<-- this cutie~

Chen looked incredulous, running a rough hand over his head as if smoothing down his flustered hair.

“Of course you! Who else would I be talking to? A ghost?” he yelled.

You rolled your eyes, this was going to get difficult. “Well, that’s a bit disrespectful to the dead around here,” you began to play it cool, hoping to get him side-tracked, “you know, the lonely souls can’t reach heaven’s gate if you shout so lou-”

“I get it, I get it!” He took a walked up to you as you fumbled with your clothes, all of a sudden feeling self-conscious about your strange attire even though you had initially been more comfortable with the outfit than your harem robes. “What the hell are you even doing out here?!” His words were seething now, spat out through gritted teeth and he was impossibly close, you could feel his breath and you shuffled back a bit in defence.

“Oh, okay, I see you’re not going to thank me for saving your royal back there. I knew you goddam Princes were too arrogant for gratitude.” You scoffed, tidying up your hair so that your hands were occupied to keep them from fidgeting. Chen took another step forward and now the two of you were out in the middle of the street, no longer trapped in the alley, the bodies of the knocked out men still lying there, twitching slightly.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He raised his brows and squinted his eyes, taking a closer look at you. In all honesty, he was just as perplexed as he was outraged, never had he seen a woman wear male attire and it was a strange sight; it wasn’t that he was disgusted by it, just a little surprised since in this society, social conformity ruled all – he would know since he was at the top tiers of the hierarchy. He admired the way your figure was shown to him through the fabric since male robes were fitted, unlike the flowing material of female robes which blurred the curves in silk and embroidery.

You laughed awkwardly, scratching your neck idly now as you had your hair up in a bun and your cap on your head. “I was… enjoying the night breeze?” it was more a question than a statement and he took one last dominant step forward before he latched onto your wrist and pulled it up near his shoulder. “Once we get back into the palace, I don’t want to hear a word of any of this, do you understand?” His eyes were searching as he spoke hushed and close. You nodded dumbly in response. “I don’t want to know what you were doing and nor do I care but if word slips out that you disobeyed the rules and mucked around outside, don’t count on me to save your .”

You pulled your wrist from his clutches, feeling a little satisfied that he wasn’t going to pry. He gave you the impression that he wanted to know your purpose for being here, but didn’t want to be entangled in the trouble so would rather turn a blind-eye and pretend nothing ever happened. You stood in front of him, defiant now, “Who said I’d ever come begging? You should just thank me and get over yourself. Without me, you’d be dead.”

He grimaced, “Just take my thanks as not telling the court about you – if they found out, you’d not only be thrown out but completely disgraced in the entire city. You should be grateful yourself that I’m keeping my mouth shut.” He grumbled.

A groan then came from the alley and the both of you froze. One of the minions lifted his arm to touch his bloodied wound and simultaneously, Chen tensed as you stared back at him, mouth dropping open.

“You didn’t kill him?!” you whispered to him, trying to keep your voice down and Chen shook his head violently.

“I couldn’t, it’s not right – so I just injured him and knocked him unconscious.” He tried to justifying his actions but his growing panic only made his sound desperate.

You looked back at him in horror, if the guy wakes up then it’d just be a repeat of the fight. “Hurry up, let’s just go!” This time, you grabbed onto his arm and bolted down the streets.

 <--- look at the gem I found. This is so flipping perfect I died when I saw it!! Whoever made this is WONDERFUL, AMAZING and an AWESOME GENUIS! Credit it totally given where due~ Not mine.

“I’m sorry your Majesty, the colour you requested is unwell tonight. Please excuse her humble disposition.” The maid curtsied with expertise and Kris looked over from his desk with chagrin.

“That will be fine. You may leave.” He said solemnly and the maid was so buoyant at her success that she had to restrain the grin infiltrating her face. She bowed again and left the room in unkempt excitement.

Kris sighed heavily, none of this was helping. He was writing issues of permit for the foreign travellers along with the jade emblems which they’d receive when they met again tomorrow but he just could not focus at all. This work had been chewing at him since last week and even though he had an entire seven days to organise and complete it, ever since he had the incident with that girl, he just couldn’t keep his mind set straight. He was overloaded with curiosities about her which only saturated his interest; but for work’s sake he had to keep his composure. Suddenly realising that he’d been subconsciously gripping too tightly onto his brush, he relaxed his fingers and subsequently shoulders as his entire frame caved in on itself. Like YiXing, Kris always kept his perfect posture when he went about his responsibilities as Prince, but it was a burdensome display because at night, the pretense would just buckle and he’d collapse exhausted into his sheets after working into the early hours of the morning. His brothers were his only way of escape, of fooling around and relieving that responsibility so heavily weighted upon his shoulders and he was thankful that he had them in his life.

He put down his brush and stood up in his seat – he would have an early night tonight. He called out down the corridor to one of his servants and the gangly teen nodded to his favour in preparing a hot bath. Afterwards, Prince Kris grabbed his sleeping robes which were simply white cotton, a vast contrast to his Princely attire and a towel. Even though he knew he had to wait for the water to boil, he made his way slowly down the halls to the washing chambers: a spacious room facing the outer gardens near the royal pavilion, specifically designed so that one side of the wall could be opened in the form of rice paper doors to enjoy the view of nature as the Princes soaked. Incense burned in a corner of the room and male attendants stood standby whenever a prince was in bathing.  There was a tub built into the floor – the tub itself was the size of a small pond, able to fit all 6 Princes in at the same time as it was custom to share a bath – not gross or erse as they were all siblings. The entire room was decked with wooden floorboards and the water was drained through a brick enmeshing in one corner of the room where the excess would just pour outside, splashing into the outer grounds. Water flowed into the tub continuously through a dragon statue situated to one side of the tub, accompanied by a fountain and the minerals of the spring to which the water is sourced claimed to have healing properties, promoting health and general wellbeing. There was never a time when the tub was empty and to heat the water, a fired needed to be burned in the lower levels, under the floor where the servants would tend to.

Kris walked in and undressed, folding up his clothes and tucking them, as well as his new robes and towel into a space of a shelf to the side of the room. He stepped into the luke-warm water; it was not yet hot enough and a shudder rippled through his torso as the temperature change rattled his nerves. Maybe he needed the cold shock, he thought to himself, and took another step into the wooden tub, deeper now submerged to his waist. It would be a while before the water was hot enough but until then, Kris wanted the cold to clean him senseless. He didn’t want to be a shackle of unease and he went completely underwater, sitting on the floor of the tub as and surfacing after a few seconds, hair dripping and dishevelled. No, it wasn’t working; clutching his arms, he trembled in the cold – he still couldn’t get her out of his head.

“You think we’re far enough?” you asked, looking behind into the empty streets after running what seemed to be a marathon. Chen who was equally, if not more exhausted, panted breathlessly and nodded. Adrenaline was pumping through his system and despite his erratic breathing, he was filled with the sudden exhilaration of escape and breaking the rules – since he’d been gone so long.

You surveyed the area, now in unfamiliar territory as you were obviously too preoccupied with getting away that you didn’t pay much attention to the specifics of where exactly and Chen uprighted himself and looked around too. By now, you’d let go of his arm and he walked around, checking for any sign of familiarity even though he could still manage to see the apex of the palace.

“Do you know where we are?” you asked, verbalising what the both of you were thinking, but instead of giving a proper answer, Chen pointed to the red-roof tile of the palace. “Let’s just follow it, see if we can get close.” He began to walk, almost aimlessly and you yelled out behind him because he was now further away as if leaving you behind, “so that’s a ‘no’ then?”

He didn’t answer, just waved his hand and you followed, grumbling as you did. This was just great, and to think you had things under control.

It was quiet and the crickets were chirping. This part of town where you had run to had a much more serene atmosphere than the places you were at previously. The houses were better maintained, the gardens here were presentable, it seemed like a nicer suburb in general. Keeping in step by his side, you looked up at him, his stoic expression looking determined to end this little adventure positively. “What?” he asked, looking down at you, frowning. He was about a head taller and so he cocked his head to the side, like in an act of superiority but you ignored it. “Is this your first time being out without formal company?” you asked inquisitively, just genuinely and innocently curious – no ulterior motives.

He looked to the side, thinking – that action people do when they rack their brains for a memory or a point to say in a conversation, Chen looked to his right when he did that and he looked back to you, on his left side to reply. “Yeah I guess. There was another time when it was really crowded and we got separated but the guards usually keep a close eye on me; this was just a one off.” ‘He was being civil now, huh,’ you thought, having experienced the argument you had earlier.

“Aren’t you lucky you’re sharing this moment with me?” you gloated, trying to make light of the situation and he snickered, “Don’t get too ahead of yourself.”

It was all of a sudden a tranquil, nice atmosphere. The two of you were getting along and there was no tension like with Prince Kris from being worried about getting found out, or shyness with Luhan about not knowing how to respond to his advances. With the other Princes you were still unsure about their personalities, since Tao had only looked at you with some recognition and ever since you’d been scared to go a foot near him, whilst with YiXing, it was a smug acknowledgement like he was being entertained and amused by your presence, which only made you writhe in discomfort. You were yet to meet Xiumin but he seemed kind enough.

Conversation didn’t stray too much from there – you talked about all kinds of topics from being unable to leave the harem and him missing his parents. He spoke of the topic with such nonchalance that there was a maturity there expressed most probably by all of the Princes not just him and how they’d felt with the abrupt bestowment of leadership and responsibility. The two of you talked about favourite times of the day and foods you liked to eat, there was a real bridging of the distance between you two and even though you had seemed worlds apart, the planets were closer than you had originally thought.

After finally weaving through and through the streets, you managed to come across a familiar part of the city and Chen led the two of you back to the palace gates, this time not entering at the official gates but the side doors closer to the Prince’s domains which acted as back doors in cases or emergencies or outer business. These doors were always manned by guards and allowed the elusive entrance and exit of members in the palace without having to move the ginormous and heavy doors guarding the official entrance of the palace – the place you had fond memories of after your first meeting with Qi-yan upon entering the harem and getting caught by none other than Tao. A wooden grid slid across to reveal two wary eyes that lit up in surprise as he saw it was none other than Chen.

“Your highness, we sent out guards to look for you around the city. Thought something must’ve happened, are you alright?” The guard’s voice was muffled as he pulled back the wooden door to let the two of you in.

“I am fine. The meeting and dinner was… let’s see, how shall I put it…” as Chen was talking the guard eyed you up and down, confused as to why he brought along an extra person into the palace.

“…interrupted. Yes, we were interrupted,” Chen found the right word and noticed the guard’s judgement so he quickly halted his train of thought to clear up any mistreatment before the guard could say anything, “Oh, he’s just a friend of mine that needed to discuss some further issues with me about the civil service exams and collect some things. He can be trusted, allow him to enter.”

You puffed out your chest and stood proudly behind Chen, nodding twice firmly as if making it more obvious that there was nothing wrong could mask your true identity. You could tell the guard was suspicious but shrugged since it was a princely order.

After Chen had told the guards instead to find the men who had accompanied him for the night that had been separated in the fight, the two of you walked together in the direction of his room, so that the guard had nothing else to be apprehensive about.

On the way there, Chen hurriedly hushed, “where are your actual robes? If you don’t change immediately then you’ll just get found out.” It took a moment for you to respond because you were too caught up in him being considerate about your façade which was nice of him to do; but it was then you realised you didn’t actually know where they were kept. You’d had to risk roaming around to find the maid for that and you swore under your breath at the thought.

When you reached the building where the Prince’s rooms were, you politely excused him and said your goodnights. He repeated sternly once again that nothing ever happened and you affirmed his statement and left without a second glance. You had to find the maid before the sun rose or else you’d be dead meat. You could always show up in the morning in your under-garments, your under-robes of white silk but that’d just be scandalous and you weren’t prepared to go that far. You knew where the maid quarters were and you’d been walking around the palace at night before – you were practically a veteran at this game. You wouldn’t get caught, not this time.

Chen walked into his room and fell flat onto his bed. He smiled gently at first into the sheets as if the upward lifting of his lips would crack his face if stretched out too far. Strangely, it was a fun night and even though he was sleep deprived and completely exhausted, he just couldn’t seem to drift off into unconsciousness, his body still stuck in motion-gear, rewinding and repeating the conversations he had with her walking down the darkened, silence streets. It was fun, the first time in ages since he had ever thought about using the word to describe his experience. Fun.

~

This is to celebrate EXO's first award that they received yesterday!!! I'm so proud of those boys and the photos of tumblr of Kris and Lay crying because of the honour only made my heart melt more - more proud to be an EXOtic!!!!

I hope you enjoyed~