JiYong was tired of his never-changing lifestyle. He wakes up, goes to court for the daily court procedures, speak to the king and the captain of guards about the war with Kingdom Crow, sleep.  Why was  it so boring? If only he had someone to love. He would not even mind if his parents were to set him up with some other Kingdom’s princess. At least there was a shot at love.

Tired of his parents nagging about his responsibilities as a prince, 18 year old JiYong scaled the castle wall and slipped into the forest located at the West outer wall of the castle. Trained from young, JiYong sported washboard abs and the agility and speed of a cheetah. It was not that hard a feat to sneak out undetected from the Castle’s security. Then again, he thought, the Castle’s security is really in need of a change. If he was able to get under the security teams’ radar, he could not afford to expect less from the enemy.

Moving stealthily through the foliage, he headed towards the Garden of Cray. JiYong found the Garden when he was on one of his expeditions. It was magical place filled with plants and flowers of every single colour in the spectrum. He once even found a bubblegum coloured rose! That rose soon became JiYong’s favourite flower. It became a habit for JiYong to escape into this Garden whenever he became bored in the castle. He would settle into the huge rock in the middle of the Garden and read a book, or simply stare into the sky, surrounded by the stunning flora and fauna.

When JiYong reached the edge of the Garden, his heart jumped so suddenly in his chest due to shock, he felt as if he just swallowed it. There was a man, probably one year older than him, sitting on his very own rock. JiYong’s heart stuttered irregularly as he scanned the figure. The man was clad in a suit that wrapped snugly around his figure. JiYong could not tell if the man was built under all that fabric. His face, however, was a sight to behold. The carefully chiselled jaw, strong sharp nose, and dark mesmerising eyes. “If only I could have it!” JiYong thought. When JiYong’s eyes finally landed on the man’s hair, he gasped. My roses! It’s the exact same colour as my roses!

“Are you going to keep staring?” A soft husky voice reeled him back to reality. JiYong blinked in shock and made an effort to stop gaping like a gold fish.  A look of confusion took over instead. Withdrawing the sword he kept with him 24 hours a day, he started towards the rock an inch at a time.

“This is going to take forever.” The man muttered. Even though it was soft, it did not escape JiYong’s ears. JiYong grunted in frustration as miniscule beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He was tense, heart beating fast due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Not taking his eyes off the unknown stranger for a single second, he climbed the rock to stand in front of him, sword at the stranger’s face.

“It’s awfully rude to greet a stranger like that you know.” The stranger smirked when he saw a flash of annoyance in JiYong’s eyes.

“Who are you?” JiYong queried.

“SeungHyun.”

“Where are you from?”

“The forest.”

“What do you mean the forest?”

“I was born in the forest, lived in the forest since forever.”

It was only then did JiYong lower his sword. He had deemed SeungHyun safe as Kingdom Crayon had the history of being friendly with the Forest people. He sat two feet away from SeungHyun and started to wipe the sweat of his brow.

“You trust people too easily.” JiYong shrugged at that statement and laid down on the rock. The rock was big enough for three people to lie on. JiYong stared into the sky, occasionally sneaking a peek at SeungHyun and his bubble-gum hair. He resisted the urge to fiddle with it and decided that his company was enough for now. Surprisingly, he did not feel uncomfortable in SeungHyun’s presence. Instead, he felt safe and contented.

By sunset, neither of them had spoken a word. The merry chirps of the birds had seized and in its place was a chilling wind that harassed the forest every evening. Deciding that it was time for him to head back to the castle, JiYong sat up. As he started to climb back down the rock, a rough hand stopped him. SeungHyun gazed down adoringly at JiYong, spurring JiYong’s heart to flutter once more. He traced his thumb over JiYong’s cheeks while a wave of electricity to surge through JiYong. JiYong’s face burned chagrined but he made no effort to pull away.

“Until we meet again.” SeungHyun whispered. JiYong nearly fell off the rock from all the nerves he was feeling but managed to make it down in one piece. Before he stepped out of the Garden, he turned around to see that the SeungHyun was gone, along with his bubble-gum hair. 

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