C H A P T E R      F I V E

 

“Am I allowed to talk to you now?”

Key glanced to his right and smiled inwardly at the sight of pouty Jonghyun next to him. The said male had given him the space he needed for three days and in all honesty, Key kind of missed him and his nonsense. Not that he would say it out loud though.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“I miss you.” Jonghyun confessed as he sat next to Key.

“I don’t miss you.” Key countered. Jonghyun merely scoffed at his reply.

They were both sitting at the field, watching the horses running around freely. It was a nice day out; Key had taken the liberty to set all the horses in his private stable free to roam around the field. It wasn’t like they would run away since the horses were properly trained.

“When I first saw you, I thought that you’re a straightforward and charismatic person.” Jonghyun spoke out of the blue.

“When I first saw you, I thought you were a complete .”

“YAH! Kibummie, that hurts!”

“Whatever, Jjong. You fail at trying to flirt.”

“I’m not trying to flirt!” Jonghyun defended, his cheeks slightly flushed. “I was just saying, I think you’re an amazing person and it feels weird seeing you all depressed and troubled!”

Key did not retort straightaway. Instead, he chuckled and scooted closer towards Jonghyun.

“Well, I thought you were a complete . You’re not that bad, I guess.”

Jonghyun blinked innocently and stared at Key. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Did you just say something about my being not that bad?”

Key gaped at the older male before suddenly bursting out into laughter.

“Yah! Why are you laughing?!” Jonghyun yelped as Key used his fist to hit him repeatedly, a habit he always does whenever he’s laughing hysterically. “I know I have a very fine behind and I appreciate it when people say something good about my body, okay!”

“O-Oh my G-G-God… Y-You’re unbelievable… Ahahahahahaha!” Key guffawed.

Jonghyun sulked but dismissed the conversation. He could feel his lips tugged into a smile before laughing along. At least Key seems more cheerful now.

It took sometime before Key finally cooled down and stopped chortling. He took deep breaths to calm himself down before rubbing his stomach area.

“It’s been a while since I laughed that loud. My tummy hurts from all that.”

“You look better when you’re happy, you know.” Jonghyun stated.

“I always look good.”

“That I agree.”

“Shut up.”

Key leaned backwards until his back touched the grass. He lied facing the sky, enjoying the cool breeze and chirping of birds.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Key stiffened. “About what?”

“I’m not deaf you know, I’m practically living in the castle now. It’s been a week and no matter where I go, there will always be maids talking about Prince Key.”

“I’m not a prince.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you not a prince?”

Key closed his eyes. He never liked to talk about this, but Jonghyun would find out anyway. The whole castles are aware about what happened in the past. Key would rather Jonghyun knows the actual story than the exaggerated, modified stories the maids would tell him.

“Because I don’t want to be a prince. I don’t like that kind of lifestyle.” Key admitted, “And I don’t want to lose anyone anymore.”

“Please Kibum-ah, run!”

“Father! Father!”

“The prince-to-be is over there! Come on!”

“Go, Kibum!” Key’s father pushed his son harshly, “Go back to the castle now. Call for help, quick!”

He was afraid – so afraid. There were more than five men – his father would die for sure. The men were armed with knives and daggers. His father was already injured from trying to untie Key – this was bad.

“GO!”

Key sobbed as he ran as fast as he could. Luckily he wasn’t that far from the castle – at least he knew which direction to go to. He used every ounce of energy he could muster to knock on the heavy castle gate.

“Help! Help! Someone… Please!” Key cried as his small fists pounded on the thick metal.

The gate made a creaking, sharp sound as it was opened, revealing a young, teenage Kyuhyun.

“Key? Kibummie?” Kyuhyun was horrorstruck to find out that the prince was outside the castle, crying and looking horribly scared, “What happened?!”

“D-Daddy-in danger-kidnappers-I was sleeping-they came-quick save him-he’s over ther-“

Everything became dark and Key felt the whole world crashing as his knees buckled. Kyuhyun immediately rushed to catch the fainted prince.

“Hyung! Hyung!” Kyuhyun called out to the older soldier. “Duke Kim is in danger! Hurry, send people to help him!”

“Is that Prince Key? What is he doing outside? Is he alright?!”

“I’ll bring him into the castle, hurry up and send men to find the Duke!”

-

Key opened his eyes to find himself asleep on his own bed. His head ached and in a flash, the previous night’s memories came storming into his brain.

Someone had kidnapped him and carried him out of the castle. He had struggled and tried to escape but to no avail. His father had chased after him – he had no idea how his father knew about it – and saved him.

“You’re awake.”

“Kyuhyun hyung.” Key quickly got off his bed. “Where’s my dad?”

“… Kibum-ah…”

Key didn’t need Kyuhyun to answer his question verbally. His sad expression had explained everything.

“I am not ready to lose anyone. I don’t want people to die protecting me.” Key let out a deep breath, holding back his tears from falling. “After that incident… I just can’t help feeling afraid. Jinki hyung and Taemin were not there to witness the whole thing but they heard about the story from other people around the castle. I’m grateful they didn’t ask furt