Still One Night Ago

Jonghyun liked to go out at night. He would wander the castle, the grounds. No one knew he did- he stuck out by the window. He had had insomnia for the last few years, ever since that had happened. He barely slept, instead choosing to move as little as possible in the daytime. He liked to have servants being him everything instead of actually getting it himself. That's what they're there for, after all.  So it wasn't unusual for him that night to have gone to that little courtyard. He had slipped out of bed, made sure his maid was asleep, and climbed out the window, scaling down the tree that curled up to the sky there, and landed on the ground. 

Jonghyun had decided to go to the courtyard tonight, to see if he could catch any of the old goldfish in the depths of the pond there. He had landed in a larger courtyard, the one that adjourned into his chambers in the downstairs of his rooms. He didn't dare go downstairs to walk out the door- his old man was protective and stuck a pair of guards at every door. He had stayed in the shadows, letting himself into the castle by a small side door into the grand hall. Jonghyun loved the hugeness of the place. It was his, after all, and it was only right that the painters had spent more than a year, from what he remembered, to paint the ceiling. It was to honor the royal family, meaning, him. 

Jonghyun hesitated, then swung away from the courtyard entrance, heading toward the east wing. He'd be able to snitch a cake before he went. He knew all the passageways, all the small doors and secret ways to get to a place in the castle. He'd lived here his whole life, and it would be helpful if someone was sent to assassinate him or something. To know an alternative entrance out of the castle could mean life or death. 

Jonghyun veered off suddenly to face the wall, or, more accurately, a woven wall hanging. He lifted aside a corner, and reached up to flip up the latch to the door behind it. He looked around, verifying that no one was there to see him, and then swung the door open, stepping into the small hallway behind it and closing it behind him. Like the door wasn't even there, to the outside world. 

The prince brushed away the spiderwebs, muttering in distaste. He flipped on the lantern he had placed there some months ago and held it up, illuminating the dark passageway. Crouching down, he shuffled down the passageway. There was a network of these all around the castle. Over time, he had mapped out which turns led to where, and eventually memorized all of them. 

He took a left, another left, and a right. As he passed by, he could here the faint voices of people outside of the passageway, but it was often muffled by his own footsteps, so he could barely hear anything but himself.

He pressed his palms against a door. Feeling for it more than looking for it, he grasped a knob and twisted it, extinguishing the lantern so for a second he was in complete darkness. He cracked open the wooden door, peering around cautiously before sliding out, brushing off the horrible dust on his clothes. The grime was everywhere. Ugh. It wouldn't be proper for someone to see the only prince with dirt on his clothes. But no one would see him. He closed the door hiding option once again behind a curtain, then walked over to the shelves. He was in the place where all the food, after the servants finished cooking it, would go, ready to be delivered to the royals. Jonghyun lifted a small cake off the shelf and wrapped it in a cloth, storing it in a pocket. He didn't want to linger too long, he could be seen, so he once again lifted the latch, climbed into the passage, and clicked the door shut behind him, like he was never there. 

He let out a breath and stepped out from behind the wall hanging, in the same place that he had entered first, then looked both ways and stuck to the edges of the hallway. He was walking across the hallway when he heard a thud. He froze. A scuffle, another thud. Intruder? Jonghyun shook it off and continued until he reached the courtyard door. The guards would take care of it. They always did. It wasn't Jonghyun's job. 

The prince felt his muscles relax fully as he slid the door shut behind him. This was his favorite place in the castle. He sat on the bench, pull out the cake, and carefully cut off a piece. He felt his mind calm, his worries unknot, and he took a breath. 

A noise broke him out of his calmness, and he bolted up. It was the sound of fighting, he could tell. Right behind the door, he could hear a table crashing over, metal clashing against metal, the dull thud of people hitting the ground. He heard feet bolting toward the door leading to the courtyard and he sprung up, sheltering behind a bush, hoping to suprise the intruder. He heard a muted explosion, the creak of the door opening, and the gentle close of the wooden door behind the intruder. Jonghyun drew himself up. How dare he intrude of the crown prince's peace? 

He heard soft steps as the intruder came into Jonghyun's view, heading toward the ladder. To retreat like a coward, no doubt. Jonghyun, from behind the intruder, detached himself from the shadows and clearing his throat. The intruder spun around, suprise evident, and Jonghyun felt immediate satisfaction. 

The intruder was slim, with small hips, but was lightly muscled, and taller than Jonghyun which was a blow at his precious pride. A mask hid his lower face features and a hood shadowed his hair and upper forehead, but Jonghyun could see his eyes, the like of which he had never seen before. They were a deep brown, feline and clever, drawing the white light until they shined. The intruder was wearing city clothes, old and dirty, and Jonghyun was suddenly conscious of his open dirty clothes. He should always present his finest to his lowers, to show his dominance, and he felt his filthy clothes were an embarrassment. 

The intruder, though from the poor parts of the kingdom, had a cat-like grace with every moment he made, and was clearly trained and smart enough to get past legions of guards, still alive.

"What are you doing?" Jonghyun asked the intruder. He had a right to know what his business here was. 

The intruder smirked. "None of your business, sweetheart," He said, his voice surprisingly rich, and Joknghyun felt fury build in his stomach. The way he said sweetheart to him, like he was more important than Jonghyun, like the crown prince was less important than his and could be mocked like that made Jonghyun want to hit something. 

He decided to state who he was. That would certainly make him listen. "I'm the crown prince, and-" he started, but the intruder interrupted, which was incredibly rude and a crime worth a beheading, in Jonghyun's mind.

"Oh, I know," the intruder said sarcastically, in a tone that Jonghyun had never heard addressed to him, and he clenched his teeth and continued. 

"And I order you to state your business!" Jonghyun ordered, his temper rising. How dare he? How dare become here, uninvited, disrupting the only prince in the kingdom, and then mock him? HOW DARE HE?

The intruder ignored him, instead turning his back on him and starting toward the ladder. 

"Ya! Don't ignore me, you city trash! Answer me!" Jonghyun hissed, his eyes narrowing, as the intruder continued to climb to the roof. He felt so insignificant, so ignored, so stupid, that he was literally trembling with fury. This one was going to get killed, he would make sure of that, he swore. He would make him pay. 

The intruder hesitated, and then turned to face Jonghyun, now taller than Jonghyun by a building. He felt so small. He felt so angry, but he couldn't do anything. The intruder had a knife, spinning in between his nimble fingers.

"Listen, sweetheart." There it was again. Sweetheart. Jonghyun felt like punching the wall.

Before Jonghyun could blink, the knife was buried in the dirt at his feet. Jonghyun was temperarily stunned. The intruder spoke again. 

"You may not know it in your pea-sized, it's-all-about-me brain, but I did you a favor today. And it'll cost me, more than you know. So think a minute for opening your idiot mouth. I did something for you today, but you can trust me, sweetheart, it'll never happen again. This 'city trash' just saved you a whole lot of and a life that you would probably hate. So shut your trap until you know the full story," the intruder said, and then disappeared. The army finally burst through the door, coughing and tripping, idiots, but Jonghyun didn't move. He was stunned that someone could talk to him like that. He would find him. He would get him executed. Jonghyun pulled the knife from the dirt and hide it in his jacket. No one needed to knew about this.

Late that night, Jonghyun slid into his bed. He had hurt his head on the frame of the door, smacking it against the wood as he left the courtyard, earning himself a good sized bump and a throbbing head. He was incredibly confused, about how someone could reduce him to feeling like he was the size of an ant under his cheap boot. Jonghyun had sworn he'll pay. And he will. He had hid the knife under his bed, and no one had suspected him of having it. 

He closed his eyes, forcing them to shut, but he always saw those cat-like, sharp eyes, the way that the intruder moved printed on his eyelids, and his words kept ringing in his head. 

"You may not know it in your pea-sized, it's-all-about-me brain, but I did you a favor today." 

He didn't sleep that night. 

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So this is their first meeting from Jonghyun's point of view! 

AND ITS YESUNG'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! YAYYYY!!!

Anyway, I hope ou enjoyed this chapter. After this it'll all be after them after king was killed. So TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! THANKS FOR READING!