“You’re really good at this.”

Kyuhyun put on his most charming smile to the other male holding the bow and arrow. Everyone was having archery practise and Kyuhyun so bad, it was too embarrassing. Thankfully, Henry had snuck off with Mischievous Hyuk doing god knows what and did not get the chance to watch Kyuhyun embarrassing himself. When he realized that he clearly was not cut out for this, Kyuhyun had initially wanted to just leave but then he spotted someone of interest.

Lee Sungmin.

Sungmin was a few years older than him and his ability was teleportation. Henry and Kyuhyun had decided to make friends with this guy in order for them to be able to get to the Dark World. But it wasn’t easy. Sungmin had his own kind of friends and so, it took some time for Henry and Kyuhyun to find any opportunity to be able to talk to Sungmin. The male lowered his weapon, shifting his attention to Kyuhyun.

“Ah, I’m Kyuhyun,” Kyuhyun introduced himself. “I… I just was watching you practise and felt that you deserved a compliment.”

Sungmin, Kyuhyun had to admit, looked pretty feminine despite his muscular body. He had soft facial features and he looked cute. He reminded Kyuhyun of Ryeowook strangely and when he smiled and thanked him, Kyuhyun’s heart did a strange leap. Oh, his soft was high-pitched and soft too…. Just like Ryeowook.

“I’m Sungmin.” He introduced himself.

“I know.” Kyuhyun quickly said and then realized that it was too weird, “I mean… I… I’ve heard of you.”

Sungmin only nodded, returning his gaze back to the board in front. “Why aren’t you practising?”

“I’m bad at it,” Kyuhyun admitted, slouching. “And all the Eunhyuks are busy teaching the others.”

It was true. Kyuhyun glanced around the sports hall. There were many Eunhyuks going around, teaching the others how to shoot properly. An Eunhyuk did try to help Kyuhyun out earlier but he was rather hot-tempered and gave up within ten minutes.

“Here,” Sungmin smiled, placing his bow down. He took off the chest and arm guard and helped Kyuhyun on. He then picked the bow up and handed it to Kyuhyun.

“Put your fingers here,” Sungmin instructed while Kyuhyun followed.

“You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Kyuhyun said, feeling clumsy as he placed his fingers wrongly.

Sungmin laughed and grabbed his hands, directing it to the correct position. “I want to.”

“I’m warning you, I’m pretty bad with anything sports related.”

“Is that so? You don’t look like you’d be bad in sports.”

Kyuhyun shrugged and then joked, “Guess some people were just born to look good.”

Sungmin grinned, “I never said anything about you looking good.”

“But I bet you were thinking about it.”

Sungmin never said anything to this but Kyuhyun could spot the slight blush forming on his cheeks. It was weird, was Kyuhyun actually flirting with Sungmin? He… He didn’t mean to. The male just reminded him of Ryeowook so much that he instantly felt comfortable with him.

“Hey,” Kyuhyun nervously begun, “Before we begin, I kind of have a question to ask.”

“Sure,” Sungmin gestured for Kyuhyun to go on.

Kyuhyun nervously flashed a smile, “Would you have dinner with me even if I’ll end up embarrassing myself real bad in front of you?”

Sungmin laughed, “You won’t embarrass yourself!”

“Oh, trust me, I’m really bad at this.” Kyuhyun grinned cheekily, “But you haven’t answered my question.”

Sungmin seemed to give this a thought, before he replied Kyuhyun with a sweet smile.

“Of course, I’d love to.”

***

“Why the sad face there, ice princess?”

Ryeowook’s eyes darted to the man standing against the window in his room, smugly smirking behind those mysterious dark shades. Ryeowook sighed, but no attempt of moving or saying anything else. He hated that nickname but it looked like the prince couldn’t care less about what he liked or disliked. Shifting his gaze to the dark prince, Ryeowook watched him with curiosity. It seemed like the only person Ryeowook had even communicated with at the Dark World was Prince Donghae. And it was considered bizarre because the dark princes did not just go around communicating with the others. No, they were of too high-status. Prince Yesung was always on his own or with Lord Heechul. Prince Donghae on the other hand…

“Are you related to Lord Heechul?” Ryeowook asked quietly. “And Prince Yesung?”

“Brothers,” Prince Donghae replied with an amused smile.

“You don’t seem to hang around them much.”

“Look at you going around making assumptions.” Prince Donghae chuckled, walking towards the bed.

Ryeowook held out his hand, “Don’t come near me.”

Surprisingly, Prince Donghae stopped in his tracks. He eyed Ryeowook, his expression giving Ryeowook a tingly sensation.

“Why can’t I come any closer?” Donghae questioned with a low voice.

“I don’t like you coming too close to me.” Ryeowook admitted, straightforwardly.

“You had no problem with it back when I kissed you.”

Ryeowook looked away, his face suddenly feeling warm. “Why did you kissed me?”

 “I don’t know.” Prince Donghae shrugged with a playful expression, “You’re cute.”

Ryeowook’s eyes grew wide, startled by the answer. He blushed even harder and refused to look at the damn prince.

“Well… Don’t do it again.” Ryeowook muttered, frowning.

 “Why?” Prince Donghae chuckled at this, “Is there a lover I should be worried about?”

Ryeowook clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer. He was momentarily distracted by the thought of Kyuhyun when Ryeowook jumped, feeling the bed dip by his side. Startled, Ryeowook turned and found that Prince Donghae had made himself comfortable and sat right next to him on the bed. He smirked, eyes hidden behind those damn shades. Ryeowook attempted to get off the bed but Prince Donghae held onto his arm.

“Stay,” Prince Donghae ordered and although his voice sounded cool and calm, it still send a shiver down Ryeowook’s spine. Prince Donghae held up his hands and traced Ryeowook’s cheeks with the back of his fingers as he continued speaking, “So tell me, is there a lover I should be worried about?”

“There is,” Ryeowook answered, smacking the prince’s fingers away. “So don’t touch me.”

The prince raised his eyebrows and then nodded, “Of course, a pretty face like yours, how could there not be a lover.”

“Is the person back on earth?”

“No,” Ryeowook swallowed. “He’s…”

“No? Well, well,” Prince Donghae mused, “I doubt that the bastard is from here so that leaves us to just one place.”

Ryeowook nodded quietly. He didn’t like where this conversation was going but at the same time, it felt good to finally tell someone that Kyuhyun was on the other side. And he had no intention of correcting the term lover. They weren’t lovers. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook were just best friends. But after this, after being separated from him for too long, Ryeowook knew that what he felt for Kyuhyun was more than just friendship. He knew that there was something more than friendship between the both of them. He just hoped that Kyuhyun realized it too.

“Does he know that you’re in the Dark World?”

Ryeowook nodded, “He probably would by now.”

“Well then,” Prince Donghae began, cupping Ryeowook’s face all of a sudden. He leaned close to Ryeowook and begun whispering into his ears, “Let me ask you a question,”

“Would your lover still love you when he knows who you really are? Would he be able to accept the differences, accept your flaws, your imperfections and your darkness, and love you unconditionally?”

Ryeowo