Chapter Text
He was in the practice room when the pain began.
Yeonjun had stayed behind the rest of the dance club, intent on practicing even though the other club members had insisted that his performance was flawless. Yeonjun got like that sometimes, stuck in his own head to the point that he wouldn’t listen to anybody else, fixated only on himself and his flaws. People found that laser-focused dedication unnerving, believing him to be intimidating and unapproachable. He supposed that was why he didn’t have many friends—that and the fact that he had no memories before the age of thirteen.
His adoptive parents said that he was just found one day, wandering aimlessly on the side of the road. When they asked him where he came from and who he was, he had just stared at them blankly. All he had remembered was his name: Yeonjun. A boy with no past.
So it was only fitting that he was alone when the pain started. Yeonjun was watching himself dance in the mirror, feeling frustrated over a nearly imperceptible mistake that he couldn’t seem to fix when all of the sudden it felt like his skull was splitting open. Grabbing his head, Yeonjun dropped to his knees, screaming as the pain grew worse. What the hell was happening? Every single nerve was on fire, and he could feel his heartbeat throbbing behind his eyes. His whimpers turned into sobbing gasps as he felt something begin to break through the skin, two hard nubs beneath his hands. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Yeonjun dared to look up at the mirror. The last thing he saw before he fainted was a pair of horns sprouting from his head.
Soobin was sitting at his desk when he felt a shock like a lightning bolt go through him. The crown prince jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over his chair in his haste to call his closest advisor. “Taehyun!” he yelled, and the blonde-haired boy was quick to rush in. “I felt something! I felt him! Can you see him?”
Taehyun, the boy with the ability to see across multiple planes of existence. He removed his eyepatch, revealing a black orb with a star-like pupil, which flickered rapidly as Taehyun peered into different realities. “Yes, your highness. He’s located the reality known as Earth. It seems his gift has finally appeared.”
“Call Beomgyu and Kai. We’re going to get him.” Soobin yanked open one of the desk drawers, grabbing the small dagger that he kept there just in case. He didn’t expect that they would encounter any trouble going to retrieve Yeonjun, but he wanted to be prepared just in case. Yeonjun, his bonded soulmate who had gone missing without a trace eight years ago. Soobin had finally found him.
“You called, your highness?” Beomgyu, the boy who grew spikes laced with a deadly poison from his shoulders, entered the room. Behind him stood Prince Huening Kai, the boy blessed with the ability to fly.
“Beomgyu, I need you to come with me to Earth. I think I’ve finally found Yeonjun.”
“Are you sure, hyung?” Kai asked his older brother. “You remember what happened last time…”
“No, Hyuka. This time I’m sure. I felt him,” Soobin insisted.
“Your highness,” Taehyun said, and Soobin turned to look at him. “Be careful. I’ll be watching over you from here, and Prince Huening Kai will be on standby in case you need to escape quickly.”
Soobin nodded in acknowledgement before reaching out his hand, opening a portal to another world. He slipped through, Beomgyu following closely behind him.
The first thing he saw was a yellow-haired boy on the ground, blood pooling around his head where two horns had sprouted. “Yeonjun,” Soobin choked out, overwhelmed with worry and longing for the boy he had not seen for years—his soulmate. He rushed over to Yeonjun, pulling him into his lap and cradling the older boy in his arms. Yeonjun’s head lolled limply as he blinked open his eyes, unfocused and glazed over in pain.
“W-who are you?” he whispered, barely conscious and unable to think.
“Shh, love, don’t speak.” Soobin stroked Yeonjun’s hair, ignoring the way it was crusted with blood. “We’re taking you home.”
Yeonjun woke up slowly, feeling like he had been hit by a truck not only once but twice. His head pounded with a sharp ache, and his mouth felt dry and gritty like sandpaper. He recalled a strange dream, one where he had grown a pair of horns and been carried away by a boy with long, pointed ears.
“You’re finally awake,” someone said, and Yeonjun turned to see a boy with large, feathered wings sitting by his bedside.
“What the hell?” he barely suppressed a scream.
“Soobin-hyung is going to be sooo mad,” the boy ignored him. “He’s barely left your side all day, and the one time he was called away on important business, you decide to wake up.”
“Who are you? Where am I?” Yeonjun managed to get out before collapsing into a coughing fit. God, his throat was so dry.
“Wait, you really don’t remember me?” the boy questioned, handing him what looked like a golden goblet filled with water.
Yeonjun grabbed it from him, too busy gulping the water down before he realized he had been asked a question. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. “No, I’ve never seen you before in my life. I certainly would have remembered those wings.”
The boy frowned. “Well, I didn’t have them yet before you disappeared. But I’m surprised you don’t remember me—you spent nearly every day with hyung and me.” He turned toward the door. “Taehyun!”
“Yes, Prince Huening Kai?” Another boy that Yeonjun assumed was Taehyun entered the room, his near platinum-blonde hair contrasting with his all-black outfit. Yeonjun’s eyes were immediately drawn to the eyepatch he wore over his left eye.
“Can you see what’s wrong with him?” the boy with wings, who was apparently Prince Huening Kai, asked Taehyun. The blonde-haired boy nodded in response and lifted his eyepatch, revealing a pitch-black eye with a white, star-shaped pupil.
“What’s wrong with your eye?” Yeonjun blurted without thinking.
Taehyun raised an eyebrow before turning back to Huening Kai. “There’s nothing wrong with him that I can see, except maybe his social skills.” Yeonjun flushed. “But his memories are blocked, perhaps by a curse. He doesn’t remember anything before arriving on Earth.”
Huening Kai frowned. “Well, that’s not good. I better go get Soobin.” He stood up, suddenly climbing out the window and jumping. Yeonjun was about to shout when he heard the snap of wings spreading as Huening Kai took flight. Yeonjun gaped at the place Huening Kai had once been, not used to seeing an actual person with the ability to fly.
Turning back to Taehyun, he noticed the other had replaced his eyepatch and was staring at him with an unreadable expression. “Can you please explain what the hell is going on?” Yeonjun demanded.
“You are currently in Arcadia, the universe that exists parallel to Earth. You are Choi Yeonjun, the lost prince who went missing eight years ago. And most importantly, you are the bonded soulmate and betrothed of our crown prince, His Highness Choi Soobin,” Taehyun stated.
“Sorry, I’m the what?” Yeonjun sputtered, but he was interrupted by the doors banging open and the boy with the long ears from his dream striding into the room. Huening Kai and a boy with long spikes growing from his shoulders followed behind him.
“Yeonjun-hyung! You’re finally awake!” the boy with the pointed ears said, and Yeonjun briefly noted the golden crown resting atop his striking blue hair. He figured this must be Prince Soobin. The prince crossed the room quickly and knelt by Yeonjun’s bedside. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”
“My head, it’s killing me-” Yeonjun reached up and froze when he touched something protruding from his head. Right, if this really wasn’t a dream that meant that he… he had horns now. “Oh my god,” Yeonjun began to hyperventilate, on the brink of a panic attack as he suddenly began to process what was happening. “I-I’m a monster!”
“Don’t say that!” Soobin said fiercely, grabbing Yeonjun’s hand from where he was gripping his hair. “You’re not a monster, you’re blessed! These horns are a gift from the Northern Star, they make you who you are!”
Yeonjun’s eyes darted frantically around the room, taking in Taehyun with the strange eye, the boy with the thorns on his shoulder, and Huening Kai with the feathered wings before finally landing on Soobin and his ridiculously long ears. “Make me who I am?” he laughed hysterically. “You mean, a freak like you?”
Soobin’s face looked stricken, and Yeonjun would have regretted his words if he wasn’t currently having a mental breakdown. “Get out!” Yeonjun yelled, feeling tears prick the corners of his eyes. “All of you! Get out!”
“Yeonjun, I-” Soobin stammered, but Huening Kai put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.
“Hyung, let’s go. He needs to be alone right now.”
Soobin got up, glancing at Yeonjun one last time before leaving the room, the others following behind him. Yeonjun curled up into himself, waiting until he heard the door click shut softly before beginning to cry.
“I-I don’t understand,” Soobin’s hands shook as he processed what just happened. That was not the happy-go-lucky boy he had known as a child, who always brought Soobin candies with a mischievous smile on his face and wiped Kai’s tears away whenever he fell. Yeonjun had looked into his eyes and almost seemed like… a stranger.
“I tried to tell you, hyung,” Kai said gently, his hand still on Soobin’s shoulder. “He doesn’t remember anything. He didn’t recognize me either.”
Soobin sniffled, fighting back tears as he glanced at the other two boys standing by his side. He hated looking weak in front of his followers, but this was Beomgyu and Taehyun, his closest friends. They had all grown up together, and as his personal guard and advisor, Beomgyu and Taehyun had seen Soobin in much worse states than this.
“Taehyun,” Soobin said weakly, “what happened to him?”
Taehyun sighed. “There’s been some sort of curse placed on him, blocking his memories. He doesn’t remember anything before arriving on Earth. It’s all he’s ever known. That’s why he’s acting like this.”
“That doesn’t give him a right to treat Soobin like that!” Beomgyu suddenly spoke up, furious. “I swear if he weren’t the prince’s soulmate, I would have driven my spikes through him right then and there!”
Soobin ignored Beomgyu, choosing to focus on Taehyun’s words instead. “Then he doesn’t remember the promise we made together? Under the Northern Star?”
Taehyun shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. It seems like he won’t unless the curse is removed.”
Soobin exhaled slowly, trying to calm down as he settled back into his role as crown prince. “Then our next order of business is to remove the curse. Taehyun, I’m entrusting that to you. Please find a way to help Yeonjun.” With that, he turned on his heel and strode away.
“Wait, hyung!” Kai called out, but Soobin was already walking away with Beomgyu following closely behind. He turned back to Taehyun, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, Taehyun-ah. You know how he gets when he’s set his mind on something.”
Taehyun gave a small smile in return. “You don’t have to apologize, your highness, I understand. He desperately wants things to go back to the way they used to be. I do too. So I will do my best to break the curse, for all of us.”
Turning away, Taehyun headed toward the library and prepared for a long night of research.
Beomgyu was still fuming as he followed Soobin, always a step behind the prince. As his sworn protector, Beomgyu guarded Soobin day and night, which meant that he had witnessed first-hand how Soobin had agonized over his missing soulmate. For Yeonjun to have treated the prince like that—well, that was unacceptable. But not unforgivable.
Deep down in his own heart, Beomgyu had also missed Yeonjun dearly. As one of the only royal servants who was common-born and not from a noble family, Beomgyu had been shunned by the others when he first arrived at the palace. It was Yeonjun who had noticed him and taken Beomgyu under his wing.
“I like your spirit,” Yeonjun had said to him, eyes warm. “You know how to fight. You’ve earned your place here.”
Beomgyu was originally supposed to be Yeonjun’s personal guard. He had been in the process of training before Yeonjun had disappeared. When the prince suddenly went missing, he felt like he had lost his life’s purpose. There was only one other person who could understand his grief, what it was like to lose your most precious person: Prince Soobin.
When his gift had appeared at the age of thirteen in the form of deadly spikes growing from his shoulder, Beomgyu knew what his purpose was. To protect Soobin and to find Yeonjun, no matter where in time and space they were located.
But he wasn’t expecting Yeonjun to be such an asshole when they found him. For a moment, he even regretted allowing Soobin to walk through that portal. There was no need to cause him more pain. Soobin had suffered enough the last time he had opened a portal, too hasty to find Yeonjun to realize the danger he was walking into. Beomgyu had never forgiven himself for allowing Soobin to come to harm.
“I can’t believe he spoke to you like that, your highness!” Beomgyu raged as they continued down the hallway.
“It’s alright, Beomgyu. There’s no need to be so angry,” Soobin responded, although he stared ahead as if in a daze.
“It’s not alright! The Yeonjun we knew would never speak to you like that.”
“You’re right. But maybe he’s not the Yeonjun we knew anymore,” Soobin said sadly, looking down at his right wrist where his soulmate mark was. A small star, inked permanently into his skin. A symbol of the promise he and Yeonjun had made together under the Northern Star, vowing to love and protect each other for all of eternity. Now Yeonjun had forgotten it, leaving Soobin clinging to an empty promise like a child.
“That fool,” Beomgyu muttered, watching Soobin stroke his soulmate mark. But his features softened and he fell silent, falling into step behind Soobin like always.
Yeonjun dreamed of a garden. He was running across the grass, not caring about his freshly polished shoes or the white robes that he wore. Grabbing the branch of a nearby tree, he swung himself up and perched there like a cat, peering down at a young boy standing by the trunk.
“Hyung! Come down from there!” the boy called, and Yeonjun squinted as he looked at the boy’s face. His features were blurry, a memory he couldn’t recall, but something about him made Yeonjun feel comfortable, safe. “I’m afraid you’ll fall!”
Yeonjun grinned, leaning forward even further and teetering precariously over the edge of the branch. “Aw,” he cooed, “are you worried about me, S-----?” Static in his mind where a name should be.
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” the boy said, his blurry features casting the shadow of a frown.
“Don’t worry,” Yeonjun responded. “I’m not afraid. I know you’ll always catch me if I fall.” Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and took the plunge.
Yeonjun’s eyes flew open at the sound of knocking on the door. He shook his head, clearing his mind of a dream that had felt almost like a memory. It was like a name on the tip of his tongue, so familiar but one that he was unable to recall.
He tensed as the doorknob turned, not prepared to see Soobin yet. He felt awful for what he had said—he really did—and he knew he needed to apologize soon, but he still wasn’t ready. He was scared and confused, and the other boy seemed so desperate for Yeonjun to be… something. Something that Yeonjun couldn’t seem to remember and didn’t know how to live up to. So when the door opened and Huening Kai stepped in, Yeonjun couldn’t help but feel relieved.
“Hi, Yeonjun-hyung,” Huening Kai said warily. His wings were folded against his back, nearly invisible from the front, and Yeonjun could almost pretend that Huening Kai was a normal human being. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Yeonjun responded, “now that my head doesn’t feel like it’s about to split open.”
Huening Kai nodded. “Right. The growing pains are always the worst. Although typically our gifts appear at thirteen and take years to grow in, not suddenly sprout all at once like yours…”
Yeonjun shifted uncomfortably, still not ready to talk about his horns. “So… Prince Huening Kai, right? Can you tell me more about this place? Arcadia?”
Huening Kai seemed to brighten at the question, delighted that Yeonjun was willing to engage with him. “Oh, please call me Kai or Hyuka! There’s no need for formalities. After all, you’re a prince too.”
“Right… Taehyun said something like that,” Yeonjun purposefully decided to ignore the part being Soobin’s bonded soulmate and betrothed. His mind caught on the name that Taehyun had called him. “Wait, if I’m a Choi does that mean Soobin and I are already-?”
“No, no!” Kai laughed. “You’re not related. You were adopted into the Choi family at a young age, so you took their last name. But you were like a real brother to me.”
“What about you? If you’re related to Soobin, why don’t you carry the Choi name?”
“In Arcadia, the children take the last name of their mothers. Soobin and I have the same father but different mothers, so he’s part of the Choi clan and I’m part of the Huening clan. But since he’s older, he’ll inherit the kingdom. As will you, as his bonded soulmate.”
“So that…” Yeonjun swallowed. “What exactly does that mean?”
“A soulmate bond is very special. It’s not just any bond—you and Soobin-hyung made a promise underneath the Northern Star and became linked in both body and soul. You swore to protect each other and remain by each other’s sides across both time and space,” Kai said, his eyes sparkling. “It’s all very romantic. The universe didn’t choose you to be a pair, you chose each other. The star mark on your right wrist symbolizes your soul bond.”
Yeonjun looked down at the mark on his wrist. He had always thought it was just a strange birthmark, but now looking more closely, it did appear to be the image of a small star. He released a long exhale. “Wow… I must have really loved him to commit to something like that.” He was beginning to feel quite awful for lashing out at Soobin earlier.
“Same with hyung. He hasn’t rested a moment since you disappeared, searching for you in almost every reality for the past eight years.” Kai suddenly became solemn. “It almost put him in grave danger, the last time. A group of entities found a way to emulate the call of the soul bond, and Soobin rushed to another reality alone, believing you were in danger. They wanted to capture him and harness his ability to open doorways to other worlds. We almost didn’t make it in time.”
Yeonjun felt sick to his stomach. It was clear that he meant a lot to Soobin, and Yeonjun had repaid him by rejecting him and calling him a freak. “I-I didn’t know…”
“You’ve been missing for eight years and lost all your memories. You’re not expected to know,” Kai replied sympathetically. “But you should apologize to Soobin-hyung the next time you see him. I’m sure he’ll be coming around soon.” He turned, about to leave the room before Yeonjun stopped him.
“Hyuka,” Yeonjun said. “Thank you.”
Kai smiled at the nickname. “Of course, hyung. I’m glad you’re back.”
Soobin hesitated by Yeonjun’s door, biting his lip. He had been sent here after Taehyun finally became exasperated with the prince hovering over his shoulder, constantly asking him for updates on the curse and whether it could be broken.
“Stop bothering me, and go see Prince Yeonjun. I know you can barely stay away,” the younger boy had said, not taking his one visible eye off the ancient scrolls and tomes scattered across the table.
So here Soobin was, standing in front of Yeonjun’s room and feeling more nervous than when he was giving an important speech to his father’s court. He sighed, raising his hand and knocking.
“Come in!” Yeonjun called. Soobin slowly turned the doorknob and entered. The older boy was sitting in bed, looking out the window at the royal gardens in full bloom. The flowers were just beginning to blossom after a long winter, filling the palace with color again. He turned toward Soobin, smiling, and Soobin’s heart caught in his throat. Yeonjun had grown into a devastating beauty, with feline-like eyes and full lips. His horns curved gracefully above his head, and the yellow strands of his hair shone brilliantly in the sunlight.
“Hyung,” he choked out, almost too emotional to speak. Suddenly, he was twelve again, standing in front of thirteen-year-old Yeonjun and asking him to play.
“Hyung, please come outside with Hyuka and me! The weather is so nice today,” Soobin had begged. “I miss you.”
Yeonjun smiled apologetically. “I wish I could, Soobinnie. But your father says I have to remain inside, in case my gift appears soon.” Yeonjun had become secretive and elusive the past few weeks, going from pestering Soobin and Kai nearly everyday to virtually nonexistent. Soobin hated it, missing his recently bonded soulmate and wanting to be by Yeonjun’s side.
“But why?” Soobin whined, trying not to act as childish as he felt. “Nothing is going to happen.”
Yeonjun shook his head, a faraway look in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, Soobin-ah. Go enjoy the nice weather for me.” He turned back toward the window, looking out across the gardens once again. That was the last time Soobin had seen him.
Until now.
“Hi, Soobin,” Yeonjun said, pulling Soobin out of his memories. He cleared his throat, eyes darting around the room nervously before focusing back on the prince. “Um, I wanted to apologize. For what I said earlier. It was uncalled for, and you didn’t deserve that.”
Soobin smiled, his chest warming at the apology. “I understand. You were overwhelmed and scared. But thank you for apologizing.” He slid into the seat by Yeonjun’s bed, the two of them staring at each other for a second. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he worried that he would overwhelm Yeonjun again. The last thing he wanted was for the older boy to push him away again.
“Um, is that your natural hair color? I’ve never seen a blue that brilliant,” Yeonjun blurted, and then flushed at his own question. “S-Sorry, that was rude of me.”
Soobin tried to cover up a chuckle. “Ah, yes. My hair is naturally blue. It’s a mark of the magic in my blood. Taehyun’s hair is the same—he’s one of the most talented sorcerers in the kingdom. What about you? That yellow color is impressive.”
“Oh, this?” Yeonjun pointed to his head. “I just dyed my hair this color. It’s pretty common on Earth.”
“The universe we found you in? Is there magic there?”
“No. It’s all very… plain.”
“Did you enjoy your life there?” Soobin asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. He had only been thinking of himself when he had carried Yeonjun away, not thinking of the life that Yeonjun may have built for himself there. Maybe he even had… a lover. “I can take you back.”
Yeonjun shook his head. “No, not really. I was always a bit of an outcast. I think people found it a bit unnerving that I had no memories of my past.” He paused, looking at Soobin. “Soobin, I want to get to know you better. I want to know myself better. I’ve been wondering who I am for the past eight years, and I feel like you might have the answers. But I don’t know if I can live up to the image of me you have in your head, the me of the past.”
Soobin nodded eagerly. “Of course. I know that we’ve both probably grown and changed these past eight years, but we’re bonded soulmates—that means I’ll be by your side no matter what.”
He thought back to the matching soulmate marks on their wrists and the promise they made to each other. He had hoped that when he took Yeonjun’s hand earlier, Yeonjun would remember him regardless of what Kai said. But it seemed that Yeonjun’s memories were a blank slate. Could it be that their soul bond had weakened from the all the years that they were apart?
Soobin pushed the thought away. No, he had felt Yeonjun when he was in pain, even from across realities. There must still be something there. He was about to reach out and take Yeonjun’s hand, just to reassure himself that there was still a connection between them, when suddenly Yeonjun gasped and grabbed his head.
“Hyung? What’s wrong?” Soobin asked, startled, and Yeonjun only groaned in pain. A shock ran through Soobin, an echo of Yeonjun’s pain through the soul bond. The entire room began to shake, shuddering violently as if mirroring Yeonjun’s pain, and Soobin experienced a strange vertigo, similar to the sensation of walking between worlds. He watched through the dizziness as Yeonjun’s horns began to grow, sprouting out from his head. Yet just as suddenly as it began, the room stopped shaking and everything went quiet, save for the sound of Yeonjun gasping.
“W-What was that?” Yeonjun whimpered, still trying to recover from the pain.
Soobin leaned forward, examining Yeonjun’s horns. They had grown even longer, curving out from the older boy’s head. “It’s the growing pains. Your gift should grow as you age, not all at once. That’s why it hurts so much. But what just happened… I have no idea. Your magical abilities must be awakening.” He watched Yeonjun, who still had his eyes tightly screwed shut, and wished he had some way to ease the pain.
“Your highness!” Taehyun burst into the room, Beomgyu and Kai following shortly behind him. “Are you alright?”
“Of course,” Soobin stood from the chair, facing them. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Taehyun stared back, his one visible eye wide with fear. “The fabric of our reality just now… was nearly torn in half.”