Mine

                “Your majesty, I’m sorry to disturb you while you’re having your breakfast…” All the Yoo’s raised their heads to stare at the entrance guard who had come into the dining hall.

                “What is it?”

                “The royal highnesses Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan have come to pay their respects, sir.”

                The king looked surprised while the queen furrowed her eyebrows.  Youngjae flicked his confused expression from his parents to his friends and back.  “Why?” But his question went unacknowledged.

                “Let them in,” the king wiped his mouth and discarded the napkin on top of his plate as he stood up.  The queen followed suit but Youngjae stayed seated, trying to figure out what was going on.  The same Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan who used to steal his toys, spit in his food and rub his face in horse poop?  He hadn’t seen them since he had been officially introduced into court seven years ago.  What business would they have here?

                He gulped and felt anxiety rising in his chest as the large wooden doors opened.  He shot one last look at Daehyun and Jongup to make sure his knights were there before the two tall figures came striding in, though they were mostly blocked by the view of his standing parents.

                “Prince Yongguk, Sir Himchan, to what do we owe this honor?”  Youngjae’s father strode forward and gave a curt bow to the two boys who bowed much more deeply.

                “We hope we’re not intruding, your majesty.  It’s just that after catching up with your highnesses last week, we found ourselves truly missing and pining after our old friend.  We found ourselves with free time today and wanted to reacquaint ourselves with our dear Youngjae.”

                Youngjae was taken aback by how deep Yongguk’s voice was.  Granted it had been a few years, but the last time they met Yongguk had been going through “the change” and his voice had cracked more than a dropped mirror.  If Youngjae remembered correctly, Yongguk had locked him in the cold meat locker for three hours after he pointed it out.  But Yongguk now just sounded so… manly.  It was hard for him to wrap his head around.

                “It’s also been so long since we’ve seen your lovely home.  We were hoping for a tour,” Himchan’s own deep rasp came out.  Between their voices and the smiles they threw at her- one adorably full of gums and one with flashing white teeth- the queen felt her insides, and her inhibitions, turning to mush.

                “Youngjae, get over here.  What are you doing sitting?  Come greet your friends.”  Youngjae hesitantly  rose to his feet and came around from behind his parents.

                “Damn.” Himchan’s whispered curse luckily only reached his cousin’s ears.

                “Yeah… this just got a lot more fun,” Yongguk smiled to himself and then narrowed his eyes on his prey.  The short, fat brat with shaggy black hair had been replaced with a taller, more slender teen with red-tinted brown hair, slightly longer on the top but shaved at the sides at back.  Yongguk was pleased to see that while the younger prince had lost his chubby belly, he hadn’t lost his chubby cheeks.

                “Youngjae-yah!” Yongguk strode forward, flashing his gummy smile once more.  Youngjae made to bow to his elder but was surprised to find himself being swept into a tight hug.  The older boy had always been taller than Youngjae, but in the past was a scrawny stick whose wild mop-head of hair had been rebelliously dyed light purple.  Then man holding him now was hard, chest and arms thick with raised muscles, and his hair in a much more tame cut, now dyed a striking red, offset with a base of black.

                “What the hell is going on?” Daehyun grumbled to Jongup and Junhong from their place in the back.  Jongup shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head.

                “It’s those asswipes from Goguryeo,” Junhong mumbled from his spot between the two knights.  “Be glad you guys weren’t assigned to Youngjae yet when we actually had to spend time with them.  They always made our lives a living hell.”

                Daehyun turned back to the scene in front of him with furrowed brows.  If that was true, then why were they here now acting all friendly with his prince?  Something about this didn’t feel right to him.

               “Well, Youngjae, why don’t you and the boys take Yongguk and Himchan on a tour?” The queen suggested cheerily, hands clasped together.

                “Actually, if you don’t mind, madam, I was hoping to catch up with Youngjae one-on-one with a tour of the gardens while I believe my cousin was more interested in the house and the stables…” Yongguk trailed off, looking expectantly at the royal parents.  Youngjae felt uncomfortable as Yongguk’s arm was still thrown over his shoulder.  He threw Daehyun a panicked glance.

                “A lovely idea!” The king chimed in as he shared a knowing look with his wife.  “Himchan, Jongup, Junhong and Daehyun would be honored to show you around.”

                “I’m sorry to intrude, sire, but is it really safe to have two princes out alone with no protection?  I feel it may be better if I trail along…to ensure their safety.” Daehyun stepped forward, shooting Yongguk a glower as he addressed the king.

                “Daehyun, thank you for the concern but I’m sure they will be fine.  Just make sure to take good care of Sir Himchan.”

                “But, sir-“ but the glare from the king made him bite his tongue.  Yongguk gave him a victory smirk and it took everything he had not to leap forward and rip the man’s arm off his prince.

                “Well, shall we get going?” Yongguk grinned once more, dragging Youngjae out of the dining hall and leaving a smirking Himchan and scowling trio of boys behind.

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                “Well… this is the East Wing garden.  It has all sorts of…some species of flowers.  You know, I really don’t know.  If you wanted a tour of the gardens you should have asked my mom.  I’m clueless with this stuff.” Youngjae scratched his head as he wandered around, warily eyeing the smiling Yongguk.  He had finally managed to get the older boy’s arm off of him, but he was still clueless as to what was actually going on. 

                                “That’s alright.  I didn’t come out here to look at flowers anyway,” Yongguk chuckled deeply and Youngjae made sure to take a step further away.  “So, how have you been?”

                “Uh….. Good, I guess.  I mean, the usual.  You probably had to go through the royal lessons too, right?  You know how it is.  Just that crap day in and day out.”

                Yongguk chuckled again.  “Yeah, that was a pain in the .” He then narrowed his eyes in on the younger teen as he inwardly gloated at how obviously nervous he was making the other prince.  He was fidgeting and scratching the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at the red-head.  Yongguk lowered his voice to an even huskier octave.  “It sure has been a while, hasn’t it, Youngjae?”

                By the time Youngjae looked up Yongguk was already right by his side, causing him to step backwards.  He came to an abrupt halt, however, when his back collided with a tree.  He looked into the older teen’s face and his heart stopped and stomach churned at the sight of Yongguk’s darkened eyes- narrowed in like a predator hunting his prey and Youngjae soon found himself trapped between Yongguk’s arms.

                “The last time I saw you, you were just a fat little brat.”  Yongguk snickered darkly.  “But now look at you.”  Yongguk removed one hand from the tree to run it up the younger’s torso.  Youngjae shivered at the light caress, fingertips playing across his skin outside his shirt, leaving invisible blazing streaks.  “You sure filled out well.”  His fingertips continued up Youngjae’s thin neck as his breath hitched.  He ran them slowly up Youngjae’s adam’s apple, feeling it move as he swallowed thickly.  The fingers finally stopped on his cheeks.  “I’m glad puberty didn’t take away your cheeks, though.  They were your only redeeming quality.”

                “I see you haven’t changed much.”  Youngjae finally managed to find his voice and smacked Yongguk’s hand away from his face.  “Still get your kicks pulling pranks on me, huh?”

                “This isn’t a prank, Youngjae-yah.”  Yongguk moved forward until his lips were next to Youngjae’s ear, hot breath blowing in.  Youngjae’s chest constricted painfully at the unwelcome sensation.  “This time I’m dead serious.”

                “What-“ but Youngjae was cut off by a pair of lips against his own.  His eyes widened and his body froze in shock.  It took him several seconds, though it felt like an eternity, to find strength in his arms and give a rough shove to Yongguk’s chest.  While it was enough to cause the elder prince to break the kiss, it didn’t make him budge so much as an inch away from him.

                “What the hell are you doing?” Youngjae snarled, finally finding the courage to look dead into Yongguk’s eyes and glare, though internally he was quivering and felt like he might pass out at any moment.

                “That wasn’t your first kiss, was it?” Yongguk smirked.

                “Wh-what?!” Goddammit, I did not just stutter, Youngjae angrily thought to himself.  But the older boy’s questions had caught him so completely off guard.

              “Usually people are a little more upset and traumatized when their first kiss is stolen.  So it wasn’t your first, was it?” 

                “I-I- That’s none of your business.” Youngjae averted his gaze, ashamed at himself for not being able to speak properly or stop his cheeks from reddening.

                “Oh come on.  You can tell me,” Yongguk cooed.  “Was it one of the maids?  How about one of your kitchen ?  Don’t tell me you paid some bar wench?”  Youngjae’s face stayed stoic but then a certain glowering brunette popped into the red-head’s mind.   “No… it was that damn loud-mouthed knight of yours, wasn’t it?”  Youngjae’s head shot up and his eyes opened impossibly wide.  Yongguk gave him a victorious grin.

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                It was a warm spring night and Youngjae and Daehyun found themselves sprawled across the terrace floor, star gazing.  The sixteen year old prince had just endured what felt like a month long scolding from his mother for playing catch in the corridor with Junhong and breaking a big ugly vase that was apparently some ancient family heirloom or something.

                “Have you ever kissed anybody before?”

                “M-mwo?!”  Daehyun choked on his spit and sat up to try and catch his breath again.  “Where in the hell did that come from?”

                “I heard some of the maid’s talking.  You know Im Jaebum, the blacksmith’s son?”

                “Yeah…” Daehyun was well aware of the local buff heartthrob who constantly had his eyes glued to the prince with an expression Daehyun did not appreciate.

                “Apparently he’s a really good kisser.  But that seems like a weird thing to be good at, you know? I mean… isn’t it mostly just pressing your mouth against someone else’s?”

                “How would I know?”

                “So you haven’t had your first kiss?”

                “When would I have?  I’m never able to get away from you.”

                “Have you ever seen anyone kissing?”

                “I’m not some creepy voyeur, you know.”

                “What about your parents?”

                “God… can you please shut up?” the older boy whined, shooting an exasperated glare down at the prince below him.  But Youngjae was still lying on his back, looking up at the stars, seemingly unphased by the conversation.

                “But you’ll have to kiss somebody someday, right?”

                “What do you mean?”

                “I mean, you’ll have to get married eventually, right?”

                “I guess…”

                “The knights usually marry low-level ladies or maids, right?”

                “Uh…”

                “So you’ll probably end up married to some maid, right?”

                “I don’t know!  I’ve never thought about it.”

                “And then you’ll have to kiss her.”

                “Seriously.  WHY ARE WE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION?!”

                “Don’t you want to know if you’re good or not?”

                “What are you getting at?”

                Youngjae propped himself up on his elbows to look at the shaggy haired teen.  “Don’t you want to… you know… practice a bit…before you have to do it for real?”  Daehyun gaped wide-eyed at the prince as his mouth silently opened and closed like a fish out of water.

                “No.  No.  No.  No no no no no no no no no no no no.”  Daehyun couldn’t stop once he found his voice.

                “Fine,” Youngjae sighed, flopping back down onto his back.  “I  guess I’ll just have to ask Jaebum since he’s apparently the expert.”

                Daehyun wasn’t exactly sure what the tightening in his chest and stomach meant, but next thing he knew he had flipped himself over and was straddling and hovering over Youngjae.

                “No.  You’ll catch something if you go near that manwhore.”

                “So you will practice with me?” Youngjae smirked.

                “I swear to God, though.  If you EVER tell Junhong or Jongup about this, I WILL kill you.  Slowly and painfully.”

                “Got it,” Youngjae obediently replied.

                “Ok then.” Daehyun his dry lips and gazed down at the prince lying underneath him.  He felt his face and ears burning but figured the younger teen must feel the same when he noticed the pink dusting across his chubby cheeks.  He lowered his face slowly, watching Youngjae’s eyes flutter close, but kept his own open.  Millimeters away from Youngjae’s mouth he stopped and took a moment to take in the younger boy’s features.  Had his eyelashes always been that long?  Or his skin that soft looking?  Daehyun mentally shook his thoughts away and closed the space between their lips, breath tightening in his chest as they made contact.

                Youngjae felt Daehyun’s plump lips descend onto his and his breath caught in his chest.  It only lasted a few seconds, though it felt much longer to the two teens.  Youngjae wasn’t sure whether or not Daehyun could technically be classified as a good at it, but he knew that he missed the sensation as soon as it was gone.

                “Well?” Daehyun nervously searched Youngjae’s slowly opening eyes for approval.

                “I should have asked Jaebum.”

                “I hate you.”

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                “Bingo.  Nailed it, huh?”  Youngjae had no idea how to react, his body only opting to stare in horror at the evil, -eating grin in front of him.  “So are you guys like an item or something?”

                “What?  God, no.  That’s ridiculous.”

                “So then you saved your other firsts for me, right?” Yongguk growled lowly into Youngjae’s ear.

                Youngjae tried to move to the side, away from the hot breath ghosting over his ear and neck but was efficiently trapped between Yongguk’s strong arms.

                “Get off!” He tried to shove the older prince but he didn’t budge.  Yongguk chuckled darkly.

                “Have you not had any physical training?  You’re so dainty and cute.”

                Youngjae glared but inside he was physically sick, his limbs shaking.  He could tell that the situation was quickly becoming dangerous but he couldn’t think of any way to escape.

                “I bet your knight has never given you one of these.”  Before Youngjae could question him, Yongguk dropped his mouth to the young prince’s neck, teeth sinking in.  Youngjae let out a scream and started to struggle as he felt Yongguk alternate between rolling his skin in between his teeth and roughly it.  It was painful and he felt weak and sick and scared all at the same time as he tried to move away.  But the sadistic prince just bit him harder in response.

                “Please… please stop,” Youngjae sobbed as Yongguk continued his ministrations, pulling the sensitive flesh in between his teeth.

                “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

                Youngjae’s eyes shot open at the sound of Daehyun’s voice and the next thing he knew Yongguk’s mouth was being ripped from his neck and the two older boys were sprawled on the ground, Daehyun on top with his fist raised.

                “I could have you executed for that, you know.”  Yongguk smirked.

                Daehyun stilled but didn’t drop his fist, fury in his eyes as glared down at the bastard below him with labored breaths.

                “Daehyunnie…” a whimper broke his trance and he turned back to see Youngjae slumped against the tree.  “Don’t… it’s not worth it for you to get in trouble.”  Daehyun turned back to the amused Yongguk once more before dropping his fist and jumping up to attend to Youngjae.

                “Are you ok?  What did he do to you?”

                “Nothing much.  Don’t get your in a bunch,” Yongguk scoffed as he stood up and dusted himself off.  “I was just marking my property.”

                “What’s that supposed to mean?” Daehyun growled. He put his arms underneath Youngjae’s to help him stand and support his weight.

                “Heh.  You’ll find out soon enough.  Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ll meet you back at the castle.”  And with that Yongguk mock bowed and strolled off with Daehyun glaring daggers in his back.

                “Youngjae…what did he do to you?” Daehyun now turned his attention to the boy leaning against him.

                “I don’t….he kissed me… and then he just started to on my neck.  I don’t know why.  I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn’t… I…. I’m so sorry,” Youngjae sobbed out.

                Daehyun sighed and turned him to inspect the damage.  On the left side of Youngjae’s neck was a deep red hickey, glaring bright on the pale skin.  Daehyun felt his blood boiling at the sight and it took everything he had to not punch something.  Youngjae must have seen the fury and disgust in his eyes.

                “What…what is it?  Is it that bad?” he asked, hand shooting up to cover the spot.  Daehyun shrugged off his jacket and threw it around Youngjae’s shoulders.

                “Put that on and zip it all the way up.  The collar should hide the mark.”  Just having to speak made Daehyun want to throw up but he knew he had to take care of Youngjae first.

                “I’m sorry, Hyunnie.”  Daehyun’s heart clenched and tears threated to spill at the sight of his best friend looking so violated and disgusted with himself, but with Youngjae so close to breaking he had to keep himself strong.

                “Don’t be.  It’s not your fault.  Let’s just get you inside, ok.”  Daehyun grabbed Youngjae’s arm to give him support and led him back to the castle.

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                “So what is it you wanted to see, sir?”

                Yongguk had just dragged Youngjae away and the king and queen had politely excused themselves which left the four remaining boys standing awkwardly in silence until Junhong finally broke it.

                “Please don’t call me that, Junhonggie,” Himchan cooed at the tall, curly-haired blond.  “Call me hyung like you used to.”

                “I never called you hyung.”

                “Well, you can start now.”  Himchan giggled and linked arms with a taken aback Junhong and used his free arm to reach up and pat his curls.  “You are just so adorable.  Now, show your hyung to the west wing.”

                Daehyun looked over at Jongup to mouth a ‘W.T.F.?’ to his friend but instead saw the shorter knight staring at the strange couple, his face frozen in panic.  Before Daehyun could say anything, however, Jongup leapt forward, effectively placing his muscular body in between the two slender ones and disconnecting them.

                “Neh, hyung!  I’ll show you around!” He smiled brightly at the utterly confused Himchan, linking arms with the older boy and dragging him along.

                “What.the.hell.just.happened?” Junhong stared dumbfounded after the two, his jaw hanging slack.

                “I honestly have no idea.”

                And so went the rest of the tour- Jongup glued to Himchan’s side, much to the older boy’s chagrin.  He would try to send him off “Neh, my good knight, why don’t get bring me some snacks?”  “Why don’t you bring that horse out for me?”  So that he could then try to snuggle up once again to Junhong, but Jongup would just rush back, throwing himself between the two.

                At one point Himchan had sent the two knights off to find a particular kind of rock and when they were out of sight, Himchan instantly curled into the very displeased Junhong.  “Neh…Junhonggie… do you want hyung to teach you something?”

                Junhong shot the shorter man a suspicious side glance and tried to make his voice deeper, less cute, and hopefully less appealing.  “What kind of things?”

                “Grownup things.”

                “No.”

                “Oh come on.  Hyung’s really good.  I can show you a good time…”  Himchan cupped Junhong’s cheek in his hand, turning the boy’s head towards his own and bringing it close.  “Let hyung make you feel good.”

                A loud whack made Junhong jump backwards and to his surprise Himchan had fallen off the bench and onto the grass with a huge mark on the side of his forehead and a big leather boot lying near him.  He looked over to see Daehyun stifling his laughter and Jongup hopping his way over on one foot, the left missing its boot.

                “What in the hell was that?!” Himchan’s voice had dropped from his cutesy aegyo to his natural rasp.

                “Sorry, hyung!”  Jongup responded with his bright smile, flopping down between the two and leaning back to grab his boot and put it back on.  “There was a really poisonous bug on your forehead and I didn’t want you to get stung and die!”  He turned from the man to his best friend.  “Are you alright, Junhong?  It didn’t get you, did it?”  Jongup’s smile fell to a worried expression as he placed his hands on the curly haired boy’s face to inspect it.  Junhong smiled at the action, knowing the meaning behind the teen’s words and placed his hands on top of Jongup’s.

                “Don’t worry, it didn’t get me.  You saved me in time, hyung.”

                Daehyun smiled as he watched his two friends with goofy grins plastered to their faces, completely ignoring the sulking Himchan who had slinked off to the side of the bench.  Technically speaking, both Daehyun and Jongup were Youngjae’s knights.  But ever since even before they were officially knighted Daehyun had been vehemently protective of the young prince, refusing to leave his side and demanding that he be allowed to do every task.  This left Jongup without a real job, but he didn’t mind as he had always found himself more in sync with the prince’s servant.   And thus, for years Jongup’s unofficial job became Junhong’s knight, fretting over and taking diligent care of the younger, more fragile, yet much taller boy- a job he wouldn’t give up for anything. 

                Daehyun’s smile disappeared however when his thoughts went back to his own prince.  He fidgeted, his nerves racked as he wondered what he was doing- what Yongguk was doing.  If his cousin was acting like this in front of two knights, what could that over-sized oaf be doing to his prince unsupervised?  Shooting one last glance at the trio on the benches, he slipped off unnoticed- not caring about whatever consequences his disobedience may bring.  He just had to make sure that Youngjae was ok.

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                When the prince and knight duo arrived back at the castle they were surprised to see the other boys waiting outside for them, though in widely-spaced separate pairs.

                “What are you doing here?” Daehyun growled at the red head.

                “Waiting for you.  What else?”

                “Why?” Youngjae managed out, disgusted with himself over how weak his voice sounded.

                “Well, I figured your parents would be mad if I came back without you, seeing as how adamant they were that you show me around and that your damn knight stay out of our business.  I didn’t want to get you into trouble.”

                “Thanks,” Youngjae grumbled before leading the party inside.

                “Ah! You’re back!” the queen exclaimed as she rushed forward to greet them.  “How was your tour?”

                “Absolutely lovely.  You have a wonderful home.”  Yongguk smiled his gummy smile and the queen let out a small giggle.

                “Well you’re just in time for lunch.  Won’t you two stay?”

                “I’m sorry but we must be heading back.  But before we leave, my parents wanted me to discuss our upcoming ball with you.  We will be holding it in three weeks’ time and were hoping you could all attend.”

                “Three weeks? Oh! That’s just around our Youngjae’s birthday!”

                “Really now?” Yongguk’s smile spread and Youngjae mentally groaned.  “We’ll just have to make it a celebration party, then, won’t we!”

                “Oh, please don’t go through any trouble,” the queen insisted.

                “Madame, if it’s for Youngjae, nothing is too much trouble.”  The queen immediately fangirled while every other member standing in the hall internally vomited.

                “Then it would be an honor,” the queen curtsied.

                “It’s settled then.  Though I believe my parents will want to meet you again beforehand to… discuss some last details…” Yongguk’s voice wavered and the queen understood his message.

                “Certainly!  Well it was a pleasure.  Please send your parents our regards and feel welcome to come back any time.  Our home is your home.”

                “Oh I certainly will.”  Yongguk’s voice was greasy as he kissed the queen’s hand.  Himchan mimicked the action as Yongguk’s turned to Youngjae and bowed.  “Until next time, my prince.”  The remaining five stood in silence until the two retreated out the front door.

                “He really grew up to be such a nice boy, didn’t he?”  The queen sighed dreamily once the two men were gone.  “Well, how about lunch?”

                “Can you send us up some in a bit?  I’m exhausted and need to rest.”

                “Very well…. By the way… why are you wearing Daehyun’s jacket?”

                “I…uh…I tore my shirt really bad on a… tree branch…” Youngjae nervously lied.  The queen scrutinized him for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.

                “I swear, boy.  I really don’t know what to do with you…” and walked off.

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                “So, how’d it go?” Himchan asked his cousin once they were safe in the confines of their carriage.

                “Better than I expected.  Our little Youngjae certainly grew up well, didn’t he?  And that snarky attitude of his… I used to find it annoying but now it’s a bit of a turn on.  I think I might be falling in love.”

                “Psh.  Don’t kid yourself, Bbang.  You know that you just enjoy a good fight before you break people.”

                “You’re probably right…” Yongguk turned his head out the window to catch one last glimpse of the castle, a certain boy refusing to leave his mind.  “Anyway, how’d it go on your end?”

                “Good.  God, I swear though… Every time I tried to get near Junhong, that bratty little knight would come in between us, cuddling up on me… or hitting me with shoes.  I’m not sure if he wanted to hit on me or kill me.”

                Yongguk chuckled.  “It’s usually a bit of both when it comes to you, Channie.”

                “Oh you flatter me.  But that dunce was far too stupid for my tastes.  Though he did have a nice body.  I wouldn’t mind putting my hands-“

                “So you didn’t find any information?”  Yongguk interrupted with a choked cough.

                “Right, that.  Well, unfortunately I couldn’t get them to take me anywhere interesting.  BUT that beefy puppy dog did prove useful after all.  With some round about questions I found out that the vast majority of their army is placed along our border.”

                “Makes sense.  Didn’t we figure as much?”

                “Yes, but what’s-his-name confirmed that there are barely any troops placed on the sea border and they’ve let their navy fall into disrepair.”

                “Because they don’t share it with anyone.  What danger is there?”

                “Us.”

                “Us? We don’t have a border on the ocean.”

                “We don’t but Ulsan does.  And apparently they’ve been having a trade disagreement lately.  We apply a little more pressure and I’m sure the king would let us move through and use their sliver of beach if we needed to.  It’s far enough from Baekje that they’d never know we were coming.”

                “Channie?”

                “Hmmm?”

                “This is why I love you.”

                “Sorry, Bbang, but you’re about to become a married man.”

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                “So how bad is it?” Junhong eyed his best friend cautiously as the four huddled in Youngjae’s room, discussing the events of the day.

                “I don’t know.  I haven’t looked at it yet…” Youngjae’s voice was quiet, almost impossible to be heard.

                “Can we see it?” Jongup asked.

                “Jongup-“ Daehyun growled but Youngjae cut him off.

                “No, it’s fine.”  The prince stood up and slowly walked over to his mirror.  He took a deep breathed, hand gripped firmly on the zipper of his jacket and he slowly pulled it down.  Everyone gathered around to stare.  It was deep red and hideously grotesque.  Youngjae started to feel queasy just looking at it.

                “Oh my god…” Junhong breathed out, arms instantly wrapping around his friend.

                Daehyun couldn’t take his eyes off of it.  As much as it made him sick to look at it, he forced himself to face what he let happen.

                “I’m so sorry we couldn’t protect you,” Junhong cried into his friend’s shoulder.  Jongup glanced over at Daehyun and noticed his fellow knight’s eyes welling with tears.

                “Junhong, let’s step outside.” He tugged the reluctant boy away from the prince.  As soon as the door clicked closed Daehyun lost himself, choked sobs filling the room.

                “Dae?!  What’s wrong?!” Youngjae jumped at the sound.  He turned to see his knight on his knees, hunched over, face in his hands, with sobs racking his body.  “Daehyun!  Daehyun!”  He dropped down to shake the boy, trying to get him to look up, but he refused.  “Daehyun…” he whimpered quietly and finally Daehyun allowed his hands to be gently pulled away, revealing his tear streaked face.  “What’s wrong?”

                “I failed you.  I’m so sorry.”  Daehyun continued to cry.

                “What do you mean?”

                “I let that happen to you.  I let him hurt you.”  Daehyun brought his hand up to Youngjae’s neck, the mark softly.  “I wasn’t able to protect my prince.”

                Youngjae was stunned.  It occurred to him, just then, that in over ten years of friendship, he had never once seen the older boy cry before.  Not during his cruel training, not when he was punished for mistakes, not even when he missed his family.  But his instincts took over and soon he had Daehyun in a death grip against his chest, arms his back as his knight had done for him so many times before.

                “It’s not your fault.  You DID save me.  Imagine how much worse it could have been if you hadn’t shown up.  You even defied my father’s orders to come to me.”

                “I should have never left you.  I shouldn’t have let you be alone when I knew something was wrong.  I was a coward.  I’m not fit to be by your side.  You should have someone else.”

                “Stop!  Please, stop,” Youngjae cried, lightly shaking the brunette.  “Don’t you ever say that.  I don’t want anyone else.”  Youngjae felt tears coming to his eyes but he held them back, trying to stay strong for Daehyun.  “Promise me.  Promise me you’ll never leave me.”

                “Youngjae…”

                “Promise me!”

                “…I promise.”

-------------

Author's note:

Hello all!  Sorry for the wait!  I just got back from Korea last night.  It was...interesting to say the least.  I left Thursday and came back Monday.  The actual getting there and getting home were a nightmare.  A ton of missed and cancelled flights as well as wrong tickets (total I have bought four separate tickets for trip now.  Excuse me while I go cry over my empty bank account), a broken suitcase, malfunctioning cellphone and getting sick.  The getting there part was especially hard and stressful but luckily I had this to work on while I was sitting around, waiting for news and trying not to cry.  But the actual being in Korea part was FABULOUS.  I was in Busan the whole time and it was so much warmer than Japan and my friends all came and we ate lots and shopped and shopped and shopped and played at the beach and then ate some more.  I may or may not have spent like $300 between Etude House, The Face Shop and Skin Food (<_<)...   But it was all so worth it. And I met so many nice people there too, though that has happened every time I've been (this was my third trip).  Japanese people are super nice and polite but also heinously shy whereas Korean people will just be friendly and chat with you in lines or at restaurants or wherever. 

And funny B.A.P. story... so my friends didn't really know who they were because they're all a bit older than me (I'm 23, they're 25, 28 (x2) and 30), but I made them listen to my ramblings anyway.  So one friend and I walk into Etude House and we're shopping and then I hear One Shot come over the speakers.  So I shout to my friend across the store "It's B.A.P.!" and get all excited. Then we finish, leave and head to The Face Shop next door.  And while we're there and I'm talking to the store noona for recommendations, it comes on AGAIN.  So I shout at my friend again and she's just like.. .really?  So we leave, go next door to Skin Food and as we're smelling perfumes it comes on... again.  And at that point I just didn't care anymore and started singing to myself.  

ALSO BAP IS COMING TO JAPAN IN MAY!  As I was sitting on the computer in our guest house I saw the notice and started spazzing.  The guest house oppa came over and was like "What in the world are you looking at?" So I showed it to him but it was all written in Japanese so he couldn't read it and he didn't know who BAP were since he was like 30.  Luckily the girls who were sitting next to me knew who they were and we talked about it and tickets go on sale March 30 and I will be at the ticket machine to buy them, I swear to God.  They're like $85 and I'll have to take off work since it's pretty far from my house but I don't even care. 

And now for some pictures!

Busan's Haeundae beach!

My Chingus. 

Me and bar Oppa.  He was way too funny for my drunk self to handle.  And he even has the same birthday as Zelo! (though a different year of course.  He's 26).  It all started when my friends very loudly stated that I prefer Korean guys to Japanese guys and he just came over and was like "Thank you!" and then spent every free moment he had at our table.  I tried telling him he was a "hot guy" but unfortunately my Korean is still not that good and I accidentally accented the first word wrong and ended up calling him an (<_<)... but luckily he got what I meant.  He ended up givning me his phone number but I don't know what I did with it (T_T)  He apparently studied English in Uni but refused to speak it.  Ah well.  Maybe next time...

Mah B.A.P. (slash Block B) swag.  Unfortunately I really couldn't find that much.  The biggest thing is 12 posters (Crash era on the top), then two clear files, one from One Shot and one from Hajima, a fan with Warrior Era on the front and Power era on the back, a sticker book with a ton of picture stickers as well as message stickers, a 2 year calendar (blatantly cheapily made and not official, but still full of good pics) and then a set of Block B post its (four different sets) and a Block B themed Korean cookbook written in Japanese (yeah... I don't know why that exists... but at least this way I can read it!  My Korean is still elementary.)  I also got a magazine with a B.A.P. One Shot spread but it's tucked somewhere deep in my suitcase right now.  I just couldn't believe it was only $3 because in Japan they're all like $12 (T_T).  I NEED TO MOVE!

Ok, sorry for spamming you guys.  I'm sure you're all disappointed cause my super long note made it look like the chapter would be longer (<_<).  But I promise that in the next one something HUGE will happen!  I'm working on it now and I was mentally writing it every free second I had and just dying to get it down so hopefully it will come soon.  But it should be pretty long so it may take me a little bit.  I'll work hard on in though!

Love,

Dani <3