Once upon a time, there was a thriving country named Pledis. The queen of Pledis is known across the lands for her exquisite looks, as refreshing as a sip of the finest wine during the long night and as captivating as she is alluring. But more than anything, she is known for her extreme vanity. It is common knowledge that the palace is littered with reflective surfaces, be it mirrors, polished silver or large bodies of water, so that the queen can check herself out at any given moment.

When news of the queen's pregnancy with her first son spread across the land, celebrations were rife. The child would be good looking, for how could he not be? The king and the queen were an aesthetically blessed pair, and everyone held high hopes for the prince.

The queen did not doubt that her child would be beautiful (it was the most envious match of genetic material), but just to be sure she sought out the services of the most powerful fairy in the land. It is said that Jeonghan is powerful because he dabbles in the dark arts, but the queen did not mind the rumors, so long as her child is visually stunning. After all, being born beautiful is already half the battle won
 

Jeonghan is waiting at the door of his tower when the queen visits, already anticipating the arrival of the queen's entourage. He hops down from the giant mushroom that he is perched upon and bows daintily, a thin arm tucked across the cloak in a graceful bow.

He lets a sly smile stretch across his lips as he ducks his head, his long blonde tresses framing his heart shaped face. He speaks slowly, his lovely voice belying no bad intentions, but the flash of mischief in his eyes speak otherwise. "I will grant him true beauty, your highness, but at a price."

"It's okay! Curse him with a short tongue for all I care!" The queen declares grandly, waving a glove-covered hand in the air. "Beauty is the most important thing in the world!"



And so Seokmin is born, bright and beautiful. The first few years of his life are nerve wrecking as Seokmin is watched day in and day out to see what imperfections he might have. Could he really have a short tongue? Be dim-witted? Be brash and abusive? As he grows up, it becomes clear that Seokmin is as close to perfection as one can get, flaw-free in almost every way. His body is fit and healthy. He has impeccable manners. He is the smartest scholar in town, devouring books faster than his teachers can teach them. Sure, he has problems with flexibility but that might be more heredity than anything. Time passes, and the queen forgets about the curse.



"Seokmin darling, don't smile so much," the queen often says, long fingers tipping Seokmin's chin up so she can look at her son's sculpted face better. "You look better when you're impassive." And so,Seokmin learns to arrange his features in the stoic expression that becomes his trademark.
This is how Seokmin grows up. When Seokmin smiles, a rare occasion, it is as if spring has come early. The birds seem to chirp a little louder, the sunshine warmth that envelops the earth. Girls sigh as Prince Seokmin strides through the streets on his weekly rounds of the city and young men fall over themselves to befriend and impress the crown prince. Seokmin is loved and envied.

He lives a perfect life, until the fateful day when Seokmin wakes up to find a glimmering man sitting on the edge of his bed.

Seokmin lets out a high-pitched shriek and tumbles out of bed, both of which he later denies.

Jeonghan has the kind of timeless beauty that raises hackles, where women badmouth him because they know they can never have him, and men hate him because they can never be him. Bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight, he is even more stunning, and Seokmin is rendered speechless. He unfurls a fist to show a tiny hourglass, the size of a Seokmin's thumb, attached to a long chain.

"You have two months to live," he says serenely, gaze fixed on Seokmin until he feels goosebumps breaking out under his silk pajamas. His eyes, an odd yet entrancing mix of silver and blue, reminds Seokmin of diamonds. Big ones. Expensive ones. Shiny ones. "Unless you break the curse.”

"What?" Before Seokmin can wrap his mind around the idea that there is a stranger in his room, Jeonghan disappears in a puff of perfume smoke, leaving the hourglass pendant behind on his bed.

Seokmin pokes at the hourglass, and after deciding that it is probably will not explode, picks it up gingerly. The dark blue sand grains shift in one half of the hourglass and a single grain falls to the bottom bulb. You have two months to live. Seokmin realizes with a jolt that this is an indicator of his life.

He narrows his eyes. It has to be his mother's fault. It has to be.



"You promised what?" Seokmin asks incredulously, eyebrows shooting into his fringe.

The queen waves a dismissive hand, not at all worried. "Darling, you are Prince Seokmin. You'll figure out a way." She is surprisingly chipper for someone that has just been told of her son's impending doom. Then again, her high spirits might be due to the three bottles of vodka stashed in her jewelry drawer.

The king, thankfully, does not share his wife's nonchalance. He buries his head in his hands and breathes out heavily, crown almost tipping off his head. (It is 3am, Seokmin thinks. Why is father wearing his crown?) There are wrinkles etched in his forehead from years of balancing a country and his wife's crazy antics. Straightening up, the king looks his son in his eyes and says tiredly, "I knew this day would come. Son, it is time you consulted the Wizard.




The Wizard turns out to be... Well, a wizard. He is the only wizard in the country, and he lives a life of seclusion in the middle of the enchanted forest. "Find him, and you shall break the curse," booms the king.

Seokmin is handed a map consisting of a few squiggles, random crosses, scribbled place names and an odd stick figure dancing across the page. ("That’s me!" says Doogi, the court advisor, and the artist of the map.)

Seokmin looks at the map, and starts planning his funeral.

After half of a day of traveling on his trusty stallion named DK, and several wrong turns (it turns out that the dark splotch on the parchment that Seokmin thought indicated a body of water, was simply an ink blot), Seokmin arrives at the large X marking the Wizard's hiding spot.

Seokmin furrows his brow at the small cottage that is almost swallowed by the forest around it. The stone walls are covered with ivy leaves, leaving only cracks of grey stone peeking through. The only indication that there is a building at all is a large silver of bright red wood with a golden knocker settled among the foliage.

As if sensing Seokmin's presence, there is a loud creak, and the door swings open, setting loose a rainfall of leaves and dust. Taking in a deep breath (and regretting it immediately as the dust enters his nostrils) Seokmin sends a backwards glance at DK and steps into the dark house.

Instead of a wizened old man, he finds a young boy of maybe 19 or 20 drowning in robes. Startled, the boy looks up from where he is knee deep in books. His Harry Potter glasses that were perched precariously on the bridge of his nose falls off and bounces soundlessly against the open pages.

"Oh, sorry," Seokmin bows and says apologetically. "I think I have the wrong-"

"I’m the Wizard!" the boy hastily shouts and shoots right up. His credibility diminishes even more when he trips over his robes, landing face first on the floor.

"Are you absolutely sure."

"Kwon Soonyoung, 174th Wizard of the land at your service!" Soonyoung is strangely excited at the prospect of a visitor and says his introduction so fast that the words blend into each other. At Seokmin's skeptical look, Soonyoung is quick with reassurances. "I took over the 173rd wizard a year ago! I am qualified!" He points at the certificate hanging on the wall behind him, framed in obnoxious gold.

Seokmin's first instinct is to hightail out of the cottage but then Soonyoung grins at him, all pleased and expectant, and Seokmin finds himself settling down on the futon and spilling out the whole story to a sympathetic Soonyoung. Soonyoung makes appropriate murmurs of disbelief at all the right places and screws his face up comically whenSeokmin finishes with "... And now I am to die in two months unless I break the curse."

"I will help you!" Soonyoung pumps a fist in determination, adorably earnest. He strides over to the overflowing bookshelves and pulls out a thick tome after a few seconds of contemplation. "There you go! The big book of spells! I'm a little rusty 'cause you're my first visitor in a year-"

"What?"

Soonyoung ignores Seokmin and chatters on animatedly. He lugs the heavy book over to his table with some difficulty and pulls out his wand. "I’ll just cast a finding spell and we'll have your curse broken in no time!"

Seokmin nods and gives the young wizard a wide berth, partly because he respects Soonyoung’s workspace, but also because he's frankly kind of afraid. It soon becomes apparent that despite the initial cheerfulness and confidence, Soonyoung is having some problems. When another page explodes for the second time, Seokmin pipes up out of concern, "Are you... Okay?"

"I don't know, man, I'm pretty new at this." Soonyoung frowns and waves his wand again. Sparks fly out of the wand, but not the pretty ooo-look-sparklers kind. Rather, the sparks seem deadly, and prove to be dangerous when one spark singes a hole in Soonyoung’s robes.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Seokmin asks and Soonyoung answers quickly, "Sure." His tone is anything but convincing, but for the sake of his sanity Seokmin chooses to believe him. Still, Seokmin can't help but think that it would be faster and perhaps safer to flip through the book manually to look for a way to break the curse, instead of using a locating spell.



After nearly setting himself on fire (Seokmin manages to step on the tiny flame at the edge of Soonyoung’s robes just in time) Soonyoung finally yips happily, "A ha! How to break a marked demise curse!" The book shudders and shakes, and the pages flip in a flurry, finally settling on a yellowing page.

Soonyoung’s round cheeks push up as he smiles proudly, showing Seokmin the tiny scrawled text. "It says here that you have to kiss a princess and the curse will be broken. But she has to be the love of your life!"

"Find the love of my life and I can live?" Seokmin repeats as a confirmation. Oh. That seems easy enough. After all, he is Prince Seokmin, man of everyone's dreams regardless of ual preference. How hard can it be?

His quest for his princess begins the next day, without him even trying.

Seokmin rubs his eyes sleepily as he walks down the stairs of the inn, heading for the dining room. The smell of breakfast perks him up, and he almost salivates at the thought of bacon, drizzled in maple syrup, with a side of ketchup doused eggs.

What he does not expect to see, is five men of stunted growth, staring at him. Seokmin has heard of dwarfs before, and he has always thought of them as short and stocky creatures, grumpy at nature for cursing them in the height department. He imagined ugly, thick-skinned creatures, with dirty beards and more body hair than a gorilla. Instead, he is pleasantly surprised to find seven clean-shaven, fresh faced pretty boys, all dressed like they just stepped out of some dandy summer fashion catalogue.

Seokmin is particularly intrigued by the dwarf who literally stands out. Unlike his friends (Seokmin assumes that they are acquaintances) who have small statures, his height is almost like a very tall 10 year old boy. He towers over the other dwarves by a whole head and from the way a tiny frown settles across his pink lips when he notices Seokmin staring at him, he is none too pleased at being different.

"Are you a dwarf, too?" Seokmin asks curiously, unable to help himself.

The dwarf in question pouts and the dwarf next to him, the one with the puffy cheeks and coke bottle glasses, speaks up for his companion. "This is Minghao. He's just... Special."

Beside them, another dwarf laughs so hard he topples off his chair, earning a kick in the side from Minghao.


"If we'll just ignore Ming Ming here," the dwarf who seems to be in charge, the shortest one of them all with tiny beady eyes, speaks up authoratively, "We hear that you're a prince and-"

"We’ve got a comatose princess and we need you to wake him up," cuts in the prettiest of all the dwarfs. This dwarf lets a smile light up his feminine features and sticks out a hand for Seokmin to shake. "I'm Doyoon, and we have a situation."


"Let me get this straight," Seokmin says slowly, as if repeating it at a more deliberate pace would make it less ridiculous. "So I just. Kiss her. This complete stranger. And it'll wake her up?"

"The name is Seungheol," supplies the bright-eyed dwarf with the cheeks that he now knows as Samuel.

Seokmin shakes his head and flips his fringe back with a hand. "Knowing her name doesn't make it less wrong." He wants a princess, yes, but he doesn't want a ual harassment case on his , because that would certainly complicate things. His mug shot would be very good looking though. The queen would probably frame it up and hang it in the grand hall.


All protests die in his throat when Seokmin sees Seungcheol.

If Seokmin were to list down all attributes that he finds attractive in a girl, he would just be describing Seungcheol. Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. Seungcheol lies in a bed of red rose petals, a picture of youth and grace. The petals only seem to amplify her radiance, drawing attention to her smooth unblemished skin. Just looking at her, Seokmin finds it all too easy to imagine her startling beauty drawing out the jealous claws of females, ultimately leading to her untimely demise. If Seokmin’s handsome looks were carved by a curse, he holds no doubt that Seungcheol, too, was cursed with beauty beyond belief.

The dwarfs titter in excitement as Seokmin takes purposeful strides towards the sleeping princess. He closes the distance and gently cups Seungcheol’s face with his right hand. For a moment he just stands there unmoving as he drinks in the princess' beautiful features.

So this is it. This is the girl that he would bring back to his kingdom, the girl who he would wed, and eventually have three children together with. And of course, this is the girl that will save his life. He’s quite pleased that his search is so efficient, turning up results before he has even officially begun. Seokmin smiles to himself, basking in the life changing moment. Mother would like her.

One of the dwarfs let out a cough, and this draws Seokmin’s attention back to the matter on hand. Gently, he wraps an arm around the sleeping princess and pulls her close. Just as softly, he brushes his lips across the princess, testing for a reaction. As soon as their lips touch, Seungcheol stirs, just a twitch of the shoulders, and Seokmin takes this as a positive cue to deepen the kiss.

With Seungcheol now fully awake, she snakes her arms around his neck and their bodies are tugged closer. Her lips part in a sigh; of contentment, Seokmin would like to think.

Suddenly, something hard presses into his thigh, and Seokmin opens his eyes just a bit to peek down and- "Gah!" startled, Seokmin pulls back and gasps out, "This isn't supposed to happen!"

Seungcheol falls back onto the bed of roses and smiles lazily. "Mmm, someone higher born like me shouldn't be so proactive but hey, we have to work for what we want, right?"

"No, I meant that!" Seokmin gestures wildly at the general direction of Seungcheol’s crotch, where a rather impressive natural reaction is taking place.

Seungcheol blinks innocently before realization dawns on his face. "Did the dwarves not tell you that I'm a dude?" He turns to glare at the seven intruders hiding behind the surrounding trees and spits out, "Again?"

"Princes are less willing to kiss another prince!" calls out Dongjin before ducking back behind Minghao.

Seokmin is too busy being mildly mortified to verbally confirm that fact.

"Any chance that you'll stay?" Seungcheol asks, lower lip jutting out in a pout. He looks lovely settled among the red flower petals, and his expression is so angelic that Seokmin just wants to stay with Seungcheol forever. They could hold hands and frolic in the meadows while singing a merry song of love. But no, Seokmin is a man on a mission.

He nods determinedly to himself, and misunderstanding him, Seungcheol’s face brightens. "Wait, no-" Seokmin quickly changes his nod to a shake of his head and holds out both palms in front of him. "I am afraid that i am a cursed man, and your lovely presence will not save me from my suffering."

Halfway through Seokmin's dramatic ramblings, Seungcheol rolls his eyes and settles back down on his bed of roses. He closes his eyes and clasps his hands in front of his chest, waiting for his next prince to arrive.

Seokmin huffs because Seungcheol sure dismissed him quickly. And to think they were just sharing a kiss mere minutes before. Seokmin is the savior of Seungcheol’s life! Talk about gratitude.

Oh well. Life moves on. He beckons for his horse, who has been hiding among the shadows. "Come DK, we must move forward!"

DK kicks up his front legs and neighs.


 

Seokmin is knocking down his second coffee of the day in a quiet tavern (alcohol ages you, thank you very much) when there is a tap on his arm.

"I hear you're looking for a princess," the boy who tapped his arm whispers nervously. His catlike eyes is beautiful but darting around uneasily, like the ticking pendulum of a grandfather clock. “I can bring you to Prince Mingyu. He might know a princess or two."

Seokmin sets down his coffee, the foam off his upper lip, and asks, "Can I trust you? You keep doing that with your eyes, and it's very shifty."

The boy immediately looks offended, eyebrows furrowing. "No, this is just the way I look."

Because he has nothing to lose (Dying in two months here!) Seokmin agrees to follow the boy who introduces himself as Jisoo, the royal servant to Prince Mingyu.



Too young, the prince is, a boy of nary 18, but seduction pours from his every movement, every calculated smile, every heavy lidded gaze. Prince Mingyu is sprawled against a large velvet couch, long legs thrown open too wide for Seokmin’s comfort.

Seokmin swallows as he watches Mingyu's mouth close around a grape, it almost obscenely before taking it in whole with a pop.

Then the prince speaks, voice low and suggestive. "I'm Mingyu. I'm hot, you're hot, let's ."

Seokmin chokes on his saliva.

"But you're not a princess," Seokmin points out, once he's stopped coughing.

"I could call you oppa if you want," Mingyu offers and Seokmin snorts. Mingyu frowns. "So, no ing?"

"No ing," Seokmin confirms. Prince Mingyu's happiness index immediately drops proportionately to servant Jisoo's own happiness index. From the corner of Seokmin's eyes, he can see a smile taking over Jisoo's face. Seems like when Jisoo pledged his life to serve the prince, he pledged a bit of his heart as well.

To his credit, Prince Mingyu is incredibly courteous with the rejection, and takes it all in stride. He offers Seokmin a room for as long as he wishes, and has DK placed in the care of the royal stables, where his mane is combed and braided with ribbons. DK tosses his mane with newly found confidence, making the female mares moony eyed.

Mingyu’s palace is warm and spacious, and it doesn’t take much for Seokmin to accept Mingyu’s offer for him to stay for a week. His search for a princess is taking longer than he expected, and DK is showing signs of wear. Seokmin figures that a few days of rest in a lavish palace would do them both good. In the meantime, he wanders around the town, exploring the nooks and crannies of the winding streets and old buildings.

It is during one of his market place visits that he meets the travelling fortuneteller named Seungkwan

He is drawn to the tent housing the fortuneteller by the large, gaudy sign hanging outside.

FORTUNE TELLING

CHEEP AND ACCURATE.

As someone who has been brought up to appreciate the beauty of grammar, Seokmin can’t help but pop into the tent to inform the fortuneteller of the spelling mistake.

The fortuneteller, who later introduces himself as Seungkwan, lets his shoulders fall glumly. "Oh, so that's why I haven't had many customers!" He recovers quickly, and flashes Seokmin a warm smile that takes over his face. “Would you like some tea?"

Seokmin is strangely reminded of his grandfather back at home, so he can’t say no to the friendly fortuneteller. Besides, the cookies that were offered with the tea do look kind of tasty. No one says no to cookies.

Seungkwan remains silent throughout Seokmin’s tale, and as Seokmin complains about the lack of women in the lands, Seungkwan places a hand on Seokmin’s and interrupts, "Excuse me for the intrusion, but Prince Seokmin, what country are we in?"

Seokmin wrinkles in his brow in confusion. "Uh, Pristin?"

To his surprise, Seungkwan bursts out laughing, streams of hearty laughter rocking his small body. Seokmin is mildly annoyed, until Seungkwan manages to gasp out, "Pristin? That's the next country, silly. We're Seventeen, the country of men."

"Country of men?" Of course! The crappy map that Doogi gave him ended up falling apart after three days and Seokmin decided to trust his amazing direction sense, despite having no idea where Pristin actually located. He should've just turned left instead of right at the damned fork road. It's just that the pink flowers in the left lane were turning him off, and what was with that ugly sign riddled with pink ribbons spelling out Pristin in the left lane- oh.

"We don't have princesses!" Seungkwan says brightly.

"I see none of you possess much language skills either," Seokmin snipes, just because he's feeling particularly passive aggressive.

Seungkwan chooses to ignore Seokmin's insult. Seokmin suspects that this is how the fortuneteller deals with prickly matters. Just ignore everything icky and go full steam ahead! "Yes! We are famous for our abundance of good looking male royals," he chirps and explains further, "all the eligible females are snapped up as soon as they come of age so as time passes everyone just changes their preference a little. We’re a bit starved for love, you see."

Ah, that explains the princes throwing themselves at Seokmin left and right.

No longer laughing, Seungkwan pats Seokmin on the back sympathetically. Seokmin is frozen in shock, teacup halfway to his lips. Seungkwan gently intercepts the cup and sets it down on the table. "I understand this is sudden news, but please, no harming the china."

Seokmin clears his throat and asks slowly, "So what are the chances of me finding a princess?”

Seungkwan smiles at him. "Almost zero, i should think."

“Oh.” There is a pause. "Well, in all honesty I never fancied myself a princess."

Seungkwan nods solemnly. "I figured."

"You reckon a prince will break my curse?"

"Let me check. I have the book of spells memorized." Seungkwan closes his eyes and presses his left hand to his temple. He flicks the air with a finger, as if he flipping through the imaginary pages of his memory bank. "Yeap. As long as he or she is a royal."

"Well, that changes things." They sit in silence as they contemplate the changed situation. Seungkwan rubs his chin for good measure.

Then Seungkwan pipes up, "Do you want your fortune told?" Seungkwan looks up at him with hope shining in his eyes. He pats his crystal ball lovingly and rubs it a few times.

"Yeah.... I do!" Seokmin says as he begins to slowly back away towards the flap of the tent. "Just after I uh, buy a donkey- Bye!" Seokmin ducks out of the tent and runs for DK.


 

At the new revelation, Seokmin actually feels relieved. Thinking about it, princesses are bratty and stuffy and he’s never quite felt comfortable around one. Girls are delicate and soft and squishy and Seokmin feels like he'll break them with his immense strength. He needs someone more durable. Guys are durable. Yes. Mounting DK, he sets off with renewed spirits.

Off to find a prince!

It's been a long week. He's been trekking through the countryside for four days and he's barely seen any signs of life. Occasionally he passes by a town or two, but they don't even speak any of the three languages (and one dialect!) that Seokmin knows, and he figures that a language barrier is as good as any reason to eliminate a possible match.

He's deciding between the grassy path at the fork road and the dirt path when someone pipes up behind him.

Seokmin topples off DK and rights himself immediately, assuming a ninja pose with his arms prepared to strike. "I ALREADY LEARNED FOUR TYPES OF MARTIAL ARTS."

"Hi, I'm Chan!" The boy standing in front of him has a mess of floppy hair that almost covers his eyes, and he looks much too young to be wandering around alone.

Seokmin slowly lowers his hands. He looks stupid trying to ninja chop the air and Prince Seokmin is much too dignified to look stupid. Besides, it is probably not wise to attack commoners. "Hello," he says warily. Considering the people he's met in his travels so far, it is understandable to be hesitant.

Chan presses himself against DK's side and practically breathes into his fur. "Nice horse! Are you on an adventure? Let me follow! I do love adventures. OOOOOOO."

Seokmin gently wrangles Chan away before he scares the stallion. "No, go away. I don't entertain brats."

Chan smiles, and Seokmin gets distracted by the sparkling pearly whites long enough for Chan to hop onto DK. DK neighs in distress, but calms down when Chan rummages in his pocket and pulls out a lint-covered sugar cube.

"Bribing my horse with your filthy candy," Seokmin spits out, but makes no move to throw Chan off the horse.

Chan pets DK's mane and says, "Look, I know a prince around here. If you let me follow you, I’ll direct you to the tower."

Seokmin quirks an eyebrow. Oh? Well then, he just gained himself a passenger.

 

The tower is a 45 minutes ride, which is 15 minutes away from the end of Seokmin's patience. Chan is a friendly boy, a little too friendly, as apparent from the way he never stops talking. Seokmin is in the middle of conveying silent instructions to DK to kick Chan off him when Chan shrieks happily and points at the tower looming in the distance.

As with all fairy tales, a challenge lies ahead for the prince that is willing to brave the elements to find his princess. Thick thorny bushes wrap themselves around the sides of the tower and roses the size of Seokmin's fist blooms bright and beautiful. It is a magnificent, but daunting sight.

"Let me through, young lad!" Seokmin declares dramatically to Chan, unsheathing his sword and brandishing it in front of him. "This is a job for a real man!"

"Um, princey," Chan interrupts. "This is all very manly and cool of you, but there's a backdoor."

Seokmin lets his arms, which are raised above his head, fall to his side and he snaps, irritated. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

Chan leads Seokmin around the tower to a small wooden door, barely tall enough to fit Chan, much lessSeokmin.

"This place gives me the creeps." Chan shudders and yelps once when his arm brushes against a protruding branch. "I’ll just leave you to it, princey." With that, he scampers off, disappearing into the undergrowth.
 

DK whines once, loud and demanding, stomping his foot to get Seokmin's attention.

"What did you say, DK?" Seokmin leans forward to press his nose into the space between DK's eyes, nuzzling the rough hair lining the stallion's head.

DK shakes his head in annoyance and lets out a snort.

Seokmin chuckles and smoothes down DK's ears. "You saw a ninja? Seriously, DK, you have such an active imagination."

DK swishes his tail up to whack Seokmin on the chest.
 

On the way to the tower, Chan has briefed Seokmin about the curious incident of Sleeping Beauty. A young prince drew so much jealousy with his good looks that a witch put a curse on him damning him to eternal sleep, unless awoken by the kiss of his One True Love.

"Witches are romantics," Seokmin observes.

Seokmin sympathizes with Prince Wonwoo's situation because all that cursed business? Seokmin knows firsthand how much it . Maybe their hearts would be bounded just like they are both bounded by a curse. Breaking curses together, that's a very romantic thing to do, something to tell their grandchildren about. It would make a great love story, because who needs Romeo and Juliet when you have marked demises and eternal sleep?

Seokmin bursts into the room hidden in the top of the tower and gasps. If he thought Seungcheol was beautiful, Wonwoo is all that and more. A small face with a sharp chin, a straight nose and pink lips, the palest skin Seokmin has ever seen, paired with a lean body

Thankfully, Seokmin has this whole kissing random comatose strangers thing down pat, and barely hesitates in leaning across the beautiful boy sleeping peacefully in soon-to-be broken eternal slumber.

Odd, Wonwoo's lips are cold and hard, almost like he's kissing a stick. Then again, all that lying down for centuries must have cut off blood circulation somehow. Then the pressure against his lips increases, until his lips are forced apart and something very solid collides against his teeth. Something that is definitely not fleshy lips.

Seokmin's eyes fly open in shock. At the sight in front of him, he can only gasp out (shriek?), "NINJA."



There is a boy standing in front of him, fully clad in black. Only his eyes are visible, dark and piercing. "My name is Junhui, and I have dedicated my life to finding and protecting Prince Wonwoo." His voice is calm and low, which adds to his intimidating presence.

"You aren't doing a very good job," Seokmin points out. "Especially since you found him at the same time I did."

He clamps his mouth shut when Junhui's glare only intensifies. They both stare at each other in uncomfortable silence for several beats.

Then Seokmin gets impatient and gestures at Prince Wonwoo. "Well, what are you waiting for? Kiss him!"

Junhui's entire body jerks, so horrified at the thought he is. "And sully the prince?"

"Again, failing at this saving business." Rolling his eyes, Seokmin sticks his hand out and shoves Junhui. Junhui's mouth drops open and his arms swing around wildly as he falls ungracefully. Seokmin watches with a satisfied smirk as Junhui's face crashes right into Wonwoo's, smashing their lips and noses together.


There is a moment of silence, as Junhui recoils in horror. He is short of frantic as he hurries away from the now awakening prince, trying to quell his bubbling hysteria. Immediately he drops onto his knees and bows down until his forehead is touching the ground. "I am sorry, your majesty!" Seokmin thinks that Junhui would probably have slit his throat on the spot, if a sword were available. I have attempted the absolute sin and what not. Them ninjas always were dramatic.

Wonwoo's eyes peek open and he shifts his head to peer at the boy on the ground. "Are you my savior? Rise, my hero."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Junhui gets on his feet. He smiles proudly and executes a perfect 90 degrees bow. "That I am. Wen Junhui, at your service."

Wonwoo blinks at the other boy for a few seconds, fingers resting lightly on his lips. Then, with the most bratty shriek possible, "Oh my god you took my first kiss. I do hope you'll take responsibility." Wonwoo huffs and folds his arms across his chest. There is a flurry of expressions flitting across Junhui's face, like he's torn between feeling love struck or annoyed.

Seokmin quietly slips out of the room, glad that he dodged that bullet.

 

"We are going to die, DK," Seokmin says mournfully to his horse. DK snorts, and Seokmin corrects himself, "I am going to die."

"I do hope not!" comes a concerned voice behind them.

Seokmin has developed immunity against sudden voices and manages not to start this time. He turns around slowly, keeping a bored expression on his face. However, his feigned disinterest only lasts for all of two seconds.

Standing in front of him is what must be the most beautiful creation God has ever given to earth. Surreal, is the first word that pops up in Seokmin's mind because this tall and handsome stranger must be a figment of his imagination. Such perfection cannot possibly exist in real life.

"Wow, you're hot," Seokmin says, seemingly having lost his brain-to-mouth filter somewhere along his third botched kiss with a princess-turned-prince.

The boy brings a hand up to his face in embarrassment, covering a toothy grin. Seokmin finds it adorable. He finds the messy curls masquerading as hair adorable. He even finds the smile with too much teeth is adorable. The crazed mad man look is really up Seokmin's alley, he discovers.;

"You're hot too," the boy replies shyly and wow that voice, so unbefitting the beautiful face. Can he bottle that voice and sell it because imagine listening to that voice every day! Seokmin is pretty sure that if he were a little less manly, he would've gone weak in the knees upon hearing that deep baritone, but Seokmin is manly Seokmin, so he maybe just squeals internally a little. Just a little.

"Tell me your name, boy," Seokmin booms, unconsciously using his Royal tone.

"Hansol! My name is Hansol!" The boy introduces himself brightly, a quick nod of his head in place of a bow.


Seokmin is thoroughly star struck, so entranced by this boy's entire being, which would make his next statement forgivable. "You a prince? Please tell me you are." Behind them, DK lets out a snort of amusement but Seokmin is too far gone to even feel embarrassment.

Hansol oddly, takes it as a compliment, and his large ears tinge pink. "I wish I was, sir."

"Don't call me sir, call me Seokmin," Seokmin corrects softly, wanting to disarm all formalities between them. He wants to reach out for the boy and run his fingers through that intriguing hair. How does it curl that way? How does it curl that way and still make Hansol look so thoroughly able?

"Seok-?" At the name Hansol's eyes widen in realization and he lets out a cry of alarm. He immediately falls to his knees, and presses his forehead to the sandy ground, voice increasing in volume and urgency. "I apologize, Prince Seokmin. Forgive me for not recognizing you at first sight!"

"No!" Alarmed, Seokmin pulls Hansol up and reaches down to dust the boy's knees. "Never bow down to me again. This is an order."

Hansol stares at Seokmin, body frozen in fear. Seokmin changes tactic and says softly, "Please, as a friend, I ask you."

Hansol visibly relaxes but his face is still hesitant and wary. He glances down at where Seokmin has a loose grip on his shoulder and bites his lip.

Seokmin feels strangely nervous around this boy, something he's never quite felt before. All his life, he's always been proud and confident. He's always known how to handle people, and knows just the right amount of attention to lavish on a partner. Hansol, though, has just been in his vicinity for five minutes and already Seokmin feels like everything he has learned in his past is slipping away, irrelevant to the significance of the present. He imagines a future together, so real that he almost thinks he's living it and the desperation to convey this to Hansol so the other boy understands how he feels consumes him. He wants Hansol to say yes, needs Hansol to say yes.

In the stories, love always seemed so easy, so he hopes this would be the case this time. In approaching the subject, he decides to be frank, because honesty is sometimes the easiest way to another's heart. Looking right into Hansol's eyes, Seokmin says with as much sincerity as he can possibly muster, "I am in search of a prince, and I want you to be him."

Hansol's arm flies out as he almost smacks Seokmin in the face as he flails around in alarm. "Prince- I am no! What! Me? Yes! I mean, no!"

Faced with a panicking Hansol, Seokmin does the only thing he knows how to do. He grabs Hansol's arm and pulls him into a tight embrace, holding him against his chest until the boy stops struggling. Only when Hansol stops hyperventilating does Seokmin loosen his grip, allowing Hansol to take half a step back.

"You sure you're not a prince?" Seokmin holds Hansol gingerly, searching his eyes. There's something in his tone that makes Hansol realize that Seokmin is dead serious, and the flicker of uncertainty is back.

Hansol is attracted to him too, Seokmin knows this. He can tell in the quickening of Hansol's heart when Seokmin holds him, in the hitch of his breath when Seokmin runs his hand down Hansol's arms, in the rays of desire surfacing from behind the clouds of apprehension. His suspicions are confirmed when Hansol finally offers, a hint of pride more than obvious in his voice, "Well, my dad is known as the King of Bagels."

"That makes you bagel royalty! It's perfect!" In his joy Seokmin almost plants a kiss on Hansol's inviting lips, but he finally understands the difference between true love and mere interest. With Seungcheol and Wonwoo, there is no hesitation in initiating the kiss, just a pure spark of physical desire. With Hansol, Seokmin wants to take it slow, explore the other more and prove that what he feels is beyond physical attraction. He doesn't want to scare the boy away, but wants to mark him as his all the same. Seokmin settles for an old fashioned kiss to the back of Hansol's hand, and the smile that lights up Hansol's face is more than what a kiss can ever ignite.

 

The long trip back to Pledis is sweet, with Seokmin wrapping his arms around Hansol and sneaking so many kisses that DK almost throws them off his back.

At the inn in JYP nation where they crashed for the night, Hansol brings up the curse. “Isn’t the curse the reason why you begin this journey in the first place?” he asks as he runs a finger down Seokmin’s arm playfully, making goosebumps break out across Seokmin’s skin.

“Curse?” Seokmin’s mind is groggy from sleep and the warmth of having Hansol wrapped in his arms, so it takes his mind more than a few seconds to shift through his words and process the information. “Oh, curse!”

He leaps up from the bed and fetches the hourglass pendant from where it is carefully tucked into his jacket’s pocket.

They watch the hourglass with bated breath.

One, two, three seconds and nothing happens. Seokmin is about to sigh in relief when a single grain drops. The fall is silent but echoes in the lovebirds’ ears, rising above the din of the bar on the ground floor.

“,” Seokmin says.

Undisguised hurt flashes across Hansol's eyes. "I'm not your one true love?"

“You are, you are!” Seokmin reassures quickly. He shakes the hourglass a few times and frowns. “This must be broken!”

Hansol turns over until his back is facing Seokmin and refuses to respond to the prince for the rest of the night, leaving Seokmin staring at his hourglass in frustration.



 

Soonyoung excitedly welcomes them into his home, tripping over a cauldron again in his haste to open the door wider. The smile on his mouth immediate drops when Seokmin glumly informs him that the kiss of his One True Love has done nothing to break the curse.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” Soonyoung scrambles for the spell book and flips it open, quickly uttering a finding spell to locate the page.

Seokmin and Hansol watch anxiously as Soonyoung’s expression turns from anxiety to confusion to something that looks suspiciously like guilt. “Oh dear.”

The final “oh dear” from Soonyoung has Seokmin knitting his eyebrow together. That is not a good “oh dear”; that is a well-I-ed-up-majorly “oh dear”. Seokmin’s fingers twitch, pulling into a fist.

Soonyoung pulls at his collar and flashes them all a nervous grin. "Did I say princess? I meant peony. To lift the curse crush five peonies and marinate some chicken in it. I totally said marinate didn't I? Heh. Funny thing these spells and crystal balls. Connection gets murky- Oof!"

Soonyoung only narrowly escapes being pummeled to death by Seokmin because Hansol is there to hold Seokmin off.



 

The city is thrown into confusion when Prince Seokmin returns, holding the hand of not the most beautiful lady across the land, but an awkward mixed boy with breathtaking beauty

The queen, especially, is thrown off by the sudden turn of events, but when Hansol smiles, she is dazzled and welcomes the boy through the gates.

"And now we celebrate!" She announces gaily, an elegant hand sweeping across the crowd gathered in the banquet hall awaiting Seokmin’s return. The hall bursts into a roar of celebration, loud music punctuated with the sound of champagne bottles popping.

But what about the throne?

"Well," the king says, scratching the back of his right ear. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to reveal a life altering birth secret."

Seokmin widens his eyes and presses a hand to his chest. "Am I adopted?"

"What, no! Do you remember Jihoon?"

Everyone nods. It's hard to forget the pretty little boy, and with a lovely smile to match.

The king lifts his chin and adopts a suitably regal tone to make the announcement. Everyone holds their breath and leans in just a bit closer. "He’s your older brother. I have been training him in the ways of the throne since he was born. Technically he's the crown prince."

Suddenly the way Jihoon constantly dotes on Seokmin makes sense. He was the one who taught Seokmin how to ride, and personally picked DK out for Seokmin when Seokmin was 10. Seokmin has always just brushed off Jihoon's attention for him as an unrequited crush and was too nice to refuse the older boy's adoration.


Jihoon steps out from where he was hidden in the shadows. The smile on his face is tentative and shy, because it's the appropriate expression to make when you are suddenly revealed as a love child to the country. Jihoon's eyes study Seokmin, gauging his reaction quietly.

Seokmin takes a step forward and Jihoon visibly swallows, his face tensing up like he's half expecting Seokmin to chop off his head.

"Hyung," Seokmin says with warmth in his voice, and the relief on Jihoon’s face is obvious, tension melting away immediately. Seokmin grins and pulls Jihoon into a tight hug. He’s always called Jihoon that, but this time the term carries a whole new meaning. Everyone coos at the display of affection between the newly reunited brothers, and celebration resume into the night.



 

"You were robbed of your throne," Hansol says when they are in Seokmin's room later that night. Hansol's eyes follow Seokmin as he strips off, pure adoration in his eyes. He doesn't sound sorry, though. Hard to be sorry, when the circumstances allow you to have Seokmin, in all his manga character glory.

Seokmin's knees make the bed dip as he climbs next to Hansol to nuzzle him in the neck. "But now I can devote my life to loving you."

y times are put off for the ten minutes that it takes Hansol to keep his hysterical laughter under check.


 

And they lived happily ever after.