Yongguk watched the royals reactions keenly as the dinner was served.

Mostly his prince though. He was more concerned about him.

He watched as the lot laughed at jokes that were as dry as hay. Only Jongup seemed to relate to him as he remained apathetic, silently eating his food. However, he noticed that Jongup was unable to look up. That was somehow normal but it looked more forced. He silently moseyed to the other end of the room and noticed Daehyun staring intently at his prince without a single ounce of shame. 

Yongguk was angry but not to the point of reacting to it, he instead walked over behind Jongup's seat, bent down next to it and pretended to clean something from the floor, Jongup looked down and noticed this act which made Daehyun follow his eyes too.

The guard rose slowly, making sure Daehyun's eyes met his glaring ones as he stood. It worked as the bratty prince flinched and quickly looked away, taking a mouthful of the food to swallow his embarassment. The guard walked backwards to his position, still glowering, making sure the other had got the signal. 

When he looked back at his prince, Jongup had the sweetest, warm smile on his face and it made Yongguk feel as if he was moving full speed into the sun. He felt like a thousand flowers blossomed in his chest. He immediately tore his gaze away, biting his lips to make them stop from smiling as his face heated up. 

God, he missed the prince so much. It was the first time, he was sure, they both had smiled in weeks. 

When the dinner was over, the prince was quick to stand and leave but his parents insisted he stayed, so he did. Daehyun was more than satisfied to have the other stay longer, he just had to look out for that guard. 

He scooted closer over the table towards Jongup and whispered, "How about I tell them that you want to spend some time with me alone, so we can leave this crowded place to somewhere quieter?"

Jongup gulped, his heart thumping in his chest with anxiousness, he wanted to look back at his guard for help but he was afraid he might give too much away. He had a reputation of not trusting his guards or trying to even know their names. He'd mentally torment them till they would be forced to be made redundant. After a very long time, he was getting aware of the emotions that he had buried for so long. He absolutely had despised this side of him as this was the reason that led to his fall once, but Yongguk had reignited it.

But, he couldn't come to accept it. 

He grit his teeth, nodding. Just like he had done in previous dinners because he would do anything to get away from all the politics and the "rich people" coversations. 

Daehyun grinned, almost bellowing, "Mother! Father! Me and the prince want to spend some time alone in the garden! We are leaving!" With that, he stood abruptly, walked towards Jongup and held out his hand with a smile on his face.

Jongup stood too, without reaching for the other's hand and started walking. 

The guard was perplexed at this scene. He was sure he saw that his prince nodding stiffly, but was it over this!? To go out with prince Daehyun? He was completely taken aback. He waited for Daehyun's guard to follow them then followed suit. 

They stayed a good distance away from the princes. 

The guard was worried and so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't hear the other guard calling him. 

He looked over to the other guard who was too well dressed for his position and had round spectacles over his nose, he had a poise of someone highly educated... and cocky.

"So you're Jongup's new guard? What's your name?" The man asked, smiling softly. 

The guard saw a higher motive behind that smile.

"Yongguk." He didn't want to know the other guard any further. 

"What a cold response. I heard you were selected from the poorest sector. Is this the right attitude you must have?" 

A bait. Yongguk took a deep breath. 

"I wonder who you are talking about, because from what I heard, they say you climbed the ladder from the worst gutters to be where you are."

Daehyun's guard went red in the face, it was obvious he didn't have much control over his feelings, in short, his pride was hurt.

"WHAT DO YOU ME-" The man lunged forward with a fist in the air but Yongguk easily avoided it. 

"I saw through your "punching stance", you are a royal guard but your skills don't seem to cut in for that title." Yongguk smirked, completely satisfied. He looked around and saw that the princes had gone ahead of them, unaware of the strife that took place behind their backs. The worry took over the guard again as he started running as fast as he could towards the path leading to their thick garden. 

"So, how was it without me?" Daehyun asked Jongup as they were walking on the gravel path.

"Marvelous to say the least." The prince answered.

"Come on! Don't be like that... tell me, don't you wish to wake up to me in the morning?" 

Jongup made a barfing noise and fell to his knees, "Wow, I almost puked imaginging that. Now, what if it was real?" He stood back up, patting his pants and was about to walk ahead when he felt himself being pushed against a nearby tree. 

"You keep growing arrogant as time passes by... If I willed, I can make you submit to me right here and now..." Daehyun whispered lowly into the other's ear as he held his arms behind him in a firm grip. 

Jongup struggled against the hold, then lifted his feet and jabbed it into the other man's thighs. 

"Keep your hands off of me!" The prince seethed as he escaped the man. 

'Why do you hate me so much!? I love you!" Daehyun shouted as he tried rubbing the pain away from his thigh with his hands. 

"It's because you do things like these! I don't like you!" 

"Sir Jongup! Is everything alright?" 

The prince looked up and ran at the source of the voice, "Yongguk!" He cried with all his might and fell into the open arms of his guard. 

"What happened?" Yongguk asked, concerned. He looked over to see if prince Daehyun was around, but he had vanished. He looked around again but his guard was gone too.

He took Jongup's face in his hands and asked him what had happened. 

The prince told him everything, even though he tried not to sound weak, Jongup couldn't help his voice from shaking.

Yongguk's expression was rage. He didn't make a single sound or move a muscle, he stayed quiet and listened intently but his eyes were burning. 

"Let's go back." The guard said after a few minutes of silence. 

"What will you do?"

"I don't want you to be humiliated so we can't tell this to anyone. Neither do we want to ruin relations, but this prince Daehyun is the type to do anything by any means to gain what he wants and we can't have that. His own guard is so disrespectful and has a loose temper. We really need to be more careful."

Youngjae stood at the gates of the castle when they arrived and Yongguk's stomach knotted.

"Guard! Come with me. We have a complaint against you. Prince Jongup, please go to your room for now."

"What do you mean? My guard hasn't done anything wrong!" Jongup tried fighting them back but two soldiers had already taken hold of Yongguk, dragging him away while he was being escorted by Youngjae. "Commander Youngjae! Please listen to me! Daehyun really tried assualting me! Don't listen to them!" 

The Chief guard looked at the prince and answered, "You can try telling that to your parents. I believe you but I don't know how they will react to one of their investors leaving over something so "trivial"."

That's when Jongup remembered Yongguk's words, they really don't care about you unless it concerns with money.

At that moment, the prince came to hate the Royals too. 

Thank you so much to everyone keeping up with the story! I'm not as active since uni life does that but I miss you all so much and I hope you all are happy! Please give Jongup's MV ANNOYING lots of love too!! Supporting BAP until whenever :')