Taemin woke up the next morning even more giddy than the day before, which he didn’t even think was possible. He had to keep himself from completely sprinting to the kitchen, fully expecting Jonghyun to already be there and have coffee prepared for them both, but when he arrived, he found the kitchen empty. Jonghyun couldn’t have gone to Taemin’s room to deliver breakfast like he did before without running into Taemin on the way there, so needless to say, Taemin was pretty surprised. He shrugged, figuring maybe Jonghyun had slept in for once, and started the coffee machine on his own.

Taemin waited in the kitchen long after he had finished his coffee, only leaving once there was just enough time for him to get ready for school. He had hoped Jonghyun would’ve shown up sooner or later, but to Taemin’s dismay, he was alone the entire morning.

The two didn’t meet until Taemin slid into the passenger's side of the limo, Jonghyun already sitting at the wheel and ready to go.

“Where were you this morning?” Taemin asked as he buckled himself in.

Jonghyun’s fingers twitched on the steering wheel. “Um, Taemin, I kind of want to ask you something.” He said, eyes not leaving the road.

“Is something wrong?” Taemin squirmed in his seat; why wasn’t Jonghyun looking at him? The car wasn’t even moving yet!

Jonghyun snapped his head towards Taemin for a quick second before focusing on the road again. “What?! No, no, nothing’s wrong, it’s just…” He worried his bottom lip as he thought. “We’ve been hanging out basically every day this week, and I actually have to Skype my family today. We all follow a schedule so that we’re all free at the same time, and I just don’t want you to be disappointed or anything…”

Taemin tried to let out a laugh, but it ended up sounding cold, even to his own ears. “You were upset about that? Dude, just talk to your family, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Jonghyun finally, finally, met Taemin’s eyes and he swore his heart skipped a beat. “Really?”

“‘Course. I can’t believe you were even worried about that.” The limo shook as the engine came to life and Jonghyun pushed on the gas.

“Yeah, guess I was just being paranoid.” Jonghyun mumbled, turning the car onto the street.

“It’s not a problem.” Taemin smiled, although Jonghyun wouldn’t even look at him for a second to see it. “Besides, I have some homework I need to catch up on.”

Taemin didn’t have any homework. Who even gives seniors homework? It’s not like anyone would do them, anyway.

He pushed himself off his bed, bare feet meeting the cold wood floor. Laying down on your back and counting ceiling tiles is not exactly the most fun past time. He thought about inviting Minho over, but with his luck, he was probably already in the mansion, preoccupied with...something else. Taemin shivered at the thought. He could ask to hang out with his friends from the dance studio, but they were most likely practicing for regionals.

Eventually he just decided, screw it, he’ll go see if Minho’s here. If he is, then he might be ed, but he also might not be ed. If he isn’t there, then Taemin will just have to accept his fate of utter boredom.

Taemin knocked on the door to Kibum’s room, which he luckily still remembered the number of. Kibum’s unmistakable voice called out a second later, “Who are you and what do you want?”

“It’s Taemin.” He rolled his eyes. “Are you decent?” Taemin asked, remembering how he was traumatized last time he visited Kibum’s room.

“We’re more than decent, we’re GORGEOUS.” Kibum laughed. He said ‘we’. Taemin thought. ‘We’ a good sign. Taemin opened the door and was met by Kibum and Minho wrapped under the covers of the bed and watching a movie on Minho’s laptop. Well, at least they’re not ing.

“Hey Tae.” Minho greeted, before placing his head onto Kibum’s shoulder.

“I asked you two questions at the door and you only answered one. What do you want?” Kibum scowled at Taemin, face illuminated by the laptop screen.

“I was wondering if Minho-hyung was here.” Taemin said.

“He’s not, you can go now.” Kibum answered. Minho snickered and playfully tapped his chest.

Taemin crossed his arms. “Right. I’m so sorry to interrupt you in the middle of,” he leaned down so he could see what movie they were watching, “ing High School Musical 2, I was just hoping to have some actual human contact with my best friend.”

“You can join us if you want.” Minho said absentmindedly, glued to the screen.

“I’m not interested in being a third wheel, but thanks.”

“Who said anything about being a third wheel?” Kibum piped up. He made a grand gesture to the empty space next to him. “Ménage à trois?” Taemin could literally feel the bile rising up his throat.

“Dude, stop it, you’re going to corrupt him!” Minho scolded Kibum before laughing into his neck.

“Excuse me?!” Taemin’s eyes bulged out of his head.

“Baby Taeminnie hasn’t even had his first kiss yet and you’re over here suggesting a …” Minho tsked, shaking his head.

Taemin’s face started burning up. “First of all, I’m not some innocent baby so stop acting like I am one. Second of all, I have had my first kiss, so shut the hell up.”

It was Minho’s turn to be shocked. “You had your first kiss and you didn’t tell me?!”

“How could I when you’re over here getting ed by Mcpants?” Taemin scoffed.

“He’s got a point.” Kibum mused and paused the movie. “I hope you’re planning on telling us who it was with, otherwise my limited French will be the least of your worries.” He shot daggers across the room, eyes hungry for some juicy gossip.

“W-well…” Taemin was glad there wasn’t any lights on right now or Kibum would definitely be making fun of how red his face is. “I-it was with Jonghyun-hyung, of course…”

The silence in the room was so thick you could almost feel it. Kibum’s face pulled into a mixture of confusion and disgust. “What the ?”

“I-I thought that Jonghyun-hyung would’ve told you we were dating.” Taemin looked at the ground.

“No he didn’t ing tell me, we got into a fight the other day and…” Kibum let out a sharp exhale. “Why are you even dating him? You know it can never work out”

Taemin flinched. “Why would you say that?”

Kibum’s expression changed from exasperation to one shock and...pity? He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as he tried to find the words to say. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Taemin replied, legs starting to shake. Minho kept looking worriedly between his best friend and boyfriend.

Kibum ran his hand through his hair. “, it’s not my place to say. I’m sorry.” Taemin was taken aback by how genuinely apologetic Kibum looked. “You’ll have to talk about it with him.”

“You can’t just say like that and not tell me what’s wrong.” Taemin’s voice quivered; he was probably on the verge of a panic attack, but he didn’t really care. “Is Jonghyun-hyung okay?”

“He’s fine Taemin, I swear, but this is between you and him. I’m sorry, but I just can’t tell you.” He sighed and unpaused the movie. “It’s personal.”

Taemin slammed the door on his way out.

Hoping the fresh air would help calm him down, Taemin decided to go to the mansion’s garden. It didn’t. He kept pacing around, not really caring where he was going, and biting his thumb nail. Who the just tells someone they can’t be with their boyfriend and then not say why?! The worst part is, he couldn’t even ask Jonghyun what Kibum was worried about because he was talking to his family.

There was also the matter of whether or not Kibum was just messing with Taemin again, but he was reluctant to believe that because of how genuine Kibum had seemed. Besides, he wouldn’t take a joke that far.

...would he?

Taemin was so preoccupied with his thoughts he didn’t even realize he was a foot away from colliding into Jinki.

Jinki almost dropped his watering can in shock as his nephew was suddenly looming over him. “You frightened me, Taemin-ah!” He breathed, clutching his hand over his chest.

The prince blinked his eyes a few times as he was brought back to reality. “Oh. Sorry, Uncle.”

Jinki furrowed his eyebrows as he stood up from where he was watering his flowers. “Everything alright? You seem a bit...engrossed in your thoughts.”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine, thanks for asking.” Taemin said through clenched teeth.

Jinki hummed in consideration before handing the watering can to Taemin. “Why don’t you help me garden? I’ve been wanting to spend more time with you.”

Not even having the mental energy to argue, Taemin trudged along his uncle, his thoughts going by too fast for him to fully register what Jinki was saying to him. At first Jinki let Taemin water the plants himself, but quickly confiscated the can after Taemin nearly drowned his hydrangeas.

After a full five minutes of silence, Jinki raised his eyebrow at Taemin, who was staring at nothing in particular. Sighing, Jinki put down the watering can and faced his nephew. “Taemin, even though we’re not as close as I would hope, I can tell that something is on your mind. You are always welcome to confide in me.”

Taemin looked off to the side, a twinge of guilt wracking at his brain as he thought about how rude he must have come across as. He worried his bottom lip, knowing that Jinki just wanted to help, but he wasn’t sure what he could do…

“There is something bothering me, you’re right.” Taemin said, stating the obvious. “But I mean…” He let out a puff of air in frustration. “I don’t really think it’s something you can help with.”

“And why not?” Jinki asked, tilting his head.

“It’s...um…” Taemin bit some the skin off his lips. He didn’t really want to tell his uncle he was dating Jonghyun, because first of all, it wasn’t exactly his business. Second of all, what if he reacted the same way Kibum did? What if something really was wrong with Jonghyun?

So instead, he asked a more neutral question. “Have you ever been in love?”

, that wasn’t neutral. That was borderline invasive.

Jinki’s jaw dropped a bit before he regained his composure, straightening his back, “Yes, I have.”

“Wait, really?” Taemin asked and mentally slapped himself. Now it was definitely invasive.

Jinki smiled, which made Taemin feel a little less guilty about being a rude creep. “I did used to have a life too, you know.” Taemin probably would’ve laughed if he wasn’t so upset.

“Would you mind, uh...telling me a bit about that?” Taemin said, scratching the back of his head. Maybe advice from a semi-old person could help his predicament, especially since they were kind of in the same shoes, being royalty and all.

Jinki sighed, but he didn’t seem angry at Taemin. “I suppose.” He gave his nephew a small smile and then got lost in thought.

“When I was about your age I decided I wanted to attend university. I didn’t need to, obviously, but I wanted to have a more expansive knowledge on music, and the tutors available in Aelynn were not quite what I was looking for. I wanted to be around other people my age who shared the same passion as I did, and let’s just say the professors I was given were old enough to know Mozart himself. So, I moved to America and attended Berklee College of Music. I made a lot of friends, and I made even more mistakes,” He blinked for a moment before clasping his hands together, “but that’s not what you want to hear about, correct?” Taemin nodded sheepishly.

“There were a lot of interesting types in the music program at my school, but none of them stood out to me as much as she did. Think of the most talented person you know and increase it tenfold. Think of the most beautiful person you know and increase it a hundredfold. She was caring almost to a fault, always putting others before her, even if it they didn’t deserve it, or it caused her to develop problems of her own. Her name was Robin.

“Oddly enough, she ended up asking me out first. Not really sure why. I’ll never understand what she saw in me.” Jinki looked away sadly before continuing. “It didn’t take me very long to realize I was in love with her. I would have spent my whole life with her if I could have. But one day, while we were curled up on the couch watching some pointless movie I don’t remember the name of, she asked if we could get married. And I had to tell her I couldn’t. She tried to hide her disappointment, but I knew how she really felt.” He made a vague gesture with his hands. “Something...changed between us that day. We never brought it up again, but I could tell it was always at the back of her mind. And that’s when I realized I could never give her what she truly wanted. I could never make her happy. And she’d be better off with someone else.

“I broke up with her the day my brother died. Since he was gone, it was my duty now to run the country. I had to drop out of college, say goodbye to all the friends I made, and say goodbye to her. But I think me moving back to Aellyn was the best thing that could’ve happened for us. She could now find someone who can give her everything she wants, and I am fulfilling my duties.” He sniffed a bit and his eyes glazed over. “Yes. It’s better this way.”

Taemin stood stone-still as he contemplated what he should do. He thought he should comfort his uncle, but that was way out of his comfort zone and he didn’t even know how to go about it. Besides, there was still something about the story that was bothering him.

“I don’t understand.” Taemin said, causing Jinki to tilt his head to the side. “Why couldn’t you marry her? Didn’t you want to?”

Jinki looked taken aback, but not offended. “Of course I wanted to. More than anything.” He turned back to his lavender tree and watered the base. “I’m surprised Jonghyun never went over this in his lessons with you.” Taemin flinched at the sound of Jonghyun’s name.

“In Aellyn, royals are forbidden from marrying people who do not also hold a title of nobility.”