Chanyeol had been seen as faulty for all his life.

Well, maybe not all his life, but certainly a high span of it, long enough to be seen as mostly all of it.

Chanyeol was the heir to the throne of the Fire Kingdom, one of the biggest and most renowned of the kingdoms. As the only son to the King and Queen, certain things were expected from him. For example, impeccable manners, exquisite taste and wide wisdom to be able to rule the kingdom and its inhabitants with justice. At this, Chanyeol greatly exceeded the expectations put on him; for the people of the Fire Kingdom had never seen a prince so handsome, so prepared and so eager to demonstrate his abilities.

The problem was of other kind.

As a tradition, every ruler of the Fire Kingdom was gifted with the power of fire. Controlling it, creating it; even magical creatures related to fire as phoenixes or dragons that lived in the kingdom or outside would obey their commands when ordered to. It was a gift given by blood, royal blood.

And the young prince didn’t have it.

Powers weren’t expected to start revealing themselves until the young heir was already five or six years old. It could even be delayed a bit more, but usually by the age of ten, every single one of the princes and princesses born under the name of the fire had already developed their power. But that wasn’t the case of Chanyeol.

He was a tall and good-looking young man of seventeen, and a prince many kingdoms would die to have as their heir, but there wasn’t a single drop of magic in him. He could not control fire, nor create it and although he was good at handling magical creatures, it was in no way the same as to be able to control them by magic. He couldn’t make his own phoenix, the same one that was born the same day he had been, obey him more than a domesticated eagle would obey his trainer.

At first, the people of the kingdom had claimed that the Queen had been unfaithful and deemed Chanyeol an illegitimate child, a bastard. Nevertheless, the Queen defended her good name and the King stood right beside her, stating that there was no way the Queen had laid with a different man other than himself. They claimed that a sorceress had made a prophecy about Chanyeol; the heir’s power was predicted to be so great that, unless he found his soulmate and became one with him, the power would be not awaken to avoid disaster.

But said sorceress was nowhere to be found when the murmurs and whispers about Chanyeol started. Messengers and knights were sent to search for her, they searched until the very ends of the known world for her, but their search was fruitless and they came back after years with their bare hands. People then started to call Chanyeol ‘faulty’ behind his back but, in a kingdom like that, the news soon reached the castle and its inhabitants.

So that left Chanyeol with nothing but the love of his parents and the distaste of the Kingdom, secluded behind the walls of the castle that gave him protection from those who wanted to harm him. This created a feeling of uneasiness in the young prince, feeling that he was nothing but a burden to his parents, even though they had never said anything of the such and loved him dearly.

So when the King and Queen announced a ball to celebrate the coming of age of their son, inviting only a handful of very selected guests, Chanyeol was in ecstasy. He could finally socialise with people, he could meet people of his age according to the guests that had already accepted the invitation and he was really looking forward to it. Even more, prince Baekhyun from the Light Kingdom was said to be coming and, since he was the most acclaimed and famous prince of the Kingdom Union, Chanyeol couldn’t avoid but feel his coming of age party was going to be a huge event.

The day of the party arrived earlier but still later than Chanyeol would have wanted it to. Even though snow storms had been recurrent on the previous days, it had stopped right before his party, and so the day dawned in perfect, balmy even weather. Chanyeol woke up, revising mentally all the rules of protocol and trying to remember the speech one of the royal scribes had written for him. He had conveyed to his parents his desire of writing his own speech but, as he was going to be the centre of attention, they didn’t judge the decision sensible. He would have time to write his own speeches in the future, they said.

Chanyeol had merely nodded, but his insides were churning. He knew people thought him to be too protected and to be useless, and he at least wanted to prove his worth writing his speech. In the end, he couldn’t even do that.

Guests had already arrived some days prior, but still carriages after carriages were leaving important and glamorous people at the front gates of the castle. Chanyeol looked at all of them gather on the main hall, waiting for him and his speech and felt his mouth going dry. He looked around and thought that he was going to be sick, but his parents appeared and patted him lovingly on the back, wishing him good luck before stepping down the staircase to announce his entrance.

It was all over quicker than he had thought. The speech was perfect, even though he felt like he was an automat when saying it, since those weren’t his words; but he made no mistakes and was applauded when leading their selected guests to the dining hall.

Then the party started. Loads of appetizers were brought to the ball hall, a dozen or so of servants making sure everyone was attended and had enough to eat. Chanyeol suddenly had the horrible feeling that he didn’t belong in there. Everybody knew other people, they were all talking together and enjoying their time while he was there, awkwardly standing next to a column, fidgeting with the hem of his luxury jacket and trying not to listen to his inner voice and run for it.

Thinking that maybe a bit of fresh air would help his nerves, he headed to the balcony, went downstairs and walked into the well-kept garden, breathing slowly and trying to calm his nerves. He walked a bit around, he always liked to see the flowers the royal gardener grew there, they were like small, mute friends Chanyeol could rely on at anytime. He was, however, surprised by seeing some Snowflowers or Galanthus fighting their way up a snowy patch under a bush. It was most unusual, since these flowers usually decorated the sight in January or February, but certainly not by the end of November. Intrigued, Chanyeol walked up to them and crouched, touching ever so slightly and smiling.

‘Do you also feel out of place?’ he murmured to the tiny white flowers.

A crack sounding behind his back made him stood up very fast, turning to see what had caused the noise. His breath clutched at his throat, his palms began to sweat slightly as he looked right into Prince Baekhyun’s eyes. He was instantly mesmerized by his appearance, blond hair glowing even under the moonlight, fair skin and facial features that were the cause of jealousy even between females. He had a distinct aura of elegance and beauty surrounding him, even his movements were precise and careful. The Fire Prince felt an instant attraction to him, something that he could not explain, for the other was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

‘Hello,’ the young heir tried, fighting internally to look as normal as possible while smiling. The blond seemed to hesitate before answering.

‘Hello. Are you Prince Chanyeol?’ he asked, sharply.

Chanyeol’s smile faded a bit. ‘Ah, yes, I am. You are Prince Baekhyun, aren’t you? You are famous for your good looks.’

Baekhyun smiled, but his smile was as cold as the snow the Snowdrops grew through. ‘And I guess that’s all it is about me.’

Chanyeol blinked, surprised. ‘I didn’t mean…’

‘No one never means anything,’ cut the shorter, but he sounded more tired than angry, ‘but no one ever means something else. Not that I expected more from you, anyway.’

The brunet was very confused about this. What was the shorter trying to say? Then it hit him. Prince Baekhyun, like everyone else in the whole Kingdom Union, thought he was worthless and a shame, that he could not understand how things worked or how to behave properly because of his lack of powers. Chanyeol was used to this, to people judging him before even meeting him in person, but somehow, the Light Prince’s rejection hurt him more than others’.

It hurt a lot.

‘Prince Chanyeol, sir,’ the voice of a servant coming at them made his train of thought stop. ‘The Queen is looking for you, your Highness. She said you must return inside immediately.’

‘Tell her I will go inside now, thank you,’ he said politely to the messenger, which made Baekhyun raise his brows unnoticeably while the servant made his way back to the hall. Chanyeol was polite even to the ones he was suppose to treat as inferior. ‘Well… Goodbye,’ he said, turning to the shorter and bowing to the exact point the protocol said he should. ‘I hope to see you again.’

And he left, leaving Prince Baekhyun and his inner turmoil behind.

The Queen, turned out, was looking for him to introduce him to Prince Sehun from the Wind Kingdom. He was a couple of years younger than Chanyeol, but he had in no way the appearance of someone who thinks himself superior. In fact, the young Prince was eager to meet Chanyeol, and practically absorbed him during the rest of the night, talking nonsense about his older brother and making Chanyeol laugh. He realised, after a three hour span, that he might have made his very first friend.

‘I swear, most of the time he looks like he has a stick up his…’ Sehun was telling him, but was abruptly cut by someone else.

‘Sehun, I hardly believe that Seyong would like to know what are you telling Prince Chanyeol about him,’ said a calm voice, making Sehun turn around and smile brightly, as if he hadn’t been just told off.

‘Junmyeon, how nice of you,’ he said, beckoning the other man to sit with them. ‘Chanyeol, this is Prince Junmyeon from the Water Kingdom.’

‘My pleasure,’ said Chanyeol, quickly raising up to bow adequately to Junmyeon, but he only smiled and shook his hand dismissively.

‘No need to be so uptight,’ he kindly said, sitting next to Sehun. ‘I also wanted to meet my contrary.’

‘Excuse me?’ Chanyeol asked, slightly confused. Junmyeon smiled.

‘Yes, Fire and Water are opposites, right?’ the handsome prince stated, making Chanyeol go slightly pink and nod. ‘I wait for the day your powers reveal themselves, we have to fight against each other.’

It was common for the heirs of the Kingdoms to fight against themselves in public shows, to display their powers and abilities to entertain their subjects and other nobles from the different Kingdoms. Princes who participated were highly thought of, and it was a must-see between the high classes of the Union. Junmyeon saying that he wanted to fight against Chanyeol not only meant he believed what his parents have said about the sorceress, but that he believed his powers were going to be worth of testing in a fight. It pleased and flattered him both at the same time, so he couldn’t avoid smiling and nodding vigorously at his words.

‘Please wait for it, Prince Junmyeon,’ he smiled brightly, causing the other two males to smile softly.

The night went by, the three men chattering animatedly until something caught Chanyeol’s eye. He turned his head and saw Prince Baekhyun glaring at them, his stare so piercing Chanyeol felt almost like some kind of spear was shot across his chest. They looked at each other without breaking the contact, until an elderly man, presumably one of the noblemen his own parents had invited to the feast, talked to the prince of the Light Kingdom and he was forced to look away from the Fire Prince.

‘Prince Baekhyun…’ he said aloud without realising.

‘Oh, interested on him, Prince Chanyeol?’ said Junmyeon, amused.

‘Oh, no, no, it’s just…’ he looked at Baekhyun again, still talking with the old man. ‘He is really mysterious.’

‘Indeed,’ agreed Junmyeon, nodding slightly.

‘He seems really uptight,’ frowned Sehun, looking at him. ‘He always looks so superior and better than the rest.’

‘Sehun,’ the oldest of the three princes warned him.

But Chanyeol wasn’t listening anymore. It was true that he thought that Baekhyun, as everyone else did, thought poorly of him. But Baekhyun didn’t have the feeling of someone that felt superior to others. In fact, in that garden Chanyeol thought he just seemed… lonely.

‘Chanyeol, fireworks, look!’ Sehun exclaimed, excited.

‘Ah, yes, that marks the end of the feast,’ he explained, and went outside with them to see the amazing display of colours and sound outside.

He could see Baekhyun looking at them too, but the shorter felt eyes on him and looked right into his eyes, making him blush and look away again at the fireworks.

Yes. Baekhyun, he thought, was really lonely.

-------

Years passed by.

As the King and Queen saw it wasn’t dangerous to open the gates of their castle to celebrate parties for Chanyeol’s birthdays, they kept on doing it during the following years. But it wasn’t as easy to let the young prince out.

Rumours spread like disease in the Kingdom. Someone wanted to kill the young heir to claim the throne to themselves. The King and Queen could protect their son as long as he was under their roof, but they couldn’t do so when he was travelling abroad. Because of that, it was decided that Chanyeol would not leave the castle, less to say the kingdom.

It wasn’t as bad as he have thought, Chanyeol often said to himself. He could go out to the private forest of the castle to take long walks, or get into the garden to appreciate the beauty of nature at its best. His friends, prince Sehun and prince Junmyeon, also came from time to time to visit him, when their fairly more busy agendas let them.

But Chanyeol was fooling himself, and he knew it. In no way staying inside was the same as going out. He couldn’t go out of the boundaries of the castle’s walls, his friends could only visit him sometimes, he even missed Sehun’s coming of age party. But the Fire Kingdom was settled in one extreme of the broad land all the kingdoms possessed, so he would have had to travel a long distance, taking a risk none of his parents was prepared to bear.

His birthdays were like fresh air for him. With the passing of the years, he had started to know almost everyone of the guests, and was able to talk comfortably with most of them. He really didn’t like Count Changmin, a relative whose eyes spoke all the cold indifference he had for Chanyeol while his lips pursed in a sort of wicked smile. Chanyeol had to talk with everyone, even more if it was his relative and the Count of his own Kingdom, but he couldn’t say he was completely comfortable.

And there also was Prince Baekhyun.

Even though they weren’t exactly on good terms when his first party finished, he kept coming to his birthdays every year without even missing one. They greeted themselves, and exchanged some words of courtesy every time, but nothing more, nothing less. He still had that piercing look Chanyeol feared, and the Fire Prince, although taller and better built than the other, didn’t dare to approach him to talk.

He did admire him from afar, though. He liked to see how the Light Prince changed from year to year. How his shoulders broadened. How he became slightly taller, although not as tall as Chanyeol. How his hair was lighter now than then, a soft honey blond shade that made his features stand out even more. How his eyelashes casted beautiful shadows on his cheeks when his gaze was low. But his eyes didn’t change, those eyes that pierced Chanyeol until his very soul, and so, the tall prince never talked to him more than it was necessary.

‘But you like him, though,’ Sehun had said one time he was there visiting him with Junmyeon. ‘You pay a lot of attention to him, you ask us for news about him… You are in love, Chanyeol.’

‘Sehun, you are indeed tactless,’ Junmyeon had sighed, but turning to Chanyeol he had added. ‘He is right, though, Chanyeol. You seem to have developed feelings for Baekhyun, even without talking to him.’

‘I don’t have feelings for Baekhyun,’ Chanyeol had blushed furiously trying to defend himself. ‘I just think he’s… interesting, so to speak.’

‘It’s good with us, Chanyeol,’ Sehun had patted his back. ‘It’s Baekhyun who seems to be less enthusiastic with your interest.’

Yes, Baekhyun still looked at him with the very same eyes as the first day. Chanyeol knew he still thought that he was an ignoble prince, unworthy of his position as heir for his lack of powers.

Maybe that was why it came as a surprise to see that the Light Prince had arrived three days in advance to his birthday. The announcement came as sudden for him as for his parents, who quickly motioned him to follow them downstairs to receive their honourable guest.

‘I’m sorry to intrude like this,’ he apologized, bowing deeply. ‘But I had affairs to manage in the Water Kingdom which took longer than expected, and it was easier for me to come here directly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to attend the party.’

‘Oh, there is absolutely no problem with that, prince Baekhyun,’ smiled the Queen, motioning him to enter the castle.

The shorter’s eyes dashed to meet Chanyeol’s for a second before he followed the sovereigns inside, to a guest room very near to the heir’s own one. It made him giddy, thinking that prince Baekhyun was just a few metres away from him, crossing at the end of an almost always deserted corridor.

The heir decided to take a walk in the royal gardens to freshen his mind. On his way, he passed several servants who were starting to put up decorations and clean for the party that was due in three days time. He sneaked to the gardens without being seen by his visitor and sighed when he reached the outside.

The air was cold, the sun had set but there still was a soft light lingering in the horizon. As he walked, through the snow-clean paths, he noticed a bush under which some Snowdrops were elegantly rising. Chanyeol smiled as he approached it, kneeling to softly touch the white petals. A gust of wind made him shiver, regretting now not having taken any coat.

‘You will fall ill if you don’t go inside.’

The Fire Prince jumped on the spot and stood up, meeting his gaze with the one of the Light Prince, who was standing right next to him.

‘I won’t,’ he replied softly. ‘Heirs of Fire don’t catch colds.’

‘But you don’t have any powers yet. Will you be okay?’

To the taller’s surprise, there wasn’t any hatred or sarcastic tone in the other’s voice. He seemed genuinely worried about his health, which took Chanyeol by surprise and made his heart thump loudly inside his chest. Also, that ‘yet’ meant that he believed, much like the heir’s own friends, that he would develop his powers eventualy.

‘I will, even if my powers are asleep, fire runs through my veins,’ he paused for a second before talking again. ‘I thought you hated me,’ he couldn’t avoid saying, making Baekhyun smile softly.

‘I never did,’ he said softly, somehow regrettably, ‘although I had to admit that, at first, I thought you were like everybody else.’

‘What do you mean?’

The blond smiled bitterly and shook his head. ‘Everybody just cares about how good I look and how well I do things,’ he explained. ‘Even my parents want to choose me as their heir, despite having an older brother who is very fit and capable. He hates me now.’

Baekhyun averted his gaze, biting softly his lower lip and trying not to lose his composure. Following an impulse, Chanyeol closed the distance and put a hand quietly on the smaller’s chin, using his thumb to softly free his lower lip. It felt funny, touching the shorter, as if his skin tickled for being in contact with the one of the other prince. Something was igniting inside him, but he chose to ignore that feeling for the time being and concentrate in making the other feel better.

‘It is not your fault, Baekhyun,’ he whispered, making the other smile shyly.

‘Is it not? I feel like everyone’s lives would be easier without me around.’

The taller shook his head, making dark locks wave around in the air, and thought deeply for a moment. Then, he took a step back and motioned the other prince to look at their feet.

‘Look at this Snowdrop,’ he said. ‘It blooms early every year. It’s the only one that does, but that doesn’t mean the flowers aren’t beautiful or that it shouldn’t exist,’ he paused, trying to convey his message the best he could. ‘This plant is special. The gardener hates it because it needs special attention, and wanted to uproot it. But I didn’t let him do that.’

‘Why?’ the taller smiled.

‘Because for me, this plant is special. It makes me smile, it makes my heart flutter. In a way, I feel like we are connected because we are both out of place. I see its beauty and I’m sure the Snowdrop also sees good in me.’

A comfortable silence fell upon them. Baekhyun was smiling as though he knew that in the end, the dark-haired man wasn’t talking about the Snowdrop anymore, but about someone else.

‘I think,’ the shorter started after a while, ‘I owe you an apology.’

‘You don’t owe me anything,’ the heir to the Fire Kingdom replied. ‘I thought you hated me, so we can say we are even?’

The blond chuckled adorably and looked up at him, the smile still lingering in his lips.

‘We should go inside or I’ll catch a cold,’ he announced. ‘I do catch colds, Fire Prince.’

Chanyeol’s insides churned warmly at the name, as if it was the way the shorter had to acknowledge him. He returned the smile and nodded, leading the way back inside while the dusk made way for the night. Once inside, they kept chatting, slowly discovering the things they had missed about each other in all those years of misunderstandings and fixed glances.

Somehow, they had both had the wrong first impression about the other. For Chanyeol, he thought that the other thought poorly of him, deeming him unworthy and faulty. For Baekhyun, he thought the taller just saw him as an object, as some kind of perfect entity as everybody else did, not worrying about his feelings.

But also, both of them had kept an eye on the other, watching them from afar and trying to understand what the other felt or how they were, thus creating a sort of bond that inevitably linked them together, as if tied with an invisible rope. The bond, which was weak when they first talked, had grown stronger even if it was just a single strand which was uniting them. Talking, they discovered this bond, their mutual interest that hadn’t faded with the years but much on the contrary, had increased greatly. The Fire Prince could felt his heart thumping in his chest, elated for having at last solved all misunderstandings.

But there was this moment, just when they were about to return to their rooms after the long hours spent together, when one of the maids almost ran into the Light Prince without noticing, due to the large pile of linen sheets she was carrying.

The brunet grabbed the shorter’s arm and pulled, back colliding with chest while embracing him, and then it happened.

A spark.

The maid passed without even looking at them, but they couldn’t stop looking at each other. It was the first time they had touched each other and it had ignited something inside Chanyeol and, for the look on his eyes, also in Baekhyun. That feeling the heir had had when he touched the shorter’s skin earlier had exploded now, burning inside his chest and travelling fast through his veins, a powerful feeling that suffocated him with its strength but that, at the same time, felt completely right.

They said nothing, words were of little worth for them in that moment. The taller let go, instantly feeling as if he was missing a part of himself. The Light Prince opened his mouth, but no sound came so he his lips, nervous like the other hadn’t ever seen him before, and clasped his hands together prior to finally speak.

‘I think I will go to bed now,’ he announced. Chanyeol nodded and the shorter turned to get into his room, but something retained him and he turned again slightly to look at the other prince. ‘Chanyeol?’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m sure the Snowdrop also likes you.’

And with a soft smile adorning his face, he got into the room and closed the door.

Later in his room, looking at the same hand that had grabbed Baekhyun, the Fire Prince smiled. Finally, the Snowdrop also liked him.