Chapter Six

When the Blind Sees Light

“You have such soft skin,” the man deeply whispered. Eyes wide, Luhan stepped back, tripping over his feet. All of a sudden, he couldn’t move at all. As if, he had frozen his limbs. It didn’t seem like he could talk either.

“Luhan!?” The frantic voice of Sehun cried out.

He soon emerged from the forest, eyes darting in complete disorder. Immediately, he scoped out the woodsman. “You! Get away!” Sehun dashed for Luhan, grasping the older’s waist as quickly as he could.

“We’ll meet again soon,” he chuckled. With the snap of his finger, all of the life in Luhan’s body returned and the woodsman had disappeared.

“Are you alright, Lu?” Sehun asked breathlessly. Nodding, Luhan leaned back onto Sehun’s chest.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” he breathlessly murmured, “…I’m alright.”

Of course, that was until Luhan realized the position of Sehun’s hands and instantly jumped out of the younger’s arms.

“Where have you been all day?” Sehun asked as they were walking home. Luhan, still dazed by what had happened, didn’t answer and Sehun didn’t force him to. He tossed his arm around Luhan’s shoulders, rubbing small circles on his skin.

Neither spoke for the rest of the day. A few days later was Sehun’s birthday, after all. Once that was over, Sehun would return to tracking the days again. Although, something in Luhan told him that he wished the younger didn’t. He didn’t want Sehun to leave him alone like everyone else. Since those first few days, they friendship had blossomed to something Luhan had never expected. As selfish as it sounded, he wanted to keep it that way. All of these thoughts swarmed his head as he drifted off to sleep, Sehun still on his mind.

A few days past until Luhan found himself folding Sehun’s prince attire, laying each article beside a crammed bag of necessitates. Today was the big day. Prince Sehun would finally turn twenty years old. He peered over at the boy, who was still fast asleep, and smiled. Today is your lucky day, Sehunnie, Luhan thought, pumping his clenched fist into the air. Luhan creeped toward Sehun, careful not to step on the particularly creaky floorboards.

“Sehunnie?” Luhan whispered, shaking the younger’s arm. Groaning, Sehun covered his head with his pillow. Shaking his head, Luhan chuckled, “Fine, Hun.”

Down in the kitchen, Luhan prepared a little snack for Sehun to mark the start of his birthday. Luhan would feed him, dress him, and get him ready for the best day of his entire summer. Granted, as much as Luhan would like to give him the best birthday ever, Sehun was a prince with high standards. Going home wasn’t exactly a grandiose present. After a short wait, Sehun hobbled into the room, groggily rubbing his eyes. Opening his arms, Luhan jumped onto the younger, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Happy birthday, Sehun!” Luhan sang, rocking the taller side-to-side.

“Oh, yeah. I actually forgot about it,” Sehun laughed, scratching the back of his neck, “What have you got planned for today?”

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Luhan hummed, smiling sweetly, “Just go get washed up. I laid out some clothes for you in the bathroom.”

Eventually, Sehun came back down dressed in his purple suit lined with golden streaks. Gluing his eyes to the ground, Sehun tightened his muscles. Luhan held his breath. Damn, he looked good, Luhan thought. As he felt his cheeks burn at the thought, Luhan laid out Sehun’s snack.

“You look nice,” Luhan praised as he cooked himself breakfast.

“I don’t feel like I do,” Sehun admitted, bending his head downward.

“Well, we don’t always look perfect to ourselves,” Luhan glanced back at him, “Now do we?”

“I guess you’re…” Sehun paused when the clanking of horse hoofs stomping on the ground drew closer. “What’s that?’

Grasping onto the younger’s hand, Luhan yanked Sehun out of the front door. Sehun gasped. On the edge of the dirt road, the royal carriage patiently waited. Everyone from Joonmyun to Jongin waved at his arrival.

“What’s going on, Lu?” Sehun asked, stepping back.

“Your birthday present! Remember that time I left you to run errands? Well, I spoke to your family and I managed to convince them to send you home for a day!” Luhan exclaimed. His eyes fixed on Luhan. He couldn’t believe this. Pulling Luhan into a backbreaking hug, he smothered his face into Luhan’s neck.

“Luhan! I don’t know how to thank you,” Sehun muttered against the older’s skin.

“Aw, Sehunnie. Just get in the damn carriage, you fool,” Luhan mustered back, drawing away from the embrace.

Sehun leaped into the carriage, getting comfy right between his fathers. They all greeted him warmly.

“It’s been too long,” Joonmyun said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Your punishment,” Baekhyun retorted. Sehun glanced back at Luhan.

“Lu? Aren’t you coming?” Sehun inquired.

“What? Me? No, of course not,” Luhan laughed, “Don’t even think about worrying about me. I didn’t get permission anyway. I’ll see you again at dusk.”

Although Sehun faked a smile, he tried his best to overcome the impending disappointment. As the carriage drove down the dirt road, Sehun stared back at Luhan, who ventured back over to his cherry tree. He’ll probably spend his day off in the stars and resting on clouds. Sighing, he turned around as soon as he could no longer see the cottage.

“Thanks to your friend back there, we had at least some time to prepare a plentiful feast upon your arrival,” Joonmyun explained, “That is a good young man.”

“Who? Luhan? Yeah. He’s pretty great,” Sehun replied casually.

“Speak formally,” Yixing reminded him under his breath so no one else could hear.

“Oh, I apologize,” Sehun mustered.

With a slight close-lipped smile, Yixing shut off conversation. They drove past all of his newfound acquaintances, who gazed in awe and stymie. Still, despite all of the faces around him, Sehun only though of one: Luhan. Why didn’t he come along? Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught of glimpse of Jongdae, who had his fist waving in the air.

“What the hell are you doing, boy? This isn’t following my advice!” The farther away he went, the less Sehun could hear his faded shouts. Sehun wasn’t entirely sure Jongdae even gave him advice.

"What was that all about?” Baekhyun snorted.

“Baekhyun, stop acting so inappropriately,” Joonmyun warned. He stopped instantly.

            “Wait…uh, why?” Sehun asked, rubbing the nape of his neck.  

“Let me put it this way, sweetie; ever since your little, erm, publicity stunt, other kingdoms have…well, brought our repudiation down a notch. We need to maintain a specific image outside of the castle or whenever guests are about from now on,” Yixing explained, a hint of sadness in his voice, “When we are inside the castle or alone, you can act normally again, but otherwise--”

“I see,” Sehun responded, eyeing his shoes.

“Never mind that! See, the castle is right up ahead!” Joonmyun said, sensing the mood, “Besides, it’s your birthday! Lighten up!”

He was right. The castle’s vibrant roofs soon peeped out over the bushy treetops. Reds, golds, and baby blue. Unlike how everyone else enters, the Kim family doesn’t go through the front doors—this is only when they’re leaving. Rather, they take a secret entrance hidden behind the lavish garden. Located on the other side of the castle, they family took a small ferry that went underneath the building by a large at the bottom of the dam.

Once inside, they hurried up the immense staircase, the rest of the family dragging Sehun upwards. Soon enough, they came to the door, which they didn’t open fully until they knew no one saw them. Concealed right behind the thrones, the door led to the ballroom. Every time Sehun walked this route, he found himself in awe at the genius of architectural design.  Upon entering the dining room, everything was so grand and out-there, Sehun didn’t know what he saw first. Maybe it was the banner with “Happy Birthday, Prince Sehun!” or maybe the rainbow streamers or three layered cake with a crown on top.

Maybe it was the crown itself.

Ah yes, at the ripe age of twenty each prince or princess receives their new crown. Gold with three little gem centerpieces that matched the color of their future shrine. Sehun’s color was purple, the color of mischief.

“Wow,” Sehun breathed out, head spinning around until he felt dizzy from confusion.

"Do you like it?” Yixing asked, bright eyes staring into his own.

 “Yeah! It’s great!” Sehun complimented bashfully, “But you didn’t need to do so much just for me.”

“I guess the commoners humbled you already,” Jongin teased, shoving him slightly.

Shortly after, the brunch feast began. Food ranged from the English breakfast to Korean lunches to traditional Chinese dinners. While Sehun enjoyed stuffing himself to his content, the thoughts of Luhan still lingered in the back of his head, suddenly popping in and out.

“Dad,” Sehun started, “Why didn’t you let Luhan come?”

Shoving a spoonful of soup in his mouth, he merely hummed, “he didn’t want to.”

“Why though?” Sehun whined, shaking his shoulders like a child throwing a tantrum.

“When Jongin asked (at this Sehun thought: what a slimy bastard),” Yixing trailed off, “He said that you’ve been stuck with him for weeks. He wanted this to be a sign of optimism for you so you could find yourself something to wait for when you return.”

“Oh. I understand,” Sehun said, darting his eyes away, “Pssh. What a dork.”

For the entirety of that day, Sehun tried to push the thoughts of disgruntlement away. After all, that’s what Luhan would have wanted. His brothers were still stupid beyond repair and he rekindled with his old method of torcher: water. Over the course of the afternoon, he dumped water on Baekhyun four times and Jongin six (mostly to get revenge for trying to get with Luhan). He didn’t dare pull the string on Joonmyun, who might’ve extended his sentence a few years. Sehun also took in all of the new gossip—of which he was very eager to tell Luhan. Kyungsoo and Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun, rumors of an arranged marriage in the air. With pleasant and amiable eyes, he into the conversations of his servants, who appeared quite irked upon his arrival.

At one point, Sehun came face-to-face with Princess Krystal. One of the kings, probably Joonmyun, must have invited them over as if to encourage a marriage between them. Maybe that’s the rumor he’s been hearing all about. Just the thought curdled his insides.

“Sehun! How are you?” She giggled.

“Fine, Krystal. You?” Sehun deadpanned. Frankly, by late afternoon, as much as he adored his family and all they have done for him, he was done with this whole affair. All he wanted was silence and sleep.

"You’re so handsome,” Krystal whispered, gripping onto his broad shoulders. Sehun shrugged her off.

“Princes usually are. Sometimes…” Sehun thought of his first impression of Luhan and then smiled, “Sometimes even commoners are quite handsome.”

Eventually, after much persuasion, Sehun managed to shoo her off to flirt with Baekhyun—as he was the only one that needed to get married, even though Sehun changed his opinion on tying the knot not too long ago. His day was ending and all of the social capabilities he had left drained from his body. Mentally, physically, emotionally. When Joonmyun called him to leave, Sehun almost cheered aloud.

“Thank you for the magnificent day,” Sehun said once the family cozied into the carriage again.

“I assume that you cannot wait to return home!” Joonmyun exclaimed with a bellowing laugh.

“Of course,” Sehun laughed, his body slumping forward.

“Before you leave, I want you to tell us all about Luhan,” Baekhyun insisted, getting up in Sehun’s face.

“Why?” Sehun asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Because I met him the other day and I think him and Jongin…” Sehun put his arms up.

“Luhan is my closest friend and I definitely don’t trust that greasy idiot with him whatsoever,” Sehun concluded, “End of conversation.”

Everyone gawked at his sudden dictation, but no one could form the right words as to what had gotten into their precious youngest. Eventually, Baekhyun apologized and conversation ensued. Their inquisitive attitude toward Sehun’s new life sent a wave of joy over him. When the mossy walls of the cottage and the pink cherry tree petals harboring a certain doe-eyed boy beneath it came into view, Sehun felt an explosion shoot through his body.

“Thank you again for the wonderful day,” Sehun said, “I love you.”

"We love you too,” Joonmyun replied, kissing his forehead, “We’ll see you in about a month’s time.”

Sehun waited for the carriage to pull away before he waltzed over to the supposedly sleeping boy. He wasn’t asleep. Sighing, he smiled affectionately. Kneeling down, Sehun placed a gentle kiss on the older’s nose. Butterflies fluttered through Luhan’s stomach. After picking Luhan up bridal style, Sehun hauled him to their bedroom. As he laid him down on the bed, Sehun sighed.

“Thank you, Lu,” Sehun whispered.

Luhan had yet to see this light inside of Sehun. Something must have clicked. Every touch sent him flying through the clouds and every little word hooked him in an instant. Once, Luhan thought this feeling burning inside him was nothing, but he was blind then. Now, he can see him. 

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