It was yet another day in the palace. The king and queen were having their afternoon tea, and Luhan was in his room gossiping with Baekhyun, his royal stylist aka his best friend. 

Don't judge, the prince was allowed some freedom of speech as well. 

"They're so in love, you know. They should just go out already!" said Baekhyun.

"I know! Do you see the way they look at each other? If it isn't love, I don't know what it is!" agreed Luhan wholeheartedly.

"They'd look pretty cute together," mused Baekhyun. "Kyungsoo's big eyes and Junmyeon's megawatt smile."

"And they're around the same height too!"

"I swear Junmyeon goes to look for you when you have lessons just to talk to Kyungsoo. No royal advisor would ever have that much things to tell the prince about."

"You don't know how Kyungsoo always freezes up when he enters! Then they'd start gazing at each other like there's no tomorrow, and I'd feel like a freaking third wheel." 

"If only they wouldn't be so wishy-washy with their love," said Baekhyun, jutting his bottom lip out. Luhan laughed at his stylist, who was lying on his bed. They could talk about anything and everything in the world. Luhan and Baekhyun had known each other forever, and being part of each other's lives was a regular thing now. Baekhyun had an impeccable fashion sense (except for his thing for eyeliner which did not appeal very much to Luhan) and he was responsible for the look of the prince everyday. The king and queen each had their own stylists, but they were both boring people who Luhan had nothing in common with. 

Baekhyun left after a while, leaving Luhan to his own devices. The latter rubbed his hands in glee, for there was only one thing he was looking forward to everyday. 

"Mum! I'm going out to the town!" yelled Luhan, as he wrapped his cloak around him.

The queen's muffled voice of dissent sounded vaguely in the hall, but Luhan had already skipped out of his spacious bedroom, with nothing on him except some money. He sprinted down the long corridor, and after countless twists and turns (he hated how the bedrooms were so far from the palace entrance) he finally got out of the palace gates.

"Good that I escaped from there fast. The stuffiness was killing me," murmured Luhan, as he walked down the drawbridge. He eyed the moat distastefully (god knows whatever gunk was present there, but he wouldn't like to find out). Further down, he trudged down the sandy road that led to the small town, near the palace, that he loved. It would perpetually be filled with the smell of freshly baked bread wafting from the bakeries, mixing with the damp sweat of the farmers, and a tinge of flowers. All in all, it wasn't a very unpleasant smell.

(Sometimes Luhan thought it smelt more like home than the palace.)

Luhan wrapped his cloak even tighter around himself as he neared the centre of the town. It was noisier and livelier. There were stallholders selling their goods by yelling at the top of their voices, bargaining with the interested shopper; farmers going to work with a plow over their shoulders; the street urchins, who would fervently thank anybody kind enough to toss them a coin or two. All these culminated in a colourful patchwork that Luhan found himself wanting to be a part of. 

For the record, Luhan didn't actually dislike being a prince. He was aware (and appreciative) of the many privileges offered to him, such as private tutors, servants to do his every bidding and his whims satisfied at every beck and call. But there was just something that didn't feel right. As a royal, you didn't get much freedom. Luhan had to be constantly aware of his actions and image, because he was the future heir of the kingdom, all 8000 square miles of land (it wasn't very big, but it was big enough). God forbid if he did anything out of character because, according to the queen, he had the weight of the entire kingdom on his shoulders. He had his entire future mapped out for him without him even needing to lift a finger. It was like being trapped in a golden cage.

Luhan squeezed past the crowds of people, going straight to his favourite place in town―the fountain in the town square. He loved sitting by the fountain eating a light snack, reading a book, or just watching the townspeople go by, hurrying on with their lives. He sat down by the edge of the fountain, letting his hand play with the water, making ripples and blurring his reflection.

He stayed there for a while, until his fingers turned pruney and the sun slid a little lower in the sky. Luhan played with his bottom lip, contemplating whether or not to stand up and leave when he sensed a weight beside him—somebody else had sat down. Luhan self-consciously adjusted his hair, before turning to look at the individual.

The moonlight shone on the other's face, illuminating his pretty features. It wasn't until Luhan blinked that—

“Oh my god."

"Holy crap."

He was staring straight into the hazel brown eyes, belonging to a face identical to his own, down to every minute detail—the curve of the lips, the angle of the cheekbones, the tilt of the nose. It felt exactly like staring into a mirror, except there was no cold pane of glass to separate them. The boy sitting beside him was living, breathing, and real.

"Who are you?" The question escaped their mouths at the exact same second.

"Uh, you first," Luhan gestured, smiling awkwardly. His doppelganger nodded before replying.

"I'm Oh Sehun. And you?"

"I'm Lu—I mean Xiao Lu. Yeah, my name is Xiao Lu." Luhan caught himself just in time. He couldn't reveal his real identity to Sehun—it would be far too dangerous. And he wasn't even that close to Sehun yet. 

Sehun smiled. "It's a nice name, unique too." Luhan noticed that his clothes were tattered and torn. He must be one of those street rats, Luhan thought.

"Thanks," Luhan bit his lip, eyes looking down at the ground. Being around the same people in the palace for almost the whole of his life, he was quite shy in front of new people. 

"Tell me about yourself," said Sehun, "It isn't everyday you meet someone who looks exactly the same as you." Luhan frowned. Crap, he couldn't let slip of his true self now, could he?

"I am the son of a wealthy merchant," he lied, and Sehun widened his eyes.

"Really? Wow, that's cool," he remarked. "So what do you do everyday, being rich and all?" 

Luhan had to make up a tale about how his father travelled from place to place for business, and never stayed in an area long. (He hoped that it would prevent Sehun from ever trying to look for him.) Luhan stuttered a lot, fabricating his tales based on his life at the palace, but he was careful not to show that he knew anything about royal life. Sehun listened, intrigued, seemingly unaware of the occasional slip that Luhan was making.

Luhan then listened as Sehun told him about his own life. He learnt that Sehun was indeed a street rat, one that ran about from place to place with no fixed income. Starvation was normal and a part of life, so much so that he had long gotten used to the painful twisting and turning in his stomach. 

"Sometimes, I'm lucky if I manage to get a piece of stale bread," said Sehun, staring right ahead. Luhan looked, really looked at Sehun for the first time and realised how thin and bony he was. Under his baggy clothes, he just seemed even smaller. 

"I'm sorry... that must be really bad for you," Luhan said apologetically. The only thing that came to his mind at that moment was how bad Sehun must have suffered. He found it hard to comprehend what it was like to live on the streets, starving and cold, with nobody taking care of him. Luhan had never gone hungry a day in his life.

Sehun suddenly made a remark that startled Luhan out of his mind. "You know, for a rich person, you're pretty easy to talk to."

"I—I am?" Luhan stared dumbfoundedly at Sehun and he just nodded.

"No airs. No sense of superiority. Just you," he explained, gesturing. 

"Oh," Luhan gave a little smile. "Probably because my parents taught me well."

"Yeah, probably," agreed Sehun. "We could be long-lost twins, you know, since we're so alike," he joked.

"It's getting late. I should go," started Luhan, getting up. Sehun followed suit.

"So soon? Tell me, when can I see you again?" the younger pleaded.

"Um... I'll go find you when I have time, okay? Where do you usually hang around?"

Sehun frowned. "I don't usually have a fixed lodging, but you can find me at the grocer's." He lowered his voice. "Sometimes, I steal apples."

Luhan chortled, genuinely amused. "I'll bring apples for you the next time I come," he promised, and they parted ways. The way back to the palace was dark and eerie, but Luhan didn't seem to be affected at all. 

A/N:

I made this chapter a lot more descriptive than my usual style. I hope it's better :D Oh and I swear Sehun and Luhan are not in a relationship. But for some reason it sounds like they like each other D: Their relationship is purely platonic ><

Hope this chapter was long enough and lived up to your expectations! 

I hope you like the poster, it's made by Blood Storm Graphics (they process your requests really really quickly) :3

I will be really busy and I have a limited amount of time on the computer (only 2 hours D:) so I can't update as much as I want to, sorry about that! Maybe an update every week or so.

(Quick note: This fic will last no more than 15 chapters, not too long so yay 8D)