pairing: Sunggyu/Woohyun
prompt: Woohyun is a Prince with a curse, Sunggyu is the witch who cursed him.
rating: G
words: 3,396

The Prince and his Witch

Act one. Offending a witch

If anyone asked Woohyun, he hadn’t meant it. But if anyone asked Sunggyu, oh, Woohyun definitely meant it. Sunggyu’s knees were bleeding, the heels of his palms were scraped and his best shoes were muddy. He could hear the other children laughing at him and felt his cheeks burn. He scrambled to his feet, ignored his stinging bruises and whipped around to glare at the young Prince, who only stared back at him with owl-like eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sunggyu cut right in.

“You did that on purpose,” he snarled. “You pushed me on purpose.”

The Prince dared to look shocked. “I only wanted to return you something you dropped. I just grabbed your arm too hard. I’m sorry.” He held out the roughly-wrapped birthday gift Sunggyu had gotten for him. It was hastily wrapped in old newspapers because Sunggyu didn’t have any proper wrapping paper at home. And he didn’t know how to wrap gifts but did not want to ask his mother for help because he knew she would tease his efforts at befriending the Prince. So the gift Sunggyu presented to the Prince on his 12th birthday was shabby and paled next to the glittery boxes at the gift table, but to be taken as something that Sunggyu had dropped?

“It’s- it’s your present.” Sunggyu stuttered, eyes casting down in embarrassment.

“Oh.” There was surprise in Woohyun’s voice. “Oh. You shouldn’t have.”

More sneaky laughter. Sunggyu’s heart was beating so fast, from anger, he theorised, it was starting to make his head ache. He finally looked up again at the Prince, glare fiercer than ever.

“I shouldn’t have gotten you a gift?” He snapped. “Is it too poor for you? Doesn’t suit your stupid princely sensibilities?” He slapped at Woohyun’s hands, causing him to drop the present. He ignored Woohyun’s gasp. Woohyun started to blabber and stutter, bending to pick up the gift. But Sunggyu grabbed hold of the Prince’s collar and pulled him up roughly. He tugged the Prince’s body closer to him and growled in his face, “Since you hate my gift so much, I’ll give you another one.”

—

Act two. The witch’s curse

The Queen thought, she shouldn’t have invited the Witch’s son, after all. She wanted to throw a grand birthday celebration for her son, so she invited all the children in the kingdom… except the Witch’s son. She would have been fine with this, until her son (just one day before the party) said to her, “You know, Sunggyu really likes the apples from our orchard. I think I’m going to go pick some for him right now.” And he had said it with such a bright smile on his face, the Queen couldn’t bear to tell him he wasn’t invited. She knew he was very fond of the Witch’s son - for whatever reason unknown to her - but she hadn’t considered the possibility of his mood being dampened if the boy wasn’t there.

The Queen would like to believe that she was forced into sending a servant to the Witch’s cottage to give the boy an invitation. And then she had crossed her fingers and wished the boy wouldn’t turn up. But turn up he did, in his best clothes and shoes, no less. But the gift he held in his hands was untidy and grey. He carefully hid it behind the rest of the presents at the gift table and then stood awkwardly in the middle of the courtyard, eyes scanning the crowd of children for a familiar face. Whoever the Witch’s son found familiar, however, wanted nothing to do with him, even the poorer children avoided his eyes and stuck to their own company. The boy waited a bit more, watched faces a bit longer, and then he let out a sigh and headed towards the entrance.

“Woohyun,” the Queen called to her son. He promptly tore himself away from his friends to reach her. “Your friend, Sunggyu, left something behind at the gift table.” It’s probably cursed, she held her words back. “You should hurry and return it to him.”

“If it’s at the gift table, it’s probably a gift, mother,” Woohyun said, laughing lightly, as his eyes drifted over to the pile of presents. “Which one is his?”

“The one wrapped in grey paper. It’s not a gift for you,” The Queen said. “I saw him leave it on accident. Besides, it looks like a package he picked up from the market. You better return it to him before he leaves.”

“He’s leaving?” Woohyun suddenly looked horrified. “But the apples-“ And then he was gone, rushing over to the gift table to collect Sunggyu’s parcel.

The Queen watched her son pull too hard at Sunggyu’s arm, watched the boy fall, and then watched his face contort from embarrassment to anger to pain. When he started to get rough with the Prince, the Queen quickly stood up. She tore them apart but by then, Sunggyu was already pushing her son away. He looked dazed and fell into the Queen’s arms softly. Sunggyu glared at the Prince for a second more, then turned and swiftly stalked out of the courtyard.

—

Act three. Solitary

The King hated to do this to his son, but until they fixed him, it was the safest if he didn’t leave the castle. They found a temporary solution - hide Woohyun’s face behind a mask. No one could see his face, and it meant no one could know who he was. But it was not a desirable solution, for who could trust a Prince whose face they could not see?

At least explaining the need for a mask (“Oh, he’s at that age where dress-up and make-believe is popular.”) was easier than explaining the Prince’s curse. But even excuses couldn’t last forever. Besides, the mask was troublesome. When they ate, for example, Woohyun had to expose at least his mouth. But if any part of his face could be seen, the mask was essentially ineffective as a solution. They had to pry a 35-year-old maidservant off their 12-year-old son, and after that one time, he ate all his meals in his quarters.

Another troublesome thing about the mask was that his son got almost more elusive with the mask on, as if it was a real disguise he could use to slip away from their watchful eye. The King would be teaching his son the uses of different hunting knives and when he turned back around to show the knife he retrieved from his box to his son, the boy would be gone. The King would be in the orchard, on a ladder, picking some apples for his wife and he would see his son winding through the rows of trees and then disappear suddenly, as if he stepped through a portal among the trees. The King would be signing documents in his study and his wife would barge in, asking if he saw their son because she wanted his opinion on a few ribbons; although the King could understand the boy’s urgency to run away and would make an excuse for him anyway, he honestly had no answer for the Queen.

The Queen has agreed when the King told her he thought the mask was giving their son some sort of power to slip away.

“Where did he get that mask, anyway?” The King asked one night before they went to sleep.

The Queen shuddered and with a grimace, she said, “It was a birthday gift from the same boy who cursed him.”

—

Act four. Solitary part ii

Woohyun’s curse wasn’t much of a problem when he was 12-years-old. But now that he was 10 years older and had more duties as a Prince, the King became more anxious to fix his son. He felt more concerned than the Prince was, at any rate. Woohyun seemed content enough going around with his mask on. The King, however, thought he’d almost forgotten what his son looked like. He called Woohyun into his study one day and asked him to take his mask off so they could properly talk.

Woohyun, just as the King had remembered, was handsome and bright, and had a playful smile that showed off his teeth. His skin was dark and smooth, and glowed a little under the light. But what good was attractiveness if he had to keep it hidden behind a mask? Woohyun was far past marriageable age. He was lucky that he was a Prince and age did not matter as much for a marriage. Still, it worried the King, especially because Woohyun, like his mother, was a romantic. He refused to marry anyone who wasn’t his true love. The King often pointed out that it was impossible to find someone who could truly love him back, not with his curse.

“It’s not impossible.” Woohyun insisted, positivity radiating off him. “And it’s not really a curse.”

“The moment you take off your mask, everyone falls in love with you. How would you find your true love if everyone claims they are the one?” the King said. “Is that not a curse?”

Woohyun only grinned. “How can affection be a curse? Besides, even if Sunggyu hadn’t put that spell on me, people would be clamoring for my hand. I’m gorgeous.”

The King laughed, glad (but also worried) that his son could find humour in his situation. Woohyun’s grin grew at his father’s palpable relief. Feeling like the conversation was over, he stood up, ready to leave.

“Better remember to put that mask back on.” The King reminded him.

Woohyun nodded. “I’ll see you at dinner, father.” The mask slipped over his face and he was gone.

—

Act five. A turn of events

The moment her son came home with bleeding knees and palms, the Witch knew immediately that he been at the Prince’s 12th birthday party even when she told him not to. She never said Sunggyu couldn’t go, he could’ve went if he really wanted to, and apparently, he really did. And look what he got himself into - pain and anger, from the state of his hands and knees, and the deep frown on his face.

The Witch opened to say something along the lines of ‘I told you so’ when her son stalked past her in the garden. But he threw her a glare so dark, her jaw snapped shut so fast her teeth clacked. After Sunggyu cleaned up, changed and joined her out in the garden, he still hadn’t said a thing. He only grumbled under his breath as he rolled up his sleeves and began pulling up weeds like they personally offended him.

The Witch could only find out what transpired at the party in bits and pieces, from gossip she picked up around town.

On the Prince’s 12th birthday, he was visited by a witch. The witch didn’t like that he wasn’t invited to the party so he put a curse on the Prince. After the witch left, people started to attack the Prince suddenly. The Queen saved the Prince from the crowd and pulled him into the safety of the castle, where he had stayed for the rest of his life, never to be seen again.

The Witch assumed the witch who put the curse on Prince Woohyun was her son, Sunggyu. But the funny thing was, she never taught Sunggyu how to do curses, and she certainly never left books about curses laying about. Sunggyu had no way of learning how to put a curse on someone. Charms, sure, he was an expert on charms since he was seven. But curses, no. The Witch, despite her infamy for it, was against Sunggyu learning dark magic. Light magic, she thought, would be what differentiated him from every other witch.

Another loophole in the tale, the Witch thought, was the Prince’s disappearance. Because she saw the Prince every week.

Even before the “Day of the Curse”, the Prince visited them in their little cottage near the edge of the forest. He first turned up when Sunggyu brought him back with him from his shopping. He hadn’t known it was the Prince he brought back with him, and just introduced him as a friend. He was excited (he tried not to show it but his mother could tell) and didn’t even get angry when the Prince trampled over the sprouting sunflowers Sunggyu planted himself. The Witch knew, of course, that the boy was the Prince. And she had formed plans of abduction and ransom in her mind until the royal guards showed up to bring the Prince home.

They wasted no time on accusing the Witch and her son of abduction. Sunggyu looked both scared and angry. At that time, he was only an expert at levitation spells. The Witch stepped out of the cottage, cocked an eyebrow at the guards, and they shrunk back in fear, but with the Prince still safely behind them.

“I’ll be back to play again, Sunggyu,” the Prince said. “Wait for me, okay?”

When they left (not without threats of arrest), Sunggyu looked up at his mother and said, “He must be dreaming if he thinks I have nothing better to do than wait for him.”

The Witch didn’t know whether to feel sorry for the young Prince, or to feel proud of her sharp-tongued son. But since then, the Prince just started turning up every week, without fail. And he continued to turn up after the “Day of the Curse”. Every week, for 10 years. The Witch thought the boy was smitten with Sunggyu ever since the first day they met. But she knew now that the Prince saw Sunggyu as more than a friend or a brother.

There were so many people in the kingdom for Woohyun to choose a bride from, but he chose someone who was neither a person nor a woman. And the Witch’s son… Was not unwilling to reciprocate the Prince’s feelings. The Witch could see Sunggyu’s slowly changing affections for the Prince, from the day he came back angry and hurt from the birthday party.

Sunggyu was still expectedly bitter when the Prince came round to their cottage the day after. The Prince showed no sign of frustration at his ‘curse’, curiously enough. He ate the cake the Witch offered him, he peeled apples he picked from the palace orchard, and he cut them neatly into thin slices for Sunggyu. He was acting like everything was normal between them and plainly ignored the elephant in the room.

Sunggyu, predictably, ignored him the entire time. The Witch watched, from her spot at the sink, as the Prince reached fingers out (the only time he showed a hint of hesitancy or fear) and then quickly withdrew them when Sunggyu turned to glare at him, his first and only sign of acknowledging the Prince’s presence. Woohyun sighed and finally stood up to leave. He bowed to the Witch, bade her a polite farewell and told Sunggyu, “I’ll be back tomorrow.” before slipping on his mask and disappearing.

The Witch was surprised he had such an item, but she had no doubt it was Sunggyu who had given it to him. She said, “So that’s why you kept pestering me to teach you invisibility charms.” And took delight in seeing her son’s cheeks bloom in embarrassment.

—

Act six. A turn of events part ii

In hindsight, The Witch should have kept her question to herself. One moment Sunggyu had his head on Woohyun’s lap, and they were giving each other cute upside-down kisses and the next they were both frozen. Woohyun’s fingers in Sunggyu’s hair twirled the strands nervously.

It was just- They were both 22-years-old this year, and if Sunggyu weren’t a witch and needed to marry, he’d be overripe for marriage, which meant the Prince must be looking for a bride. Even if he weren’t eager to marry, the King and Queen must be. It was a question loaded with more questions about their future, and Sunggyu’s mother should have known better than to shoot off. Even she froze mid-knit, stunned by her own words.

“Yes, they’re arranging a marriage for me,” Woohyun said, finally breaking the awkward silence among them. “It shouldn’t be long before-“

At this point, Sunggyu sat up. “How are you even going to get married? With the mask on?”

Woohyun grinned. He gently kissed Sunggyu again. “We’ve kissed, so the ‘curse’ must be broken, right?”

Sunggyu was annoyed now. “Even I don’t know how to break the spell and you think it’s broken?”

“I’ve been going around without the mask for some time now,” Woohyun explained. “I only use it when I sneak out of the palace to meet you. I told you, we kissed and the spell is broken.”

“How does that make any-“

“Because true love’s kiss always breaks spells.”

Silence reigned one again, as the Witch watched her son and the Prince. She tried to hide her glee as Sunggyu’s telltale signs of embarrassment began to show. His ears were bright red by the time Woohyun leaned over to whisper something to him. He grumbled in response and turned away from Woohyun’s lips when he tried to kiss him again. Woohyun settled with kissing him on the cheek. And then he got up.

The Witch saw Woohyun as family and he was close enough to just wave goodbye and leave. But still, he bowed and bade a polite farewell. This time, he didn’t pull on his mask. He just left, marching towards town.

—

Act seven. A ressurection

Woohyun wondered if it was too mean of him not to invite Sunggyu to the ball. In his defense, his mother was the one in charge of handing out the invitations, and she pointedly said, “No witches this time. I don’t care how fond you are of them.”

The ball was meant to find a suitable bride for Woohyun. Now that the ‘curse’ was lifted, they had no time to waste. They had to introduce him to society and get him a wife as soon as possible, before rumors about the Prince being dead got too out of hand. Nobody outside the royal family had seen Woohyun’s face since he was 12-years-old. And only recently were the royal servants and guards introduced to the grown-up Prince.

News of the ball travelled far and wide. It was of no surprise that Sunggyu and his mother appeared in the middle of it in a puff of smoke. Sunggyu was clearly fuming, but he hadn’t neglected to wear his best clothes and best shoes, and Woohyun’s smile grew wider at the thought of Sunggyu fretting about what he should wear at the same time grumbling under his breath about Woohyun’s betrayal. His mother was dressed impeccably in a black dress and cloak, hand over and eyes wide, prepared to watch a dramatic scene unfold. She gave him one of her encouraging smiles and a small thumbs up before sinking into the crowd.

“Are you kidding?” Sunggyu demanded, marching right up to the Prince. “Do you know how cliched it is to not invite a witch to an event you’ve invited the entire kingdom to? Don’t you know a witch hates being left out?”

Next to Woohyun, the Queen’s horror was palpable. He turned to give her a reassuring smile, which did nothing to calm her. Sunggyu reached Woohyun and pulled him closer by the collar.

“Do you know what witches do when they are offended by someone, your highness?” Sunggyu hissed, loud enough for the entire banquet hall to hear (and gasp to in response). “We place a curse on them.” That roused another round of collective gasps.

Woohyun laughed. His eyes trailed to Sunggyu’s lips, then back up again. He said, “All I have to do is find true love’s kiss to break it.”

“I’ll run.”

Woohyun heard his mother’s beginning of a ‘What?’ But he was laughing again. Sunggyu was grinning, and he was beautiful and embarrassed and confident- Woohyun pulled him even closer still and kissed him.

“I’ll just have to keep you by my side forever then.” Woohyun murmured.

The Queen promptly fainted, but the King caught her in time. And the Witch could be heard cheering.