A tall lad came bursting through their room in the afternoon. He holds a piece of crumpled paper in his hands, and he bends over, trying to catch his breath. Donghae and Eunhyuk stared at him expectantly.

“The people are rallying!” He announces. “They’re calling for Eunhyuk to lead!”

“What?” Donghae deadpans.

Eunhyuk stares at this stranger, stunned. Didn’t they see him get whipped?

“We’ll ignore it,” Eunhyuk decides. “They’ll disperse soon.”

Donghae grins at Eunhyuk. “Do you know what this means? Something good will happen!”

Eunhyuk sits up with difficulty. He digs his fingers on Donghae’s arm. “Stop, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kyuhyun burst in the room as well. He scanned their faces. “I guess...you know! It’s early, but it’s happening, right?”

Eunhyuk glared at Kyuhyun to shut his mouth. “Oh.” Realization sets in. He grabs the taller boy, and shuts the door behind them.

“What was that about?” Donghae asks.

“Nothing, this will pass,” Hyukjae suddenly insists. “Now, can’t you lie down with me again?”

Donghae chuckles, a little puzzled. “I think I like this Hyukjae the most.”

“You should hate this Hyukjae the most,” he says. “He cares about you.”

~

Hyukjae sleeps well into the night, dreaming of an open field. In the distance, he can hear Donghae’s voice, cheerful, teasing. Then he feels someone grab his hand, and he is running, running. Donghae laughs beside him, childish, carefree. The sun is gentle on their skin, and he can feel the tall grass tickle his fingertips.

When he opens his eyes, Donghae is beside him. His face is sweet, like a child knowing nothing of sorrow. Sometimes, Hyukjae resents him for growing up pampered, while he grew up with nothing. With arduous effort, Hyukjae turns to his side, hissing a little bit when he feels his wounds sting. Facing Donghae, he scoots a little closer until he can feel the heat he is emitting.

A lot of things are running through his head. They have been planning this for such a long time, and now he’s about to ruin it all for one person. The revolution is happening too fast. Hyukjae fears for the world, and he doesn’t have enough time to even convince the people that they are fighting blindly.

“What are you thinking about?” Donghae asks, his eyes close.

“Who says I’m thinking?”

Donghae sighs and turns his body to Hyukjae. “You’re acting really weird.”

Hyukjae avoids Donghae’s eyes. “Well, if you haven’t noticed...I almost bled to death.”

Donghae snickers. He closes the gap between them, and allows his lips to touch Hyukjae’s, albeit naively.

The same tall lad from earlier bursted inside the room again. Donghae suddenly sits up, leaving Hyukjae hanging.

“Every citizen, everyone, they have surrounded the palace,” he reports. “The king ordered his army to kill them, unless Eunhyuk shows up.”

Donghae gets to his feet. “Sehun, ready my horse.”

Sehun bows and leaves the room.

Hyukjae ignores the pain in his back, and grasped Donghae’s arm with all his strength. “No, don’t go.”

Donghae unclasps Hyukjae’s fingers on his arm and put on his shoes. “I’m going to convince my father to stop this.”

“And then what?!” Hyukjae snaps.

Donghae freezes, and faced Hyukjae. This is the first time he has heard him raise his voice.

“What are you not telling me?” Donghae retorts.

Hyukjae swallows. Perhaps it’s best to not keep secrets. “My group, and some people out there, have been planning a revolution.”

Donghae’s mouth drops open. “You were going to overthrow us?”

“We wanted a better kingdom,” Hyukjae explains. “We thought that can be achieved without the king.”

“He’s my father!” Donghae suddenly roars. “What the hell?!”

“I know!” Hyukjae counters. “I know! You don’t exactly know what we’ve been going through out here!” His anger suddenly dies down. “And then I got to know you...and suddenly, the faceless royals inside the palace had a name, had feelings.”

“Hyuk, you can’t decide who gets to die or live,” Donghae grits his teeth. “That’s wrong.”

Donghae ducks his head, feeling tears roll down his cheeks.

“I’ve been thinking about this,” Hyukjae starts. He pleads for Donghae to look his way, to let him know that he is asking for forgiveness. “Your cousin, Heechul, he’s one of us. We were not supposed to do anything yet until the metals we stole were turn into weapons.”

Donghae’s mind tries to connect the pieces. Heechul, who has been so nosy about his life recently. “And?”

“I think that me getting caught was part of their plan,” Hyukjae concludes. “He and Teukie hyung.” He was not happy about finding out this truth.

Donghae grabs onto Hyukjae’s shoulder for support. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Your Majesty,” Sehun interrupts. “Your horse is ready.”

“Give me a second.”

“Don’t go, Donghae,” Hyukjae pleads again. “Please don’t leave me. I never begged for anything in my life, but please, just stay. I have a plan.” Hyukjae does not have a plan.

Donghae wipes Hyukjae’s tears away. “Will you see me off?” His heart clenched painfully. He never wants to leave Hyukjae’s side, but he is the prince of this kingdom, and it is his duty to keep it together.

He helps Hyukjae up, and they slowly made their way outside. Hyukjae hobbles along his side, and he tries his best to support him.

“I can stand,” Hyukjae sobs.

“Don’t cry too much,” Donghae tries to tease. “You know our individual duties.”

Donghae grabs onto the horse’s reins, but he hesitates. His eyes go to the blue ring on his finger. He lets go of the reins, and takes the ring off. Donghae grabs Hyukjae’s left hand, and slides the ring on his ring finger. He chuckles awkwardly when he realized it didn’t fit-it was too loose. He transfers the ring to his index finger instead.

“What’s this?” Hyukjae asks. “This is your family ring, what are you doing?”

Donghae squeezes his hand. “My promise to you. I’ll be back.”

Hyukjae shakes his head. “You can’t give me this. This is yours. This symbolizes that you will be king.”

“I know.” Donghae runs his fingers through his hair, a little flustered. “Um, like I said, um. My promise. No matter what happens, even when we’re apart, I hope that our hearts will still be connected.”

Hyukjae laughs, feeling a little light-headed. “Okay, I’ll give it back when you fulfill it.”

Donghae nods. His eyes drift to Hyukjae’s scarred feet. He suddenly kicks off his shoes and bends down on one knee.

“Donghae!” Hyukjae protests. He grabs on to Donghae’s sturdy shoulders.

Donghae doesn’t utter a word as he fits Hyukjae’s feet into his shoes. “We’re about the same right?”

Hyukjae immediately helped him stand up. Donghae gathers the horse’s reins, and mounted on the horse. Hyukjae runs his thumb on the ring, feeling the silver carvings of the dragon.

I...love you, Lee Hyukjae.

Donghae touches Hyukjae’s face, his fingers cupping his chin. Then he squeezed the horse’s sides to get it running.

Hyukjae watches him go.