3rd person POV

"What's this?" the king asked as he showed the article to Yunho.

The headline was 'Who is this mysterious woman that went into a hotel room with our Prince Yunho? What happened in there?'. One of pictures depicted a woman with her face blurred. She was being carried by Yunho. It was clear that the side view of the man belonged to Yunho. The another picture showed the two of them holding hands; they had their backs facing the camera. However, it was prominent that that hairstyle belonged to Yunho.

"You better explained this to me!" the ruler of the Dong Bang Kingdom bellowed.

Yunho gulped and lied through his teeth,"I needed a partner at the ball so I got her to help me with it. And about the holding hands part... She said that she was cold so I extended my hand to warm hers."

Well, part of his words was the truth.

The king's eyes narrowed into slits.  He decided to give him the benefit of doubt.

"I don't believe your words but, I have faith that you have a valid reason to do so and sensible enough to know what you are doing. And no matter what, I will protect my son from the terrifying media," the king said determinedly.

Just then, the queen walked in and spoke harshly.

"How could you? It's a disgrace to the royal family!" the queen said; she was seething with anger.

The king attempted to stop her but, it got even worse.

Turning her direction towards the king, she told him that this news must not get out of the country. At all cost, it must not.

"What would the Shin Ki Kingdom think of us? The princess is supposed to be married to Yunho," the queen blabbered out.

"My queen! You're not suppose to mention about this until Yunho turns twenty three!" exclaimed the king.

"Father... Mother... W-what do you mean?" asked Yunho who was shocked upon hearing what they said.

The king fumed at his wife, "Now, it's out." He then turned his attention back to his son.

"You see, son..."

When Yunho was just a teen, his parents made an arranged marriage for him. It was with the second child of the Shin Ki Kingdom, Princess Kim Taeyeon. She was just a year younger than Yunho. Placing their pictures together, the queen thought that they would make a perfect pair when they had grown up. Thus, an arranged marriage is formed. Princess Taeyeon was to be betrothed to Prince Yunho. The king who was at first disapproving of this matter was soon convinced that it was beneficial. The ties of those two countries would be better. Since they were going to be a family, there would be free trades and they would share the same currency, making their people lead a more comfortable life.

Meanwhile, outside the palace, reporters were gathering near the grand gates. They were pushing their ways into the grounds of the royalties. The number of guards had to be increased in order to prevent the people who had a ravenous appetite for information from trespassing the area. The whole palace was in chaos, and so was Yunho's mind.

Being sandwiched between the media and his own marriage, Yunho found it hard for him to breathe. He felt so dizzy and exhausted that his legs lost all their strength. He had to sit down. He could not take it anymore. These two things crashed into his mind as if he was being hit by a brick. It was too much to handle. Then, a headache arose. He needed a break.

Days later, aggressive reporters became less aggressive. The impatient ones were gone. The number of reporters that loitered outside the palace decreased greatly. However, Yunho was not feeling at peace. The marriage with the princess was haunting his mind, day and night. He had not been haevensong proper sleep. He loved Jaejoong. He thought that they could be together forever - a wishful thinking. However, it seemed like it could not be done after all. He could not reject this marriage proposal. Firstly, it was because he respected his parents and secondly, he would disgrace the princess of Shin Ki kingdom. A part of him even thought of abondoning everything he had and run away with Jaejoong. After a second thought, he realised that what he wanted to do was pure selfishness. He could not neglect his responsibilities.

News travelled quickly and it ended up with everyone in the palace knowing about Prince Yunho's marriage. Once Yoochun knew about this, he was aware of what it meant - Yunho and Jaejoong could not be together. He did not want to say anything to Yunho just so that he would not upset him any further. Some maids were devastated when they knew they would never have the chance to be with Prince Yunho. This news was too overwhelming that the article was forgotten after words were spread within the palace. Matron Lee had troubles keeping the palace in order as some girls were just too sad that they could not even work. However, it was not the case for the people outside the palace. They were still curious of who might that lady in the article be.

Despite all the unrest in his mind, Yunho did whatever his father said. The king brought in a reporter that was on his side and Yunho was interviewed by him then, an article would be published, proving that it was all a misunderstanding. The reporter whom the king trusted must not doubt a single word that was said by Yunho and just write the prince's speech down. Towards the end of the interview, Yunho's temples began to throb.

"Thank you," the reporter said.

Yunho smiled weakly and bid farewell. Then, he buried his head in his hands, wishing that Jaejoong was there with him. The door creaked opened. Thinking that it was Jaejoong, he spun around in a blink of an eye to only find his father at the door. He sighed.

"God job, son!" the king said; he was proud of himself that the problem was solved.

Patting his son's shoulder, he repeated again,"Good job."

Back at the stables, Jaejoong was somewhat still unaware of the situation. He had been kept busy since he came back. New horses had arrived and he had to brand them, arrange where they would stay, train them, feed them and such. By the time he returned to the quarters, he was so exhausted that he could just fall asleep immediately. One day, he realised that the number of people eating in the dining area had decreased.

"What's going on?" Jaejoong asked.

Yura who was sitting across him placed her chopsticks down and whispered, "You don't know?"

Her expression was a slightly astonished one. Jaejoong shook his head in a slow manner. Yura bonked her forehead with her hand so hard that Jaejoong wanted to get her an ice pack.

"The prince is getting married," Yura said.

"Which one?" asked Jaejoong.

"His Highness, Prince Yunho," Yura replied.

"So, what does it have to do with missing people at the table?" questioned Jaejoong.

"I don't really know how to say this but..." She pondered for a second. "they just can't take it."

"But, why so?" Jaejoong asked.

Hyeri interrupted,"Don't you get it? When His Highness gets married, everyone lose half of their original chances to be a princess or lose their opportunities to be with Prince Yunho."

The last part of Hyeri's words hit Jaejoong hard. Unknowingly, tears started to flow out of Jaejoong's eyes. He pressed his hand over his mouth.

Yura turned her panicked eyes on Hyeri. Seeing that Hyeri did nothing to stop Jaejoong from crying, she then gushed out like her words had a life of their own. "Jaejoongie, Hyeri doesn't mean ill. Please don't take her words to heart.  Although she has a foul mouth, she's really kind. Ah, ah, please stop crying..."

"Hey!" protested Hyeri.

Jaejoong shook his head violently. He struggled to say that Hyeri was not the cause of him crying.

"I-I don't know w-why water is coming out from my eyes," sniffled Jaejoong. "I need to go out for a little while."

Jaejoong left.

"Jaejoong!" shouted Yura; it was the first time Yura raised her voice.

When Yura was about to chase after Jaejoong, Hyeri stopped her by her arm.

"Let her have some time alone."

Yura nodded and both of them carried on eating but, they could no longer find the food as appetizing as before.

Now, even Jaejoong was affected.

-

Yoochun was in his room, hesitant to message Junsu. He typed and retyped. When he had the suitable words to send to Junsu, he stared at the 'send' button, afraid to make the first step. Then, he closed his eyes. Without a second thought, he pressed his thumb against the touch screen.

Sent.

In a nanosecond, a reply came. They chatted and somehow or another, the topic changed and became about Yunho's marriage.

'Did you know about Yunho hyung's and Princess Taeyeon's marriage?' Yoochun's message read.

'Yeah. I just knew about it. In fact, a messenger who was sent here from your country told us to have an engagement party of the two of them as soon as possible. This made my parents send troops out of the palace to look for my elder sister. To tell you the truth, my sister ran away from home and left a note telling us not to bother finding her. Shh... Let's keep this a secret between us. ;)'

Yoochun could almost imagine Junsu standing in front of him, giving a wink.

'Ok. Just between us~'

Yoochun hoped that it was not obvious that he was happy that the two of them had something shared. He was so elated that he wanted to jump out of his bed and do a little dance. The conversation continued. The number of messages probably reached a thousand before they both decided to stop.

'Good night and sweet dreams.' Yoochun's text read.

'^///^ You too, Yoochun.' Junsu ended their chat.

Yoochun punched his fist into the air and smiled like an idiot. It seemed like their relationship was going somewhere.