Aries prime minister, Cho Hyunjoong, watched his son with pride. He watched as his son strode forward with no hesitation in his steps. Kyuhyun had no uneasiness in him when he addressed his fiancé for the first time. He approved silently as Kyuhyun those sunflowers to the hands of that stunned Northern prince. His pride grew even more when Kyuhyun kissed his fiancé's hand with such tenderness that he almost went 'aww' at seeing them.

And the prince—Sungmin, his mind supplied—seemed to be a bit shy over such display of compassion for he tried to bury his face onto those flowers that his son had just given him.

So cute, Hyunjoong thought with a sense of warmth pooling in his stomach.

"Your son is really straightforward," Leeteuk said to him albeit the worry seeping on him seeing Sungmin’s conflicted face.

Hyunjoong smiled. "I always taught him to be so. Real man should say and do everything as what his mind tells him to."

Leeteuk nodded. "I like that. I like your son. He's a good boy."

Sungmin, who at the moment busied himself by trying to bury his face into those mutilated flowers to avoid looking at his grinning fiancé, found his head snapping up at what his father had said. His father couldn't be serious, he thought frantically. There was no way he found a weirdo like Kyuhyun as a 'good boy'. But then again, his father had a somewhat eccentric view on what was 'good' for him so he should not have had a hard time believing his words.

A weirdo could only love another weirdo. Birds of the same color would flock together, after all.

"Sungmin," his father's voice came to him, making him turn his head to meet his father's gaze. "Come here, I want to introduce you."

Reluctantly, he walked closer to his father's side. He felt his father's hand clapping onto his shoulder. He observed that Kyuhyun was also called by his father and now they were standing face to face again. Somehow he was getting nervous though he could not understand why.

"Allow me to introduce my family," his father said with his most aristocratic voice. "This is my dearest wife, Empress Heechul of Northern Lights, and our two children, Hyukjae the sixth prince- who bowed in return- and Sungmin the seventh prince of Northern Lights."

"Charmed," Hyunjoong said with a bow to them. "I am honored to meet you, Your Royal Highness Empress Heechul. Leeteuk has been boasting over your grace and beauty so often. And your children are so very lovely. You are fortunate to have them."

"The honor is all mine," Heechul smiled courteously before her eyes fell on Kyuhyun. "Is this your son, Prime Minister Cho?"

"Indeed," Hyunjoong said while he put his hand on Kyuhyun's shoulder. "This is my son, Cho Kyuhyun."

Leeteuk gave the boy his scrutinizing stare. He was satisfied in noticing that Kyuhyun neither flinched nor backed down from his gaze. It seemed Cho Kyuhyun was a brave young boy, and he loved that trait. Maybe he was a worthy partner for Sungmin indeed.

"Such a good boy," he commented. "I will entrust my son into your hands. I expect you to treat him kindly and respectfully."

"I understand, Your Majesty," Kyuhyun said with determination. "I will never betray your trust."

Heechul put his hands on the back of her two children and urged them forward. With a smile she told Kyuhyun. "Kyuhyun, please meet Hyukjae my older son and Sungmin, my dearest.

Hyukjae smiled at the person before him.

"Nice to meet you," he said politely. "Kyuhyun—uhm, Prince Kyuhyun?"

"Nice to meet you too, Prince Hyukjae," Kyuhyun said then his expression turned sheepish. “No, Kyuhyun is enough.”

Kyuhyun threw a smile to Sungmin’s direction after he greeted Hyukjae and it almost blinded him. That chocolate browned eyed boy looked so happy seeing him, and upon receiving that brilliant smile, Sungmin could only blush. Oh, how he hated himself for repeatedly blushing like a little schoolgirl in front of Kyuhyun.

"Sungmin," his mother said to him, taking note of his blushing face as the sign of his embarrassment of interacting with Kyuhyun in the eyes of other people. "Why don't you take Kyuhyun for a walk and show him the place?"

He silently begged his mother with his large doe eyes not to make him do that. But Heechul only narrowed her eyes dangerously as if reminding him that he should be a polite host toward his guest, moreover if said guest was his fiancé. He gulped, knowing that there was no escaping the situation. He would have to entertain Kyuhyun, whether he liked it or not.

"Please… allow me to show you around the place…" he stopped, debating whether he should address the boy or not and finally deciding in favor of it. "Kyuhyun."

"I would love to," Kyuhyun said courteously to him. He took a breath and offered a simple praying silently to God so he might survive the experience. Soon afterward, he led Kyuhyun outside the room to the garden in front of the palace.

---

In the vast garden of northern imperial villa, two boys were walking side by side. One of them radiated happiness while the other one had such a sour expression on his face. Sungmin of Northern Lights was not happy. He just found out that his fiancé, Cho Kyuhyun, was an idiot on top of being a weirdo. Worse, his father, mother, and Hyukjae seemed to like that idiot, something he was still confused about. Worse still, he was forced to spend his day with him.

If only he could just drown him in one of the pools, Sungmin thought with narrowed eyes. But he had to admit that Kyuhyun seemed to posses a stronger physique than him. It would be plain impossible to drag him to the pool and drown him there. Not to mention he would obviously be the sole suspect, and he did not really look forward into receiving his father's harsh punishment.

He scowled softly, but the sound was enough to make Kyuhyun turn his head.

"Is there something that matters?" Kyuhyun asked him with a tilt of his head, his hair shining differently under the golden shade of the sun. Sungmin scowled more when Kyuhyun positioned the umbrella over his head.

"No," he said. He thought for a while and then said, "I'm tired. Why don't we go back inside?"

"But we just walk for a moment," Kyuhyun said with a frown. But his frown did not last for long for he smiled afterward and said, "Why don't we take a rest here?"

Sungmin could only yelp when Kyuhyun took his hand and gently led him to one of the many great trees in the garden. He blushed when he thought that they were walking hand in hand on a place where people could easily see them. When they reached the tree, Kyuhyun released his hand and flopped down carelessly to the patch of grass growing under the tree as if he was not in the slightest bit worried he might dirty his pants.

"Come here," Kyuhyun said to him, patting the spot on his side.

Sungmin had his eyebrows twitch. He took his silk pink handkerchief from his pocket, spread it on the ground next to Kyuhyun, and only afterward he dared to sit on it. He put Mr. Snowflake on his lap and put his chin over the small space formed between Mr. Snowflake’s ears.

"Didn't you consider you might dirty your pants?" he said with his haughty tone as if he was lecturing Kyuhyun. "I don't know about you, but my mother does not like it if I dirty my clothes."

Kyuhyun turned solemn at hearing his words. He feigned ignorance by acting like he was inspecting his nails but his voice carried a tight edge to it when he said, "Well, my mother has passed away when I was a baby so I don't know whether she likes it or not…"

Those words were enough to make Sungmin feel like he was the jerk between them. He bit the bottom part of his plump lips as he was trying to expel the silence that fell after Kyuhyun finished his sentence. From the corner of his eyes, he observed Kyuhyun. He bit his lip again.

He did not really like Kyuhyun… or so he thought, but… of course he did not like him, he assured himself. He just did not like to feel like he had done something wrong. Yeah… right… so to amend his previous action, he tried to engage Kyuhyun into another conversation.

"I'm… thankful for the flowers…" he tried even though he did not quite appreciate being given some dead looking sunflowers complete with roots and soil to boot. And he just found out that it was not really the smartest thing for him to say when Kyuhyun looked at him with his brilliant eyes shining in happiness.

"Really?" Kyuhyun said. "I'm happy. I plucked them myself, you know?"

He flinched. "Uh…"

"Plucked them from the backyard of my house," Kyuhyun continued. "Some of them withered during the airplane ride. I think the heat got to them. Actually there was a caterpillar too. Accidentally it was on the leaf of one of the flowers I plucked and I thought of giving it to you as an extra gift. But I think I played with it too much during the long hour of flying it finally died before I could show it to you."

Sungmin squirmed on his seat. His eyes widened and the