A/N This is pretty much going to be a prologue. During this part of the story everyone is very young. Youngjae is 6 years old, Jiho is 8, and Daehyun is 7. Thank You So Much For even reading this Note! I will do my best.

Knock Knock….knock. Knock…KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

                “Youngjae-ssi.” Someone whined from behind the door. I woke up from a nice sleep and lazily walked to the drift wooded door. “Jiho-ah~. What are you doing here? So late too!” I whined opening the door. “Exactly!” he smiled excitedly. I just looked at him, not saying a word. “The guards aren’t out tonight.” He whispered. My eyes widened. “You know what that means.” He smiled. I quickly nodded. “Hold on I told him. I quickly ran to my sleeping mother. “Mommy…I’m going out…I’ll be back.” I whispered in her ear. “Mmm…be safe.” She said softly still in her sleep. “Okay.” I said and left with Jiho.

                “Where are the others?” I asked him. “They all bailed. They were too scared.” “Oh.” Was all I could say. He just laughed. “What?” I asked him. “Are you scared?” he questioned. I shook my head, “No. I’m not scared of anything, because I’m smart.” I told him. “Yup! You’re the smartest 6 year old in the whole village. You’re smarter than me and I’m 2 years older than you.” He laughed.

                We ventured our way out of the village all the way to the small hill that hovered above the river, surrounded by many trees. This was the place that we always met at, whenever the guards weren’t around. It was where we could have fun, be ourselves, without getting in trouble. Nobody knows about the place except for the 8 of us, Me, Jiho, Minhyuk, Jihoon, Ukwon, Kyung, and Taeil.

                We live in a pretty large village ran by the Jung Kingdom. It’s a very profitable kingdom, but we village people are treated like animals, not even like pets. We’re forced to do all of the labor with barely any pay. Guards surround us every day to torture us, keeping us “in check”. But I’m not going to live like that.

                I’m not going to be treated like an animal by those stupid, fat, lazy people. I’m smarter than all of them, and I’m only 6.

                We climbed up the hill and sat on the overhanging ledge above the river. Jiho took a rock and threw it into the river. It just plopped in. “Ugh! I can’t ever do it right.” He remarked. I giggled a little and picked up a rock. “You hold it like this.” I instructed him. “And then you flick it with your thumb this way, like this.” I flicked the rock and it skitted perfectly across the water. He tried it but failed. We did it over and over again, but there was no progress. I think he got worse instead.

                “Aish. Youngjae you’re too good. I can’t do it. It’s too hard.” Jiho said giving up. “Awe. Don’t give up, or else you won’t ever get better.” I told him. He sat down on the ground and looked up at me. “I’m not a fast learner like you. You know that. You’re just teasing me.” He spat. I smirked and sat down next to him. We were silent as we enjoyed the view.

It was a perfect view from here. The trees, the land, the water, the sky. It all looked beautiful. The only thing that was holding it back from its full beauty was the Jung castle.

“That castle really annoys me.” I muttered. Jiho just laughed. “Sometimes I just wish I could just it down. Burn it.” I went on. “You hate the Jung family? The King, Queen, The prince, and princess?” Jiho asked. I nodded. “I hate all of them even the rich people.” I said angrily. “But you haven’t even met them.” He said. “I know if I meet them, I won’t like them.” I said crossing my arms. Jiho only laughed to himself. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” “Yes! Yes I do. They’re cruel people.” I murmured.

We sat there a little longer before deciding that it was time to return home before we got caught. As we headed back, my stomach began to growl. Jiho looked at me and laughed. “Hyung~. You laugh too much.” I complained holding my tummy. “When was the last time you ate?” He asked. “Two days ago.” I answered.  Jiho looked around. “Well, it seems like no one is out tonight.” He noted to himself. “Here. Follow me.” He instructed. I followed him up to a fruit stand.

He grabbed an apple and handed it to me. “Here.” He smiled. “I-Isn’t th-this, stealing? I asked in mere shock. He laughed once more. “No silly. This is my dad’s stand.” He said ruffling my hair. That only made things worse. “Won’t your father know? He’ll surely find out. And he may…he may…” I didn’t dare finish my sentence. “Youngjae. Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing. So stop. It’s going to happen anyway.” He said putting his hand on my shoulder. I weakly nodded holding the apple in both of my hands as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “Plus I can’t let my dongsaeng starve.” He said. “I can go a week without eating. It’s happened before.” I mumbled. “Just eat the apple. I don’t want to get beat for no reason.” He said. I nodded and took a bite out of the apple. It was delicious, juicy, and tasty. Jiho’s dad grew the best fruit in town.

As we walked home some kid ran into me knocking me down.

I groaned in pain rolling over on my side. The kid stumbled getting up, stepping on my legs and stomach. Jiho helped me up. “Are you okay?” he whispered. I nodded as I got to my feet. I stood there and watched the boy. It was hard to see what he looked like because he wore a black cloak, but my guess was that he was 7 years old.

He just stood there. He didn’t even apologize. “What are you?” Jiho asked the kid. But the kid didn’t say anything but kept staring at me, I began to feel uncomfortable and inched closer to Jiho.

-Daehyun’s POV-

I ran up to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I crawled up in my queen-sized bed and snuggled with my only friend. Niko, my teddy bear. I hated this kind of life. Today I had a huge argument with my parents. I’m tired now and all I want to do is rest. “Aren’t 7 year old boys supposed to have fun? Without worrying about image and political stuff?” I asked Niko. Of course the bear didn’t answer. So I took its head and nodded it.

I my back and looked up at the ceiling, the fancy ceiling. Everything was fancy here and it had to be. Our speech, our clothes, furniture, food…EVERYTHING! I just want to have fun. I don’t want to stay in this large palace doing the same routines every day until I get absolutely perfect. Just then an idea came to me. “Niko!” I gasped facing him. “I’m going to run away.” I whispered in his ear.

He just looked at me sadly. “I’ll take you with me.” I smiled. He gave me an even sadder look. “I know. I know.” I sighed. “Fine. I won’t run away.” I assured him. “I’ll just go out for a little bit.” I said getting out of bed, slipping on a dark hooded cloak and dark shoes.

Once it got late enough I walked over to the balcony. I looked back at Niko who stayed on the bed looking at me. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. I’ll get you a souvenir. Okay?” I whispered. “Just don’t tell anyone. Bye!” and with that I climbed down using the vines as a grip. It was more of a struggle than I had thought. I ended up falling down into the bushes. It was a very painful crash landing.

After about a good 15 minutes or so I finally found my way out of the palace area and decided to roam around the area around the wealthy families. I’ve been here before. So I pretty much knew my way around, but I’ve never stepped further from here. Today that was going to change!

But I was kind of scared. I have no idea what this place is like. I’ve only herd rumors. Like that there were thieves in the village. They said it was the most uncivilized place ever, until our guards took over and set them straight. I’ve also heard that long ago the villagers attacked the kingdom and killed the king and turned this place into a living chaos and then one day the prince rose up and took his rightful place on the throne. From then on the villagers paid for what they’ve done.

I held my breath as I entered the new strange world. Surprisingly it was quiet and calm. No one was out at all. Not even the guards. Hmm that’s strange. I walked along the quiet road and observed the place. Everything was raggedy and a mess. Just then I saw a group of 3 men drinking and laughing. They looked pretty scary, so I tried to avoid them and not bother them. I quietly tip-toed away when I tripped over something and it all fell and crashed. The laughing stopped and then I heard footsteps coming my way. I tried to run but I was too late. One of the men yanked me by the arm. It hurt terribly. “Do you know how much that cost boy?” he snarled.

The man looked horrifying, nothing like I’ve ever seen or imagined. He had a ruffed up grimly face with several scars. His breath reeked too. “I-I’m s-sorry.” I apologized sincerely. “Don’t sorry me boy.” He spit in my face. “P-Please l-l-let me g-go.” I begged. “Why are you suddenly stuttering huh? You have the nerve to knock down my bread and butter, but you can’t talk to me? Huh?” He spat throwing me hard down to the ground. I ached in much pain. “I-I-I am s-sorry.” I groaned. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. I’m supposed to supply that to the palace tomorrow morning. Do you know what would happen if I don’t? Of course you do! You love messing things up Jiho! Don’t you?!” He yelled at me.

Jiho? What? “You’re drunk! I-I’m not Jiho.” I told him struggling to stand. “Don’t talk to me that way! What have I told you about lying?!” He yelled he swung his fists at me, but I dodged them. He looked shocked and even angrier. He swung a few more times but each time I perfectly dodged his swings. “You’re getting it boy!” He screamed in fury. I quickly ran away and he began chasing me. This Jiho person must be really bad.

I felt like I was running for my life. I had no idea where I was going and it was dark! Suddenly I bumped into someone. The person groaned in pain. Oh no! What if he tries to attack me too?! And that man is still chasing after me. I stumbled in fear getting up. The person groaned even more in pain. I couldn’t think. I felt bad and extremely scared at the same time. I looked at them and saw that they were both kids! They looked about my age too! The boy standing helped his friend up. “Are you okay?” his friend whispered. The hurt boy nodded weakly.

When the boy stood up I was suddenly taken aback, but by what? This was a very strange feeling that I have never ever felt before. I didn’t know how to describe it, I don’t even know what kind of feeling this was, but god was he beautiful. He had a perfect soft little face and- “What are you?” I heard someone say, but I wasn’t listening. I just kept staring at the other boy. He looked a bit uncomfortable, I blushed in embarrassment. I noticed him scoot closer to the other boy, and I felt a burning sensation inside of me at that, I didn’t know what this feeling was either. But I didn’t like this one at all, I liked the other one. “WHAT ARE YOU?!” The other boy yelled this time. “Jiho… Shhhh~” The lovely boy calmed him. “Yah!” the boy snapped calming down a bit. That’s when I snapped out of it. “Oh-Oh, uh. I’m I’m terribly lost and I-I’m being chased by a very a-a-angry m-man.” I sputtered feeling even more embarrassed the more I spoke.

-Youngjae’s POV-

“P-Please help m-me.” The boy begged. Actually, I felt pity for him. That was a first. I never felt pity for strangers, which kind of made me want to help him. Jiho looked at me and I looked back at him and shrugged. He sighed and looked back at the boy. “Who is-.” “BOY!! YOU BETTER PREPARE YOUSELF! I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU LIKE NEVER BEFORE!” Jiho was cut off by screaming. The two of us recognized the voice. It was Jiho’s father. I looked at Jiho fearfully (for him). Jiho looked down and sighed, “He’s drunk. There’s no way we can stop him…when he’s drunk.” He said.

The boy was shaking. “Go. I’ll stay back here. You take him somewhere.” Jiho ordered. “No!” I demanded. “This is serious. He’s drunk. So he’ll get you too, thinking you’re me. Go. Now!” he ordered taking a step away from me. “You’ll get killed.” I said hanging onto his arm. “You’re very smart and you are right about everything. But I won’t die. I promise…I’ll meet you…” He smiled uneasily. “Jiho-ah!” I begged, but he pushed me away. “GO!” He yelled. I stumbled back struggling to keep myself from falling. I saw Jiho’s father getting closer…faster…faster. I looked at the pitiful boy and sighed. “Let’s go.” I ordered, running off and he immediately followed.

I led us to an abandoned shed, I knew this is where Jiho would meet us. Nobody else knows this, but I know that Jiho always comes here after he gets beat.

We waited inside the shed quietly. I looked around the shed. There were many blood stains. “Wh-What’s your name?” The pitiful boy asked breaking the silence. I just looked at him…not saying anything. He backed away and hung his head down. “S-Sorry.” He apologized. I ignored him and anticipated Jiho’s arrival. “H-How old are y-you?” the boy tried again breaking the silence. “6.” I simply answered.

“Whoa! Really? I-I’m 7!” He said in awe. “Just like I guessed.” I said knowing that he would be amazed. And as always I was right. “Wow! You know my age, and-and you don’t even know who I am.” He said in awe. “Wait. Do you know who I am?” he questioned. I shook my head. “Awe! You’re amazing.” He burst. I did a slight nod.

There was another moment of silence for a few more minutes. “Th-Thank you for saving me back there…” He said once more breaking the peaceful silence. I sighed in annoyance. “Th-That m-man…is really scary.” He went on. “I know.” I said. “Y-You’re friend who stayed behind is…very b-brave.” He added. “That’s because that man is my friend’s father.” I told him. “I-Is he J-Jiho?” the boy asked.

I nodded. The boy gasped. “The man called me Jiho!” He said a bit shocked. “Yes. When he is drunk he calls anyone who angers him Jiho, assuming that they are him.” I explained. “Why? Is Jiho perhaps…a bad kid?” he asked in a hushed tone. I felt offended by this question. Everyone thinks that Jiho will become a bad person because of his father. That’s not true! They don’t know him! “No!” I snapped. “Jiho is a great person! He’s really nice and funny! It’s just his dad! You don’t know him so don’t be so quick to judge!” I spat angrily. The boy sulked to the ground and spoke no more.

“Sorry.” He whispered. I felt really bad now. But why? Why for him? I don’t even know him. Jiho is the one getting beat because of him. “N-No. I-“ before I could apolozie for snapping like tthat the door viciously burst opened and Jiho fell to the ground gasping for air while coughing at the same time. The boy looked was frightened. I was frightened too.

I knelt down besides Jiho and turned him on his side. There were fresh cuts and bruises all over his face. He was bleeding everywhere. “H-He also found out about…the-the…a-a-apple y-y-you d-dropped.” He smiled struggling to speak.

This was also because of me! I wanted to cry…I tried so hard to hold back my tears, but I didn’t try hard enough. I never cry.

“Jiho-ah~!!! I’m-I’m s-sorry.” I cried. “Ah! Youngjae…stop crying.” Jiho said annoyed once he was able to talk properly again (which was about 30 minutes later). Jiho slowly sat up n pain and looked at the unkown boy who had his head in his knees. Jiho reached over and patted his head. Don’t cry. Don’t feel bad. None of this is your fault. Okay? I was going to get a beating anyway.” Jiho said in a soothing tone. The boy slowly raised his head. What? I got on my knees and gave Jiho a little shove. “What are you telling him? It’s his fault too!” I began. “Youngjae…” Jiho said. “Look at you! He got your dad mad while he was drunk!” I said angrily.

“He didn’t know.” Jiho said calmly. “He is no good! He thought that the reason your father beats you is because you’re bad!” I yelled. Tears began to form in my eyes again. “He…didn’t know…” Jiho said softer. “It’s all his fau-.” “HE DIDN’T KNOW!”  Jiho yelled pushing me back and I fell backwards onto the ground. “You’re hurting him Youngjae. He doesn’t know. So I’m not mad at him. This is no one’s fault, except for my dad’s.” He said sternly in a lower tone. “Y-You’re a very good person.” I coughed angrily getting up. Jiho ignored me and looked at the boy giving him a warm smile.

-Daehyun’s POV-

Youngjae…was the lovely boy’s name. I felt so warm being with him…alone. When he cried I wanted to hug his tiny body. But now it felt cold being around him. Youngjae’s words hurt me. They hurt me terribly. How can such hurtful words come from a perfect person like Youngjae who was beautiful and smart. He must hate me so much right now.

Jiho gave me a warm smile. Youngjae looked away in mere disgust. “We’ll help you get home.” Jiho offered.

I don’t know why, but I was stunned. “R-Really? Y-You’ll h-help m-me?” I stumbled on my words. Jiho laughed. He had a strange, interesting kind of laugh. “Of course. Villagers help villagers. We don’t have that much power, we’re pretty much helpless peasants. So we have to look out for each other.” He said. “Just some people though! Only with people we trust.” Youngjae spat. Jiho rolled his eyes and put his hand on my shoulder. “We trust you.” He said warmly. “We? Speak for yourself.” Youngje sputtered under his breath.

I lowered my gaze. The most perfect person hates me and I’m not a villager. What would they think of me if I told them who I was? Maybe I shouldn’t tell them. But my father will send guards out to find me, then they’ll find out I was lying about my identity then they’ll never want to see me! “Are you okay?” Jiho asked. But if I tell them now they’ll send me away and never accept me. I really like them, the lovely boy especially…and I’m thankful for Jiho’s kindness. I should reward them.

“I have something to tell you.” I spoke softly. I looked up at them. “I-I-I am Daehyun…” I announced not sounding as proud as I hoped to. Jiho’s eyes widened. That’s when Youngjae looked at me. “You mean? Jung Daehyun? The-the prince?” Jiho asked in disbelief. I nodded and added, “The only prince of the Jung Kingdom.” Jiho removed his hand off my shoulder standing up backing away from me. Youngjae narrowed his eyes at me as if he now officially hated me.

A/N: Thank you for giving me a chance by reading this far! I sincerely appreciate it! I've written several stories before but I've never posted before. So I am kind of nervous. But I'm hoping this turns out great!

P.S. The chapters will end up being waaaaay longer in the future but I made this one shorter because I didn't want to bore anyone. Thanks again!