Baekhyun: 12 years old
Chanyeol: 10 years old

Chapter 1: Friends

Blood…

That was what the warm liquid was…

Baekhyun laid face down on the rocky ground, breathing heavily. There was a dull pain pounding away in his head, and a sharper one stabbing at his left arm. The gravel dug into his bare skin, creating little waves of pain all over his body. There were blotches in his vision, and every movement he made caused the spots to increase. His mind was dimly aware of somebody’s footsteps, but he only concentrated on his haggard breathing, trying to calm his rapid heart beats. Warm blood trickled down the side of his arm and from his chapped lips. He struggled to stand up and harshly wiped the blood on his mouth with his fist.

He was relieved when he was finally upright and not sprawling on the floor anymore. With a small bitter smile, he took a small step before collapsing again. He landed painfully on his knee and hissed from the sting. He managed to disperse the yellow spots in his eyesight with a few shakes of his head, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to try standing up again.

“You.”

The voice startled him, but Baekhyun paid no attention, still attempting to drive away the dizziness.

“Yah! Peasant! What are you doing, not replying to Prince Chanyeol?”

A harsher voice snapped at him, much to his annoyance. The owner of the voice grabbed his hair and pulled it back, forcing him to look up. Baekhyun glared at “Prince Chanyeol” with spite.

“You didn’t die,” Chanyeol said simply.

He laughed harshly. “I didn’t.”

Chanyeol looked at him, his face and eyes void of emotion. Baekhyun stared back, not flinching from the constant bouts of pain in his arm.

“Treat him and then take him to my chamber,” Chanyeol said finally, turning away and not sparing him a second glance. “I want to talk to him.”

Baekhyun ground his teeth, indignant that the prince was ordering him around. Then again, he was the prince, while Baekhyun… Baekhyun was only a lowly peasant. A peasant whose life could be discarded any time.
 

---

“What is your name?”

That was the first thing he said when Baekhyun walked into the room.

He was feeling better now. His arm was bandaged tightly, and he still felt the sharp pain, but at least he could walk properly.

“Byun Baekhyun,” he replied shortly.

The prince looked up from his toy airplane. To Baekhyun’s surprise, he smiled.

“I’m Park Chanyeol. It’s nice to meet you.” He bounded over, crossing the bedroom to Baekhyun in a few long strides. With a bright grin, he grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and led him to the table placed against a wall. He pushed him down into a chair with surprising strength before settling in one opposite to his.

Baekhyun sat awkwardly, stiff and straight. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he was constantly wringing them. He glanced at Chanyeol, who was smiling foolishly at him. He quickly looked away, not sure of what to say. Then, he cleared his throat.

“Yes?” Chanyeol asked.

“Um. Why am I here…?” Baekhyun asked slowly.

Chanyeol looked surprised. “Because you’re my friend,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Baekhyun nearly choked on his own saliva.

Friend? Is he serious? This is, like, the second time we met. And he declares us friends? What right does he have to call–

“So, friend, tell me about yourself,” Chanyeol chirped, interrupting Baekhyun’s thoughts.

“Well,” Baekhyun began. “I’m Byun Baekhyun, son of a serf, someone not worthy of your presence or attention, and I’m seriously wondering why you just called me your friend.”

Chanyeol looked at him for a second before breaking out into loud guffaws. He slapped his thighs while laughing. After seeing Baekhyun’s utterly confused face, his laughter only just increased.

Baekhyun’s expression quickly turned sour, as he crossed his arms and waited impatiently for the prince’s laughter to subside.

“I-I’m sorry!” Chanyeol said finally, wiping a stray tear away. “I-it’s just that your introduction was very… um… unique, and your expression was just too funny!”

Baekhyun gave a “harrumph” and muttered something incoherent under his breath.

“Anyways… you’re my friend because I want you to be my friend,” Chanyeol said, pouring himself a cup of tea, and then another for Baekhyun.

Baekhyun, surprised that the prince had just poured him tea, did not answer.

“After this, let’s go play, shall we?” Chanyeol asked cheerfully, gulping the hot tea quickly. Baekhyun sipped the tea slowly, his expression thoughtful.

His father told him that his journey to the palace was for his family. They were poor and enslaved by a nobleman named Joonmyung something or other. They needed money, and a perfect opportunity had come to them.

Prince Chanyeol, once again, was looking for playmates. Boys from every family, regardless of class, traveled to the palace, desperate to become the closest “friend” of the Crown Prince. What they didn’t know was what type of games they would be playing.

The first thing Chanyeol made them do was fire mini “play” cannons. There would be no “lasting harm”. Or at least that was what the officials said.

Play cannon, my . Baekhyun thought, ignoring the scalding pain on his tongue from the tea. That is the real thing…

Indeed, it was a real cannon. The firepower may not have been as much as a regular, full-size cannon (obviously not, or else everyone and everything would have been blasted to smithereens), it still did a lot of damage. Enough to have killed half a dozen of barely teen boys.

Now, why had this cruel, cruel prince who cared nothing for the lives of his “playmates” suddenly consider Baekhyun, another of his disposable servants, his friend?

“It’s because you lived.”

Baekhyun’s head shot up and he stared at Chanyeol.

“What?” He blurted out.

“You’re wondering why you, and only you, are my friend, right?”

“Yeah…”

“You lived. You didn’t die like the other kids. And you hate me.”

“Um… I wouldn’t exactly say I ‘hate’ you, since ‘hate’ is a pretty strong word… but I think it’s safe to say that I strongly dislike you,” Baekhyun muttered.

Chanyeol laughed. “This is why you’re my friend. Come on, let’s go play. Father bought me a new toy.”

---7 Years Later---

“Oh, prince, you’re so charming!”

“You flatter me, beautiful lady,” Chanyeol said in a cheerful voice.

Shrill giggles filled the air and stabbed at Baekhyun’s already sensitive ears. He groaned as another flock of barely adult noble women surrounded him and his best friend, the Crown Prince.

“Chanyeol-shi, am I beautiful too?” One of the bolder ladies batted her eyelashes at him.

Baekhyun covered a scoff when he heard Chanyeol reply, “Why, yes, of course! Every single one of you is as lovely as the first ray of sunshine that appears at the crack of dawn.”

More giggles erupted as comments about how poetic the prince was flew about. Baekhyun grabbed another glass of wine from the tray and stared resentfully at Chanyeol.

He wasn’t jealous of the attention or anything. Really. He’d rather be the lonely bard down the street than Chanyeol, who was currently being tugged about by the obnoxiously loud creatures called women. He was angrier at the fact that Chanyeol had dragged him to this public affair.

Apparently, Chanyeol’s teacher’s friend’s uncle was holding an end of the year ball and requested the Royal Family’s attendance. Since the Emperor and Empress were all busy with other matters, Chanyeol was sent to the party. Somehow, Baekhyun found himself being pulled along. Now, Chanyeol was completely neglecting him, and he, himself, was being eyed by a group of teenage girls.

“!” Baekhyun cursed and jumped up as he accidentally upturned his wine glass on himself. It splashed against his new white suit, inevitably staining it dark red.

“Now, now, Baekhyun. Don’t start scaring off our pretty ladies with your vulgar language,” Chanyeol teased, amused by Baekhyun’s scowl.

He immediately his award winning killer smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you all,” he said in a smooth pleasant voice.

All of the women immediately blushed and shook their heads bashfully. One of them extended their hand, holding out a silk handkerchief. He took it, still smiling, and slowly brought her hand to his lips. She let out a soft gasp, before flushing red.

“Thank you, miss,” he cooed softly.

“Y-you’re welcome,” she stuttered, still blushing furiously.

Chanyeol grinned and leaned over to whisper in Baekhyun’s ear. “Quite the women-charmer, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun turned to him with a smile brighter than ever. The grin on Chanyeol’s face faltered. He knew that every time his best friend had that expression, nothing good was about to happen. He scooted as far away from Baekhyun as he could in his chair. Baekhyun leaned over and grabbed Chanyeol’s arm, pulling him closer.

“Speak for yourself,” Baekhyun hissed. “And you’re so going to pay for making me come to this stupid party.”

“Ow, ow,” Chanyeol muttered under his breath, rubbing his arm that had just escaped Baekhyun’s deadly vise grip. “No need to use that much force…”

Baekhyun replied with another smile before staring blankly at the dance floor again.

The night wore on, and Baekhyun stayed rooted in his seat, declining all dance offers.

His best friend, however, danced and danced. He also drank to his heart’s content and became increasingly drunk. Still, he let himself be led to the dance floor and danced provocatively with whoever his partner was.

Baekhyun wondered absently if Chanyeol even knew the name of the girl he was dancing with.

Finally, after Chanyeol had screamed out the length of his , Baekhyun decided that it was time to tell him to go home before he starts shouting out other embarrassing details.

“Prince,” Baekhyun said through gritted teeth, trying to make himself heard over the loud music. “I believe it is time to leave.”

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with a drunken expression. “Aaaawwww, but the fun just started!” He whined.

“Prince, it is past three in the morning. You still have class tomorrow.”

Chanyeol waved his hand dangerously close to the waiter that was handing out drinks. “Screw class! I’m not going!”

He reached for another drink, only to have his hand smacked by Baekhyun.

“Yah, Park Chanyeol. It’s time to in go home!” Baekhyun planted his hands on his waist and glared at Chanyeol.

To his surprise, Chanyeol smiled and threw his arms around Baekhyun. Being the shorter of the two, Baekhyun nearly toppled over when Chanyeol leaned against him with his full weight.

“What the hell!”

“Baekhyunnie~ I love you~” Chanyeol giggled, still waving his hand about.

Baekhyun felt his face become warm. “A-alright, alright. Now, let’s go home and go to bed, shall we?” Baekhyun began dragging him to the front doors.

Chanyeol leaned closer to Baekhyun. “Only if you’re joining me~”

“Don’t be stupid,” Baekhyun growled. “You’re ruining the reputation of the Royal Family. Sober up!”

Baekhyun debated on whether or not to smack Chanyeol. However, Chanyeol’s grimace immediately banished the thought from his head.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Chanyeol’s frown grew deeper. “Chanyeollie… doesn’t feel too well…”

No sooner had he said the words, he threw up. Thankfully, Baekhyun had managed to maneuver Chanyeol to the porch of the grand mansion. His vomit splattered on the grey concrete instead of the expensive marble tiles.

“God damn, Chanyeol, how much did you drink?”

“A lot!”

“…That was a rhetorical question. There was no need to answer…”
 

---
 

The next day, Chanyeol woke up in his room with a major hangover and nearly no recollections of whatever had happened the day before. He remembered dancing, drinking, and dimly recalled throwing up. He shuddered, hoping that he had barfed outside and not inside. And that no one had seen him. That would have been humiliating.

“So now the sleepyhead is awake.”

He looked up to see Baekhyun standing by the doorway with his arms crossed. Chanyeol gave him a weak smile.

“I have a major headache.”

Baekhyun scoffed. “It’s no wonder. You sure drank a lot last night.”

Chanyeol pouted. “It’s not my fault! The girls kept making me drink more.”

“Well, you deserved it,” Baekhyun said nonchalantly with a shrug. “Here, drink some of the ginseng soup. I heard from Tao that it helps with the headaches.”

Chanyeol made a face. “It tastes bad. I don’t want it.”

“Fine. I hope you have fun with the pounding in your skull.” Baekhyun turned to stalk out the room.

“Okay, okay, I’ll drink it!” Chanyeol said immediately, not wanting to miss out on a chance for Baekhyun to take care of him. “But you have to feed it to me.”

“…” Baekhyun stared at the innocently smiling Chanyeol. What the ?

“No! Why would I feed you?” Baekhyun exclaimed.

“Then I’m not going to drink it!” Chanyeol whined.

“Like I care!” Baekhyun shot back.

“…Baekhyunnie~~~~”

Byun Baekhyun found himself sitting next to a fully grown man, feeding him spoonfuls of ginseng soup. This was a scene that he thought would never ever happen in his lifetime. Ever.

And yet, once again, his friend managed to coax him into doing the most atrocious things. He shook his head as Chanyeol finished the last of the soup.

“What?” Chanyeol asked, wiping his mouth with the napkin Baekhyun presented him with.

“You know, I thought the first person I’d feed would either be my wife or my kid. Not you.”

Chanyeol laughed. “Oops.”

A knock on the door stopped Chanyeol’s laughter abruptly.

“I’ll get it,” Baekhyun said, already walking towards the door. He opened it to reveal a pretty girl blinking at him.

“Umm… May I help you?”

“Prince Chanyeol told me to come here…”

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun glanced at his friend that was moving about to make himself presentable.

“Please come in,” Baekhyun said when Chanyeol looked decent enough. The girl smiled brightly and stepped into the room. When she saw Chanyeol, she immediately launched herself in his arms.

“Prince!” She squealed.

“Jinri-ah! You came!” Chanyeol looked truly delighted to see the girl.

“Of course~” She giggled and tightened her hold on him.

He her hair before looking at Baekhyun, who was trying hard to fight the scowl off his face.

“Baekhyun, do you mind giving me some time with Minhee?” Chanyeol asked, oblivious to the bitter words that Baekhyun was biting back.

“Of course.” He gave a curt nod before bowing and leaving the room.

Freakin’ Park Chanyeol.

_____

A/N:  -Edit- Just want to clarify that this story is now set in Korea in modern times. There's no monarchy in Korea right now, but humor me, alright?