He always left the bushes of roses to the end. He worked restlessly the whole morning under the sun, one part of the immense garden each day, pruning, taking out the rebel branches, making even the tiniest of the leaves look perfect, he enjoyed it all and he did all of this with delight, but there was a reason for Shinwoo to leave the roses to the end.

They were the most delicate flowers in the whole garden –and that was saying much, for the garden was extensive-, the most precious, so pretty that even with only looking at them you knew they were soft and caressing. One sudden touch and all their petals would fall. But the thing Shinwoo liked the most was that bright crimson colour. Before working in the palace, he didn’t see what was so attractive about that hue, but now he knew. Unwillingly, his gaze deviated from the bunch of lavenders he was working with to the great window that covered one of the walls of the castle. This was usually the time of the day when he made his appearance.

Prince Jinyoung walked down the stairs in a hurry, skipping one step or two as he did it, then he adjusted his coat so no one would know he was behaving in an improper way. He checked himself in the mirror, looking so tiny between its frames that he was almost invisible, but for Shinwoo, he completed the entire picture. He looked at the prince fixing his red bangs –oh, the roses were so precious now- and smiling flirtatiously at his own reflexion. Shinwoo found himself smiling, even if he was royalty, the boy was somehow amusing when he thought no one was looking, and that, Shinwoo loved.  He felt like he could look all day, but he had things to do, and he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if someone catch him staring.

He hurried with the lavenders. That day all he wanted to do was work with the roses.

***

He could see a face peering from the window, it was behind him on the reflection of the mirror. It was a face had never seen before, but he knew everyone in the palace, so that couldn’t be possible. Jinyoung faked fixing his bangs a little more so he could see the details of the face: it was rounded, kind, a boy wearing glasses and long hair. He was sure he’d never seen him before. When he turned around to leave he tried hard not to look in his direction, but he glanced from the corner of his eye anyway. The boy with glasses was bending over the lavender flowers, and he kind of looked dreamy.

“Jinyoung” his mother said when he entered the dining room. He hated how she said it, like he was some noble she had to do business with.

“Mother” he said as well, feeling a little self-conscious about his clothes. He never felt like he was dressed well enough in presence of his parents.

A maid came and served him tea and juice, and refilled his mother’s cup. The place at the table that his father was supposed to be in was empty as almost every morning. The man had breakfast earlier than anyone, and was always locked in his office, so Jinyoung hardly saw him at all.

“What are you thinking about?” her mother asked curious “Your eyes are wondering”

He wasn’t thinking about anything in particular. Just about that boy, maybe.

“Who’s the boy who’s working in the garden?” he decided there was no harm in asking “I’ve never seen him before”

“He’s the gardener, sweetheart” the Queen said as it was the most obvious thing.

“But we already have a gardener, the old Mr. Shin”

“He passed away two weeks ago”

Jinyoung almost dropped his cup. How come no one told him that? How come his mother seemed so unaffected by it?

“Mr. Shin passed away? Our gardener? But he’s been working here since dad was a kid”

“That’s probably why he passed away” the woman said, uninterested. “He was old, honey, it was going to happen one day or another”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me this? Why am I the last one to know?”

“I didn’t want to bother you with such petty things. We solved the issue immediately, because, luckily Mr. Shin had a son, so we didn’t have to look much”

Jinyoung’s gaze hardened. He sometimes couldn’t understand his mother, or how his father could marry such a woman.

“That boy is his son? And he’s working here after just two weeks of his father’s death?”

“The grass was growing fast, and people die all the time. Like I told you, it was going to happen one day or the other”

The prince stood up, irrationally furious. He didn’t care if his mother thought it was not big deal, he could easily guess no one had given the kid any condolences and he felt like he owe the son of such a great man at least that. He had manners. And most important, he had a heart.

He found the gardener boy kneeling down beside a bush, fighting with some tangled branches. His clothes were thin but he was sweating for being directly exposed to the sunlight and the heat, his shoulder blades showed trough the fabric. Jinyoung didn’t even know why he was paying attention to those things.

He wasn’t sure about how to approach him. He had this thing in which he never knew what to say when someone was sad.

“Shin-ssi” was all out that came out from his mouth. The boy looked up and opened his eyes in big recognition, he stood up in a hurry and made a deep bow, embarrassed from looking at his majesty directly in the eyes.

“Your majesty” he said, still bend down “I’m at your orders”

That majesty thing… it always made Jinyoung felt uncomfortable. He got it, he had power, and money and land and lived in a castle, but he wasn’t any different from other people. He was just Jinyoung.

“Please leave that alone” he asked, but it came out as an order “Call me Jinyoung”

“But, Your majesty… I could never… I’m just” he babbled.

“I insist. And please stand up so we can have a proper chat”

Shinwoo stood straight, very careful of not looking at him in the eyes “Jinyoung, sir”

Jinyoung sighed, at least it was something. “You’re the son of Mr. Shin? The royal gardener?”

“Yes sir, he was my father and taught me everything that he knew, your garden is in good hands.”

“I’m not in the least worried about the garden” he said, and slowly put a hand on the gardener’s shoulder, the long-haired boy body tensed all at once “I just wanted to give you my condolences, Shin-ssi. Your father was a great man and he did well all his life, I’m terribly sorry for your lost and I beg you forgive my mother for forcing you to work when you’re still mourning him.”

“Sir” Shinwoo was astonished “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you, and I’m certain they must all be true, but I never thought of such a kind heart. My father would be honoured.”

Jinyoung smiled to himself, at least he made the boy felt a little better.

“I still don’t know your name” the prince said, not wanting to leave just yet.

“It’s Shinwoo, not so much of a name but…”

“I like it” Jinyoung said a little too fast “It has personality”

“Thank you, sir”

“Call me Jinyoung, Shinwoo-ssi” he asked again “everyone does”

“Okay, Jinyoung” he felt his insides burning.

***

One would think that being a Prince is a lot of fun and nice clothes and good food and even better games and horses. And it is, sometimes, but most of the time is just studying the most useless facts of the world, like politics and maps and economics and stuff that no one really cares about. “But you have to care” Jinyoung kept telling himself over and over as he watched the clock in the library wall, it didn’t move “You have to care if you want to be a good King for your people” But he couldn’t really help being careless. He cared about the kingdom and he cared about the people and he wanted to make a lot of things better, but there were other people who could take care of maps, that was for sure.

He was trying to focus back on his book when he heard a voice humming a song. It was soft and nice and it came from the window. Maybe that particular day wasn’t meant for studying. He sneaked out of the desk –his teacher was peacefully asleep on the other side- and went to the window, where the sound of the voice was stronger. He was overly surprised when he looked down and saw Shinwoo, working diligently on the roses as he sang, thinking no one could hear him. He looked at him for a while, and he felt a little bad for spying but not too much, there was something soothing about the gardener that he wanted to keep for himself. He was glad he couldn’t see him, or he would’ve probably stopped singing. His teacher coughed in his sleep, it was probably time to come back to the books.

***

The sun was yet to rise and Jinyoung was already wide awake. It was one of those nights where his bed seemed immense –not that it wasn’t, but it didn’t always feel that big- and his bedroom seemed empty. One of the disadvantages of being royalty, and an only child, was having no one to talk to. He didn’t have the chance to make friends because there was no one around his age, and he almost never left the palace. Maybe that was the reason he couldn’t stop thinking about Shinwoo. He looked about his age, maybe a little older, and he seemed nice and quiet and someone who would listen. Maybe he felt alone too.

He had this stupid idea running in circles inside his head the whole morning. He tried to shut his mind off but somehow his impulses kept rising to the top. He knew his mother and father noticed something was going on, but they said nothing –they almost never said a thing-, and so he kept thinking about it until he couldn’t hold it in, and he had to actually do it.

Jinyoung guessed that he probably looked like an idiot to anyone who could pass by him, but no one ever walked in that part of the garden. Anyway, he felt a little silly sitting next to the roses, trying to disguise himself hiding his face between his knees. He just didn’t want anyone to know it was him if they saw him, maybe he was a little vain. He heard him before he could see him; Shinwoo was coming down his way, carrying a bucket with all his gardening tools, looking happy and chill.

Jinyoung uncovered his face and looked at him, smiling. “Shinwoo”

“Si- Jinyoung. What are you doing here?” he was failing at containing his excitement.

“Sit with me, would you?” Jinyoung said instead, and patted the floor by his side.

Shinwoo sat down, feeling more nervous than any other time in his short life. He was so tense that he could feel his muscles contracting.

“Do you want to be my friend?” Jinyoung asked after a while of them being quiet.

“Excuse me?” maybe he heard wrong.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you that, I probably made you uncomfortable” Jinyoung said, standing up, God how could he be so stupid? That’s not how you’re supposed to make friends.

Shinwoo took his hand

“I want to”

Jinyoung looked at their hands and then Shinwoo did and let go of it immediately, profusely embarrassed. The Prince took his back.

“Perfect”

The time passed and it was sunset before they knew. Shinwoo was just as Jinyoung imagined he would be, he listened, and he had the sweetest smile and he had great advice. He felt so at peace with him, it didn’t even matter that they just met the day before. It was instantly like they were long life friends.

Only that friends doesn’t notice things like how broad the other’s shoulders are. Or how cute the glasses make his face look. Friends don’t stare that much at each other’s lips. It made sense now how he had never liked any of the princesses he had met. They were nice but they were not… they were not Shinwoo.

Jinyoung went through all their conversation over and over in his head, and each time he would fall a little more for the gardener. How he looked so sleepy like he was almost dreaming, how he seemed so relaxed, how he spoke so softly at him all the time. It was a nightmare. Shinwoo probably thought he was just a needy kid with no friends. Which he was.

The walk back home was cold and lonely. It didn’t even mattered that he lived really near the castle and that the town bars and restaurants were still open, he felt like his despair was palpable. He, a poor gardener, was in love with the finest of the princes. It was unbelievable.  He knew he liked him when he started obsessing over the colour of the roses, but he could handle that, looking at him through the window when he wasn’t looking was more than enough. But now that the prince insisted on being friends the thing was pure hell. Not that he wasn’t grateful. He just didn’t think he could hide it for much longer.

***

Days passed and there wasn’t even one afternoon that Jinyoung didn’t appear sitting next to the roses bushes, Shinwoo could see him from far away, the colour of his hair was even brighter than all the flowers together, or maybe it was his smile. It didn’t matter, whatever it was, it made Shinwoo unable to stop looking in his direction.  He started feeling easier in his presence, almost forgetting the huge difference between them, almost thinking they were equal. Jinyoung treated him with so much familiarity, he could easily forget he was just a gardener.

One evening it took longer for Shinwoo to finish with his duties, the Queen wanted shaped bushes, a ball was coming and they were receiving a multitude of people. Important people. The garden needed to rise to the occasion. The sun was almost setting when he was finally over –why did he had to arrange all the bushes in a single day?- and he rushed over to where the roses were, only to find Jinyoung laying on the grass, asleep.

Shinwoo felt his heart melting inside his chest. He looked so innocent, he supposed he must be tired too, for studying so much, but he stayed there waiting for him anyway. Luckily no one was watching, because he was sure his eyes were in a heart shape by now. Slowly, he sat next to the Prince and put his head on his lap. He didn’t want to wake him up, and he tried to refrain himself, but his fingers found a way through the royal hair anyway.

“You’re so pretty, Jinyoung” he said softly “you’re the most precious thing that ever happened to me. I wish you could love me the way I do”

Jinyoung heart stopped. He’d been awake for a while now, shamelessly enjoying the caressing without the commitment of feeling utterly embarrassed about it. He must have been dreaming, there was no way in this world that Shinwoo liked him. The same way he liked him. There was no way.

He felt brave for a fraction of a second, but it was enough time to do what he had to do.

“Say it again” he said, almost whispering. He didn’t want to open his eyes, if this was a dream, make it last.

Shinwoo immediately stopped touching his head, Jinyoung could barely feel him breathing.

“Say it again, if you mean it” Jinyoung dared.

The gardener felt nauseated. Terrified. How could he dare to say such things in His presence?

He gulped. Words stuck in his throat. The throat itself burning. “I’m… I’m fond of you, your Majesty” he let go, and then he hurried “please forgive me, I should’ve never dared to think such things, I’m so ashamed of my behaviour, I…”

Jinyoung sat straight, and Shinwoo made the attempt of standing up right away, but Jinyoung hold his hand, pulling him down “Sit with me”

Shinwoo knew he was bigger, taller, probably a lot stronger than the Prince, but in that moment, he felt as insignificant as the lamest of the bugs. He felt tiny and transparent.

Jinyoung never felt so relieved in his life. His insomniac nights thinking about Shinwoo weren’t a fantasy. Or they weren’t going to be anymore. If only his boy didn’t look so absolutely terrified…

“I’m fond of you, too” he said. Shinwoo didn’t even get to process the information when he was all over him, holding his cheek with his hand, looking him deeply in the eyes.

Jinyoung kissed him.

The weight from Shinwoo’s shoulder disappeared. He kissed the prince back.

There was something about kissing under the moonlight that made everything even more magical, but they were barely noticing that, their minds were only with the other. A kiss developing gently on the lips of two boys brave enough to make things happen.

Shinwoo pushed Jinyoung’s head towards him, deepening the kiss, making it more passionate. There was no rush, their lips, their tongues, all perfectly synchronized, like they had kissed each other a thousand times before. He never wanted it to end.

“I’m so fond of you” Jinyoung told him, his lips almost touching his. So close that he could feel the warmth of his breath “I’m so fond of you that I was going crazy”

Shinwoo kissed him one more time, and put him back down in the grass. He laid by his side. The anonymity of the night covering their bodies as they loved each other in the deepest of the ways.