Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a king, a queen, and a newborn prince.
The prince was adored by everyone, especially his parents. The two were so enthralled by the baby that they neglected to take care of political matters. The higher ups of the kingdom were forced to take care of things in their absence.
Everyone assumed it was just the joy of having a newborn that caused the reigning couple to forget their duties, but there was really an underlying cause that no one else had seen, until a servant held the baby for the first time.
The servant was just there to wash the baby while the mother was napping, but the queen found that the servant still hadn’t put her son down to sleep, even hours after finishing his bath. The queen had to forcefully remove the newborn from her arms, and even then, the servant followed her throughout the halls.
The queen became concerned. She worried that this lady had become obsessed with her baby and would try to steal him or hurt him. So, she ordered the servant to be exiled from the palace.
But the same phenomenon kept occurring. As more and more servants started to help take care of the prince, they all became obsessed with him. They fawned over him and never left his side. They all volunteered to do whatever needed to take care of him. And they even started to fight amongst themselves when only one was needed to take care of the baby.
The queen and king didn’t know what to do. Something was wrong within the palace. Either these servants were deranged, or their baby was cursed.
Their only option was to take their son to the witch on the outskirts of the kingdom. Magic and sorcery were banned within the kingdom, but the witch had once procured a potion to save the king’s life, so she was allowed to stay. Still, the king forced her to live alone deep in the forest, where she could not interfere with others’ lives.
The king assumed some type of magic must be at play when it came to their son, so they headed off to see the witch and ask her to examine him. Hopefully she could figure out what to do and fix it.
The king and queen arrived at the cottage late at night. The witch greeted them with smiles and invited them inside. The artifacts and talismans scattered about the room sent chills through the royal family, but they kept their mouths shut. As soon as they had answers, they could leave.
Almost immediately, the witch began to explain that every blessing came with a curse. Every favor had a price to pay, including the potion that saved the king.
The king started to yell, seeing where her explanation was going. He threatened to have her executed for her acts of terrorism against the throne. But the witch remained calm. She pulled out the scroll which held the contract the king signed. In the fine print at the bottom, it was explained that a curse would be placed on the king’s firstborn child as payment for the potion. Harming the witch went against the contract, and would reverse the effects of the life-saving spell still within the king’s body.
The queen began to cry. Their son was cursed and there was nothing to be done about it. The witch took compassion on her, and tried to explain that the prince’s curse wasn’t as bad as it seemed, and that it even included a loophole, like most magic.
Anyone who touched the prince would fall desperately in love with him. But “touch” was a tricky word. Just a brushing of clothes wouldn’t have any effect. No, there had to be contact between skin in order for the curse to take hold of another victim. If the king and queen simply made sure to keep their son’s skin covered at all times, no one else would fall in love with him.
The queen’s crying ceased. The loophole was reasonable. They just had to be careful. The royal family left the witch’s cottage before anything else could transpire.
Upon returning to the castle, the prince’s group of “lovers” rushed to him, each trying to take him from the queen. But she held him firmly until the curse bearers were taken away.
The king and queen were compassionate. Now that they understood that the obsessed servants were victims to magic and not at any fault, they did not want to exile them. They decided to let the group continue to help raise the prince. Now that they knew of the exact parameters of the curse, they could make sure no one else fell prey to it.
The prince was not allowed to be touched by anyone outside of his realm as he grew up. But certain circumstances started to arise that required he be near others. He was homeschooled of course, but was not kept captive instead the castle. He wanted to explore, to visit the countryside outside of the city. His parents allowed him, as long as he stayed wrapped up. He wore long pants that tucked into tall boots, a shirt with a high collar to cover his neck, and gloves to cover his hands. The only part of his skin exposed was that on his face.
Over the years, the prince stayed safe. But accidents still happened. An elderly lady who greeted him at one of his visits to the countryside kissed his cheek before anyone could stop her. She fell in love with the prince instantly, clinging to his side until the day she died.
A boy just a few years younger than him accidentally touched his leg when the pants tore during a game of ball. The boy was allowed to move into the castle to stay with the prince, and they ended up becoming very close. The prince grew to consider him his best friend.
A young lady, a palace servant just a few years older than him, touched his hand one day as she was serving him food. Soobin took off his gloves occasionally, but everyone knew to stay away when that happened. However, this woman was new, and she had not yet witnessed just how severe the curse could be. But she got to learn for herself after making contact with the prince.
Her love was different from everyone else’s. She didn’t just obsess over the prince, she admired him. She adored him and desperately wished for that same adoration in return. But the prince just could not do it. This girl had fallen in love with him by force. Even if she saw her love as genuine, he knew it was not so. And so he couldn’t love her back.
Over time, the obsession faded slightly within each person. It certainly helped that the curse almost never seemed to manifest as romantic love, but a more filial, platonic type of love. The one exception was the servant girl. But even her romantic love slowly mellowed out over the years. Even with a curse at play, neverending rejection would cause love to fade.
Soobin grew used to the curse, as well. He had to, since there was no breaking it. Plus, it was easy when he was surrounded by his “lovers” from birth. Having his own harem was normal to him.
Things stayed steady for a long time. Soobin began training to take over the throne around age 16. He attended school during the day, and then went to royalty classes in the evening. It was an exhaustive routine, but necessary to prepare him.
He finished all of his schooling around age 20. He was ready to rule the kingdom. However, that couldn’t happen until his parents died. In the meantime, he helped them in any way he could, taking care of the more menial tasks throughout the kingdom.
Soobin didn’t mind it. He enjoyed connecting with his subjects. They each had such intricate lives that he almost grew envious of them. He wished he had a chance to live like them, to have a simpler way of life. But he did not take his crown for granted. He was lucky to live in luxury.
One of Soobin’s favorite tasks was to check on the elderly in the nearby village. The team watching over them was understaffed and often struggled to not become outnumbered by clients. Soobin couldn’t do much to help, but he brought extra food and spent time with the elders so the caretakers could take a break.
Soobin tried to make sure the food he brought was healthy and delicious. He didn’t bring canned or boxed food, but rather home-cooked meals. The elders’ favorite was his kimchi stew. He worked hard the evening before to prepare a large pot of it. He had to cut up lots of vegetables and ingredients to make the stew, which required his gloves to be removed from his hands.
Usually, this wasn’t an issue. Soobin cooked late at night when most were asleep. The few people he sometimes saw were other kitchen staff, and they usually stayed out of his way.
But this time was different.
While Soobin was standing in the pantry collecting ingredients, another person entered. Soobin didn’t notice them at first and ended up colliding with their person as he turned. The items Soobin was holding fell to the floor as the other person exclaimed, “Hey! Watch it!”
Soobin was taken aback by the words. Everyone in the kingdom knew who he was, so why would someone yell that at a person of his status? Did they not know who he was?
“Excuse me?” Soobin hesitated to pick up his items so that he could see who the perpetrator was.
It appeared to be a man. By his outfit, he seemed to be a staff member, but Soobin could not tell which kind. He remained bent over to gather his things, so Soobin couldn’t see his face.
Eventually, he stood up and faced the prince. “I told you to wat- oh.” Recognition fluttered across his features.
Soobin waited for an apology, but it never came. The man did not even smile at him. He still looked annoyed, which baffled Soobin, since it wasn’t even his fault that they’d bumped into each other.
“Who are you? And what is your position?” Soobin was beginning to get fed up, as well. He didn’t like it when people disrespected him.
“Choi Yeonjun. I’m a knight. Can I leave now?”
Soobin scoffed. He could not believe this man was treating him in such a way. “At least help me pick up my food first.”
“Sure, of course.” Yeonjun quickly sat his own items down and bent over to grab Soobin’s things. Soobin leaned down, too. There weren’t many things, so Yeonjun grabbed it all and shoved them into Soobin’s hands.
Soobin thought nothing of it until the feel of bare skin against his own registered in his brain. Their fingers had just brushed, and he didn’t have his gloves on. Shit.
Soobin took a step back and looked at Yeonjun. But nothing seemed to happen. Yeonjun continued to put more things into Soobin’s hands, still occasionally making contact. Once he was finished, he asked, “Can I go now?”
Soobin was stunned. Why was nothing happening? Did Yeonjun not realize that he’d fallen in love with Soobin? Or had he not fallen at all?
“Um… yeah.” Soobin watched as Yeonjun turned and left, without so much as a goodbye. It was an odd exchange. And Soobin didn’t know what to make of it. Did his curse really have no effect over this man? How could that be?
Soobin put his ingredients back down. He wouldn’t be able to focus on cooking now.
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Soobin did not stop thinking about Yeonjun for quite some time. In fact, he never stopped thinking about him. It was simply incredible how Yeonjun had touched his hands multiple times and did not become cursed.
Soobin told his parents about the incident just a few days after it occurred. They seemed just as confused. Nothing like this had ever happened. Every single person who’d touched Soobin had fallen in love with him. There were no exceptions, until now.
There was only one person who could possibly know what was going on.
Sooin set off for the woods early the next morning. He packed a lunch and brought his sword, just in case. The trek took him a while, but he eventually made it to the witch’s cottage.
Soobin had heard stories of the witch, but he’d never actually met her. He was aware that she was the cause of his curse, though, so she must know why Yeonjun wasn’t affected by it.
He knocked on her door three times. No response. He knocked again and this time, the door flew open with a strong gust of wind. But there was no one behind it.
Soobin gingerly stepped inside. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Step inside, child.” The voice came from the corner of the room, but Soobin could not see anyone standing there. All he could make out in the dimly lit room was a table, upon which was a cauldron.
“Um, I have a question regarding my curse. Could you answer it for me?”
“Of course, dear. What is it?” The voice asked.
“I touched hands with one of the knights of the castle and nothing happened. Usually, touching skin would cause someone to fall in love with me. But this time, it did nothing. Why would that happen?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure. Is the unaffected one with you?”
Soobin shook his head.
“I see. In order to figure out what is going on, I am going to need fresh blood from both of you. Bring the person back with you, and then I will answer your question.”
“But-” Soobin tried to question the witch again, but a strong wind pushed him backwards. He was forced straight out the door. He fell to his butt as the wooden door slammed in his face.
Well, now what? He didn’t even know where Yeonjun was stationed. How was he supposed to find him and convince him to come see the witch with him?
As far as Soobin could tell, the knight did not care for him. There was no way he would so easily be convinced to join Soobin on a journey to visit a witch.
So, Soobin came up with a plan. If he could befriend Yeonjun, then it would be easier to get him to come along. With that thought in mind, he stood and began the long walk back home.