Twigs snapped and leaves crunched as Hyungwon hiked his way across a familiar forest path. He was back in Gwangju, walking along the dirt path behind his summer home. Cheerful laughter carried through the trees, making it certain to him that the was a dream. A dream he’d had countless times before- one he both hated and loved.

Hyungwon knew he was stuck the moment he saw this scenery. Regardless if he wanted to or not, the prince would always search for the source of that laughter. Sometimes he’d find it. Sometimes he wouldn’t.

Today it seemed he was lucky, finding a bright red scarf peeking through the brush.

The prince stealthily approached. Yet no matter how quiet he’d been, the boy wearing the scarf would always manage to run away. Like every time before, Hyungwon ceaselessly chased after the boy.

Truth be told, the prince knew this wasn’t some random dream. By now, he’d studied it multiple times and came back to the same conclusion - this was his inner desire, his deepest wish.

Years ago, the boy he chased had saved his life and disappeared. The prince had tried his best to find him for many years with zero results. It infuriated Hyungwon that he could remember everything, every little detail, except for the boy’s face.

As the wind blew, the ends of the scarf swept across Hyungwon’s face. This was the closest the prince had been to the boy since he started having this dream. The prince reached out, knowing a moment like this could be shattered in an instant.

His hand was on the boy’s shoulder and his heart was in his throat as he saw the boy slowly start to turn his head.

Hyungwon held his breath expectantly. Would this finally be the moment he’d see his face?

Suddenly, a loud thud shook his whole world and the image before him began to fade. As it all disappeared, slowly encroaching on itself, Hyungwon made out a pair of pale pink lips smiling at him.

The frog prince felt extremely annoyed when the first thing he saw when he woke up was Changkyun’s face ten centimeters from him, separated only by the glass of his jar.

“Wake up, sleepy. It’s time to get to work.” Changkyun’s words were muffled but Hyungwon heard him well enough.

Once he’d confirmed the frog was awake, Changkyun went back to his notebook.

Hyungwon cursed under his breath, whispering a silent, “I hate you,” at the sight of the wizard’s bowed head.

“What was that?” Changkyun asked, paying more attention to whatever was on his desk than to Hyungwon.

“Nothing,” the frog muttered as he hopped out of his jar. Hyungwon had come to learn that even if he was annoyed or tired, it was in his best interest to not provoke a wizard.

“What do we have here?” Hyungwon eyed the sheet which Changkyun was intently studying.

The boy threw out a hand over the page before Hyungwon could make out the words. “I wrote down all the possible topics I could discuss with Wonho-hyung that would distract him long enough to keep his attention from Minhyuk-hyung,” the boy explained as he folded up the paper.

Hiding the part of him which was curious about what the paper might contain, Hyungwon sneered, “You’re such a nerd.”

“I try,” Changkyun retorted dryly before continuing. “Now, do you remember where I told you Minhyuk-hyung would be?”

Of course, the wizard would turn this on him. He always had a way to flip the conversation. The frog prince sighed, thinking how it was odd that another prince would have to hide in his own castle, skirting around his subjects. Changkyun hadn’t told him the whole reasoning behind it all, but he’d made it clear that the prince was hiding for a reason. Hyungwon had learned to just accept it.

“For millionth time, yes. Now can we go,” the frog grumbled as the boy unfolded the paper and scanned it again.

“Hold on. Let me just recheck one last thing-."

Hyungwon cut him off, hopping onto his hand and looking up at him. “I’m getting the feeling that you’re never going to finish your ‘recheck’, so let’s just go.”

“I still can’t believe you agreed,” Changkyun shook his head, frowning and furrowing his brow as he looked down at Hyungwon. “Why did you agree?”

Hyungwon shrugged. “I might transform back into a human in front of him, so I figured it would be better to explain that before I kiss him.”

“Why did your answer have to be logical?” Changkyun groaned as he threw a hand over his face.

“Come on, Changkyun. You can’t stand here all day,” the frog prince urged as he tugged the apprentice’s fingers between his flippers.

The boy looked at him with a gaze that reminded him of a lost puppy, and Hyungwon wasn’t totally unprepared to take it. The way Changkyun’s lower lip stuck out when he pouted made the frog want to freeze. Not only was the apprentice handsome, but apparently he was also adorable. Almost disgustingly cute enough for the frog prince to give in to his whining. Luckily, years of knowing Jooheon had helped him build immunity to this kind of attack.

“All you have to do is talk to him, it can’t be that hard.”

Had Hyungwon known that he’d jinxed them back then, he’d have kept his mouth shut.

The plan had been going smoothly as they entered the secluded library in the East Wing. Changkyun easily spotted Wonho, who was standing by the armor display and examining his reflection in a suit of armor. Hyungwon did his best to control his laughter at the faces the guard made while checking himself out. Plus, it was equally entertaining to watch Changkyun panic as he had to step closer and closer to Wonho.

The frog had nearly forgotten about his mission and had perched himself onto a shelf to watch Changkyun awkwardly flail as he spoke to Wonho. It wasn’t until Changkyun discretely zapped him with magic that Hyungwon finally headed in the direction of Prince Minhyuk.

As enchanting as he was, Hyungwon was beginning to see why everyone said Prince Minhyuk was strange. The blond sat, scrolling through what looked like a children’s picture book, laughing and smiling as he did. Somehow, Hyungwon still found the scene cute. Seeing him read a children’s book gave the frog prince some confidence. If Prince Minhyuk liked fairytales, he was going to love everything Hyungwon had to say.

But Hyungwon never got a chance to speak.

He was cut off by the sound of a panicked squea