The Welcoming Ball

“Yah, Sungjong, wake up! Did I not tell you to stop bringing strangers back home with you?” called the stable manager’s voice, annoyance half hidden behind a smile. “I didn’t” Sungjong blabbered automatically, most of his brain still asleep. “Then why is one drinking coffee on your porch?” the manager asked, laughing in an irritated way. “Oh, him. He’s my cousin. He’s going to teach me magic” Sungjong answered whilst pressing his face against his pillow, words barely audible.

The manager looked like his already fish like eyes were about to bulge out. Then he just marched out, muttering something under his breath that sounded like: “I can’t, just… I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything”. He paused outside while passing Sungyeol, who looked like this porch was in fact his, and just wiggled his fingers at the manager, smiling brightly over his steaming mug. The manager simply turned away and returned to his muttering as he walked away, hitting the leafy branches that got on his way as he went.

A moment later Sungjong actually woke up as he remembered the man he’d taken in yesterday. He felt like it was Christmas all over again as he jumped up from the mattress working as his bed and rushed to the porch. “Annyeong” he said to Sungyeol, wondering where the boy had gotten his coffee since he himself didn’t drink any. Maybe it was magic? “You promised to teach me in the morning” Sungjong continued.

“I think it’s better if we go indoors” Sungyeol said, giving Sungjong a conspiring look. Sungjong led the other happily up the ladders to his “second floor”, a little attic where one could hardly stand up straight, but where Sungjong usually slept. He’d given his better mattress to his guest that night; it was now folded in one corner. They sat on the wooden floor facing each other. A small window let in some light to the center of the room, but the corners were left in shadows.

“Now then, the first lesson” Sungyeol said, trying to remember the stories he’d heard on his travels about wizards training. He lit his pipe again, inhaling the smoke a couple of times to buy himself some time. Sungjong coughed, but to his surprise the smoke actually smelled nice, like a mixture of a nice perfume, tealeaves and the scent of a campfire. He gaped at Sungyeol bluntly, waiting impatiently for him to begin.

“Well, there are different kinds of… skills… that the wizards have. Some of them make potions, some put curses on people, and others are specialized in healing and err… so on” Sungyeol began, trying to keep his stuttering to a minimum. “The last one is the easiest to test, so let’s begin with it. I want you to…” Sungyeol trailed of, scanning the small room with his eyes before reaching for a little pot on the window frame, containing a withered flower. Handing it over to Sungjong he continued: “make this flower bloom again”.

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Sungjong asked, blinking slowly. “Eh?” Sungyeol looked a bit taken aback. “You have to figure it out yourself! You just have to concentrate. Can you do it?” he asked, trying to challenge the younger boy. “Yeah” Sungjong answered and clutched the pot tightly against his chest. “Well alright then. I have nothing more to teach you until you’ve completed this task” Sungyeol said, leaned contently against the wall, took in a deep breath trough his pipe and closed his eyes.

Sungjong gazed at the circles of smoke that Sungyeol let out of his mouth, drawing the sunrays visible. He thought that Sungyeol was actually really beautiful on the rare occasion that he closed his mouth. After a while the man cracked his other eyelid and gestured for Sungjong to ‘Go on’.

* * *

“I still don’t get why we have to throw a party for him” Sunggyu complained as Woohyun chatted with yet another maid about table decorations or something else as redundant. “It’s a ball, Sunggyu dear, a ball.” Woohyun turned to say. “Well, that’s even worse”, Sunggyu sulked. “I’m the king, so I should be ruling my kingdom, not attending to some ridiculous balls”, he added in a frustrated tone. “Attending ridiculous balls is very much a part of being the king.” Woohyun answered, unmoved.

“Besides”, Woohyun turned to the king as the maid curtsied and took her leave, giggling in her sleeve; “You agreed to this a week back”. “Why would I ever do that? “ Sunggyu exclaimed. Woohyun raised one of his dark eyebrows. “Oh, it’s remarkable what a few too many glasses of the finest apple wine can do to one’s discernment” he shrugged.

Sunggyu took a moment to think of a witty response, but came up empty. “You just love being on my , don’t you…” he muttered and slumped down in his chair. Woohyun just started to go through Sunggyu’s wardrobe, laughing heartily.

* * *

On the other side of the castle another mind was going through a very similar thought progress as Sunggyu’s. Myungsoo looked at his reflection of shimmering white plies and unnecessary silver frets with discontent. He’d thought that without his mother constantly breathing on his neck he could escape these tiring occasions. He didn’t feel at all fluent at mingling.

That didn’t turn out to be a problem at all.

In the end Myungsoo was caught in crossfire between troublesome questions and flagrant flirting attempts for the whole afternoon. After twirling around with several of the heavily perfumed ladies, the prince was in desperate need of a break. He glanced at his cousin (who was still sulking) and his cousin’s advisor (who seemed to be having the time of his life) before excusing himself and quietly sneaking out.

Myungsoo found his way to a terrace and dodged behind a pillar to avoid being seen. He could see the castle grounds from where he was standing. A conversation from two days back ran through his head as Myungsoo spotted the royal stables basking in orange sunrays. Intent on escaping the ball, and perhaps meeting that interesting boy again, Myungsoo climbed over the fence of the terrace. He headed towards the stables, feeling a new kind of thrill as the music behind him faded into the singing of a nightingale. The air was filled with the thick scent of lilacs, and he felt happier with each step he took.

* * *

“Hey Sungjong, someone is asking for you” the stable manager yelled from downstairs, not bothering to climb up. “Well, tell them I’m busy. It’s almost dark anyway” Sungjong answered without taking his eyes of the withered plant he was staring at intently. Sungyeol had ventured out to the town and left Sungjong to practice, which wasn’t going all too well. He was getting extremely frustrated, and had to control himself not to throw the stupid pot out the window. “You better come down, he looks important” the manager said. Sungjong got up and reluctantly climbed down the ladders from the small garret.

The manager led him to the front of the stables, shooting odd glances at Sungjong, which the boy efficiently managed to overlook. Sungjong barely recognized the man patting a snow-white horse over the fence, dressed in even whiter clothes. So pure white, in fact, that Sungjong thought they made the air around them seem dirty. When he’d last seen the man, who’d introduced himself as just ‘L’, he’d been dressed in common clothes; clean and new but clearly filial. Now he looked like the very definition of a prince.

The air around him was also very different from the last time they met; Sungjong was actually a bit taken aback by the cold, indifferent expression on his face. When L noticed his presence, however, his expression changed abruptly as a small smile carved deep gaps next to his lips. “Good day, I thought I should come and introduce myself properly” the man said. Sungjong walked in front of him, widening his almond shaped eyes expectantly. “I’m Kim Myungsoo, a cousin of your king, Kim Sunggyu. I hope you can forgive me my anonymity on our last meeting, but I wasn’t exactly supposed to be in that particular place at the time” the man said and bowed slightly.

Sungjong bowed back hurriedly, answering “Of course” and thinking that this man, Myungsoo, most probably was a prince. “That was just fun. And as you can see the name I gave was real” he continued before he could control his tongue. Myungsoo, however, didn’t look at all bothered by the lack of respect in his voice, so Sungjong decided to skip the formalities. Prince or not, he’d already spent an entire evening talking with this man, after all.

“Are you free now?” Myungsoo asked, earning a nod and a puzzled expression as a response. “Would you like to go horseback riding?” Myungsoo continued. Sungjong merely cast a look of disbelief at the prince’s expensive clothes. “Yeah, maybe I should change first” Myungsoo thought and, with another bow of his royal head, half-jogged back to the castle. ‘Then why did you wear those clothes in the first place… Such a show-off’ Sungjong snickered as he sat down to wait.

The prince returned soon with a much more practical set of clothes; leather protecting his inner thighs and calves, a thin linen shirt to keep away the hotness of the summer evening and a pair of dark riding boots. The stable manager insisted on Myungsoo mounting the second valued horse at the stables, Gitteol, next in line only to Sunggyu’s pitch black stallion. Sungjong rode with his personal favorite, a gentle, dark brown mare that he himself had named Gyepi.

“Mind if I lead?” Sungjong asked. “Go ahead” Myungsoo replied, with a hint of ‘let’s see what you’ve got’ in his smile. Without any warning whatsoever the younger boy quickly provoked Gyepi to race forward at full gallop along a narrow path that led to the woods. He laughed out loud at the wind blowing on his face and at the thought of leaving Myungsoo behind just sitting on his horse, flabbergasted. When Sungjong took a quick look behind him, however, he saw that Gitteol and its rider were only a few meters behind and gaining.

They raced under the shadows of the oak trees and finally slowed down in the middle of a field, side by side. Sungjong seemed to have thought of something.

“Isn’t there a ball this evening, for welcoming the king’s relative?” he asked. Myungsoo nodded gingerly. “And since you’re his cousin, then wouldn’t that be you?” Sungjong continued and Myungsoo nodded again, acknowledging Sungjong’s deduction. “Then shouldn’t you be there? I mean, what’s the point of throwing a party for someone that isn’t even present?” Sungjong concluded. Myungsoo paused, trying to decide if what he had to say would cross some sort of a line. “Maybe it’s more fun here, with you” he finally said.

Sungjong most definitely did not blush.

“So, what brings you here?” Sungjong inquired after a moment of embarrassed silence. “I guess I just wanted to see the world a bit more” Myungsoo answered, intent on not complaining about his mother’s crazy wedding preparations on their second meeting. “Well, have you?” Sungjong asked. “So far this place has been pretty similar to where I come from. With a few exceptions of course” Myungsoo replied, sending a fleeting look in Sungjong’s direction.

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A/N If someone wondered about the horses names, they are Gitteol = Feather, and Gyepi = Cinnamon. Just because I can.