Three years is a very long time.

But to Jonghyun it felt like a minute.

In three years a house could be built, a few fields planted, and a home could be made; that’s what Jonghyun and Jinki did.

They had a sizeable home, made from dried wood and dusty windows. It was low to the ground which was only a problem for Jinki just because of his greater height. They didn’t have beds, just mats and blankets they bought from a traveling merchant that came in the docks.

The older insisted on living in this town, near the ocean and close to country fields, but the younger protested saying it that is was obvious that they were outsiders in such a small town. However, with one pleading look, the bought a small home on the outskirts of the town. Jonghyun insisted on at least some distance between them and the rest of the people in town. Jinki didn’t complain; he was simply happy to live in such a quiet, breezy place.

As much as Jonghyun complained about how small the place was, he secretly liked the hustling sound of a few people in the street and having a place to work every day in the sun. He spent his morning in the fields, they didn’t have many crops, but they had enough to keep him busy. He worked the fields until the sun was halfway in the sky, it was around 12 pm if he had to guess.

Then he came home to Jinki.

But now, when he was asked to introduce himself, he would say his name is Onew. It was a precaution to make sure no one recognized him as being a prince. To Jong he was always Jinki. It picked a certain chord in him that the people in town called him Onew. He didn’t know why. He just wanted them to know, wanted them to look at Jinki like he belonged on a pedestal and to shower him with love. It was foolish, but he wanted it.

Jonghyun wasn’t sure if he was shocked or pleased that it seemed not many actually knew what the young prince actually looked like. Still, Jonghyun was sure that even if they did know what he looked like, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Jinki had changed. If Jonghyun hadn’t watched the changes, he might have not recognized him himself.

He was tanner that was for sure. His skin turned from its almost transparent paleness into a soft caramel color. It seemed the color of honey, golden but light still. It was a nice hue. His once soft body, full and tender, was now not as tender. Under his layer of softness was bits of slim muscle. He wasn’t bulking, but if you pressed a bit into his skin, Jonghyun could feel it there.

it was not to say that Jinki was any less beautiful. Jonghyun just noticed these changes, and knew that he was simply beautiful in another way.

Before Jinki seemed a beauty you see in a lotus garden, covered in irises and lilies. He was fragile and you couldn’t touch him. He seemed too pure to be handled without all the care in the world. But now, he had the beauty that a wife would have, at least that’s what Jonghyun imagined a wife should have. He was still full bodied and dainty. He had the mannerisms of a prince, always doing things with a light hand. But, he carried a look in his eye that seemed trustworthy and kindhearted. He laughed more easily now and had the familiar approachable feeling around him. Jonghyun felt he could nudge him a bit and make a few sarcastic jokes and Jinki wouldn’t fall apart now.

He liked how he was changing.

But in many ways he was very much the same. He still got tired easily and complained. He would pout and cry when things didn’t go his way. More than once he had tantrums like a child and Jonghyun had to resort to soft coaxing to make him shut up.

And right now wasn't any different, for the most part, except Jonghyun had changed too.

So while Jinki complained and whined about them not having enough sugar to make sweets, Jonghyun could only sigh.

When he walked out the door of their small little home and started down the trail to the market place, he only laughed. He was thinking, “A year ago I would have told him to be quiet and that he was just a spoiled brat from a palace.” But now he could only think, “If he wants sugar, I can give him sugar.” And he was happy to do so, because he would do anything for Jinki. Because the only thing that changed about Jonghyun was that he was hopelessly in love with the bratty prince.

To get to the main area of the town, Jonghyun had to walk through a small patch of woods, and down a trail that led straight to the main square. It took him about half an hour on a good day, but today he didn’t feel like going fast. He was humming and walking slow.

After settling in the town, Jonghyun had become a rather peaceful man. He could barely remember the nights he used to walk through dark streets alone, spend his time in bars, getting into fights, and drinking his troubles away.

He wasn’t sure if it was the town, the home to go to at night, or the fresh air, but he didn’t feel as angry as he did before. Somehow, he felt he could breath here again. Maybe it was because this small town that was touched by the sea reminded him so much of his childhood.

But if you asked anyone else, their neighbors, the town’s children, or even the sailors, they would tell you it was because Jonghyun was wrapped around the finger of a beauty that he shared a bed with. Once when Jonghyun and Jinki were shopping together, a sailor joked to him that of course he had no reason to ever frown with someone like that to live with.

At the time Jonghyun couldn’t understand what he meant, but that night when he was laying down to sleep next to Jinki, he realized one of the reasons he had been smiling so much recently.

It was partly due to the man he went to sleep and woke up next to.

But Jonghyun did feel guilty at first when he started to realize his feelings for Jinki.

His initial instinct was to believe that he only loved Jinki for his looks. Who wouldn’t fall in love with someone so beautiful?

His second instinct was to believe that he only loved Jinki because he had been so lonely for so long. He had been alone and wandering for so long, who wouldn’t fall in love with their companion?

But when Jonghyun would try to annoy Jinki and Jinki would just smile and laugh at his antics with that wide beautiful smile and his crescent eyes, Jonghyun’s breath was always taken away.

After all that time, Jinki was the only person that had not been afraid of him, trusted him without reason, accepted him; who wouldn’t fall in love with someone like that?

Jonghyun didn’t question it anymore, and simply continued to love Jinki without an explanation. Because he didn’t want to explain it, because he was sure the reasons were boundless.

Normally, the small village they had settled into was a peaceful and quiet place. it was always breezy and cool because it was quite close to the sea. People often traveled through during long journeys and trade so it always had good supplies and Jinki’s favorite thing, sweets.

On a normal day around this time, Jonghyun could expect to see a few children running around and fishermen coming back from the sea. But, today the small streets were filled with a crowd of people. When he neared them he could hear the bickering and talking of men and women alike. Children were running around and through the crowd trying to understand what was happening.

Jonghyun had never seen the area look like this even after all his time here. So when he saw the familiar face of a shop owner, he stopped him.

“What’s going on here? Has something happened?” Jonghyun questioned the older man.

“There’s news from the capital,” the man started looking oddly excited. “The palace has been taken over!”

Jonghyun wasn’t quite sure how to react.

“By who? When? What does it mean?” Jonghyun had a terrible feeling in his stomach.

“We aren’t quite sure about it all, but apparently a group has taken the royal family hostage and they’re going to start a revolution,” the man was smiling and laughing while he said it.

“Do you think the royal family is safe? Will they be hurt?” Jonghyun’s stomach sank lower and lower.

The older man suddenly laughed in shock, it sounded like the bark of a dog.

“Since when have you cared about the royal family!?”

Jonghyun didn’t know what to think. Since when did he care about the people that have treated his people so poorly? Since he met Jinki? How could he change so much because of one person?

“I don’t know, it’s just shocking, isn’t it?” Jonghyun laughed, but he felt as if he was gagging.

“You know Jonghyun,” the man leaned in closer to Jonghyun until his breath could touch Jonghyun’s ear, “you might finally get what you have