{ chapter eleven

“Kyungsoo, Sir,” Jinki whispers, gently shaking the prince’s arm to stir him. “Your brother requests to see you.”

Kyungsoo groans and turns in his bed, reaching up and wiping the sleep from his eyes. The servant backs away politely, giving the boy space to wake up, and speaks again once Kyungsoo is upright, eyes relatively alert.

“Your brother wants to see you, Sir.”

“Why?” Kyungsoo queries, puzzled at Jinki’s unusually formal tone. He only ever calls him Sir around the King – even Junmyeon is aware of Kyungsoo’s close relations with his servant. Fear prickles on Kyungsoo’s skin and he pushes himself out of bed, frowning at him questioningly, but Jinki only shrugs.

“Come in, Junmyeon.”

The curtains ripple and his elder brother swims through the seaweed, smiling appreciatively at Jinki. The servant bows and backs into a corner, waiting for instructions, and Kyungsoo squares his jaw, disliking how aloof his servant is forced to be around his family.

“Jinki, if I could speak to my brother alone,” Junmyeon requests courteously. Jinki meets Kyungsoo’s eyes, and Kyungsoo immediately shakes his head.

“No. He can stay.”

Junmyeon raises his eyebrows at Kyungsoo doubtfully, but the latter doesn’t waver.

“If Jinki can’t hear it, then neither will I.”

Junmyeon sighs gently, powerless to his brother’s stubbornness. He’s slow to anger and finds it hard to feel irritated at his beloved sibling, but he can’t deny that it’s near impossible to communicate with Kyungsoo.

“Okay,” he allows, “he may stay.”

Kyungsoo motions the servant closer and Jinki swims over to him, still a reasonable distance from the royal sons, but near enough for Kyungsoo to feel comforted.

“Your absence from the palace has been worrying Father and I,” Junmyeon says, and Kyungsoo immediately draws in a long breath and glances at Jinki. The servant doesn’t look back, his face neutral and his gaze directed at the wall so as to not reveal anything through his reaction.

“I told you, I’m fine,” Kyungsoo insists rather sharply.

“There must be a reason as to why you’re disappearing from home so often,” Junmyeon argues, somehow still managing to keep his tone gentle and polite.

Kyungsoo stares down at his tail. He hates being confronted by his brother – this barely ever happens, but when it does, it’s incredibly intimidating.

“Kyungsoo, I wouldn’t tell Father, you know that,” Junmyeon murmurs. “You can trust me, okay? Just tell me what’s been going on.”

Kyungsoo’s lungs feel tight and he swallows hard, an anxious lump bobbing in his throat. He doesn’t want to lie to his brother – he can’t, he couldn’t betray Junmyeon like that. The words are on the tip of his tongue and he’s so tempted to spill his story to his sibling, the compassion in his voice luring the confession out, but Jinki’s voice stops him.

“If I may speak, Sir,” Jinki interrupts quietly, and both princes turn to the servant in surprise. Jinki’s head is bowed in respect, but his shoulders are squared and his voice is steady.

“Kyungsoo has not forbade the palace rules,” Jinki continues, and Kyungsoo seizes up, uncomfortable hearing the lies come from Jinki’s mouth. “His daily activities have not been endangering his life, and there is no reason for you to fret for his safety.”

“Thank you, Jinki. I trust you have kept my brother safe, as always,” Junmyeon responds firmly, “but I want to know what he has been doing.”

Kyungsoo is silent.

“Sir,” Jinki says, ever so softly, “I beg your forgiveness for my intrusion, but I don’t believe Kyungsoo feels at ease revealing his privacy to you.”

“There should be no secrets you require to be kept from me, Kyungsoo,” Junmyeon insists.

“Kyungsoo doesn’t want to worry you, Sir,” Jinki defends. Junmyeon stares at the servant in disbelief, shocked at his insistence, but Jinki is unfazed.

“I order you to tell me what is wrong,” Junmyeon demands sternly, now directed at the servant. Kyungsoo meets eyes with Jinki momentarily and bites his lip apologetically, but as expected, his stony face reveals no elements of apprehension.

“If you insist, Sir.” Jinki inhales deeply, and for a moment Kyungsoo dreads that his secret will be revealed, but he’s reassured once Jinki raises his chin and begins to speak.

“Kyungsoo has been confining himself to his quarters to prevent ruining his relationship with you,” Jinki explains. “He has felt uneasy since the organisation of your betrothal, as you will have to step up in place of the King, and fears your relationship will be disturbed.”

Kyungsoo forces himself to maintain a straight face, but he finds it highly challenging to keep his jaw from dropping. Jinki had relayed the fabricated story as if it was the easiest thing in the world, the lies rolling off his tongue and almost fooling Kyungsoo himself. When Kyungsoo finally realises how much danger Jinki is putting himself in by being untruthful to Junmyeon, he faces the wall, tears building up beneath his eyelids.

“What?” Junmyeon breathes. “Kyungsoo, is this true?”

He swallows hard, trying to suppress his tears, but doesn’t get a chance to respond. Junmyeon swims over and places a hand on his brother’s cheek, turning his head to face him.

“Oh, Kyungsoo,” he whispers, “you really thought things would change between us because I’m going to be crowned King?”

“Um,” Kyungsoo chokes pathetically, unsure of how to respond. He doesn’t want to cry, but it only seems to be adding to the effect, and making the act seem all the more believable.

Junmyeon pulls his brother into his arms and holds him close, cooing sympathetically.

“Kyungsoo, you had me so worried,” he frets, “I thought you were hiding something, I really did. You know I’d never treat you differently…”

Kyungsoo peeks over Junmyeon’s shoulder and locks eyes with Jinki, who is now slumped against the wall, exhaling heavily. The servant sends him a weak smile, and Kyungsoo finally smiles back, eyes shining with gratefulness.

“Thank you,” he mouths. Jinki waves a hand dismissively, as if he hadn’t just saved his life, and composes himself to swim out of the room and leave the brothers to themselves.

* * *

“I can’t stay here for long,” Jongin says breathily, peppering kisses across Kyungsoo’s jaw, hands gripping the back of his head with his fingers tangled in the prince’s hair. Kyungsoo’s eyelids have fluttered shut, arms looped around Jongin’s shoulders, and he lets Jongin pamper him with kisses until his lips move to his neck.

“Don’t leave—any marks,” he whispers, breath shallow and uneven, skin tingling and sensitive. Jongin laughs and pulls away, touching his nose with Kyungsoo’s and kissing his lips fondly.

“I love this,” Jongin murmurs, and after a pause, “I love you.”

Kyungsoo’s cheeks redden and he tucks his head into Jongin’s neck, embarrassed when he hears Jongin chuckle at his shy reaction.

“Why can’t you stay?” he mumbles.

Jongin his hair affectionately, sighing. “I have to find Taemin. I haven’t seen him since we fought.”

Kyungsoo moves back slowly, and detaches himself from Jongin. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault you argued.”

“It’s not your fault.” He places a hand on Kyungsoo’s arm reassuringly, but doesn’t pull him back in. Now that he’s mentioned Taemin, his thoughts have gone astray and he wants to apologise to his friend as soon as possible.

“I wish I could come with you,” Kyungsoo says unhappily. Jongin leans forward and kisses his cheek, smiling to put his mind at rest.

“I’ll be fine. You should head home and rest. You look exhausted.”

Kyungsoo nods and takes off his necklace, sinking down to the seafloor to hide it with the rest of his stash of Surface objects. Jongin can see the twinkle of the cutlery set he brought down once he discovered Kyungsoo’s love for silver forks.

“We’ll meet up tomorrow, right?”

Jongin promises he’ll visit as soon as he can, cradling Kyungsoo’s face in his hands, guilty that he has to leave so early. He can’t resist the imploring look in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

“How about you sing for me one last time before I go?” Jongin whispers, and Kyungsoo’s face lights up in a smile.

He struggles to sing the words when Jongin won’t stop kissing him.

* * *

Swimming into the central province is a lot more intimidating without Taemin to shield his legs from public view.

Jongin shrinks under the stares and tries hard to block out the audible murmuring of the people around him. The attention is frightening and the back of his mind tickles with visions of the King spotting him, but he perseveres thinking about Taemin’s crushed expression when he yelled at him.

He darts in and out of shops, circles public areas and even ventures close to the palace, but Taemin is nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, another familiar face passes by through the streams of citizens, and Jongin beams in delight at his lucky find.

“Jonghyun!”

The Mer boy flips around at the call of his name, bumping into a female swimming behind him, and he apologises loudly before backing out of the crowd and meeting eyes with Jongin. The moment he spots his human friend, a mischievous grin spreads across his lips, and he swims towards him.

“Hey, Jongin!”

He swings an arm around Jongin’s shoulders, tousling his hair roughly, and Jongin chuckles at his characteristically aggressive greeting.

“I’ve missed you!” he says, “where have you been lately? Taemin hasn’t said a thing about you.”

Jongin grits his teeth in a forceful smile – that’d explain Jonghyun’s nonchalance over seeing him.

“I’ve just been busy. Uh, speaking of Taemin, I was actually looking for him.”

Jonghyun grabs his wrist and tugs him along, his eyes twinkling. “Great thing you found me, then! I was just on my way home. I’ll take you to him.”

“Thanks, Jonghyun,” Jongin sighs, allowing Jonghyun’s powerful tail to propel  them out of the masses of people. He presses his legs together in the hopes that people will mistaken him as a Mer, but as expected, he still receives plenty of strange looks.

“Why do you want to see Taemin?” Jonghyun questions airily. “Didn’t you want to see Minho and I as well?”

Jongin clears his throat awkwardly, searching his mind for a viable excuse. He finds nothing.

“Well, I wanted to see you, too,” Jongin says sheepishly.

“Really? ‘Cause I was beginning to think you hated us.”

“Of course not!” Jongin exclaims, relieved at the topic diversion. “I just had a lot going on, y-you know? I wanted to come down every—every day. And I was planning on bringing you stuff, too. You know, from the Surface.”

Jonghyun gasps comically, freezing for a moment to turn to Jongin, enthrallment glittering in his eyes.

“You were?”

He yanks Jongin along against as they speed through the waters and his mouth runs like a motor, delighted words of gratitude and excitement spilling from him. Jongin barely focuses on what he’s saying, simply allowing the energetic boy to voice his exhilaration.

“Oh, here we are!” Jonghyun says suddenly, thrashing his tail to halt them, so suddenly that Jongin is thrown forward and tumbles upside-down. Jonghyun laughs and pulls him back, pointing at a cave in a rock cliff that’s shielded by curtains of seaweed.

“Here’s where Taemin lives. I can’t hang around, I’ve got to head home, so he can swim you back to central, is that okay?”

Jongin nods and thanks Jonghyun for his help, but calls for him back before he leaves.

“Wait! Uh—I don’t really…I don’t think I should talk to Taemin’s parents. Can—Can you get him for me?”

“Oh, sure!” Jonghyun chirps. He swims up to the mouth of the cave eagerly, and Jongin backs away to hide while Jonghyun sticks his head through the curtains and talks to Taemin’s family.

After a few moments, Jonghyun turns around and waves to Jongin to say goodbye, and he darts off as Taemin emerges from the curtains. He looks around, frowning, but stops once he notices his human friend lingering a few metres away.

Taemin swims over and motions for Jongin to follow him away from the cave, obviously not wishing for his parents to hear them, and they silently leave together, neither wanting to speak. But of course, the pressure overcomes Jongin, so he’s the one to talk first.

“Taemin, I didn’t mean what I said,” he says quietly. Taemin slows down to a stop and turns to face Jongin – his face half indignant, and half upset.

“Is that so?” he says spitefully. “Because you seemed pretty serious when you pushed me back.”

“Look, I’m sorry.”

Jongin wrings his hands and sighs, looking back and forth between Taemin and the ground, struggling for words.

“It’s just—it’s just been…really hard…”

Taemin stares unforgivingly, folding his arms and waiting for a valid explanation.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Jongin blurts. “I was wrong for hurting you. I just thought—I should apologise. Sorry for wasting your time.”

Taemin watches as Jongin turns around, raking his fingers through his hair and swimming off. His shoulders are drooped in evident shame, and Taemin exhales regretfully, moving to follow him, convincing himself it’s solely to alleviate his own stress and not because he cares about Jongin.

“Jongin, wait.”

He hooks his fingers around Jongin’s wrist and tugs him back around to face him. He’s taken aback seeing that his friend’s eyes are red and swollen with tears. Jongin looks down quickly, humiliated by his fragility.

“Hey,” Taemin whispers, “don’t cry.”

Jongin rubs his eyes, embarrassed, and Taemin sighs in exasperation, pulling him in for a rough hug, unable to feel angry at him anymore.

“You’re already lost your Surface friend,” he mutters. “It’s not fair for you to lose another.”

Jongin winds his arms around Taemin’s waist and squeezes him tightly. “Thank you, Taemin,” he rasps.

Taemin shoves him away with just enough force to take him by surprise, and folds his arms across his chest protectively again. “I’m still pissed at you.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“So you should be.” He swims forward past Jongin, motioning for him to follow.

“Come on. I’ll get you back to the Surface.”

Usually, Taemin would take his hand to swim him up, since the power of his legs is little in comparison to the power of a Mer tail, but Jongin is satisfied trailing behind at Taemin’s fins, knowing he doesn’t deserve to be escorted, anyway. He’s been forgiven, and that’s all that matters.

* * *

Kyungsoo enters the palace silently, wishing not to disturb the quietness of the magnificent building, nor gain his father’s attention. He makes no effort to speak to the guards lining corridors and rooms, and only opens his mouth when he stops before Jinki outside of his quarters.

“Jinki, please, come in.”

Jinki parts the curtains and gestures for the prince to enter first, before swimming in after him, his hands clasped behind his back.

“I’m sorry about what happened this morning,” Jinki apologises, “but I saw that you were distressed, and I assumed you needed—”

He’s silenced when Kyungsoo throws himself into his arms, squashing him in a warm hug and smiling against his chest. Jinki is frozen in surprise, awkward and unsure of how to react.

“You saved my life,” Kyungsoo says. “I can’t thank you enough, Jinki.”

“I—well, uh…”

Kyungsoo looks up at him, smiling widely, and Jinki can’t help returning it – it’s not often he sees the prince express his happiness with such affection and warmth.

“How did you come up with such a believable excuse?” Kyungsoo asks, still in awe over his servant’s heroic intervention. Jinki shrugs his shoulders modestly, but Kyungsoo persists, demanding an answer.

“I’m not very busy now that you’re absent from the palace so much,” Jinki explains softly. “I spend most of my time thinking of ways to protect you from those kinds of situations.”

Kyungsoo’s lip trembles and he’s forced to hide his face from view, fearing that he’ll cry. Jinki has never done anything like this for him, he’s never needed to – but knowing that Jinki is constantly behind him, caring for him, risking his job, his life and his time for the sake of him is enough to move Kyungsoo to tears.

“Kyungsoo? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo lies, his choked voice breaking as it pushes through his tears. Jinki pats his shoulder, unknowing of how to comfort him, but enjoying the uncharacteristic intimacy nonetheless. He waits until he’s sure the prince has calmed down before he speaks again.

“We should probably stop before someone comes past,” Jinki whispers. Kyungsoo quickly pushes away, embarrassed, and the servant chuckles and bows respectfully. “I’ll leave you to yourself, Kyungsoo.”

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo sniffles sheepishly. He doesn’t really want Jinki to leave, as he’ll have no other company for the rest of the day, but he allows his servant to leave, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

Perhaps he’ll go and spend time with Junmyeon. After all, he has a believable story to relay if anything goes wrong.

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