The carriage slows to a stop, causing Hoseok to look over hesitantly at Hyungwon. The prince is still sleeping soundly, as he has been for the past four hours. Hoseok hears the shouts of the coachmen, signifying they’re stopping for good this time. His parents hadn’t bothered telling him where he’d be going with his new husband, but at least he’d be with someone so beautiful. Hoseok chuckles as that positive aspect comes to him, shaking his head at his own thoughts.

Hoseok feels the weight of the carriage shift as the bags begin to be taken off by staff, and he watches the prince a bit longer to see if he’d wake on his own.

“Hyungwon?” Hoseok asks softly, leaning forward to give his knee a shake. Hyungwon merely mumbles something unintelligible and turns his head to the other side, slumping further into his seat. “Come on, you’ve got to wake up. We’ve arrived at… wherever we are.” Only a soft snore answers him, and Hoseok fights back a sigh as he gets up. He leans over the prince, holding himself just inches above his sleeping form. He leans close to his exposed ear, puckering his lips to blow a jet of cold air into it. The tactic has always worked when he needed to wake up his brothers in the past, so he assumes it’ll work on Hyungwon as well.

Hyungwon’s eyes open moments before Hoseok executes his plan, and he’s shocked to find the older hovering just inches above him. He shouts out in surprise, causing the other to jolt back.

“S-S-Sorry,” Hoseok apologizes immediately, his nerves causing a slight lisp to become audible in his pronunciation. “You weren’t w-waking up, so I thought I’d try a trick I use with my b-brothers all the time.” Hyungwon stares at him with wide eyes, so many different retorts filling his mind and making it impossible to yell at him only one. “I was just going to blow cold air into your ear,” the nervous prince continues, “I swear. I wasn’t trying anything.”

Despite his indignation, Hyungwon has to fight a chuckle at the older’s persistent, lisp-filled stutter. He finds it extremely cute, which he immediately hates himself for thinking.

The door is opened from the outside, and a coachmen pokes his head in.

“We’ve arrived, Your Highnesses,” he tells them, glancing between the two. He steps away from the door to let them pass. Hyungwon is the first out, wanting—no, needing—an opportunity to look away from the blush creeping up Hoseok’s pale face. He looks around at his surroundings, breathing in the wonderfully clean-smelling air. Hoseok follows quickly after, his words coming out in a nervous babble.

“I believe you,” Hyungwon mutters, nodding at a bowing attendant. His words cause Hoseok to fall silent instantly, somewhat surprised that the younger had so easily believed him. The attendant turns on his heel, requesting that the two monarchs follow. They do, letting him lead them silently down a secluded pathway. They come to a small house surrounded by trees.

“Where are we?” Hyungwon asks, looking around at their surroundings.

“On the outskirts of the kingdom, Your Highness,” the servant answers. “We’ve come here at your parents’ request for you to spend the next two weeks to become better acquainted with one another.” Hyungwon stares at the house with an unreadable expression, his returning silence causing Hoseok to begin his nervous fidgeting. A habit that, if his father were here with him now, would cause a slapping of his hands to make him drop them. He glances over at the taller, but his unwavering gaze on the house only serves to further his nerves.

Hyungwon moves forward, and the attendant scrambles to open the door for the royal.

“We’ve been given orders to leave you two on your own for the duration of this honeymoon,” the servant in charge tells them. “The kitchen is stocked with all that you’ll need to eat, and—“

“Are y-y-you sure our parents w-wanted this?” Hoseok stutters out, the thought of living alone with a total stranger without anyone around to help out bringing it out. “They d-d-didn’t tell me there wouldn’t be anyone around.”

“Positive, Your Highness,” the servant replies with a respective nod. “Now, we’ll be returning at the end of two weeks. Please do enjoy your stay here.” He bows once more, and then follows the few remaining servants surrounding them out the door.

The couple stands silently in the living room, each unsure of what exactly to do. Hoseok glances over at Hyungwon questioningly, unsure of what to say to him. However, at noticing the older staring at him, Hyungwon only moves away to look around the house. He walks with a purpose through the rooms, and Hoseok can’t shake the feeling that he’s looking for something in particular. Finally, he stops in the doorway of the room furthest back in the house.

“One bed,” Hyungwon murmurs, “of course.” Hoseok peeks around the younger, his eyes widening at seeing the bedroom. A single king-sized bed sits there, pushed up against the far wall, and rose petals are scattered about the floor and bedding. The couple laughs at the set-up, glancing at each other with a warm gaze. Hyungwon holds the look for a moment too long, and quickly looks away with a nervous chuckle. He touches his lips with his fingers to cover his smile, making as if to continue his self-guided tour of the house.

The two spend the next few hours in silence, neither knowing exactly how to start a conversation in such an odd situation. Hyungwon notices his books have been unpacked in the house’s study, and settles down on the couch with one. Although, he finds it incredibly hard to concentrate. His mind keeps drifting back to the singular bed. Surely their families didn’t expect them to…consummate or anything so soon after meeting each other? That’d just be too much. Maybe he’ll just sleep on the couch or something. After all, he doesn’t want to give Hoseok the wrong idea…

Hoseok tries to make himself busy, but reading has never been his strong suit. It’s too early to begin cooking dinner, although he has no idea how to cook much in the first place. He only knows how to make a couple of dishes, and he doesn’t even know if Hyungwon would eat either of them. Would Hyungwon even want him to cook for him? The prince hasn’t said more than five words to him since meeting him. He probably hates him, blames him for all this.

Hoseok fears the notion of Hyungwon hating him so early on, although he doesn’t know why. Maybe because it’d make life way more difficult than need be? No, that doesn’t seem quite it. There’s just something about the younger that makes Hoseok want to be tolerated by him, if not liked.

As dinner time approaches, Hoseok notices that Hyungwon is still reading on the couch. Neither have said anything to each other for the past few hours. Hoseok would walk by the other prince every so often, but he never seemed to notice. Now, Hoseok feels strangely responsible for providing for him. They are married, so he supposes that’s why. He goes into the kitchen, looking for what he needs to make what he believes to be the best dish on the planet: ramyeon.