Joshua woke up with a yawn and a nice long stretch. It had been too damn long since he took a vacation. Although with Jeonghan here now it was less like a complete vacation. He just had to deal with it. Leaning on his bent knee, Joshua sighed. He just didn’t know how to deal with the guy’s flirting.

He wasn’t going to lie; the flirting was extremely flattering. But he what was he going to do with it. It wasn’t like they could feasibly go anywhere. And the way Jeonghan looked at him sometimes. They had barely spent a full day with each other but Jeonghan acted too much like he was in love. it wasn’t right. Well more like Joshua didn’t believe in love at first sight. That’s why it wasn’t right. Not to him anyhow.

For all Joshua worked with magic, fairy tales, and fantastical beasts, he never believed in that one cliché of love at first sight. “Ughhh,” he groaned. He shook his hair, running his fingers through it. “Doesn’t matter,” he muttered. “I need to get Blue and drop Jeonghan off at the office so they can start his lessons.”

Shuffling out of bed, he went to wake Jeonghan up. He had a lot of learn before he could start being a working member of society. The quicker the better. Maybe Jeonghan would set his sights on someone else.

Joshua stumbled on Jeonghan at the balcony overlooking the ocean. “You’re awake.”

“Mmm,” he hummed. “It was odd to go to bed and then actually wake up.” His lips thinned, “I was almost afraid that I wasn’t going to wake up and that yesterday was all a dream and I’d be swimming in my own consciousness.”

“You were awake?” That sounded absolutely nuts. And enough to make one go crazy.

Lips quirking in a self-depreciating smile, he said, “She would sometimes wake me up. Wouldn’t let me speak though. Otherwise I didn’t know much of anything until you stepped foot into the kingdom.”

Joshua grabbed his hand, folding his fingers through Jeonghan’s, “You’re awake now. You won’t ever go back to being cursed.” He bit his lip, not quite sure if this would help, “It’ll take some time to get used to it but nothing bad will happen to you.”

“Promise?” His eyes shone.

Whether it was with unshed tears or happiness, Joshua didn’t know. All he knew was that Jeonghan said it so quietly that it hurt Joshua on some level.

“I’ll do my best,” Joshua whispered back, “that much I can promise.”

Faintly, Jeonghan smiled at him. “That’s more than anyone has ever given me. I’ve had empty promises a plenty. Saying that you’ll do your best is a change.”

Joshua kept his face from falling. He wanted to frown but nothing good come out of it, so he smiled brightly instead. “Let’s go eat and then I’ll drop you off at the office so you can get started on those lessons. You’ll be on your feet and doing things soon enough.”

Jeonghan nodded. “Yes. Changes are always worthwhile. Or so my father told me.”

“Some are,” Joshua said, pulling Jeonghan back inside the house.

He nodded. Joshua waking him up was perhaps the best change. A chance at life and a love that wouldn’t be marred with royal politics and wonders if he wanted Jeonghan just for his title or his money. Jeonghan had none of that now and Joshua seemed reluctant to even take him in. But it only meant that Jeonghan would work hard to woo him.