Chapter One
The Prince Next DoorA/N: I've been working on this fic for around half a year now... and I've only typed up eight chapters. So, please don't expect fast updates, I'm really sorry. Thank you for reading this though, and I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 1
Oh Sehun walked down a cobbled pathway, his footsteps echoing along the dark roads. Whistling softly to an unknown tune, he made his way towards a small shop. Most would be surprised as to why a little establishment like this would be open at such shocking hours of the evening, yet Sehun was thankful for it, seeing as he’d escaped from the grasps of his father’s disappointment only moments ago.
‘You got a D in your first test here? What son of mine could become such a failure?’ He chuckled at what could’ve been his father’s harsh words, if it wasn’t for the fact that Sehun had long become used to the insults he’d throw at him.
Resting a hand on the cold glass of the door, he pushed slowly, the chimes clinking softly as he let himself into the compact store. A boy who’d been sitting by the cash register looked up from his manhwa, confusion clear on his face. Sehun shot back an awkward smile, nodding his head at the figure.
Placing their beloved manhwa down on the dusty desk, the boy cleared his throat. “How can I help?” Their deep voice echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls before dissipating into silence once again. Sehun didn’t know whether or not to be shocked that someone with such a cute face had such a low vocal range, but decided not to comment on it.
“Bang snaps.” Only after the words had left his throat did Sehun realise how blatantly stupid he sounded. His mouth opened as his mind raced for a description which would help the poor shop worker understand what on earth he was looking for.
A low laugh escaped from the other’s mouth, which he quickly tried to hide behind a cough. If the situation got any more awkward Sehun deliberated running straight out of the door that had let him into this cage of a shop.
“I think I know what you’re talking about. Wait here, I’ll be back in a second.” The boy stood up and Sehun marvelled at their height, surprised their fluffy hair didn’t touch the ceiling as they walked away. Just like that, Sehun was alone in the eerily quiet store, twiddling his thumbs as a source of entertainment. Once again, the thought of escaping the small shop entered the boys mind, tempting him ever so slightly as more time passed and the boy never seemed to make it back.
Just as Sehun swivelled on his toes to face the door, he heard the footsteps retreating towards him. “Woah, where are you going?” A pink tinge covered Sehun’s face. Great, he made himself look like an idiot, once again. As if uttering the phrase ‘bang snaps’ wasn’t enough.
Turning around to face the skyscraper once he’d controlled the blush on his cheeks, his eyes grew wide when he saw the small object in their hands. “These, right?” Sehun stared at the small fireworks resting on the other’s palms, a small smile forcing its way onto his face.
Nodding quickly, he took the small box from the other’s large hands, bowing. “Thank you!” Looking up, he saw the confused yet warm expression the boy was giving him.
“No problem… uh…” He trailed off, looking at Sehun expectantly, hoping for a name to attach to the interesting character.
“Sehun! Oh Sehun, nice to uh, meet you.” The quick words caused a smile to break out on the taller’s face.
“Nice to meet you Oh Sehun, I’m Park Chanyeol. I haven’t seen you around recently, are you new here?” Sehun nodded awkwardly, finding new interest in the soles of his shoes rather than Chanyeol’s curious gaze.
“I moved here two weeks ago and just started attending the school here,” Sehun started, before he realised just how stupid he was being. For all he knew, this so called ‘cute and tall, wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly’ Park Chanyeol he’d been acquainted with could be a serial killer! His eyes growing wide, Sehun started shuffling towards the door, taking note of the confusion that appeared on Chanyeol’s ‘innocent’ face. This guy was quite the actor, Sehun would give him that.
“Oh, nice! I go there too, I’m a junior.” Sehun’s shoulders relaxed slightly, his previous thoughts of Chanyeol planning to kill him leaving his mind as his small smile returned.
“I’m a freshman, that’s probably why I haven’t seen you around,” Sehun came to this conclusion, confirmed by Chanyeol’s nods that this was precisely the situation.
Chanyeol’s next moves shocked Sehun, and the younger couldn’t help but choke on his breath as a large arm rested around his shoulder. With huge eyes he looked up at the taller, who seemed to be smiling without a care in the world.
“Don’t worry, if I see you around school I’ll be sure to introduce you to my friends, I have a feeling you’d like them.” Sehun blinked slowly, nodding awkwardly, thinking of a possible way to become unattached from the arms s around him. “That’ll be £1.50.” Nodding, Sehun fumbled through his pockets, placing a two pound coin into the taller’s hand.
“Um, okay… I have to go! I-I’ll see you around?” Sehun didn’t mean for the last statement to sound like a question, he really didn’t. As he scrambled out of the shop and onto the street towards where he hoped his house was, Sehun believed he was thankful he’d met Chanyeol. He was a cool guy, although his never ending smiles suffocated and intimidated the awkward boy, making him feel quite uncomfortable around him. Then again, that was how Sehun felt around most people. It would probably just take some getting used to the taller before he and Chanyeol were great friends.
Feeling the need to relieve some of his stress, Sehun opened the pack of bang snaps, taking hold of the small white teardrop shaped explosive. Running his thumb along the soft paper, he chucked it with all of his might. A loud clap resonated from the ground where the small object had landed, and Sehun almost felt himself sigh in happiness. It surprised him how he found such peace in mini-explosions, but instead of questioning his sanity he smiled in glee, chucking a couple more on the road in front of him.
Luhan sat, perched on the doorstep to his house. Holding his head in his hands, thoughts swarmed around his brain. A small voice chastised him, telling him to go back in there, that it wasn’t a big deal.
Slowly the voices grew louder, causing a groan to escape Luhan’s throat, the only sound that could be heard in the deserted neighbourhood. Getting up slowly, through the corner of his eye he looked at the varnished door. Shaking his head slowly, he made his way down the path onto the street, listening to his small footsteps. The autumn breeze had turned especially cold as the evening had turned to night, making a shiver run down the boy’s spine.
Luhan had no idea where he was walking to, but for some reason continued down the winding road, the fact he had no destination soothing him. He almost believed he could explore these roads forever, until a particularly cold gust of wind froze his nose. Sniffing in discomfort, he started to think about which one of his friend’s houses he could retreat to. He knew Yixing – or Lay, as he referred to himself – would be snoring deeply by now, so decided not to bother him.
That only left Xiumin, Luhan’s best friend. A small smile graced the boy’s face as he thought of Xiumin, and how he’d been hospitable and let him stay over in the past, much to his parent’s discomfort. He laughed shortly, shaking his head slowly. It wouldn’t hurt to spend one day out in the streets, right? Maybe then he’d ‘grow a pair’.
Sighing softly, his small feet once again started to walk in no clear direction. He let the wind guide him, but stopped short as soft snaps elicited from far away. Confusion framed his youthful features, before horror struck. Were those… gunshots? Luhan’s mind whirred from the sudden possibility, shock and fear coursing through his veins.
He was too young to die. Luhan didn’t care if he bothered Yixing’s slumber anymore; he just knew he had to get out of here. The bangs grew louder, and as much as Luhan wanted to run, he found his small feet frozen solid to the ground below him. Deciding the only way to protect himself was by curling up into a ball, Luhan did just that.
His heart hammered in his chest as his large eyes screwed shut, anticipating certain death. What he didn’t expect was for a foot to slam into his leg, a short yelp and a body to tumble onto his own. Hundreds of snaps went off around Luhan, causing a scream to escape his throat as he prepared himself for the searing pain that came with being impaled by multiple bullets.
The pain never came. Opening one eye, the small boy looked at his new position, realising he was lying on the ground with his arms gripped around his chest, hugging onto himself for dear life. He then noticed the two feet resting outside of his legs, and the breath fanning onto his face. Darting his gaze upwards, Luhan’s airways closed up as he stared at what was on top of him.
The boy blinked back at Luhan, who moved underneath him. Trying to raise his head, Luhan’s nose brushed against the strangers, causing the pairs already large eyes to grow bigger. The blonde boy jumped up, almost falling over Luhan’s legs once again as he frantically distanced himself from the boy.
Sehun’s heart was thumping so loud he was sure the other boy could hear it in the silent street. His attempt to take his eyes off the stranger proved futile for the boy was simply breath-taking. His large eyes shone in the dim light the moon had to offer and his eyelashes framed them in a way that should’ve been illegal.
Sehun shook his head, feeling a red tinge travel from his cheeks to his nose; the nose that had just touched with the beautiful stranger in front of him! Sehun could almost hear the warning bells going off in his mind for he was starting to sound exceptionally creepy, but he couldn’t help it.
Watching the boy stand up, he felt his mouth slant in awe. That was until he slammed it shut as an ice cold glare pierced through his soul.
“What on earth were you doing?!” The small boy was almost jumping in fury, and although Sehun wanted to laugh at how cute he was he didn’t want to get punched in the face, so decided against it.
“I, um-” A raised hand dismissed the rest of his sentence, the boy rolling his eyes in annoyance. Shocked, Sehun didn’t know what to do in order to stop the boy in his rage.
“First of all, I’m not even going to ask if you were the one making those sounds because this” he pointed to the bang snaps that littered the floor around him, “explains it.” Sehun opened his mouth to try and reply but the other started talking once again, cutting him off.
“What I am going to ask is whether or not you need professional help, because someone who is idiotic enough to make such loud terrifying sounds at this time of night surely is not normal.” Sehun felt his chest fall in sadness at the harsh words that left the boys mouth.
“I’m sorry…” Sehun said slowly, an awkward silence falling around the two. The boy looked back with large eyes, not knowing what else to say.
“Well... um, as long as you apologise, I guess that’s okay, then.” Staring at his feet awkwardly, Sehun had no idea what to reply back with. Believing that to be the end of the conversation, Sehun almost started to walk away, before the other did something that shocked him to the core.
A small laugh rang out through the street, Sehun’s eyes taking in the magnificent sight in front of him. He felt blessed by the gods to have witnessed something so beautiful. The laugh grew bigger, until the boy turned into a mess, snorting and clapping like a seal. To say Sehun was confused would’ve been an understatement.
“I thought I was going to die!” He stuttered out in between chortles. “F-freaking bang snaps! Th-That’s all they were!” The snorting returned as the small figure doubled over, slapping his knee during his fit of laughter. Sehun was at a loss for words. The boy lost his footing during the whole ordeal, and Sehun rushed to him, not knowing whether he should help him up.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m alright” he finally seemed to compose himself as he got up from the floor, a large gorgeous smile still stuck on his face. “Thank you, you just made my day a whole lot better.” He said, looking up at Sehun with warm eyes. The boy was practically glowing, and Sehun was sure he’d met an angel from the heavens. He stuttered, not knowing how to reply as a blush crept onto his face.
“Alright, well, bye,” the boy spoke, turning around and walking away. Sehun watched as the dark figure grew further away from where his feet stood, stuck to the floor. His heart fluttered unknowingly, and Sehun couldn’t help but shiver. Before he found himself lost in thoughts of the boy, he reprimanded himself, remembering that he would never see him again.
A/N: I know right, what the fudsjda did you just read? Sorry if it was a mess, lol. Please leave constructive criticism in the comments, or just a comment in general about how you felt while reading the chapter, as I love reading it. Also, sorry the formatting is terrible and I don't have a cover yet; graphics aren't my forte.
A/N 2: Not that you probably want to, but if you do, feel free to follow my tumblr; min-sugass. I kid you not, that is my tumblr. I anticipate your fan mail!
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