Daehyun tossed and turned in his bed, worrying about the day to come. His parents had suddenly decided to take matters into their own hands, and he was definitely not happy.

The queen knocked softly on the door of his room before easing it open and stepping inside. A quiet sigh fell from her lips as she looked at her son sitting on his bed, staring out the window to the gardens.

“Dae, honey?”

“…”

“The kingdom of Rahasia sent in a formal request about a week ago; they have interest in pursuing a marriage contract with us. They have offered to let you meet with their eldest daughter, Hyosung. She is a little older than you, only by a few years. Rahasia is too powerful of a country for us to refuse without creating tensions between our nations that we cannot afford, and in any case, your father and I think that it is time you began to meet the princesses.” Daehyun whirled around, eyes wide.

“You accepted? I thought this was going to be my choice!”

“Do not yell at me, Jung Daehyun. You get to choose which princess you want to marry. You do not get to decide not to marry. It will reflect badly on our kingdom and we CANNOT have that. You will meet this girl tomorrow.”

Daehyun stared at her in shock as she stood and swept out of the room. His mother had never raised her voice to him before, often leaving servants to correct his behavior, or his father if it was truly serious. He collapsed back onto his bed, a single soft sob escaping him.

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He had skipped the rest of the meals that day, remaining in his room. As dark fell, he returned to staring out the window to the garden. I want to be free. I want to be able to talk to whoever I want, and act without worrying about how it reflects on the kingdom, and most of all to be with someone I actually care for.

His mouth twisted into a frown. The whole situation was completely political. His thoughts drifted to Minseok, who was dating one of the court musicians, Jongdae. His friend had told him how happy he was every time he had gotten an opportunity to talk to Jongdae, and how nervous he was around him when he realized that Jongdae returned his interest. When they finally got together, Minseok had been blissfully happy for weeks. Daehyun wanted that for himself. Unfortunately at the moment, it seemed rather far out of reach. …wait…Minseok…Minseok had said a few days ago that no one ever remembers to lock the back door to the kitchen… It was stupid. He would be severely punished if he was caught. Not to mention how badly it would reflect on the kingdom. He shouldn’t even consider it…He wanted to. After a minute of debate with himself, he slipped off the edge of his bed. Hesitantly, he approached his wardrobe, tucked into the corner opposite the door. He opened the large doors, looking under the piles of silks and other expensive materials for the common clothes he had bought to blend in while in town, and then hidden away. They were only for when he planned to be in town for more than a few hours. He changed quickly and snuck out of his room, glancing down the corridor before hurrying to the kitchen.

The fires were still lit despite it being past midnight, the pots bubbling softly as he passed. A few servants remained to tend the kitchen but none paid attention to him as he went by, careful not to make noise. Reaching the door, he tugged gently, testing to see if it was locked. It wasn’t, and it swung open silently. Daehyun found himself suddenly thankful that the castle chef was annoyed by high-pitched noise and had thus kept the hinges oiled. He snuck outside and shut the door behind him, waiting to see if anyone had noticed before running across the courtyard to the main gates. Dammit. Of course. He’d forgotten that they would be locked. He didn’t want to turn back after getting out of the castle though. He ran in the other direction, through the courtyard out to the castle gardens. When he had been younger, he had climbed the trees in the orchard before his father had banned him from such ‘inappropriate behavior.’ There were some right near the wall that he hadn’t been tall enough to reach the branches of then, but perhaps he could now… The wall was shorter on the back side of the castle, where it rested against the base of a hill. Daehyun found the nearest tree and stretched, reaching for the lowest branch. He was just barely tall enough to grab on if he jumped. Swinging his feet against the tree, he hauled himself up until he could reach the next branch. He climbed until he was sure he was higher than the wall, then circled around the tree trunk to get to the other side. Finding a branch that extended out over the wall, he inched out onto it until he was clinging to the part that crossed the line. Wrapping his arms around the branch, he let his feet drop from the tree until the tips of his toes touched the top of the wall. He carefully lowered himself the rest of the way, sitting down on the wall. He looked down. It was a good three or four meters to jump. He bit his lip. It would be more difficult to turn back now. He placed his hands on the edge of the wall and turned his body around until his back was facing the outside. He took a deep breath and started walking backwards down the wall, holding onto the top with his hands and leaning back to stop himself from sliding. When he was as far down as he could get, he let go and dropped. He slammed into the ground on his back, the wind knocked out of him. He lay there gasping for breath, and listened to see if anyone had noticed him. It was silent, with only the wind in the tree branches. After a few minutes, Daehyun collected himself and scrambled up. He walked around the castle wall, only glancing back at the main gates once before heading down the road to the town.

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He reached the town a couple hours before dawn. It had been difficult to get down the road in the dark, and after falling into two large ditches to the side of the road, he had elected to walk slowly and be more cautious. This had made for much slower going, and it had taken almost an hour for what was normally a twenty minute walk. He followed the main road through the town, noting that all of the houses were dark. Upon reaching the pub he had visited a few days ago, he was pleasantly surprised to find that there was light seeping out from under the door. It was silent inside, but the light meant that there was a possibility for food and sleep. Daehyun tested the door, and it swung open. There were two men inside speaking to the bartender. As they turned to look at the door, he recognized them as the men he had seen the last time he’d come. One was the blond with the wild eyes – Himchan. The other was the fluffy-looking one with round cheeks – Youngjae? Youngjae’s eyes narrowed at him, and Daehyun was suddenly a little intimidated. He hesitated near the door, saying, “I can…go?” with uncertainty tingeing his voice. Youngjae opened his mouth to speak before Himchan cut in. “No, it’s fine. We were leaving anyway.” He nodded to the bartender and walked out of the pub, Youngjae trailing behind him. The bartender shrugged and looked to Daehyun. “You wanna take a seat?” Daehyun still hovered in the doorway. “Eh, don’t worry about them. Not the best people to be going around with anyways. You just want a drink, or some food to go with it?” The casual tone of the bartender was calming, and Daehyun took a seat at the bar rather than the table where he normally stayed. “Some food would be nice, and just water.” The other man shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He disappeared into another room behind the bar and returned with a mug of water and a bowl of stew with coarse wheat bread on the side. Daehyun thanked him and paid with the coins he found in his pocket. The other man nodded and vanished into the other room. Daehyun ate slowly, thinking. When he had run away from the castle, he had no specific plans. He’d done it without thinking and hadn’t thought ahead. Should he even stay out, or try to sneak back in later at dawn? He didn’t want to face his upcoming marriage, but he felt bad about leaving, without a note of any indication that he’d gone. It would hurt his parents… And anyway, he had no food, money, or spare clothing. My impulsiveness could be the end of me one day. He sat and considered his options. He didn’t want to go home, but what else could he do? And his parents would be so worried. Only because it would mess up relations with Rahasia. He scowled as the thought came to him. They wanted him to be politically useful, to be polite and proper and all the things that he knew he couldn’t be naturally. They were trying to change who he was for it, and he hated it. But he would miss them, because they had cared for him when he was little…

As his thoughts whirled in circles, the bartender returned. He looked at Daehyun, staring silently into his now empty bowl. “Hey, kid, you need a place to sleep?”  Daehyun looked up. “I’m not that young.” The man laughed, “Yeah, and you ain’t forty either. Do you want to stay the night? I have open rooms into the back.” Daehyun nodded. The man led him behind the bar into the room he had brought the food from before. It was a small kitchen with an older woman at the fires, who smiled at them as they passed. Daehyun smiled back before he was led into a room off the side of the kitchen, with a small bed and table on one side of the wall. The older man nodded briefly before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Daehyun listened to him leave, and heard the murmuring as he spoke to the woman in the kitchen. He settled down on the bed. The sheets were rougher than he was used to (of course) and the mattress was hard. Despite this, he fell asleep quickly, relaxed for the first time in a while.

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Morning came, and Daehyun was awoken by shouts coming from outside. He opened the door to the room, stretching to wake himself up, and bumped into the bartender. The man nodded at him. “Morning.” “Good morning.” Daehyun replied. “What’s all the noise?”

The older frowned. “Some knight came running through the town about an hour ago and said that the crown prince had run away, and that we were to be looking for him. Unfortunately, we don’t know what he looks like since he never lets artist make portraits. Not that they seem to care, they never actually try to relate to us commoners.” The other man’s words had dissolved into grumbling. Daehyun cleared his throat. “Right, and then the knight brought a bunch of other men to search for the prince. They’re convinced he can’t have gotten very far. Say, you didn’t happen to see anyone coming down the road when you got in last night, did you?”

Daehyun shook his head. “No, nobody.” Internally he was panicking. He had thought he would at least be able to have a few more hours to decide what to do. Realistically, he realized, they would send out search parties as soon as they found him missing in the morning, when a servant would have been sent to wake him up. He forced a smile. “Well, I should be going. Thank you for the room.” The older man nodded as well. “No breakfast?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you for your hospitality.” Daehyun bowed and turned to leave.

Once outside, he glanced around, looking for the soldiers he knew would be around. Sure that the coast was clear, he hurried to the main road. Looking down to hide his face, he began walking quickly, trying to get clear without attracting attention. He only needed to get clear of the town, and his best options were the docks or the main road, which headed inland, and away from the town and the castle.

“Hey! You there!” A man’s voice rang out behind him. . He looked around. There was no one else nearby. He was too far to make it to the edge of town. He started running, taking a hard right and heading for the docks. He heard the other’s feet pounding on the ground behind him. He cursed and ran faster. He wove between the buildings, using every turn to try and shake the other man off his trail. The dust on the road puffed up behind him, both of their steps crunching on the packed dirt.

Reaching the docks, Daehyun skidded to a stop, panting. His lungs burned, and he looked around frantically. There were only two ships waiting in the harbor. One was a sleek three masted merchant ship, and the other was a navy ship. There was nowhere else for him to hide. He pelted up the dock, the wooden planks creaking under the impact of his feet, before jumping onto the deck of the merchant ship. He hit the deck hard and rolled, hoping that there was on one on the ship to hear the thud. When no voices came from belowdecks or from behind him, he snuck quietly over to the door in the floor of the deck that he knew would lead to the hold. He slid down the stairs and hid himself behind a pile of crates. Hopefully his pursuer would give up after finding him gone. Daehyun pressed an ear against the wall of the ship’s hold, hearing the pounding of feet on the docks. They halted suddenly, before coming closer to the ship he was hiding in. Then a deep male voice cut in. “Hello there. Did you need something?” Daehyun pressed himself closer to the wall. That voice was familiar. His pursuer spoke. “King’s soldier. There is a fugitive loose and I assume he has run onto your boat. You must allow me to search for him.”

The first man replied, words suddenly dripping with contempt. “You royal army types think you can get people to bow and scrape at your title. Working for a King doesn’t make you him. And furthermore, my ship is off limits. It’s a private merchant ship and is not affiliated with a specific country, so I am not legally bound to allow you to search it. Good day.” Daehyun heard a thud as the man jumped on board, heavy boots clunking as he crossed the deck of the ship. His deep voice rang out. “Junhong! Jongup! Is the ship ready to leave? Wake up Himchan and Youngjae, tell them we’re casting off and to get themselves on deck!” Daehyun’s eyes widened. He recognized the names as the men he had seen in the pub. And they were about to leave the port with him still on board. Before he could do anything (what could he do though?) he heard the snap of sails unfurling. There was a lurch as the boat was detached from the dock and settled into the water. It stayed still, rocking gently in the waves, before slowly beginning to move away. Daehyun was truly trapped. He listened apprehensively for the sound of footsteps overhead. Eventually, in the darkness, with nothing to do and exhausted from his escape from the castle, he began to fall asleep. He dozed for some time, silence overhead and only the slapping of the waves against the ship in his ears. He didn’t know how long he had been in this state of half-consciousness before he heard the heavy thunk of boots over the door to the stairs. He jerked awake. “Jongup, have you checked on the cargo?”

“I’m doing that now, Himchan hyung.” A voice over the suddenly opened door called back in reply. His footsteps went down the stairs, approaching Daehyun’s hiding place. He pressed himself further back.

Jongup rounded the corner of the stack of boxes and stumbled back in shock. “HOLY- Himchan hyung! Get Yongguk hyung! We have a stowaway!” He quickly drew a revolver and pointed it at the other man. Daehyun tried to scramble backwards. He froze as more pairs of boots pounded down the stairs. Behind Jongup, Himchan and Yongguk appeared, Youngjae and Junhong hot on their heels. He met Yongguk’s eyes for a second before flicking away. All five of them stared at him. Daehyun swallowed hard. Crap.

A/N So, second chapter. This is kind of unedited and I'm still trying to figure out how to write Jongup... Thanks to all of my subscribers and everyone who commented (you are all such awesome people :) ). I'm so sorry for how long this took, it really shouldn't have been this long, but school has really picked up. I have a break in a few weeks, so maybe I can get something up then. Thanks so much for your patience, and as always, I hope you liked it, please comment :) (Or tell me at least if anyone even reads these things....)