Archive of Our Own

Asia's Prince

Sunggyu’s nose twitched and his lip curled upwards as he stared at the dish laying in front of him. Paltry. That was the perfect word to describe it. It was something peasants would eat. Noodles were bending, twisting, coiling together in a bright red liquid. Little flecks mimicking vegetables floated on the surface. His stomach churned just looking at it. Where was the meat? Where were the vegetables, real ones, plucked freshly from the kingdom’s vast gardens? This…this was… “Unacceptable,” Sunggyu declared with a sneer. “I am Asia’s Prince, and I refuse to eat this rubbish.” He pushed the bowl away and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ramyun,” a voice from the other end of the table echoed across the wide room. Sunggyu looked up to see one of his servants standing at the opposite end of the table. His stance lacked decorum and Sunggyu would dare to think it as treasonous. The servant’s chin was tilted upwards as he looked down at the prince. Down! While he was of a class near the bottom of the pecking order, he stared at the prince as if he was on top. “It’s not rubbish. It’s ramyun,” the servant spoke louder this time as if the prince was deaf and dumb. “Your highness,” the title was obviously added as a second thought.

Sunggyu took in a deep breath, reining in his anger. He wanted to be a benevolent ruler, but damn it, some of his subjects didn’t make it easy for him. He gritted his teeth. “It looks like it took you two minutes to make,” he growled.

The servant crossed his arms over his chest. “Three actually,” he combated. “And you should eat them soon, you don’t want the noodles to get fat.”

Sunggyu slammed his spoon onto the table. The sharp clang cut through the room like a blade Sunggyu wished that he had to slit this insubordinate’s throat. He got up from his seat suddenly. “And do you think that this nation’s future king is only worth three minutes of your precious time?” he argued.

“No,” the servant immediately responded. Then a cheeky smile slowly started appearing on his face. “I don’t even think that you’re worth one.”

“YAH! I will have your head for this!” Sunggyu yelled as he charged after the servant. The smile fled the servant’s face and was immediately replaced with panic. He dodged the prince’s lunge, rough fingertips grazing his precious throat. The servant then ran from the kitchen into the living room, tripping over his own feet. He tumbled onto the floor and fear set into his heart. He could feel the prince catching up to him like a timid bunny could sense a fox. Scrambling to get up again, he was suddenly pushed back down to the floor. His cheek pressed into the hardwood floor. The servant could feel the heel of the prince’s foot digging into his lower back. “I will teach you how to respect your superiors,” Sunggyu spoke in a tone that the servant didn’t like, not one bit.

“Uh,” a voice came from the side. Sunggyu and Woohyun turned to see Sungjong and Myungsoo sitting on the couch. “You’re blocking the television. We were watching a movie,” Sungjong said, breaking the fourth wall of the hyungs’ roleplaying.

“Sh! This is more entertaining than the movie,” Myungsoo hushed as he dug into the popcorn bowl in between them. He stuffed a handful of kernels into his mouth. “Please proceed,” he spoke with kernels spilling out of his mouth.

And Sunggyu was more than happy to oblige, jumping down onto Woohyun’s back and attacking his sides with tickles. Woohyun laughed himself to tears while Sunggyu declared, “You will respect Asia’s prince!”

Sungjong glanced over at Myungsoo and grumpily dug his hand into the popcorn bowl. He gnawed angrily on the kernels and grumbled. “Sunggyu-hyung still doesn’t live here. Why is he always here?”

Added Scene

“You’re lucky,” Sunggyu spoke as he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his plush red chair. “Not many people have the chance to see my study, and even fewer get to enjoy it in my presence.”

The other man in the room chuckled as he read through the titles of the books on the shelves. He whistled lowly, “It seems like you have quite the collection.”

“The best of the kingdoms,” Sunggyu bragged without any qualms. “Whenever a book dealer comes to port, I always make sure to select the best.”

The dark haired man plucked a book from the shelf and began to flip through the pages. “Interesting,” he muttered. His eyes lit up with each turn of the page. He sat down in the chair next to Sunggyu’s, his nose still stuck in the book. “Do you pick them out yourself?”

Sunggyu sighed and clasped his hands around his knees. “No, I don’t have the time.” He turned to the other and smirked. “I’m a very busy man. I have a lot of things to attend to. And everybody is vying for my attention.” Especially the suitors, he thought and winced. But then he turned to his fellow prince and smiled, “I’m sure you know what it’s like.”

The man nodded, finally putting down the book. “Of course, it’s the same in my kingdom, especially now when…”

The man was interrupted by doors of the study suddenly flying open and a small man entered through them with a happy spring in his step. “Hyu-I mean-Your Majesty,” the spring halted as soon as he saw the two princes chatting with each other. Even moreso when he saw the dark-haired prince flinch at his presence. I’m not that scary, you cowardly Gre…

“Yes, what is it?” Sunggyu broke into his thoughts curtly. He appeared to be greatly annoyed at the other’s unexpected presence. Sunggyu’s eyes flittered over to his guest who also looked very uncomfortable. “Prince Myungsoo and I were in the middle of talking.” They were talking about nothing important, but the other didn’t need to know that, and it was about time that the other learned how to knock.

The intruder hunched his shoulders in dejection. “Oh yes, I just wanted to report to you about the status of your parents. Your father would like to see you,” he replied in a small voice.

“I’m sure he can wait,” Sunggyu responded impatiently. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Woohyun-ah.” He flicked his wrist, dismissing Woohyun from his study.

Woohyun, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. His eyes darted back and forth between Sunggyu and Myungsoo, until they remained fixed on the Greenlander with an icy glare. “I see how it is, your highness,” Woohyun spoke darkly. He then turned his attention back to the prince. “I expected more of you.” With that, Woohyun stormed out of the study, but not without giving the Greenlander one last chilly stare.

Sunggyu saw Myungsoo shiver next to him out of the corner of his eye. “That Red, are sure about him?” Myungsoo asked. “He doesn’t feel particularly warm…or aware of social protocol.”

“As insolent as he is,” Sunggyu began. He looked his fellow prince up and down before continuing. “He still chose you, so I’d think once or twice before questioning his ‘warmness.’ Now, I must beg your pardon. I have a little rebellious Crimsonite to put back in line.” The prince excused himself from his own study and went outside to follow after his advisor, which wasn’t too hard. He just followed the sound of angry grumbling and dragging feet until he finally caught up with Woohyun. “Woohyun-ah! Wait!” Sunggyu called out to the Crimsonite who slowly turned around at the sound of the prince’s voice. “What makes you think that you can talk to me like that?”

“Hyung-nim,” Woohyun responded in a chiding tone. “Attending to your parents isn’t something that you can schedule in whenever it’s convenient. It’s your job as their son.”

“Fine. When my father himself physically calls for me, I will come,” Sunggyu joked, but the look on the Crimsonite’s face showed that he wasn’t in the mood. The prince himself had to admit that ever since Myungsoo had arrived, he hadn’t been checking up on his mother and father as he should have. For once (twice…maybe three times) the Crimsonite had a point. “Fine. Fine. I’ll go now. Happy?” Woohyun nodded, but the frown on his face still remained. “What? What is it now?”

“Maybe,” Woohyun paused to let out a sigh. “Maybe I was wrong about the Greenie. He’s not as good in real life as he is on paper.”

Sunggyu reached over and patted the Crimsonite on the shoulder. “He is good. You did a good job in selecting him. He just…takes a while to get used to people. He’s shy. And you kind of scare him,” Sunggyu ended with a laugh, hoping that his jovialness would soften the blow.

It didn’t. “And what if he never gets used to me, hyung-nim? What then?” Woohyun asked, unsure of his future in this place.

“He will. You have a weird way of getting people to like you, even against their will.” It was then that he realized that he was stroking Woohyun’s shoulder perhaps a little too tenderly. Sunggyu immediately retracted his hand and cleared his throat. “Just look at Hoya. You two are getting along great now.”

“Yea,” Woohyun admitted with a shy smile. But then a realization dawned on him and he perked up his head. “Wait! Ho-hyung didn’t like me?!”

“Oh, would you look at the time? I need to go see my mother.” Sunggyu then took off down the hallway with a quick pace, but still failed to leave the Crimsonite behind.

“Hyung-nim! What do you mean? Where are you going? Are you going to see your father? I want to go too. Oh! But have you eaten? You should eat first.”

“Fine, I’ll eat first,” Sunggyu yielded with little resistance. “But you have to eat with me then. I don’t care for eating alone recently.”

“…Oh yes….” Woohyun agreed in a small voice. He was schocked. He wasn’t used to the other inviting him to do things with him. Woohyun was only used to the prince trying to send him away.

Finally got the Crimsonite to be quiet, Sunggyu smiled proudly to himself.

But it only lasted for a few steps. “Wait, hyung-nim! Did you not like me when we first met?”