In a not so far away mystical kingdom in the valley of the Great Mountain Range, Baekhyun, renowned fox prince, was preparing for his grand sixteenth birthday party. In under twenty-four hours, the streets would be lined up with carts filled with dukes, princes, princesses, kings, and queens from every corner of the world to shower him with gifts and words of praise. During the time of waiting, Baekhyun was prohibited from leaving the castle, as not to ruin the excitement of the town, which had been talking nonstop about this day weeks before. Sixteen is a very important number for foxes of royalty. It marks the time when they cease to grow older the day they become immortal. 

Baekhyun bounded around the castle, just as excited as everyone else. In fox form, he would hang on tapestries, sit on window ledges, and cling onto servant’s legs as they walked by. Occasionally he would knock into a servant holding glass plates, and would shift just in time to assist in keeping the stack upright. By midday, the servants were all grumbling about how much of a nuisance the prince was being, even more so before the Big Day. But Baekhyun paid no mind. He was ecstatic and full of endless energy. While being fitted for a hanbok, he was unable to sit still. Whenever the tailor took the measuring tape down, Baekhyun would shift into a fox and race around the room until he was out of breath -- he was lucky the tailor had such patience. 

When fitting was finished, it was to the throne room to choose food platters and decoration. This was Baekhyun’s favorite part. He swished his tail enthusiastically as the first group of servants carted in a tropical fruit platter. He jumped from his seat and ran over to it, picking a pineapple from around a watermelon carved into a flower. Then he tried the apples and the oranges and plucked a watermelon petal. He smacked his lips and the fruit juice from his fingers. He nodded and gave a thumbs up. After the fruit came the main dishes. One platter had a whole roasted pig on a bed of salad; another had a display of an assortment of fish; the third had slices of meat covered in a teriyaki glaze. Baekhyun’s mouth watered as he went up to each. He chose the assortment of fish. Next came the decorations. As usual, they were a pale blue with accents of black and white, his favorite colors. 

Finally, after sitting in the throne room for hours on end, Baekhyun was free to continue causing a ruckus in the castle. When he stepped out, though, he was greeted by his father’s frowning face. 

“Baekhyun, I told you to take those crude drawings from the walls in your hallway and toss them, did I not? They’re unsightly and we’re having guests tomorrow for you.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to throw them away, dad. They’re special to me, you know. It’s like you keeping things from mom, especially paintings of her, when she’s long gone.” A smack resonated throughout the halls and Baekhyun held his stinging cheek. “What the dad?”

“For one, that foul mouth of yours has to go. Second, you are not to talk about your mother like that.” his father fumed. His brown eyes turned a dangerous shade of red and his pupils became slits and Baekhyun could see tips of his father’s white canines pressing on his bottom lip. By now, Baekhyun should have realized that angering his father more would only mean unhappiness, but he, too, was up in arms about his possessions. There was no backing down now. Baekhyun elongated his canines and drew his lips back into a snarl.

“Mom was a . She cheated on you and left you after taking part of our fortune! Why do you insist on defending her?” he said. He knew he was poking a beehive. He knew he was dead meat. He knew he probably wouldn’t see the next day, but he did anyway. “The only thing she did for you was give birth to me and Sehun.”

At that moment, a small boy toddled into the hall in a diaper and a baby blue shirt. He had a small, white tail and ears too big for his head. He waddled over to Baekhyun and gripped his tail. Baekhyun turned around and lifted up his younger brother, glaring at his father. When the boy saw his father’s red eyes and bared fangs, he began to cry and dug his face into Baekhyun’s chest.

“Daddy is scary! Sehunnie is scared!” the boy whined.

Baekhyun rubbed Sehun’s back and shushed him, placing a kiss on his forehead. “You’ll be alright. Dad is just yelling for no reason.” He ignored his father’s softer expression, eyes becoming brown again, and walked past his father to the kitchen. Sehun cried into Baekhyun’s shirt, creating two wet spots. It was always when Baekhyun and his father were fighting that Sehun just had to walk in and start crying, though Baekhyun was thankful. He didn’t have to deal with his father’s stupidity any longer and would always get ice cream after because it calmed Sehun down and naturally the cooks offered him some too. So when he walked through the double doors into the kitchen, the head cook — a burly man — greeted him with a smile and knowing look. The cook went over to the freezer and dished two bowls of chocolate ice cream; Sehun’s favorite.

After hanging out in the kitchen, talking with the cook, and eating more, the sky outside had become dark. The moon rose high in the sky, and it was past Sehun’s bed time. The brothers bid the cook goodnight and Baekhyun led Sehun out of the kitchen and through the dark halls of the palace. A few oil lamps were lit as they went, but most of the light came from the moon shining through the windows. As they passed through the light, Sehun’s eyes flashed a brilliant blue before browning again. Baekhyun’s baby brother had inherited arctic fox genes from his mother, but Baekhyun had the genes from his father — the red fox. Sehun was porcelain doll pale, Baekhyun had a slight red tinge to his skin. Baekhyun smiled. His brother had eyes to be envious of, he thought as he opened the door to Sehun’s bedroom. Baekhyun laid his already sleeping brother onto his grand bed and pulled the covers up to his neck. He placed a gentle kiss on each of Sehun’s cheek. Then he left the room, closing the door carefully behind him. On his way to his own room, he passed his father’s room and scowled. He couldn’t stand his father any longer. Nearly sixteen years of the constant fighting over the pettiest things was enough. He was sick and tired of it. When he turned sixteen, he would start planning his escape from the damned place. To a place where he could do whatever he wanted without being scolded; where he wouldn’t have constant arguments. As Baekhyun lay in his bed these thoughts swam around, but sleep overtook him before he decided on anything.

Early in the morning, Baekhyun was woken by two little hands patting his cheeks. He opened his eyes to find Sehun sitting next to his head with a bright expression dressed in a pale blue hanbok with white accents. He laughed and picked his brother up above his head. The young fox’s tail tickled his nose, causing him to sneeze. Sehun giggled and tried to reach for Baekhyun’s nose, but his arms were much too short.

“Sehun! It’s really early, you know. The sun is only halfway up!” Baekhyun playfully scolded.

Sehun smiled. “It’s Baekkie’s birthday! It’s Baekkie’s birthday!”

“You’re right, little one. Then why don’t you let me get dressed and then we’ll go down, ok?” Baekhyun sat up and placed Sehun onto the ground. 

“Okay!” Sehun gave a thumbs up and waited patiently for Baekhyun to get dressed in the hanbok that had appeared in his room during the night. It was a sheer black with blue accents; the opposite of Sehun’s. When he finished dressing himself, he took Sehun by the hand and peeked out his bedroom window. Down below the road up to the palace was filled with people watching in awe as as the elaborately decorated carts pulled by only the strongest of horses passed, parting the crowd. Baekhyun smiled and with Sehun, they shifted into foxes and raced down the hallway. On the way down the stairs, Sehun tripped, pushing Baekhyun down too, and they fell at the bottom with a poof. They had shifted back, and Sehun lay giggling on Baekhyun’s stomach. However, the playfulness was cut short when their father descended the stairs. Baekhyun scrambled to stand up and fix his hanbok, staring his father right in the eyes.

“Happy birthday, Baekhyun.” his father said. His voice was cold. Baekhyun said nothing and grit his teeth. “Go to the throne room. The Duke of the neighboring kingdom has come.” Baekhyun took Sehun’s hand and followed his father to the throne room. As he stepped through the doors, he saw a man dressed in lavish robes holding a gold box tied with a red ribbon. He set Sehun on his throne before sitting in his own.

“The prince is ready to receive.” a servant said, and bowed as the Duke walked past. Neither the Duke or Baekhyun spoke as the gift was passed, as usual. Upon opening the box, Baekhyun found a gold bracelet. It was not like he had a collection of them in his room. He politely thanked the Duke and waited for the next person. And the next. And the next. For hours, Baekhyun received gifts that held no importance to him, or were interesting. He had received almost everything that existed and could be given. When the doors were finally closed off to any more royalty, a servant stepped from the side and handed Baekhyun a bouquet of blue carnations.

“This, sir, is a gift from an unknown sender. They were found in a box this morning with your name.” The servant bowed and stood back in his place. Baekhyun frowned and put the carnations to his nose. They smelled wonderful and slightly of grass. The bouquet must have been freshly picked. 

“Let Sehunnie smell!” Sehun said, grabbing for the flowers. Baekhyun put them under Sehun’s nose and the young fox took a huge whiff. “Yummy!” he exclaimed. Baekhyun smiled and ordered for them to be put in a vase and displayed in his room.

For the rest of the day, he couldn’t keep his mind off of the carnations. When he walked the streets to greet the towns people, he was in a daze. On autopilot, he waved and smiled as they threw more flowers to him, but he didn’t care. He wanted to get back to the flowers. There was a strange draw to them. It wasn’t just the white and blue of them. He felt a strange connection to them., One that made his heart skip a beat. Upon returning to the palace, he walked the hallways aimlessly and when he reached his door, he saw that the pictures his father wanted taken down were gone. Baekhyun fumed. He his heel and to his father who was watching as the servants prepared the dining hall.

“Dad, where are the pictures?” he asked.

“I had a servant take them down.”

“You know how much those mean to me! Why the would you even think of doing such a thing? What if I took pictures of mom and —”

“Pictures you drew with a peasant boy cannot be compared to the photographs of your mom. I should have had them thrown out ages ago. They’ll be used to kindling for tonight’s fire.” His father crossed his arms.

“I hate you, dad. I hate you so much. What is your problem?” Baekhyun said, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He stomped out of the dining hall and slammed the door shut and ran up to his room. What a terrible birthday. It felt as though part of him was ripped away and destroyed. Until dinner, Baekhyun sat sulking in his room. During this time Sehun walked in with a wad of crumpled papers.

“Baekkie! Baekkie! Look what I found!” Sehun held up the papers and Baekhyun took them with a forced smile. “Open them! Sehunnie wants Baekkie to open them!” Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows and began to unfold the papers and flattened them out. He gasped and smiled. They were the drawings.

A/N: Sorry it's kind of short! Please give feedback and subscribe.