♦Oneshot♦

(1488 words)

Romance, Kingdom!AU, Prince!Chanyeol, Commoner!Baekhyun

(unedited)

.•♦ A Royal Ball (The Making of a Royal Commoner) ♦•.

"Punch?" Someone suddenly offers, startling Baekhyun who had been lost deep in thought.

It has been so overwhelming to be here, in the palace, mingling with people way above his station, that Baekhyun keeps retreating into his mind to make it through the night without panicking.

He wasn't even sure why he was here. Who in their right mind would invite a poor farm boy to a royal ball?

But somehow, the invite had shown up early that morning, and here he was—dressed in one of his father's ancient formal outfits, feeling out of place, and completely inadequate.

He suddenly remembers someone had offered him a drink when a deep chuckle sounds in his ear.  His eyes go wide with recognition, and sure enough, he looks up and finds someone very unexpected... Chanyeol, the farm hand who had been working and living on his family's farm for the past few weeks.

No one had known where the tall boy had come from, but Baekhyun's father had shrugged it off and quickly welcomed the lad because of both his sturdy build, and his offer to work for mere room and board. And then as suddenly as he had appeared, Chanyeol had disappeared without a trace a few days ago.

"Chanyeol..." Baekhyun says in surprise. He looks up at the much taller man, drinking in the features he loves so much, but thought he would never see again.

Chanyeol smiles fondly and tries to offer the drink in his hand to Baekhyun again, but the smaller ignores it and instead rushes into his chest with a small cry.

Chanyeol's smile grows as he wraps his arms around Baekhyun and pulls him even closer into his embrace, trying to comfort the emotional boy.

"Hey, Puppy. Miss me?" he asks, a smirk playing out on his lips.

Chanyeol gets the reaction he wants when Baekhyun pushes out of his arms with a huff. "Yah, I'm not a puppy!"

It isn't until Baekhyun hits a laughing Chanyeol in the chest that he realises something is off. Instantly there are men dressed in bright red uniforms with long shiny swords strapped at their hips surrounding them, and glaring at Baekhyun like he had just committed a deadly sin. It is also then that Baekhyun looks around and sees that everyone within sight is staring at him in shock.

He gets his answer as to why when he turns back to Chanyeol and the taller is waving off the guards with the kind of nonchalance that only comes with years of experience. It's then that Baekhyun actually looks at Chanyeol, and for the first time sees his extravagant red clothes, and the silver Phoenix embroidered on the left side of his chest... a symbol that the whole nation knows and fears—the royal family's crest.

Baekhyun gasps in shock and tries to back away, but they have amassed such a crowd that he merely stumbles into someone and then bounces back towards Chanyeol... the Crown Prince.

He would be shaking in fear if