Chapter Text
The royal garden bloomed with layers of spring, colours spilling over every corners bright and alive shaped by careful hands into something beautiful and restrained, much like the huge palace it served.
Marble paths cut clean lines through beds of pale roses and lilies, and trimmed hedges stood tall like silent witnesses to everything that was never said aloud within the palace walls.
Among all the vibrant flowers one of them stood out the most. The brightest and most beautiful flower in the whole kingdom, Prince Lee Felix Yongbok.
The youngest prince of the Lee empire, son of the King's beloved concubine from a foreign land, who's laughter once filled this garden. She closed her eyes not able to bear the pain of childbirth but her beauty and elegance lives with the young prince. In the curve of his smile, in his gentle presence or in the golden hair that differs him from everyone else in this land.
Maybe that's why the king is so protective of his younger son, that's why he can rarely go outside and learn to handle a sword like his elder brother does.
But Prince Felix does not wish to handle a sword. The two brothers can't be more different if wanted to
Where his elder brother commanded respect with sharp eyes and steadiness, Felix earned devotion with warmth alone. His smiles were soft and unguarded, his laughter rare but sincere, and when he spoke, people listened not because they were required to, but because they wanted to.
And Felix likes it when others listen to him. He likes talking. He doesn't wish to learn fight but he wishes to go outside the walls of this palace
The garden was his only escape
The silk robes the color of early spring draped easily over his frame. He moved through the garden as though he belonged to it, fingers brushing leaves, pausing to admire petals bent under the weight of dew. The court often whispered that the gods had made Felix too fragile for a crown, too kind for a world that thrived on strategy and steel.
Felix agrees. He didn't knew what it takes for the crown
He only knew that the garden felt safer than the throne room ever had.
A few steps behind him walked Hyunjin. The royal knight assigned to him once he turned sixteen
Always a few steps behind– never beside, never ahead.
He wore the armor of the royal knights, polished but worn at the edges, bearing marks of long service His presence was solid and grounding, like something unmovable set carefully into place.
If Felix was light, Hyunjin was his shadow, if Felix softened a room, Hyunjin guarded it.
To anyone watching, it was an unremarkable sight, a prince enjoying the garden air, accompanied by his sworn knight.
But there was a language beneath that appearances, and both of them spoke it fluently.
Felix slowed his pace just slightly not enough to be noticed by others, but enough that Hyunjin adjusted without thinking, his steps matching instinctively, falling only a step behind Felix. A distance that might be considered too close for a knight.
When Felix stopped to admire a rose, Hyunjin stopped too, eyes scanning the surroundings before settling- not on threats, but on Felix himself.
Their eyes met lingering a moment too long
Lips tugging upwards in shy smiles
Their hands never touched, even when they are close enough
They did not need to.
Felix felt Hyunjin’s attention like a steady warmth at his back, constant and protective, as familiar as breathing. It had been this way for two years now, so woven into his days that Felix sometimes forgot how dangerous it was to rely on it. But sometimes the thought of that impending danger creeps inside Felix's heart making him stiffen in fear
“You’ll wrinkle your sleeves if you keep doing that” Hyunjin said quietly, pointing at Felix picking on a loose thread, his voice low enough that it blended into the rustling leaves.
Felix smiled, not turning around
“They can be replaced.”
Hyunjin huffed softly “You cannot.”
The words were simple. Careful.
And yet they lingered between them, heavier than they should have been.
Felix finally turned, meeting Hyunjin’s gaze for just a moment— far too brief to be called indulgent, far too fleeting to be called improper. His eyes were bright, curious, endlessly kind, and they softened when they found Hyunjin’s.
“I am fine ”
There was so much Felix was not allowed to say.
So much Hyunjin was not allowed to hear.
Instead, Felix inclined his head slightly, a gesture that to the world meant nothing more than acknowledgment, but to Hyunjin meant an invite
Hyunjin lowered his gaze in return, as he always did, a knight before his prince.
Yet his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, not in readiness for battle, but in restraint.
The garden breeze carried the distant sounds of the palace, footsteps, murmured conversations, the life of the court continuing as it always had, blissfully unaware of the fault line running quietly beneath its foundations.
Felix started walking back, sunlight following him as faithfully as his knight.
★
Hyunjin had not always walked the palace gardens with such ease, nor worn the armor that bore the crest of the Lee Empire with pride. There had been a time when stone walls and polished marble felt foreign beneath his feet, when the weight on his shoulders had not been steel and duty, but hunger and uncertainty.
He had arrived at the palace years ago with little to no skill but a stubborn resolve.
The son of a failed painter, and becoming an orphan at the age of seven Hyunjin had grown up learning how to endure before he learned how to dream. His hands had known the roughness long before they ever brushed the hilt of a sword. He only earned a place among the lowest ranks of the royal guard, because some soldier saw him fighting street dogs for food and took pity in him
He never expected to climb the ranks, he was content with the plain cognee and a roof on his head
But Felix had noticed him
It had been during a training demonstration in the outer courtyard, the air thick with dust and the sharp clang of steel. Both princes trailed behind the king to observe.
Hyunjin had fought like someone who had nothing to lose, each movement wild and strong. Not maintaining any form or rule. When the match ended, bruised and breathing hard, he had looked up– preparing to get scolded– only to find the younger prince watching him with open fascination.
Felix had not clapped like the others.
He had simply smiled.
It was an expression Hyunjin would come to recognize too well. soft, thoughtful, as if Felix were already seeing something in him no one else had bothered to look for.
From that day on, their paths crossed more often than coincidence could justify.
Felix often visited the training grounds hidden behind his elder brother.
He would always find him, ask questions no one else did, curious not about victories or titles, but about where Hyunjin had learned to fight, what he thought of the city beyond the palace walls, whether he missed home.
Hyunjin tried to avoid him at first but Felix was persistent. So he started answering, carefully at first, unsure how to speak to someone who had never known want, but Felix listened with such earnest attention that it slowly became easier.
Dangerously so.
When Hyunjin was appointed as one of princes’s personal guards, it felt like an honor he was not sure he deserved. Standing close to the younger prince meant not only proximity to power, but it also meant proximity to warmth, to kindness offered freely and without expectation.
Felix never treated him like an object to be commanded.
He thanked him.
He apologized when plans ran late.
He remembered to call Hyunjin’s name when others did not.
Affection grew quietly, without permission, in the spaces between duty and silence. In the way Felix trusted Hyunjin with his safety without hesitation. In the way Hyunjin learned the rhythm of Felix’s steps, his expressions, the subtle ways he shrank under harsh voices and bright rooms.
It was never meant to become anything more than that.
But then on Felix's sixteenth birthday, he chose Hyunjin as his personal knight, asked for his loyalty and Hyunjin hadn't hesitated even a moment to swear his loyalty and his life to the young prince.
The smile that appeared on Felix's face had opened the door for a whole new world.
The proximity that one promise brought was dangerous but sacred.
There were no confessions, no sudden realizations—only a slow, inevitable shift, like the turning of seasons no one thought to stop. Hyunjin found himself watching Felix not out of obligation, but out of need. Felix began seeking Hyunjin’s presence not because he was assigned, but because the world felt steadier when he was near.
They learned restraint together.
They learned how to stand close without touching, how to speak without saying anything at all. How to exist in the narrow space the world allowed them, pretending it was enough.
For a time, it almost was.
Felix laughed more then, softer and more freely, and Hyunjin allowed himself to believe that happiness did not have to be grand to be real. That perhaps this quiet devotion, this unspoken understanding was something the world would overlook if they were careful enough.
★
They learned how to steal time from the palace the way others stole jewels quietly.
At night
Night changed the palace.
In daylight, every corridor belonged to the court, every breath measured and watched. But after the lamps were lit and servants retreated, the world softened, and Felix learned how to belong to himself again.
The lake was their first refuge.
It lay beyond the inner gardens, its surface dark and glassy beneath the moon, lotus flowers closing in on themselves as if they, too, were keeping secrets.
The first time Felix just wanted to escape but now the place has become precious well protected secret between the prince and his knight.
He sat at the edge with his feet tucked beneath him, cloak pulled close against the chill, Hyunjin sat beside. He looked different without his armour, almost like something is missing from his body
“You shouldn’t be here,” Hyunjin murmured, though his voice lacked any real conviction.
Felix smiled up at him “Why? It's nice and open.”
“That’s exactly why”
Felix laughed softly, the sound rippling across the water
“Then go put on your armour. If I’m going to break rules, I might as well do it properly.”
“You will be cold” Hyunjin said instead of answering
Felix leaned in, resting his head lightly against Hyunjin’s shoulder
“Then warm me”
Hyunjin closed his eyes. Then wrapped one arm around the prince's slim body
These nights were rare too risky, too exposed, but they lived in Felix’s memory like stolen jewels.
More often, their world narrowed to Felix’s chambers, carefully cleared of servants with practiced ease.
They never talked much about anything, Felix told Hyunjin about the constellations he had memorized as a child, tracing patterns in the air with delicate fingers, naming stars like old friends. Hyunjin spoke of his training days, of aching muscles and quiet victories no one had applauded, and Felix listened with the same reverence he gave to court poets and scholars.
It was in these moments that Hyunjin forgot himself and his supposed place.
Forgot armor and rank and consequence. Forgot that loving a prince was a crime without a name.
When the outside gets too dangerous, they moves to the next safest place, Felix's bedroom.
No one except the prince or someone with the prince's permission can step inside the east side halls, where the youngest prince's room is. They spend most of their time together in the bedroom, away from the noise and sharp eyes of everyone
Felix was good at dismissing people.
“Leave the candles”
he would say lightly to his servants,
“I want to read.”
Hyunjin learned the sound of the door closing meant safety.
Felix’s bed was far too large for one person, all carved wood and silken sheets, built for a prince who was meant to marry well and produce heirs. Instead, it became a sanctuary for two souls who had no place in the future they were expected to live.
They lay curled together beneath the heavy blankets, armor shed, crowns forgotten.
Hyunjin always tried to keep his distance at first.
“Hyunjin,” Felix would whisper, fingers already tugging him closer, voice soft with laughter
“if you move any farther away, you’ll fall off.”
“I shouldn’t—”
“You always say that.”
“ It's true”
Felix would grow quiet then, turning to face him, moonlight silvering his features.
“Don’t” he would say simply “Not tonight.”
Hyunjin never refused him twice.
The kisses they shared were soft and careful, foreheads touching, noses brushing, lips meeting like a question rather than a demand. Felix tasted like honey and warmth, like something Hyunjin had no right to want so badly.
“When my brother becomes king” Felix whispered one night, voice barely louder than breath
“He’ll change things.”
Hyunjin smiled sadly
“You say that every time.”
“And every time, you look like you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you,” Hyunjin said “I don’t believe the world.”
Felix tightened his grip on him “You don't have to. Just believe in me”
“I do.”
It was a promise they both pretended was enough.
And sometimes, it was enough– believing each other
“I heard there's a festival in the town ”, Felix said head tucked on Hyunjin's chest “The maids were talking about it”
“Yes, it started two days ago today is the last day,”
“Why didn't you tell me?” Felix pouted
Hyunjin smiled pressing a soft kiss on the pouting lips, “Didnt think you were interested ”
“Ofcourse I am! I like festivals. I've heard how colourful and nice they are!”
“They are loud”
“Thats the sound of happiness! I want to go to the festival! Take me!”
“My prince-”
“Dont call me that ”
“Felix, you know you can't-”
“Nonsense!” Felix grabbed Hyunjin’s wrist and tugged, laughing softly when Hyunjin barely moved
“Come on! I’ll take you to the festival.”
“You–” Hyunjin started, then stopped as Felix turned back and winked at him.
“Let’s go”
Hyunjin sighed, already defeated.
“One day,” he muttered, swinging his legs off the bed at last “your recklessness will be the death of me”
Felix beamed “You say that every time”
“And every time, I mean it more”
Felix crossed the room, dropping to his knees in front of the wardrobe and reaching far into its depths. When he stood again, he was holding two neatly folded black cloaks.
Hyunjin stared “Why do you have those?”
Felix tossed one at him “For sneaking out ofcourse”
Hyunjin caught it automatically
“Since when do you sneak out?”
Felix slipped his own cloak over his shoulders, fingers moving with practiced ease
“Since before I met you”
Hyunjin froze
“You’re telling me you’ve been doing this alone?”
Felix shrugged
“Not always. Minho used to help.”
Hyunjin pinched the bridge of his nose
“We need to have a serious conversation”
Felix laughed
“No we don't. Besides I haven't done this for two years, you kept me too busy”
They moved quietly through the corridors, Felix leading with confidence, avoiding guards with the ease of someone who had memorized the palace’s blind spots long ago.
Hyunjin followed closely, watching Felix more than the shadows.
“You’ve done this far too many times,” Hyunjin whispered.
Felix glanced back “You’re just jealous.”
“I’m concerned.”
“You’re always concerned”
“That’s because you’re always bringing trouble”
Felix slowed, letting Hyunjin catch up
“And you’re always there to save me.”
Hyunjin opened his mouth, then closed it again
“That’s my duty”
“I am aware”
The city greeted them with warmth and sound. Lanterns glowing overhead, music spilling from every street, laughter ringing freely in the air.
Felix stepped inside the crowd, eyes wide, taking it all in like it was still new to him.
“I love this part” he said softly.
“The noise?” Hyunjin asked.
“The freedom”
They walked shoulder to shoulder through the festival, Felix pointing out stalls he remembered, tugging Hyunjin toward food he insisted he had to try.
“You’re staring,”
Felix said, amused, when Hyunjin hesitated before a brightly colored stall.
“I’ve never been to a festival like this” Hyunjin admitted.
Felix blinked “Never? You are lying!”
Hyunjin shook his head “I could only watch from the streets before never daring to enter”
Felix’s expression softened
“Then tonight I will show you all fun things here”
And he did, dragging Hyunjin to all the stalls he could see
He bought two skewers and pressed one into Hyunjin’s hand “Eat.”
Hyunjin took a cautious bite, then another “…It’s good”
Felix grinned triumphantly “I know”
They wandered until the crowd thickened, hoods pulled over their faces, Felix occasionally brushed against Hyunjin’s arm, fingers catching on his sleeve like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Do you ever think about leaving?” Felix asked suddenly.
Hyunjin looked at him “Leaving?”
“The palace,” Felix said “All of it”
Hyunjin considered this carefully. “I did. Once.”
“And now?”
Hyunjin met his gaze “Now I think about staying.”
Felix smiled, small and fond “Good”
They stopped near the river, where children laughed and ran along the bank, releasing lanterns that drifted upward in glowing clusters, their light rippling across the water below.
Felix lingered near one of the stalls, fingers brushing over thin paper frames. He lifted one lantern carefully, the design painted upon it was a pale lotus, its petals unfolding gently in the glow.
Felix smiled to himself as he paid for it, holding it a little closer to his chest
“They say,” he murmured, fingers warm around the lantern, “if you make a wish over this lantern and it crosses the river, it comes true.”
Hyunjin glanced at the dark water “And if it doesn’t?”
Felix smiled softly “Then it was meant for another lifetime.”
He then brought the lantern near Hyunjin, smile still in place
“Make a wish”
Hyunjin shook his head “Knights don't make wishes”
Felix tilted his head “Then tell me what you want”
Hyunjin watched the flame flicker “I want you safe. Always”
“Thats not a wish”, Felix whined “You already keep me safe”
“It’s not enough”
Felix reached out, fingers brushing Hyunjin’s knuckles
“It is! Now tell me something different ”
Hyunjin sighed, “You” he said
“Whatever you wish for.... I want for it to come true”
Felix drew in a quiet breath, fingers tightening around the lantern.
“Then I wish…” he started, then laughed softly, like he was embarrassed by how small the words sounded. He looked up at Hyunjin
“I wish we can stay together for a long time”
Hyunjin’s expression softened immediately. He leaned closer, their foreheads touching.
“Then I’ll wish for the same thing,” he murmured.
They released the lantern together
For a moment, neither of them moved, breaths mingling, the soft glow from the lanterns brushing their faces. Hyunjin pressed a gentle kiss to Felix’s lips- unhurried, careful, like a promise meant to last.
When they finally turned back toward the palace, fingers still loosely entwined, they didn’t look back.
They never saw whether the lantern crossed the river or not.
★
Minho was the first to notice the change long before anyone else dared to.
As the Crown Prince, he carried the weight of expectation with sharp composure, his presence commanding without effort. He had inherited the king’s sternness and the queen’s intelligence, and the court often spoke of him as the future of the Lee Empire. What they did not speak of was how closely he watched Felix, how carefully he measured the world’s effect on his younger brother.
One evening, Minho found Felix in the library, curled in a window seat with a book upside down in his lap.
“You’re not reading,” Minho said mildly.
Felix startled, then laughed
“Was it that obvious?”
“You’re smiling at nothing”
Felix closed the book
“Maybe I like nothing.”
“Yeah? The 'nothing' standing behind you ”
Felix laughed heartily, not surprised or afraid he got caught
Minho studied him for a long moment
“Be careful,” he said finally.
Felix’s smile softened “I know”
Minho did more than warn.
He redirected the servants. Delayed patrols. Made excuses when Felix’s chambers remained closed longer than usual and stationed his own knight at the door.
When he saw Hyunjin leaving Felix’s wing late at night, he looked the other way.
Protection did not always roar. Sometimes it stood quietly between danger and love.
It was almost enough
Until the night it wasn’t.
Felix had sent everyone away as usual, laughter light as he closed the door behind the last servant. Hyunjin was already there, sitting on the edge of the bed, hands folded neatly in his lap.
“You look tired,” Felix said, crossing the room.
Hyunjin looked up at him like he always did, as if Felix were the answer to a question he had never learned how to ask.
Before either of them noticed the door hadn’t closed fully, Felix leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Hyunjin’s mouth.
It was brief.
It was tender.
It was seen.
The maid gasped. a sharp, involuntary sound that shattered the peace like glass.
Chan heard it before he saw her.
Chan, the sworn knight of the Crown Prince had been stationed nearby, half in shadow, attention trained on the corridor the second prince often used at night.
When the sharp intake of breath cut through the stillness, his head snapped up immediately. His hand moved to his sword out of instinct, then stilled when he saw only a maid frozen in place, one hand clamped over her mouth, eyes wide with something dangerously close to awe and fear.
Her gaze was fixed on the door. The second prince's chamber door
Chan understood at once.
“Come with me” he said quietly, stepping forward before she could think to run.
The maid startled, dropping her hand. “I—sir, I didn’t—”
“Now,” Chan repeated, “Before I drag you myself” his voice firm but low. He did not raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
He took her by the wrist—not roughly, but tight enough to make a warning_ and guided her away from the corridor before the silence could betray them further.
She stumbled to keep up, breath shallow, words tumbling uselessly from her lips.
“I didn’t mean to see anything, I swear, I was only -”
Chan said nothing. His jaw was set, eyes forward, already turning the possibilities over in his mind.
This was not something to be delayed. This was not something to be handled gently.
This was something that could ruin lives.
Minho was still awake.
Chan found him pacing his chambers, tension coiled tight in his shoulders, as if he was expecting trouble to come knocking. When he saw Chan enter with the maid Minho’s expression hardened instantly.
“What is this?” Minho demanded
Chan released the maid and stepped back, bowing his head slightly
“She saw something she should not have.”
Minho’s eyes flicked to the maid “What did you see?”
The maid’s knees buckled. She dropped to the floor at once, forehead pressed to the stone
“Your Highness, I— I swear I meant no harm—”
“I asked,” Minho said sharply, “what. did you see.”
Silence stretched, thin and suffocating
“The prince,” she whispered at last “And his knight”
Minho’s breath left him in a slow, controlled exhale.
Chan watched the change closely. The way Minho’s hands curled into fists, the way his jaw tightened, not in anger, but in fear.
Minho stepped closer, stopping just near her bowed form
“You will forget it,” he said
“You will forget what you think you saw. You will forget where it happened, when it happened, and who it involved.”
The maid trembled “I—I can’t—people wil—”
Minho crouched so they were eye level. His voice dropped, calm and dangerous
“Since when is it u duty to think about people? If a single word of this leaves your mouth,” he said quietly “you will not get to talk ever again. Do you understand me?”
Tears spilled freely from her eyes now
“Yes. Yes, Your Highness.”
Minho held her gaze a moment longer, then stood
“Go,” he said. “And pray you never remember this night again.”
The maid scrambled to her feet and fled, the sound of her footsteps echoing down the corridor long after she was gone.
When the door closed, Minho finally turned away, dragging a hand down his face.
Chan spoke carefully
“What will you do my prince ?”
Minho didn’t answer. He stared at the wall, as though he could see straight through it—through stone and distance, straight to the room where his brother laughed softly with the man he loved.
“I don’t know,” Minho said at last. “But it’s already too late.”
His chest tightened painfully.
Felix had always been too gentle for this palace. Too trusting. Too bright.
Minho pressed his palm against the table, grounding himself, even as dread coiled tighter around his heart.
Somewhere else in the palace, Felix and Hyunjin remained blissfully unaware, unknowing of the eyes that had seen them, the words that had already begun to travel, and the quiet storm gathering just beyond the walls.
But the truth, once out in the open air, never truly stayed where they were dropped.
Rumours never announced themselves.
They slipped between closed doors and lowered voices, gathered in corners.
The peace that once filled the prince’s palace slowly gave way to murmurs that refused to fade.
Servants paused mid-conversation when footsteps echoed too close, laughter cutting off too abruptly to be natural.
Eyes followed Felix longer than they should have, then darted away the moment he noticed.
He felt it without understanding any of it.
Whispers clung to the palace like damp air. Wherever Felix went, the quiet seemed to shift, conversations dissolving, trays lifted too quickly, heads bowing a little deeper than before. It was subtle enough to be dismissed, but persistent enough to unsettle.
Somewhere in the palace, a maid spoke too much.
She told herself she was only sharing what she had seen with her closest friends, that it was too strange to keep locked inside her chest. She swore it won't reach more ears or go outside this palace.
But she was wrong and eventually, it reached ears that did not tolerate uncertainty.
Then one day it was announced that the king is visiting the servant chambers.
The majesty of a kingdom visiting the lowly servant's chambers himself is already sign for disaster but still she told herself it was not for her- it was for something else that concerns the king
The next morning, the maid did not report for duty.
At first, no one thought much of it. Some assumed she had fled in fear, overwhelmed by her own recklessness. Others whispered that she had been quietly reassigned, sent far from the inner palace where mistakes were less costly. By evening, her name was spoken only in lowered tones then not at all.
★
A few days Felix got summoned by the king.
For lunch, the messenger said.
For an outsider it wouldn't be surprising. A father asking his youngest son to accompany him for lunch but for Felix – it made him shiver in fear.
The king never summons anyone without a reasons, for a mere lunch.
His legs shook like he had forgot to walk, like his body is telling him to stay, make an excuse but don't attend the lunch
Felix did anyway
“Sit”, the King said.
The table was covered with several dishes but there was not even a single butler in the room with them
The King didn't look angry or happy. His expression was like the calm before a storm, and it send shivers down Felix's spine
“You remind me of your mother,” the king said, almost idly
“She had a way of making people forget where they stood.”
Felix’s breath caught “Father-”
“She was admired,” the king continued “Loved, even. And yet, admiration has a way of turning careless. People begin to believe what is not meant for them belongs to them”
Felix’s fingers curled into the fabric of his sleeves.
The king finally looked at him then. “Tell me, Felix— do you believe affection excuses disobedience?”
“I would never disobey you father” Felix said quickly.
“For sure” the king hummed, as if considering the answer
“But you know disobedience is rarely declared. It creeps in quietly. Through habits. Through doors left open longer than they should be”
Felix’s heart stuttered
“The palace has eyes and ears. It notices things,” the king went on
“Patterns. Repetition. Proximity.” A pause.
“Especially when it involves those who forget the distance meant to separate them.”
Felix’s mouth had gone dry “If someone has spoken falsely-”
“Truth,” the king interrupted exhaling loudly, “has a way of surfacing without words.”
He stood, walking past Felix slowly
“I have spent years maintaining order in this empire. When something threatens that order, I remove the source before it spreads.”
Felix rose too quickly “You don’t mean-”
The king stopped behind him
“You are my son,” he said “That is the only reason I am giving you time”
Felix turned, trembling “Time… for what?”
“For reflection,” the king replied calmly “And for restraint”
He stepped away, the conversation clearly finished
“Go. Rest. Tomorrow will be… clarifying.”
Felix left on shaking legs
The corridors felt narrower than before, the air heavier. His pulse thundered in his ears as a single thought took over—Hyunjin.
He had to see him. Now. He needed to warn him, hold him, make sure he was still there.
Felix reached his chamber and stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
Then came the sound of metal sliding into place.
Felix turned back just as the lock settled.
And understood that this had never been a warning. It has already been too late
★
Hyunjin was dragged from his chamber before the sun could rise.
Hands seized him before he could fully wake up, rough fingers digging into his arms as he was dragged from his chamber without explanation. He barely had time to register the king’s guard before he was hauled down the corridors, bare feet scraping the rough stone
Only then did he understand why his day had been so strang. Why he had been sent away on pointless assignments, stationed far from the prince’s wing, kept just out of reach.
This had been planned.
They forced him to his knees in the throne hall, pressing his head down until his forehead struck the marble. The chill seeped into his skin. He could feel the royal presence looming above him.
The queen spoke first.
“So this is what crawled its way up” she said, voice smooth with disdain
“Funny how a rat born in mud thinks the palace belongs to him”
Hyunjin’s jaw tightened. He said nothing.
The king descended the steps slowly, the sound of his steps echoing through the hall like a verdict being delivered piece by piece.
“You were given everything” the king said calmly
“Shelter. Training. Purpose.” He stopped in front of Hyunjin
“And this is how you repay it.”
“I have served the empire faithfully,” Hyunjin said, voice low but steady.
The king laughed quietly “Service does not include desire.”
He paced in a slow circle
“Do you know,” the king began “how much effort it takes to keep an empire standing?”
Hyunjin stayed silent
“Answer me!”, the king yelled
Hyunjin followed him with his eyes “No, Your Majesty”
“Soldiers” the king started as though teaching a lesson
“Alliances. Bloodlines. A future planned generations ahead” He stopped in front of Hyunjin
“And all of it can be undone by one indulgence.”
The king crouched, “You are very good at your post,” he said mildly
“Loyal, skilled nd yet- replaceable.”
Hyunjin’s fingers curled against the marble.
“You have been noticed,” the king went on “Byt this King by the- Princes.... That alone should have been enough”
Hyunjin swallowed“If I have offended–”
The king struck him.
Not hard enough to knock him down. Just enough to snap his head to the side, the taste of iron blooming on his tongue.
“Do not pretend ignorance,” the king said calmly.
“Stay away from the prince. Return to your place never look towards the palace or the the second prince ever again and I shall think about letting you live”
Hyunjin’s breath hitched once, then steadied.
“I can’t”
The king stopped
“You will” he said flatly
Hyunjin shook his head, his voice shook,
“I would rather die than live a life without him”
The room stilled.
The king’s expression did not change.
He nodded once.
Then he hit him again. Harder this time. Hyunjin fell sideways, breath knocked from his lungs. Before he could recover, the guards hauled him up only to slam him back down.
A foot pressed into his ribs. Another strike landed against his back.
“Enough!” Minho’s voice rang out.
He ran into the hall, panic and fury etched across his face
“Father, please stop –stop this madness! What if Felix–”
The king turned, balled his fist and hit him just as swiftly.
Minho stumbled back, breath knocked from him, Chan catching him before he fell.
“You will not speak,” the king said coldly. “You will not interfere me!”
Hyunjin tried to push himself up, vision blurred, chest burning but his eyes searched instinctively.
Felix wasn’t there.
The realization hurt more than anything else.
“Take him,” the king ordered, already turning away
“Below. Let him consider the cost of ambition”
Chains were fastened around Hyunjin’s wrists. He barely felt them. His vision swam, ears ringing, body aching in places he would feel later. As he was dragged toward the doors, his thoughts reached only one place.
Felix
Felix doesn’t know.
Can’t know.
The doors closed behind him.
The throne hall returned to silence.
★
Felix was restless
The night pressed heavily against him, the hours stretched long past midnight, yet sleep never came.
His heart beat too fast, too loud, as if trying to warn him of something his mind refused to name.
Hyunjin had not appeared all day not at dawn, not at supper, not even in the quiet hours when Felix usually felt his presence like a promise just outside the door.
And the door would not open.
Felix had tried once. Then twice. Then a hundred more times. The lock did not give in
Panic had settled in his throat, dry and sharp.
He tossed and turned in his bed then paced the room, fingers digging into his sleeves, every shadow on the wall seeming too still.
Something was wrong.
He knew it with a certainty that made his hands tremble.
Then he heard it. The noise
The rushed footsteps. A scuffle outside his door
Before Felix could move, the door burst open.
Minho stood there, breathing hard, eyes wild and red-rimmed, a bruise on his cheek. Behind him, Chan had two guards pinned against the wall, his grip iron-tight, jaw clenched with effort.
“Felix,” Minho said, voice breaking
“You need to listen to me.”
Felix crossed the room in seconds, he didn't need to have it spelled out to know
“Where is he?”
Minho swallowed “Below”
The word landed like a blow
As Minho spoke – quick, fragmented, full of fury and helplessness - the world tilted.
The throne hall. The queen. The king’s cruelty. Chains. Blood. The underground prison.
Felix’s knees nearly gave out.
“We have to go,” Felix said, tears spilling freely now
“We have to get him out. We can- we can leave tonight. I don’t care where. I’ll give up everything I have”
Minho grabbed his shoulders
“You’ll be hunted.”
“I don’t care,” Felix sobbed
“I won’t be able to live without him.”
Chan released the guards with a shove that sent them stumbling away, unconscious
“We don’t have much time, if they took him there then- ” he said quietly, he didn't need to finish among everyone who has been taken to the underground prison before, no one was spared, ever.
They moved through the palace like ghosts.
The corridors narrowed as they descended, the air growing colder, heavier.
Torches flickered weakly against the damp stone walls . Felix’s chest hurt with every breath, fear and hope tangling painfully together.
The dungeon door groaned open.
Felix saw the chains first.
Then Hyunjin.
He was bound upright against the wall, wrists raised and shackled, his body bare dark bruises bloomed all over his skin. His head was bowed, hair falling into his eyes, breaths shallow but steady.
“Hyunjin,” Felix whispered
Hyunjin lifted his head slowly
The sound Felix made then was raw and broken. He ran forward, not caring about anything else, arms wrapping around Hyunjin’s battered form as carefully as he could manage.
“I’m here,” Felix cried
“I’m here, I’m so sorry I’ll get you out, I swear—”
Hyunjin gasped softly at the contact, but his arms shifted as much as the chains allowed
“Felix,” he murmured, voice rough. “You shouldn’t be here”
Felix pressed his face into Hyunjin’s shoulder, shaking
“We’ll leave. Together. We’ll go somewhere they can’t touch us”
Hyunjin smiled faintly, heartbreakingly gentle
“The palace is your world,” he said. “You belong to it”
Felix pulled back, eyes blazing through tears “I belong with you.”
Hyunjin shook his head
“ I don't have a place to go. You don’t know what life would be like on the streets” he whispered.
“Its not safe. It's not kind.”
Felix clutched him tighter “Neither is this.”
For a moment, the world narrowed to just them, the sound of their breathing, the cold stone beneath their feet, the unbearable ache of knowing time was slipping away.
“Just… stay with me,” Felix begged
“Please. I don't care where I go as long as you are with me”
Hyunjin leaned down as far as the chains allowed
“Then give me this” he said softly.
Felix kissed him.
Not careful. Not restrained. He poured everything into it— fear, love, desperation, promises he didn’t know how to keep. Hyunjin met him with equal urgency, as if trying to memorize the feeling.
“It’s not goodbye,” Felix whispered against his lips “It’s not”
A sharp sound echoed down the corridor.
Chan stiffened “We’ve been discovered”
Minho swore under his breath “Felix—”
Guards flooded the dungeon, torches flaring bright. Steel rang as weapons were drawn
Chan moved first, stepping in front of the princes “Hide,” he hissed “Or run now!”
But it was already too late.
Hands seized Felix, pulling him away from Hyunjin despite his cries. Minho was restrained beside him, fury blazing uselessly in his eyes.
Hyunjin strained against the chains trying to get his last glimpse of Felix
The guards closed in
The dungeon swallowed the sound
★
An emergency court was called in the dead of night.
Summons echoed through the palace corridors, urgent and unexplained.
Officials arrived confused, robes hastily thrown on, any questions swallowed before they can escape. No one dared to speak or question the king.
The king and queen sat on their, waiting. Their faces tight but storms brew under their eyes
Hyunjin knelt at the center of the hall.
His knees scraped, his head forced down by two guards standing on either side of him. He did not resist, not because he had surrendered, but resistance had already been taken from him.
Felix was dragged in moments later, settling him several steps behind the knight
He screamed Hyunjin’s name the instant he saw him, his voice raw and breaking as the guards restrained him on both sides.
He thrashed against them, his cry of desperation bordered on madness, nails clawing uselessly on the floor
“Hyunjin—please—please look at me! Let me go! I am telling you let me go”
Hyunjin tried to lift his head but was immediately pushed down with brute force
Minho was beside Felix, held back similarly. His jaw was clenched tightly, blood streaked the corner of his mouth from biting his lips too hard
His eyes never left his father—not once. Glaring like he would burn that man this instant if he could.
Chan knelt behind head bowed powerlessly
The king rose
“A knight,” he announced calmly “has forgotten his place”
His voice carried through the hall, steady and unyielding
“Ambition beyond one’s station is a danger to the empire. It poisons loyalty. It threatens the order.”
Felix's cries grew even more “Father—please—he’s done nothing— please—”
The queen did not even look at him. She never liked Felix to begin with
“The sentence” the king continued, unmoved, not caring about his son begging on floor at all
“Execution. Effective immediately”
The words fell like stone.
The executioner stepped forward.
Felix screamed
“No! No! Please please, I’ll do anything—take me instead– take me not him please— not him– I beg you I beg you father–”
The guards tightened their hold as he thrashed, his voice cracking with every plea. Hyunjin tried to move, but the hands on him forced him still.
There were no last words.
No goodbyes.
No mercy.
Felix’s scream tore through the hall as the final order was given and then the world went black.
It was over. Everything
The guards released them as though nothing of consequence had occurred. Minho gathered Felix's limp form into his arms, his hands shaking as he held his brother close.
“Take him to his chambers” the king said, already turning away “Ensure he rests.”
Minho could only nod.
Even as the Crown Prince he had never seen such cruelty before
Chan guided them through the corridors in silence.
Felix was conscious when they reached his room, his eyes open but empty, tears slipping soundlessly down his cheeks. He did not resist as Minho laid him on the bed.
The door closed.
The lock slid into place. Locked tight as per the King's orders
Morning came too quietly
Minho returned at first light, prepared to argue, to demand that his brother be allowed food, air anything. He unlocked the door himself, calling Felix’s name as he stepped inside.
The room was empty
The window stood open
For a moment, Minho could not breathe
The chamber was high too high. Stone dropped away beneath the window like the edge of the world.
His mouth went dry as he ran forward, dread pounding in his ears.
He already knew. And– he was not wrong
Later, the palace gathered again— this time dressed in mourning attire
The once lively second prince lay still, pale as porcelain, his hands folded neatly over his chest. There was no pain on his face. Only a softness, and something heartbreakingly close to peace.
Minho stood before his father, fists clenched at his sides.
“Are you satisfied now?” he asked quietly.
The king did not answer.
Minho turned back to his brother, throat tight, vision blurring.
Felix looked almost as he always had gentle, beautiful, untouched by cruelty.
Still smiling as though he believed he would find his love again beyond this lifetime
★
A boy with long bleached blond hair leaned against the railing of the school rooftop, sunlight catching in the soft waves of it like it had always belonged there.
Freckles dusted his cheeks and nose, scattered so perfectly it almost felt unfair, and his smile was wide, warm, made even the passing clouds look dull in comparison. If angels existed, they would probably be jealous of him
The name tag pinned to his uniform read: Lee Felix.
Felix had his phone pressed between his shoulder and ear, a half-unwrapped lollipop clenched between his fingers. A lotus charm bracelet hanging around his wrist
“Jisung, you bitch” he said cheerfully, popping the candy into his mouth
“You said you’d meet me here ten minutes ago.”
A pause. Then—
“No, don’t lie to me. I can hear music. You’re still in the cafeteria, aren’t you?”
He scoffed, turning slightly, leaning his weight back against the railing without a care in the world
“You better run here right now or I’m telling—woah—”
His foot slipped.
For half a second, the world tilted. The sky rushed too close. The railing felt suddenly useless beneath his hands.
'is this the end? Oh no i am too pretty to die!'
Just then fingers closed around his wrist, another hand wrapped itself around his waist steadying him
Felix gasped as he was pulled back, stumbling forward until his chest collided with someone else’s.
The hand remained firm on his arm, grounding him like it had done this several times before
“You almost fell” a voice said
Felix blinked, heart pounding, then looked up
“Oh my god” he breathed, laughing a little too loudly from leftover adrenaline
“Thank you for catching me! You saved my life!”
The boy in front of him was tall, had long dark hair that's tied neatly at the nape of his neck. There was a mole just under one of his eyes, striking in a way Felix couldn’t immediately place- like he’d seen it somewhere before.
His expression was calm, but his grip hadn’t loosened yet.
“Don’t thank me,” the boy said, eyes lingering on Felix’s face
“I won’t let you fall again.”
Felix tilted his head “Again?”
The boy froze
“I- uh,” he said, blinking. His hand dropped as if he’d just realized he was still holding on
“Sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”
Felix studied him, curiosity blooming instead of awkwardness
“That’s okay,” he said easily
“You talk like you’ve known me forever”
A flicker of something crossed the boy’s face— confusion, maybe, or something softer.
Felix glanced down automatically.
Hwang Hyunjin, the name tag read.
“Well,” Felix said, sticking the lollipop back between his lips, “I’m Felix”
“I know,” Hyunjin replied without thinking
Felix raised an eyebrow “You do?”
Hyunjin cleared his throat “I mean- your name tag”
Felix laughed, bright and unguarded,
“Right. That would do it.”
His phone buzzed again in his hand
“Jisung, I swear—” Felix began, then paused, glancing back at Hyunjin
“Hey, do you hang out on the rooftop often?”
Hyunjin hesitated “Sometimes.”
Felix smiled at him like the answer mattered more than it should have
“Thats great. I like it here too”
The bell rang in the distance.
Neither of them moved right away.
For a moment, something warm and strange lingered in the air, like a promise neither of them remembered making, but both somehow felt it.
And somewhere deep in Felix’s chest, his heart beat just a little too fast, as if something has lifted and it finally found its way back to something it had been missing all along.