Morning has come way too soon and Jinki is dreading today's breakfast with his parents. He didn't feel like talking about the plans for his thirtieth birthday... Not to mention the big announcement that comes with it. He smooths his shirt down and looks at himself in the mirror. He quickly runs his hands through his brown hair and wishes that he could grow it just a little bit longer.

I hate this haircut.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Minho says, waltzing into the room. He is looking so put-together in his black tailored suit and silver-framed glasses. He clutches a binder in his hands, no doubt containing Jinki's schedule for the day.

"Minho... How do you manage to look so professional this early in the morning?" 

"I just try to never step out of the look for too long, Sir," he says with a smile.

Jinki frowns. "You really should start spending more time living your life and less time with me."

"Perhaps at another time, Your Highness. It is my pleasure to be of service. Are you ready to go through your schedule?"

The Prince really isn't looking forward to this one but he is resigned to the fact that Minho was probably going to read it to him no matter what he says. "Okay, Minho..." 

"Today is Thursday, the 30th. Your Highness will be having breakfast with the King and Queen, and at 0830, we shall be heading into town for the opening ceremony of the new wing of the children's hospital. Here are notes about the hospital and its staff, and a copy of the rehearsed speech. We shall be staying there for an entire hour, from 0900-1000 welcoming the guests and the children." Minho lets his glasses fall on his face to cast a glance at Jinki, awaiting his reaction.

"Children? You know how scared I am of them, Minho. They can be so fragile. I don't really know how anyone can expect any good to come of this," he sighs. "Continue."

"At promptly 1000 we will be heading back to the palace in time for fitting your royal ensemble for the ball scheduled at 1030, and expect to be finished by 1130. You shall have lunch and time to review grants and propsals until 1500, where you will be having an afternoon visit with Lady Eva Demorow." 

Jinki heaves a big sigh at the mention of that name. 

"With all due respect, I can tell you right now that I really don't have anything in common with her."

"I understand, Your Highness, but it is customary for all eligible women of nobility to have an audience with the Crown Prince before his thirtieth birthday."

"I know," he says in defeat. "Is that all?"

"That is all for today, Sir. Not a very busy day but fruitful, still." 

I hope so.

"Okay, let's get to it then."

Minho opens the doors of Jinki's room and steps aside for the prince to walk through. He is escorted through the halls of the palace, which is by now perfectly decorated with the finest tinsel and holly. Wreaths were hanging from every door and the scent of pine trees filled the air. He turns a corner to go down a flight of stairs, and enters the small breakfast hall. 

"Good morning, Father... Mother." Jinki bows deeply as a sign of respect.

"Good morning, my dear." Jinki's mother quickly shuffles to Jinki's side and gently touches his cheeks. "My son is growing to be so handsome."

"He's already done with growing, I think. He did it well," the King beams.

"Thank you, Father." He had missed being alone with them like this. 

All three of them take their seats at the breakfast table, which at any other house could have easily seat twelve people. There is an array of breads, pastries and fruits, all laid out for them with some sausages and Christmas ham--to go with the festive decorations. Eggs have been cooked to their specific liking and were readily available in front of them. Jinki was famished.

"How are things going with the ladies, dearest? Have you met anyone you like?" The Queen asks with the sweetest smile that she could muster.

The King crinkles his nose at his lovely wife. "I thought we were going to hold off on asking him about that?"

"Well, I saw his face and couldn't resist. Could you?" The King had shared in the warm smile of his wife, agreeing with her observation.

By any means the three of them did not live a normal life, but their love for each other was unwavering. 

"Have you met anyone worth considering, son? 

Jinki shakes his head. "I have to keep looking," he says.

"Ah, picky. Just like his father," the Queen says, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Time is ticking, Jinki. You have to make a choice soon."

The young man looks down at the floor and prepares himself to bring up the topic that he had been thinking about all night. "I have been meaning to ask you about that..."

"What's the matter, dear?" His mother instantly knows that something is wrong.

"I was wondering if I had the choice to extend the announcement to a later date... That is, if I'm not to find someone suitable... It's just that... I've seemed to have exhausted the list of nobility and I haven't found anyone with that... Spark," Jinki says, gesturing in the air.

"A spark? What do you mean?"

"Mother, a spark. Something special, something magical," he says. "I want to find it."

"Jinki... Is there such a thing?" His mother asks, a slight laugh escaping in between words.

"Isn't there?"

His father slowly takes a sip of coffee before contributing to the conversation. Jinki's heart is beating faster in anticipation of the answer. He hardly ever asked anything from his parents. The hope of a granted request was hanging in the air. The King clears his throat before he speaks.

"Son... In our family... One doesn't really marry for romance. We marry for duty. We marry to keep the royal family line in tact. When I married your mother, she was beautiful, of course, but we didn't love each other until our second year of marriage," the King says, taking the Queen's hand in his. 

"I was so frightened when I got chosen, my dear," the Queen says. "But after a bit of time, I grew to love your father very much. And not long after, you were born."

"So you see, not everything happens in the way it is thought to. Some are fueled by the longing of the heart. We are fueled by our sense of duty."

"I guess that means I can't postpone..." Jinki's face drops as he mindlessly fiddles with the scrambled eggs on his plate.

The Queen casts a concerned glance at her husband, and then at Jinki.

"I understand how you must be feeling now, Jinki. You're right. There is no decree prohibiting you from postponing, but in all the generations that our family has been on the throne... It has never been done, son. You are expected to make that announcement." The King is loving but stern, just like the way Jinki remembers him from his childhood.

"I understand..."

But not really. 

*****

"Oh my God, finally. You're so late. Can you please get more to-go cups at the back? We're running low, and I'm still on refilling the tissue dispensers," Kibum says, not even looking up from what he was doing. 

"Can't. I'm just here to get my shoes." Taemin whizzes past him and heads straight for the work room in the back to retrieve his only pair of leather shoes. 

Kibum is so startled that some of the dispensers drop to the floor. "What?"

"I'm off this morning... Remember?" says Taemin, peeking his head out.

Kibum follows him to the back and groans when he sees Taemin dressed in business attire. "Is that today? Oh, come on Taemin... Don't do this to me..."

"I'm not doing anything to you, I just need to be at the hospital right now. It's a really important day," Taemin says, finishing lacing up his shoes and walking back out to the counter with Kibum following closely behind.

"But who's gonna help me with all the customers??"

The young man eyes the empty cafe. "I think you'll manage."

"Come on, Taemiiiiin..." Kibum pouts and stomps his foot like only he can. "Who am I going to talk to? Jjong won't be making his delivery for another two hours..."

"You won't miss me. I'm a brat, remember?" Taemin says, winking at his friend.

"Why would you want to hang around contagious children instead of having fun with me?"

Taemin makes his way to the front door, getting ready to leave but not before putting Kibum in this place. He could say all he wanted about Taemin, but the young man would never let him get away with saying something about the children. "First of all, they are not contagious; they are lovely children. Second of all, I'm ignoring you, Kibum."

"Taeeemiiinnn..."

"Any other day, I would give in to your tantrums but today is super important... They're finally going to open that new wing we've been raising money for for years. Even the Prince is going to be there. I really want to see him in person."

Kibum's eyes light up at the mention of the event's special guest. "Ooooooh! Can I come?"

"Umm?" Taemin gestures around at the cafe, his hands outstretched and his eyes bugging out of his head.

The older man rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue. "I can't believe you get to meet the Prince and I'm going to be stuck here BY MYSELF."

"Meet him? Cheer up, hyung. I probably won't get that chance anyway," Taemin says. He takes a long look at Kibum and his heart is a bit moved by the way he was wistfully staring at the floor. They may have their differences, but he always hated seeing Kibum sad. "I'll try to take a picture for you, okay? But I really have to go now. I don't want to be late!"

"Fine, traitor. Leave!" Kibum returns behind the counter and grabs a short stack of tissues in his hand. 

"Bye, Bummie!" Taemin says, waving goodbye.

"Life's so unfair." Kibum pouts and finishes the morning tasks on his own.

*****

Jinki sighs nervously as the royal convoy pulls up to the front entrance of the children's hospital. 

"Minho, I won't really need to interact with any of the children, right?"

The younger man smiles assuringly. "You'll do fine, Your Highness... We're here."

Minho opens his door, steps out from the front passenger seat and quickly makes his way to Jinki's door to usher him out. A crowd of people and reporters had already gathered nearby to catch a glimpse of the Crown Prince, and it was something that Jinki's entourage was used to. The young man felt that something was different about today though. There was a lightness in the air that Jinki hadn't noticed before. He had been dreading today's visit, but suddenly his body was buzzing. There was a sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite place. He could almost swear that he was feeling... Excited. But he didn't know why. 

How strange. 

Minho opens the door and all at once a million cameras started flashing and people could be heard cheering from blocks away. Rows of tiny flags are waved in the air as a welcome for the young Prince who waves at the people for a few minutes before scurrying into the building. 

"Minho, have we been here before?" the Prince asks. 

"This is a brand new wing, Your Highness, so I can't say that we have," Minho says, gesturing to the Prince to show him where to stand. "The lady welcoming you is the President of the hospital, and standing with her is the Chief of Pediatrics."

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

"Your Highness," a sweet old lady with short, curly hair and a bubbly disposition curtsies eagerly. "It's indeed an honor to have you with us this morning." The man with her bows deeply and nervously mumbles similar greetings. 

"The honor is all mine, Madam, Doctor. There is nothing more admirable than the work that you do with the children."

They are then directed to the stage, where there is a ribbon set up for the Prince to cut, symbolizing the opening of the wing. He silently prays his thanks that he has yet to see any small children, but the prayer is a bit premature. He hears a piercing adorable laughter coming from his left, and sees rows of children standing in the corridors.

Oh dear.

He smiles nervously at them as one little girl in particular curtsies towards him and proceeds to aggressively wave hello.

Okay, that's cute.

The Prince bows and waves back when he notices the beaming man standing next to her. 

In an instant, his heart stops and starts to race all at the same time. The auburn hair of the young man falls softly across his face, as his beautiful brown eyes dart from one child to the next. Jinki is struck by the care that his eyes exude, almost expressing how much he had valued being there. He looked handsome in his coat and tie, but it was glaringly obvious that he wasn't used to this kind of attire. His tie was somewhat askew and his coat was a tad too big for his lithe frame. Jinki found himself smiling at the thought that this young man had gotten all dressed up just for him. 

The two lock eyes but in a flash the stranger lowers his gaze and bows towards the Prince, coaxing the children in his supervision to join him. Jinki chuckles, and smiles in return. He couldn't tear his eyes away from him and it wasn't hard to notice. The young man looks awkwardly down at the floor, biting his lip, making Jinki's heart jump wildly in his chest.

"Minho, who is that?"

The younger man is startled by the force in the Prince's voice. He is usually soft and gentle when he spoke. Rarely does he show this kind of emotion--especially while in the public eye. "Your Highness?"

"The young man standing with those children over there. Who is he?"

Minho whips his head to look at the person who had caught Jinki's attention. He didn't recognize him from anywhere.

"I regret to say that I haven't the faintest idea, Your Highness. But I can find out."

"Yes, please do," the Prince says, staring at the way that he was being so attentive to the children around him. The young man became so preoccupied with them that he didn't notice that the royal was still staring at him, burning a hole through him with his eyes.

"Yes, Sir," Minho says, slipping away from Jinki's side for the first time since they arrived.

So, this is it...

Jinki smiles softly to himself, still very much aware that he is being watched by many people at the event like a fish in a fishtank. He is doing a terrible job of looking calm and dignified at the moment but he honestly couldn't care less. 

This is why I was excited... 

The spark.