Quietly close your eyes.

The slightly shorter man with dark brown hair, playful eyes, and the clothes of an adventurous businessman was almost exactly the type of person Sunggyu had hoped to avoid. In the span of merely an hour, he had convinced the prince to sneak away to a secret amusement park that was hidden by the surrounding forest, ditching his responsibilities as the two professionals that were supposed to be discussing how they would take over their parents’ positions in the upcoming year. Sunggyu knowing that his ability to persuade someone of anything in a sentence, he allowed himself to take a chance in Muhan and follow the man who was to be the west empire’s president next year. They had tiptoed through the back of Woohyun’s bedroom, ducked under branches, and stumbled through the rest of the bushes and greenery to find the rusty, old amusement park that made Woohyun’s eyes sparkle the moment he saw it.

Even though the hideaway would have looked old and dying to many others, Sunggyu awed at the sight. He always did love things from BD times—though it was an interest he would never tell his parents about. The fading paint, the old-fashioned carvings on the rollercoasters and carousels, the cracked signs that read prices for foods and face-paintings; all of it fascinated Sunggyu because they were things he had never seen before, things he never would have seen if he had stayed in Sunhwan his entire life. This one right here gave Sunggyu this heartwarming spark that he never felt before.

He was even so preoccupied at looking around that he didn’t even notice Woohyun grabbing and dragging him by his hand, moving Sunggyu along to other areas in his so-called secret hideout. When Woohyun finally stopped moving, Sunggyu had realized that the Muhan boy was touching him and he immediately retracted his hand; he was still wary about getting close and attached to the now messy-haired future president.

Nevertheless, Woohyun just smiled cheekily and stepped back, spreading his arms out as if saying welcome to my humble abode, Kim Sunggyu.

“What did I tell you? It’s nice isn’t it?” Woohyun asked.

Sunggyu nodded. The prince smiled again as he saw Woohyun’s eyes light up at his answer. Woohyun then proceeded to tell Sunggyu all about the park: how big it was, what kinds of rides there were that still worked, the kinds of places where Woohyun usually liked to take things apart and make new contraptions; he told him everything—everything but how and why he had found the place. But Sunggyu wasn’t about to pry into the other’s life story; he had just met him and Sunggyu had yet to share anything about himself. Plus, introducing him to his secret hideout seemed to be good enough for their first meeting to him anyway.

Woohyun’s hideout simply had the same effect on the people that entered it during BD times that it had on Sunggyu and obviously, Woohyun. Time seemed to stop, worries were thrown away and locked in a box far away, and the only thing a person would really have to think about was what fun thing do I do next?

Sunggyu found it kind of exhilarating being around Nam Woohyun and being in this amusement park. He loved the feeling he got in his chest when he went down a roller-coaster with a shaking structure and bolts that didn’t seem secure, when he bungee-jumped off the cliff at the far end of the park with screams louder than ever before, and when he climbed up the skyscraper-tower in the middle of the hideaway with the wind blowing at his face. It was a thrilling and intoxicating feeling that the prince just fell in love with.

Adrenaline was what it was—Woohyun had told him so.

“It’s this amazing rush that you get: adrenaline. Your heart beats faster, your thoughts kind of run clearer, and you just feel invincible for a moment, you know?”

It was surely a fresh and incredible feeling to Sunggyu, and he definitely felt the addictive adrenaline when he stared Nam Woohyun straight in the eyes after the last roller-coaster of the day and slammed their lips together.