"So is this the market for common people?" Jongin thought.

Since he entered the market, he had been looking around with an insulting gaze. He didn’t know why, but he felt somewhat misguided by Joonmyun’s story. He thought a market was a wide place, cool, full filled by humble merchants, and many good thought of others. But in fact, market was crowded, noisy, and smells. The noise from babbling merchants and buyers, who were busy bargaining for price, buzzed in his ears. Not to mention the street was so narrow. For the umpteenth times, Jongin had been bumped by peoples, but nobody made apology. He only could frown like a cranky child.

That noon was so overheating, turning his mood to be even unhappier. Jongin was born and grown up in a desert; he used to the heat even until his skin darkened. But, never once in his life he had felt such a scorching heat like today? Jongin looked up and squinted at the sky. He thought whether the sky had nine suns now. Jongin flipped his clothes, fanning himself for some air. His clothes had already wet by sweat and had dried again by the heat for many times, repeating like cycle. Jongin rubbed his dry throat from dehydration. Not only just thirsty, he also felt his stomach growling.

“Yaaah, Joonmyun-ah!” Jongin whined in pampering tone. “You said we would go through this market just for a while, like a minute, and would have arrived at the South Forest. Why haven’t we out of this market?” The young Prince whimpered while tugging Joonmyun’s sleeve. Joonmyun kept quiet, busy flipping through his complicating map, trying to find out where they’re now.

They’re going to go to the South, searching for a magical fertilizer which could nurture any plants, even on dry soil. According to the map, after passing the market they would arrive at the South Forest. But, it had been an hour since they’re wandering aimlessly in the market. Realizing that they had lost, they pulled over for a while to check the map so that they didn’t block the way.

“Be patient, Jongin-sshi. As far as I know, this market is not too wide. We should have already out of this market after turning to the left over that building” He said, index finger pointing out to the building in front of them. But after observing the building once again, Joonmyun found many things on the building didn’t match with the description in his map.

“Oh darn!" Joonmyun suddenly cursed in panic. "This market must have been expanded. This map has expired, I suppose” Joonmyun scratched his head and Jongin pouted at his words.

“So, what should we gonna do?” Jongin asked hopelessly. To Jongin, which his navigation skill not much different with a girl, Joonmyun was the only one person he could lay on to. They remained silent while looking at each other’s eyes. 

All of sudden, the sound of thunder emitted out of nowhere, making Joonmyun looked up in surprise.

“What was that?!” Joonmyun stared at the sky and had one of his hand shielding his eyes at the thought it would be raining. But strangely, he found no rain cloud at all. The Prince before him just puffed his cheeks out, deep staring at his guardian in a childish manner.

“Uhh stop exaggerating. That’s my stomach." Jongin replied a bit flat.

"Exaggerating? Me? Uuh~" Joonmyun rolled his eyes. Your stomach is exaggerating, like so much! That's what he wanted to say, but being a gullible man he was, Joonmyun just inhaled a lot amount of air into his lung, held his breath for three seconds and exhaled slowly.

"What're you doing Joonmyun-ah? Eating air doesn't solve the problem. Get me some food, I’m so hungry, Joonmyun-aah” Jongin pleaded again while clutching his poor stomach.

Joonmyun let out a big sigh. Obediently, he d his leather backpack for checking their food stock, but his hand found nothing. As he looked into it, he found his backpack was already empty, whereas Jongin’s stomach, which was growling endlessly, had to be silenced as soon as possible. Actually Joonmyun had brought a lot of breads that enough for a week, but he had totally forgotten that Jongin’s appetite was the same with a desert camel that forgotten to be fed. Finally, all of their breads were out within two days.

“Joonmyun-aah—” Jongin whimpered again. “I’m hungry—get me some food, will you?” Jongin tugged at Joonmyun’s arm for the umpteenth times today, making Joonmyun worried that one of his arm would have different length. Not to mention the way Jongin called –ah after his name was nearly driving him crazy.

“Aish—this kid” Joonmyun sighed; couldn't say anything else. “Okay, what do you want to eat, Jongin-sshi?” The High Priest asked, pulling out a money bag out of his pocket. He could see Jongin’s face a little bit bright right now.  The Prince put his index finger on his lips while thinking. A moment later, his eyes gradually widened and he snapped his fingers.

“Joonmyun-ah, I want rice!” Jongin exclaimed, while Joonmyun stared at the Prince’s face flatly.

"No-no-no, you've never eaten that before. Who knows you alergic to-" Joonmyun refused, but Jongin directly cut his words.

“Please, Joonmyun-ah. I’m so curious what does rice taste like? Get me some rice, Joonmyun-ah, please—pleasee—pwuesee? I want it so badly!” Jongin whimpered again and tugged Joonmyun's arm even harder. Rather than having one of his hand unproportional in length, Joonmyun chose to fulfill whatever Jongin wants.

“Okay—okay I get it” Joonmyun smiled at his spoiled Prince. “But promise me you won’t get too far from me, Okay? I’m afraid you lost or get caught by palace guardians!” He warned. Jongin nodded obediently as long as Joonmyun was willing to fulfill his selfish request. Only Joonmyun knew the Ace card for taming him: Give Jongin food! And everything would be under control.

Joonmyun made his way to the nearest restaurant where looked clean and hygiene enough to buy some rice, meanwhile Jongin was waiting for him in front of it.

“Oh—my—goodness!” Joonmyun mumbled right after entering the restaurant, his eyes widening in a pure shock.

Joonmyun dumbfounded as if he forgot how to blink. Unexpectedly, there were so many peoples inside the restaurant queuing for the rice, snaking up from the counter to the main door where Joonmyun's standing. He stressed for a brief moment at the thought of the time he needed to buy the rice. He turned his gaze out of the window, staring at Jongin who seemed can’t wait for any longer to go out of the market, build a tent on the forest, eat, and have a good sleep.

But what he can do? If Jongin said he wanted rice, the rice should be provided in front of him.

Meanwhile outside the restaurant, Jongin darted his eagle eyes to every direction. Despite of his terrible hunger and his sweat that running down like a waterfalls, he experienced something new in his life. Today he had witnessed a common people market, even though to be honest, he surprised with its primitive design and unpleasant smell. He quite glad had a chance to visit it anyway.

Watching the people's crowd and hearing the noise market, made Jongin slightly remembering his palace he had left behind. He was so lonely there after his mother had passed away. He had no friend at his age as his father had never given him permission to go outside the palace. If it's not because of Joonmyun who always had been there for him, Jongin could have been crazy. Why he had to receive a throne that he never wished for? 

Not too long after, Joonmyun came up with a bag of rice on his hand, and Jongin's bad mood immediately vanished.

“Jongin-sshi, here is the rice” Joonmyun said with a smile in front of Jongin; a trail of sweat could be seen from his forehead but Joonmyun hid his tiredness. The Prince directly beamed in bright smile and welcomed the thing that called rice. In no time, he took the rice bag from Joonmyun’s hands and peered into it.

“Oh, so this is what people calls rice” Jongin’s eyes looked down as he found little white morsels inside it. “It’s so funny. It looks like seeds—white seeds” Jongin giggled at the sight. He totally absorbed in awing the rice until losing his concentration to the street.

“Jongin-sshi, watch out. You could bump someone—"

But Joonmyun was too late to warn him. Jongin had been already bumping someone with a thud, and accidentally lost his grip on the rice bag. The rice pathetically scattered on a muddy ground. Joonmyun’s jaw dropped at the sight; he’s shocked. And Jongin was much more shocked than him.

THE RICE.

MY RICE.

OUR RICE.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKK!!!” Jongin and Joonmyun—who were so hungry by now—shrieked along in high pitched voice, attracting people’s attention around them as their hysterical face expression were so priceless. 

Rice. On the West Empire, where the only one you could see was sand, rice was a rare item, truly rare and expensive. Moreover, Joonmyun had spent one hour queuing for it, so it wasn’t a surprise if Jongin and Joonmyun screamed like teenaged girls when witnessing their rice were wasted.

“M-my rice. My rice. MY RICE!!” Jongin yelled. If he could have forgotten his peerage, Jongin might have been crying and rolling on the ground like a possessed man.

“Jongin-sshi!! Look at what you’ve done?!” Joonmyun blamed at him as he slapped Jongin’s arm. The younger turned to him in pleading.

“This was not my fault, Joonmyun-ah! It’s becau—“ Jongin paused. He had just realized that the falling rice incident was not his fault alone. Abruptly, Jongin turned around, eyes searching for the other person who was responsible for it. The market was crowded by peoples, but Jongin was still remembering the guy who carelessly bumped him. Yes, a man who bumped him was wearing a white robe. His eyes kept searching through the crowd until his sight fall onto a man with white robe.

“That’s him” Jongin thought. He could see a man in white robe walked away afar from him and started to be gone from his sight. Not wanting to lose the man who owed him his lovely rice, Jongin abruptly went after him.

“Yah, Jongin-sshi!! Yah!” Joonmyun tried to reach Jongin’s shoulder, trying to keep him away from trouble. But what Joonmyun could do to stop him? Once Jongin was hungry, his temper level was as bad as polar bears that failed to hibernate. Harshly, Jongin pulled that man’s shoulder, turning him around. And at the same time, Jongin was being glared by—

Big eyes. Creepy. Big. Rounded. Eyes.

Jongin was suddenly speechless after being glared by those rounded creepy eyes, but eventually his mouth found its way to speak.

“Y-Yah! You bumped me! That was your fault!” Jongin exclaimed in rough tone. That guy furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged Jongin’s hand off from his shoulder in annoyance.

“You are the one who bumped me” He replied. Jongin frowned and pushed the man in white robe by his shoulder, while he saying—

“Obviously you’re bumping into me” Jongin said cockily, and the man in front of him furrowed his eyebrows even tighter. “You have to apologize!” Jongin demanded. The man in white robe just smirked at him arrogantly and pushed Jongin back.

“Why should I? You bumped me first, so you apologize to me. After all you’re fine” He said without any guilty feeling in his tone. Joonmyun, who didn’t get involved in the furious fight, examined the stranger from head to toe and noticed something; his cocky attitude was the same like his pampered Prince. Joonmyun thought that he might be a nobleman or at least a rich man.

“I’m fine you said?!” Jongin’s voice increased an octave in sarcastic tone as he pointed at the other man’s face. “YOU almost make my handsome face get stained by mud! Mud is bad treatment for my skin—” Jongin paused from his incoherent speech for a moment. “—besides mud from Mediterranean sea, of course”

Joonmyun face-palmed. “Jongin-sshi, that’s not the point” The guardian hissed in embarrassment, wanting him to stop talking weird.

“Oh, I’m sorry—” Jongin closed his mouth and nodded. He turned to the white robe guy, scolding him again. “—because of you, I’m starving!” He exclaimed. Jongin didn’t give a damn that he had just attracted people’s attention around him.

“And you must have permanent eyes damage, since you’re young but can’t even see straight” The man in white robe replied in sarcastic, making Jongin’s nerves sticking out in anger. Joonmyun couldn't understand what went through his mind that Jongin tried to draw his sword to a stranger. Luckily, Joonmyun was faster than Jongin’s hand, so he could restrained Jongin's hand.

“Yah, Jongin-sshi—" Joonmyun shook his head. The man in white robe smirked cockily instead of being afraid.

“Are you sure threatening me with that, kid?” He asked with a hint of underestimate.

“Are you afraid?” Jongin challenged.

“Wrong choice”

***

Yixing felt so hungry after for two days had been wandering around the town. Not to mention, those palace guardian eagerly chased him and Kyungsoo. What a loyal guardian my father has. Speaking about hungry, yesterday, Kyungsoo gave me a—I don’t know its name, but it’s really delicious. Yixing and Kyungsoo decided it to buy it again in the market. He walked down the street, looking for a grocery.

“Excuse me, Ajjusshi” Yixing greeted an old merchant, who was busy peeling and cleaning his vegetables. He looked at him. “I want to buy—uhh—I want to buy, what does it call?” Yixing talked confusedly in front of the old merchant while remembering that vegetables’ shape.

“I don’t know its name, but the vegetables has to be peeled first before cooking because it still has roots and dirt on its skin—it’s hard while still raw, but soft when its cooked” Yixing, who never once in his life cooked or entering a kitchen, tried his best to make a description of that food. Luckily, that old man smartly made a guess.

“Tubers?” He hesitantly replied as he raised that thing he ate yesterday. Yixing quickly nodded in happy-face as the merchant could understand his puzzling explanation. “Aish—you made me confuse” Yixing could hear that old man giggled at him as if his wasn’t coming from earth. Yixing bowed to him for apologize to make him confuse.

So the food’s name is tubers? I'll keep it in mind. Tubers, that’s the food I ate with Kyungsoo yesterday. How can I forget the name of the most delicious food I ever taste? Since I was a child, I never ate it because father said it was for the poor. But actually it tastes great!

“—it’s okay, I can understand if man doesn’t know about vegetables, it’s so natural” he stated, excusing his stupidity for being so clueless.

“Ha—ha—ha, Yeah, that’s right” Yixing laughed dryly and scratched his head.

“So what tubers do you want? Potato? Sweet potato? Or cassava?” He asked as he brought him three kinds of tubers he couldn’t tell which was which.

Crap! Just to mention tubers, I tried desperately. And now this old man asked me to choose one of them? What’s the different between potato, sweet potato, or cassava? I don’t give a damn about their names as long as they still grow on the soil. Fine, I give up! I will ask Kyungsoo about it, he is a prodigy in this stuff—this cooking stuff.

“Kyungsoo, what do you want to eat? Potato, sweet potato, or—” he turned to see him as he thought Kyungsoo was behind him, but actually he had been talking alone all the time.

“Kyungsoo?” He’s searching for Kyungsoo in the middle of the crowd, but he found nothing until he heard several women gossiping behind him.

“Oh my, they’re swordsman?”

“Really? How handsome”

“Oh my God, Swordsman?”

“They’re looking good~”

Yixing froze a bit.

"Swordsman? Handsome? Kyungsoo! What is he doing in the middle of market? Aish! Hopefully he didn’t get involved in a fight" Yixing sighed as he tried to break through the people’s crowd. He could see Kyungsoo was in the middle of argument with two strangers as if they could kill each other at any time. Yixing didn’t care who they were, the most important was he had to stop his stupid guardian of being cocky.

“Kyungsoo—” Yixing said in a monotone, “What are you doing?” He tugged Kyungsoo’s robe and he turned to Yixing.

“Yixing?” He gasped after seeing the Prince and stepped back. Yixing glanced at the strangers, who argued with Kyungsoo; a man with dark skin yet looked so y—and the other was a man with red hair and white skin. Their skin tone was so contrast, hurting his eyes.

“Don’t be fool! It is not our territory” Yixing hissed in whisper. Sometimes, Kyungsoo was so arrogant until he forgot that they had been out of the East Empire, the place where they lived in. Yixing’s eyes captured something on the ground behind the strangers, okay—he could understand what the main problem was.

“You did that, didn’t you?” He confirmed Kyungsoo’s sin by asking him, referring to the scattered rice. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but remained silent, and it meant he did it.

“Please forgive my friend” Yixing asked for apologize sincerely while bowing deeply. He shifted his gaze to Kyungsoo; he stands still. Yixing abruptly put his hand behind Kyungsoo’s neck and made him bowing too.

“This is what common people do when they make a mistake, isn’t?” Yixing whispered to him while bowing and he just glared at Yixing. “We are common people now!”

“Hey, it’s okay—it’s enough” the red hair man said, and then Yixing and Kyungsoo stood up again. “It’s okay, I’m sorry too. This was our fault” The red hair man replied as if he represented his grumpy friend to talk.

"Hmm—he is well mannered and handsome." Yixing thought. "Wait--handsome? okay he is handsome!"

“Please follow me, I will replace your rice” Yixing said quietly while dragging Kyungsoo's hand. The two of strangers were trailing him behind.

“For what you asked for apology, Yixing?” asked Kyungsoo idiotically.

“Your y attitude and stubbornness would make us get into trouble one day, Kyungsoo” He whispered, reminding him of his bad attitude. Yixing could stand for Kyungsoo’s heart-piercing words, he wouldn't get angry after all, but not for the others. Yixing felt somewhat have a responsibility to transform him into a real gentleman. Kyungsoo snorted. Yixing made his way to a grocery and bought a lot of tubers, which enough for a week.

“This is your rice replacement, I’m so sorry, I can only change with this” Yixing said while handing a sack to the red hair man as He saw the other's smiling.

“Hmm—He is kinda cute, his eye smile is so cute. Wait, am I blushing? Oh no" Yixing shook his head, hoping that the red hair man didn’t see it.

“You’re welcome” The red hair man replied; his voice sounded so warm and gentle. Yixing slowly tilted his head up and his eyes met that smile again. He couldn’t help anything but gave him a smile, ignoring Kyungsoo, who was glaring at Yixing. The dark skin man was still frowning, but the red hair man quickly pulled his arm and dragged him away. Yixing couldn't take his eyes away from them.

“Can you stop watching that guy?” Kyungsoo said in a pissed tone, snapping Yixing back to reality "You shouldn't block me to give them a harsh lecture anyway. What a cocky kid he is"

“You're the same. Forget it, just accompany me to choose tubers! I'm hungry”

***