Sehun was having a great time at his pool party. Ji-eun was sitting beside Luna, looking incredibly beautiful in the natural lighting (though he was a little disappointed at the lack of a swimsuit), no doubt checking out his hard-earned abs. He mentally congratulated himself for sticking through the work-out routines just for this glorious moment. The water was refreshing despite the slightly chilly weather and he was having a ton of fun splashing unsuspecting bystanders - the bubbly laugh Ji-eun gave him whenever he sneaked a surprise attack on her made his insides warm and bubbly. Even Jongin was present, though he was acting as a lifeguard at the side of the pool.

The Prince had pulled himself out of the pool in search for some waterproof sunscreen that he forgot to apply beforehand (and his skin was burning in agreement). His eyes immediately flickered to the spot where Ji-eun was, but he was a bit taken aback when he didn’t see her. Did she finally enter the pool? The Prince was making his way towards one of the maids when a shrill shriek stopped him in his tracks.

“She’s drowning! Somebody save her!”

Whipping around, Sehun’s eyes darted from the scattered, wide-eyed contestants to Luna who was the one that screamed. A horrible, twisting feeling swirled in Sehun’s stomach as he slowly turned towards the pool just in time to see a hand break past the surface of the water. The hand belonged to Ji-eun, Sehun realized with growing dread creeping under his skin.

Ji-eun’s drowning. The image of her smiling down at him after he sprayed her with water might be the last time he’d ever see her smiling again. She’s drowning. Sehun wanted to throw up.

Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to dive into the pool, but some invisible force was holding him back, his feet glued to the ground. The terror acted like a rope, wrapping around his body to prevent him from moving. In the split second of his hesitation, he saw out of the corner of his eye a blur of black run past him and dive into the pool. His eyes followed the figure - who he belatedly realized to be Jongin - dashing past Luna, and the two locked eyes. fell open when her eyes dropped to the water, and Sehun followed her line of sight to find a strange black substance floating in the water. Is that a…

Soon after, Luna jumped into the pool, striding towards the unknown substance determinedly. Everyone else was focused on Jongin, however, who had emerged from the water again, this time a unconscious Ji-eun in his arms. For some reason, he was holding her in what seemed to be a headlock, covering most of her head. Jongin dragged her onto land with little difficulty. Seeing Ji-eun’s limp body and remembering his previous paralyzed state of being, Sehun in a laboured breath, thinking to himself, you could have saved her, but you didn’t. Before Sehun could make himself approach the two, Luna practically leaped back onto the ground and ran to his side, frantically holding him back. Surprised, the Prince stared at her.

“Get everyone out of here!” Luna yelled at him, her eyes wide and desperate. “They’ll listen to you. Tell them to leave!”

“Wha-”

“Sehun, we don’t have much time. Lu - Ji-eun’s not dead yet, but she will be if you don’t listen to me.” When Luna saw that he was hesitating, she grabbed his arms and shook him. “Snap out of it! Right now, she needs you to do this for her.”

Blinking, Sehun found himself dashing into the crowd and yelling at them to back away. His senses were dulled, all the images flashing by quickly like a montage, his mind miles away. All he could focus on was you should have saved her, why didn’t you? With the help of the maids, he managed to herd the scared contestants out the gate and once they were well on their way back to the Castle, he made a one-eighty turn back to the pool.

He arrived just in time to see Luna patting down Ji-eun’s hair as Jongin performed CPR on Ji-eun, elbows locked and one hand over the other with fingers intertwined as he steadily pushed down on her chest. After thirty counts, he pinched Ji-eun’s nose closed and in a breath before bending down to breathe air into her. The Prince looked away from the scene, eyes burning as if he was staring at a computer screen for too long and a horrible mantra of coward you should have saved her you didn’t save her because you’re a coward coward coward repeating over and over again.

¤¤¤

Faint murmurs of is he okay? and he coughed up water, is that a good sign? penetrated Luhan’s stream of unconsciousness, sounding like far-away echoes. With every pounding of his heartbeat, the volume of the murmurs grew louder and the pain squeezing the air out of his chest increased. It was too hard to breathe.

A refreshing, calming scent of sunscreen mixed with familiar, expensive cologne entered his blackened world, flushing out the nauseating scent of chlorine. A warm touch danced from his shoulder to his cheek, and he heard a low, shaky voice say, “Is she going to wake up?”

That last hopeful question forced Luhan’s eyes open, and he blinked groggily at the three surprised faces looking down at him. His view was hazy around the edges, clearing with every blink. He felt a hand - he knew it belonged to Sehun - clutch his face gently and brush the bangs out of his eyes.

“You’re here,” Sehun sighed out, voice catching.

Luna unceremoniously shoved the Prince aside and buried herself in Luhan’s chest. He heard vague sniffles and lifted his head to see her shoulders trembling. The sight of Luna crying shot a pang in his chest because he had only seen her cry once in his entire life, and that was when Ji-eun had a concussion from falling out of a tree. Wait… Luhan looked up at Sehun, who had turned away. Jongin’s face was softened with relief. They’re acting weird. He opened his mouth to say something, but it took him a few tries before he actually managed out a word, voice hoarse. “Wh - What happened?”

Jongin gently pulled Luna away from Luhan and the two exchanged looks, before shooting a glance at Sehun, who still had his back turned to them. Finally, Luna wiped her tears away and said, “Here, do you think you can get up?”

Luhan furrowed his brows at the evasive response. Nonetheless, he slowly pushed himself off the ground. His knees buckled from the weight, but Jongin was there for him to lean on and Luna had an arm under his armpits to hold him up. Someone wrapped him in a towel from behind. Luhan looked back at Sehun as Jongin and Luna led him away, but all he saw was the image of Sehun sitting at the edge of the pool with his knees pulled to his chest, curling into himself as he stared into the water. He looked lonely, Luhan realized, as lonely as that boy in the carriage all those years ago.

¤¤¤

“You sure you’re okay?” Jongin asked for the third time, reluctantly hanging back in Luhan’s room. “You won’t catch a cold again?”

“Relax, Jongin.” Luna rolled her eyes. “He’s not going to drown in the showers.”

“Says the girl who was sobbing all over him half an hour ago,” Jongin shot back.

“Get out, you two. Go fight in the hallway.” Laughing, Luhan shoved the two of them out the door with one hand, the other drying his hair with a towel. He had let them stay in his room as he took a much needed, steaming shower. It was comforting to know someone was physically there to help him after a near-death experience. Luhan thought he handled it much better the second time around, even though he hadn’t said a word after leaving the pool. After the first incident, he hadn’t spoken at all for about two weeks. But it was funny how he was saved both times by the same person, as if there was a string of fate tying them together. Luhan made sure to thank profusely Jongin as many times as possible for saving his life. The butler had ducked his head shyly in response.

Luna had reassured him that they had done the best they could to hide his identity, with Luna picking his wig immediately from the pool and Jongin wrapping a towel on his head the moment they got on land. She also told him that Irene was the one who pushed him into the water as a prank. He couldn’t find the heart to blame her since she hadn’t known, nor could he blame Sehun for making him attend the pool party. The only person he really blamed was himself, for even being afraid of water in the first place. He had even ruined Sehun’s party on top of all that.

Now, Luhan was just tired. His limbs felt like they were going to fall off. He really wanted to just curl up in his bed and bury himself in his blankets. Even though he enjoyed Luna and Jongin’s company, their non-stop bickering was bordering on irritating and the one person he really wanted to talk to at the moment… Well, he doubted Sehun would be visiting him anytime soon.

Sighing, Luhan stared at the unbudging butler and Luna. He made shoo-motions but that didn’t help. It took a, “Thanks for everything, but I really need some rest right now,” to get his friends to leave him alone.

“Fine, fine,” Jongin held his hands up in defeat and exited. Luna stumbled out after him. The two stared at each other for a beat before turning on their heels and going in opposite directions. However, after turning a corner, Luna stopped when she heard a soft sigh behind her. Turning to peek around the wall, she found herself staring at the Prince, who was standing in front of Luhan’s door with a hand raised to knock. His fist was up for a few seconds, but dropped back to his side again limply. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and turned around to leave.

“Look who’s here,” Luna called out, stopping him, and stepped out from behind the wall. She relished Sehun’s deer-in-headlights expression. Smirking, she raised a taunting eyebrow. “Leaving so soon?”

“I just-” Sehun glanced at Luhan’s shut door. “-wanted to see if she’s alright.”

“She’s resting at the moment.”

“Oh.”

“Ji-eun’s not weak, you know. Just because she’s afraid of water doesn’t mean she’s weak. She has a reason for that, by the way. Everyone has fears, and personally, I think she dealt with hers with a lot of grace,” said Luna, eyes narrowing.

Sehun felt even worse. He didn’t even know Ji-eun had hydrophobia. He hadn’t thought there was a reason behind her not wanting to swim. “There’s a story behind her fear?”

Luna faltered, muttering something about keeping my big mouth shut before letting out a heaving sigh. She spilled the shortened version (of course, omitting the few key details regarding Luhan’s gender) about Luhan’s first drowning incident. Surprisingly, Sehun could imagine it playing out before him like a movie, all the details in place. It was as if he was there when it happened.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, Luna cut in, “You know, you make me feel so frustrated sometimes because of how much of an idiot you are, so I’m going to give you a little advice. I won’t hold back, okay?”

“Go ahead,” said Sehun wearily. He knew what Luna was about to say.

“You think throwing your money in our faces would put a love spell on us? I know why you threw that party, and I’m going to tell you, your plan is not working one bit. Wake up, Prince Charming. Money isn’t the way to a girl’s heart, especially not a girl like Ji-eun. And that look you have right now? The look that says, I want to protect her. Wipe it off your face. You need to realize that she doesn’t need protection. Especially not from someone who can’t even save her in the first place.”

Luna covered immediately after that last sentence, and almost looked sorry. But Sehun couldn’t hate her for saying something that was true. She was right. This whole idea was stupid. Winning Ji-eun’s heart? He couldn’t even save her. Ji-eun wasn’t the weak one, Sehun was.

“Hey, I didn’t mean that, at least not the last part,” Luna said softly. “I phrased it poorly. You’re just in a position where you can’t help her right now.”

“I should have, Luna. You don’t understand, I was closer to her than Jongin, I - I should have-”

“No, you shouldn’t have. Jongin was the best person, in these circum-”

“He was wearing a ing suit and he managed to reach her before I did!” The Prince let out a bitter bark of laughter at that, making Luna take a step back. “A suit and me? I was just standing at the sidelines, benched by my own means.”

Luna waited until Sehun calmed down before she said, “She’s alive. That’s all that matters right now, okay? It’s not about who rescued her. Ji-eun’s alive, and that’s all you need to care about.”

It took a while before Sehun spoke again, eyes dropping to the ground as Luna’s words finally got to him. This time, he sounded more collected, more controlled. For the first time since leaving the pool, he smiled genuinely, “You’re right. Thank you.”

And Luna knew he meant it. She merely rolled her eyes in response, but the Prince knew it was her way of showing affection and blew her a cheeky kiss back. As she turned to leave, Sehun called out again to stop her, “Luna?”

“Yeah?”

Snapshots of the black object that Luna went to retrieve from the pool flashed in Sehun’s mind: floating in the water, clenched in Luna’s hand when she screamed at him to kick everyone out, dripping as she ran to Ji-eun’s side.

Luna asked again, this time impatiently, “What is it?”

Sehun lost the nerve and waved his hand, tone distracted, “No, it’s nothing.”

It couldn’t be...

¤¤¤

The girls had the rest of the day off since it was the last day of filming and after Luhan’s incident, all the tests were cancelled for that evening. Luhan spent some time recuperating and trying to gather enough nerves to last through this competition until Ji-eun arrived. Almost drowning was like a wake-up call, all the what ifs swirling in his mind like a messy hurricane. What if Luna hadn’t spotted the wig? What if Sehun was the one who saved him instead? What if Jongin had been too late? He really needed to get out of this mess before it grew any larger than it already had.

So Luhan had wanted a peaceful, quiet evening to himself, but he was not given one.

Over the course of the few hours, every single one of the contestants had visited him to check on his condition, and so he had left his wig on to make things easier (Luna had helped blow-dry it when he was in the shower). It took some getting used to, since he used to be ostracized from the very start. Hyuna and Dara were the first two and had thoughtfully brought him dinner. Luna was next, but Irene had entered soon after and had to face the wrath of Luna’s fast-paced ranting until Luhan intervened. Wheein swung by, being the last, to collect his dishes. Luhan had thought that was the last of them and plopped down on his bed. He never thought he would end up groaning over having to talk to five, extremely beautiful girls in a row.

Luhan was drifting off to sleep when he heard another knock on his door. Groaning, he dragged his body out of bed and drowsily whined under his breath. Luhan forced a smile on his face as he pictured one of the girls smiling sunnily at him, probably asking him on a shopping date or something - though why they would come at four in the morning puzzled him. So imagine his surprise when he opened the door to, “Prince Sehun?”

The Prince looked up, as if surprised Luhan actually opened the door for him. Shuffling, Sehun asked softly, “Can I come in?”

“Uh, sure,” Luhan stepped away to let the Prince enter and noted Sehun’s casual outfit coupled with a snapback. It looked as if he wanted to arrive at Luhan’s door unnoticed. The two stood awkwardly in the middle of the room until Luhan cleared his throat, “So what brings you here?”

“I just. Um. I wanted to check if you were alright after… Y’know,” The Prince was speaking so gently, as if he didn’t want to scare Luhan, as if Luhan needed to be treated gently, as if Luhan was made out of porcelain and would break into the tiniest of pieces at the slightest noise.

“It’s no big deal. It happened before,” Luhan replied just as quietly. This new Sehun took him by surprise and made him uncomfortable. He was used to the Prince being obnoxious and loud, but now that he was being so gentle, he didn’t know how to act.

“Really?”

“Mhm.” Luhan nodded. He gestured to his body. “See? Completely fine.”

The Prince let out a sigh of relief and seemed to slump into himself. He murmured, “That’s a relief.”

“Did you come all the way here just for that?”

“Not exactly.” The Prince broke into a small, kind smile and Luhan in a breath. Sehun raised his hand, palm up. “Give me your hand.”

“Okay?” Luhan placed his hand into Sehun’s and stiffened when Sehun enveloped it with his own. Another half-smile from the Prince set fire to the embers in Luhan’s stomach.

The Prince led Luhan out of his room and down the hall, making a sharp right. They walked past intricate paintings of past rulers and uncannily realistic sculptures but all Luhan could focus on was the warmth of Sehun’s burning touch. It sent him back to their first “date” and even though it ended on a sour note, it still set free butterflies in his stomach just thinking about it. Sehun walked up to the second-last sculpture of a man carrying a large jug. He tugged on Luhan’s hand to get his attention and let go to walk in the gap between the sculpture and the wall behind it. Luhan blinked at the lack of contact and found himself reaching for Sehun’s hand again before he stopped himself in time. It was chilly, all of a sudden.

The Prince knocked on the wall, the sound echoing. He his fingers across the surface until he felt a small groove. Luhan watched curiously as the tall boy took a step back and charged at the wall, a load of dust unleashing once the panel creaked open to show a dark tunnel. Sehun wordlessly reached into the statue’s jug and pulled out a flashlight.

“What is that?” asked Luhan, confused. “A secret passage or something?”

“Something like that.” Sehun put out his hand again. This time, Luhan stared at it with raised eyebrows instead of complying. Sehun sighed, “I don’t want you to trip or get lost in that passageway so just give me your damn hand.”

“Ah, I was wondering where pushy Prince Sehun went.” Luhan broke into a chuckle. He was glad the corridor was practically pitch black so Sehun couldn’t see his expression.

“Hold on.” Sehun pressed Luhan against his chest and Luhan realized how narrow the tunnel was. Thank god he wasn’t claustrophobic. But he was slightly afraid of the rate of his heartbeat when his face was literally in the crook of Sehun’s neck.

“What the-”

“I just need to-” The sound of the door clicking shut behind them did nothing to cool down Luhan’s flushed cheeks. “-make sure we don’t get caught. Don’t freak out.”

Even so, it seemed like an eternity before Sehun pulled away and continued into the darkness. Luhan felt like all the skinship was unnecessary yet he didn’t want to speak up about it. He couldn’t tell where they were going because the corridor was only big enough for one person and so he was stuck staring at Sehun’s broad back.

Soon enough, the Prince came to a halt and shoved open another panel. This time, it led to the outside, the night air hitting them in the face. Luhan walked out expecting the sky littered with tiny pockets of light but let out a disappointed breath when all he saw was more darkness. Of course. This was in the city, how could it be possible to see the stars from all the light pollution?

Sehun switched off his flashlight with a click and started across the grassy lawn. Looking behind him, Luhan noticed they were positioned in such a way that they were hidden by the gigantic garden from the guards. Stumbling on a crack in the pavement, Luhan glanced around him to find himself on a familiar path. “Wait, Prince Sehun-”

“I’m taking you to the pool,” Sehun said calmly, the nice Prince back again. “Trust me, alright? Nothing’s going to happen to you. I just want to show you something.”

Luhan faltered, unsure of what else to say. The atmosphere between the two was different tonight, the space between them filled up with words left unsaid. He didn’t know what caused this change. All he was certain of was the not entirely unwelcome feeling of ropes tightening across his chest with every glance Sehun shot at him.

“Here we are. You ready?” They were in front of the gate opening in between the hedges. Luhan stopped in his tracks and shook his head slowly in amazement, wondering if he was seeing things.

The pool seemed to be glowing.

The two boys slowly entered and Sehun finally let go of Luhan’s hand. It felt like he could breathe normally again. But his breath was stolen away once again by the incredible sight awaiting him. Incandescent, baby blue flowers dotted the hedges and floated in the water in the pool, creating an extraterrestrial feel. They were shimmering, emitting an unreal, gentle light. Fairy lights were tied around the palm trees at the end of the pool, snaking all the way to the top. Luhan had fallen into a fairy-tale.

“Do you like it?” And the boy beside him looked exactly like one of those fairy-tale princes.

Luhan nodded furiously and crouched by the pool’s edge. He dipped his hand into the water to scoop out one of the magical flowers, and stared, fascinated, at the beauty he held in the middle of his palm.

His voice came out barely above a whisper, “What are they called?”

“Four o'clocks.” The Prince knelt down beside Luhan. “Because that’s when they bloom.”

It was at that moment Luhan looked up and saw Sehun so close with his face illuminated by the dim light of the flowers, eyes filled with some emotion Luhan thought he should recognize. But it was too late for this and Sehun was way too close and he was getting closer and there were a million and one reasons why this shouldn’t be happening right now.

“Sehun. Wait.”

The Prince’s eyes widened and Luhan realized it was because that was the first time he didn’t refer to Sehun with his proper title. Ignoring the spark of fear, Luhan leaned back slightly. The distance was making him lose control.

“Why are you doing all this?”

“What?” Sehun breathed out, a little confused. “Oh, it’s because I wanted to, um, I wanted to make it up to you after what happened today.”

The Prince ducked his head shyly, making Luhan say automatically, “It’s not your fault.”

“But it is, because I should have known you couldn’t swim and I shouldn’t have made you go to the pool and…” Sehun trailed off, a faint blush making its way across his features. “I should have been the one to save you. I’m so sorry. I was right there but I got scared and I froze and I just-”

“Sehun, stop.” Luhan took his other hand and placed it on Sehun’s cheek. He smiled comfortingly, “It’s fine.”

“Really?” Luhan swore this was the closest he’d ever get to a scared Sehun.

Luhan nodded, patting the taller boy’s head. “Now go back to being a jerk because this isn’t like you.”

“It seems you like this version of me better, with you getting all touchy-feely all of a sudden.”

“It’s not like that,” Luhan protested, but his blush gave him away. Sehun just laughed and turned away to enjoy the view.

“I thought you were going to…” The Prince trailed off again. Luhan nudged Sehun, signalling for him to continue, “disappear forever. I thought that would have been the last time I’d get to see you. And it was terrifying. But when you spit out the water and opened your eyes, I was overwhelmed with relief and - and something more. I realized… just how much I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Is that why you made me stay?”

Sehun stared at him in surprise, and Luhan wondered if he guessed wrong. But his worries were slashed away with a simple laugh coming from the Prince. “You knew?”

“Well, it wasn’t hard to figure out. There was no way the country would choose me over cute and bubbly Hye-ri or dazzling Solar. I don’t know how you did it, though.”

“Well, Hye-ri was second-last so she would have been voted off anyway. The viewers thought she was fake.” Sehun scrunched his nose adorably. “And I simply ordered a bunch of maids to vote for you.”

“You what?” Luhan exclaimed, whacking Sehun’s shoulder. It did nothing to wipe off Sehun’s smug expression, and it didn’t help that he had a matching grin on his own face, no matter how hard he tried to force a disapproving frown. “You can’t do that! That’s cheating!”

“Well, it’s my future wife I’m choosing. And it wasn’t that hard. For your information, you’re quite a favourite with the servants. They think you’re charming,” The Prince said rather smugly and leaned back on his arms, obviously satisfied with himself. “And I can’t have you breaking your promise so soon.”

Eyes softening, Luhan knew the promise would mean less than nothing in just a few days. “Prince-”

“Call me Sehun, okay? When we’re like this - the two of us alone - we’re just Sehun and Ji-eun. Not a prince and a farmer’s daughter.”

In a flash, the spell Luhan was getting drunk on dissipated into the darkness, because everything Sehun was saying sounded so right but felt so wrong. Time was slipping away through the gaps between his fingers.

“Sehun. I have something to say to you.”

“Hm?”

“I can’t - I don’t think I... ” The words were stuck in Luhan’s throat, “I’m not...”

Sehun’s brows furrowed in concern, “What’s wrong? You can tell me, I’ll listen.”

“I don’t like Jongin,” Luhan suddenly blurted out instead what he originally planned. Eyes wide, Sehun stared at him in shock before bursting out in laughter. The Prince was laughing so hard he had his head resting on Luhan’s shoulder, who was completely still and shell-shocked, sitting on the cool wooden tiles. Embarrassment burned hot in Luhan’s stomach.

Eventually, the trembling of Sehun’s shoulders subsided and he let out a, “That’s a relief, since I like you.”

Immediately, Luhan pushed Sehun back, sputtering, “Y-you can’t just say things like that out of nowhere! That’s not fair, you can’t attack me like that. Stop joking around.”

“What am I supposed to do when you’re this cute?” Sehun bopped Luhan’s nose, the latter fighting the urge to erase the miniscule distance separating the two with an easy kiss. “And it didn’t come out of nowhere. Why do you think I brought you here? I even set up those fairy lights. Do you know how hard it was for me to wrap the lights all around the tree? I’m tall, but not that tall.”

Luhan watched in amusement as Sehun reached out to grab a flower, passionately continuing his rant, “Okay, I admit these flowers were here from the start, but no one knows they glow at four o’clock besides me. Four o’clock… You know why I chose to show you these flowers?”

“Is there some hidden, cheesy flower meaning behind it?”

“Because I want you to be so crazy over me you won’t be able to sleep and you’d be up at four o’clock just thinking about me, missing me.”

“Oh my god!” Luhan curled up his fingers, showing how repulsed he was at the cheesiness. He was consciously playing Sehun’s confession off as a joke, but with every second, a uncomfortable prickle creeped under his skin. He knew what was coming. “Don’t ever say anything like that again.”

“But you won’t have to miss me because I’ll be by your side then.”

Luhan wondered if it was something he ate that night that was causing the weird thrumming through his veins and the squeezing in his chest. Sitting there, under the flowers’ romantic lighting, the two stilled. Words were used to put off this moment, but Luhan’s mind was drawing a blank at any other possible way to avoid the inevitable. Panic was mounting, but Luhan couldn’t do anything to stop it.

He saw it coming. Maybe, hidden in the problem cabinets in his mind, he’d even admit that he wanted it to happen, ever since he’d laid eyes on the Prince.

“I’m being serious, you know,” the Prince whispered, “I really do like you.”

Now, Sehun’s hooded eyes were closing and he was leaning closer, closer, until all Luhan was breathing was Sehun’s cologne. And everything that led up to this moment, everything Sehun did foolishly without knowing the effect he had on poor Luhan, was clogging up the older boy’s mind.

He was in a fairy-tale, a dream, anywhere that was nowhere near the world where Ji-eun wasn’t Luhan and Luhan wasn’t even really Luhan. He was in Wonderland where nothing could possibly go wrong because this was supposed to be the final scene when the curtains fall after their lips seal the end of the play and nothing would come after, no consequences, no punishments for impersonating his sister.

And so he let Sehun kiss him. In fact, he pulled the Prince closer, melting into Sehun’s soft lips shamelessly. A whimper escaped Sehun and Luhan swallowed it, took in the taste of his lips, the tugging of clothing, the feel of Sehun’s soft hair threaded through his fingers.

With every heartbeat, voices rang in his mind, slipping past his hazy mind and heightened senses with every kiss Sehun pressed against his lips. Ba-bump. Ji-eun’s coming in two days. Just a reminder, or a warning. Ba-bump. Don’t forget the reason why you’re here. Ba-bump.

Promise me you’ll never leave me.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Not when Sehun didn’t know Luhan existed, not when Ji-eun’s prince was actually a country bumpkin miles away.

Luhan’s eyes flew open, and he abruptly pushed Sehun away, ignoring the confused, hurt look taking over the Prince’s features. The wounded puppy look didn’t suit him. Not with his currently messed-up hair and flushed cheeks. Sehun watched in silence as Luhan quickly fixed his clothing and stood up, stumbling away from his Wonderland, listening to Luhan’s empty excuses of it’s getting late and Luna’s probably looking for me.

Luhan barely heard his name being called by Sehun. He didn’t look back. The chill climbed its way up Luhan’s spine and he didn’t think it was from the cold, but nonetheless he forged his way back to the sanctuary of his room in search for some temporary warmth.