APPLICANT #0

the prince of luce, oh suwoong

 

He is running. Sehun is in front of him, they are playing a game of catch in the corridors of the castle. They are young, so young. His cousin is just a little boy, soon to celebrate his eighth birthday. It is the end of winter but the Kingdom of Luce is still cold. It is an unusually long winter, snow can still be found in the city and Sehun wants to make a snowman. How could he refuse his bubbly little cousin? So he follows him as they run, laughter echoing in the corridors, making the servants stop and look at them with enchanted smiles. The castle is always lively with those two. When they finally reach the outdoor gardens of the palace, he is stopped in his steps by the chilling cold. It feels even colder than before. Even under layers of warm clothes, he feels the snow piercing his skin. It hurts a bit. But nevermind, Sehun is waiting for him. They play for a while with the snow, throwing some at each other in a friendly fight. He always touches him, but Sehun is too clumsy to replicate his big cousin’s great aim. He opts for something he knows he can win, so he runs to his cousin and jumps on him, effectively starting him. He does not feel the shock, nor does he feel pain when he falls on the blanket of snow – but he feels the cold. It hurts him. It is so cold, too cold. His head starts hurting so much that he cannot prevent a pained moan to leave his lips. His vision is blurry. He cannot move. He hears Sehun’s voices saying his name, as if he was far away, he hears screams. His body feels so hot, so cold. His young brain cannot register his feelings anymore – but it hurts so much. The last thing he hears before losing consciousness is the voice of a woman telling him to sleep.

 

Suwoong woke up with a start. He looked around him as he tried to calm his frantic heartbeat, then sat down. He fell asleep in the library again, as it happened once in a while. It was not nighttime yet, so he guessed Baekhyun was not panicking that he was not in his royal chambers, which reassured him. No matter how much he loved his servant, he did not need him fussing, not after this nightmare. The young Prince sighed and stood up to put the books to their rightful place, his mind still preoccupied. It had been a while since he had been reminded of this snowy day; the day he fell sick. After this incident, he fell in a coma for two months and woke up weak and almost delirious. The physicians had told his father he would not make it but in the end, they were wrong. Suwoong survived but was not healthy enough to rule, leaving his young cousin, who had just turned eight, to fulfill his role. He had felt so guilty for Sehun at the time that he had felt the need to be by his side no matter what. So he fought this illness that no one had understood, proving that the near thirteen-year-old Prince was not ready to die.

 

He had not won this fight yet, but what he had lived during the past years had been enough to battle for his life. To be honest, reclaiming the throne had not been something he had planned at the moment, but the circumstances made it that way. Suwoong smiled softly. Sehun was a lot happier now that the pressure of the crown was not on his shoulders anymore.

 

“Suwoong-hyung?”

 

The Prince turned around and grinned.

 

“Sehun!” he greeted, taking a few steps closer to hug his cousin. “Were you planning to read?”

“You had it again, right?”

Suwoong frowned. “What?”

“The nightmare,” his cousin said, watching him with worry all over his face, “you had it again.”

“…Yes,” the Prince nodded, watching silently as the young male took one of his hands into his own. “How did you know?”

“You have always been warm, you have comforting hands. But whenever you have this… dream, your skin turns ice cold. Your hands are cold right now.”

 

Suwoong let out a ‘oh’ of understanding and let Sehun warm him up. He took the opportunity to observe the younger male. He had grown taller, slightly taller than him even, his jaw had sharpened and his body had lost all trace of baby fat. He was a man now, and somehow, it pained him.

 

“Stop scrutinizing me, hyung!” Sehun scolded him, while he answered with a laugh.

“Sorry, little one, I was just thinking about how handsome you became.”

 

Suwoong burst into laughter as his cousin’s deep blushing face and took his hand, taking him away from the library. The younger male did not fight, instead he let himself be taken to what he assumed would be the kitchen for an afternoon snack, knowing his cousin’s neverending appetite. He almost snorted at how predictable Suwoong was as they reached the familiar location. The servants greeted them with a bow and an old maid chuckled at the sight of the two royals.

 

“Is it not too early for dinner, your Highnesses?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“It is never too early for strawberries, Nana!” Suwoong joked as he sat down at a nearby table. “I know that we just received a some from Hatio, it was written in the docker’s documents.”

 

The maid laughed at the Prince’s enthusiasm and left the room for a few seconds, only to come back with a freshly baked strawberry pie. Sehun scoffed at his cousin’s shining eyes and smiled. If anyone was to know that the heir to the throne became all giddy in front of anything made of strawberry, he would lose all dignity. But even then, as he thought of how ridiculous his cousin’s addiction was, he could not help smiling at the child-like Prince. He watched as Suwoong took a bit and moaned in delight, before shaking his head. After all his older cousin had fought for, Sehun thought that if that was the only reward he was asking for, then he would buy him all the strawberries in the world to see him smile again. 

 

 

upperclass themes 2014 ©