The moon shone brightly, accompanied by a few stars that twinkled across the night sky. Moonlight reflected upon the royal azalea flowers that Taekwoon was admiring. Did Hakyeon not remember who he was? How was he going to convince Hakyeon to open up to him?

A million questions ran through his mind but he was cut off by a familiar voice. Taekwoon turned to his right, whistling to signal his presence.

"Oh, Leo, hello!"

Taekwoon smiled and gave his friend a tight hug. "Wonshik, how are things?"

The younger male pulled away from the hug and sighed. Taekwoon could probably guess that things weren't going as well for Wonshik. He sat down and patted the space beside him for Wonshik to sit.

A few years ago, when Taekwoon Father had started ordering slaves, he had sneaked off to find the truck where the slaves were brought in from. To his surprise, he'd found another boy, who seem petrified, back then. It was then when Taekwoon had discovered Wonshik's family had a slave selling business, and Wonshik was to learn the ropes and help his Father with it. Wonshik, however, hated it. He wanted to pursue his dreams of being a musician, not to mention the fact that he couldn't stand seeing the slaves getting tortured.

"Your Father bought more of them. Two for himself, in fact," Wonshik stated nonchalantly.

Taekwoon clicked his tongue in disgust.  "Whatever."

Wonshik laughed and simply shrugged. He sat beside the prince and handed him a few pieces of paper. Taekwoon hummed in response and took them in his hands. He was pleasantly surprised as he analysed the papers.

"Did you compose these yourself? They're great lyrics," Taekwoon complimented Wonshik who was shaking his head.

"Aniya, it's okay I guess... I wrote them secretly," Wonshik flashed Taekwoon a toothy grin that made his Friend laugh.

Taekwoon thanked Wonshik and wished him the best of luck, before making his way back to the room. It was past eleven, an hour before midnight. As silent as possible, Taekwoon unlocked the door and spotted Hakyeon leaning against the edge of his bed, sleeping peacefully. He smiled dearly at Hakyeon who was snoring softly and went to wake him up.

"Hakyeon-ah," Taekwoon whispered, "get up, please."

Hakyeon blinked several times and assessed the situation before realising what he had done.

"L-Leo! I'm sorry, I-I'll sleep outside! I accidentally dozed off...", Hakyeon stuttered out, attempting to reason with Taekwoon.

Of course, Taekwoon wasn't mad. Instead, he held onto Hakyeon's cold hands and helped the boy onto his bed. Hakyeon widened his eyes and felt lost. What was he doing? Before the tanned male knew it, Taekwoon had tucked him in bed, making sure that Hakyeon was warm enough with the blankets.

"It's freezing cold, make sure it's comfy okay? Now, sleep well Hakyeon," Taekwoon said as he switched off the lights.

"T-This isn't my bed, Leo. I can't just sleep here," Hakyeon told Leo as he felt the prince lie beside him.

Taekwoon reached out for Hakyeon and patted his head, as if trying to silence him. He couldn't let Hakyeon sleep outside, it was way too cold. Also, Taekwoon wanted to ensure that Hakyeon was safe with him.

"Goodnight Hakyeon, you deserve a good rest."

Hakyeon felt to tired to argue and gave up. "...Goodnight Leo."

It didn't take very long for Hakyeon to fall asleep again. Taekwoon, on the other hand, had trouble sleeping. He started thinking about his future as the next king in line. The first thing he wanted to do was to ban the slave rule, that was for sure, but then what? Was he going to spend his life planning for their district, participating in endless and boring diplomatic meetings with other rulers? Honestly, it scared the young prince and was afraid of his future ahead. Taekwoon wasn't keen on his royal duties. He wanted to be a musician and singer too, alongside Wonshik and most definitely, he didn't want any sort of arranged marriage.

Suddenly, he felt a warm arm across his waist. Taekwoon smiled to himself as he felt Hakyeon snuggle closer to him. He laughed and almost instantly, he felt his troubles and worries vanish. It was like Hakyeon had managed to calm his anxious and troubled mind. How cute. If only he remembered how we'd met... Taekwoon thought, as he pulled Hakyeon closer to him.