Going through a brand new rack of clothes had never felt so tedious before.

It's been almost two months since they came back to the palace after two weeks of honeymoon and Baekhyun can't still get used to the feeling of being, once again, locked up in the luxurious cage that is the palace; is not that he completely hates it, it's his life and one way or another he has to cope with it, but he does misses greatly the feeling of freedom: of being able to wake up at any hour of the day, eat whenever he felt like it, not having to be chased around all day and most importantly, of being intimate with his husband without the uncomfortable hunch of being watched all the time. Baekhyun misses making love with Chanyeol without a care in the world; being as loud as he wants has become just another fantasy.

Baekhyun puffs his cheeks and releases a long huff of air, feeling heavy and all kinds of disgusting. He has been having trouble sleeping at night, even with Chanyeol's attempts at soothing him by whispering anything he can come to mind in his ear, just how Baekhyun likes it. His hair is greasy and damp, still not understanding how is that he's sweating buckets when Chanyeol has one of his hoodies on and calls him a broken thermometer because it's freezing inside their bedroom. The queasiness in his stomach doesn't make it any better.

"What do you think about─ Baek?" Chanyeol stops mid-sentence, frowning with worry when he catches sight of a very pale-looking Baekhyun standing near the rack, supporting his weight on the metallic structure and breathing heavily through his nose. He discards the ties he had chosen to try on over the bed and walks closer to the younger prince. "Hey, are you okay?" Chanyeol asks him, slightly alarmed as he bends forward a little to be at his husband's eye level.

"Yeah." Baekhyun nods and takes a deep breathe. "Just a little dizzy. I'm─ oh." His hand flies up to cover his mouth. He looks at Chanyeol with wide eyes and before the older can say anything, Baekhyun is sprinting towards the bathroom.

"Baekhyun!" Chanyeol follows, only stopping by the bathroom door, terrified as he sees his husband kneeling over the toilet, emptying his stomach violently. He reacts when another loud retching sound reaches his ears. "Baek?" Chanyeol moves to kneel beside him and places his hand over Baekhyun's back.

"Don't─" The younger sobs, trying to shake off Chanyeol's hand. "Please leave, this is embarrassing." Baekhyun mumbles, once he has the chance to properly speak. He sits down and leans against the wall, pulling some toilet paper so he can wipe his mouth and tears.

"No." Chanyeol frowns, sitting beside him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know─" Another retch threatens to come out. "Must be something I ate for lunch." Baekhyun lets out a tired sigh, all the exhaustion his body has been feeling these past few days finally taking a toll on him.

"We ate the same, love." Chanyeol scoots closer to him, stretching his legs and then reaching out for his husband to remove a few damp locks of hair out of his forehead.

Baekhyun moves his head away, stopping Chanyeol from touching him. "I'm disgusting."

Chanyeol chuckles and ignores the prince's grumbling, he reaches for him again and this time Baekhyun fails on push him away. "Nothing about you is disgusting. Come here." He pulls Baekhyun to him, making him sit in between his legs; although still a little reluctant, Baekhyun leans back against the older's chest and closes his eyes, letting himself go limp in his husband's arm. The warmth feels a little uncomfortable around his already too hot body, but it feels nice to always have Chanyeol and his unconditional support, no matter how sweaty, sticky and stinky he is right now.

"Must be the extra slice of cheesecake I had." Baekhyun mumbles.

Chanyeol quirks an eyebrow, looking down at the prince. "You had an extra slice of cheesecake?" He asks, sounding a little incredulous.

Baekhyun pouts at the accusing tone. "It was so good."

"You don't do well with cheese..." His voice trails off at the glaring gaze Baekhyun is sending at him.

"Forget it." Baekhyun sighs. "I'm fine." He says, starting to get on his feet. Chanyeol quickly moves to help him steady himself.

"Maybe you shouldn't go to the even tonight." Chanyeol offers, still a little worried and keeping a hand placed over the small of Baekhyun's back.

"No. It's fine." Baekhyun shakes his head and swallows the uncomfortable lump in is throat. "I'll ask Jongsoo for some tea. People already has a bad image of me for what happened on the engagement party. Imagine what they're going to say if I don't show up to an event I am hosting." He adds, detaching himself from his husband to go back to the task of picking his clothes for the night. "And besides... I'm an important part of the auction." Baekhyun says, a teasing lilt on his voice.

Chanyeol sits on the bed, closing his arms against his chest and frowning, displeased at the remainder of what's going to take place later on. "I think the idea of auctioning people for a good cause is fantastic, but I still don't like the idea of you auctioning yourself." He grumbles.

"You said it yourself, love." Baekhyun peeks at his husband from over his shoulder, giving him a small smile. "It's for a good cause. And you can place your bid."

"I'm not allowed to." Chanyeol pouts stubbornly, making Baekhyun almost coo at him. "It wouldn't be fair for the rest of the bidders.”

"Well," Baekhyun hangs the shirt he's been checking out back on the rack and walks towards the older to sit next to him. "It's going to be just an afternoon date. A simple lunch and a walk out on the gardens." He says, taking Chanyeol's hand to play with his fingers.

Chanyeol sighs. "It's not that... believe it or not, the Court is full of old erts. I don't want you to be alone with any of them."

"I won't be alone. I'll have Kris with me all the time, if that makes you feel better. Jongsoo, even. Really, you have nothing to worry about." Baekhyun says, bringing the prince's hand up to kiss his knuckles.

Chanyeol nods despite himself. "Yeah, okay. Fine."

"Good. Now," Baekhyun pulls him in for a quick kiss "let's finish getting ready. I have to look good for my future date." He teases as he gets on his feet again.

Chanyeol groans. Why did he even agree to this?

●●●●

The Ballroom is lively with the live band playing a Blues in the background. Baekhyun greets each and every one of his guest with the brightest smile and the most cheerful attitude he can muster even when he still feels a little under the weather, all for the sake of encouraging the noble people to bid their highest numbers and add more than just a few zeros to their checks. He knows more than one royal have their eyes on him, he can feel their piercing gazes on his back and the way Chanyeol grumbles under his breath and pulls him as close as publicly appropriate only confirms it. The older has been particularly clingy since the party started and he had used the excuse of being worried about his health.

"Yeol." Baekhyun mumbles, smiling politely at an old Countess on their way. "If you keep this up, the bidding won't work. People might get scared of you."

"But─"

"Please, relax?"

Chanyeol sighs. "Fine, I'll go find something to drink." He says, subtly squeezing his hip affectionately before going away.

"Finally! I thought he was going to stick at you like a chewed gum all night." Jongin complains, coming to stand by his side.

Baekhyun chuckles. "Give him a break; he's been edgy since earlier today."

"What?" Jongin frowns. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I was just... feeling a little sick, nothing to worry about."

"Are you─"

"How are things going with Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun asks, with all the intentions of divert the topic to another conversation.

Jongin narrows his eyes, but he doesn't push it. He sighs instead and shrugs. "I haven't heard from him since he told me his coronation will be held back until June. I extended an invitation for tonight but he didn't get back to me. I think I'll just... stop. Waiting is starting to feel useless." Jongin voice gets a tad bit lower and he hangs hid head with a saddened expression on his face. Baekhyun instantly regrets even bringing up the topic.

"Hey." Baekhyun mumbles, placing a hand over his back and soothingly rubbing up and down. "It's going to be okay, yes? Just... don't lose hope yet."

"I told you I didn't want to be a part of this." Sooyoung's annoyed voice breaks the moment. Baekhyun looks up, already foreseeing the angry and menacing look on the princess' eyes.

Baekhyun sighs. "Soo, come on! People is willing to bid great money for you."

"Old people, Baekhyun! I don't want to spend an entire afternoon with some old dude trying to feel me up."

"Lower your voice." Baekhyun grits his teeth as he gently pulls the both, Jongin and Sooyoung to a more secluded area. "Listen, no one is going to feel you up. You'll have a guard with you all the time. Jongin is also on the list."

"Yes, but my brother here is voided of all soul." Sooyoung glares at his brother, but the prince is not even listening anymore. "See?" She crosses her arms against her chest.

"Please, I'll do anything you ask me."

"Anything?" Sooyoung narrows her eyes.

Baekhyun hesitates for a moment, already dreading having opened his mouth. "Yes." He breaths out a minute later.

"Alright, then. I'll do it. But I won't settle for less than 5 billion won." She states, proudly looking away.

"You're worth more than that." Baekhyun takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. "Thank you."

….

Chanyeol steps up the makeshift stage at the back of the room, clearing his throat on the mic to get everyone's attention to focus on the front. He gives out a dazzling his smile and greets their guests with warm and encouraging words. Baekhyun watches everything unfold from one side of the stage with his heart beating calmly and a serene expression on his face; he knows his husband is not entirely happy about all this, but he still holds himself together and handles the situation with finesse. After all, they're not doing this for themselves, they're doing it for their country and their people and as the Crown Prince, Chanyeol must show how much the truly cares.

After a few more words and the king's green light to officially begin with the event, the auction gets going. Three Duchesses go first, followed by a Count, a prince and lady from Sooyoung's personal Court; Baekhyun's chest swells with pride at the huge amount of money collected so far and three main attractions are yet to step up.

Jongin is the first one to be called by Chanyeol. Baekhyun notices how the younger prince tries his hardest to keep a smile on his face while he hears the bids go higher and higher. Just when Chanyeol is about to sell him to a Chinese Count he knows very well is involved in some pretty shady activities that supposedly no one knows about, a voice coming from the back of the room overshadows any other noise present.

"One hundred and fifty billion won, for an afternoon with His Highness." The room goes silent. People steps away as the owner of the voice steps out of the crowd to stand at the front, looking up straight into Jongin's eyes.

Baekhyun watches the younger prince visibly tensing, holding his breath and eyes widening almost comically. He's confused for a couple of seconds until Chanyeol's voice brings him back to where he is, a small and discreet smile spreading on his lips.

"One hundred and fifty billion won at one, two," Chanyeol makes a pause, looks around and smirks when no one says anything else "three. Sold to His royal Highness, Prince Kyungsoo." He closes the bid and before Kyungsoo can get a word out of his mouth, Jongin is sprinting down of the stage and out of the Ballroom, Kyungsoo hot in his heels.

Chanyeol shifts on his feet, looking a little uncomfortable about the situation. He glances over at his husband, but Baekhyun is as clueless as he is. The younger prince shrugs and Chanyeol gives him a small nod, clearing his throat before continuing.

"Next up, we have the loveliest girl, the most gorgeous and stunning flower in this palace." Chanyeol announces voice dripping with pride. "Princess Sooyoung."

The offers come in flying once Chanyeol gives them green light to do it. The amounts of money go higher and higher and harder to top. Sooyoung is growing a little uneasy, Baekhyun can tell by the way she shifts her weight on her heels and her delicate fingers fidget with a strip of silk from her dress. She had been joking when she said she wouldn't settle for less than 5 billion won and as of far, it was already topping Jongin's amount.

"300 billion." An unknown voice says at last. Sooyoung averts her eyes to the man standing on a side of the stage, arms crossed on his back and lopsided smile on curling up on his lips. He's young and Sooyoung can't help the sigh of relief that abandons her lips.

Chanyeol counts up to three once again and when no one dares to go higher than that, the prince declares her sister sold to Kim Jongdae, Count of Ulsan.

Baekhyun can see the blush on her cheeks the moment he comes to her, offering his hand to help her down the stage. The Count kisses the back of her hand and gracefully leads her towards the opposite side of the room, where the terrace doors open to a view of one of the gardens.

Baekhyun shifts the weight of his body, tensing a little at what's coming. He can see Chanyeol frowning as he looks down at the script sheet; he just prays for his husband to keep his cool like he's been doing so far and ca