Surprisingly, Taemin slept well that night. His mind was plagued with thoughts of this ridiculous situation, but he was so exhausted physically, that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When he woke up, his body was still aching terribly. He groaned loudly as he turned over. He really didn’t want to wake up. What if everything that happened wasn’t a dream? What if he woke up and he was still in that stupid room, with that stupid prince, and those stupid clothes on?

But he knew he couldn’t stay asleep forever, so he slowly opened his eyes.

“Woah, they were right! Your eyes really are the color of sapphires!”

Taemin was startled by the face only inches from his own, and he screamed. But the man quickly covered his mouth. “Shhh! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!”

Taemin was breathing heavily, and trying to calm his racing heart. Was this annoying man with the cat-like eyes watching him sleep?!

He bit the hand covering his mouth. “Owww! Why did you do that?!”

“Why were you watching me sleep?!”

“I was guarding you!”

“More like stalking me!”

The man sighed. “I was only admiring you, you’re so cute!” He pinched Taemin’s cheek and Taemin winced, remembering the bruise he had there. “Oh I’m sorry! I forgot!”

Taemin sat up slowly, his hand over his sore cheek. “Who are you? And why are you in here?”

“Oh my name is Key. And I am officially your bodyguard.” Key smiled, and Taemin had to admit…he was gorgeous.

“Bodyguard?”

“Normally, royal woman have maids to them around the castle, help them bathe, help them dress, etc. But since you’re a special case, I was assigned to take care of all those things, along with protecting you. We can’t have women help you bathe, now can we?”

“Th-then, you know that I’m-“

“A boy? Of course, I am Prince Minho’s closest friend; it would be insulting if he didn’t confide in me about his unique situation.”

“Oh well…ok…”

Taemin was silent, his mind going a mile a minute. It was suddenly registering that this was real. He wasn’t going to see his mother, he wasn’t going back to the lake with Sungjong, he wasn’t going back to school.

“O-Oh my, why are crying? Did I say something to hurt you?” Key looked at him with panicked eyes, kneeling in front of the bed and placing his hands on his shoulders.

Taemin shook his head and let the tears fall. “N-No,” he sniffled. “I just- I just want to go home,” he whispered.

“Awww…”Key pulled him into a hug and Taemin couldn’t bring himself to reject it. “You poor boy. That prince is so selfish!”

Key let Taemin cry into his shoulder for a few minutes, before he calmed down a bit, his sobs turning into small whimpers. Key pulled away slowly to face the boy. “It will be alright. Don’t worry about anything, I’ll help you get through all of this and we’ll get you home as soon as possible.”

Taemin nodded, even though Key’s words did not reassure him.

“Come on, we should get you into the bath. I already prepared it.” Key helped him out of bed and led him to the next room. Taemin’s eyes widened as he stepped into the room. The “bathtub” looked more like 2 hot tubs combined into one, only made of stone instead of tile. It was filled to the brim with water and bubbles. “Don’t look so shocked, this is the Prince’s bath. What did you expect?”

“I never really know what to expect anymore,” he mumbled.

Key helped him out of his robes, giving him sympathetic looks as more bruises were revealed. “You poor thing, who did this to you?”

Taemin stepped into the warm water and sighed in content. “A couple of boys from school.”

“Why would they do this to you?”

“I stood up to them, spit in one of their faces. They wanted revenge.”

Key chuckled. “You’re feisty, aren’t you?”

“Only when I have to be,” Taemin let a small smile grace his lips.

“Key, where-“ Minho charged in the bathroom, stopping as he found the two people he had been looking for. “Oh good, you’re already bathing.” Minho looked to Key. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

“It’s nothing, Your Highness. I’m already enjoying my time with this adorable boy.” Key wiped some bubbles on Taemin’s nose, and he protested loudly. “Hey!”

Minho couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m glad you like him, please continue to watch over him.”

“Of course.”

“Taemin?” Minho glanced to him and he wiped the bubbles from his face. “What?” he asked rather rudely.

“I won’t make you start your training today, considering you’re still injured, but my father insists on meeting you.” Minho sighed in frustration. “I was hoping we could avoid that until those bruises were not visible, but I cannot deny his request. I’ve already thought of a story to tell him.”

“A story?”

“ Yes, considering the fact that I must marry someone of royal decent, I had to think of something to tell him. Where you came from, how I came across you, who you are.”

“And? What are you going to tell him?”

“You will have to wait to hear that. You must hurry and bathe and dress in the finest clothes. You do know how to act in the presence of a king, don’t you?”

Taemin stared at him incredulously. “I’m from 21^st century Korea! I can't even think of a country in my time that has a King!”

Key and Minho both stared at him as though he were insane. “Really?” Key asked.

“What’s Korea?” Minho asked.

Taemin rolled his eyes. “Nevermind. The point is, no, I do not know how to act in front of a king. My country hasn’t had a king in long time.”

Minho pinched the bridge of nose. “Wonderful. This is just perfect,” he said bitterly.

“Calm down, Your Highness. We’ll make do,” Key said as he began to wash Taemin’s hair. “Taemin, all you have to do is kneel when you see him, don’t look him in the eyes, and only speak when you are spoken to. Do everything you can not to speak, let Prince Minho handle that part.”

Taemin nodded, suddenly feeling very nervous. What if you did one thing wrong, and they decided to hang him?! There was no telling how barbaric people were in this age.

“Don’t worry, Taemin, you’ll be alright. Prince Minho won’t let anything happen to you. Will you, Your Highness?”

“Of course not, you’re my responsibility. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Taemin was surprised at the sincerity of Minho’s words, and the serious expression on his face. He couldn’t help but blush a bit.

“O-Ok”

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Key. You have 1 hour. Lead him to the main hall when you’re finished. I’ll be waiting.” Key bowed his head. “Of course, Your Highness.”

“And Key?”

“Yes?”

“I told you not to call me that when we’re alone, and that includes when we’re around Taemin.”

Key smirked. “Alright, Minho. Now go, so I can finish!” He said playfully.

Minho gave a Taemin an encouraging smile before he left the room. Taemin couldn’t find it in himself to return the smile. He was still upset about having to stay here, and he just couldn’t accept the older boy. He would find a way to get out of this place, one way or another…

After finishing his bath, Key combed his hair and dressed him in a white and blue women’s dress. He felt utterly embarrassed wearing something so ridiculous, but he kept his mouth shut.

Key gave him a matching scarf to drape over his arms and cover some of the bruises. Taemin did everything he could to stay still while Key did his hair, but it was increasingly difficult. He began to wonder how girls could go through this everyday…

His eyes watered when Key lined them with kohl, but he stayed silent.

“Hmmm there’s something missing…”

“What now?” Taemin groaned. “Haven’t I gone through enough?”

Key walked out of the room, only to come back with 2 pieces of small fruit in his hands. He wrapped them each in a few pieces of cloth. “Wh-What are you doing?”

“Since you are quite thin, it would understandable that you would have small s. But you have to have something.”

Key reached forward to stuff the fruit in the front of his dress, and Taemin thought he was going to die from embarrassment. “Key…you can’t be serious! This is ridiculous!”

“Hmm It doesn’t look bad, the dress has plenty of coverage on the chest area, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“How do you even know how to do all of these things?”

Key laughed lightly. “You try living with eight sisters and not picking up on all this.”

“Oh…that must have been hectic.”

“Yes,” he said with a sigh and a far of smile. “But I love the dearly.”

Taemin nodded, wondering is he would ever meet these sisters.

Key made some final touches on his hair, and Taemin could feel the time coming close. Suddenly, he started to feel very nervous. What would really happen if he screwed this up? Everything was happening so fast, and he still couldn’t fully accept that this was actually happening. He was being strangely compliant, only because he was still so shocked and disbelieving.

“Are you ready to meet the king, Taemin?”

Taemin let out a shaky breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

~~~~~

A/N: From 8 subscribers to 50?!

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