Chapter Text
Park Jongseong does not usually read manga. He's usually too busy crying over his homework assignments or doing said assignments to really pay attention to the latest releases. Still, this is one of those rare occasions where he actually has time to feel relaxed enough to read something on his phone. This semester's finals were finally over and he had a whole month and a half of summer vacation ahead of him to do whatever the fuck he wanted.
And what he wanted right now was to wake up and read a nice, easygoing manga. Sadly, things don't always seem to go in his favor because instead of choosing a good manga, he chose a girly royalty manga with a whole reverse harem and one oblivious main lead. When he clicked on it, he didn't think it would be this bad but he was already thirty chapters too deep to back out of it now. Fifty chapters in, and he was ready to go in and kill someone just so one of them could actually make a move. Before Jongseong knew it, he had spent all day in bed, reading the most tragic love story he had ever feasted his eyes on.
"But, what do you mean you're secretly the prince? Have you been lying to me this entire time, Sunghoon? I- I thought you were just the friendly fruit cart boy."
Jongseong groaned at the obvious plot twist before continuing down the page.
"Hyejin, it's not what it looks like! At first I just wanted to get to know you but I didn't know how to do it."
"So you tricked me?"
Yeah. Jongseong was still groaning. The scene ended in Hyejin storming out of the castle and falling down the flight of stairs and into the arms of the first male lead, Choi Yeonjun. The chapter finally ended and Jongseong was ready for the finale only to find there to be a hiatus announcement at the bottom.
"Dear loyal readers, thank you for reading Unexpected Princess! Unfortunately, I have been diagnosed with Pneumonia and Carpal Tunnel, so I have to go on a long hiatus for a few months. I am announcing this chapter as the season's finale and season 2 will be even better. See you all (hopefully) soon! Author-nim"
"Are you fucking serious?" Jongseong grumbled to himself and dropped his phone beside him on the bed. Out of all the places to put a cliffhanger, the author left it at the worst place possible.
First of all, King Sihyuk was slowly falling ill from some unknown disease that was probably tuberculosis even though he is only in his early forties. All the discourse with the factions was stupid and unnecessary, especially because it's all over the reveal of the main lead's lineage as the direct heir to the king's throne. Each faction had proposed one man to court Bang Hyejin- Kim Taehyung from the BTS faction (who even named them?), Choi Yeonjun from the TXT faction, and Park Sunghoon from the ENHYPEN faction.
In the end, it was revealed none of the men were really even into women and were only courting Hyejin for a shot at the throne. The only reason why Yeonjun is the lead is because the information he has is enough to persuade Hyejin to choose him. What information is it? No one knows, especially not Jongseong who was angry for half of the manga and not really paying attention.
Alone in his tiny little apartment, the boy finally rolls out of bed, taking a quick shower and a swig from the half empty bottle of cola in his mini fridge. His days were seemingly boring compared to the life of the characters in Unexpected Princess, day after day of lectures and essays on fashion design, body tired from hunching over his laptop and sewing machine at all hours of the day. Jongseong wanted to parade around a castle in a suit trimmed with gold and go to sword practice with other fine young men his age and sign documents as the duke of an estate. Hell, even in the world of the Unexpected Princess, magic exists, so who's to say he wouldn't have cool ass fire powers or something?
In that moment, Park Jongseong had done something irreversible, unbeknownst to himself. He went about the evening as he usually would, eating leftovers from the fridge, brushing his teeth, scrolling on instagram for a few minutes and passing out on the couch.
That night, Jongseong had dreamt of things unlike the dreams he normally would have. His body seemed to float away from itself, leaving him in a suspended state of being, the world around him nothing else but a myriad of swirling colors, and stardust. It felt like he was really there, really touching the stream of space that expanded around him. It felt like an infinite tunnel was sucking him out of his body, and yet, it wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. At the end of this square tunnel stood a child that, oddly enough, looked just like him.
When he had reached the light where the boy stood, he woke up from his strange dream.
Except he wasn't splayed out on the couch like he had preciously left himself. No- he wasn't even in his own body. Instead, Park Jongseong looked down to see the hands of a small child that connected back to his body. His feet looked closer than he remembers them being and his hair was no longer the shade of blonde he had previously bleached it to.
"Jay-ah, you're awake early today," a woman spoke to him.
Jay? Who the hell is Jay?
The woman looked similar to his own mother except her eyes were a striking shade of green that seemed so... familiar.
"Oh, Jay, did you have another nightmare? It's okay, child. Eomma made honey porridge for you, just as you like."
Jongseong gulped, a fresh sheen of sweat on his forehead that he hadn't realized was there. Had it always been this warm? The boy thought that this was probably just the second layer of his weird wormhole dream and immediately tried to go back to sleep, squeezing his eyes shut and curling up into a little ball on his bed.
Except the woman's hand suddenly touched his shoulder and he knew he couldn't keep lying to himself.
"Jay-ah, what's wrong? Tell eomma," she coaxed him, petting her hand on his head.
"A-ah, nothing! I- I, uh, I had a bad dream. Yeah, that's all," he tried to convince her, his tiny hands shaking in his lap.
"It's okay, Jay. Let's get some food, hm? Then we can go to the shop and make some clothes." Jongseong sat up at the gentle words.
He's not entirely sure how he got here, or where 'here' was exactly, but goddamn if he wasn't going to make some clothes with his cool new mom.
The two sat in the cottage's dining room, a small wooden table in the center of it all. Two bowls of porridge sat steaming and Jongseong didn't realize just how hungry he really was. After breakfast, the woman helped him get ready, picking out a pair of dark trousers and a white button up shirt with a nice green cotton vest. She was wearing a gorgeous green gown that matched his vest and they went out of the cottage hand in hand.
It was fitting his mother in this strange dream world was a seamstress since he was a fashion design student. Throughout the day at the shop, customers of varying degrees would come through and order different custom apparel from the woman. All Jongseong would really do is watch his mother sew and measure and cut long reams of fabric. When customers had left, Jongseong would stand in front of the mirror to look at his appearance. He looked like he did when he was a boy but with striking green eyes, similar to the woman's. At one point, though, a very wealthy man came through with a child around Jay's age.
"Welcome back, Duke Sim. What can I offer you today?"
The man smiled warmly at the woman and gently pushed the boy forward.
"I am here to order clothes for Jake's upcoming debut," the man admitted.
Jake? In that moment, it finally hit Jongseong. He was in the world of the Unexpected Princess and this was the future Duke Jake. If this was Jake's debut into society, then that means Jake is currently ten.
"That'll be no problem, your grace. May I ask what the concept you'll be going for at the debut?"
The two adults sat down at the desk the woman had set up for consultations, a big book of different materials and sketches pulled in between them. That left Jake and Jongseong- or technically Jay- to stare at each other.
The former stepped forward and stuck a hand out.
"Hello. My name's Jake. What's your name?"
Jongseong quickly shot his own hand out and shook the other boy's hand.
"Nice to meet you, uh, your grace? I'm Jo- I'm Jay."
The other boy laughed as the two shook hands.
"It's fine, you can just call me Jake. I won't have an official title for another few months. I'm just like you," the boy smiled.
Jongseong nodded but deep down knew that was far from the truth. Jake, Jungwon and Sunghoon were as far removed from whatever Jay was as possible. They were the future dukes to their families estates which put them a whole step away from the throne. Jay was truly blessed to even be in this kid's presence.
"Jake, come here, son," the current duke called and the boy quickly maneuvered his way over to the adults. Soon enough, the woman was measuring his limbs and writing his measurements down. Within the next twenty minutes, the fabric and deadline were chosen and the next appointment was made. The two stepped out of the tiny shop and on went their lives.
The only thing about this encounter that made absolutely no sense was the fact that the Duke chose to come to this remote shop in the village rather than having his royal seamstresses make the clothing. And obviously, Jay's mother and the duke were on friendly terms. Something wasn't really adding up here, but at least this was good business for this small family, since having the duke's son's clothing made by a local seamstress was good publicity for the shop.
By sunset, the two closed the shop and went further into town to the market place where they payed for dinner at an inn and walked all the way back out to the edge of the village to their little wooden cottage.
Jongseong was still hanging on to the hope that somehow this whole day was just a dream despite the very real aching in his toes from walking all the way across town. He had showered in their small bathroom where there was somehow modern plumbing and called it a night after changing into the pajamas his mother set out for him. He settled next to the woman who laid a protective arm around him and he drifted off into sleep. Jongseong wanted to go back through the colorful wormhole he had seen the previous night but instead saw a tall man with a mask covering his face. He had long silvery hair tied neatly into a ponytail and eyes that glowed beneath the mask. One eye was green and the other was an icy blue.
"Park Jongseong, do you know why I called you here? I need you to remain in this kingdom until the king dies. Then, the throne will be yours as it rightfully should be. Do not stay doubtful. I will visit you again during the next full moon."
The man reached toward Jongseong and suddenly the dream shifted to a pleasant one with a wide field of tulips and six other people running alongside him.
Though he half expected to awake back in his little studio apartment, Jongseong knew somehow that he would be here in this new world for a long time and he didn't exactly hate the idea. He just wanted to know who brought him here and why.