.” He looked away. 

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin said before walking away. 

He practically ran to his room, close to tears from the pain in his arm when he finally reached it and threw open the doors. He went right over to the balcony, where he tore the makeshift lock off and yanked the doors open. The cool, fresh air washed over him. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself as he stepped up to the railing. His injured arm screamed in pain as he gingerly hugged it to his stomach so he could lean against the railing. 

Even from here, he could hear the faintest sounds of the ball, like the distant laughs of some couples or the sweet sound of the stringed instruments. He closed his eyes tightly, wishing it would all go away.

Two weeks. He had two weeks to figure out a way to get out of this plan or to end a marriage in the least disastrous way. He wanted to start scheming now out of pure panic and fear, but it was because of those things that he couldn’t. All he could think of was faking his own death or running away. Those were both last resorts, and he knew he could do better. 

He felt more than heard someone approach, and he already knew right away that Changbin was standing next to him. 

“I think I already know the answer to this, but I just need to know,” Changbin said softly. “Are you okay?”

Seungmin shook his head, his eyes still closed. “My arm hurts,” he whispered, his voice coming out strangled and pained. “So much.”

“Here.” He heard Changbin walk away, then return a moment later. “Here, let me help…”

Seungmin opened his eyes as Changbin slipped the sling over his head and adjusted the strap so it went down his back and around to his arm. Seungmin just watched him as Changbin carefully helped him slip his arm into the sling, his fingers brushing over him lightly but enough to make Seungmin’s skin burn even through the fabric. 

“There,” Changbin said, giving a small smile and glancing up at Seungmin. Seungmin expected him to take a step back, since there was less than a foot of space between them, but Changbin didn’t. Instead, he busied himself with making sure the strap wasn’t twisted.

“The queen wouldn’t let me wear it because it ruined the aesthetic, apparently,” Seungmin said. 

“Yeah, well, she’s also never broken anything in her life, so I don’t expect her to understand,” Changbin said. His hand came to a rest at the section of the strap at the top of Seungmin’s shoulder. He fell silent, and Seungmin just watched him, waiting for him to say or do anything. 

Changbin finally looked up at him and held his gaze. “Clearly she didn’t see what you looked like with the sling on, because even with it, you’re stunning.”

Seungmin blushed, while his breath caught in his throat and his heart began to pound. “You’re just saying that,” he said. 

“I’m not,” Changbin said, that half-smile of his making its way onto his face. “I’ve wanted to tell you that every single day but never had the courage.”

“But you’re the brave and noble guard,” Seungmin said. “You’re only afraid of spiders and clowns and tight spaces.”

“And I’m also afraid of telling you the rest of my fears.” Changbin’s half-smile stretched into a full one. His eyes were sparkling again, his skin glowing. 

“But you feel braver now.”

“Yes.” Changbin’s voice was soft as his hand made its way up to the side of Seungmin’s neck. “I always feel braver when I’m with you.”

Seungmin’s entire body was on fire right now. He was barely breathing as Changbin leaned forward, starting to close those last few inches of space between them. 

“Hyunjin,” Changbin whispered.

Seungmin closed his eyes tightly and blurted, “Seungmin.”

Changbin paused, leaving those few inches intact. “What?”

“Seungmin,” Seungmin said, already panicking. What if now wasn’t the time? What if he reacted the same way Jeongin did when he found out? “I—Seungmin—I’m—”

Changbin took a step back, his brow furrowed. His eyes were no longer sparkling, his skin no longer glowing. “Seungmin,” he repeated, then again, “Seungmin.” He cursed and shook his head. “Of course. You’re in love with Seungmin. Your best friend.”

That was not what Seungmin expected to hear, and he just stared at Changbin, his jaw dropped, momentarily speechless as his mind scrambled for the right thing to say. 

When Seungmin failed to respond, Changbin gave a small, sad smile before dropping his hand from Seungmin’s neck. “I get it,” he said, then sighed. “I honestly should have seen that one coming.”

“No,” Seungmin said, deciding the best course of action was to shove all the words out of his mouth. Hopefully something would come out right. “No, I’m not! I mean, I’m Seungmin. My name is Seungmin, not Hyunjin.”

Changbin was frowning at him, now just looking confused. 

Seungmin rushed on. “It was supposed to be a stupid prank. Hyunjin didn’t want to marry Chaeryeong because he doesn’t like girls either so we were joking around and thought it would be a brilliant plan if we switched places because I was always the rude one between us and we thought that I could manage to be so rude and so disgusting that it would make Chaeryeong call off the marriage but none of that worked and it just kept getting more and more complicated and then Hyunjin fell for Jeongin and I fell for you and I don’t know what to do anymore without all of this blowing up in my face and then the wedding date—”

“Seungmin,” Changbin interrupted, making Seungmin cut himself off. Seungmin stared at him with wide eyes while he could practically feel the fear burning the back of his throat. Changbin just looked back at him, no longer looking confused or disappointed. Rather, he was starting to smile and look at Seungmin like he had never seen him before, but that didn’t comfort Seungmin in the slightest. 

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin whispered. “I’ll understand if you hate me now. I lied to you.”

“You lied to everyone, I’m not taking it personally,” Changbin said, his smile growing. He let out a laugh and shook his head. “Oh, god, honestly…I’m just disappointed in myself.”

“What?” Seungmin blinked. 

“I don’t know how I didn’t see this coming. I mean, all those slip-ups between you and Hyunjin? And Felix constantly calling you Seungmin and then scrambling to correct himself? Not to mention how much you hate doing any kind of princely duties and prefer to sit in your room all day. Then there’s the swearing and the fact that you hated being called Hyunjin and how you’re…” He trailed off, blinking several times like he was trying to see Seungmin more clearly. 

“How I’m…?” Seungmin was beginning to hope, but he was also preparing himself for when Changbin would decide he didn’t want to be with him after all. It was inevitable, wasn’t it?

“How you’re so different,” Changbin said. “From all of the others. I thought I had never met a prince like you, but it turns out there’s a reason for that.”
Seungmin swallowed and looked away.

“That’s not a bad thing,” Changbin said, stepping forward. He reached out and cupped the side of Seungmin’s face, making Seungmin look back at him in surprise. Changbin smiled at him, back to looking exactly like he always did whenever he was brimming with happiness. “You’re still the same person.”

“You’re…you don’t hate me?” Seungmin blinked at him.

Changbin just grinned and said, “Seungmin. Can I kiss you?”

“Please,” the word was out of Seungmin’s mouth before he could even comprehend it. 

Changbin grinned at him one last time before leaning forward and kissing him. 

It wasn’t the mind-blowing, passionate kiss that Seungmin had dreamed of. Rather, it was soft and gentle and chaste, but still enough to make Seungmin sigh and close his eyes, mostly because all of the pain in his chest and his arm disappeared as he focused on more important things. Like how warm Changbin was—not that it was a cold night—or how his thumb moved lightly to rub comforting circles into Seungmin’s skin, or how Seungmin reached out to thread his fingers through Changbin’s hair and marveling at how soft it felt. He wanted to press Changbin closer, just to feel the warmth and solidarity of his body, but then Changbin leaned back just enough to look up at him. 

“Not going to lie, I’ve wanted to do that for awhile,” he murmured, smirking as he continued to rub Seungmin’s cheek with his thumb. Seungmin instinctively leaned into the touch.

“I’ve wanted you to do it for awhile too,” Seungmin said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“Can I do it again, then?”

“Yes.”

Changbin smiled at him, his eyes still sparkling, as he leaned in again. 

This time, it was deeper. It was more passionate, more like the ones from Seungmin’s dreams, but oh so much better. When he sighed at the touch and the feeling again, it came out more like a whimper, and Changbin smiled at that. He brought his other hand up to cup both sides of Seungmin’s face, sending sparks shooting throughout the rest of Seungmin’s body. 

“Just saying,” Changbin said in between kissing him, “we are standing on a balcony, so if anyone walks by outside—”

“You’re just trying to get me to my bed, is that it?” Seungmin couldn’t help smirking. 

“No! Well—” Changbin kissed him again, “—yes, but not like that. Unless you want to?” He paused to look up at Seungmin with an eyebrow raised.

Seungmin sighed and lowered his head. “No. I’ve never really…wanted something like that. But kissing is fine.”

“Okay.” Changbin smiled. “Though, this would be more comfortable on a be—”

Seungmin cut him off by kissing him, though a bit sloppier than before. Changbin made a noise of surprise but grinned into the kiss as he started tugging Seungmin towards the room. Somehow they got turned around so Seungmin was walking backwards, only knowing where the bed was when the backs of his calves hit it. But then he jerked backwards as he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and put his hand on Changbin’s chest to stop him. 

Changbin must have seen the look of complete fear on Seungmin’s face, because his expression softened with so much adoration and sympathy as he quickly said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s not going to escalate. I promise. It’s just better than standing.”

Seungmin swallowed and managed to nod, though the pounding of his heart had stopped being out of happiness and was now more out of panic. 

“Seungmin.” Changbin took his face in his hands again. “It’s okay. I swear I will never make you do anything that you’re not comfortable with. It’s either you’re all in or you’re not. Nothing halfway.”

Seungmin managed to nod, still trying to control his breathing. “I just…I still want to feel you but…” He cringed, thinking that sounded too suggestive. “I mean, I just—I want—”

Changbin just looked at him, his face full of patience, and Seungmin grew so frustrated at the lack of cooperation between his mouth and his brain that he finally blurted, “Can you hold me?”

“That’s what you want?” Changbin asked.

Seungmin nodded. “I just…I need a hug. And maybe…maybe some more kisses, too.”

Changbin smiled at him, practically radiating warmth. “Okay.” He kissed Seungmin on the forehead, and Seungmin felt his entire body go limp with relief. 

“Wait, but,” Seungmin said when Changbin pulled back. “Isn’t it uncomfortable to sleep in your armor?”

“It is,” Changbin said, smirking. “I usually take it off when I’m not on duty.”

“Do you…” Seungmin swallowed again, once again trying to find a way to word this without it sounding too sensual. “I’ll help you, if you want. So it’ll go faster.”

Changbin snorted. “God, why are you so cute.”

Seungmin cringed. “Yeah, I know, it sounded way more suggestive than I thought it would be.”

“No, no, it’s cute.” Changbin grinned. “But, no offense—can you do it with one hand…?”

“Well, now that you’ve said that, I’m going to prove you wrong out of pure spite.”

Changbin laughed. “Alright, alright.”

He then told Seungmin which straps to loosen, and Seungmin discovered that these pieces of armor were much heavier than he thought they would be. He still managed to do it all with one hand, though. 

Well, he managed to get the shoulder guards and the arm guards and that’s about it. The chest-plate he left to Changbin. 

“This is ridiculously heavy,” Seungmin said, frowning as they set the pieces to the side, specifically on the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. 

“Well, yeah, it’s made of thick metal to save my ass from danger,” Changbin said with a smirk. 

“There has to be a way to make it just as durable but much more lightweight.”

“But then I won’t get these glorious muscles. See?” Changbin flexed his arm, showing off the bulge of muscle, and Seungmin rolled his eyes before shoving him. Changbin laughed but caught onto Seungmin’s arm and used it to pull him closer. “Admit it,” Changbin said before planting a kiss on Seungmin’s lips. “You’re secretly impressed.”

“I will admit no such thing,” Seungmin said, unable to keep himself from smiling and blushing.

“You know another reason why guards have such big muscles?” Changbin arched an eyebrow. 

“This better not be a sex joke.”

“So they can give better hugs.”

Seungmin blinked, already feeling himself completely melt. “You made that up,” he sputtered, his face practically blazing. “You’re only saying that because I said I wanted a hug.”

“Well, partially.” Changbin grinned. “But honestly—Chan gives the absolute best hugs, and it’s because he's ripped.”

“Oh, no, don’t be jealous, Changbin, I’m sure you give good hugs too,” Seungmin said with a teasing smirk. “And you should prove it right now.”

“Demanding, are we?”

“Please?”

“There we go.” Changbin smiled before wrapping one arm around Seungmin’s waist and the other around his back. Seungmin once again felt all the tension disappear from his body as he sighed and rested his head on Changbin’s shoulder. Changbin was careful not to hug him too tightly because of his injured arm and instead threaded his fingers through Seungmin’s hair. 

A beat or two went by, during which Seungmin just closed his eyes and focused on how warm and safe and calm he felt in Changbin’s arms. 

But then Changbin ruined it by whispering loudly, “We are still standing.”

Seungmin snorted at that, and Changbin shied away with a giggle, since Seungmin’s face was right by his neck. 

“I’ve been standing all day, okay!” Changbin said. 

“Oh, and I’m the demanding one?”

A few minutes later, it took some readjustment, but they finally found a situation in bed where Seungmin’s arm was the least affected. They ended up facing each other, where Changbin had one arm draped over Seungmin’s waist and Seungmin had both of his arms hugged to his chest in an attempt to act as a bit of a buffer. Changbin’s other arm was under Seungmin’s head, and he used it to pull Seungmin as close enough as possible so their foreheads were touching.

“Are you still afraid of sleeping alone?” Changbin murmured as Seungmin’s eyes slid shut from drowsiness. 

“Yes,” Seungmin admitted. 

“I’ll watch over you,” Changbin said. 

Seungmin just nodded, and Changbin once again kissed his forehead and kept his lips pressed up against Seungmin’s skin.

“Sleep well,” he murmured. “Seungmin.”

With a smile, Seungmin drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

* * * 

Seungmin woke to someone softly calling his name, and he groaned, thinking it was much too early to wake up. 

There was a light laugh before the voice whispered, “Just wake up for two seconds and then I promise you can go back to sleep.”

Seungmin groaned and opened one eye to blearily stare up at the person standing over his bed. It was Changbin, grinning down at him, fully dressed in his armor once again. 

“I have to go,” he whispered. “But I wanted to tell you goodbye first.”

Seungmin tried to talk, but it came out as an unintelligible mumble.

Changbin’s grin widened as he cupped Seungmin’s face and kissed him on the forehead. “Bye. See you in a few hours.”

Seungmin hummed in response. As Changbin withdrew, though, Seungmin caught onto his hand and pulled it back, lacing his own fingers through it and burying his face in their intertwined hands. 

Changbin laughed again. “No, come on, I have to go.”

“What if I say as a fake prince that you have to stay,” Seungmin mumbled against their hands, his eyes sliding shut again. 

“I’d say you’d have to take it up with my superior and I don’t think Chan is ready for that conversation yet.” Changbin was grinning as he reached forward and gently pried his hand away from Seungmin’s. “You’ll see me in a few seconds! You’ll fall asleep and then wake up and it’ll already be time to see me again.”

“It better,” Seungmin mumbled, trying to sound threatening and failing miserably. 

Changbin gave him one last kiss on the cheek before whispering, “Bye.” And then he was gone. 

Seungmin did fall asleep again, but he still shivered to himself from the sudden lack of warmth in his bed.

* * * 

When he woke up the second time, the sun was shining and he could already hear someone moving around in his sitting room with breakfast. Felix came in a few seconds later, calling cheerily for him to get up. Seungmin did get up, and Felix smirked at how he was still wearing his navy blue suit from the ball before. 

“So tired you forgot to change before falling asleep, huh?” Felix said. 

“It’s been a long week,” Seungmin said, rubbing at his eyes. 

“And it’s gonna be a couple more long ones,” Felix said, wringing his hands. “I, uh, I heard about the wedding date…”

Seungmin didn’t reply right away, mostly because his heart sank at the reminder. “It’s fine,” he said finally. He looked up at Felix and gave him a small smile. “Guess that means I have two weeks to end this thing.”

“Yeah…” Felix said softly.

However, whenever Seungmin tried to think about a way to end the engagement, he found himself thinking about two different things instead—Changbin, and his arm. Of course Changbin was on his mind, and Seungmin smiled to himself whenever he thought about him, but he was also thinking about his frustrations over his arm and how he wished it would just heal already. If only there was a way to speed up the healing process. 

Oh, but there was. 

But that involved going into the forest and finding Ryujin, which was difficult to do with Changbin around. And Seungmin had promised not to go into the forest again, or at least not to go without Changbin. He didn’t know how he was going to handle Ryujin calling him “king” or “Chosen One” or basically referring to the fact that he had some magic (but not enough to heal his own arm, apparently), all in front of Changbin. Seungmin wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. He was still in shock about how well Changbin had taken the fact that Seungmin wasn’t who he pretended to be. Surely, he thought, telling Changbin about his magical abilities would be overwhelming and would be enough to finally drive Changbin away. Seungmin was not about to do that. 

He half-expected to find Hyunjin waiting for him outside of his room, since he had basically brushed Hyunjin off last night, but to his surprise, the hallway was empty. 

That is, except for a familiar guard who somehow managed to look more and more beautiful as the days went on. 

Seungmin stopped when he saw Changbin waiting for him and smiled. Changbin smiled back.

“Told you the time would go by quickly,” Changbin said, stepping forward, his hands clasped behind his back. 

“I’m surprised that you were right,” Seungmin said with a smirk. 

Changbin gasped and put a hand over his heart, pretending to be shocked. “Excuse me, I can have good ideas too.”

Seungmin snorted, but Changbin just smirked back at him. 

“So,” he said as they fell in-step beside each other, “what are we going to do today? Go to the library? Go for a walk? Do something stupid that I would advise against?”

“Like you haven’t done stupid things,” Seungmin said, noticing how they naturally gravitated towards each other. The backs of their hands brushed every now and then, and he wanted to hold Changbin’s hand so badly, but he knew he couldn’t out of fear that someone would see. 

“I’m allowed to do the stupid things,” Changbin said. “You aren’t.”

“Oh, but I am, because, as you recall, the rules you thought applied to me actually don’t.”

“Yes, but everyone else thinks so, so to make sure I keep my job, let’s not do the stupid things.” 

“Killjoy.” Seungmin stuck his tongue out at him. 

Changbin snorted and shook his head. “Oh, and to think I really thought you were who you said you were.”

Seungmin’s smile faded from his face. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“Oh, yes, I went right to the king and announced that there was an imposter in our midst and that we must arrest him immediately, which was why we let you sleep in so late.”

Seungmin grimaced as he looked straight ahead. “Please don’t joke about that,” he said quietly. 

Changbin’s face grew serious. “I’m sorry. I won’t, in the future. But no, I didn’t tell anyone, because then they would ask me how I knew and, well, that would be an interesting conversation, to say the least.”

“Thank you,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin smiled at him, took his hand, and squeezed it for a brief moment before letting go. “So…where to?”

“You choose,” Seungmin said. 

“Really?” Changbin looked at him in surprise. 

Seungmin shrugged. “Yeah. All I have to do is think of a way to end this marriage. Other than that, I’m good.”

“Ah, so your huge research project on witches is finished, then?”

“More like postponed for a later date.”

“Alright. Then…” Changbin thought for a moment, then glanced at Seungmin with narrowed eyes, like he was trying to figure him out. Seungmin just looked back at him with the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

“Do you still hate horses?” Changbin asked. 

* * * 

That day, they spent all their time outside, exploring the cliffside and the fields neighboring the castle (but never the forest), all from the back of a horse. They stopped for lunch in the middle of the field, only intending to sit for a few minutes, but ended up laying there in the grass for hours, staring up at the sky and enjoying the warmth of the summer sun on their faces.

Seungmin clearly couldn’t ride a horse on his own, so (with a suspicious, shit-eating grin that suggested he had planned this) Changbin said Seungmin could ride with him and just hold onto his waist with one arm. Seungmin was a bit unamused at that but went along with it anyways and spent the majority of the ride with his face buried into the back of Changbin’s neck. 

They stayed out until it was dark, having watched the sunset from the back of the horse at the edge of the cliffs, then headed back to the castle. Changbin started to tell Seungmin goodnight, probably figuring that Seungmin wanted some alone time after spending the whole day with him, but Seungmin had stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

That night, they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. The perfect ending to a perfect day, in Seungmin’s opinion.

* * *

“So.” Jisung slid onto the bench beside the kitchen table, directly across from Changbin. “You and the Crown Prince, huh?” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at him. 

“What about it.” Changbin didn’t look up from his plate. The faster he ate, the faster he could go back and spend time with Seungmin, who was currently roped into some sort of marriage preparation with the queen and Chaeryeong and didn’t need Changbin for the time being.

Seungmin. It felt so strange calling him that, but more like strange in a a good way. As in, it sent sparks shooting through Changbin’s body whenever he thought about it or spoke it. And, based on how Seungmin reacted every time Changbin called him by his real name, Seungmin liked how Changbin said it too. Which was why Changbin was sure to call him that at any chance he got. While others weren’t around, of course.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you didn’t come back to the room last night or the night before and last I heard you were going to the Crown Prince’s chambers?” Jisung smirked at him. 

Changbin shrugged. “I’ve done that before. He doesn’t like sleeping alone in that room, so I stand watch for him.”

“Or you sleep with him. Wouldn’t be the first time, am I right?” Jisung grinned and kicked Changbin repeatedly under the table. 

Changbin kicked him back, making Jisung whine from the pain in his shin. “Get your head out of the gutter, nothing happened.”

“Oh, so you admit you were with the prince the past two nights?”

“Yes, because I’m assigned to him as his personal guard.”

“Yeah, well, we’re assigned to Jeongin but you don’t see us spending the night with him,” Jisung said. “We’ve got Seungmin to do that now.”

Changbin fought the urge to correct him, especially as Hyunjin walked into the kitchen at that point. Changbin was seriously disappointed in himself for not noticing it sooner. Hyunjin practically commanded the attention of the room, and it was evident that he was royalty from the way he walked and carried himself. Not to mention how he always corrected Seungmin on every little thing. It was so clear now that he was the real prince and Seungmin was just…Seungmin. Ordinary, passionate, curious Seungmin. But also sassy, dirty-mouthed, hotheaded Seungmin. 

Beautiful Seungmin. 

Hyunjin may be able to turn heads wherever he went, but Changbin knew he’d always look at Seungmin instead. 

“Oh, hey, we were just talking about you,” Jisung sang out to Hyunjin with a grin. “All good things, mostly.”

“Oh, like I’m going to believe that,” Hyunjin scoffed, arching an eyebrow at Jisung. 

“We were!” Jisung said. “Well, specifically we were talking about how Changbin slept with your best friend the Crown Prince and then it turned to conversations about you and Jeongin and—”

“Hold on, what?” Hyunjin gaped at Changbin. “You guys…what? When?”

“Last night and the night before,” Jisung said. 

“No, he has it wrong,” Changbin scoffed.

“You just said you were in his room aaaalllll night. Don’t try to change it—I heard you.”

Changbin sighed in annoyance and looked at Hyunjin, who was still looking at him with a weird expression on his face. If Changbin didn’t know any better, he’d say Hyunjin looked either jealous or angry. Which, Changbin supposed, he had a right to. 

“Nothing happened, I just stay in his room because he doesn’t like sleeping in his room by himself,” Changbin explained. “That’s why I was gone all of last night and the night before. I don’t see why you guys have to know every single detail but—”

“I don’t know, maybe because that’s the Crown Prince who happens to be engaged to the princess of your kingdom?” Hyunjin scoffed, his eyes narrowing. “With a final date set?”

“And we also like to gossip to pass the time.” Jisung shrugged. 

Changbin and Hyunjin both ignored him as Changbin stood with his plate. He took a step towards Hyunjin, who stiffened, but Changbin gave him a polite smile as he said, “Like I said, nothing happened. But even if it did, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you, because I think you have other things to worry about.” He started to walk pass, then paused and added in a low voice that only Hyunjin could hear, “Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin whipped around to look at him, but Changbin just smiled and walked to the sink with his dishes. 

He felt Hyunjin’s eyes on him as he walked out of the kitchen. And even when he was down the hall, he still involuntarily shivered from the feeling of them.

* * * 

Changbin was already waiting for Seungmin outside his chambers when Seungmin dragged himself back from a dinner and the wedding preparation, during which the queen trilled on and on about all the different planning they had to do before the two weeks were up (the flowers, the dresses, the decorations, the invitations—which had already been sent out, apparently—the vows, the Church’s blessing and lecture on marriage, the rehearsal, the dance rehearsal—). Seungmin immediately felt all of his stress fade away when he saw Changbin, thinking he could use a hug and a kiss or two right about now. After he took a nice, relaxing bath and had a bit of time to himself, though.

Changbin smiled at him when he approached, and Seungmin smiled back. 

“You look exhausted,” Changbin said softly, holding open the door for Seungmin. 

“I am,” Seungmin said with a sigh, reaching up to rub his eyes. “I think I’m going to go take a bath first.”

Changbin snorted and wiggled his eyebrows at him. “Need help?”

Seungmin shoved him, making Changbin laugh. 

“I’m kidding,” he said. 

“I know,” Seungmin said. “I’d strangle you if you weren’t.”

“I believe you.” Changbin smiled. “Is it okay if I just sit in your room?”

Seungmin nodded as he began to walk into the bathroom. “Make yourself comfortable.” He stopped and quickly backtracked to give Changbin a pointed look. “That doesn’t mean lounging around in the nude, though.”

“Aw, shoot, you caught me,” Changbin said, snapping his fingers and pretending to look disappointed. “I’m just going to take off my armor and that’s it, okay?”

Seungmin gave him one last smirk before going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. 

He took his time enjoying his bath—around thirty minutes or so—and when he was done, he felt so much better, especially as he dressed in fresh, simple clothes to sleep in. There was something rejuvenating about feeling so clean. He headed back into the bedroom, where Changbin really had made himself comfortable. He was sitting on the bed, under the sheets, propped up against the headboard with some pillows, and was writing in a journal. Seungmin couldn’t help smiling as he walked over and crawled in under the sheets. He snuggled up next to Changbin, pressing as close as possible and resting his head on Changbin’s shoulder. 

“What are you writing?” Seungmin asked.

Changbin smiled down at him and shifted to put an arm around Seungmin’s shoulders. He didn’t hold him too tightly though out of concern for Seungmin’s arm. “A story,” he said. 

“About dragons?” 

Changbin snorted. “No. It’s…it’s about you, actually.”

Seungmin blinked at that. “What?”

Changbin flipped through the pages and showed Seungmin the title page for this section in his journal, and Seungmin couldn’t help letting out a bark of laughter. 

The Adventures of Hard-Ass and Kiss-Ass, it said, in beautiful, flowing calligraphy. 

“I didn’t know you knew calligraphy,” Seungmin said. 

“What, just ’cause I’m some common guard I can’t have the capacity to appreciate and create art?”

“What?” Seungmin blinked again. “No, no—”

“I’m teasing,” Changbin interrupted quickly, his tone lighthearted. “Yes, I know calligraphy. My father taught me, if you can believe it.”

“It’s beautiful,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin smiled and kissed the top of his head. Warmth shot through Seungmin, reaching all the way to his toes and filling him with happy tingles. 

“Are you going to read it out loud?” Seungmin asked.

“Oh, um.” Changbin flipped back to where he was working. “I wasn’t planning on it. I was going to wait until I was finished to read it to you. Besides, you already know it. It’s the same one from that night in the cave.”

“I still want to hear the words you use,” Seungmin said. “And reading your work out loud can help you hear what works and what doesn’t. Helps you find the icky parts.”

“Mm.” Changbin smirked. “Can’t argue with your cold, hard logic, then.”

Seungmin poked him in the side before snuggling more into him, sighing in relief. 

Changbin began to read aloud, and Seungmin realized that his writing was much more different than he had initially thought. Instead of traditional prose from storybooks that he was accustomed to, it was more like poetry. It had a lyrical beat to it, sounding almost like a song, especially with Changbin’s tone of voice. He paced it, sometimes speaking rapidly in a crescendo to add effect and sometimes speaking quietly and sometimes speaking slowly to punctuate every single word. Seungmin was completely captivated, feeling like the story was playing out in front of him, swallowing him whole and filling him with such pure, raw words. 

It was over too soon. 

“So, yeah,” Changbin said after a beat of silence. “That’s all I have.”

Seungmin was just staring up at him, his jaw dropped. Changbin glanced down at him, then did a double-take. 

“That bad, huh?” he said. 

“No,” Seungmin whispered. “That was…that was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yes. That was incredible, Changbin. Usually I don’t like to listen to stories out loud, but…that was even better than reading it for myself. It was like listening to a song. An epic song.”

Changbin smirked at that, then glanced away, almost shyly. “Yeah, I was kind of…experimenting a bit.”

“I like it,” Seungmin said. “A lot.”

“And you don’t feel uncomfortable knowing that you’re a character in it?”

“No.” Seungmin snorted. “Obviously the best part about it is my character.”

“Wow, okay.” Changbin rolled his eyes.

Seungmin laughed and pushed himself up with his good arm so he was nose-to-nose with him. “You’re going to write more, right?” he asked, searching Changbin’s face.

Changbin’s smirk stretched into a smile as he closed the journal and brought the hand that was holding it up to cup Seungmin’s face. Out of habit, Seungmin leaned into the touch. “For you,” Changbin murmured, “anything.”

Seungmin smiled back before Changbin pulled him in for a kiss. Once they started, they didn’t stop. Instead, Changbin kissed him and kissed him, never straying away from the slow, gentle nature of it. At one point, he tossed his journal onto the bedside table without even looking, and Seungmin couldn’t help snorting at the hollow thunk that responded. Changbin waved the thought aside and guided Seungmin down to the bed, where they both lay facing each other on their sides, their lips barely separating from each other. This arrangement worked for Seungmin’s injured arm. He used his good hand to cup Changbin’s face while Changbin’s hand slipped from Seungmin’s face to his hip. Seungmin inhaled in surprise and momentarily stiffened when Changbin slipped his hand under his shirt. But he came to rest on the bare skin of his hip, and there it stayed, though Changbin started to rub small circles into the skin. The feeling was so calming that Seungmin found himself smiling into their kisses.

When their kisses started to get more sloppy than anything, where Seungmin was barely even kissing Changbin’s mouth and was more hitting the corners of it, Changbin laughed softly and pulled back. 

“Okay, okay, we should sleep now,” he said.

Seungmin was about to protest, but then he yawned so widely that it made Changbin lean back even further and make a face.

“Okay,” Seungmin said, closing his eyes. “Night.”

“That arm needs to hurry up and heal because I want to hug you so tightly but I can’t,” Changbin muttered. He pulled the sheets over them and made sure that they were tucked comfortably around Seungmin before draping his arm over Seungmin’s waist again. 

“I’m working on it,” Seungmin mumbled, already drifting off. 

“Uh huh. Goodnight.” 

Seungmin smiled to himself. 

* * * 

The week began to pass in a blur, and the sheer speed of it was enough to trigger Seungmin’s anxiety. He didn’t want the time to pass, because the faster it went by, the less time he had to figure out a plan to call off the wedding, and the less time he could spend with Changbin. The mere thought about having to say goodbye to Changbin made him sick to his stomach, because there was no way that Seungmin would be able to see him as often after the wedding, if at all. Seungmin, quite honestly, didn’t even know where he and Chaeryeong would go after the wedding—he had never thought about what would happen after the wedding. But if he didn’t figure something out and soon, then all of a sudden he would be at the altar saying “I do” to someone who was most definitely not Changbin. 

The only thing he could think to do was talk to Chaeryeong. Hopefully, with both of them, they could convince the king to reconsider this marriage (and Seungmin wanted to suggest Hyunjin and Jeongin as an alternative, but even though the two of them were back on speaking terms, they were not as close as they had been before).

However, when he got Chaeryeong alone one day near the end of the first week, she just shook her head. 

“He won’t call it off,” she said. “The marriage is too important to both of our countries.”

“But—” Seungmin began. 

“I don’t understand why you are so against it,” Chaeryeong interrupted. “For once, don’t think of yourself. Think of what this could do for your country. For your people. You’re a Crown Prince—one day, you’ll be king. You can’t just start caring about those people on that day. You need to start to care about them now.”

Seungmin didn’t understand how this marriage of all things could benefit the people, since he was positive that the Southern Kingdom was just going to have free reign into the Northern Kingdom use it to hunt down all the witches and faeries who had relocated there.

When he didn’t answer right away, Chaeryeong added, “Besides, it’s just for show. You and I mean nothing to each other and it will continue to stay that way. We will both continue to be able to be with the people we love, though.”

“Yeah, on the side,” Seungmin scoffed bitterly. He didn’t want to do that to Changbin. Changbin deserved better than to be some sort of sidepiece. Like he would even stay for that long if Seungmin did that to him, either. 

“It is more than we could ask for,” Chaeryeong said, looking away sadly. “People like us don’t get to marry the people we love.”

That conversation left Seungmin feeling more hopeless and depressed than before. 

But this was all assuming that no one would blow Seungmin’s cover until the wedding was over. Clearly, with guests attending from the North—including the royal family themselves—someone was going to recognize him and stop the wedding that way. Seungmin would wind up in a prison cell for life, if he was lucky. And Hyunjin would still have to marry Chaeryeong and Changbin would continue on with his life like Seungmin had never existed. It would be like everything Seungmin did was for nothing. 

Seungmin thought about all of this as he sat through more and more wedding preparations, but especially when he spent time with Changbin late at night. They had fallen into another routine, where they would eat dinner separately but, as soon as Changbin was done with his other duties (sometimes stationed as a guard elsewhere in the castle, sometimes patrolling), he came to Seungmin’s room. Seungmin would always stay up for him no matter how late it got, and Changbin would always come in and say softly, “You didn’t have to stay up for me.”

Sometimes Seungmin said, “I wanted to.” And sometimes he said, “You thought I was staying up for you? No, I’m reading. Obviously.”

Always, though, he would help Changbin with his armor (just because it went faster) and Changbin would pull him in for a kiss when they were done. Sometimes that was the only kiss, sometimes it led to more. They still hadn’t done anything more than kiss, and even the kisses hadn’t gotten heated enough to call it a “make-out session.” Seungmin was perfectly fine with that, and Changbin never pressured him into taking things further.

But Seungmin couldn’t help thinking that not even this could last. That Changbin would eventually get bored and frustrated with him because Seungmin never wanted to do anything more and that Changbin would leave him because of it. Seungmin tried to keep an open mind, thinking that maybe he would be able to go farther the more he got to know Changbin, but just the thought of himself doing sexual acts made his skin crawl. It just wasn’t him. Call it immaturity, but he just couldn’t do it.

And who would want to stay with someone like that? Who would ever truly love someone like that?

So, Seungmin decided, maybe it was better if things with Changbin ended with the marriage. Maybe it would just be better for both of them to go their separate ways. Seungmin in a prison cell, Changbin in a castle attending to the rest of his guard duties. Hard to make that one work anyways. 

It was Hyunjin of all people who came up with the plan a week before the wedding.

Seungmin was in his chambers, as always, pushing his food around his plate, not having the appetite. Hyunjin threw open the door, the sound of it hitting the wall startling Seungmin out of his thoughts. Hyunjin ignored it as he marched through the door, a determined look on his face.

“I figured it out,” he said, stopping in front of the couch where Seungmin sat. 

“Figured what out.” Seungmin looked back at his food, disinterested. 

“Figured out a way to get you out of the marriage.”

Seungmin looked up, his eyebrows lifting just a little too hopefully. 

Hyunjin sat down on the couch next to him. “Everyone is going to figure out the truth when the guests arrive. People from the Northern Kingdom are going to take one look at you and immediately know we’re up to something. At that point it’ll be too late. So we have to stop it before then.”

Seungmin nodded to show that he was following. 

“I’ve thought about it,” Hyunjin said, his face surprisingly serious and focused. “There isn’t a way where this can end well. But there is one way that is better than the others.”
Seungmin was already having a bad feeling about this.

Hyunjin sighed and said, “You’ll run away. Two nights before the wedding, before all the guests are supposed to arrive, including my family. You’ll have to head to the North by yourself, but I think you can do it. You’ll just have to keep running until you get to the castle, and then you’ll have to lie low for awhile. I’m already going to send a letter to my father explaining everything. He’ll keep you hidden. We’ll change your name and say that Seungmin disappeared and was never seen again. Probably killed by witches or faeries. We’ll let the Southern Kingdom say whatever they want about Seungmin—that he was an imposter, that he was blackmailing me, whatever. Eventually, though, they’ll forget about him, because they’ll have a new marriage and a new alliance to deal with.”
Seungmin just stared at him, too shocked at too many different things to even think about speaking. But his brain finally connected some dots, and he managed to sputter, “Wait, but…what about you? What about the staff? What will happen to all of you?”

“We’ll stay here,” Hyunjin said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll stay because there has to be a wedding one way or another. And I’ve come to the realization that trying to get out of this was a stupid and immature idea, one that’s not fit for a future king and one that caused too many people to get hurt in the process. I’m going to marry Chaeryeong and we’re going to do what’s best for our countries. Not what’s best for us individually.”

“Hyunjin.” Seungmin just stared at him, unsure what he was feeling. Shocked? Relieved? Sick? Proud? He had no idea. 

“It’s my choice, Seungmin,” Hyunjin said. The words began to tumble out of his mouth at an increasing speed. “I’m just so sorry that it went this far. It was so unfair to you…I am so sorry. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t come up with anything better. But I know that you’ll get to the Northern Kingdom. Go through the forest. The witches and faeries will help you. If the Southern Kingdom insists on going after you, they won’t follow you there. My father and I will try to distract them for as long as possible. You know that my family will do anything to protect you, right? They love you like a son.”

Seungmin looked away, his eyes filling with tears. He should be relieved. Relieved that there was another way other than ending up in a prison cell or in a grave. 

But there were still too many loose ends, too many possibilities for this to go wrong. What if he was caught before he could even get out of the Southern Kingdom? What if the witches and faeries didn’t help him and instead attacked him? What if the Southern Kingdom figured out that he was still alive and declared war on the Northern Kingdom?

“Seungmin,” Hyunjin said. “Please say something.”

“What about Jeongin?” is all that came out of Seungmin’s mouth, and he winced, already regretting that.

Pain flashed in Hyunjin’s eyes before he looked away. “Well…you were right. We didn’t work out. We talked, finally, but…it’s not the same. He doesn’t trust me anymore.” He tried to shrug it off, but the pain in his eyes was as clear as day. “If anything, it’s a wakeup call. A reminder that I’m a prince and I can’t just mess around anymore. I have to start acting like a future king and do what’s expected of me. And who knows—maybe I’ll actually fall in love with Chaeryeong and maybe she’s the one in my prophecy.”

“But you loved him,” Seungmin whispered.

Hyunjin stared down at his hands. “It doesn’t matter, in the end.” He gave a soft, humorless laugh. “I even thought about kissing him one last time just to forget about him, but…that wouldn’t be fair to him. And it’s a cowardly way out.”

“Me running away is a cowardly way out,” Seungmin said. 

“No, it’s brave.” Hyunjin looked at him, his eyes hardening. “You’re about to run for your life by yourself. I think that’s incredibly brave.”

“It’s either this or death,” Seungmin said weakly, lifting his good shoulder in a half-shrug. “And I might die along the way, so…”

Hyunjin nodded. For a moment, neither of them spoke, too caught up in their own thoughts. Seungmin was still blinking away tears, but they weren’t for himself.

Seungmin couldn’t help wondering what Changbin would do after all of this. Would he still believe Seungmin? Or would he think that Seungmin was just a coward and a liar all along?

Would the Southern Kingdom send him after Seungmin? Seungmin didn’t want to think about what Changbin would do if he caught up to him. It was too painful. 

“I’m going to send my father a letter,” Hyunjin said. “It’ll reach them right before they leave.”

“You should be prepared for the Southern Kingdom to react badly when they find me missing, though,” Seungmin said. “And if I get caught—”

“You won’t get caught.”

“If I get caught…you should just let me go. Don’t defend me.” 

Hyunjin stared at him in horror. “I can’t do that. I can’t just let them arrest you or kill you.”

“If you don’t, then they’ll take it out on all of us,” Seungmin said. “You, the staff, maybe even the rest of the North. You have to just let me take the fall for you. Please.”

“You’ve already done too much for me with nothing in return, Minnie, I can’t just condemn you.”

“You’re choosing to marry Chaeryeong,” Seungmin said, “I’m choosing to take the fall for you. You’re my prince and future king—you’re more important.”

“Don’t say that.”

“You want to act like it, don’t you? So let me act like how I should as your best friend.”

Hyunjin looked like he wanted to argue, but Seungmin just stared him down, his jaw clenched in determination. Finally, Hyunjin sighed, though Seungmin could see the tears shining in his eyes once again as he looked away. 

“Alright,” Hyunjin whispered. “But you won’t get caught.”

“I’ll try not to,” Seungmin said.

Hyunjin nodded and wiped at his eyes. For several moments, the two of them just sat there in silence, the gravity of the situation finally dawning on them. Seungmin couldn’t help shaking his head at himself. He really hated his past self right now for ever thinking that pretending to be someone else was a fun and harmless prank. If anything, they should have revealed themselves on the first day after messing around a bit, just to play it off as a joke. It should never have gone this far. 

Then Hyunjin said, “You told Changbin.”

“Yes,” Seungmin said. 

“Why?”

“I trust him.”

“Are you sure it’s not something else?”

“What, love?”

Hyunjin shrugged. “You did finally get together.”

“Not in the way you’re thinking,” Seungmin said. “We’ve just kissed and slept in the same bed. Nothing more than that.”

“You still admitted your feelings for each other. That counts as ‘getting together’.” Hyunjin sighed. “Besides, you’re able to do more than me and Jeongin could do.”

Seungmin just shrugged it off. 

“Are you going to see him tonight?”

“Yeah. He usually comes right after he finishes his patrols.”

Hyunjin smiled. “Alright. I’ll leave, then. But…” He paused after standing. “Please don’t tell him about this plan. It’s better if it just stays between you and me. And my father, obviously, but…”

Seungmin nodded. “I’ll keep it a secret for Changbin’s sake. I promise.”

Hyunjin nodded in reply, giving a small smile before turning and walking to the door. He was more gentle in opening it and shutting it this time, and soon Seungmin’s chambers were empty and silent once again. 

He decided he wasn’t hungry and instead stood and wandered into his bedroom. He stopped in the doorway, staring at the area in front of him. The room was so clean and tidy except for the top of his dresser, where his pile of books, discarded notes, a couple of quills, and a handful of ink pots were scattered across it. He went over to the dresser, looking at all the books he didn’t need anymore, like the history of the witch-hunts. He ended up putting all of the books borrowed from the library in one pile and the notes in another. He should probably burn his notes. They wouldn’t be useful to him on the run. Besides, most of them were illegible or useless as he now knew all of the information on them. 

However, he paused when he saw the few notes in Changbin’s handwriting. Changbin had also taken to doodling little pictures in the margins to keep himself busy. There was a guard, a dragon, a sword, and a little castle. On another page, there was a doodle of Seungmin waving around a book, with a little speech bubble saying, I eat books for breakfast! Nom nom nom!

Seungmin couldn’t help snorting at the pictures. He folded those notes in half and set them aside, separate from the burn pile. 

He finished going through his notes and turned to the last few books, the two he dreaded facing the most. One was Changbin’s storybook, still as beautiful as ever. The other was the book from Ryujin, still as blank as ever. Seungmin couldn’t help scowling as he picked up that book and flipped through the thick pages. He shook his head when it proved to be absolutely useless and tossed it onto the dresser with a thunk. The book fell open, but Seungmin was already turning away. He decided to pick up the stack of books from the library and return them to the librarians. 

When he came back to his room, he passed by Ryujin’s book on the way to the balcony. There was ink on the pages. 

Seungmin slammed to a stop and backtracked. He stared down at the pages, his jaw dropped in surprise. He must be hallucinating. There was no way that this book was writing itself right in front of him. 

But it was. The words were appearing one after another on the page, traveling down and across until one page was full, then appearing at the top of the next page. Seungmin watched, eyes completely wide and transfixed as they followed the writing. 

It took him several moments of stunned silence before he realized what, exactly, the book was writing. 

“A spell?” Seungmin murmured, stepping closer. And not just any spell—a healing spell. 

He looked down at his broken arm, then looked back up at the book. The sun was beginning to set right now, meaning Changbin would be here within a few hours. That gave Seungmin just enough time to try this spell. 

He started to read over the instructions, only to freeze. What if he did it wrong? What if he made it worse? He had never tried anything huge like this before. And if he messed up, everyone would know. Then Hyunjin’s plan would have to go into effect sooner than expected. 

Also, Seungmin wasn’t entirely sure how to do magic. It seemed easy, didn’t it? Just thinking about healing something, waving his hand, and then poof! Done. Right? At least…that’s what he did with small things like levitating objects and lighting candles. Healing an entire bone might take more, though.

He looked back at the book. Ryujin had said it would answer all of his questions.  And based on Seungmin’s limited experience with magic, he guessed that holding the question lightly in his mind might trigger the book to respond. 

So he closed his eyes and asked his question. How do I do this?

A gentle wind from the open doors of the balcony picked up and blew through the pages, making them turn. They came to a stop on another blank page, where the book was busy writing HOW TO DO MAGIC at the top of the page. Seungmin leaned forward eagerly, only to scowl when he read the steps. 

Step One: Know what you want to do with magic.

Step Two: Feel the magic.

Step Three: Do the magic!

If you succeed—Congratulations, you’re a witch!

“Gee, thanks, didn’t think of that at all,” Seungmin mumbled. 

The wind picked up again and blew the pages back to the healing spell. Seungmin sighed and read over it again. It really didn’t tell him how to do it, but it told him what should happen if he did it correctly. It told him what he should feel—he should feel a brief moment of pain, but then his veins should basically hum with some sort of electricity. That, apparently, was magic. But it only responded with large amounts of magic, not tiny amounts used for lighting candles.

Now Seungmin just felt like this book was insulting him, and it soured his mood.

But, taking a deep breath to clear his mind, he closed his eyes again. He held the objective lightly in the back of his mind. He wanted to heal his arm. He imagined the fracture sticking together and healing into one, solid bone again. That was Step One.

Step Two: Feel the magic. Seungmin focused on what he was feeling in that moment. There was a lot of frustration and pain and fear right now. But, beyond that, he could just barely feel this distant humming, which he had always felt and figured had just been part of his normal bodily process. As he focused more on that feeling though, that humming, it became much stronger and clearer until his veins were practically pulsing with electricity. 

Magic?

Step Three: Do the magic.

Seungmin focused on the magic, then willed it to do the objective he held in the back of his mind. Heal the bone.

He felt it respond almost immediately. All of the magic rushed towards his arm, the humming growing stronger and stronger until it felt almost like his bone itself was vibrating. That’s when the pain started. Seungmin gritted his teeth, but it wasn’t anything foreign. Pain was pain, and it was gone much quicker than he thought. 

The magic hummed one last time before dispersing back through his bloodstream, going dormant once again since its job was complete. 

Seungmin opened his eyes and looked down at his arm. He didn’t feel pain anymore. He tried moving it, then nearly cried with relief when he found that he could move with no pain whatsoever. He ran a hand over the bone, feeling for the fracture and not finding one. As far as he could tell, his bone was solid and healthy once again. 

Seungmin exhaled in disbelief. He had done the magic. And it had been easy. What else could he do?

He looked back at the book, and the book obliged, flipping to new pages with more spells for him to try. As Seungmin read through them, even though he still felt frustrated and afraid, he felt a similar kind of hum in his chest. This one he knew the word for. 

Hope. 

Chapter Text

The days continued to fly by. Seungmin wanted to scream at them to stop. 

His days were filled with nothing but wedding preparations. He grew so much more exhausted and began to have less and less time to himself. He didn’t have time to look at the spellbook more, realizing that the book changed based on what spell Seungmin needed at that particular time. The few times that Seungmin had glanced at it, it was either giving him a spell for teleportation or invisibility. Seungmin didn’t doubt that he was capable of either of those, but he was so exhausted and so depressed at this time that he couldn’t even think about trying new spells. That tiny flicker of hope after he had healed his arm was long distinguished, now a thing of the past. 

Hyunjin intercepted him one night in his chambers right after a particularly stressful rehearsal dinner. “My father got the letter,” he said. “He sent one back. I read it and then burned it.”

Seungmin just nodded, feeling sicker and sicker at the thought of running away. Of having to make it through to the North by himself. Of having to completely disappear and create a new identity for himself. 

Of having to leave Changbin forever without ever being able to explain the situation to him.

He tried not to let these ideas get to his head, but they surfaced at the worst times. Changbin noticed that Seungmin was acting differently—beginning to kiss more passionately, only to jerk away soon after. He commented on it a few times, but when Seungmin just shook his head and said it was just stress from the wedding, Changbin eventually stopped asking. 

Seungmin didn’t have the strength to tell him that he couldn’t help thinking that every kiss was their last, so he had to make it count, only for it to be too painful to bear and immediately pull away. He wasn’t even brave enough to tell Changbin that his arm was healed and that he had been only pretending that it was still broken and using the sling for the past week. 

Then the two nights before the guests arrived was upon them. According to Hyunjin’s plan, Seungmin had tonight and a little bit of tomorrow before he had to disappear that night, just after sunset. Just before Changbin arrived. 

Seungmin hated that the most about this entire plan—he hated that he had to result to running away and faking his own death to escape, but even more than that, he hated how Changbin would be the first person to realize that Seungmin was gone.

He thought about that now, as he stood on his balcony, staring at the world with a blank expression. He was vaguely aware of the sound of the bedroom door opening and closing, but he still jumped when he felt Changbin’s arms wrap around his waist from behind. 

“Oh, sorry,” Changbin said with a soft laugh. “I thought you heard me.”

Seungmin just shook his head and turned in Changbin’s arms to face him. Once he caught sight of Changbin’s face—his stupid, weird, devastatingly beautiful face—Seungmin just…stopped. He stopped and just stared at him, oblivious to everything else in the world around him. He thought, maybe, if he stared long enough, time would stop, and they would be able to stay in this moment together forever. No marriages. No escape plans. No more lies. Just the two of them. 

Changbin was staring back at him, a bit of a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. “What’s on your mind, Min?” he asked.

“You’re beautiful,” Seungmin said. 

Changbin blinked in surprise and immediately blushed. “Beautiful, huh? You wouldn’t prefer to use dashingly handsome instead?” He smirked. 

Seungmin just shook his head as he brought his left hand up to lightly touch the panes of Changbin’s face with his fingers. 

“Seungmin,” Changbin whispered, but now he just looked concerned. 

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin said, jerking his hand away. “I’m…I’m really out of it. It was a long day.”

Changbin was searching his face, looking unconvinced, but he gave in reluctantly. “Let’s get you to bed, then,” he said. He kissed Seungmin on the forehead (he always had to go up on his tippy toes to do that), then led Seungmin towards the bed. 

Seungmin waited until Changbin was asleep to pull the sling off and throw it on the floor. Then he snuggled as close as possible and threw both arms around Changbin. He hugged him like he was going to disappear.

* * *

Changbin dreamed he was on a cliff. 

It looked somewhat like the cliffs here, but instead of the forest off to his right and the castle behind him, the fields covering the cliffs and the cliffs themselves were endless. They continued to stretch on into eternity, and the gray, tumultuous ocean followed it. 

There was a cold, steady wind. Dark clouds brewed overhead. In the distance, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Changbin wasn’t the one to be afraid of storms, but this one made him anxious for reasons he couldn’t explain. 

He looked in front of him, where someone else was standing at the edge of the cliff, facing the ocean. Changbin recognized him instantly, but instead of his chest filling with the familiar warmth and relief, it filled with sickening fear. 

“Seungmin,” he called out.

Seungmin turned to look at him, his eyes wide and terrified. 

“Seungmin, what are you doing?” Changbin asked, even though he knew this was a dream. No one understood what they did in dreams. 

Seungmin opened his mouth to say something, but a loud clap of thunder overhead startled them. Changbin looked up as a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and struck the ground in front of Seungmin, the light momentarily blinding Changbin. Deafening thunder followed. This all happened in an instant, and then the ground was disappearing out from under Seungmin’s feet. 

“NO!” Changbin lunged forward, reaching out desperately. His hand barely missed; he felt his fingers just barely brush Seungmin’s, and then Seungmin was gone. 

Changbin jolted awake, feeling his stomach still pitching like he was the one who had fallen, while his heart pounded with a new kind of ache. He was drenched in sweat and out of breath, but when he looked around the room, he saw that everything was normal. The balcony doors were still shut. The bedroom door was still shut and locked. Seungmin was still lying next to him, though his back was to Changbin as he faced the balcony doors. 

Changbin breathed a sigh of relief and pushed his sweaty hair away from his face. Then he rolled over, slung an arm around Seungmin’s waist, and buried his face into the side of Seungmin’s neck.

Seungmin grumbled at that, mumbling, “Your chin is stabbing me.”

Changbin couldn’t help snorting, and Seungmin continued to whine, “Seriously it’s like a knife…”

“It’s a secret weapon,” Changbin murmured, closing his eyes. 

“So deadly.”

Changbin snorted again, and then Seungmin brought his hand up to run his fingers through Changbin’s hair. 

“Ew, you’re all sweaty,” Seungmin said.

“Nightmare,” is all Changbin said. 

Seungmin paused at that, then turned his head as much as possible to look at Changbin. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Changbin said. He tightened his grip around Seungmin’s waist. “All better now.”

Seungmin pulled away just enough to roll over, and Changbin finally opened his eyes to look at him. Seungmin stared at him, his eyes so gentle and loving…Changbin wanted to drown in them. Changbin brought his hand up from Seungmin’s waist to cup Seungmin’s face instead, desperate to just feel his warm, soft skin. As always, Seungmin leaned into his touch, unaware of how much Changbin loved it when he did that. It always made his heart burst with such happiness and pure adoration that he almost couldn’t function for a few seconds.

But then Seungmin brought up his hand to place it over Changbin’s, and Changbin froze. 

Seungmin had used his right hand. 

“Your arm,” Changbin whispered. 

“Healed,” Seungmin said. 

“How?”

“Witches.”

Changbin blinked. “Did you go into the forest again?”

“I just went to the edge of it. She was waiting for me there.”

“Who?”

“The witch. She’s not dangerous.”

“Seungmin…” Changbin groaned. 

“I was safe, I promise,” Seungmin said.

Changbin just sighed and pulled his hand away from Seungmin’s face. Seungmin’s face flashed with hurt for a brief moment before Changbin took his right hand in his. He pressed a kiss to the palm of it and ran his thumb over the smooth skin there. Seungmin just watched him, his face suddenly full of such sadness that Changbin paused. 

“What’s wrong?” Changbin asked.

“What?” Seungmin blinked. “Oh, nothing.”

“There’s something on your mind.” Changbin hugged Seungmin’s hand to his chest, still rubbing the palm with his thumb. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

This wasn’t the first time he had noticed that sadness in Seungmin’s expression. He had been acting differently all week, though Changbin knew it was just from the exhausting wedding preparations and the fact that the wedding was getting closer and closer. He knew Seungmin had a plan on how to get out of this marriage, but he hadn’t shared it with Changbin, and Changbin wondered if it was within his rights to ask.

Seungmin just swallowed, glancing away as his eyes filled with tears. “I just…I can’t…will you remember me?”

“What?” Changbin couldn’t help frowning. “Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s just…as the wedding gets closer…I can’t ignore the reality of it anymore.” Seungmin’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I won’t be able to see you after all of this is over.”

“What, you think you can get rid of me that easily?” Changbin grinned and pressed his nose up against Seungmin’s. It was meant to be somewhat of a playful nuzzle to cheer Seungmin up, but instead Seungmin yanked his hand out of Changbin’s grasp, grabbed Changbin’s face, and kissed him. It shocked Changbin, the pure desperation of it, but he closed his eyes and kissed Seungmin back. A few seconds had barely gone by before Seungmin was pulling away, his eyes squeezed shut as tears slipped out the corners of them. 

“Hey,” Changbin murmured, already chasing after him to pull him back into a comforting embrace. But Seungmin slipped out of his grasp, rolled over, and sat up on the edge of the bed, his back to Changbin. Changbin could tell he was still crying from the way he dropped his head into his hand—his right hand. 

“Seungmin, hey.” Changbin sat up and scooted over to him. He wrapped his arms around Seungmin’s waist from behind and pressed his forehead into the back of Seungmin’s neck. “Don’t cry, it’ll all work out. You have a plan, remember? It’ll all be okay.”

“I don’t—” Seungmin’s voice was thick with emotion as he struggled to suppress oncoming sobs, “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“You won’t have to,” Changbin said. “I’m right here, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

Seungmin didn’t respond; instead he just cried harder. 

“Seungmin,” Changbin said again, this time a bit sterner. “Come here.”

Seungmin shook his head, but Changbin pulled him around so he was facing him. Seungmin stared down at the bed, refusing to look up at him, his body still shaking with silent sobs.

It hurt seeing Seungmin like this; something was clearly bothering him, something more than just the wedding, but he didn’t want to tell Changbin. And Changbin wasn’t going to force him. Instead, he just reached up and wiped away the tears on Seungmin’s cheeks.

“Just let it out,” Changbin said. “It’s okay.”

Seungmin shook his head, his eyes squeezing shut again. 

“You’re just tired,” Changbin said. “It’s late and you’re tired and you’re worried about the next few days. And that’s okay. Just let it all out, get some rest, and then in the morning it’ll all be better.”

“Can you stay?” Seungmin whispered, opening his eyes. 

“Of course.” 

“No, I mean in the morning. Don’t leave. Stay.”

Changbin paused, conflicted. “But…I can’t. My job—”

“Please.” Seungmin grabbed his hand. “Just once.”

Changbin faltered, knowing he had already made up his mind. “I’ll stay,” he said.

He thought that Seungmin would look a bit more relieved and not so sad, but if anything, Seungmin’s face seemed to fall even further. He moved forward, wrapping his arms around Changbin’s torso and pressing his head up against Changbin’s chest. Changbin carefully maneuvered them so they were lying back down on the bed. Though, this time, he didn’t have to worry about being too gentle. He could hug Seungmin as tight and as close as he wanted.

So that’s what he did. He held Seungmin as tight and as close as physically possible. Seungmin continued to silently cry until he fell asleep, but Changbin just ran a comforting hand up and down Seungmin’s back even after he knew Seungmin had drifted off. 

Only once he knew Seungmin was asleep did he begin to cry as well. 

He didn’t want to say goodbye either. 

* * * 

Changbin was still there as he promised the following morning when Seungmin woke up. He technically woke up earlier than usual, since he had felt Changbin shifting around on the bed, panicked, and jolted awake, thinking that Changbin really was going to leave him before he woke up. Changbin was just readjusting, though. He was awake as well, and Seungmin reached out to take Changbin’s hand in his. Changbin looked at him in surprise, only for his face to break into a smile when he saw that Seungmin was awake.

“I wasn’t leaving,” Changbin whispered as he kissed Seungmin’s forehead. 

“I know,” Seungmin said.

“Technically I don’t have to even leave for another thirty minutes, so we can just lie here together until then.”

Thirty minutes. Seungmin just had thirty minutes left with the person he loved the most. That wasn’t nearly enough time. 

“Did you sleep well?” Changbin asked. He had one arm around Seungmin’s shoulders while Seungmin used his chest as a pillow. Their hands were still intertwined.

“Mostly,” Seungmin murmured.

“Do you remember anything from last night, or was that just some sort of dream?”

“I remember.”

There was a beat of silence before Changbin asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Seungmin shook his head. He would never be able to talk to Changbin about it. Not now, not ever.

“Okay.”

“It’s not because I don’t trust you,” Seungmin said, looking up at him. 

“I know,” Changbin said. “But you’re not required to tell me everything.”

“I wish I could,” Seungmin whispered. 

“Why can’t you?”

Seungmin just shook his head and looked away. 

“I know you have a plan,” Changbin said. “And I can’t help wondering if all of…this has to do with that plan.”

Seungmin just squeezed his eyes shut. 

“But…whatever happens, I’m so glad I met you, Seungmin.” Changbin took a deep breath. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me these past few weeks. I literally never thought I could get any happier, but each day, you kept proving me wrong and…and to answer your question from last night—I’ll always remember you. Whatever happens.”

Changbin had no idea how true his words rang. 

* * * 

Seungmin spent his last day following Chaeryeong around. He only saw Hyunjin at lunch, when Hyunjin gave him a subtle look that only the two of them understood. 

Are you ready? Hyunjin seemed to be asking. 

Yes, Seungmin said, though his heart sank and his stomach twisted with fear. 

He didn’t look at Changbin at all that day. He only allowed himself to look when Changbin wasn’t looking, and to only look for a few moments. He knew if he allowed himself to look any longer that he’d never be able to look away. 

The day passed in a blur. Seungmin wasn’t required to reply as much, so he zoned out throughout most of the activities that day, his mind inevitably wandering to two things—his journey ahead of him, and Changbin. Changbin, who had no idea what was about to happen. It broke Seungmin’s heart just thinking about it. 

Then, to everyone’s surprise, one of the guests had arrived early. Seungmin didn’t think much of it, except they had to stand out on the front steps to act as a welcoming party for the guest. He had to stand next to Chaeryeong, who stood next to the queen, while Jeongin stood across from them, next to the king. Hyunjin was nowhere to be found. Changbin stood on the edge of the steps with the other guards, lining the edges on both sides like they had done when Seungmin and Hyunjin had arrived. He stared straight ahead, never glancing in Seungmin’s direction. 

Seungmin didn’t know what to expect—maybe a huge, gaudy carriage with decorated horses. He expected another visiting royal, maybe, or some pompous noble. 

He did not, however, expect the sound of thundering hooves, or the blare of trumpets, or the pounding of a drum. And not just any drum. Seungmin had never heard this type of drum in person before, but he knew what it was. It was a war drum.

The first soldiers appeared in the distance, all on horseback, leading a small company of other soldiers with them. A banner was held aloft by the first soldier in the front, depicting the crest of the Southern Kingdom. Seungmin couldn’t help frowning as the group approached the front of the castle.

All of the horses slammed to a stop, and the trumpets and the drum ceased. The only sound was the flapping of the banner in the wind and the pounding of Seungmin’s own heart, especially when a single rider dismounted. Seungmin could tell that this rider was different from the others, all based on his horse, which was a massive draft horse adorned in full battle armor. The horse shifted his weight restlessly and chomped at the bit as his rider left him there and approached the front steps. 

The rider strode forward, a determined and hardened look on his face. 

Seungmin had seen that face before. In statues. In books. In dreams.

It was Yang Hyunsuk, the conqueror. The man solely responsible for the death of so many witches and faeries. 

And here he was. Mere steps away from Seungmin. Seungmin was fairly certain that he had stopped breathing.

Hyunsuk stopped a few steps lower than the king and bowed deeply. “My king,” he said. 

“Hyunsuk. Brother,” the king greeted, surprising everyone by smiling. Hyunsuk straightened, a small smile on his face as the king stepped forward. They clasped forearms before the king clapped Hyunsuk on the shoulder. “It has been a long time.”

“It has,” Hyunsuk said. “I was busy in the northwest. But I have quelled the rebellion there long enough to attend this pivotal moment.” His eyes went to Chaeryeong, and then to Seungmin, where they stayed. Seungmin felt a bolt of pure terror shoot through him as their eyes locked. Hyunsuk’s eyes narrowed a fraction, and it took everything in Seungmin’s power not to turn and flee in that moment. 

“Ah, yes, you remember Chaeryeong,” the king said, stepping back and sweeping an arm in a gesture to Chaeryeong. 

Chaeryeong gave a little curtsy, her eyes lowered. “Uncle,” she said. 

“Hello, Chaeryeong,” Hyunsuk said without any emotion whatsoever, his eyes finally shifting from Seungmin. “You’ve grown.”

Chaeryeong didn’t say anything but kept her head lowered. 

Hyunsuk’s eyes went back to Seungmin as the king said, “And Prince Hyunjin of the North.”

Seungmin remembered to bow, though he felt like puking. “Sir.”

“Prince Hyunjin,” Hyunsuk repeated as Seungmin straightened. “You don’t look much like your father.”

“I take more after my mother,” Seungmin said. 

“I see.” Hyunsuk’s eyes darted down pointedly to Seungmin’s sling before going back up to Seungmin’s eyes. “Bit of an accident, I presume?”

“Witches,” the king said, snapping Hyunsuk’s attention to him. “Attacked during a hunting expedition. Hyunjin very nearly could have died.”

“You are fortunate to only come away with a broken arm,” Hyunsuk said to Seungmin, though his face was not so impassive anymore. Now, his eyes were practically glowing with a hungry, dangerous light. “Most find that witches are not as merciful.”

Seungmin didn’t respond to that, mostly because his voice physically wouldn’t work, but to his relief, the king gestured for Hyunsuk to follow him inside. He said something about giving Hyunsuk’s soldiers a place to rest and how they didn’t expect him until tomorrow and so on. Seungmin was vaguely aware of Chaeryeong turning away to follow the queen into the castle, but he just stood there, the blood roaring in his ears. 

He managed to glance upwards, straight across the steps, at Jeongin. Jeongin was already looking at him, his face mostly blank except for the curious tilt to his head. Seungmin quickly looked away and followed Chaeryeong into the castle. 

Seungmin didn’t see Hyunsuk until later that night, at dinner, which Seungmin was required to attend. Hyunjin made an appearance too. He sat at the king’s right, while the queen sat to the king’s left, with Chaeryeong next to her. 

And Seungmin had the absolute unfortunate experience of sitting right next to Hyunsuk. He swore Hyunsuk could hear his heart pounding out of his chest or see the tremble in his hand as he lifted his fork to his mouth. Most of the conversation stayed away from the marriage and from anything to which Seungmin had to respond.

That is, until Hyunsuk turned to Seungmin and said, “How is your father, Prince Hyunjin?”

“He is well,” Seungmin said, setting down his fork just so Hyunsuk wouldn’t see the tremble of his hand and also so he wouldn’t spill anything and make a fool out of himself in front of everyone. 

“I haven’t seen him in a very long time,” Hyunsuk said. “Not since you were just a boy.”

Seungmin couldn’t help looking up at that; out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hyunjin look up as well. “You’ve met my father, sir?”

“I have,” Hyunsuk said. “A good man. Not a valiant soldier, I’d say, but a very strong and good ruler. I do not say that about many kings.”

“He would be flattered,” Seungmin said. 

Hyunsuk hummed at that. “Though, I will never understand his policy to harbor the witches and faeries within his own borders. He must know that such creatures are not of this world. In fact, they are so full of evil and sin that they pose the greatest threat to our people as a whole.”

Hyunjin was looking at Seungmin now, whose hand had curled into a fist from where it sat on the table beside his plate. 

“Perhaps they are useful,” Seungmin decided to say. 

“Useful.” Hyunsuk’s eyebrows were set in a straight line. 

“Yes.” Seungmin forced himself to meet Hyunsuk’s gaze and hold it. “Perhaps magic isn’t something to be feared, but something to utilize. After all, the witches and faeries did save our crops through magic when the drought came several years ago.”

“Ah, so you’d argue that a wild bear is useful if when it kills men,” Hyunsuk scoffed. 

“You could argue that a wild bear isn’t evil or sinful but rather only becoming aggressive when it is threatened or attacked by something else,” Seungmin fired back. 

He saw Chaeryeong lift her eyebrows out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t dare look away from Hyunsuk. Hyunsuk just gave him a small smile that felt more dangerous than anything. 

“I see,” Hyunsuk said. “There is also a rumor that the Northern king has a witch of his own. A bastard child, said to be some sort of Chosen One that will one day prove to be a powerful being indeed. Some even call this child the Northern king’s secret weapon.”

“I know of no such child,” Seungmin said. 

“No, I suppose not.” Hyunsuk studied him before his eyes went to Hyunjin, who just stared back at him without any fear in his eyes whatsoever. Hyunsuk looked back at his plate, giving a small shrug as he picked up his goblet of wine. “I suppose they are just rumors after all.”

Seungmin didn’t reply as he turned back to his own plate. The queen began a new conversation at that point that involved Hyunsuk, while Seungmin dared to look up at Chaeryeong who sat across from him. She just stared at him with a blank, unreadable expression before looking away. Seungmin then glanced at Hyunjin. He couldn’t read Hyunjin’s expression either, though he thought he saw a trace of anger in his eyes. 

The dinner went on without Hyunsuk ever addressing Seungmin directly again. 

Afterwards, the king and Hyunsuk went to the king’s billiard room while the queen and Chaeryeong left to go to the drawing room. Seungmin dared to glance at Hyunjin, who walked over to him without hesitation. 

“Let’s go,” Hyunjin said, gesturing for Seungmin to follow him. Seungmin paused and glanced at Changbin, who was approaching him slowly, like he was afraid of interrupting. 

“One second,” Seungmin told Hyunjin, gesturing for him to wait. He turned to Changbin, who arched an eyebrow at him. 

“Still the same as we’ve done before?” Changbin asked. 

Seungmin managed to nod, though his throat tightened. “Yes.”

“Okay.” Changbin smiled. He lowered his voice to a whisper as he said, “I’ll see you later tonight, then.”

Seungmin could barely get the words out as his heart twisted painfully. “I look forward to it.”

Changbin gave him one last smile, not suspecting a thing, and then turned and walked away, going out of the dining hall with Chan, Jisung, and Jeongin. 

Seungmin felt tears burning his eyes as he quickly turned and walked with Hyunjin back to his room. 

Hyunjin waited until they were in Seungmin’s chambers with the doors shut before looking at Seungmin and asking, “Are you ready?”

Seungmin shook his head.

“You have to be,” Hyunjin said, taking a step forward. “You have to leave soon. Otherwise it’ll be too late.”

“I know, I just…” Seungmin swallowed thickly, trying to dispel the lump in his throat as his eyes continued to burn. “I don’t want to leave him.”

Hyunjin didn’t respond right away. When Seungmin looked up at him, Hyunjin’s face was somehow gentle but unsympathetic at the same time. “It’s either this or death,” he said, his voice soft. “I’m not about to lose you too, Min. Losing Jeongin was painful, but losing you is unbearable. You’re my best friend. I need to protect you. And unfortunately this is the best way.”

Seungmin forced himself to nod.

Hyunjin paused before lunging forward and pulling Seungmin into a tight hug, only to hiss and pull back, saying, “Oh, shit, your arm—”

“Healed.” Seungmin moved his arm in his sling as proof. 

Hyunjin just stared. “How…?”

“I healed it. Using the book Ryujin gave me.” When Hyunjin just looked at him, Seungmin added quietly, “It showed me spells on teleportation and invisibility and other things.”

“So you’ll be able to protect yourself when you go,” Hyunjin said. 

Seungmin nodded. 

Hyunjin sighed in relief and pulled Seungmin into a hug again. Seungmin hugged him back, closing his eyes tightly and trying not to think that this might be the last time he saw Hyunjin as well. His entire chest filled with pain as the tears finally slipped out of the corners of his eyes. From the way Hyunjin tightened his grip on Seungmin and how his body trembled, Seungmin could tell that he was beginning to cry as well. 

“This isn’t goodbye,” Hyunjin said, his voice thick with tears. “It’s not. It’s just a ‘see you later’. And I will see you later.”

“Without a doubt,” Seungmin said. He took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself.

They stood like that for several moments, neither of them willing to let go. 

It was Hyunjin who broke it. He stepped back, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin and trying so hard to look like some strong, regal figure. But his lip still trembled and tears still slipped down his cheeks. 

“You should go,” he told Seungmin. “Now is the best time. They’re all distracted from dinner.”

Seungmin nodded.

Again, they just stood there, staring at each other. And again, it was Hyunjin who was the first to pull away. He turned sharply on his heel and walked out the door without another word. 

* * * 

Seungmin, despite Hyunjin’s warnings, did not leave right away. 

He tried to. He really did. He had his bag all packed, full of nonperishable food he had swiped from the kitchen (with Felix and Minho’s help), a compass, a map, matches, two outfits (extra socks and underwear, though), a knife, some rope, a bar of soap, a cloak, and a bag of gold coins from Hyunjin. He also had his notes, his spellbook, and a crossbow with a quiver full of bolts. 

Hyunjin was the one who had gotten the crossbow, though Seungmin had no idea where he got it from. Hyunjin had said it was more for hunting but that if Seungmin had to defend himself somehow, he shouldn’t hesitate to use it. 

The last thing Seungmin packed was Changbin’s storybook. 

It was the storybook that made him pause. He ran his hand over the cover of it like he had so many times before, feeling the smooth, familiar leather. He opened it and breathed in the intoxicating, comforting smell of leather, ink, and paper. The smell brought Changbin to mind, only for Seungmin to immediately shove him out of his head. He couldn’t think of Changbin right now. He had to focus on getting out of the castle with his newfound invisibility spell. 

But he was torn. He wanted to take the book with him, to have one last thing of Changbin, but he also knew this was one of Changbin’s prized possessions. Would Changbin ever forgive him if he brought it with him?

In the end, Seungmin squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He couldn’t bring it with him. He couldn’t do that to Changbin. It would be extremely selfish of him. So he set it on the top of his dresser, his hand lingering far too long on the golden engraving. 

By that time it was several hours after sunset, an hour later than Hyunjin had told him to leave. Seungmin finally pulled his hand away and turned towards his bag, left on the floor by the balcony doors. He was supposed to tie the rope to the railing of the balcony and climb down it while invisible. 

He heard the door to his chambers open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps and clinking armor. Seungmin knew the sound, and it filled him with panic. Changbin was too early. He couldn’t be here now.

But when he turned to look at the doorway to his bedroom, he saw that it was not, in fact, Changbin. 

Instead, it was two of Hyunsuk’s men, their faces dark and full of hatred.

Seungmin took one look at them and went completely still. He wasn’t even sure if his heart was beating. 

“The king requests your presence,” one of the guards said.

Seungmin couldn’t help backing away, but one of them marched forward and grabbed him roughly by the upper arm. Seungmin let out a small cry of pain as the guard yanked him forward, pulling him out of the room and away from the storybook and the bag and the balcony. The other guard led the way, marching briskly down the hallway. Seungmin wanted to slip out of the guard’s grasp and run, but he knew that they would just catch him and bring him back, probably gagged and bound. And the guard’s grip was so tight that Seungmin could feel his skin already bruising from it, making it impossible to slip away. 

They marched him to the war room, where they threw open the doors and dragged him inside. The guard who was holding Seungmin threw him forwards, making Seungmin stumble and nearly lose his balance. He managed to steady himself, and he couldn’t help holding his bruised arm as he lifted his eyes to look at the scene in front of him. 

The king sat on his throne, staring down at Seungmin with cold, unfriendly eyes, while Hyunsuk stood at the base of it. Seungmin stared at the king, trying his best not to tremble with fear, but his eyes went to Hyunsuk when Hyunsuk took a slow step towards him. That hungry, dangerous light was back in Hyunsuk’s eyes as he looked at Seungmin. 

“Do you see it now, my king?” Hyunsuk said, his voice booming in the cavernous room. “This man is not who he says he is. He is an imposter.”

Seungmin’s insides went cold.

Before the king could speak, though, there was the slam of a door as the queen marched in, Chaeryeong and her ladies-in-waiting and her personal guard all following behind her.

“What is so important, my king, that you have interrupted our card games?” The queen demanded, coming to a pause at the top of the dais beside the king’s throne. 

“I shall explain, my queen,” Hyunsuk said, turning everyone’s attention to him—and to Seungmin, where they stood in the center of the room. “We are here because we have an imposter in our midst.”

The queen gasped, while Chaeryeong’s eyes went to Seungmin.

“We are here because we have allowed an imposter, a manipulator, and a liar to sleep and eat and live under the same roof,” Hyunsuk continued, beginning to pace in front of Seungmin. “To participate in strategizing with us, to participate in activities with us, to befriend and grow close to our own prince and princess. All the while, he has been planning to steal your thrones out from under your very noses, Your Majesties, all under the guise of the so-called Crown Prince of the North.” Hyunsuk stopped pacing to turn and look at Seungmin, turning everyone’s eyes to him as well. Hyunsuk glared at Seungmin before turning away, towards the throne again. But before he could speak, he suddenly snapped and whirled around, striking Seungmin across the face with such force that Seungmin was thrown to the floor. The sheer sound of the slap echoed sharply throughout the room, accompanied by the sudden groan of the doors to the room. 

“What is going on?” Hyunjin’s sharp voice demanded. Seungmin couldn’t even look at him from the blinding pain in his face. The metallic, copper tang of blood filled his mouth as Hyunsuk’s two guards lifted him forcefully to his feet, holding his arms behind his back. 

“Oh, Your Highness, how nice of you to join us,” Hyunsuk said, giving a mock bow to Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide as he glanced from Hyunsuk to Seungmin, who was being restrained by two guards and now had a blossoming bruise on his face and blood trickling out of his mouth. 

Jeongin stood next to Hyunjin, his face twisted with horror at the sight. As always, his three guards were behind him, but Seungmin didn’t dare look at any of them. 

“What are you doing?” Hyunjin demanded after the initial shock. “Release him.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Your Highness,” Hyunsuk said. “This man here is a liar and a threat to us all.”

“Bullshit, he didn’t do anything,” Hyunjin spat. “He’s harmless. Let him go.”

“I shall overlook your hostility on the basis that you do not know of what you speak,” Hyunsuk said. “After all, you are acting not only under duress, but under a spell as well.”

“What?” Jeongin and Seungmin said at the same time while the queen gasped yet again and Hyunjin scoffed, “That’s fucking ridiculous.”

“I was beginning to wonder why there were two of you,” Hyunsuk said, taking a step towards Hyunjin. Hyunjin just clenched his jaw and stood his ground, his eyes blazing. “And you were not considered to be a servant or a noble, but merely a close friend of the Crown Prince. No one knew who you were or where you had come from, only that you had supposedly been raised alongside the Crown Prince. But you did look familiar, while he did not.” He pointed at Seungmin. “It wasn’t difficult at all to put together that you were the true prince and that he was someone else.” He whirled around to face Seungmin and to step closer to him. Seungmin couldn’t help flinching away from him as he snarled, “Someone much more dangerous, someone whom no one really knew about, someone we had only heard rumors of.”

Hyunsuk stared at Seungmin with such pure and raw hatred for several moments, and Seungmin stared back despite his petrifying fear. 

“My king and my queen,” Hyunsuk said, whirling around to face the throne and holding out a hand to Seungmin, “I give you the rumored bastard child of the North, the so-called Chosen One, the Northern king’s secret weapon. A witch.”

There were a few startled gasps from the queen and Chaeryeong’s ladies-in-waiting, while the king rose from his throne. 

“A pure abomination,” Hyunsuk snarled. “A creature not of this world, but of some hellish underworld. And I intend to send it back to where it came from.” He lunged forward, grabbing Seungmin around the throat before anyone else could react, while the two guards holding Seungmin’s arms released him. Now the only thing holding Seungmin up was Hyunsuk’s iron grip around his throat.

There was the briefest sound of a commotion and a scuffle behind Seungmin, some more gasping and cries from the queen and the other women, and then a sharp, “STOP!”

Hyunsuk paused from tightening his grip around Seungmin’s throat, and Seungmin could just barely see Hyunjin out of the corner of his eye, standing farther from the three guards, his arm around Jeongin’s neck as he pressed the blade of a sword up to it. 

“Let him go,” Hyunjin snarled.

Seungmin stared at him in horror, but Hyunsuk just tightened his grip around Seungmin’s throat again. Seungmin’s hands flew upwards to Hyunsuk’s wrist, uselessly trying to stop him from tightening further. 

“You won’t do it,” Hyunsuk said, his voice full of mockery. 

Hyunjin dug the blade of the sword into Jeongin’s neck, drawing drops of blood and making Chan and the others tense. “Try me.”

“Stop!” The queen exclaimed. 

“Would someone get him?” The king growled. 

Chan moved towards Hyunjin, but Hyunjin jerked backwards with Jeongin, pretending to move the blade just enough to make everyone freeze. 

“Let go of my friend and I’ll let go of your prince,” Hyunjin growled. He looked like another person, with his eyes dangerously bright and his voice lower than usual. If Seungmin wasn’t already so terrified of Hyunsuk, he would be terrified of Hyunjin. “Or else I’ll slit his throat and redecorate the place. I think spilling some royal blood is fitting for all of the blood you’ve spilled, huh, Hyunsuk?”

“You kill him and you’ve only damned yourself and your so-called friend,” Hyunsuk said. “He is merely manipulating you under his spell.”

“Clearly you know nothing about magic,” Hyunjin scoffed. 

“Uncle,” Jeongin whispered, his eyes wide and terrified. “Please.”

Hyunsuk wavered at that, the only sign that there was still a man in there. Hyunjin just glared at him from behind Jeongin, the tension in the room growing thicker and thicker as the seconds ticked by. Seungmin was beginning to feel light-headed as Hyunsuk’s grip remained as solid and as tight as ever, and he glanced at Hyunjin, trying to convey so many things in a single look. 

Then, Hyunsuk released Seungmin, and Seungmin sank to the floor, sucking in a deep breath before coughing. 

“Now,” Hyunsuk growled to Hyunjin, “release him.”

Hyunjin just stared at him before his eyes went to Seungmin. He mouthed something to him, something that looked suspiciously like, Spell.

Seungmin knew immediately what he was talking about. 

Hyunsuk took a step towards Hyunjin, who tensed but then gave Hyunsuk a flirty smile. 

“Nah,” Hyunjin said right before Seungmin lunged forward, grabbed onto both him and Jeongin, and teleported. 

* * * 

In all honesty, Seungmin really hadn’t practiced teleporting before, so he really wasn’t sure how effective it would be. He could only hope that everyone went to the same place and that that place wasn’t two feet away from where they used to be and that all body parts remained intact. 

Somehow, by a pure stroke of luck, all three of them came along to a place that was outside of the castle, and all of their limbs and body parts came along with them. 

They appeared in a cave, the same one Changbin had taken Seungmin to all those weeks ago. Seungmin stumbled when they appeared, suddenly disoriented and exhausted and struggling to breathe. He let go of both of them and went staggering forwards, falling onto his hands and knees as he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes tightly to keep the world from spinning. 

He heard something fall to the sand before there was a pair of hands on him. He stiffened, immediately thinking of the guards, but these hands were much gentler. One settled at the back of his neck and began to rub comfortingly while the other gripped his shoulder.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Hyunjin’s voice said, back to normal. It no longer sounded aggressive or like it belonged to another person. 

Seungmin just nodded, his eyes still squeezed shut. The moment he stopped feeling nauseous, though, his eyes flew open and he straightened up and smacked Hyunjin across the face. 

Hyunjin fell backwards, surprise playing out across his face as he lifted a hand to hold his cheek. “What was that for?” 

“That’s for being a fucking idiot!” Seungmin exclaimed. He picked up a handful of sand and threw it at him. Hyunjin jumped. “I told you not to defend me if I got caught! I told you to just let me take the fucking fall! Not to fucking grab a sword and threaten to kill the other Crown Prince in front of the whole castle!”

“I reacted, okay!” Hyunjin shot back, picking up his own handful of sand and flinging it at him. “You’re welcome, by the way! I just saved your life!”

“Fuck you!” Seungmin said. 

“Well, fuck you too!” Hyunjin kicked him in the leg. The two of them glared at each other for several moments before a smile tugged at Hyunjin’s lips. He struggled to suppress it and keep his glare intact, but the longer he stared at Seungmin, the harder it was to hold his smile back. 

When Hyunjin burst into laughter, Seungmin just groaned and rolled his eyes. 

“That was fucking terrifying!” Hyunjin wheezed. “I just threatened someone!”

“Yeah, congrats.” Seungmin rolled his eyes again as he stood up, brushed the sand off his clothes, and turned to find himself face-to-face with Jeongin. 

Seungmin froze, quite honestly haven forgotten that Jeongin was there in the first place. Jeongin just stared back at him, completely rigid, his eyes wide and terrified and full with tears. His neck was still bleeding from the smallest of cuts, and Seungmin’s eyes were transfixed on the dried blood. He never thought Hyunjin of all people would have been capable of doing that to a person he had once loved. And how he had looked so convincing…

Hyunjin fell silent and stood. Jeongin’s eyes went to him, and he seemed to shrink into himself as Hyunjin took a step forwards. 

“Jeongin,” Hyunjin said softly, his face void of any kind of hostility. “It’s okay.”

“You cut me,” Jeongin whimpered, bringing a hand up to his throat. 

“I know,” Hyunjin said, holding his hands out and speaking like he was trying to calm a frightened animal. “I know, and I am so sorry. I just…had to make it look a little believable.”

“You were going to kill me,” Jeongin said.

Hyunjin shook his head. “No. No, I wasn’t, I swear.”

Jeongin didn’t look convinced at all, but he glanced at Seungmin, still looking terrified. “So you really are?” he said in a small voice. “A witch?”

Seungmin grimaced and stared down at his hands. “Yes.”

“And you cursed him.” Jeongin pointed at Hyunjin. “You cursed him to control him?”

“Okay, for a moment, Jeongin, just think about if Seungmin of all people would really want to mind-control me and blackmail me to get the throne or this marriage.” Hyunjin gave Jeongin a look. “Just…really think about it. Do you honestly think this kid would willingly want to sit through all these wedding preparations and outings and bickering? Or do you think he’d just want to sit in his room reading all day?”

Jeongin hesitated at that, his eyes darting to Seungmin. 

“It was supposed to be a joke,” Hyunjin said. “I didn’t want to marry Chaeryeong so Seungmin and I switched places so Seungmin could act so offensive and repulsive that Chaeryeong would call the wedding off.”

“But clearly that didn’t work.” Seungmin sighed and reached up to rub at his throat. He winced when he felt the sensitive area and turned away from the others when his eyes filled with tears. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder before Hyunjin said, “Where did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” Seungmin said. 

“Min, he just tried to strangle you. You are not fine.” 

“And you’re bleeding,” Jeongin said quietly. He reached up to gesture to his own face. 

Seungmin lifted a hand to his bruised cheekbone and winced when he touched broken skin. 

“You should sit down,” Hyunjin said, but it was more of a command than anything. “It’s been a long, stressful day. You just need to rest.”

Seungmin sighed but obeyed, sitting down heavily into the sand. “What are we going to do, Jin,” he whispered, hating how broken and small his voice sounded as he stared straight ahead at the mouth of the cave.

Hyunjin sighed as he sat down next to him. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry I got caught,” Seungmin said. 

“You didn’t leave when I told you to, did you.” Hyunjin was staring down at the sand. Out of the corner of his eye, Seungmin saw Jeongin sit down on the sand a few feet away from Hyunjin. 

“No,” Seungmin admitted. 

“Why not.”

“I lost track of time.”

Hyunjin didn’t say anything, but he looked up to stare at Seungmin for several moments. Seungmin managed to look back at him and was surprised to see how regal Hyunjin looked. He was turning more and more into a ruler every single day. 

Then Hyunjin said, “Just get some sleep. We’re probably not going to get some for awhile if Hyunsuk of all people is leading the witch-hunt for us.”

“For me,” Seungmin said quietly. 

“For us,” Hyunjin repeated. He flopped back onto the sand. “Sleep, Seungmin. Or else I’ll knock you out and force you to sleep that way.”

Seungmin rolled his eyes again but lay down next to Hyunjin anyways. 

Despite Hyunjin’s orders, though, sleep did not come easily. 

* * * 

In less than twenty-four hours, Hyunsuk had completely turned the castle upside down. Specifically, he had turned Seungmin’s chambers upside down. 

One of Hyunsuk’s men had come looking for Changbin, and Changbin had no choice but to go with him. He led him to Seungmin’s old rooms, which looked like a hurricane had ripped through it. Hyunsuk’s men had torn it apart looking for anything that might lead them to his current whereabouts. They had even slashed holes in the furniture and in the wallpaper, hunting for any kind of hiding place for Seungmin’s evil plans to steal the throne.

The guard stopped right outside the bedroom, where Hyunsuk was standing by the balcony doors, flipping through notes. Seungmin’s notes, Changbin realized, with a sick feeling in his stomach. The notes taken all on witch-hunts. Not exactly a good sign. 

“Seo Changbin, I presume?” Hyunsuk said without looking up. 

“Yes, sir,” Changbin said.

“I’ve been informed that you were once a personal guard to Prince Jeongin, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And then you were reassigned as a guard to the so-called Prince Hyunjin.”

“Yes, sir.” Changbin swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“Who is actually not a prince whatsoever but an evil witch.” Hyunsuk finally looked up from the notes and stared Changbin right in the eye. “Seungmin.”

Changbin didn’t want to respond, but he forced himself to say through gritted teeth, “Yes, sir.”

Hyunsuk stared him down for several moments, during which Changbin tried not to squirm and tried not to imagine how satisfying it would be to break Hyunsuk’s nose. How satisfying it would be to feel the crunch under his fist.

“I’ve also been informed that the two of you spent lots of time together,” Hyunsuk said. He held up Seungmin’s notes. “Care to explain these?”

“After he broke his arm, he asked me to write notes for him, sir,” Changbin replied. “I wasn’t allowed to ask him why he was researching these things. I never knew he wasn’t who he said he was.”

And he also never thought for a moment that Seungmin would be a witch himself, but, unfortunately, it made sense. Though, he didn’t believe for a moment that Seungmin was some evil creature who had cursed and blackmailed Hyunjin. Seungmin would never do such a thing. 

“Mm.” Hyunsuk tossed the notes aside, onto the top of the dresser, where Changbin’s precious storybook sat. The sight of it made Changbin sick to his stomach with several conflicting emotions, all too complex for him to comprehend right now. “I find it interesting, however, that he also wrote down the most effective ways to kill witches.”

Changbin shifted his weight uncomfortably as Hyunsuk continued to read over the notes.

“Do you know the most effective way to kill a witch?” Hyunsuk glanced up at him. 

“By burning them alive, sir,” Changbin said. He had had to attend an accused witch’s burning before. The smell had been so horrendous that Changbin still remembered it to this day. 

The screaming had been even more sickening.

“Yes, but some witches have the capability to control the fire, so burning one is not completely effective. No, cutting out its heart is the most effective way to ensure that it never rises again,” Hyunsuk said. “A witch can survive long enough after having its head severed to cast a healing spell. Slitting its throat is the same way. However, the moment you rip the heart out of it, it loses all its magical and healing capability.”

Changbin was beginning to feel severely sick to his stomach. 

“I have sent many witches back to the hellhole they crawled out of,” Hyunsuk continued. “Some I have burned, but most I have cut the hearts out of.”

Changbin at this point wouldn’t be surprised if Hyunsuk kept each heart in a container as trophies to decorate his walls. 

The thought of Seungmin’s heart being the next to join them almost made him lose his iron grip on his emotions altogether.

“You’ve been a guard for several years, have you not?” Hyunsuk said. 

“That is correct, sir,” Changbin said, his voice hoarse.

“And your father was a guard.”

Changbin’s throat tightened. “Yes, sir.”

“Did he teach you well?”

“I’d like to say so, sir.”

“Your record has been spotless up until now,” Hyunsuk said. “But now both your prince and the imposter you were supposed to protect have vanished. Not only that, but you also had no clue whatsoever that the imposter was, in fact, an imposter.”

Changbin just looked him right in the eye and didn’t speak. 

Hyunsuk glared back at him, as if giving him a chance to condemn Seungmin, but Changbin never took it. He’d rather die than betray Seungmin. 

“The king has given me the power and authority to lead this search for the prince and the witch,” Hyunsuk said. “You have failed at your duties as a guard. Therefore I am suspending you until further notice. You are dismissed.” He turned back to the room, leaving Changbin to just stand there. 

When Changbin didn’t react quickly enough, Hyunsuk’s guard stepped forward, possibly trying to forcibly remove Changbin from the scene. Changbin wanted to take his storybook with him, knowing that Hyunsuk would probably destroy it, but he couldn’t. So, clenching his jaw, he turned and walked out of the room. 

* * * 

“They’re going to come looking for us,” Hyunjin said. “And the beach is going to be the first place they’ll look.”

“No,” Seungmin said, pacing in front of him and rubbing his temples. “No, they’re going to look in the forest first.”

“But the beach will be right after that,” Hyunjin scoffed. “We need to figure out what to do before then.”

“No shit.” Seungmin shot him a look before continuing to pace. 

Hyunjin scowled at him. “My father is supposed to arrive today. He’ll help us.”

“Your father can’t help us without starting a war in the process,” Seungmin said. “He’s a guest of the country and there’s already tension from him harboring witches and faeries over the past few years. Not to mention the rumored secret weapon. He can’t help us without incriminating himself in the process. And you incriminated yourself too when you didn’t let me take the fall for you!”

“You didn’t leave when I told you to,” Hyunjin shot back. 

Seungmin groaned. “Touché.” He started pacing again. 

“So…?” Hyunjin prompted. “Any ideas?”

“You know, you could come up with an idea of your own once in awhile,” Seungmin retorted.

“I did—I came up with the escape plan that you so lovingly ignored.”

“And he came up with the idea to take me hostage,” Jeongin piped up from where he sat criss-cross next to Hyunjin. Apparently being taken hostage and hiding from a bloodthirsty murderer was enough to fix the problems between Jeongin and Hyunjin, since the two of them were back to being as thick as thieves and as touchy as always, especially when they didn’t think Seungmin noticed. Jeongin must have realized that there were much bigger problems than being mad at Hyunjin for lying about his identity. 

“The escape plan could still work,” Hyunjin said. “You could still run away and get to the North.”

“But now we have to figure out how to clear your name too.” Seungmin shot him a look. 

“Running away won’t work,” Jeongin said. “Uncle Hyunsuk will just come after you. He’ll only give up and rest when you’re dead.”

“Thanks, Jeongin,” Seungmin muttered, continuing to pace. 

“Didn’t you hear me?” Jeongin said. “He won’t rest until you’re dead. So the obvious way to stop him from coming after you is to make it look like you’re dead.”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Hyunjin asked. “It’s not like we can bring Seungmin’s dead body with us. They’ll want to make sure he’s dead for good and stab him and then really kill him.”

“Mm.” Jeongin thought to himself. “And you can’t exactly bring a fake, severed head, either.”

“Don’t they usually burn witches at the stake?” Hyunjin asked. “Imagine that, bringing a box full of fake ashes like, oh yeah we just casually burned my friend alive without you noticing, here you go.” He rolled his eyes.

Seungmin stopped pacing as an idea occurred to him. 

“What,” Hyunjin said, noticing the look on Seungmin’s face. 

“I know how we can fake my death,” Seungmin said. “And we might be able to fix things with you two, too.”

Hyunjin just arched an eyebrow at him. 

* * * 

Things were steadily turning from bad to worse within the castle. Hyunsuk assigned his men everywhere. Changbin couldn’t walk down the hall without encountering at least four of them, either by them glaring at him as he walked by or moving to block his path, claiming that he didn’t have permission to go that way anymore. 

Fine, Changbin thought. Hyunsuk could turn the castle into a military compound. That was fine. 

But he drew a line when Hyunsuk came for the rest of the Northerners.  

Changbin was now only allowed to stay in the servants’ quarters and to go nowhere else. He decided to keep Felix and Minho company and to hopefully pry a bit more information about Seungmin being some so-called Chosen One or secret weapon out of them. 

Felix and Minho, however, were not their usual, cheery selves. And Changbin didn’t blame them. They looked terrified, always jumping at the slightest sound, always lowering their voices and glancing around, like Hyunsuk himself was coming for them. Changbin wished he could do something for them, but in a way, Hyunsuk had been right. Changbin couldn’t even protect Seungmin or Jeongin—how the hell was he supposed to protect anyone else?

He was sitting at the table in the kitchen, across from Minho, who was mending something of Hyunjin’s. Changbin was amazed that he could even thread the needle, since his hands were trembling so much that he nearly stabbed himself with the needle several times. Felix was at the sink, washing dishes, when he froze, his eyes going to the doorway behind Changbin.

Minho looked up and went completely rigid. 

Changbin turned to see Chan and Jisung standing in the doorway, dressed in their armor, with a handful of Hyunsuk’s men behind them. Chan’s jaw was clenched, but his eyes were sad and sympathetic. 

There wasn’t anything Changbin could do. Chan and Jisung had their orders, and if Changbin tried to stop them, then he would be thrown in a cell along with all the other Northerners. And he couldn’t help anyone from a cell. 

So he just stood there, completely helpless, as Hyunsuk’s men dispersed to find the rest of the Northern Kingdom staff. Chan took Felix by the upper arm, his eyes lowered, and Felix just gave Changbin a wide-eyed, terrified look when he was led away. 

Jisung, on the other hand, whispered to Minho, his eyes full of tears, “I’m sorry.”

Minho just gave him a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Soon the kitchen was empty except for Changbin. The dishes were still in the sink, sunk in the soapy water. The mending was still on the table. 

Changbin had never felt so useless in his life. 

* * * 

The sun had just sunk below the horizon when Hyunjin and Jeongin walked up to the front steps of the castle. Jeongin was practically shaking with fear next to Hyunjin, and Hyunjin reached for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before quickly letting go. 

The guards—not the usual guards, but instead those from Hyunsuk’s company—stopped them before they could even put one foot on the first step. Unsurprisingly, they yanked Hyunjin roughly away from Jeongin, even pointing a crossbow in his face and demanding his name and intentions. 

Hyunjin took a deep breath and said with confidence, “I am Prince Hyunjin of the Northern Kingdom. I am here to speak to the king of the Southern Kingdom.”

“What is that in your hand?” the guard growled, gesturing towards the small chest he clutched like it was going to disappear. 

“A gift for the king,” Hyunjin said, his voice breaking near the end. 

The guard snatched it away from him, opened it, and blinked at the contents. He looked up at Hyunjin, then back at the chest. Finally, he shut it, handed it back to Hyunjin, and said, “This way.”

It was as if Hyunjin blinked and suddenly they were back in the the war room which they had been in only twenty-four hours prior. More of Hyunsuk’s guards lined the walls, intermixed with the palace guards, while the king sat upon his throne. The queen stood next to him and gasped when she saw Jeongin. Chaeryeong just stared blankly from where she stood next to her mother. 

Hyunsuk stood at the bottom of the dais, and he glared at Hyunjin when he and Jeongin were led into the room. 

“I should have you thrown in a cell with the rest of your staff,” Hyunsuk scoffed when Hyunjin stopped in front of him. 

Hyunjin regarded him with a cold stare, but the king lifted a hand and said, “Brother. Let us hear what he has to say.”

Hyunsuk backed down, but he still glared at Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin looked at the king and bowed deeply. “Your Majesty. I stand before you not as the person whom I was mere hours ago, but instead as who I truly am—someone who has at last broken free of a curse.”

Hyunsuk’s eyes narrowed.

Hyunjin held out the small chest, his hands trembling. “A gift for His Majesty.”

Hyunsuk snatched the chest away from him and opened it. His face went completely blank just like the other guards had.

“What is it,” the king demanded. 

Hyunsuk looked back at Hyunjin before reaching into the chest and pulling out a heart, still drenched in blood. He held it up, and the queen gasped once again while the king went pale. 

“Proof,” Hyunjin said, his eyes on Hyunsuk. “Proof that we have broken the curse that the witch had cast upon me so many years ago.”

“Is that a heart?” the queen asked, her voice somewhat shrill. “A real heart?”

“No, my queen, it is not just any heart,” Hyunsuk said, still holding the heart in the air and letting the blood drip down the sides of his hands and onto the marble floor. “It is the heart of a witch.”

Hyunjin swallowed thickly before glancing at Jeongin out of the corner of his eye. Jeongin glanced back at him, his face just as tense as Hyunjin’s. They both looked back at Hyunsuk and the king.

Hyunsuk turned sharply to look at Hyunjin, flinging some of the blood onto Hyunjin. “Witches are not easy to kill. How did you accomplish such a thing? While under a curse?”

“We tricked him,” Hyunjin said. “I could not have done it without Prince Jeongin.”

Hyunsuk looked at Jeongin like he was seeing him for the first time. He stepped forward and gripped Jeongin’s shoulder, and Jeongin wavered like he was trying not to recoil, especially as the blood soaked into the fabric on his shoulder. “You, my boy, have done an incredible thing. You have saved your kingdom by dispelling a great threat. You will make a fine king and warrior one day.”

Jeongin just managed to nod, his face paling considerably. Eventually Hyunsuk stepped away, still waving the heart around like it was some trophy. He said something to the king about how difficult it was to kill witches, blah, blah, blah. Hyunjin tuned him out as he looked back at Jeongin, who looked back at him. Despite the situation, both of them gave the smallest of smiles to each other.

The plan worked.

* * * 

Changbin decided, after a less than a day of being suspended and less than a day without Seungmin, that he was going to take matters into his own hands. He couldn’t just sit here in his cupboard-like room all day. No, Seungmin was still out there, probably terrified and alone. Changbin had to find him. He had to get Seungmin to safety, as far away from Hyunsuk as possible. He wouldn’t rest until he was sure that Seungmin was safe. 

If he couldn’t save anyone else, he had to at least save Seungmin. 

As he was packing his bag, there was a knock at his door. Changbin froze, thinking it was Hyunsuk or one of his guards here to take him away. But he forced himself to say, “Come in.”

It as not Hyunsuk or one of his guards. It was Chan, and he looked more exhausted than usual. 

“Hey,” he said to Changbin softly. 

“Hey,” Changbin said, still guarded. “Are you here to arrest me?”

Chan shook his head, his eyes falling to the floor. 

“Good. Shut the door,” Changbin said, already in motion once again to continue packing his bag. 

“What are you doing?” Chan asked, frowning. 

“Leaving,” Changbin said. “I got suspended.”

“I heard. But where are you going?” 

Changbin paused and looked up to meet Chan’s tired, sad gaze. “Can I trust you?”

“Yes,” Chan said. “None of us wanted to do what we were ordered to do, Bin. We had no choice.”

“So if they decide to interrogate you, you’ll have no choice but to tell the truth and tell them where I’m going.”

Chan shook his head. “I won’t. I’ll lie. But…before you go, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Later,” Changbin said. He looked back at his bag. “I have to go. Seungmin doesn’t have that long before Hyunsuk goes out looking for him. I have to get to him first.”

“Changbin—”

“I know what you’re going to say,” Changbin interrupted. “I know that you’re going to say that this is just Seungmin manipulating me or cursing me or whatever but he isn’t the person Hyunsuk is making him out to be, okay? He’s nothing like that and he would never do anything like that.”

“I know,” Chan tried to say. “But Changbin—”

“What?” Changbin demanded. 

Chan just stared at him with a heartbroken expression. “Hyunjin and Jeongin are back.”

Changbin frowned. “They let them come back?”

“They said they escaped,” Chan said. 

“Escaped? Escaped what?”

“Escaped from Seungmin.”

Changbin frowned at him. “I’m not following.”

Chan took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “They…they said they did what they needed to do to break the curse Seungmin had put on Hyunjin.”

Changbin was back to feeling sick to his stomach.

“They said they tricked him and they…they killed him.”

“No,” Changbin said, shaking his head. “No. They would never do that. Hyunjin is Seungmin’s best friend. They grew up together. They’re lying.”

“They’re not,” Chan said. “They…they cut out his heart and brought it to the king. I saw it. He’s gone, Changbin.”

“No,” Changbin whispered. “No, I don’t—I don’t believe you—they wouldn’t do that…” 

Chan was watching him with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Changbin. But it’s true.”

Changbin just shook his head as he backed up several steps, the blood roaring in his ears. He kept backing up until he hit the small nightstand in between the two beds but didn’t even register the slight pain or the noise. Everything was drowned out by the sudden white noise in his ears and the shortness of his breath and the nausea that was crawling up his throat and the pain in his chest, more painful than any injury he had ever experienced in his life.

Chan was saying his name, but Changbin wasn’t hearing him. All he could think of was Seungmin. 

Seungmin. Sweet, gentle Seungmin. Seungmin with his warm eyes and soft skin and softer smiles and touches, reserved only for Changbin. Seungmin with his fiery passion and his sharp tongue and his curious nature. 

Seungmin, who was afraid of storms and sleeping alone. Who for all of his fears was still one of the bravest people Changbin knew. 

Seungmin, who was so smart and so stubborn, who would willingly put himself in danger for the sake of knowledge or for those he loved. 

Seungmin, who had made Changbin feel a little bit braver every day. 

Seungmin, whom Changbin had loved so dearly, and who had loved Changbin in return. 

Seungmin, who was now dead, whom the world would never know or love like Changbin did. 

Changbin didn’t remember sinking to the floor. All of a sudden he was just there and Chan was crouching beside him, gripping him by the shoulder and staring at him with concerned eyes. 

“How could they…” Changbin whispered, his voice cracking. The room was blurring. His face was wet. When did he start crying? “How could they, Chan…”

Chan didn’t say anything as he pulled Changbin into a hug. 

* * *

“But…whatever happens, I’m so glad I met you, Seungmin.”

“I’ll always remember you. Whatever happens.”

* * *

Changbin knew he wasn’t thinking clearly and that he was not in the right state of mind. But he didn’t care. Everything just hurt so much to the point where he couldn’t feel anything anymore. 

He decided he couldn’t stay at the castle any longer. He couldn’t be a guard anymore. He couldn’t possibly serve a king and a prince who had betrayed someone so cruelly. It didn’t even have to do with the fact that he had failed so horribly as a guard. It was just that he was too brokenhearted and disillusioned to stay in this way of life any longer. 

So he packed what few belongings he had and left without telling anyone. 

However, there was one thing he couldn’t bear to leave without, and unfortunately that one possession was in the most heavily guarded place in the castle. 

But if Changbin had learned anything from Seungmin, it was that sometimes he had to stop worrying and to just act. 

And that was how Changbin was scaling the side of the castle and climbing onto the balcony in the middle of the night. For once, he was grateful that he had forgotten to tell the king about the faulty balcony doors, because now it was easy for Changbin to open them from the outside and slip inside. 

The room was just as trashed as he had last seen it. There were no guards in the set of chambers, though. They were all outside, making sure no one tried to go in. 

Changbin went right to the dresser, where he had last seen the storybook. He couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was still there. He reached out and ran his hand over the cover of it, feeling the familiar, smooth leather cover. He knew he should grab it and leave right now, but he couldn’t help opening it and flipping through the pages. There were little pieces of loose-leaf paper stuck within the pages, marking favorite chapters in a familiar, messy scrawl. Changbin paused, his fingers brushing the inked letters, like they could still connect him to the person who had written them. He couldn’t help snorting when he saw what Seungmin had written—he had taken the liberty of taking apart and analyzing each story, piece by piece, in order to determine what, exactly, made it so effective or not. 

Typical Seungmin. 

Changbin’s heart ached so painfully that fresh tears appeared in his eyes, but he forced himself to keep flipping. 

The book fell open to the story of the Merchant Prince. All Seungmin had written on his notes for this was—Changbin can write a much better story.

Once again, Changbin’s heart was aching. He moved to close the book, only to pause when he saw the small scribbles at the bottom of the note:

Alternate story ending: the Merchant Prince didn’t successfully kill the witch. Cutting out the heart did not, in fact, work, because the heart was under a spell of its own. The princess instead killed the prince, took the heart, and put it back where it belonged. Then the witch was alive again because the heart was full of love for the princess, and love is more powerful than any magic. They lived happily ever after. The end.

Changbin never thought Seungmin could write something so sappy. 

But something about that struck him. 

What if…what if Seungmin wasn’t dead?

What if he had merely faked his death and sent Changbin a message at the same time?

What if he was out there right now, waiting for Changbin to come find him?

Changbin’s heart leapt at the idea, filling with so much hope that it hurt just as much as anything else. 

He heard the floorboards creak and reacted. He whirled around and drew his sword, clashing blades with another. The sound rang loudly in the silence of the room. 

“I had my suspicions about you,” Hyunsuk said, narrowing his eyes as he held his sword against Changbin’s. “I suspected that you weren’t telling me everything, and now I see that I was right.”

Changbin was no longer afraid of him. No, now, he was just angry. Angry and so full of hatred at the man who had really taken Seungmin away from him. “Your witch is dead,” Changbin scoffed. “Why are you still lurking in his room?”

“I know a witch’s heart when I see one,” Hyunsuk said, taking a step forward and sliding the edge of his blade along Changbin’s blade. It created a terrible screeching noise that made Changbin’s toes curl, but otherwise he stood his ground. “That heart, though very convincing at a glance, was not a witch’s heart. It was a day-old sheep’s heart from the local butcher. A fake. A trick.”

Changbin couldn’t help smirking. “And yet you still fell for it.”

Hyunsuk drew back and struck his blade against Changbin’s, nearly knocking it out of his hand. “I will find that witch,” he snarled. “And I’ll slaughter every man who stands in my way. Starting with you.”

“You can try,” Changbin said, feeling stupidly confident from his anger and hatred and his discovery that Seungmin was alive. 

Seungmin was alive, Seungmin was alive—

But not for long if Hyunsuk had anything to say about it. 

This, Changbin realized, was his chance. He was going to protect Seungmin till his dying breath. 

Changbin rarely made the first move in sword-fights, but now he lunged forward. Hyunsuk deflected his blow and returned it with enough power and force that probably should have made Changbin afraid for his life. But Changbin didn’t feel any fear—he only felt anger and hatred and hope as he fought back with everything he had.

He knew right away that there was no way he could win this fight. He was horribly outmatched. Hyunsuk was a war veteran who had years of experience under his belt. Changbin was some hotheaded guard who really should have picked up his sword more often. Not to mention how Hyunsuk was wearing full body armor and Changbin was wearing his favorite tunic. 

When Hyunsuk slashed a thin slice on Changbin’s shoulder, Changbin saw the glint in his eye. He was just toying with Changbin. He wasn’t even trying. Worse, he was enjoying this.

“Your father taught you, did he not?” Hyunsuk said, sidestepping and parrying Changbin’s attack with ease. “No wonder you are so weak.”

Changbin knew he was baiting him, trying to rile him up so his performance would turn even sloppier. And of course it was working. 

Hyunsuk cut Changbin on the arm again before smoothly stepping out of the way. Changbin clenched his jaw from the sting of it. “Really, it’s pathetic. But you are not to blame. You had a terrible teacher.”

“Don’t talk about my father,” Changbin snarled, slashing at him. Hyunsuk raised his sword, their blades clashing. He flicked Changbin’s blade away and stabbed him swiftly in between his shoulder and his chest.

“I suppose there’s not much to talk about,” Hyunsuk continued. “A coward. A deserter. He ran from everything. From a fight. From his king. From his duty. From his wife and child.”

Changbin told himself to ignore him, but the words cut deeper than any sword could. 

“He had a mistress, you know,” Hyunsuk said. “A faerie bitch. Had her for many years, even before your mother died. And then the moment the faerie became pregnant, he deserted her too.”

Changbin faltered for a split second, and that was all Hyunsuk needed to cut a slash in his side. Changbin staggered backwards.

“Then they said he died protecting the king.” Hyunsuk gave a sharp laugh. “No, he died running away. Trampled to death in a riot. It was what he deserved.”

Changbin gave one last fruitless attempt to hit Hyunsuk in one of the chinks of his armor. Hyunsuk sidestepped, knocked Changbin’s sword out of his hand, and sank his sword up to the hilt in Changbin’s gut. 

Changbin couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. He just stood there, choking on his own pain in horror as Hyunsuk pulled the sword out in one swift move and let him fall to the floor. He loomed over him, holding up a sword glistening with blood. 

“And this is more than you deserve,” Hyunsuk said, his face completely void of any sympathy or horror at all. It was just impassive as he looked down at Changbin, coughing up blood and bleeding out on the floor. “Though, I suppose I am a merciful killer and will end your suffering.” He lifted his sword to plunge it into Changbin’s heart. 

Something crashed into the back of Hyunsuk’s head. Hyunsuk crumpled to the floor, and there, standing where Hyunsuk used to be, was none other than the most beautiful person Changbin had ever seen in his life. 

Seungmin. 

* * *

The plan had worked. Hyunjin and Jeongin had cleared their names and gotten Hyunsuk off of Seungmin’s back. Seungmin was now free to flee to the North. 

Except…he couldn’t. Not without his things. Not without his spellbook, which he had so carelessly left in his room. He had to get it.

He had done two spells at once—first he cloaked himself in invisibility, then teleported to his bedroom in the middle of the night. He had arrived just in time to find someone else already in his room. 

Seungmin quickly backtracked, pressing a hand over his mouth to smother his breathing as he took in the sight before him. 

It was Changbin, staring down at Seungmin’s notes in storybook. Seungmin had forgotten that they were there, but now, seeing Changbin reading them…it filled his heart with warmth and a bit of panic, thinking that Changbin might truly hate him for being a witch. 

But he saw Changbin’s face. He saw the look of sadness in his eyes before his eyes slowly filled with hope. And in that moment, Seungmin knew he couldn’t have lost Changbin so easily. 

He wanted to cry and run towards him and throw his arms around him and kiss him, but then a shadow moved out of the corner of Seungmin’s eye, and Seungmin was back to feeling so petrified with fear that he couldn’t move.

The fight had happened so quickly. Seungmin knew right away that there was no way Changbin could win. Hyunsuk’s skill was far superior. He was going to kill him, right in front of Seungmin’s eyes. 

Seungmin had to do something. 

He should have just killed Hyunsuk right then. Instead, he took a cowardly way out and grabbed a vase and smashed it over Hyunsuk’s head, right after Hyunsuk had landed a fatal blow. Hyunsuk fell to the side, and Seungmin promptly forgot about him as he dashed to Changbin’s side, already sobbing. 

“Changbin. Changbin,” he was saying. “It’s me, I’m here—”

“Seungmin,” Changbin forced out, his face completely twisted with pain. 

Seungmin crawled forward and took Changbin’s face gently in his hands. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, I should have—”

Changbin’s eyes went to something behind Seungmin. His face flashed with fear right before Seungmin felt a hand in his hair. Suddenly he was being yanked backwards  by his hair, the pain so excruciating that he cried out. 

“Oh, look,” Hyunsuk’s voice snarled. “You came right to me.”

Seungmin didn’t even have time to comprehend anything, because a moment later, Hyunsuk grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him through the glass of the balcony doors. The sound of shattering glass was deafening but the pain was so much worse. Points all throughout Seungmin’s body exploded in sharp pain, especially on the side of his face as he hit the rough stone of the balcony floor. He couldn’t move, couldn’t even process what was happening as a pair of armored feet strode towards him, the glass crunching underneath. 

A hand twisted in his hair, in the same place as before, and Seungmin’s scalp screamed in pain as he felt his head being lifted a few inches off the surface and then slammed back down again. This time the pain was so blinding that he lost vision in his right eye. 

Hyunsuk was saying something, but Seungmin didn’t hear him as he desperately reached for any sort of magic within himself. He frantically thought of any sort of spell he could think of, anything that would help him right now, but all his mind went to was a teleportation spell. And that wasn’t possible unless Hyunsuk let go of him long enough for him to teleport. 

Thunder rumbled overhead, snapping Seungmin somewhat out of his daze as Hyunsuk lifted his head again to slam back onto the stone. Seungmin twisted in his grasp, and Hyunsuk finally let go of his hair. Seungmin tried to teleport, but he wasn’t fast enough in thinking of the spell. A moment later, he lost his chance as Hyunsuk grabbed him by the throat again and lifted him to his feet. 

Seungmin was vaguely aware of his feet dangling above the floor and of Hyunsuk holding him over to the edge of the balcony. 

“I should cut out your heart myself,” Hyunsuk snarled as he held Seungmin over the edge, about three stories above the ground. Seungmin scratched uselessly at Hyunsuk’s hand around his neck, but Hyunsuk just tightened his grip, and Seungmin’s vision was starting to go completely black. 

Lightning flashed, the air practically humming with electricity. A small, fleeting idea entered Seungmin’s head, and it was all he could think of as he latched onto Hyunsuk’s wrist. 

“I don’t have a heart,” Seungmin forced out. The magic was already pulsing through his veins. “I gave it away.”

Hyunsuk just snarled at him, but then Seungmin converted enough magic into electricity and zapped Hyunsuk. It wasn’t supposed to kill him, but it was enough to catch Hyunsuk by surprise and release Seungmin for a few seconds. 

Seungmin felt himself free-fall for a split second before he teleported and appeared behind Hyunsuk by the balcony doors. Hyunsuk whirled around as Seungmin stumbled. Seungmin realized in that moment that he wasn’t going to be fast enough to cast a spell and that’s all he could think of as Hyunsuk started to lunge towards him. 

A crossbow bolt flew threw the air and lodged itself right in Hyunsuk’s throat. Hyunsuk stopped, his eyes widening with pain and shock as blood started gushing from the wound. He made some sort of gurgling noise as he looked through the broken doors. Seungmin briefly glanced that way and saw Changbin barely propping himself up, the crossbow from Seungmin’s pack in hand, a look of pure hatred and determination on his face. Seungmin looked back at Hyunsuk, who looked back at him. As Hyunsuk tried to lunge forward, though, Seungmin put all of his remaining energy into creating a spell within a split second. He slammed his fist down onto the floor of the balcony, and the storm above responded. A bolt of lightning struck the floor right in front of him, shattering the stone. The last Seungmin saw of Hyunsuk was a flash of pure surprise and fear as the floor disappeared out from under him. 

Seungmin was too exhausted to even comprehend that the floor was disappearing out from under his feet too. Suddenly he was falling, and all he could think of was an end to the pain. He hoped he’d die on impact.

He felt something latch onto his wrist right before he was yanked to a stop. His right arm exploded with pain as a sickening pop rang through the air. Seungmin cried out, but he wasn’t falling anymore. A strong hand and arm pulled him up and over the edge again. And once he was safely back over the edge, he and Changbin collapsed.

Seungmin’s entire body screamed with pain, and his heart and lungs burned with overexertion from the spells, but he forced himself to crawl forward just a few more inches to where Changbin lay. Even though he tried not to look at Changbin’s wounds, he did anyways, and felt his stomach and heart sink. 

“Hey,” Changbin said weakly, lifting a bloodied hand to cup the side of Seungmin’s face.

“You’re bleeding,” Seungmin said stupidly. “You’re bleeding and it’s all my fault and—”

“Shh, shh, it’s not that bad,” Changbin said. “Tis but a scratch.”

“Don’t joke,” Seungmin said, but he didn’t have the heart to sound angry. 

“You’re hurt too,” Changbin said, his fingers lightly brushing a throbbing bump right above Seungmin’s eyebrow. The area was so sensitive that Seungmin flinched away when Changbin touched it. 

“I can heal you,” Seungmin said. “I can heal you I just…” He lifted his hand and placed it on Changbin’s chest, right above the wound in his stomach. Seungmin reached for the magic in his veins, but nothing responded. Frantically, he reached again, only to feel a painful burn everywhere. He had no magic left. 

A strangled, frustrated noise came out of him.

“Seungmin,” Changbin said. 

“No, it has to work,” Seungmin said, trying again. This time the burn was enough to snatch his breath away for a few moments. “It has to—I can’t—I can’t lose you—”

A sob cut him off, and Changbin pulled Seungmin’s head down so he could rest his forehead on his chest. Seungmin’s entire body was shaking with sobs as he said, “Why won’t it work?”

“It’s okay,” Changbin said, his hands threading gently through Seungmin’s hair. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Seungmin whimpered. “You’re going to die—”

“You’ll remember me, right?”

Seungmin lifted his head to stare at him. “How could I forget you?”

“Just making sure.” Changbin gave him a small smile as he ran a thumb over Seungmin’s cheek, and, despite the pain, Seungmin leaned into his touch. “I’m just glad I got to see you again, even if it wasn’t for long.”

“Changbin—”

“I love you.”

Seungmin choked back another sob as he whispered, “I love you, too.”

Changbin smiled at him, even as a single tear slipped out of the corner of his eye. Seungmin stared down at him for several moments, trying to memorize his face. By the way Changbin stared up at him, he was trying to do the same thing. 

Another sob ripped itself from Seungmin’s body right before he leaned forward and kissed Changbin one last time, and this time, it felt like a spark passed between their lips. Changbin kissed him back, his grip tightening ever so slightly on Seungmin’s hair, like he was holding on for dear life. Even though his scalp throbbed with pain, Seungmin let him hold on while he held both sides of Changbin’s face in his hands. He knew he should pull back, to let Changbin breathe one last time, but he didn’t. Instead he just kissed him and kissed him, waiting for the moment when Changbin wouldn’t be able to kiss him anymore. 

He just kept waiting. And waiting. 

But Changbin kept kissing him back, seeming to grow stronger and not weaker like Seungmin had thought. Seungmin figured it was just time finally slowing down, finally giving him that moment he had asked for, the moment that included just the two of them and lasted forever. He stopped thinking about the pain in his hair or in his face or throughout the rest of his body. He only focused on how good it felt to kiss the love of his life, even if it might be for the last time. 

Suddenly Changbin pulled back, and Seungmin knew that their time had run out. But Changbin didn’t look like he was dying; rather, his eyes were sparkling again and his cheeks were back to that familiar glow, and he was staring up at Seungmin in wonder. 

“Seungmin,” he said.

“I’m here,” Seungmin whispered. 

“No, Seungmin, your face.” Changbin moved his hand to brush the side of Seungmin’s face again. Seungmin expected to feel pain, but none came. He felt nothing but warmth from Changbin’s fingers. “It’s healed.”

“What?” Seungmin put a hand to his face, expecting to feel the bump and the cut and the pieces of glass lodged into it, but he just felt smooth skin. His eyes darted to Changbin’s, both of them realizing something at the same time. 

They both looked down at Changbin’s stomach, which had once been soaked through with fresh blood from a gaping wound. His clothes were still bloody, but as Seungmin ran a hand over his stomach, he found that the skin was completely healed, with not so much as a scar left behind. 

Seungmin’s jaw dropped before he quickly looked back at Changbin, who was beginning to grin. 

“We’re dead, aren’t we,” Seungmin said. “That’s what this is.”

“No, you idiot,” Changbin said, laughing. He pushed himself up so he was nose-to-nose with Seungmin. “It worked. That magic—it worked!”

“What magic?” Seungmin asked. “I don’t have any magic left, that’s why I couldn’t—”

“No, not that magic.” Changbin rolled his eyes. “I mean the one thing you said was stronger than any kind of magic whatsoever.”

Seungmin frowned. “Fear?”

Changbin groaned before leaning forward, grabbing Seungmin’s face, and kissing him. Seungmin made a noise of surprise but kissed him back, his heart pulsing with happiness. 

“Figured it out yet?” Changbin asked in between kissing him. 

“Don’t make me say it,” Seungmin groaned. “That’s so sappy.”

“You’re a sucker for sappy stuff.”

“Am not!”

“Don’t lie—I saw the notes you wrote for the worst story ever written.” Changbin pulled back just for a few moments, still grinning. 

Seungmin turned bright red. “I remember writing no such thing.”

“Uh huh.” Changbin smiled at him. 

“The only kind of sappy love I’ll tolerate is ours,” Seungmin said. 

“Oh my god, that was so sappy right there.”

“Was not!”

“Was too.”

“Was—you know what, come here.” 

Changbin just laughed as Seungmin grabbed his face and kissed him. And Seungmin couldn’t help grinning as he kissed him and kissed him. He was feeling lighter and lighter the longer they kissed—which eventually stopped being so giggly and turned somewhat more passionate and serious—and he thought maybe, just maybe, things would turn out alright. 

* * *

The king of the North arrived that very night, just in time to discover the Southern Kingdom in disarray. Someone had staged a breakout of all of the Northern servants who had been wrongfully imprisoned by Hyunsuk and his men. And by someone, they meant the two Crown Princes of their respective nations, Prince Hyunjin and Prince Jeongin. However, they were accompanied by a handful of guards loyal to the Southern Crown and, surprisingly, by Princess Chaeryeong and all of her ladies-in-waiting. 

It had resulted in a very tense stand-off on the front steps of the castle, where the king of the North refused to let Hyunsuk’s guards take his servants and son back to their cells. Eventually the king of the South was brought on the scene. After both his son and his daughter (and practically all of their personal guard) sided with the Northerners, the king of the South decided to let them all go and talk this out “like proper men.”

Things were still tense for several hours, but finally, the king of the North and the king of the South reached an agreement. After all, they were here for a wedding between their two nations, not for a war. 

At that point, multiple things happened at the same time. First, Seungmin and Changbin appeared before the two kings, much to everyone’s horror, since, despite the fact that all of their wounds were healed, they still were covered in blood and looked like they had been through hell and back. Second, Hyunsuk’s body had been found, and Seungmin had immediately been accused. Third, everyone came to Seungmin’s defense. 

Changbin. Hyunjin. Jeongin. Chan, Jisung, Brian. Felix and Minho. The king and queen of the North. Yeji. All of them defended Seungmin without hesitation.

But the single voice who mattered the most was Chaeryeong. She explained, with the entire room’s attention held captive, how Seungmin was a victim in this situation and not the perpetrator. That Hyunsuk had always been too extreme with his methods and that he had jumped at any opportunity to condemn someone as a witch. That Seungmin, despite lying about his identity the entire time, was still the same person and that he had never done anything to hurt anyone ever. 

Seungmin and the rest of the room had just stared at her in total shock. Well, that is, except for Lia, who just smiled at her proudly with so much love and adoration in her eyes that it almost put Changbin to shame.

Eventually, the king of the South was persuaded, and he released Seungmin from any suspicion. 

Meanwhile the king of the North was just confused as to all of this had happened and demanded an explanation from both his son and his best friend. He claimed the cryptic letter his son had sent him was not good enough. Hyunjin and Seungmin exchanged glances before explaining the entire story, from beginning to end. No one dared interrupt them, though Seungmin did keep some parts to himself. Like Ryujin and his magic and details concerning Changbin. 

When they were finished, the king of the North just looked at the king of the South. 

“I believe a rearrangement is in order, then,” the king of the North said. 

“I will still marry Princess Chaeryeong for the benefit of both of our kingdoms,” Hyunjin said. 

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” the king of the South said, lifting a hand and making everyone stare at him. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “That marriage will never work, I’m afraid. It’s not worth it. We’ll just call it off.”

Everyone had just stared at him. That is, except for Hyunjin and Jeongin, who looked at each other with such relief and hope and happiness that it did not go unnoticed. 

“Perhaps there is another union we can make, however,” the king of the North said, smirking in amusement at the two of them. “One that will still benefit both of our kingdoms?”

The king of the South frowned as he looked at Hyunjin and Jeongin as well, who noticed that everyone was now looking at the two of them. “Jeongin?” the king of the South asked. “Is there something you’d like to share as well?”

Jeongin looked at him with wide eyes, but then Hyunjin reached out and squeezed his hand. Jeongin jumped in surprise, obviously nervous about such a display of affection in front of everyone. But when Hyunjin just smiled at him like he was the only thing in the world, Jeongin visibly relaxed. 

“Yes, Father,” Jeongin said, still looking at Hyunjin. “With your blessing, I…I’d like to marry Prince Hyunjin of the Northern Kingdom.”

The king of the North smiled. The king of the South just sighed and said, “Oh, alright.”

“Really?” Jeongin looked surprised. 

“We have a wedding scheduled for tomorrow. Might as well just carry on with it so things won’t go to waste.” The king of the South shrugged. 

Jeongin let out a gasp of disbelief before a smile stretched across his face. He turned to Hyunjin, practically bursting with happiness and excitement. Hyunjin just grinned back and pulled him into a hug before pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

Everyone gasped at that, and Jeongin jerked backwards, his eyes going wide with horror. 

“What,” Hyunjin said when he just stared at him. “Not in front of everyone?”

“You just kissed me,” Jeongin said.

“Not technically a full kiss, but yes.” Hyunjin smiled. 

“And you…you remember me? You know who I am?”

Hyunjin just snorted and took Jeongin’s face in his hands. “Yes, Jeongin. I know you’re my true love, and I’ll remember that forever and ever. And I’ll prove it to you.”

Then he kissed Jeongin. On the lips. In front of the entire court. 

A series of gasps flittered across the room, though Seungmin saw Lia grinning from ear to ear while smacking Chaeryeong’s arm.

But everyone was back to holding their breath again as Hyunjin pulled back. Jeongin was completely stiff, his face so full of fear but so much hope at the same time. 

And Hyunjin just smiled at him before saying, “Hi, Jeonginnie.”

Jeongin’s eyes filled with tears. “Hi, Hyunjinnie,” he whispered. 

Hyunjin grinned, and the room exploded into cheers. Even the king of the South was smiling as Jeongin threw his arms around Hyunjin and hugged him like he was going to disappear. 

Seungmin was smiling at the two of them, but he felt someone’s eyes on him. He looked to his right and saw Changbin looking at him. When their eyes met, both of them smiled. Seungmin thought it was fitting, that while everyone was smiling at Hyunjin and Jeongin, he was looking in the other direction, at the love of his life. 

Nothing had ever felt so right.

* * * 

Seungmin stood alone at the edge of the cliffs, his arms crossed. He was watching the sunset and enjoying the warm, gentle wind that, for once, wasn’t trying to knock him over. Instead, it just drifted along, only disrupting Seungmin’s hair and making him wonder why he had even bothered brushing in the first place. 

He sensed more than heard someone approach, and he smiled when he felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind. 

“Is this your new hiding spot?” Changbin asked, tucking his chin over Seungmin’s shoulder. “Kind of out in the open, don’t you think?”

“I’m not hiding,” Seungmin retorted. “If I were hiding, you wouldn’t be able to find me.”

“Oh, so you were just waiting for me to find you, is that it?” Changbin smirked. 

“Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

Changbin just grinned. Seungmin smiled anyways and tilted his head to one side to rest it on top of Changbin’s. 

“You left right as the party was getting started,” Changbin said. 

“You know I hate parties. I fully plan to avoid every single party for the next decade of my life.”

“That’s okay, I’ll bring you all the good food and booze.” Changbin finally released him and stepped to the side. He wasn’t wearing his armor anymore, but instead wore a red jacket with gold buttons and white accents. It did wonders against is dark hair and glowing skin. He really had no idea how good he looked in red, and there was no way in hell Seungmin was going to tell him. Though, Seungmin supposed he was going to have to get used to seeing Changbin wearing things other than his armor and blue cape. 

Changbin caught him staring and smiled. “You look beautiful, by the way. Did Hyunjin pick that out for you?”

“No, I picked it out myself,” Seungmin said, looking down at his navy blue jacket with delicate, silver stitching on the hem, collar, and down the front of it. The design reminded Seungmin of vines or waves, depending on the way he looked at it. Seungmin had always liked blue, and he had picked it not only because of the color but also because it was simple and still fancy enough for a wedding. 

“It’s lovely,” Changbin said. “You’re lovely.”

“Are you trying to fluster me?” 

A shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Is it working?”

Seungmin was blushing, but he looked straight ahead again as he lied, “No.”

Changbin laughed, which just made Seungmin blush harder. A moment later, he felt Changbin’s arm brush up against his as Changbin laced their fingers together. 

“So,” Changbin said. “You don’t have to worry about weddings or evil witch hunters or even hiding anymore, so what’s next?”

“I’m going home,” Seungmin said.

“Are you worried about how the kingdom will react to you?”

“No. Though, I suppose being called ‘Prince Seungmin’ is going to bother me for a long time. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.” Seungmin was still coming to the realization that he as officially adopted into the Northern royal family, courtesy of the king of the North, who decided it would be best to catch everyone off-guard with that announcement tonight. Way to take away the spotlight from Hyunjin and Jeongin.

“I can tell you for sure I’m going to be using it to death.” Changbin grinned. “Prince Seungmin. His Highness, Prince Seungmin. Your Highness. My prince.”

“What was that?” Seungmin arched an eyebrow at him, smirking. 

“My prince,” Changbin said, grinning back shamelessly. “My prince who I’ll follow and protect till the end of time. Or, until he gets annoyed with me and tells me to leave him alone. Particularly before dinner after a day spent socializing. He gets very hangry around that time.”

Seungmin snorted and shoved him playfully, but Changbin just dragged him with him by pulling on their intertwined hands. “And what will you do, Changbin?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Changbin shrugged. “I might travel a bit. I heard the mountains in the North are just breathtaking this time of year. Though, I’m afraid I might get lost.” He smirked. “Know anyone who might be able to show me around?”

“I do, but his costs are very high.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to meet them.”

Seungmin smiled at him. “I hear he’s been looking for a good storyteller for quite some time. And also someone who gives good hugs. Very high standards.”

“It’s like this job was made for me.” Changbin grinned at him and tugged Seungmin a bit closer. “You think he’ll hire me?”

“I’ll put in a good word,” Seungmin said, his smile stretching into a grin right before his lips met Changbin’s. Changbin reached up with his free hand to cup the side of Seungmin’s face, gently rubbing his thumb over the smooth skin and guiding his head to the side in order to kiss him better. Seungmin continued to just smile, his heart filling with so much happiness and love that he thought it was going to burst. Changbin smiled too, and Seungmin knew he felt the exact same way. 

When they finally pulled back, Changbin arched an eyebrow and said, “So, do you want to go back in, or…?”

“Oh, god, no.” Seungmin made a face. 

“Really? Because this is a huge day for the Southern Kingdom. First same-sex marriage ever. And a second one on the way!”

“It’s still a party.”

“Ooh, I’ve got an idea, then.” Changbin continued to arch his eyebrow as his smile turned somewhat more suggestive. “What do you say we, uh, go back to your room and slip into something more comfortable…?”

“And read one of your stories?” Seungmin raised his eyebrows hopefully.

Changbin’s face broke into a grin. “You read my mind.”

“And lots of cuddles, right?”

“All the cuddles in the world.”

“But a few kisses here and there, right?”

“Anything you want, my prince.” Changbin smiled and offered Seungmin his arm. 

“You just love that new nickname, don’t you.” Seungmin gave him a disapproving frown that wasn’t serious whatsoever as he took Changbin’s arm and let Changbin lead him back towards the castle. 

“Hey, you don’t have to be the only one with a nickname,” Changbin said. They automatically walked with their sides pressed together, even though Seungmin was holding onto Changbin’s arm. “You can come up for one for me too.”

“Okay, shithead.”

“Alrighty then.”

Seungmin laughed and bumped Changbin’s shoulder with his own. “Kidding. My love.”

Changbin turned bright red. “Disgusting,” he said, looking straight ahead.

“Just like you, my love.” Seungmin grinned from ear to ear. 

“Wouldn’t you rather something like, ‘my bold and courageous guard’ or ‘my protector’ or something?”

“Nope.” 

Changbin looked at him and smiled. “Yeah, me either.”

Seungmin smiled back at him. His heart practically sang with joy as he walked, arm-in-arm, back to the castle with Changbin. Tomorrow they would set out for the North, and Seungmin would finally be able to show Changbin his home and everything he had missed from it. And Changbin would stay with him, as his protector and his lover, till the end of time. 

It was something to smile about, because now Seungmin had proof that happy endings existed in real life, too.

And so,

They lived happily ever after,

The end.