When Jongin arrived outside of Kyungsoo's door, it was closed as he had expected, but more than that, there was a guard standing in front of it. Jongin told the man to please open the door, but the tall one didn't even step aside.

“Prince Do instructed me to not let anyone bother him tonight” he announced, firm but unsure. He was defying the king, after all.

“Oh? So now I'm a bother to my own fiancé?” he asked with a glare.

“Not at all, your majesty, I'm just following his ord–” the guard was cut off by the sound of the double doors opening behind his back, revealing the mess that was Do Kyungsoo, all red eyes and tousled hair, clear signs that he had been crying in bed.

“Leave it, his orders have more weight than mine after all” he told the guard in a monotone, eyes refusing to look in Jongin's way.

“As you wish, my king” the guard said, surprising the other two. Kyungsoo smiled sadly.

“I'm not your king” he corrected, raising his hand to stop the other from disagreeing “Neither will I be after the wedding next week. Never disobey your true king for my sake, you don't know when you'll catch him on a bad mood, I don't want you on the line for me” he spoke softly, looking only at the guard as if Jongin weren't there “Loyalty is what truly makes a kingdom, when we all compromise under the same goal is when we are at our strongest. Never forget where your loyalty lies” he advised, but the guard shook his head no, shocking him.

“My loyalty isn't to my king, it is to the kingdom. I exist to serve and protect our people, your sacrifice will ensure peace for the years to come, so I'm loyal to you, my king” he pledged. Kyungsoo looked at him with wide eyes, as did Jongin, then the shorter one let out a soft giggle.

“Did you just call my marriage to your ruler a sacrifice?” he asked in amusement which made the other stutter in a rush to apologize for his indiscretion “You're a good man, I'll be sure to remember your name”

“It's Hongbin, my king” the man introduced with a short bow.

“Kyungsoo, get inside” Jongin interrupted, tired of being an invisible witness to the interaction. Their words may have been innocently neutral, but the proximity at which they stood, the hushed tones they were using and the long duration of their eye contact was bothering him a great deal.

“As you wish, your majesty” Kyungsoo said, looking at him with no expression on his face.

“I'll stay here” Hongbin told him before he could close the door after Jongin had stepped in “I'm not leaving your side when the king is in a bad mood” he insisted, using Kyungsoo's own words, leaving no room for argument. Kyungsoo smiled softly at the taller man before closing the door slowly.

“What was that?” Jongin asked in a cutting tone once they were both inside and the door was closed.

“I do not understand” Kyungsoo spoke very softly with a tilt of his head, standing with his hands clasped together in front of him, a common stance of submission that pricked at Jongin’s guilty conscience.

“Don’t do that” he ordered.

“Don’t do what?” the shorter asked, volume still low and words slow, eyes downcast.

“Don’t stand like that, don’t talk like that, don’t look at me like that!” Jongin snapped “Don’t act like you respect me, like you fear me, like you’re beneath me” he spoke through gritted teeth. Never before had he seen Kyungsoo so submissive, he was always the boy that stood as his equal, the one who spoke to him informally, who used his first name, who treated him with comfort and offered his unadulterated friendship. The Kyungsoo he knows and loves stands at his side, not beneath him “Because you’re not, you never have and never will be my inferior, I’m sorry I let my rage cloud my judgment but please understand, I’m confident in the decisions I’ve made but some people question my methods, now more than ever I need to show myself as a dependable ruler and your show of disobedience was something that the severe ruler I’m expected to be, simply couldn’t allow” he tried to explain “I let my own insecurities drive me to the edge and ended up exploiting yours, but trust me, I didn’t mean a single one of those words and I deeply regret hurting you” he apologized with his head bowed.

“So, you’ll take it back? he probed unsurely “you’ll treat me as a king when we get married, like your equal?”

“Yes, of course, Kyungsoo, always” he swore with seriousness “I promise”

Slowly, a genuine smile stretched the shorter’s plush lips into the shape of a heart, which made the taller sigh in relief and smile just as widely.

“Well, now that we’ve settled it , you can leave now” he cut off casually, surprising the monarch.

“Are you still upset?” he asked, worried.

“Not at all, but it is late, this is my room and we aren’t married yet, you need to leave before the maids start to whisper” he explained, which caused the other to blush at the implications. He left, but not before giving the guard at the door a warning look.