Baekhyun wakes up to the constant rustling around the room. He refuses to open his eyes as he curls up on himself and buries his face on his pillow. The noises keep going as he tries to fall back asleep, but fails. Sighing, he slowly opens his eyes and begins to sit up, lazily rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand and yawning; he looks around, but in the midst of his sleep-clouded mind, he finds no one inside the room to blame for interrupting his dreams.

Feeling his body drained of all energy, he wriggles down again and attempts to pull the covers back up over his face.

"Oh, Your Highness! You're finally awake!" A deep voice echoes through his room and Baekhyun jumps on the bed, abruptly sitting up and covering his body with the sheets as if he had anything to hide.

"Holy !" Baekhyun exclaims, eyes wide in shock.

"I―" The short guy looks troubled and confused.

"Who the hell are you?" The prince asks. He curses under his breath at his voice coming out so high pitched.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Your Highness." The boy bows profusely. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was ordered to―"

"Who are you?" Baekhyun demands now, voice stern and distrustful.

"Yes, my prince, of course. My name is Jongsoo." The boy quickly answers, keeping his eyes down and arms tightly wrapped around his chest and the clothes Baekhyun is sure he left in the bathroom last night. "I'm your personal servant. Assistant or however you prefer to address to me."

Baekhyun doesn't respond, the frown on his face deepens as he begins to remove the covers from his body and throwing his legs out of the bed.

"Junmyeon sent you?" Baekhyun asks, looking around for something else to wear. It's cold in there.

"Yes, my prince." Jongsoo answers with a steady voice, but Baekhyun can perfectly tell how nervous he is. A boy. They sent a boy to be his personal servant. "Adviser Kim told me you would probably still be asleep but he also told me that I needed to wake you up so you could get ready for your day."

"What time is it?"

The boy fumbles inside the pocket of his uniform and pulls out a silver pocket watch. "A quarter past seven, my prince."

Baekhyun sighs and nods. Getting up early is just another thing he has to get used to again.

"You said your name is Jongsoo?"

"Yes Your Highness—"

"Baekhyun."

"Uh?" The boy looks up, large eyes even wider.

"My name is Baekhyun. You will address to me that way. I'm done with all the formalities."

"I— I— no! I can't—" Jongsoo babbles.

"Yes you can, it's an order." Baekhyun says with finality.

Jongsoo gapes. "But, my prince―" Baekhyun turns to give him a pointed look "―Baekhyun! I can't call you that in public, they would―"

"You're right." Baekhyun interrupts him, tapping his index finger against his chin. It could cost the boy his job. "Fine, you can call me by name when it's just the two of us."

"O-okay." Jongsoo nods.

"Good. I'm going to take a shower. If you can leave before I come out would be great. I like to dress on my own."

"Yes, my― Baekhyun." Jongsoo bows his head and continues to roam around the room to leave everything ready before the prince comes out of the bathroom.

••••

Baekhyun knows, he's sure Chanyeol does remember, that he doesn't need guides to lead him through the palace and yet, he calmly walks with his hands on his back and his head up high surrounded by a few members of the Royal Guard in silence. He has learnt from all the years he spent taking classes about politics and etiquette that is better to follow the protocol than try to oppose to it. The last thing Baekhyun wants is trouble. He's pretty much trying to lie low, even if that's basically impossible. He's probably just a few months from becoming Chanyeol's husband and his future as king of both, his kingdom and Chanyeol's is imminent.

"Prince Chanyeol is waiting for you in the dining room, Your Highness." One the men say. Baekhyun inclines his head a little in sign that he has heard and understood.

The doors open and before Baekhyun can step in, a loud voice echoes through the large dining room. "His Royal Highness, prince Baekhyun of Gyeonggi-do."

Chanyeol is there, standing next to the long wooden table, cladded on a black Kiton K-50 suit and a black button-up shirt, his hair neatly styled up, showing his forehead. He stands straight, legs joined together and hands on his back; the prince is smiling and he looks just as handsome as he always does. Baekhyun's mouth suddenly feels dry, but he quickly covers it up by clearing his throat as he approaches his future husband.

"Does he really need to do that?" Baekhyun asks, looking up at the prince.

Chanyeol lets out a light laugh. "I don't like it any better, but it's―"

"Protocol. Yeah." Baekhyun nods his head in understanding.

The older prince gives him an apologetic smile and then moves aside, showing the large wooden table already settled for two people.

"Only us?" Baekhyun contemplates the fine china.

"My father won't be able to join us for breakfast and he sends his apologies, but he can't wait to meet you at lunch." Chanyeol answers courtly.

Then he passes to drag out the chair for Baekhyun to sit in and pushes it back in once he has settled. The younger prince suppresses a sigh when he sees Chanyeol making his way to the other end of the table, almost on the other side of the room. The distance is sixteen chairs away on each side, he would prefer to sit next to the older prince, but he abstains himself from moving; instead, he waits for the maids to come in the room with plates of fruit, eggs, oatmeal, coffee, milk, juice, tea, water and basically anything he could ever ask for breakfast. Ultimately, he's really hungry, so he's not about to reject that plate of steamy omelets, fruit and a cup of tea.

They eat in silence, occasionally glancing up at each other whenever they think the other is not looking. Chanyeol has a lot of questions he wants to ask, a lot of explanations he needs Baekhyun to give him, but he knows is not the time nor the place to initiate a conversation that would most likely lead to a discussion and ruin the rest of their day. He wants Baekhyun to warm up to the palace first and to the people in it, he wants him to feel like home again and even when it could take a long time for that to happen, he's willing to wait. Whenever Baekhyun is ready to talk, he'll be there to listen.

The rest of the morning is spent with Chanyeol walking Baekhyun around the palace, the gardens, the living rooms, the library and all the places they used to go when they were kids. They don't speak about memories, they don't share old stories of adventures, like when Baekhyun fell from the sliding stairs in the library trying to reach one of the books for "grown people" and broke his ankle. They don't speak about all the hours they spent in the music room with Baekhyun playing the piano and Chanyeol clumsily trying to the acoustic guitar's chords; they pretend they don't remember the nights the lay in the grass of the inner garden, looking up at the starry sky through the glass ceiling; they don't speak about their families. Instead, they talk about the weather of today and what the forecast might be for tomorrow, politics and how Baekhyun almost had a heart attack when he found that Jongsoo boy running around his room freely. Baekhyun jokes about how they should abolish the formal introductions every time they step into a room once they take their places as rulers of the nation and only realizes the implications of his own words when Chanyeol looks down at him with a small, hopeful smile on his lips. Baekhyun passes it up as his subconscious already getting used to the idea that he's marrying the man next to him.

"So, we'll be having lunch outside, but before we head out, there's someone I need you to meet and something I want you to see." Chanyeol comments as he leads them back to the throne room. Baekhyun simply nods and walks beside him, trying to keep a safe distance; close enough for public display, but far enough to keep his own sanity untouched. Chanyeol smell is heavenly, alluring and trapping, exuding the expensive scent of Clive Christian No. 1 whenever he moves, and that messes with Baekhyun's heart and mind like nothing else before.

Baekhyun prepares himself for the guard standing the throne room door to start yelling their titles the moment they step in, but Chanyeol is quick to stop the man with a raise of his hand. The guard clears his throat and bows his head, stepping back to keep his posture.

"What happened to protocol?" Baekhyun asks, kind of amused and terribly grateful.

"I guess we could skip that for now. There's no one here who needs to know who we are." Chanyeol replies, peering at him from over his shoulder, a playful smile spreading on his lips.

The room isn't entirely empty, though, aside from the eight guards, two inside and two outside of each door, in the middle of the room stand a group of men, all dressed on black suits, white shirts and black ties, wearing intercoms in their ears and sunglasses. Baekhyun holds back a groan, he knows exactly what this means.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Chanyeol greets cheerfully. The men all take a rigid posture and bend their bodies on a 45 degrees bow, except for one. He's tall. Taller than Chanyeol even and blond, he's not wearing the glasses, but he is wearing the intercom on his right ear. Baekhyun narrows his eyes at the familiarity the blond man addresses to the prince with, the wide grin that spreads on his thin lips as if they were long term friends. Maybe they are, and Baekhyun's suspicions are confirmed when instead of a formal greeting, they hug each other, warmly and with something more lingering in the silence during the seconds they spend in each other's arms that make Baekhyun ball his hands into tight fists, swallow hard and clench his jaw tightly. Whatever those two had or have, it obviously is or was more than just a friendship.

Knowing that is not his place to feel what he's feeling, not yet at least, Baekhyun takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, subtly moving his shoulders back and forth to try to relax his muscles. A generic smile forms on his lips when Chanyeol returns to his side, looking more blissful than before, action that leaves Baekhyun thinking if he still holds a chance to get Chanyeol's heart back, if not now, at least someday.

"Baekhyun, I want you to meet Kris Wu, he's the head of your new security team."

"My prince." Kris bows his head respectfully, smile never leaving his face.

"Mr. Wu." Baekhyun addresses hi