Hakyeon stared at his father with a terrified look on his face. He couldn’t believe what his father was saying. They came from a pretty wealthy family, but lately, they had had it quite bad. Money lost its value, and now Hakyeon had to marry a prince, so his father could get money. Only problem was, a prince wanted a woman from a wealthy family, not a man, like Hakyeon was.

Honestly Hakyeon didn’t mind marrying another man, he was just concerned about the one he would marry. What if the prince found out Hakyeon was a man? Hakyeon thought about what most likely would happen to his family, including him. They could be executed, if not, then sent to prison for the rest of their lives. Hakyeon shuddered, it wasn’t a pleasant thought.

    “Hakyeon? Can you hear me? You will go by the name Haneul,” Hakyeon was awoken from his thought by his father’s voice. He nodded in response, he couldn’t really say no to his father, especially when they were this short on money. He nodded and bowed to his father, the conversation had ended. Hakyeon left the room, only to find his personal servant at the door.

    “Sir, I think we should try fitting the clothes,” the servant said making a hand motion towards Hakyeon’s bedroom, and Hakyeon followed his lead towards the room.

    “Will you stay as my servant?” Hakyeon asked, he needed someone’s support while living in the castle, and there was nothing wrong with having a maid but how was he going to explain the fact that he was a man.

    “I will stay as you personal guard and advisor, one of your mother’s maids will become your maid, but don’t worry, she will know about all of this and I will help you out like I’ve always done,” the servant, named Minhyuk, explained. Hakyeon was relieved to hear this, most of his worries were gone. He would portray a woman until he felt comfortable enough to tell the prince, he would have to do it at some point, he couldn’t live his life in a lie, even if it meant being executed.

The hanbok didn’t fit him perfectly, it was a little bit too large. The maids promised to make it a little bit smaller, and a few other ones too. It wasn’t that uncomfortable wearing a woman’s hanbok as he had imagined, after all, it wasn’t styled for a man’s body.

“The maids have already started sewing on the hanbok you’ll wear at the wedding,” Minhyuk told Hakyeon as he showed a half ready hanbok. It was red and blue, simple but unique gold details graced to fabric. It was beautiful.

“This is the one you will wear tomorrow, your father will sign the marriage papers and you are expected to be present, the prince will be there too,” Minhyuk showed Hakyeon a dark blue hanbok, with similar gold details as the previous one, but more simple. Hakyeon liked it.

Hakyeon couldn’t sleep well that night, he was worried about everything. What if his voice was too deep? What if the prince didn’t like him? He tried to make his new name feel familiar. Haneul… It was a beautiful name, Hakyeon liked the meaning of it too, heaven. At last, when he fell asleep looking at the stars of the autumn night he was at peace, maybe everything would work out after all.

~ * ~

Hakyeon stared at himself in the mirror, he was wearing the dark blue hanbok, his mother’s maid, who was now his maid, had put makeup on him and styled a wig in a beautiful way and placed it on his head. He really looked like a woman, and he felt beautiful. He had followed the maid’s movements clearly, he needed to know how a woman moved. It took time, but he was sure he got the hang of it.

    “Sir, we should leave, your father is waiting” the maid, whose name he still hadn’t caught, said. Hakyeon followed her lead and they met Minhyuk outside their house. Minhyuk gave him an encouraging nod, and started walking next to Hakyeon, the maid following closely behind. His father, who walked up front with his servant, hadn’t said a single word to Hakyeon. Maybe it was because of the shame, marrying your son off as a woman to a prince for money. The walk to the castle wasn’t long, they lived in the better area of the town, near the castle, after all.

The guards at the castle doors lead the small company to a conference room Hakyeon guessed. The door was opened for him and his father, and they stepped inside. Both Hakyeon and his father’s bowed down to the floor before the king and prince. When Hakyeon lifted his head from the floor he saw the king in front of him, sitting behind a table. The prince, Hakyeon guessed, was standing at the back, and Hakyeon blushed when their eyes met. The prince must’ve been curious about his looks.

The prince was younger than Hakyeon, but not by many years. He had a good posture, you could see he was a prince just by one glance. He held his head high and was proud of who he was, he pretended not to be weirded out by the fact that his future ‘wife’ was in front of him. Hakyeon could see how he tried to sneak glances at him, trying to figure out more about Hakyeon.

    “Haneul is a beautiful woman,” the king laughed and Hakyeon turned his head towards the kind and lowered his head a little bit.

    “Thank you,” he really had blushed, he never knew it felt this good to get compliments as a woman, he was determined to compliment every woman he saw from now on.

    “I’m sure the prince will be pleased. Sanghyuk what do you think?” the king turned his head to the prince. The prince let his eyes meet Hakyeon’s before responding his father’s question.

    “She’s really beautiful, I can’t wait to get to know her,” the prince, Sanghyuk, answered. His father laughed, Hakyeon really liked the king.

After a lot of signing and talking, Hakyeon and Sanghyuk were permitted to leave.

    “Show Haneul around, talk for a bit, get to know each other,” the king waved them off and both of their fathers continued talking. Hakyeon followed Sanghyuk out of the room, and nodded for the maid and Minhyuk to follow them. Sanghyuk’s had a guard or advisor of his own, who also followed them. Sanghyuk didn’t talk much, he must’ve been nervous, Hakyeon thought.

    “I really like your name, Haneul,” Sanghyuk said as they walked out in a small garden, pointing at the sky, laughing a little bit. “I’m sorry, that was a bad joke,” Sanghyuk continued laughing awkwardly, a blush crept up on his cheeks and Hakyeon had never seen anything cuter in his life.

    “It was cute,” Hakyeon giggled, he was almost shocked how girl-like his giggle sounded like and tried to play it off cool. Sanghyuk smiled and motioned for them to sit down on a bench.

The garden was beautiful, it had been taken care of very well. Flowers bloomed, even if it was getting cold, there was a small pond and the sound of splashing from the few fishes in it was very calming. Hakyeon admired every corner of the garden, he could get used to visiting this place more often.

    “Do you like it?” Sanghyuk asked Hakyeon, who still was taking in every detail.

“It’s stunning, I’d love to visit more often,” Hakyeon smiled at Sanghyuk, who gave him a warm smile back.

“I’m sure you will be able to, once you move in here,” Sanghyuk said, taking Hakyeon’s hand. Hakyeon felt his heart stop, not only had Sanghyuk mentioned the fact that they would live together comfortably but also held on to his hand. Hakyeon was too shy to pull it away.

“That’s the princess’ room, so you won’t have a long way here,” Sanghyuk pointed at a closed door on the other side of the garden. He felt his heart starting to regain normal beating speed again, he would have an own bedroom, and it would be close to the garden.

Both of them jumped up when Sanghyuk’s guard spoke up.

    “My lord, the king is looking for you,” the voice beamed, and Hakyeon wished they could stay for a while longer. Sanghyuk got up, but still kept his hand on Hakyeon’s, he even helped him up from the bench.

    “Thank you Wonshik, we will follow up behind, go tell him we are on our way,” Sanghyuk said, and the guard, or Wonshik, left leaving Hakyeon’s maid and Minhyuk there. Sanghyuk lead Hakyeon all the way to the conference room and right before Minhyuk opened the door Sanghyuk let Hakyeon’s hand fall down. Hakyeon almost reached out to take back Sanghyuk’s hand but stopped himself when he saw the king and his father. Both of them bowed and stepped inside the room.

    “I hope you enjoyed your time here,” the king smiled at Hakyeon, “we will meet each other in six days for the wedding.”  Hakyeon’s father got up and said his goodbye’s to the king, before leading Hakyeon out of the room.

~ * ~

Hakyeon felt butterflies in his stomach for the next few days. Whenever he thought about Sanghyuk, or the wedding, his stomach flipped three times, at least. The wedding hanbok was done, he had tried it on many times. It fit him perfectly, he hoped Sanghyuk would like it. He felt the fear coming back, Sanghyuk would most likely hate him if he found out Hakyeon was a man. Hakyeon’s days went on like this, closing in to the wedding. Mood swings from excited to fear hit him like tidal waves. Over and over again he went through these feelings.

The day of the wedding arrived sooner than Hakyeon thought. Before he knew it his maid, whose name he finally had found out, Eunji was putting makeup on his face. It didn’t take long for her, she knew what she was doing. She carefully placed the wig on Hakyeon’s head, made sure it sat on perfectly, before she started styling it. When Hakyeon was ready, he admired himself in the mirror, the hanbok he was wearing was the most beautiful one he had ever seen in his life. He never really appreciated women’s hanboks before wearing one of them. Lately he had found himself looking at every woman’s hanbok, every hanbok was unique and beautiful. He let his hand slide over the golden details on his silk hanbok.

    “Do I look okay?” Hakyeon asked, Eunji turned her head and looked him in the eyes through the mirror.

    “Of course you do, sir,” she smiled warmly at him. Hakyeon liked Eunji, she somehow understood him, it was hard to explain.

The sound of the door opening made him turn around. Minhyuk entered the room with a big smile on his face, why has he so happy? Maybe because his best friend was getting married, but wasn’t all of this kind of embarrassing?

    “Sir, we should leave, we don’t want the prince waiting for you,” Minhyuk said and motioned for Hakyeon to follow him.

    “Minhyuk, be careful, you can’t call me sir anymore,” Hakyeon whispered, scared that someone would hear them.

    “Oh excuse me. Miss, we should leave,” Minhyuk said making an even bigger motion, Hakyeon could hear Eunji giggle and he rolled his eyes. Minhyuk had always been like this.

~ * ~

Hakyeon let his tired body fall on the mattress in his new bedroom. The princess’ room. He was the princess. He was a man. His head felt dizzy. He had greeted so many people that he had lost count after twenty. His father hadn’t really cared about him, was he really nothing compared to the money? At least Hakyeon knew his mother would have it good from now on, if his father didn’t spend all of the money on the wrong things. Hakyeon sighed. Someone knocked on his door.

    “Come in,” he moved up and sat on the edge of his bed, straightening his hanbok. Eunji’s peeked into the room before sliding in. She bowed before getting ready to clear the makeup off Hakyeon’s face.

    “Sir, how are- oh yeah, sorry, miss” she smiled and took a breath before continuing. “How are you feeling? It must have been tiring.” She moved closer to Hakyeon and started to clean his face.

    “I’m exhausted, but it’s over now,” he sighed. It didn’t take long for Eunji to finish. She cleaned up after herself, it looked like she already felt at home in the room. Hakyeon liked the room, but it was too large.

Hakyeon decided to go out in the garden, since it was outside his room, and he needed some fresh air. He opened his door slowly, he greeted the guard at the end of the corridor before walking the short distance to the bench he had sat on with Sanghyuk. He sat down and admired the night. The moonlight’s reflection in the small pond looked bright compared to the rest of the garden. Hakyeon could see small spots of blinking light flying around. Fireflies. He smiled to himself, everything was so beautiful.

    “Oh! Fireflies!” Hakyeon jumped up by the sudden voice. He turned around and found Sanghyuk not that far away from the bench. Hakyeon admired the prince, while Sanghyuk let his eyes follow the fireflies. Sanghyuk admirable, Hakyeon could admire him for ages.

    “Sit down,” Hakyeon said breaking the silence, motioning for Sanghyuk to take a seat next to him. Sanghyuk let his eyes meet Hakyeon’s and giving him a warm smile, before sitting down. Both of them sat in silence, admiring the fireflies. It was a comfortable silence, Hakyeon hoped this would happen more often. Hakyeon didn’t realise how cold it got, before Sanghyuk took his hand.

    “Haneul, I’m really happy I got to marry you,” Sanghyuk said, holding Hakyeon’s hand in his. Hakyeon blushed, he didn’t know what to respond.

    “Your hands are very cold, did you sit here for a long time before I came?” Sanghyuk said, letting go of Hakyeon’s hand. Hakyeon wanted to take back Sanghyuk’s hand, it had been so warm compared to his, but before he could do so, Sanghyuk let his robe fall over Hakyeon’s shoulders.

    “This should keep you warm,” Sanghyuk said, smiling at Hakyeon. Sanghyuk moved his hand to Hakyeon’s cheek and caressed it.

They stayed like that for a while, before Sanghyuk got up, he smiled one last time at Hakyeon before turning his back and walking towards his own room.

    “Sanghyuk wait!” Hakyeon said, standing up. Sanghyuk turned around and Hakyeon walked up to him. Hakyeon carefully removed his robe from his shoulders, folding it and handing it over to Sanghyuk.

    “Thank you, it really kept me warm,” Hakyeon said looking down, a bit embarrassed, he didn’t know why he felt like this. Hakyeon jumped a little bit when Sanghyuk’s hand was on his cheek again.

    “You’re very beautiful Haneul, don’t hide your face,” Sanghyuk whispered before kissing Hakyeon. Hakyeon felt himself hold his breath, but relaxed when Sanghyuk’s lips moved together with his. They had kissed before, but it was in front of everyone who attended the ceremony. This kiss was different in every way possible. It was warm, and Hakyeon didn’t want it to end. When Sanghyuk pulled away Hakyeon saw a glimpse of something new in Sanghyuk’s eyes. Was it sadness? Why would Sanghyuk be sad in a moment like this?

    “I’m sorry,” Sanghyuk said, before turning his back and walking away, leaving Hakyeon speechless in the middle of the garden.

~ * ~

Hakyeon didn’t really see Sanghyuk for the next few weeks. He guessed he was busy doing more important things. Hakyeon spent a lot of time in the garden, reading, or talking to Eunji or Minhyuk, whoever happened to be there. His life was getting more boring, as a man he had done more ‘exciting’ things, not that his life wasn’t exciting now, but he rarely got permission to leave the castle.

    “There’s a meeting you should attend today,” Minhyuk informed him, and Hakyeon lifted his gaze from the pond, he had been studying the fish, just like he did everyday.

    “Finally something,” Hakyeon sighed. “Will Sanghyuk be there?” He asked letting his eyes meet Minhyuk’s. He got a nod in response, he should get ready.

Hakyeon didn’t really listen what the men talked about during the meeting. The only important thing was his presence. He kept looking at Sanghyuk, who seemed to know exactly what to say at the right moments. Hakyeon couldn’t help but admire Sanghyuk, he couldn’t find a single fault in the younger man. When the men had wrapped up the meeting, Hakyeon followed Minhyuk out of the room. He decided to stay behind for a while, hoping to get a chance to talk to Sanghyuk. It didn’t take long before he saw Sanghyuk walk out of the door, talking to one of the older men from the meeting. Sanghyuk let his eyes meet Hakyeon’s, but he didn’t keep the eye contact, he just walked coldly past Hakyeon. Hakyeon felt tears form in the corner of his eye. He started walking towards his room, Minhyuk following quietly behind.

It was getting late, Hakyeon had told Eunji to leave him alone, and she did as he wished. He sneaked out of his room, with smudged makeup on his face. He sat down on the bench, he felt tears running down his cheeks. How could a story with such a good start end up here? He dried his tears in his sleeve, but it somehow made him cry even harder. It was cold outside, but he didn’t care, his room felt too big. He was surprised when he felt someone’s robe fall down on his shoulder.

    “You shouldn’t be out here without warm clothes,” a voice spoke and Hakyeon couldn’t believe his ears, was it really Sanghyuk? He lifted his head and it really was. It somehow felt unreal.

    “I’m sorry,” Hakyeon mumbled, he really didn’t want Sanghyuk to see him like this. He had been crying his eyes out.

    “Why would you be sorry? I should be the one who’s sorry, I can’t even take care of you properly,” Sanghyuk whispered, like he didn’t want anyone to hear. Maybe he was talking to himself, Hakyeon couldn’t figure it out. Sanghyuk knelt down before Hakyeon and started drying Hakyeon’s tears, but Hakyeon only started crying more.

    “Don’t cry, you are too beautiful to cry over someone like me, I’m not worth it,” Sanghyuk said, moving his hands to hold Hakyeon’s. Hakyeon shook him off, it was now or never.

    “I’m not beautiful, a man is not beautiful,” he said, voice cracking. “I’m a man, Sanghyuk.” Hakyeon looked Sanghyuk in the eyes, but had to look away, he started crying again. Repeating the words ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again. He noticed that Sanghyuk started crying too. Sanghyuk took Hakyeon’s hands, and held them tight.

    “Really?” Sanghyuk asked, was that happiness in his voice? Hakyeon nodded, unable to say anything. Sanghyuk smiled and kissed Hakyeon. Hakyeon didn’t know how to react, but kissed him back. When the kiss broke, Hakyeon stared at Sanghyuk in confusion.

    “I never wanted to marry a woman, you being a man is the best thing that could’ve happened to me,” Sanghyuk explained, crying tears of happiness. Hakyeon felt his jaw drop. Could this be true? This wasn’t a dream right? Sanghyuk pulled Hakyeon up from the bench and hugged him tightly.

    “I’m so happy that you are my princess, I’m so sorry for being distant,” Sanghyuk said, letting go of Hakyeon. Hakyeon felt his cheeks burn up. He smiled, and pressed his lips on Sanghyuk’s. Their lips moved together until the two men were left breathless.

    “I’m so happy to be your princess,” Hakyeon smiled. Neither of them had felt this kind of happiness ever before.

________________________________

A/N: I'm really happy how this turned out, hope you enjoyed reading!!