Minho slowly opened his sleepy eyes and quickly turned his head, groaning as the sunbeams hurt his pupils, the sudden light being too strong to stand. He rubbed his eyes with his left fist and yawned, covering his mouth with his other hand.

Slowly getting used to the light, the Prince lifted his eyelids up and stared at his surroundings, a bit lost... It wasn't his room and he didn't know what he was doing there; his sleepy brain didn't seem to work properly today.

But then, he saw the beautiful boy sleeping beside him.

He smiled as he watched his lover, his plump lips that were partly open, his long hair that was falling on his forehead and covering his eyes. He looked so relaxed, so innocent in the middle of the white sheets... Taemin was laying on his stomach, his face turned to Minho's side, and the blanket wasn't fully covering him anymore: the older boy could see the smooth skin of his back, from his shoulder blades to his waist. The sheets were covering his lower body and Minho's imagination went wild as he stared at the suggestive curves of the younger boy's and long legs.

The Prince slightly shook his head, chuckling. It felt good to wake up and be able to see his lover as soon as he opened his eyes... It was a wonderful sight to begin the day with.

Minho's fingers wandered along the outlines of Taemin's face, brushing lightly against his cheekbones, putting some locks of his brown hair behind his ear. The boy didn't move at all and his lover's smile grew even larger as his fingers made their way to the younger's back. He slowly caressed his pale skin, drawing imaginary curls and arabesques on it, making the boy shiver under his gentle touches.

He kept on caressing his back, his fingers sliding along his spine, while he fidgeted a bit and leant over to kiss the boy right between his shoulder blades; then, he placed butterfly kisses all over his shoulders and his neck, slowly hearing the pace of the boy's breathing change.

Soon, Taemin's body tensed a bit and the younger Prince eventually woke up, humming in satisfaction as he felt the gentle kisses on his skin. He turned around and hid his face in Minho's chest, listening to his heartbeat. He blinked several times before opening his eyes for real and he looked up, smiling.

"Hello..." he said a bit shyly, yet staring at his lover.

The latter kissed the boy's forehead and said:

"Hello, beautiful... Did you sleep well ?"

Taemin blushed a bit as he heard the nickname his lover gave him; he nodded before snuggling into Minho's embrace.

"I wish we could just stay like that forever..." he mumbled against his chest.

The Prince smiled sadly and ran his hand through Taemin's hair. He wished the same. He wanted to promise him that they would be fine... That everything would be fine. But it wasn't totally up to him.

"I love you." Taemin suddenly whispered in his ear.

"I know..." Minho answered with a smile, earning a slight pout from the younger. "What ?"

"Won't you tell me that you love me too ?" he asked.

The Prince furrowed his brows: his lover was smiling but he could see in his eyes that he was truly worried. Why ?

"Taemin... What's up ?" he asked.

The younger boy avoided his gaze and answered shyly:

"I'm sorry... It's just that... I don't know, maybe I'm just afraid that you will leave me... Please, tell me that you love me... Please, Minho."

Taemin stared at him with a glimmer of hope in his beautiful eyes and his lover suddenly felt the urge to punch himself right in the face. He knew it. He knew that Taemin had been hurt in the past because of the lack of love he had been given, and the boy was still unsure about himself and suffering from that...

Minho sat up, staring at his lover with intensity.

"Minho ?" the boy said, not knowing what the older was up to.

The Prince pinned his lover down on the mattress and kissed him passionately, hovering over him.

"I love you, Taemin..." he whispered between their lips as they broke the kiss. "I love your beautiful eyes..."

He kissed the younger boy's closed eyelids.

"I love your smile..."

A peck on the mouth.

"I love your voice..." he added, slowly kissing his lover's milky-white neck. "I love to hear you laugh, I love to cuddle with you, I love to hold you in my arms, I love your beautiful personality and your kindness; I love to feel the way I feel whenever I'm with you... You complete me... And I love you, Taemin. Never doubt my feelings for you."

The younger boy blinked several times, trying to hold back his tears. They weren't tears from sadness but happiness. He wiped them away before wrapping his arms around Minho's neck and he drew him closer to him, until he finally crashed his lips on his lover's; they shared a deep kiss that left them panting and heated up, gazing dreamily at each other.

Suddenly, someone began to clap loudly, startling both boys and making them turn around to face the door of the bedroom, fear of being caught written all over their faces. They relaxed a bit when they eventually saw who was there.

"J... Jonghyun ?" Taemin stammered, still a bit shocked. "Ki... Kibum ?"

Indeed, the boys were standing there, Jonghyun's back resting against the door while the other was behind his lover, his chin resting on the boy's left shoulder, his arms around his waist while Jonghyun was clapping. The shorter boy's lips were curving in a goofy grin as he stared at the princes and their dumbfounded expression.

"Seems like someone got caught..." Jonghyun told them, grinning.

"Taemin, close your mouth..." Kibum said with a smile.

Said Taemin did as he was told and eventually, realization hit him as well as Minho: they suddenly blushed when they remembered that they weren't dressed, that the sheets weren't covering much of their bodies anymore and that laying in bed on top of each other wasn't the most usual posture to get when friends were there.

Minho grabbed the blanket and covered their bodies; then, he said to the others:

"Please, can you wait for us in an other place than our bedroom ?"

Kibum grinned and answered with a sing-song voice:

"Sure, we will... Don't make us wait for too long, I'm sure you had enough fun tonight..."

"Kibum !" Minho exclaimed, blushing.

The Prince was a bit surprised when he stated that Taemin hadn't heard his friend's sentence but was staring at him with shining eyes, while Jonghyun and his lover walked away and closed the door behind themselves, their laughter echoing in the room.

"Taemin, are you alright ?" Minho asked, a bit worried by his stare.

"Yeah..." he answered with a smile. "I'm happy, that's all... You said that this was our bedroom. Not mine but ours... I feel like we are married and... It makes me happy."

The Prince kissed his young lover again in order to hide his sudden sadness. Married. He wished they were.

"Come on..." he whispered against Taemin's pale lips. "Let's get dressed."

The boy nodded and Minho get off him to allow him to stand up, which he did while hissing in pain.

"Hey..." the Prince said, immediately worried. "Are you alright ?"

Taemin nodded vigorously but his cheeks became as red as a tomato.

"It hurts a bit, that's all..." he mumbled while massaging his lower back.

"I'm sorry..."

The younger chuckled and said:

"Don't be, it was worth it."

Then, he quickly turned around to hide his red face and walked to his wardrobe, which he took a light blue dress out.

"Don't you have any other clothes than dresses ?" Minho asked, heading for his lover and hugging him from behind.

"I don't..." the boy answered, shaking his head. "I don't even remember when I dressed myself like a boy for the last time."

"I see..." Minho slowly said. "Do you want to try on my tunic ? Maybe it will be a bit too long but..."

"I can't." his lover immediately answered, his eyes widening. "If someone sees me, I..."

"You are home." the Prince cut him off. "It's okay..."

Eventually, Taemin gave in and nodded; Minho caught up his tunic on the floor and gave it to the younger boy, who didn't really know how to get it on and asked for his lover's help. The Prince nodded and helped him but he couldn't help resting his hands longer than needed on the smooth skin of Taemin's stomach and waist.

As he had guessed it, the tunic was too long for the boy and it was hiding his thighs, only revealing his knees and his calves.

"What do I look like ?" Taemin asked, glancing at his own body.

"You are stunning." Minho answered with sincerity as he got dressed with his pants but remained bare-chest.

It was true: silvery clothes seemed to really fit the younger Prince and his lover thought that the boy looked taller than usual when he was dressed with his tunic. He was mesmerizing.

"Thank you, Minho..."

The Prince smiled and kissed his lover before they both headed for the door, in order to find Jonghyun and Kibum; they didn't mind their outfits: Minho had nothing to hide and Taemin really enjoyed wearing something more comfortable than his dresses. Plus, since both boys had seen them in bed, their unconventional outfits shouldn't perturb them too much.

Minho opened the door and next thing he knew, two boys had fallen right in front of him, letting out a loud yelp as they collapsed on the cold floor.

"Were you eavesdropping ?" Taemin asked, furrowing his brows as he stared at his friends.

"Ah... Hum, well... Maybe ?" Jonghyun said with an innocent - yet hesitant - smile.

Minho began to laugh as Taemin scolded his two friends and finally, they all went to sit on the couch in the living-room.

"How did you manage to enter my room ?" Taemin asked.

"You hadn't locked the front door." Jonghyun answered. "I guess you were too busy yesterday to think about this detail..."

Kibum smiled as he saw the boys blushing.

"I'm glad to know that you have finally confessed..." he told Minho with a smile.

"You didn't even seem surprised to see us together..." Taemin pointed out. "How comes ?"

"Well... We knew that he was in love with you even before he was fully aware of it." Jonghyun answered, chuckling. "Do you remember that day when he came while we were here ? We talked a bit about it..."

Minho sighed a bit: he was sure that Taemin didn't need to be reminded of that day, that awful day when the Prince had hurt him.

"How did you all meet ?" he asked, trying to change the topic - it wasn't subtle at all.

"We met years ago." Taemin answered, taking Minho's hand in his own and playing with his lover's fingers. "They were in the garden and they were..."

"We were gardening !" Kibum suddenly exclaimed. "Gardening, Taemin !"

"I thought that you worked in the kitchen..." Minho pointed out.

"They were making out." Taemin said, rolling his eyes while Jonghyun grinned like a fool. "They have been in love for seven years and they have always been quite... demonstrative."

Seven years ? They must have been really young when they began to date, then... How old were they now ? Twenty, maybe twenty-three years old ?

They had been lovers for years and they still seemed to be madly in love with each other. Seeing them like that, so happy together, Minho felt a bit jealous: he wanted to be happy with Taemin as well, to bring him the happiness he hadn't had so far and above all, he wanted their relationship to last for long.

"We didn't know that you would walk on us..." Kibum said, which made Minho come out of his thoughts.

"Anyway..." Taemin added with a smile. "I was... thirteen, I think. I was in the garden without my mask, because I was really sad and mad at my father back then, and I had decided to take it off, just to make him angry... Even if he had never known it. Then I walked on them."

"He was crying and obviously part of the royal family, we couldn't leave him all alone like that." Jonghyun said, patting his friend's head. "We asked him what was wrong and he began to tell us everything."

"I needed to get it off my chest." Taemin explained. "I couldn't stop talking anymore. And when I realized that I had told them everything about me, I got panicky, because I wasn't supposed to say anything... But they both hugged me and told me that they would never leave me alone anymore... That they would be my friends."

Minho noticed the gratitude in his lover's eyes and he felt the same way towards Kibum and Jonghyun. Along with Jinki, they had probably been those who had kept Taemin from being more miserable than he had already been, and he didn't want to imagine what his lover's life would have been if they hadn't been there to support him.

"Thank you." he said to the boys.

He didn't add anything else but they both understood what he meant, and they smiled.

"What do you plan to do, now ?" Jonghyun asked. "About Sulli and the wedding, I mean..."

Taemin sighed and whispered:

"I don't know..."

He glanced hesitantly at Minho, who wrapped his arm around his waist and drew him closer to him.

"We will find a way to run away, Taemin..." he told him. "Remember, Jinki said he would help us as well, we aren't alone for this..."

"Jinki ?" Kibum repeated. "You mean, Lee Jinki ?"

Minho nodded.

"Do you know him ?" he asked.

"Of course. We know almost everyone in this castle... And we are friends, we often go to the tavern together; also, Jinki often comes in the kitchen to ask for some plants that he needs for his balms. He is a smart guy, he will surely find something to help you... And we will help as well, we just need to tell him that we know everything about you two. Don't worry, Taemin. If you want to run away... You will."

***

An hour later, Taemin and Minho were both walking in the garden, holding hands after making sure that no one could see them. The younger boy had given the tunic back to Minho and he was now wearing the blue dress he had taken out of his wardrobe on the morning. Sadly, he had to wear a mask again, he couldn't run the risk to be seen without it: he could still let go of Minho's hand if needed, but quickly tying the mask behind his head would be harder to do.

It was almost midday and Minho had to go back to the castle in order to have lunch with the royal family, his fiancée and the noblemen - oh, great - even if he would have liked to stay with his lover better. Still, he hadn't the choice: if he didn't go, the King would surely order to a servant to look for him and it meant that they would run the risk to be seen together.

They were now in front of the door Minho usually used to go to the garden when he was inside the castle, near by their bench. This was the place where their love story had begun, the place where they had been alone together for the first time... A place full of memories.

Under the entwined sprays of the cherry blossoms, Taemin slowly untied the ribbon of his mask and took it off, allowing Minho to see his beautiful features a last time before he had to face his fiancée.

"Will you come tomorrow ?" he whispered.

"I will try to." Minho answered on the same tone, brushing the back of his hand against Taemin's left cheek, staring at his beautiful eyes with intensity.

His eyes didn't seem so sad anymore... And Minho was proud of himself, because he knew that he was the reason why those eyes were now shining with love.

"Kiss me, please..." the younger boy whispered, slowly closing his eyelids.

Minho didn't need to be told twice: he immediately leant over and cupped Taemin's face between his hands before their lips met. The older gave everything to his lover through that deep and passionate kiss, all his love and all his hopes for a brighter future.

"What are you both doing ?!" someone suddenly exclaimed, anger filling the voice.

Startled, both boys broke apart and turned around before growing pale: the King Sulmyong was standing in front of them, surrounded by four soldiers that were part of his personal guard.

"F... Father..." Taemin stammered in fear, taking a step back, his nails unconsciously digging into Minho's left hand.

The older Prince immediately stood in front of Taemin, sure that the King's anger would be directed towards his son at first.

The man was furious, clenching his fists as he took a step forward, heading for the frozen boys and followed by the dumbfounded soldiers.

"So..." the King said on a threatening tone, his voice almost shaking because of his anger. "You already look like a girl but you don't hesitate to taint even more the name of our family by seducing a man ! What are you trying to do, Taemin ?"

He had shouted his last sentence and Minho felt his lover flinch behind him, his whole body quivering in fear.

"Are you trying to ruin your sister's wedding ?! To corrupt Minho ? How did you even manage to make him want to be close to you ? I already knew you were a shame for us, a failure, and now, you even became a little slu..."

"Enough !" the Prince yelled, taking a step forward, upset by the injustice and the contempt of the King's words. "It's enough ! You are talking nonsense ! It's you who should be ashamed of who you are, not Taemin ! He is the purest and the kindest boy I have ever met, even though you broke him ! You... You aren't even worthy of standing in front of him."

The King snorted and smirked.

"I don't even want to know what he did to make you think that way... Guards, lay hands on Taemin and bring him back to his room, seclude him and keep him from troubling Minho's mind any further !"

Minho immediately searched for his sword, but his eyes widened as he remembered that he had left it in his room the day before, since it wasn't polite to have dinner while being armed. So, he punched the closer soldier in the face and immediately threw his fist to another one, desperately trying to keep them away from his lover.

But punching a trained soldier wasn't really useful, especially not when they were four and armed; soon, one of them grabbed Taemin's wrist and tried to draw him away.

"No, let go off me, you... Minho !" the boy screamed in fear as he saw a soldier hitting his lover in the stomach, making the Prince fall on his knees.

Hearing his name, the older looked up and literally exploded when he saw that Taemin was carried away from him.

"Minho !"

"Taemin !" he screamed, immediately standing up and stumbling, trying to run to his young lover.

Two soldiers kept him from doing so by aiming their swords at him, almost touching his chest,  and finally, he could do nothing else than staring at his lover with fear in his eyes. When Taemin disappeared behind the corner of an other path, the echo of his screams slowly vanishing in the air, the Prince turned to the King and eyed him with a furious glare.

It was the first time that Minho felt the urge to kill someone, to make that person suffer until he begged for mercy... He tried to jump on him but the three remaining guards quickly grabbed his arms and kept him away.

"Minho..." the King said on a severe tone. "I won't say anything about what just happened, because I respect you a lot. But you aren't allowed to see Taemin anymore and I hope that this failure of a child won't interfere between you and Sulli any further. You should remember who you are and what your father is expecting from you. Regarding Taemin..."

The man snorted in contempt and turned to his soldiers.

"You !" he said to one of them. "Go to the detached house and arrange turns to keep an eye on Taemin, I don't want that child to go out anymore. The others will bring Minho back to his room, so he will be able to change his clothes. Also... If one of you dares to talk about what you just saw, I will make sure that you will never be able to speak anymore, am I clear ?"

"Yes, Your Majesty !" the three soldiers answered with a nod, before quickly obeying the King.

Please don't hate me...

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