Being the crowned prince of Korea was a job that began from the day you were born. From the outside it was a life in luxury, a life where you would never have to do anything for yourself, never having to do an honest day’s work because there would always be someone who would do it for you. The crown prince was envied by almost everyone in the country, as they believed him to be a spoiled brat who didn’t do anything for himself. The people who knew the truth, however, would never dream of envying him. His position was extremely powerful, yes, but it also came with obligations. Every crowned prince in the Lee dynasty knew this, and had grown up to be a greater king than his father before him. As such, when the queen would give birth to a son, the king would give the new crowned prince the same upbringing as he had been given. This had been going on for generations, so when Queen Nari gave birth to the new crowned prince, Eunhyuk, King Shindong didn’t think twice about how to bring the child up to be the strongest successor he could be.

“Prince Eunhyuk, you know you are not allowed to descend the stairs without an !” a deep voice yelled from behind him, and the seven year old sighed deeply; he had never been allowed to neither descend nor ascend the stairs alone all his life. The steps grew louder as the Lord caught up with the young boy.

“I am going to be late for my father’s council, Lord Yesung,” the prince replied softly as the Lord took his hand and led him down the stairs.

“That is not important. Imagine what the king would say if he were to hear that you descended the stairs without an . You know how dangerous it is, you could fall down and break you neck,” the lord said while leading the young prince down a long corridor clad with portraits or previous kings towards the council room. 

“I don’t see any other children having to have an to go down the stairs,” Eunhyuk muttered, feeling overly annoyed. He truly hated the fact that he always had to have an adult by his side.

“That is because they are not sole heirs to the throne,” Lord Yesung responded in a strained voice before opening the door for Eunhyuk to go in and join the council. It was not that he didn’t love the prince, because he did, but the boy seemed to have a hard time grasping his own value even though he had been told time and time again.

Being in the council was nothing new to him. He had been attending ever since he was three and could read and write. He had undergone excessive tutoring in everything from math to how to run the country to the best of his capabilities. He had far greater knowledge than a lot of the men present in the council, which was exactly what was expected of him. The crowned prince’s advice was followed, usually with great results. Between his tutoring and his royal duties as a crowned prince, he had little to no time to be a normal kid. As he grew older, his desire for freedom and permission to play around like the other children he saw in the palace grew as well. 



“…. And after that you have to overhear the peasants and try to accommodate to their needs, after which your attendance is required at the council. Then, you have tutoring in history, mathematics, and Chinese. After that…..”
 

Eunhyuk tuned out the lord’s voice once more as he let his eyes wander around the park. He didn’t need to memorise the schedule since there would be someone leading him from place to place when he needed to go to the next thing on his list anyway. Instead of listening to the Lord drone on and on, he was looking at a boy who was skipping around over by the fountain with intensity. Eunhyuk had insisted that he needed some fresh air and, when granted permission and assigned an , had decided to take a stroll in the huge park that surrounded the palace.

It had felt like an eternity since he had last been able to spend some time outside, not attending to someone else’s demands. He stopped and looked more closely at the boy, who seemed to have fun all by himself. He was skipping around and laughing, and Eunhyuk felt a sudden surge of jealousy. He wanted to be able to skip around like that as well. He eyed the lord who was still reading of the calendar before starting towards the boy. It was the first time he had ever run just for the sake of it. He had of course run in his physical education, learning how to run with a heavy suit of amour on, learning how to handle a sword while running and other things like that, but this felt different. It had no purpose other than getting from one place to another as quick as possible because he wanted to. A smile broke out on his face as he reached the boy who was still skipping around happily. 

“What are you doing?” Eunhyuk asked in a hurry since the lord had realised he had run and was now charging after him to make sure nothing happened to the precious boy.

“Playing,” the boy replied with a smile as he skipped once in the direction of Eunhyuk and bend down to pick up a flower just as Lord Yesung reached the two boys. 

“What are you doing, your highness!? Have you any idea how dangerous it is to run around like that? You could fall-“

“And break my neck, I know,” Eunhyuk interrupted with a mutter before looking up at Lord Yesung with huge, begging eyes. 

“Can I play with the boy? Please? Just while we are out here anyway?” he begged, trying to sound both authoritative and pleading at the same time. The lord looked at the boy beside the prince, only now realising who it was.

“You can sit down and talk for the remainder of what should have been a stroll, but no skipping around or anything,” the lord answered finally; Eunhyuk looked incredibly disappointed, as he figured that the boy had no interest in just sitting around and talking when he had the freedom to skip around and play.

He felt on the verge of tears of disappointment when he felt a small hand in his, pulling him towards a stone bench. His eyes widened as he couldn’t comprehend what was happening. He stood for a while, looking dumbly at the boy who had climbed upon the bench and sat looking expectantly at him with a smile. When Eunhyuk didn’t move for a long time, the boy’s expression fell and tears gathered in his eyes. 

“You don’t like Hae?” the boy asked in a whimper; Eunhyuk snapped out of it and hurried to sit down beside the boy, taking his hand to reassure the other boy and try to make the other not cry. 

“Not, it’s not that, I just… why would you sit and talk to me if you can play around?” he inquired incredulously, and the younger boy, Hae, looked up at him with huge eyes. 

“Hae can always play,” he exclaimed brightly, before his face fell slightly, his eyes conveying sadness once more as he continued, “But Hae is lonely. Hae wants a friend.”

“I can be your friend!” Eunhyuk proposed with great excitement shining in his eyes; he had never had a friend before, and the mere thought was enough to lift his spirits greatly. 

“What is your name?” he asked the boy, who looked like a ball of sunshine after Eunhyuk had said he wanted to be his friend. He had never heard the name “Hae” before so he assumed it was a nickname. 

“Donghae,” the boy said happily, before looking to the other curiously, “What is yours?”

“Eunhyuk,” the prince answered, suddenly scared when realisation seemed to dawn on Donghae’s face.

“You are the prince!” the smaller boy chirped, before covering his mouth to muffle a giggle, “My appa works with your appa.” 

Then, Donghae’s eyes shimmered with curiosity and hope as he continued with a question, “You will be my friend?”

The truth was, Donghae had been very lonely since he came to the palace. His father had been appointed as the king’s advisor and the family had been moved to the palace where Donghae knew absolutely no one. He had tried to seek out some of the other kids in the palace, but they had turned out to be servants and his father had been very angry with him when he found out that his son had socialised with people of such low standings. 

“If you will be mine,” Eunhyuk countered and Donghae nodded furiously in reply, making Eunhyuk smile as he replied happily, “Good.”

Donghae suddenly started giggling like crazy again and before long both of the boys were laughing loud enough to startle a flock of doves that set off towards the sky. Lord Yesung frowned, not having heard the Crown Prince laugh like this ever before. He knew that the other boy was the son of the King’s advisor and he deemed the boy to be suitable company for the prince which was why he had allowed them to spend time together. He decided to talk to the King about the two boys being tutored together. As a king, it was incredibly important to have someone you could trust one hundred percent, and Lord Yesung saw Donghae as a potential confidante for Prince Eunhyuk in the future.
 

King Shindong decided to let the boys be tutored together after seeking advice from Donghae’s father. Eunhyuk felt incredibly happy that he got to see Donghae everyday, but he was very disappointed when he reali