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“You have got to be kidding me,” Yeonjun whined, waving the parchment out of his face. It crumpled onto Taehyun’s desk. The Head Boy sighed loudly, picking the scroll up and smoothing it out, extending it back to Yeonjun. “I’m not kidding. And we’re going to be late,” he replied, clearly over Yeonjun’s temper tantrum.
Yeonjun snatched the parchment back and shoved it into his bag, rolling his eyes. “Why am I being punished, huh? It’s my fucking final year, I’m meant to focus on Quidditch and N.E.W.T.S. and finding a career after I graduate! Babysitting the fucking crown prince of Korea is not going to fit into my schedule!”
Taehyun didn’t even look up at him, too busy scrawling on a fresh sheet of parchment, tongue caught between his teeth in concentration. “You begged me to be a prefect, and this is what it means to be a prefect. You help new students, and you don’t complain about it.”
Yeonjun clenched his jaw, his fingers wrapping around his wand hidden beneath his robes. “Why couldn’t he have stayed in his fancy castle with his private tutors? What good is Hogwarts going to do for him?” he challenged. He knew it was a losing battle, could tell by the way Taehyun wasn’t sparing him a second of pity, but he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The Ravenclaw sighed, bottling his quill and rolling up the parchment. “He wants to have a normal final year of study, and meet more magical people his own age,” he reiterated. Yeonjun had heard all of this already, when he’d been yanked from the welcome feast by McGonagall and Taehyun. It was apparently a big deal that His Royal Highness, Prince Choi Soobin, had chosen to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. And apparently Yeonjun was supposed to feel lucky that he had been chosen to be the prince’s mentor and guide as he adjusted to his new life.
Yeonjun preferred to call it a punishment. A hazing, if he might. His friends told him he was being a gigantic crybaby about the entire thing. Yeonjun nearly hexed all of them. He followed Taehyun out of his office—Head Boy perks—and put on his best pout for the umpteenth time. “Taehyunnie please, please reassign me! Have Kai-yah do it! He loves welcoming the new students!”
Taehyun waved his wand and his door swung open of its own accord, the two slipping out into the quiet hallway. The rest of the student body was still enjoying the feast. “Kai is studying abroad in Romania this term, hyung. Please keep up, will you?”
The Slytherin grumbled, crossing his arms and making a point to stomp loudly, his footfalls echoing off the concrete walls. The paintings gave him dirty looks as he passed. The pair wound through the halls and up a few staircases, until they arrived outside Professor McGonagall’s office. Normally, Yeonjun didn’t approach his Transfiguration classroom with disdain—it was one of his favourite subjects, after Potions, of course—but this time, he couldn’t help but scowl as Taehyun knocked.
Too soon, the door opened, revealing the wisened face of their Professor. They both bowed, and Taehyun shot Yeonjun a stern ‘be on your best behaviour’ look as they walked in. According to Taehyun, His Royal Dickhead Choi Soobin had received a private Sorting. No need to embarrass the kid more than necessary. Yeonjun personally thought that a public Sorting would’ve been an excellent way to expose the sheltered prince to the ‘normal way of life’ that the boy apparently craved.
He didn’t know much about the royal family of his home country, if he was being honest with himself. He had his opinions, of course, but it’s not like he kept up with them. He believed that monarchies were outdated and irrelevant in modern society, and that extended to the youngest son of the family. He’d only become aware of his existence outside of an abstract idea when the news broke in the magical community that he was a wizard. The first royal with magical blood in over three centuries.
Even Taehyun, their token history buff of the group, had been shocked. Apparently, back in the old days, the royal family had attempted to ‘cleanse’ their family of any magical blood for reasons that Yeonjun couldn’t be bothered to learn more about. But now, it had found its way back. His Royal Prickliness, Choi Soobin, a seventeen-year-old Muggle-born with royal and magical blood.
The disdain Yeonjun held for the boy was laughable, and Beomgyu told him as much every time he complained about him since getting the notice that he’d been assigned as mentor. “Babysitter, Beomgyu-yah, that’s what I am. A fucking babysitter for a genocidal, pathetic prince.”
“His family was genocidal, and a long time ago at that. He’s innocent, it’s not his fault he was born into royalty,” Beomgyu had defended. Yeonjun always knew the Gryffindor would be a royalist. He already knew he was going to try to befriend the Prince just to go on some wannabe knightly adventure with him or whatever. “Whatever, he still has blood on his hands. And he seems so boring, from what I’ve read,” Yeonjun snapped back.
His friends never put up with his rants for long, always sighing and changing the subject. Yeonjun had tried every trick in the book, magical or otherwise, to get out of his predicament, but it all came to naught. And here he was, about to meet the Prince. And he had to play nice. He was a Slytherin. He didn’t know how to be nice.
McGonagall walked them into her office, and when she swept behind her desk, Yeonjun was confronted with the prince himself. He was tall, way taller than Yeonjun was anticipating, and it threw him. He’d expected to have the advantage in that department, the ability to look down on him, maybe intimidate him enough to prevent him from actually depending on him for anything.
He turned to face Taehyun, lowering his voice. “Isn’t he supposed to wear a crown?” Taehyun immediately narrowed his eyes and gave him a sharp jab in the ribs, making Yeonjun flinch. “Hey!” he exclaimed. Taehyun levelled him with a glare. “Can you please, for the love of fucking Merlin, behave?” he hissed. Yeonjun rolled his eyes, crossing his arms to protect his ribs from further assault. “Fine, fine,” he mumbled.
“Mr. Choi, allow me to introduce you to his Royal Highness Choi Soobin, Crown Prince of Korea,” McGonagall introduced, gesturing to the Prince. Yeonjun begrudgingly met his eyes, and was slightly surprised to see the Prince giving him a rather shy smile. He bowed his head, his bangs spilling in front of his eyes. A stern look from McGonagall prompted Yeonjun to do the same, bending at the waist before straightening.
The Prince bit his lip, before wringing his hands together. “It’s nice to meet you, Yeonjun-ssi, thank you for assisting me during my transition,” he said, in a voice much deeper than Yeonjun was expecting. Yeonjun blinked a few times, trying his best to figure out what the Prince’s game was. Surely he wasn’t this…naive? Innocent? Clueless? But as he stood there, awkwardly wringing his hands together, Yeonjun couldn’t help but be reminded of all the new first years who also had no idea what they were doing.
Great. He really was going to be a babysitter. He could throw out his dreams of becoming captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, since he was going to be spending all of his time making sure his Royal Prickliness didn’t get lost or accidentally killed by the Whomping Willow.
McGonagall cleared her throat as Taehyun sighed and Yeonjun jolted, remembering he needed to reply. “Pleasure’s all mine, your Royal Highness,” he managed. The Prince gave him another smile and Yeonjun wanted to throw up. Was it truly in a Prince’s blood to be that charming? Surely it wasn’t all real, right? Yeonjun figured he’d find out soon enough.
“Mr. Choi, if you’ll escort His Royal Highness to the Hufflepuff dormitories, Professor Sprout will get him acquainted upon arrival. You’re to meet him in the morning to help him find his way to his classes. We have aligned your schedules so you’ll be sharing all of your classes. I expect you, as Slytherin prefect, to uphold the reputation of your House and of Hogwarts and help Mr. Choi in whatever way he needs,” McGonagall rattled off.
Yeonjun’s heart sunk with every word, but he dutifully kept his mouth shut. He may be a Slytherin, but he wasn’t about to lose any House points by mouthing off in front of McGonagall more than he already had. They were quickly shuffled out of her office and once her door was closed, Taehyun stood in front of them both.
“I hope you have a smooth transition, Your Royal Highness,” he said, giving a bow. Yeonjun resisted rolling his eyes. Soobin gave Taehyun a gentle smile and returned the bow. “Thank you for the orientation, Taehyun-ssi, it was very helpful.” Taehyun returned his smile, and gave Yeonjun a short glare, before departing.
And then it was just him and Prince Soobin in an empty hallway. Yeonjun looked over at Soobin to find him already staring at him, a slight tint to his cheeks, and Yeonjun ran a hand through his hair. “Um, follow me this way,” he murmured. He turned and started walking in the direction of the Hufflepuff dormitories, Soobin following close behind.
They walked in silence for a minute, before Yeonjun figured he should at least try to get to know more about Soobin. If anything just to rid them of the awkwardness that seemed to be hanging over them like a rain cloud that wouldn’t go away.
“How did you manage to convince the King and Queen to let you come here?” Guess he was diving right into the deep shit. He hoped the Prince wouldn’t be offended—or maybe it was better if he was, then he could complain and get reassigned a new babysitter and Yeonjun would be off the hook.
Unfortunately for Yeonjun, the Prince let out a giggle and when Yeonjun caught his expression, he couldn’t help but notice how his face scrunched up rather cutely. “It didn’t take much, honestly,” he replied. “I just told Emma and Appa that I wanted to study abroad for my final year and they know all about Hogwarts’ reputation and so they said yes.”
Yeonjun was a little thrown by how casually Soobin was speaking to him. He was expecting someone way more prim and proper than Soobin. Perhaps Yeonjun had a rather skewed idea of how a Prince should act, but he wasn’t expecting someone so….similar to him. It confused him, and he didn’t really know how to act.
“Oh, well, I’m glad it was easy for you then,” he replied lamely. Soobin giggled again. “It also helps I’m not the heir to the throne. Or at least, not first in line.” Yeonjun forced himself to crack a smile, and then they fell back into silence as they wound through the halls.
The smell of baked goods and fresh foods started to fill their surroundings as they got closer to the dormitories, and for a brief moment Yeonjun was jealous that Hufflepuffs had such easy access to the kitchens. Then he remembered the solitude that came with the dungeons and those thoughts were swept away.
“Are we near the kitchens?” Soobin asked. Wow…excellent deduction skills. Yeonjun hummed in confirmation, rounding a corner. “I trust as a Hufflepuff you’ll be able to find your way to them,” he replied. “Huh?” Soobin echoed. Yeonjun paused in front of the entrance to the dormitory. Soobin looked genuinely confused, and Yeonjun mentally cursed McGonagall and Taehyun. What exactly had they even covered in their orientation if Soobin didn’t know the symbolic trait of the House he was sorted into?
“Hufflepuffs are known for being able to find things,” he explained. In a rather comical fashion, Yeonjun saw the colour drain from Soobin’s face and he clutched his robs tightly. “Is that…is that something they’re going to test me on? Because I’m fucking awful at finding things, like actually the worst, and I can’t be kicked out before my first day—.”
“Whoa, whoa, Your Royal Highness, calm down,” Yeonjun interrupted. He was slightly flabbergasted at hearing the Crown Prince of Korea drop the f-bomb, and he had to admit that a part of him found it ridiculously cute how worried he had gotten over something so small. “It’s fine, not everyone embodies every trait of the House they’re Sorted into. They’re not going to test you on it,” he reassured.
Soobin still appeared petrified, but his shoulders drooped a little at hearing Yeonjun’s words. “Okay, okay. Thank you. I’m just…I really don’t want to fail, Yeonjun-ssi.” Yeonjun chose to ignore the insecurity in his voice and just gave him an awkward pat on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” he said, before turning and tapping his wand on the door to the Hufflepuff dormitory.
It was only after depositing Soobin to the care of Professor Sprout and leaving the dorms that a thought occurred to Yeonjun. He was pretty sure there was a clause in the parchment Taehyun had given him that explicitly forbid touching Soobin, that it was against decorum or something stupid. And yet, he had patted Soobin’s shoulder. And the Prince hadn’t so much as flinched.
Interesting.
The next morning, Yeonjun happily forgot about His Royal Annoyance as he joined his friends for breakfast. Taehyun and Beomgyu were already there, sitting at the Gryffindor table like always, and Yeonjun slid in next to Beomgyu easily. “Happy first day of our last term ever!” he cried, piling his plate high with food.
“It’s not our last term, oldie,” Beomgyu replied, buttering a roll. Taehyun only grunted, nose buried in a book. Yeonjun pouted. He missed Kai, he would always greet him with bright smiles and warm hugs. How dare he go study in Romania for half the year and leave Yeonjun to deal with the heathens he was currently sat next to. “Yeah, well, it’s my last term, so yay!” he cheered.
Beomgyu rolled his eyes, before resting his chin on his elbow and wiggling his brows at Yeonjun. “So, how’s the Prince? Is it true he has a stick up his ass? Is he annoying? Are you ready to deal with him all year?” he prodded. Yeonjun chewed slowly, remembering once again how annoying his best friend could be. Especially when Yeonjun was suffering.
“Be nice,” Taehyun snapped without looking away from his book. Beomgyu shrunk a bit in his seat, muttering a sorry before going back to looking at Yeonjun expectantly. Yeonjun put down his mug. “He’s different than I thought. Shy, quiet, a little clumsy. But he did say the word ‘fuck’ in front of me yesterday, so maybe he’s not entirely hopeless,” he elaborated.
Beomgyu raised his brows, and even Taehyun offered a surprised expression. Yeonjun shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just hoping he gets the hang of things quick so I can get back to focusing on Quidditch and graduating,” he sighed. Taehyun opened his mouth to no doubt have a sassy retort when all of a sudden Yeonjun heard his name being called in a soft, but deep voice.
He twisted his neck and his eyes fell on the tall form of none other than the Prince. He was dressed in his standard uniform, a book bag slung over his shoulder, and yet he still managed to look terribly out of place. “Oh, uh, good morning, your Highness,” Yeonjun greeted, suddenly very aware of how every eye in the Great Hall was trained on Soobin. Even Beomgyu was gawking from over his shoulder without shame.
Soobin looked rather uncomfortable, aware of the gazes too, and Yeonjun actually felt a bit bad for him. “Um,” he shuffled on his feet, looking down. “Am I supposed to sit with my House, or?” And okay, Yeonjun felt a lot bad for the kid. It went against his Slytherin heritage to be this empathetic toward someone, but he couldn’t help it. He moved his own bag and patted the bench next to him. “You can sit with us, if you want,” he offered.
Soobin gave him a grateful smile and bowed, which threw Yeonjun off—how many times was Soobin going to catch him off guard? He really was destroying every preconceived notion Yeonjun had drawn up about him. He slid into the space next to him, and Beomgyu immediately jolted into introductions, thrusting a hand in his direction.
“Cho Beomgyu, very nice to meet you Your Majesty!” he cried. “It’s His Royal Highness, idiot,” Taehyun lamented. Soobin chuckled, shaking Beomgyu’s hand from across the table. “It’s okay. Please call me hyung. Royal titles are outdated, anyway,” he said. Yeonjun couldn’t help the way his brows rose in surprise, and all of a sudden he was seeing Soobin in a completely different light. What the hell?
Beomgyu laughed loudly, dropping his hand and sliding a plate of food toward him, completely uncaring of Yeonjun sat between them. “I like you, hyung!” he cried. “Don’t worry about Yeonjun-hyung, he’ll learn to like you too.”
Oh, fuck you Beomgyu, Yeonjun thought. He sputtered, hitting the younger on the back of his head as Taehyun hid his giggles behind his book. When he met Soobin’s eyes, the boy was confused, and Yeonjun waved his hands in the air to deter him. “Don’t listen to him! I don’t dislike you, I just…have opinions on monarchies,” he attempted. He wasn’t sure where the cold feeling of guilt was coming from, but he didn’t like the idea of Soobin thinking he didn’t like him.
Which, maybe he didn’t at first, but he was adaptable! He could change his mind!
“Do you think they’re unnecessary and overrated for modern society? That they don’t have any actual function?” Soobin asked.
Yeonjun’s jaw dropped. He looked at Taehyun, who was just grinning at his stupid book, and was someone pulling a prank on Yeonjun? Did Soobin drink a potion that made him woke all of a sudden? What was Yeonjun missing?
Soobin laughed, taking a bite of his food. “It’s okay, Yeonjun-ssi. I believe we think the same way.” He gave Yeonjun a small smile, and Yeonjun couldn’t believe what was happening. Was he actually starting to like this guy? Like genuinely?
“You can call my hyung,” Yeonjun heard himself saying. Soobin’s cheeks turned pink, and he gave Yeonjun another smile. Yeonjun looked away, focusing on his own food, and thankfully Beomgyu started chronicling his entire summertime for the group and Yeonjun was spared from having to entertain Soobin for the time being.
Soobin adapted surprisingly well to his classes, and Yeonjun felt less like a babysitter by their third week. Soobin could find his way around the castle relatively easily, though he did still rely on Yeonjun to help him when they had to go on field assignments for their classes. But he must’ve picked up on Yeonjun’s desire to have time away from him, and always let him be after their classes concluded for the day.
He ate his meals with Yeonjun and Yeonjun’s friends, despite having nearly the entire school begging him to sit with them. He got along well with Beomgyu, the two of them bonding over their love for Muggle video games of all things. Taehyun helped him with his homework—something Yeonjun thankfully was not responsible for—and Yeonjun did his best to expose Soobin to everything Hogwarts had to offer between their courses.
Before he knew it, a few months had passed, and Soobin had effortlessly integrated into his friend group. Yeonjun had let go of his prejudices toward the boy and his background, and now viewed him simply as another one of his dongsaengs. At his core he was smart, funny, and very caring. He always inquired on everyone’s wellbeing, and would sneak food out of the kitchens to bring them whenever they hung out by the lake.
Yeonjun developed a soft spot for him relatively quickly, which Taehyun teased him about endlessly, but he couldn’t help it. Not when Soobin looked so adorable while he was studying, or when he was politely speaking with excitable first-year students. He was always in a good mood, taking everything in stride, and he treated Yeonjun with a special sort of softness.
As they got closer though, Yeonjun couldn’t help but notice that the Prince never spoke about his family. Whenever the others would mention missing their parents or siblings, Soobin always comforted them but never made mention of his own parents or sisters. He also never received any letters. In fact, he never received any mail at all. Yeonjun wondered why that was the case, but he never asked. While they were definitely friends now, he didn’t feel it was his place.
But he began to worry when December rolled around and Soobin quietly told them one morning that it was his birthday. Beomgyu nearly shot out of his seat, along with Kai—who had returned from Romania and become Soobin’s quote-unquote ‘gum’—and they both shouted that he should’ve told them beforehand.
“We would’ve thrown a whole party for you, hyung! Kai and I are expert party planners! We use these super cool enchanted fireworks that make these amazing dragons in the sky—.”
“Beomgyu, settle down,” Yeonjun intervened, placing a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “Don’t talk about your fireworks in front of a prefect and Head Boy.” Beomgyu scoffed, crossing his arms. “Whatever. We need to do something at least! Do you want to go to Hogsmeade, hyung?” He looked at Soobin hopefully.
Soobin smiled gently, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re so kind, all of you,” he replied. “But we don’t have to do anything, really. It’s just another day.” Yeonjun frowned, reaching out and resting a hand on Soobin’s knee. “It’s not though, it’s your birthday. What do you usually do back home?”
At that, Soobin’s expression fractured again, enough that everyone else noticed, too. He curled his shoulders forward and was suddenly very interested in his bowl of cereal. “Um, not much, really,” he murmured. Yeonjun shared a look with the others, who mirrored his expression of worry, and he made a decision right then.
“Let’s go to Hogsmeade! Hyung’ll treat you to Butterbeer and we can visit Honeydukes and stock up on sweets for the winter break, how does that sound?” he suggested. Soobin peeked an eye at him, and Yeonjun gave him a bright, encouraging smile. At that, Soobin returned the smile and gave a nod. Kai clapped and immediately grabbed Soobin’s hand, dragging him to the Hufflepuff dorms to get ready.
When they returned from Hogsmeade after a long day of visiting shops and sneaking into the Shrieking Shack, the quintet were nearly asleep on their feet as they dragged themselves back to the castle. Yeonjun had his arm thrown around Soobin’s shoulders, and the Prince couldn’t stop yawning, but he also couldn’t stop smiling.
“This was the best birthday I’ve ever had, thank you all so much,” he thanked, bowing profusely. Kai ran up to give him a hug, and Yeonjun watched fondly as everyone else did, too. When they released him, Yeonjun ruffled his hair and pinched his cheek. “You deserved it,” he said. Soobin blushed, and ducked his head away from Yeonjun’s fingers.
They all started to go their separate ways, but as Yeonjun turned, Soobin reached for his hand. “Wait, hyung. Do you mind showing me where the owlery is again? I want to see if…if I have any mail,” he requested. Yeonjun felt momentary confusion since he was sure Kai had taken Soobin to the owlery plenty of times, but something in Soobin’s gaze told him not to bring that up.
“Sure, Bin-ah,” he replied, squeezing his hand. The others bid them farewell, and the pair started making their way to the tower. Soobin stayed abnormally quiet—he had revealed himself to be quite the chatterbox once he was comfortable around someone—and Yeonjun couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. Their hands stayed intertwined as they walked, and Yeonjun enjoyed the feeling of their palms pressed together.
He didn’t think about it much, but he really did enjoy being around the Prince. He was the perfect balance to himself, and he had never felt anything less than happiness when they were together, save for those initial few weeks where Yeonjun had a misconstrued perception of him. But now, he considered Soobin one of his closest friends, and he hoped Soobin felt the same way about him.
As they arrived at the owlery, Soobin turned and sat on the stairs, tugging on Yeonjun to join him. Yeonjun sat close, their thighs touching, and waited for Soobin to speak. It was apparent that he brought Yeonjun here for a reason other than checking for mail, and Yeonjun wasn’t going to rush him into anything.
After a few moments, Soobin let out a sigh. “I didn’t ask to transfer to Hogwarts, my parents sent me here so they could get rid of me,” he whispered. Yeonjun’s entire body went stiff at the confession, and he felt a foreign anger start to form inside of him. But he kept quiet, waiting for Soobin to continue. The Prince took a shaky breath, eyes still trained on his feet.
“They only got me a tutor because I couldn’t stop accidentally breaking things or starting fires on the grounds, because I didn’t know how to channel my magic,” he explained. “I loved my tutor, she was a brilliant witch who taught me everything about the magical community, and she came from Hogwarts, too. But my parents…they didn’t see my magical blood as a good thing. At all. To them, I was a stain on their legacy, since the last Royals who were magical brought ruin and destruction to the monarchy. My appa claimed we couldn’t risk such destruction again—-and so I was sent away.”
He lifted his free hand to swipe at his eyes and Yeonjun felt his heart start to break. He squeezed Soobin’s hand and pressed a little closer. Soobin sniffled, but kept speaking.
“They didn’t worry about anyone finding out, since the magical community is already kept a secret from common Muggles. They made up some story about how I was going to be living abroad for…an indefinite amount of time and that was that. Or at least, I thought that was it. But then…” he trailed off, more tears gathering in his eyes, and a sob escaping his lips.
Yeonjun quickly gathered him close, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him into his embrace. “It’s alright, Soobin-ah, I’m here. It’s okay,” he whispered, feeling completely out of his depth. What was Soobin about to tell him?
“They asked to be…Obliviated,” he choked out. “They w-wanted me erased from their memory, f-forever, and so…they p-paid my tutor to do it. And she did. And now I’m completely a-alone.” He fell forward then, pulling his hand from Yeonjun’s to cover his face and muffle his sobs. His entire body shook with his grief, and Yeonjun felt like his world was crumbling right alongside Soobin’s.
His emotions were unfamiliar, an anger that wasn’t for himself, a sadness that enveloped him from head to toe and compelled him to wrap both of his arms around Soobin’s shaking form. The younger turned to bury his head in Yeonjun’s chest, and Yeonjun held him as tightly as he could. His mind was racing with so many different thoughts and feelings, and he could feel his heart aching with Soobin’s pain.
A vengeful anger sprouted within him, and he wished he could hex the entire royal family for what they did to their own son. He couldn’t imagine what Soobin must be feeling, couldn’t fathom his own parents completely forgetting about his existence, and it made him want to break things. Soobin deserved better. He deserved the love of his family, but if they refused to provide it for him, then Yeonjun would take up the role.
Because Soobin was so easy to love. Yeonjun had been doing it for months now, without even realising. Soobin had defied all of his stereotypes and Yeonjun couldn’t believe he’d been hiding such a big secret. No wonder he never received any letters. No wonder he always closed up whenever they spoke about their families. Yeonjun attributed it at first to the coldness the royal family was known for, but now he knew it was much worse than that.
As the Crown Prince of Korea fell apart in his arms, Yeonjun put aside his own emotions and anger and gently moved to hold Soobin’s face in his hands. “Soobin-ah,” he called softly. Soobin looked at him, eyes puffy and watery. Yeonjun ran his thumbs over the apples of his cheeks. “You’re not alone,” he whispered with conviction. “You have Beomgyu, and Taehyun, and Kai. And you have me, and I promise that I am never going to forget you.” Soobin teared up again at his words, hands gripping Yeonjun’s wrists.
“I am so sorry about what your family did,” Yeonjun continued, his heart in his throat. “You didn’t deserve that. You didn’t decide to be born with magical blood, but you also didn’t try to suppress that part of yourself, and I am so proud of you for that. You are strong, and so kind, and so smart, and can somehow fly a broom better than me despite not being able to walk in a straight line sometimes.”
Soobin snorted at that, and Yeonjun broke a smile, continued to stroke the Prince’s cheeks. “I’m not going to leave you, none of us are. You have a new family now, and we will make sure you are always surrounded by love and support. Alright?” Yeonjun held Soobin’s gaze, hoping that his words were convincing. He had never meant something more than this.
As they stared into each other’s eyes, Yeonjun knew they were on the precipice of change. One push, and they’d go tumbling over the edge. Together.
And when Soobin smiled, and pulled Yeonjun into a crushing hug, Yeonjun held on for dear life. “I’m so glad I met you, hyungie,” Soobin breathed into his skin as they hugged so tight it was hard to breathe. “I was so scared when I got here, that people would only want to be friends with me because I was a prince, but you…you never treated me like one. It was so refreshing. Even when you didn’t like me, I had never met someone I could speak so freely to. I’m so fucking grateful to you, Yeonjun-hyung, so grateful.”
Now it was Yeonjun’s turn to tear up, and he quickly wiped his eyes. He was Slytherin, he needed to pull it together. A few still slipped out anyway, and he only hugged Soobin tighter. “You don’t need to thank me, Soobin. But since you are, I need to thank you, too. For being my friend, for proving me wrong about everything I thought about you. For putting up with my stubborn ass and giving me space when you knew I needed it. Just, thank you for being…you.”
They parted then, and when they saw each other’s faces, they burst into giggles. “We’re such a mess,” Soobin said as he wiped his eyes with the hem of his robe. Yeonjun hummed in agreement, before reaching out and taking Soobin’s hand in his. He slipped their fingers together, and Soobin’s flushed cheeks turned a shade rosier.
“Happy birthday, Soobin. I hope you’ll spend many more with us,” he whispered.
Soobin looked at their hands, before lifting his other to touch Yeonjun’s cheek. His caress was so soft and gentle, like a butterfly landing on a flower petal, and it made warmth spread throughout Yeonjun’s body.
“I hope I’ll spend all of my birthdays with you, hyung.”