Having Sooyoung chattering away about her ideas for the wedding is always fun to Baekhyun, mostly because the young girl seems to really enjoy it every time she does and there's nothing Baekhyun likes more than to seeing her eyes shining bright and her wide smile spread on her lips whenever the topics comes up. But in the past few days it has become a little irritating and Baekhyun has been trying really hard to make himself believe that it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Chanyeol is gone, out of the country with his father to treat some political matters in China that, as the Crown Prince of Sejong, is his duty to attend to. As a prince himself, Baekhyun understands, but it doesn’t make it less bothersome.

It's been two days and there's still three more to go; it shouldn't feel like an eternity, but it does. Not seeing the older prince for so long makes Baekhyun want to crawl under his blankets and sleep the days away, at least until Chanyeol comes back. He wonders when it was that he became so unconsciously dependent of the other prince.

The situation between them has been improving a lot lately, they talk more and Baekhyun now allows himself to be more open around his future husband. He feels more confidence when it comes to voice out his opinions and respond back to Chanyeol when he doesn't like something he did or said. It had been accidentally at first, with Baekhyun not being able to hold back a snarky remark once they were discussing about their outfits for the wedding with Sooyoung: Chanyeol wanted him to wear a white suit and he definitely was not. The words had pour out of his mouth without him even thinking about it; Baekhyun had remained frozen for a few seconds, scared that he could have angered Chanyeol with his imprudence, but what he did not expect was for Chanyeol to laugh, almost doubling over and holding his stomach to prevent himself from falling to the floor, surprising him and his sister. It was the first time, after so long, that Baekhyun had seen him laughing like that and that ignited a flame inside him Baekhyun was sure it was impossible to revive. And yet, there he was, feeling a Kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering in his stomach, unconsciously making him smile; fingers itching to reach for the older prince and wrap his arms around him.

Baekhyun still tells himself he needs to be careful, letting his guard down completely is not yet on his plans, but their recent improvements are enough to make him feel more at ease. Happier. He just hopes Chanyeol feels the same, because missing someone this terribly and not being able to say it out loud it's awful and it's turning him into a sour little that lives snapping at his personal servant when the kid is not at fault at all. Now, even when the younger Parks are around and that helps a little, Baekhyun has given up on the fact that Chanyeol's presence is somehow what keeps his mind and heart at peace.

"Baekhyun. Hey." Sooyoung speaks, waving his hand in front of his face. "Are you with me?"

"Uh?" Baekhyun blinks. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, what were you saying?" He shifts on his chair and focus his attention on the princess.

Sooyoung puffs her cheeks, blowing out the air that makes a few locks of her hair fly around. "I was telling you that I know you and Chanyeol told me to take care of everything, but I think that you should decide what you're both going to wear and since you didn't seem too happy about the white suit idea, Chanyeol said that whatever you chose it's fine for him too."

"White..." Baekhyun mumbles. He stops listening to what Sooyoung is saying to space out again; oh how he would love to see Chanyeol wearing a white suit. He's pretty sure it would be magical; it would make the prince look more handsome than usual, ethereal, like a snow angel in the middle of a snowy field, with his black hair contrasting—

"Baekhyun!" Sooyoung yells, interrupting his fantasy. "You're doing it again!" She pouts.

"White." He says out loud. "White is perfect."

She narrows her eyes. "But you said—"

"For the both of us. I think we both should wear white." Baekhyun nods. "And if you add the details on a darker shade of the purple tone you're using, it would be perfect."

"Oh!" The princess exclaims, clasping her hands together and her eyes shining in excitement. "That sounds just perfect. I'll do that." She adds and proceeds to furiously write the idea down on the electronic tablet she carries everywhere. "Now, I'm going to talk to the royal tailors and as soon as Chanyeol comes back, you'll be taking measures.” She points a finger at him. “Ugh, why does my brother has to leave during such important times?" The princess grumbles to herself as she gets on her feet and begins to walk away with her retinue of maids trailing behind her.

Baekhyun sighs. Yeah, he asks himself that same question ever since Chanyeol left.

He stands up, but stops himself when he realizes... he has nothing to do. Sooyoung won't drop her wedding duties just to hang out with him, she left that very clear a few days ago. Jongin is out shopping with a mysterious friend he has yet to tell everyone his name and that Baekhyun is sure there's more than just a friendship, if the way the younger prince's cheeks tint of a deep shade of red every time he mentions that friend. He has noticed, Sooyoung has noticed too, but in order to not embarrass Jongin, they decide to keep their comments to themselves and let Jongin tell them when he considers is the right moment to do so. And to top the list of his boring day, Chanyeol is not home; at least with the prince, they can spend the afternoon strolling around the gardens, enjoying the warm sun while it lasts and before the cold weather hits them to a full. Most of the times, it's silent, but Baekhyun doesn't mind. He could do it by himself, but it's not really that fun. Chanyeol tends to give him useless facts about all the plants they pass by and even though yeah, it's useless, Baekhyun likes to hear it. Or maybe it's just an excuse to listen to Chanyeol's voice. Whatever it is, he misses his prince.

Baekhyun wanders around the palace's hallways— just for the sake of having something to do; looking around, feeling with the pads of his fingers the soft texture of the wooden panels, the roughness of the golden details and remembering the moments he spent hiding away from the Park siblings when they would fight for his attention. Baekhyun is not going to lie, he always loved it. Nothing much has changed, except the atmosphere it's different, a feeling Baekhyun has yet to figure out.

He turns around the corner, deciding that it would be less boring if he just goes back to his room and sits down to read. Baekhyun stops, however, when he hears voices approaching and hides back behind the wall; he peeks his head through the edge and sees Junmyeon and the members of the privy council coming out of a room right on the left side of Chanyeol's bedroom. He watches as Advisor Kim sends the men away and turns around to continue his own way; it's when Baekhyun decides to step out, clearing his throat to get the man's attention.

"Oh, Your Highness." Junmyeon says, bowing his head and giving him a small, polite smile.

"What's in that room?" Baekhyun asks, too curious to care about the other man's greeting.

Junmyeon looks back over his shoulder. "That's prince Chanyeol's studio."

Baekhyun hums with interest. "Could I... go in for a minute?"

Junmyeon frowns for a short second; he seems to hesitate before slowly nodding his head at him. He goes back on his steps, pulls a small key out of his pocket and opens the door, stepping aside to let Baekhyun in.

"Here." Junmyeon speaks. "Please be sure to return the key to me once you're done, it would be terrible if we lose it." Baekhyun nods, opening his palm to receive the metallic object. "Do you need something else? We're serving tea in a few minutes, would you like me to send you some?"

"I'm good, thank you." Baekhyun mumbles, his eyes already moving slowly around the room. Junmyeon takes that as his cue to leave, closing the door behind him to give the prince some privacy.

Junmyeon is not sure if he did well by letting prince Baekhyun in, but prince Chanyeol never told him he couldn't and considering the current situation between the two princes, the advisor can only hope that what's in there, will convince the younger prince that he's not making a mistake by accepting this marriage. Advisor Kim knows things, probably more than he actually should, but prince Chanyeol rarely keeps secrets from him and he feels honored by being the one person his prince trusts.

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