After a bit of arguing, which is still something Sehun has to get used to if it's going to become a regular thing, Sehun finally convinces Jongin to go to see the palace physician. He doesn’t blame him for being reluctant though. Not many people like the physician, despite how good he is at his job. He’s not exactly a people person, which Sehun thinks should be a requirement if you’re going to be handling people as a profession.

    “Kyuhyun.” Jongin says bitterly when he walks into Kyuhyun’s quarters, with the aid of Sehun’s shoulder, of course.

    “Sit.” Kyuhyun says from his desk, his focus on some papers, and points to the marble table on the side of the room opposite him. Jongin mutters a few curses that earn a swallowed chuckle from Sehun as they limp their way over to the stone slab. Kyuhyun joins them once Jongin is situated on the table, and immediately lifts his injured ankle, causing a few more curses to leave Jongin’s mouth. Kyuhyun stares at Jongin’s foot and ankle for a few minutes before turning to Sehun with a hard glare. Sehun flinches a bit when he says, “What happened?”

    “I kicked a stack of books while walking through my room.” Jongin fought down a scream when Kyuhyun dug his fingers into the swollen parts of his foot.

    “You should know better than to lie.” Kyuhyun looks up at him, his gaze unforgiving. Everyone knows better than to lie to Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun is the only person in the kingdom with the ability to absorb other abilities. He can only keep two though. The two he has kept being; his ability to tell when someone is lying, he has described it as when a lie is told, he hears the truth whispered right after, and the one he took from his partner, Sungmin, the one to heal wounds.

    “It wasn’t completely a lie.” Jongin looks away, biting his lip when pressure is applied once again.

    “Normally,” Kyuhyun raises his voice, “I would just kick you out after putting a splint on you, but seeing as you’re being sealed soon,” he whispers the last part, focusing now on wrapping both of his hands around Jongin’s foot and ankle as best he can, “I’ll do you a kindness.”

    Sehun watches on as a pale blue glow seeps between Kyuhyun’s fingers. He sighs softly as it makes Kyuhyun’s hands glow red and present them all with the sight of his bones and veins. Jongin breathes in and out smoothly as the pain is taken away and replaced with a comforting warmth. The only thing ruining the beautiful moment for Jongin and Sehun is the scowl on Kyuhyun’s face.

    They’ll never understand why he took the job he has.

    Jongin slides off of the table after barely whispering his thanks to the doctor. They’re both on their way out when Kyuhyun stops Sehun.

    “Sehun. Come.” Sehun turns slowly to face him and hesitates when Kyuhyun points at the marble table. He doesn’t need to look back to know that Jongin is still standing where he was. Sehun slowly walks over and sits on the table, flinching when Kyuhyun places his hands on his forehead and chest.

    “I’ve never heard of you two getting into an argument,” Kyuhyun says as he starts using his healing on Sehun, “Didn’t even think it possible. Then again, that’s what friends do.”

    “We’re not friends.” Jongin and Sehun say in unison with varying levels of conviction. Kyuhyun laughs obnoxiously, then steps away from Sehun.

    “Of the three of us, which is not capable of lying?” The doctor looks between them, both looking away. “Exactly. Get out.”

----

    “What was wrong with you?” Jongin says slowly and softly when the pair return to his room. Sehun has books to rotate out.

    “What do you mean?” Sehun says just as quietly while shifting some smaller books into a pile of their own, then looking up at Jongin.

    “That guy. He healed you.”

    “Oh, that. I was getting a bit of a cold. No idea why he healed me, though.” He moves about, then pushes a pile towards the door with his foot. When he walks back he is passed by Jongin holding a stack of books of his own. “Wha—”

    “It’ll be faster if I help,” Jongin says quickly, “and he probably did it because my sealing is in a few months, and you have to be present.”

    “O…kay?” Sehun drawls out, wondering why a cold warranted healing. It would only have lasted a few days. “Why do I have to be there?”

    “It’s required. The person closest in relation to the one being sealed must be present. It keeps the sealing from going out of control because the spirit of the one being sealed wouldn’t let anything happen to that person. They work as a personal seal before the official one is put into place.” Sehun stares at him as he makes another pile of books next to the ones Sehun had made. “For you, it would be Lu Han,” he adds in a whisper, “For me, it’s you.”

    “I wasn’t present for Lu Han’s.”

    “I heard about that. His mother was there instead. That’s probably why it hurt so much for him.”

    “How…how do you know all of this, though?”

    “Are you serious?” Jongin looks at him and then to the dozens of piles around them. Sehun nods then moves to pick a white book. “Not that one. I haven’t finished it yet.”

    “How do you even keep track?” Sehun half shouts staring at the countless books. “I can’t even keep track of my own books, and I have less than twenty.” Sehun runs his hands through his hair roughly, missing the smile Jongin flashes.

    “Habit, I guess.” Jongin moves a large volume to the side of the stacks.

    “So, if I were at Lu Han’s sealing, it wouldn’t have been as painful for him?” He looks to Jongin, who nods.

    “Why weren’t you?”

    “His mother hates me,” Sehun sighs. “Why would I be at yours, though? Wouldn’t it be your brother or something?” Sehun goes to sit on the stacks, careful not to knock any.

    “My brother and I are hardly what anyone would call close.” Jongin sits on his bed, staring at Sehun trying to keep his balance.

    “What are you talking about?” Sehun exclaims. “He’s practically obsessed with you!”

    “Who says the feelings are mutual?” Jongin says flatly. Sehun’s mouth drops at the statement. He’s always thought it was some universal law to love your siblings. “He’s not exactly the greatest of people, and certainly not someone I want to associate myself with.” Sehun stares at him.

    “You really don’t see passed that stupid smile of his, do you?” Silence and a sigh. “He only cares about himself and those select nobles he deems worthy of his company, aside from Lu Han.” Sehun perks up at the name of his best friend.

    “What about Lu Han?” Jongin purses his lips and looks at the floor, regret written all over him.

    “Suho is probably more obsessed with him than he is with me.” Jongin expects Sehun to grow red in the face and storm out, what he doesn’t expect is Sehun bursting out into laughter. The younger of the two leans forward, holding his stomach, then back while kicking his legs, ultimately losing his balance and falling off the books, the piles crashing down on and around him. Jongin stands immediately to check on him, but freezes when he hears Sehun still laughing. “What is so amusing?”

    “I would love to see Prince Suho,” Sehun stops to gasp, “try and get Lu Han,” another breath, “to even look at him!” He laughs more once he’s finished speaking. Jongin sits down next to him, waiting for the laughter to stop, but is met with Sehun sitting up and pointing at him with more words, “Do you realize how cold a shoulder Lu Han would give him? He wouldn’t give the prince the time of day!” He lays down, still under some books, and tries to get his breathing under control, a few chuckles still escaping. Jongin stares down at him, at his chest heaving up and down, and the light red on his cheeks.

    “I’ve never seen you like this.” Jongin mutters. Sehun sits up and looks at him, the redness spreading more on his face. They stare at each other for a few moment before Jongin stands. “I wanna show you something.” He starts picking up the books Sehun knocked down, Sehun standing to help him stack them up again.

    “Stand back a bit.” Sehun takes a step back, but Jongin grunts and pushes him back a bit more by his shoulders. He walks around the stacks, now neatly arranged in a rectangle, and looks at them from all sides, even climbing onto it to see the top. Sehun is about to ask what’s gotten into him when Jongin places his hand on top of one of the books. He spares Sehun a glance, and a small smirk Sehun will deny seeing, and snaps the middle and thumb of his free hand.

    Sehun falls back when the books explode into a cloud of black smoke. The force shifting his clothes and completely disrupting the space around Jongin, his hair flying in all directions, then it all disappears into a single point where the very center of the stack would have been.

    “Wh…wh-wha…” Sehun splutters

    “They’re in the library.” Jongin clarifies, shaking his hair back into place. Sehun stands quickly and walks about the area the books had been, then turns on Jongin.

    “This entire time!” He throws his hands. “This entire time I was lugging these things back and forth!”

    “I send the big ones away while you’re gone,” Jongin says simply, “and a lot of others before you come back for more. You just never noticed.” He starts picking more up and starting a new pile. “Remember what I said about dense?” He and Sehun stare at each other, calm and irate combating.

    Sehun walks around him, not forgetting to knock down the books in Jongin’s hands. “Oh, come on! That was just childish, Sehun,” he sighs picking up the fallen items.

    “You’re childish!” Sehun yells from the other side of the room where he finds more under the bed.

    “Seriously?” They both stand and stare at each other again.

    “Shut up!”

    “Oh, look at you,” Jongin smiles, “telling royalty to ‘shut up.’ Getting bold there.”

    Sehun looks between Jongin’s smile and the floor, waiting for if he should apologize or not, but Jongin simply goes back to stacking books and making them vanish.

    Once the books that needed returning were gone, they both found themselves sitting on Jongin's too large bed, neither of them saying a word, until the silence becomes too much for Sehun.

    "This is weird." He says staring up at the ceiling from his position on Jongin's bed. Jongin, beside him with his knees pulled into his chest, says nothing in response. "What…happened today? I think this is the most we've ever spoken to each other."

    "Is that a bad thing?" Jongin looks over at Sehun, who meets his gaze. The younger shrugs, then pulls his ankles in to sit more comfortably.

    "It's not bad. It's just…odd…for me."

    "Should we stop?" Sehun looks at the prince with a raised brow. "Talking so much, I mean."

    After a beat of silence, Sehun replies, "No," once again missing the smile Jongin gives. They sit in silence, Sehun poking at the skin on his ankles, and Jongin watching him with a small smile. "Hey…since we're being all chatty…with each other."

    Jongin waited for him to continue, but when no more words came, he asked, "What?"

---

    Sehun is on his way home that night, a small skip in his step, and a smile that refuses to leave. He enjoyed today more than he thought he would, and that’s progress in anyone’s book.

    “Hey!” Sehun turns around at the sound of his friend. Lu Han bounds up to the younger and links arms with him once he is able. “You look unusually cheery tonight. What happened? This isn't yours. Where'd you get it? This is expensive material! Oh gods, you're someone's .” Sehun simply smiles more, but Lu Han shakes him instead.

    “I enjoyed today, that’s all.” He laughs when Lu Han turns in front of him, walking backwards as they make their way down the street.

    “Details, details,” Lu Han smiles, waving is hands in front of him as if beckoning the information to him, “don’t make me do it. I’ll do it if you don’t tell me.” He stops walking and narrows his eyes at Sehun, who stops and closes his eyes with a smug grin. Lu Han half cackles as he places his hands on the sides of Sehun’s head, he closes his eyes and focuses on his Gathering. As a Reader, this is simply one of many things he can do with minds. Unlike most scholars, Lu Han has all of the aspects of a Reader, as opposed to just a few.

    “Are you done?” Sehun whispers, not wanting to sever Lu Han’s concentration too much.

    “Oh, no. No, no. This is too good.” Lu Han grins widely as he takes in more of Sehun’s memories. “Ha! You two finally had an argument!” He steps in place rapidly, “This is great! Wait, what’s this? Are you blocking something from me?” He shifts his feet a bit and presses his hands more firmly into place.

    “Lu Han, what are you doing?” Sehun sighs out.

    “Just looking for more little details that you won’t tell me yourself because you’re a brat.” His head tilts, “Oh? What…is this? It’s warm. Kind of…peachy looking. Pink? No. Salmon? Just show me the memory, dammit.”

    “What are you going on about?”

    “Open your eyes, Sehun,” Lu Han says demandingly. Sehun obeys and they stare into each other eyes, Lu Han’s studying, Sehun’s confused.

    Lu Han narrows his gaze and mutters, “Jongin.” He feels the warmth again, stronger this time, and jumps up and down, laughing. “Oh. Oh, Sehun. Sehun. Oh, my.” Lu Han lets go and steps back, a smile still in place and peals of laughter escaping every few seconds.

    “Are you alright, Han?” Sehun barely gets out before Lu Han is grabbing his wrist and pulling him along back to the palace. “Home is the other way!”

    “I need more evidence!” Lu Han shouts back as they run. They sprint through the streets, dodging merchants and families heading home, earning a few shouts, which Sehun returns with apologies. When they finally arrive in front of the castle, Sehun falls to the ground panting.

    “What evidence?” Sehun pants out. He looks up and sees Lu Han take a deep breath and then make his way up the entrance steps. “Lu Han!” The older turns about and goes back down to him, only to lift him up and drag him up the steps and into the castle. “You wanna tell me why we’re back here?”

    “Evidence.” Lu Han says with a large grin. “Evidence!” They power walk up the grand staircase, and through the upper-west corridor, Lu Han stopping every once in awhile to open a door, and apologizing if he finds someone occupying it. “What’s that big door? There.” Lu Han points to the largest one at the end of the hall.

    “That’s the door to Jongin’s room, why?” Sehun informs warily.

    “Perfect!” Lu Han shouts and starts sprinting to it. When he reaches the entrance, he barges in without knocking. Sehun can hear him clearly from the closing distance that he’s running. “Good evening, Young High Lord and Future Prince Jongin! It is a fine night, is it not?” Sehun runs into the bedroom to find Lu Han closing in on a half Jongin.

    “Lu Han, what are you doing?” Sehun says carefully as Lu Han steps ever more closer.

    “Silence,” Lu Han says holding a finger up to Sehun, “If I may, I need to check something. It won’t hurt. Very quick. An instant even.” He gestures his hands about, then waves for Jongin to step closer to him. Jongin throws Sehun a glance, and Sehun simply shrugs. He steps closer to the Reader and flinches back a bit when Lu Han raises his hands.

    “You want to read me?” Jongin asks slowly, eyes narrowed.

    “I just want to check something,” Lu Han repeats with a smile, “Like I said, it’ll be quick.” Jongin nods his consent for Lu Han to read him, and steps closer so Lu Han can reach him comfortably. “Quite the bit of books you have in here.”

    “I enjoy reading,” Jongin whispers.

    “You enjoy history.” Lu Han points out, his head falling to the side, “and prophecies. Quite the curious one, sir.”

    “Kai. Call me Kai.” Jongin says monotonously.

    “Alright. Kai,” Lu Han tries the name out. “It fits you.” He continues moving his head slowly from side to side. “Agh, you’re thinking too much.”

    “Sorry?”

    “Imagine doors. Lots and lots of doors. Hundreds of them,” Lu Han says softly, “Each one leads to an aspect of your life, understand?” He ventures back into Jongin’s. Everything seeming to be another corridor, like the one he had run down to get here. Each door he passes had a plaque with a name or set of words on it. “A separate door, huh?”

    “Excuse me?”

    “Nothing.” Lu Han opens the door and immediately feels the same warmth he had with Sehun. A smile spreads across his face.

    “Lu Han,” Sehun finally speaks, “What’s going on?” At the sound of Sehun’s voice, Lu Han is overwhelmed with a heat and a bright, almost blinding red behind his eyes. He lets go of Jongin with a large sigh, then breaks into loud laughter.

    “This is wonderful! Great! Amazing,” he yells quickly, grabbing a shocked Jongin by his cheeks, “It’s perfect!” He shouts in the larger male’s face, wrapping his arms around Jongin’s waist and lifting him in a large circle. He hops in a few circles, then runs out of the room, his cheering still ringing clear. Sehun looks from the door to the still shocked Jongin. He wants to offer an explanation, but he himself has no clue where to begin.

    “What…just happened?” Jongin tries.

    “I don’t know. I really don’t.” Sehun nods, his lips pursed. “I’m gonna…” He points at the door.

    “Yeah. See you…”

    “Tomorrow. Yeah.”

    “Wait!” Sehun stops and turns back to the prince standing in the middle of his room. “About earlier,” Jongin continues, “I--”

    “D-don’t. Don’t worry about it,” Sehun interrupts, his cheeks tinting at the mention of today’s more recent events with Jongin. “We can. Um. We can talk about it later, yeah? Yeah.” With that, Sehun bolts from the bedroom, and out of the castle.

---

    “The hell did you do?” Sehun says bursting in his room, Lu Han jumping up from his bed.

    “Sehun!” Lu Han shouts and immediately hugs the younger, pulling him in random directions and circles, before falling them on the bed in a heap. “Oh, Sehun! This is just wonderful! So wonderful,” he panted lightly into Sehun’s shoulder.

    “What is?! You go on about some peachy—”

    “Salmon.”

    “Salmon—”

    “No! No, it was definitely a pinky lookin’ hue. Baby pink, maybe.”

    “Whatever,” Sehun sighs exasperatedly, pulling Lu Han’s arms off of him and sitting up, “You found a interesting colour, and then you dragged me halfway through the citadel! Explain yourself.”

    “Nope! Reader knowledge is for Reader’s only.” Lu Han lays back comfortably on the mattress, and shrieks when Sehun shoves him off his bed. He lands on the floor with a thump and a groan.

    “Go home.” Sehun says sharply, standing to change into his night clothes. “I don’t like you anymore. Leave this place.” As Sehun strips down to his undergarments, rummaging through his drawers for his night gown, Lu Han stands and hugs him from behind. “I said go away.”

    “I know what the colour I saw in him means,” Lu Han says softly, ignoring the youngers commands, “It’s one I see all the time. Especially, here, with your parents. With us I see that peachy-whatever. Now, I see it with you, in regards to Jongin.”

    “What?” Sehun turns in Lu Han’s embrace, looking down at him with a raised brow.

    “It’s love.”

    “Excuse me?” Sehun steps back, Lu Han letting go of him, until he collides with his dresser. “What do you mean love? I’m not in love with anyone.”

    “You may not be, but he is. He lit up like the sun when you spoke. And you’re definitely feeling something about him. The peachy-salmon with you was similar to what we have. The colour I see for our friendship and love, but it turns more pink with Jongin. You got brighter, too. When I said his name while reading you.”

    “Okay, I guess I care about him, I’ve known him for ten years,” Sehun replies, adding under his breath, “Whatever that means with us,” he raises his voice again, “but that doesn’t mean I’m in love with him.”

    “Why are you saying you’re in love with him?” Lu Han flutters about, eventually making his way back to the bed, “I never said anything about you being in love, let alone with him. I’m saying you have stronger feelings about him than you think, that doesn’t mean you’re enamoured. Him, on the other hand, he is definitely in love with you.”

    “I know that,” Sehun blurts out, immediately covering his mouth. Lu Han is making a big enough deal out of this, and he just made it worse.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA