Minho calmly dodged the kick that Yoonhae threw at him before he countered her moves. Yoonhae smirked before giving Minho a punch on his stomach, from which the latter simply grunted before kicking back.

Taemin watched in amazement, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. He had never watched any ‘show’ better than this. Jinki couldn’t decide whether he feels impressed or worried that one of the two assistants will get hurt.

“They are really strong.” Key commented while the assistants continued sparring. “Well at least now I know that you and Taem are in good hands.”

Jinki merely nodded in response, not really absorbing Key’s comment as Minho managed to grab Yoonhae’s neck in a flash. The taller assistant’s sleeve rode up slightly as the shorter grabbed his arm, attempting to tear his grip away from her neck – and that’s when Jinki caught a glimpse of a familiar looking bracelet nicely worn around Minho’s wrist.

“Stop.”

The two assistants froze before straightening up, both now standing straight with their hands to themselves. They were not even panting or perspiring despite training for almost an hour already. Jinki only registered that he was the one who spoke after Taemin, Key, Minho and Yoonhae stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Yoonhae, I need to prepare for the meeting with the Dukes. Let’s go.” Jinki cleared his throat, finding for an excuse to drag his assistant away. Taemin simply bounced towards Minho using one leg (as his other one was still all bandaged from the sprain) and Key shrugged before excusing himself as well.

“See you later, Jinki hyung, Yoonhae-ssi.” Taemin waved cheerfully as Minho lifted the young prince up, carrying him again.

Jinki nodded before trudging away, Yoonhae escorting him. There was a funny, sickening feeling in his stomach and he wasn’t even nervous about the meeting he was going to attend. He frowned, trying to figure out why he was feeling so uncomfortable, until he remembered the scene from last night.

“They said every capable leaders in royalties wear a ring on their left hand’s forefinger as a sign of leadership and wisdom.” Yoonhae stepped back. “And the stone is topaz – your birthstone. I saw this when we were walking around and I got it for you as a gift.”

Jinki was still incapable of forming coherent strings of words. Yoonhae took it as a sign to continue, “It’s not some expensive jewelries or diamonds, but I hope you like it. I kind of think it suits you.”

“Your Majesty, are you feeling okay?”

Jinki glanced at his assistant before nodding again, not really keen to answer.

-*-

Jonghyun’s lungs were burning with the lack of oxygen, his legs sore from running too much. But he knew, as he held three pieces of breads closer to his chest that once he stopped to catch a breath he would get caught.

“Come back here, you rascal!!!” shouted one of his chasers.

Jonghyun made a decisive turn at the end of the street, only to find that it was a dead end. Eyes widening in fear, he was about to make a u-turn when a ‘psst’ stopped him.

“In here!” A boy looking a bit younger than Jonghyun was calling for him from a small gap between the broken walls.

“I won’t fit, Minho!” Jonghyun shook his head.

“Just try, there’s no time!” Minho hissed, offering Jonghyun a hand. “Quick!”

Jonghyun could hear the noises approaching and realized that if he wasted anymore time he would get caught for sure. his lips, he lunged at the small hole and squeezed his way through, Minho pulling his hands to help him.

“See? Told you you’d fit through.” Minho smirked, his arrogant face making Jonghyun roll his eyes. “Let’s go. And good job getting food, Jjong.”

“Of course, I’m Kim Jonghyun, there’s nothing I can’t do!” Jonghyun showed the younger boy a crooked smile.

The two of them continued jogging until they reached a small abandoned house at the isolated part of the town. It may look dirty and unpleasant, but they had been living there for almost two years by now – ever since they ran away from the orphanage.

“Yoonie, we’re home!”

Minho and Jonghyun entered the living room, only to find a man wearing expensive robe sitting on the dirty, half-run-down sofa with Yoonhae kneeling in front of him.

“Are these two boys your friends?” The man had asked. He seemed like he was in mid 50s; his voice was gentle but full of authority.

“Yes.” Yoonhae answered politely. She gestured the two boys to come to her. Jonghyun and Minho exchanged awkward gazes before Jonghyun settled the breads into a big bowl on the table. The two boys then kneeled on each side of Yoonhae.

“Jonghyun?”

Jonghyun groaned as he opened his eyes. It seemed that he had fallen asleep.

“What the heck are you doing, sleeping in the haystack?” Key had both his hands placed on his hips.

Jonghyun sat up, rubbing his eyes. Key’s horse, Princess, neighed at him, as if laughing at the fact that Key was scolding him.

“I came here to check on the handsome lad over there.” Jonghyun pointed at the injured horse from days before. “He seems okay now, and I think in a few days time you can have him run again.”

“So you’re a vet now?” Key rolled his eyes. He obviously knew that Jonghyun was just using the horse as an excuse to come into the castle. “You need to find yourself a proper job.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” Jonghyun scratched his head. “I was wondering, since I see no one but you in the horse stable… Must be hard taking care of so many horses on your own. So I thought of–“

“There are only five horses in this stable, Jjong.” Key cut him. “These are the elite horses – only the princes, their assistants and me get to ride them. Me alone am more than enough to take care of these child. If you wanted to be a horse-keeper or something, try applying at the soldier’s horses stable at the other side of the castle.”

Jonghyun stared at the younger man, looking dumbfounded. “What did you say?”

“I said, these are the elite horses and–“

“No, I mean before that.”

“Um, there are only five horses in this stable?” Key raised an eyebrow.

“No, not that.” Jonghyun grinned. “You called me Jjong!”

“Uh… I did. So?”

“I like it!”

“What?”

“It sounds like we’re really, really close! It’s like a pet name or something, I like it!” Jonghyun slung an arm over Key’s shoulder.

“I just call you that because it’s shorter. Geez.” Key tried to squirm away, feeling a little jittery at the sudden skin ship. “You’re over reacting!”

“And back to the topic… Are you sure you take care of them well? Because the last time I checked, the black mare over there is around three months pregnant and you hadn’t given her a separate stable. She’s anxious around the other horses, you know.”

It was Key’s turn to look dumfounded. He immediately rushes towards Night (the horse’s name) and checked on her.

“How did you know that?”

“I used to take care of horses for my master.” Jonghyun simply shrug.

“Master?”

“Never mind. So what do you say?” Jonghyun beamed. “Besides, if I work here I no longer need to sneak into the castle. I can just sleep here at the stable and–“

“ARE YOU FREAKING OUT OF YOUR MIND?” Key yelled. “NO, I’M NOT LETTING YOU SLEEP IN HERE.”

“Yah, calm the heck down. It’s not like I’m going to the horses or anything.” Jonghyun frowned. “Just because I said she’s pregnant doesn’t mean I’m the father!”

“Obviously, you dumbo.” Key scoffed. “How can a dinosaur mate with a horse?”

“…”

“Anyway.” Key cleared his throat. “… Don’t you have a home to go to? Why would you need to sleep in the stable?”

“Uh…” Jonghyun stared at his own feet, clearly embarrassed. “I kind of got kicked out of the hostel because I couldn’t pay up for this month’s bill.”

Key observed Jonghyun for a moment before realizing that the older man looked really tired and he seemed to have a big, slightly torn backpack with him. Must be hard living out there – Key never knew how it felt like to search for occupation outside and having to earn money to support himself. After all, even when he refused to become a prince, the king had let him stay in the castle as one of the royalties. He only opted not to be treated like Jinki or Taemin for his own comfort.

Seeing a man like Jonghyun in front of him – asking if he could give him a job and all – somewhat made Key feel like he was doing a good deed. To add on, he couldn’t stop thinking about Jonghyun for the past days anyway.

“I’d understand if you don’t want me. I can find other jobs, I just thought that since it’s more