Everything was too flashy. The loud bass thumped around the club and the smell of alcohol reeked from everywhere. Jihoon’s nose crinkled at that.

He and his team were currently situated around the club for the safety of the prince. And, he was currently standing beside the table of the said man who was noisily clinking his glass with probably another member of the royal family – judging by the number of royal guards around them aside from his group. Jeon Wonwoo, if he was not mistaken.

His eyes scanned around the crowd, giving Jisoo from across the dance floor a curt nod before his eyes went back to staring at the prince. His eyebrows twitched when he noticed two girls slithering their way around the two men who actually had the audacity to flirt back. Oh my god, Jihoon tried to stop himself from puking right in the spot.

“Paging 034,” he lightly heard from his earpiece because of the noises around, “This is 048. Can you hear me?”

It was Jeonghan. “Yes, 048. What is it?

When Jihoon was busily talking to Jeonghan through the earpiece, Seungcheol gave him a withering look that was not went unnoticed by the man beside him. “What’s with the frown, man?”

“Nothing,” the prince sputtered out in hatred before downing a glass of tequila. “It’s just that the king replaced my protection squad with actual wimps. I hate it.”

The said man, Wonwoo, raised his eyebrows in confusion. “What are you talking about? It’s well-known in the palace that you’re given the best of the best, Seungcheol.”

“The best, my ,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes in irritation and turned to Wonwoo. “They’re not the usual, Wonwoo. I can’t even escape from the house now. All of them, especially that little one there, are always bugging me.”

Wonwoo tilted his head to where Seungcheol was pointing, “That’s the leader? He’s really little you know.” Seungcheol had to nod in agreement. “But, if he could stop you from escaping then he must be awesome? He’s quite cute too, man. I’d top that.”

“What the hell, man?” Seungcheol had to scrunch his nose in disdain. “Stop talking about every walking specie like that. And, I bet he’d probably chop you when he hears that. He’s a lot scarier than he looks.”

“Guess you’re already fond of them, eh?” Wonwoo cheekily said, slowly sipping on his glass of martini.

Before Seungcheol could retort back, one of the girls beside him that was wearing a shirt that barely covered her body and a skimpy skirt that actually showed more than hide, clung herself onto him and whined, “Come on, baby, stop those boring palace talks already. You barely go to the club now, I missed you.”

After being given by Wonwoo a mischievous wink, the prince then turned his attention to the girl with a smug smile, “Oh, babe. Did you really miss me? I’m sorry, father had been really hard on me.”

“Then,” the girl slurred, her deft fingers dancing on the man’s chest. “Want me to take the pressure away? You know, I can give a lot of things for you to forget that, Your Highness.”

Seungcheol smirked in anticipation and pulled the woman up who whined lightly, guiding her to the dance floor where the flickering lights and deafening sounds were.

When Jihoon finished listening to ’s report about an incident happening outside the club, his eyes immediately went back to Seungcheol. Whom, actually, was not in his seat anymore. Yet, before he could sprint away and search for him with his team, Wonwoo, who was with him a while back, pointed at the dance floor with a lazy smile on his lips.

Not bothering to thank him, he zeroed his eyes on the prince in the middle of the dance floor – being grinded by one of the girls seated beside him a while ago. He stopped himself from gawking at their display because this was the future king of South Korea they are talking about. The future king who was dancing with a woman feeling him up blatantly – many eyes watching them from the sidelines.

His gaze then went to Jisoo who was then shaking his head, silently telling him to not step up for this was not prohibited by the king. At that, he just sighed deeply and decided to stand on the side, watching them do some cringe-worthy stuffs. He guess he needed to wash his eyes later with an alcohol to forget such actions.

What he did not sign up for though, was him meeting Seungcheol’s eyes when the latter was being grinded down by somebody and making such tactless expression that was so unforgivable. He refrained himself from turning around and just walking out of the club right that instant. He just clenched his fists tightly because this will be finished soon, Jihoon. He’ll look away soon.

That did not happen though. For when he saw the girl’s hand going lower down his body and Seungcheol throwing his head back, his eyes still did not leave Jihoon’s. And, with a smirk, his lower lips when he noticed the agent following it.

“Jihoon,” he heard from his earpiece, taking note that it was from Seokmin, “Stop eye-ing Seungcheol, please. We’re on a mission leader, hello?”

He heard several snorts coming from his teammates.

Feeling his ears reddening, he hastily blubbered in defense and broke his staring game with Seungcheol, “I’m not eye-ing him! I’m actually doing my mission right when he decided to – oh my god, why am I even explaining? Just keep your eyes on him!”

“Jihoon,” he heard from Seokmin once again, noticing his rushed tone, “Seungcheol leaving the premise. At your 3 o’clock.”

Twisting his head at the direction the man said, he saw the familiar back of someone going to the club’s exit with hurried steps, his hands around the shoulder of a girl. .

Before he could move, he heard someone’s voice from beside him, “You need to move fast or else you’ll lose him.” It was Wonwoo.

“I actually know, thank you very much,” he spoke before quickly running towards the exit where Seungcheol just escaped to, the other member of his team trekking behind him. He was dead when they don’t find the prince on time.

“Seokmin, backdoor. Jisoo, around the entrance. Jeonghan, outdoors. Check the park nearby. Doyoon, go to the road leading downtown. Mingming, go to the road leading to the uptown of the city,” he panted, making his way towards the alleyway. “The driver said that he did not take the car. So, he still must be around. Find him, fast.”

Different series of yes sounded from his earpiece before he got to the entrance of the dimly lit alley. He squinted his eyes and tried to see if there was anyone around. A deep sound from somewhere nearby made him step forward. What he saw made his blood boil.

Seungcheol was finally found in an alleyway, where anyone could see him, deeply kissing and pinning the woman from the dancefloor on the wall. Before they could advance and do more though, Jihoon quickly made his way towards them and dragged the prince away from the shocked girl.

“What the –”

“What are you doing, Your Highness?”

“Lee Jihoon?” Seungcheol groaned from under his breath, his hand neatly patting his hair to hide his irritation. “Do you really need to be a er now?”

Raising his eyebrows at the girl staring at the both of them, he murmured in his chilling tone, “What are you still doing here? Get away from the prince or else, you’ll be hauled away from here.”

The girl immediately scrambled away, leaving Jihoon sending a withering glare at Seungcheol in the middle of the alleyway.

Not affected by the man’s stare, the prince huffed in anger, “She was supposed to be a good tonight, Lee! You just had to pop again from nowhere, huh? Good lord.”

“A good ?” Jihoon voiced out in disbelief. “You were only directed to stay in our sight inside the club. You weren’t supposed to go in other places, Your Highness. Don’t disobey the king.”

“Come on, Lee. Loosen up.”

“You’re impossible. Stop acting like a child,” the agent barked out in frustration. He pushed the button in his earpiece to tell the others he already found him when he felt a hand grasping his wrist and pushing him to the nearest wall roughly.

He was now directly face to face with the prince of South Korea himself, their noses barely touching and their lips only centimeters apart. He could even feel his breath hitting his cheeks – they’re not filming a romantic movie for god’s sake.

“What are you doing, Your Highness?” the small agent hissed under his breath and tried hard not to move.

Noticing the way the agent averted his eyes, Seungcheol grinned just to piss the former and said, “You told me to stop acting like a child. I’m doing so?”

“. This is still being a child. If you want to stop acting like one, follow your father’s ways. Start acting like the next king.”

It seemed like an ice cold water was poured onto the prince’s head as soon as Jihoon’s words left his lips. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, “Take that back. I’m not going to be the next king, you .”

Jihoon raised one of his eyebrows and jeered in mock disbelief, “Well, we’ve been informed that you are. So it up and let me go, Choi Seungcheol.”