(TAO POV)

“Aren’t you going to meet Kris before we go?” Yixing, or Lay which he preferred to be call, asked. I shook my head. Lay already knew my relationship with Kris. He was my assistant and my best friend so, there’s nothing that I should keep from him.

“I thought you love him and you can’t live without him!”

Yup! I definitely can’t. But then, he didn’t need me. If he really needed me, he would’ve stopped me from going. That stupid bastard! Didn’t he know that I totally, absolutely in love with him. I wished I’d never asked mom to come here. At least I didn’t have to meet him. It’s so annoying!

“Erm…Tao!” Lay called while tugging on my shirt. “What?” I asked annoyed while glaring at him. He pointed towards the door. I let out an exasperate sigh. “Don’t try to make any jokes. I didn’t like it!”

“What? I’m not making jokes here. Why did you say like that?” Lay said with a pout. “Haha…funny. You always joke around. I didn’t even know when to believe you!” I said matter of fact.

Suddenly, someone hugged me from behind. “You shouldn’t leave me here,” Kris whispered and I froze on the spot.

“I..I thought you didn’t want me!” I stuttered. A blush crept its way on my cheeks. How am I supposed not to blush? He was too close to me. Even we always stay close to each other, I still felt embarrassed.

“Who said that?” he scolded then he squished my cheeks which he knew I really hate it. I pouted.

Then I heard mom laughing at the back. “You two are cute together, you know. And Tao, you shouldn’t treat your brother that way. Be nice to him. I thought you love him,” my mother said while patting my back.

“Sorry,” I murmured, eyes fixed on the ground.

“Kris and Suho are coming with us,” my mother announced. I was surprised. Quickly, I looked at Kris. He just smiled charmingly at me. “Really?” I asked, didn’t really believe what my mom just said. Kris nodded.

“Thank you mom!” I jumped from excitement and then I quickly hugged her. She laughed then patted my back. “I love you,” I said then kissed her cheeks.

“I love you too,” she replied with a smile. “Now, if you don’t mind, we should hurry.”

We began our journey and along our journey, Kris always stayed by my side. I was really happy. Mom had told me everything. She told me that she planned on bringing Kris home but we should never ever tell the king about this.

After 3 hours of journey, we finally arrived at the castle. We were welcomed by a large crowd of people surrounding us. This really surprised me. Never before, had this type of thing happened. Maybe there’s a problem.

“Your highness! We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” a guard came and approached my mother. “What happened?” my mother asked with a frown.

“The king is worried your highness. It is said that you should be home two days ago but you’re not. So, the king ordered us to look for you,” the guard replied.

I guessed mom miscalculate the day we should be home. It’s not a surprise because this always happened in the past. All I could do was sighed. I approached my mother and the guard.

“We’re running into trouble on our way home. Some bandits decided to attack us and as you could see, Yixing is hurt a bit but luckily it’s not severe. We’re lucky because of these two young men. They helped us,” I said while pointing toward Kris and Suho. The both of them bowed their head in respect.

“What about the guards who were supposed to protect you?” I sighed and looked at my mother for help. She suddenly held a sad look which I assumed, she was beginning her acting.

“We’re really sorry. We couldn’t help them. Because of us, they had lost their life,” my mother said with a sob. The guard seemed startled. Maybe it’s because of hearing that his comrade died while protecting the royal family or maybe because after seeing my mother on the verge of tears.

“No, your highness. You didn’t have to feel sorry. It’s our job to keep you and the prince saves and we were really thankful to the young men who save you. I’m not trying to be rude your highness but it’s time for you to meet the king,” the guard said with a bow. We both nodded and I walked towards Kris.

“We’re going to meet the king. I hope the both of you are ready,” I said in a whisper so that only Kris and Suho could hear it. They both nodded in understanding. Kris looked fine as if it was nothing but Suho looked a little nervous. The both of them sure have a different personality. Sometimes, I even wonder how they could be friends.

We went into the castle and walked towards the king’s office. When we got there, my mother knocked on the door. The king really hates it if someone barged into his office without knocking even if that someone was his own wife or son.

Then we heard the words, “Come in” from the inside. My mother looked at all of us as if wanting to make sure that we’re ready and then she opened the door while taking a deep breath and plastered a sweet smile on her face.

“Oh, it’s you my queen. I’ve been really worried that you haven’t got back from your trip with Tao. Did anything happen?” the king asked. If some of you might be wondering why I keep calling him ‘the king’ and not ‘my father’ where as I called my mother as ‘my mother ‘ not ‘the queen’, the reason was simple. I am not to close with him. He might be my father but he never really cares about me. Sometimes, I felt as if he was a stranger. We talked formally and there’s not a single time we spend our time as father and son. All of our meetings were as the king and prince.

“We were in a little trouble but this two young men help us,” my mother’s voice brought me back from my train of thought. I could see Kris and Suho bowed their head to the king.

“Thank you for helping my family. I really appreciate it,” the king said while looking at both Kris and Suho.

It’s obvious that he didn’t really care if we’re safe or not. If he really cared, he would’ve asked what happen but no. He just thanked Kris and Suho.

“What’s your name, young man?” the king asked with eyes fixed on Kris.

Oh no! I haven’t thought about this and I know my mother’s didn’t too. It’s true that the king never met Kris and Suho but he knows Kris and Suho’s name. If they told their true name, then, they would definitely get trouble. I looked at Kris, hoping that he would know that revealing his real name was not a good thing.

“I am Wu Yifan and this is my assistant, Kim Joonmyun,” Kris replied. A smile adorning his face or more like a smirk.

“Where do you come from?” the king asked again.

“I came from the neighboring country,” Kris replied in a calm tone.

“Your Majesty, I think it is better if we let this two young men rest. They had helped us enough and I’m sure they are tired and need some rest,” my mother said, trying to get Kris out from trouble.

“Oh, pardon me. Please have a rest first. You could stay at the west wing of the castle where Tao’s stay. I hope you won’t mind, Tao,” the king said and then he looked at me. I nodded.

“Thank you for your hospitality. I really appreciate it, your majesty,” Kris said and he and Suho bowed.

“Your majesty, please excuse us,” I said and bowed my head. He nodded. I quickly walk out of the room along with Kris and Suho. My mother stayed in there and I know that she had to give full detail on what was happening on our trip. I hope she didn’t mess up our plan. Well, it’s not I don’t trust her, it just that my mother was a bit clumsy sometimes.

“Tell me more about the castle. I didn’t want to get lost in here,” Kris said when we were on our way to the west wing of the castle.

“Well, the castle is divided into four wing that is west, east, south and north. And on the west side is where I live. The king rarely went there. He and the queen were at the south wing while the north wing is where all the country administration was done and on the east wing is where the servant live. You and Suho were only allowed to be on the west wing so, don’t try to sneak into another wing. I don’t want the both of you to get into trouble,” I explained. The other two just nodded their head.

When we were at the west wing, I showed them around so they won’t get lost. Both Suho and Kris just followed me like an obedient puppy. It’s kind of cute. They looked around with amused eyes or more like only Suho did that. Kris only kept his blank face.

After I showed them their room which was next to each other (don’t ever think that I would let them sleep in the same room), I excused myself to go and rest in my own room. Before I could step further away, Kris held my hand.

“Stay!” That one word really caught me off guard. I looked at him, shocked. “The king wouldn’t know,” he said again.

I just nodded my head as I couldn’t possibly say no to him. He took me into his room and we stayed there for the rest of the evening, being in each other embraced.