Chapter Text
"For you," A hand stretched towards Baekhyun, fingers holding a stem lightly.
"Really?" Eyes shining, Baekhyun touched the petals of the rose, before grasping it. "It's so beautiful,"
"Only the best for my dear," Sehun murmured as Baekhyun walked into his embrace, lips curled into a content smile, wings wrapped around Sehun's torso.
He rustles his wings, when Sehun's hands touch the feathers. Baekhyun has jet black raven wings, as dark as night, but Sehun has hawk wings, brown and elegant and everything Baekhyun wanted.
It is not until Baekhyun returns to his room from their moonlit, clandestine meeting does he turn the stem of the bloom in his hands like a precious shining thing. He admires it's beauty, perfection in all angles.
The maids in his room have sparkling eyes when he return, sparrow wings twitching excitably, eyeing the blossom, urging him to tell them about his date as they dress him for bed. He does tell them; he always tells them. They are the only ones he can really trust with the information.
They gush, then rush, to get a clear vase filled with water to soak the flower in. By the time Baekhyun is in his bed, the maids brushing his hair, he has a healthy blush on his cheeks, warm with the affection his maids give him.
He and Sehun have been a thing for a month now, but it is kept under tight wraps. Baekhyun doesn't want it to be like this, but it has to. All will be gone if he exposes them. For Baekhyun is a prince. An engaged prince on top of that. And Sehun is a gardener, a mere servant Baekhyun was taught to look down upon.
Baekhyun despises the fact that he was engaged; he loved Sehun. What worsened the fact was that he was engaged to a damned tiger. It was his parents', the king and queen, decision to marry him off to some unknown stranger in the name of reconciling the Aves and the Felidae, and he felt like a mere pawn in their game.
What made it worse was the fact that he was to meet his fiancé the following week.
No, Baekhyun decided, this cannot happen, I do not want to marry someone who I don't even know. I want Sehun.
But what could Baekhyun do? He couldn't just go to his parents and say, "Mom, Dad, I love our gardener and want to marry him instead of my fiancé,"
Baekhyun knew he had to do something, but what?
We could run away, Baekhyun thought as sleep finally caught up to him. We could run away.
The next day, Baekhyun is roused by his maids, claiming his parents wanted to see him for something apparently very, very, important. He groans, the red rose in his dreams still imprinted behind his eyelids. But when he blinks the sleep away, he is met by the pearly white Rosa Multiflora Sehun gifted him the previous day.
When Baekhyun is ushered out by the chattering sparrow-maids, he heads towards the throne room, where he knows his parents will be. As he stands before the double mahogany doors, he rearranges his wings once more out of nervous habit, takes a deep breath and stalks in.
"Baekhyun," His parents nod at him as he strides up to them.
"Your Highnesses," He bowed once, before saying, "Mom, Dad,"
He walked up to them, leaning forward to kiss his mother on both her cheeks and give a nod to his father.
"How was your sleep, my son?" Baekhyun's mother pats his cheek affectionately.
"I slept well, Mom," He replied dutifully, warmth flooding his eyes.
"Son," Baekhyun's father started. "Your mother and I both think that it is time for you to meet your fiancé,"
Baekhyun stiffens up. No, this can't be happening to him.
"We haven't been treading on very good relations with the Felidae kingdom," he continues, seemingly not noticing Baekhyun's state of conflict. "It would be good for both Aves and Felidae if you and Chanyeol start to show signs of interest in your marriage,"
"I-" Baekhyun doesn't know how to respond. Should he tell them about Sehun? Or should he break up with him?
No. Sehun means too much to Baekhyun for him to want to end their relationship.
So what should Baekhyun do?
Run away. We could run away.
"Yes, father," he says stoically, face betraying nothing like how he has been taught.
"Go have your breakfast then, Baekkie," His mother says affectionately.
Baekhyun bows once more, before striding out of the room, struggling to keep his composure. But once he is outside, he immediately leans against the wall beside the doors, breathless. His eyes are out of focus, heart thumping furiously.
After five minutes, Baekhyun's eyes finally stop darting around and he hefts himself off the wall, catching his own weight and stumbling towards the dining hall.