The fairgrounds were empty save for the few mermen working to clean up after the festival. Seunghyun was staring rather dejectedly at the small pile of shells in front of him

“But I don’t want to throw them out!” He says, a pout rather firmly planted across his face. Youngbae crosses his arms over his chest and frowns.

“You’re being childish. You made them once, you can make them again.” He says before letting out a sigh. “Why don’t you just keep them? Put them in your room or something.” Youngbae tries when it becomes obvious that Seunghyun was not going to stop whining.

Seunghyun pouts harder, if even possible. “But I didn’t make them for me.” He says. Youngbae rolls his eyes and tries hard to contain his frustration. They had been cleaning up for well over two hours, and Youngbae just wasn’t in the mood to deal with Seunghyun’s childish actions.

“What’s the matter?” Youngbae tenses, his eyes widening in shock as he recognizes Daesung’s voice.

“Daesung?” He asks, turning around.

“Yes, I decided to come out for a swim.” He says, smiling brightly at Youngbae before turning his attention back to the issue he had come in on. “What’s the matter Seunghyun?”

Seunghyun had turned bright red the second Daesung appeared. He shakes his head, the pout gone from his face. “Nothing, nothing is wrong! Just, uh, cleaning up.” He says, gesturing toward the fairgrounds before looking down at the shell animals and taking a deep breath. Youngbae watches with fascination as a quick frown passes over Seunghyun’s face before he picks up one of the shell animals and delicately places it into the bag of garbage that he had tied to his belt.

“Oh! What are you doing?” Daesung asks, rushing forward to stop Seunghyun from grabbing any more. “Why are you throwing them out?” He asks, obviously upset by the thought. Seunghyun positively beams at him, before lifting a finger to point at Youngbae.

“Youngbae told me I had to throw them out.” He says, letting his face fall back into a pout.

Daesung turns to look at Youngbae. “But he spent so much time on them!” He says, and Youngbae sees Seunghyun smile brightly over Daesung’s head.

Youngbae rolls his eyes and drops his arms to his sides. “Yes well, it’s either he throws them out or he keeps them...but he has no space in his room.” Daesung blinks a couple of times, obviously thinking hard about what to do.

“I can take them.” He says, and Youngbae is half-convinced that Seunghyun is going to faint. Daesung turns back toward Seunghyun and smiles brightly. “I have just the perfect spot for them right on my windowsill. They will look great there.”

Seunghyun just looks at Daesung for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I..I’ll...”

“Here, you can put them in this bag.” Youngbae says, rescuing his friend from his inability to talk. Seunghyun nods at him in thanks as Daesung carefully places the delicate shells into the bag. “So, what brings you out today?” Youngbae asks once Daesung was finished moving the shells.

“Ahh, well, I’ve decided that I enjoy going out for a short swim...it’s kind of lonely in my room sometimes.” He says, making sure that the shells are safe in the bag before backing up so that he can look at both Seunghun and Youngbae at once. “That and you didn’t stop by last night, so I was curious as to how your date went.”

Youngbae immediately flushes red. “It wasn’t a date.” He mumbles, causing Seunghyun’s mouth to tilt up into a smirk.

“Liar, it most definitely was a date!” Seunghyun directs his gaze at Daesung, “He came back all dreamy smiles and swimming in lazy circles.”

Youngbae flushes an even darker shade of red. “I didn’t!” He says, his voice rising an octave higher than he wanted.

Daesung laughs and shakes his head. “It’s ok, Youngbae! Calm down! Just tell me how it went.” Youngbae looks around them, making sure that there is no one around before gesturing for the other two to move closer to him.

“We talked for hours.” He says, and Seunghyun rolls his eyes and tries to say something but Daesung grabs his arm to silence him. “and..and I...” He pauses, trying to think of a way to say it. “I went up onto the beach...onto dry land.”

Seunghyun’s eyes widen in shock. “Wait, no you didn’t!” He says loud enough that Youngbae raises his head to look around and make sure that no one had heard him. Daesung squeezes Seunghyun’s arm and gives him a look.

“Shh!” Seunghyun immediately shuts his mouth and looks down at the ground. “And...?” Daesung prompts, touching Youngbae’s arm lightly.

Youngbae takes a deep breath. “I had legs.” he says. Daesung in a breath and his eyes widen in surprise and quite possibly excitement.

“No, really?” He asks. Youngbae nods and his mouth curves into a bright smile. “I almost can’t believe it. That’s fantastic Youngbae!”

Youngbae slowly starts to smile, before his face suddenly takes on a more troubled look. “I think I’m in trouble, Daesung.” He says, and Daesung tilts his head to the side.

“Why?” He asks, moving closer to Youngbae, worry making it’s way onto his face.

Youngbae lets out a sigh and looks off to the side. “I would stay up there if he asked me too.” He says quietly. He waits a moment before turning his head to see their reactions, afraid of what they might say or be thinking.

Seunghyun’s face was frozen in an odd mix of shock and horror, while Daesung seemed to just be momentarily stunned by the admission. It takes them a couple of moments to let the words fully process, and then Seunghyun is shaking his head and trying to back away out of Daesung’s firm grasp on his arm.

“No. No Youngbae, you can’t.” He says, and Youngbae is surprised by how quietly Seunghyun manages to say it.

Daesung looks pained for a moment, tugging on Seunghyun’s arm to bring him closer. “Youngbae...I...I should have known that you...” Daesung pauses, trying to collect his thoughts before he motions back over his shoulder. “Let’s go to my place and talk about this. I’m not upset, I just think we should talk about it before anything happens.” He says, noting the uncomfortable look on Youngbae’s face.

“Alright.” Youngbae says, throwing Seunghyun a guilty look before turning in the direction of Daesung’s house.

Youngbae pauses and looks back, noting with a small smile how Daesung pauses to carefully lift the bag of shell animals off of the rock he had placed it on before tugging at Seunghyun’s arm softly to get him to move. He didn’t want to talk about staying on dry land, because he didn’t want to think about how willing he was to leave his friends behind.

**

Jiyong stared at the horse for a long couple of seconds, trying to decide if it was really going to be worth the fuss and possible dirtiness to ride it. He had been riding horses since he was young, but it had never been his favorite thing to do, as he had always preferred swimming and rowing. The horse paws at the ground anxiously and twitches its ears, causing Jiyong to throw it a startled glare. He had been in and out of his own thoughts all morning, and so was only paying attention to the horse peripherally.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go riding today...” Seungri says, and Jiyong can practically hear the amused smile on his servant’s face. Jiyong sighs deeply and runs a hand over his face.

“I’m going to ignore your amusement and hope that what you mean is that I have been given permission to skip out on riding today.” Seungri smothers a chuckle and nods, before realizing that Jiyong was still staring at the horse and so couldn’t see him.

“Yes, the riding master is worried that you might hurt yourself or the horse.” Seungri says, gesturing for one of the stable hands to take the horse back to its stall.

Jiyong lets out a sigh and turns toward the entrance of the stable. Seungri realizes that something must be severely wrong for the Prince not to scold him for being so informal. He suddenly feels guilty for testing the Prince’s mood by being purposefully informal, before brushing the guilt aside with a fortifying breath; it didn’t matter how he spoke to Jiyong right now as he needed to focus on what was causing the Prince’s odd mood.

“Where are you going, Sire?” Seungri asks, jogging to catch up to the Prince as he quickly exits the stables.

“The castle; where does it look like I’m going?” Seungri smiles slightly at the edge in Jiyong’s voice.

“Well, you’ve been going down to the cove fairly often, so I wasn’t sure if you were going to go back down there or....”

Jiyong throws him a look that, if it were possible, probably would have killed him on the spot. “If I were going to the cove, I wouldn’t be walking toward the castle.” Seungri notes a sudden sadness crossing over Jiyong’s face. “I won’t be going back until tomorrow.” He says, and Seungri is now absolutely certain that the Prince is unhappy.

“Ah, did you...Is your ahh, friend not going to be there today?” Seungri asks, hoping he sounded sensitive and delicate, but knowing deep down that he most likely didn’t sound either. He was terribly curious about the Prince’s new...friend, especially since the prince was so clearly affected by him.

Jiyong stops in the middle of the path and turns to look at Seungri, causing the servant to stop short in order to avoid running into him. “What are you implying?” He asks, a slight edge to his voice.

“Nothing, sire! It’s just that you seem to enjoy his presence, but I am uncertain how to address him...” Seungri tries, wincing slightly at the ridiculousness of his own words.

Jiyong rolls his eyes and sighs, dragging his hand through his hair. “You don’t even know how to properly address me, why would I ever expect you to properly address anyone else?” He asks. Seungri has the decency to look slightly ashamed. “But it doesn’t matter. You might never meet him.” Jiyong continues, shaking the hair out of his face. He stops and touches his hair briefly, a slow smile curving over his lips. “I require a visit from the barber. I feel the need to change my hair.”

Seungri blinks rapidly for a couple of moments, trying to process the change in conversation. “But it’s only been three weeks.” He says, confusion seeping into his voice. Jiyong rolls his eyes again and turns on his heel.

“Yes, three weeks too long.” He says, starting off toward the castle again.

“Does your friend not like it?” Seungri asks, though he knows that he really shouldn’t.

“No, he adores my hair.” Jiyong says, squinting up at the sky before sneaking a glance out across the ocean.

“But if he likes it...why would you change it?” Seungri asks, trying to understand.

Jiyong shakes his head, a mischievous and possibly even flirtatious smile crossing his face. “If he still likes it, then he is worth dealing with.”

Seungri nods, but frowns. “What are you testing him for? I’m sure he had a good reason not to be able to come visit you today....Sire.”

Jiyong’s lip twitches and he takes a deep breath. “No more questions. Go fetch the barber.” Seungri nods and hurries away, realizing that lingering would not be in his best interest.

Jiyong watches Seungri go, waiting for the young man to be out of his sight before slowing down to walk at a more leisurely pace. Seungri was right, of course; he had no real reason to be testing Youngbae. He didn’t even know what he was testing Youngbae for. All he really knew was that he desperately wanted Youngbae to approve of him no matter what, and the easiest way that he could think of to do that would be to change something that he knew that Youngbae already liked (of course it helped that Jiyong had already been considering changing his hairstyle for a little while, but that was periphery, he had a new goal now). He takes a deep breath, letting it out on a chuckle as he realizes how ridiculous he had been acting recently. He couldn’t deny it or ignore it. He was far more than just intrigued by Youngbae: He was fascinated, obsessed, infatuated, and quite possibly in love with the man. He shakes his head, the knowledge of how utterly unfortunate this whole thing could be was racing around his head. He needed to think one step at a time; hair first, then Youngbae.