"H-he's here?" 

"Yes, he is. If you would please excuse me," Special Agent Shim says, turning his attention to his men, who seem to be rushing to finish searching the place. 

Taemin's mouth suddenly went dry. He had spent the entire morning convincing himself that everything that happened in the hospital was just a string of coincidences that didn't mean anything. That the Prince had made his way to his actual place of work really wasn't helping anything. Maybe there really was more to it than he initially thought. 

"The Prince? Here? I don't even know what kind of coffee he likes!" Kibum says dramatically, on the verge of a full meltdown.  

"Relax, Bummie. I don't think you need to worry about that. Do you really think he would come here for a cup of coffee?" Jonghyun is wagging his eyebrows at the youngest person in the shaken group. 

Kibum looks at his co-worker and back at Jonghyun. "Are you saying that the Prince is here for Taemin?"

Both of them whip their heads to look over at Taemin who was frozen to his spot, eyes wide from what they could only guess was shock. 

Jonghyun walks closer to him slowly, putting an arm around his shoulders, genuinely concerned. He had never seen the young man like this before. "Taemin? Are you okay?"

"H-he knew my name..." 

"What?" Kibum is hanging on every word that comes out of Taemin's mouth now.

"Back at the hospital. I never got a chance to introduce myself but he already knew who I was. He didn't call anyone else by their names... Just me..." Taemin's voice is small and sounds distant, like he is afraid to speak the words that are coming out of his mouth. "I... I think he's here to see me."

Special Agent Shim and the other men suddenly made themselves scarce, a good handful of them headed out through the back door. Some stayed at the cafe while some moved outside to the sidewalk. They all knew what was about to happen. In no time at all, the royal was going to walk through the front door. 

Taemin felt his stomach doing cartwheels, worse than when he met the Prince for the first time. It was such a relief that he felt Kibum squeeze his arm. It was comforting to know that his best friends would be beside him this time. The young man was about to go out of his mind, and there was no way of stopping what was about to happen. He was going to see Prince Jinki again, whether he was ready for it or not. 

The young royal walks through the door and the room somehow feels more important just because of his presence. He looks around with a charming smile on his face and immediately searches the room for the one person that he wanted to see. 

Prince Jinki walks with purpose to the subject of his visit, eager to greet him warmly on this cold afternoon. "Hello, Taemin. It's such a pleasure to see you again."

"Y-Your Highness," he says as he bows respectfully, his friends following his lead. 

Kibum grabs his chance to be able to speak with royalty for the first time in his life. "Your Highness, it's an absolute honor to have you here today. It's been my lifelong dream to meet you. I can't believe I can finally see you face-to-face like this--ow, cut it out." Jonghyun discretely elbows him and shoots a disapproving look.

"Oh, thank you," Jinki says, a bit caught off-guard by Kibum's commanding personality. "I sincerely apologize, but you are?"

"Kim Kibum and Kim Jonghyun, Your Highness," Jonghyun says, cutting Kibum before he has the chance to talk the Prince's ear off.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen." The Prince is interrupted too, by Minho clearing his throat quite loudly behind him. "Right. I don't have much time. I'm afraid the travel time coming here took up a lot of my schedule." The royal turns to Taemin with a huge smile on his face. "I came by to ask you two things: First, if you could possibly join me for tea at the Palace tomorrow afternoon, and second, if you could kindly grace us with your presence at the Royal Ball."

The Prince personally hands him a pristine, bright red envelope with a gold hand-pressed wax seal--the official invitation from the Palace. 

Taemin's head is a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions right now. There is no way at all that he could be able to respond like a normal human being. "I... Uh..." He says, not really knowing what else to do.

"It's okay, you don't have to give an answer now. I realize that this could be a lot to take in. Maybe you could send me a message to let me know?" 

"A m-message?"

Minho panics at the suggestion that the Prince would give out his personal number to a random commoner. If word got out, it would be a total media frenzy--not to mention that it is a complete disregard of protocol. "Your Highness, there are already RSVP provisions in place. I think it would be better if I--"

The Prince waves his hand, immediately doing away with whatever Minho was about to say. "My phone is awfully quiet apart from your reminders, Minho. I think it would be nice to make a friend."

There was nothing that Minho could do right now--especially in front of other people. He would never risk undermining the authority of the Prince. He just had to have a private talk with him later on. This was the first time either of them were in disagreement about his schedule and the way that he had been conducting himself in public. And because of this, it was glaringly obvious that this young man was important to the royal. It was not lost on Minho how big of a deal meeting Lee Taemin was to the Prince.

"I... I don't have my phone with me right now, Your Highness," Taemin says, doing his best to keep his voice at a reasonable octave that won't signal just how much he is freaking out on the inside.

"Ah, yes, of course; the Special Agents have it. I do apologize for the inconvenience. Why don't I get yours instead and I'll send you a message later on. Does that sound good?"

"O-okay..." The smile on the Prince's face almost makes him weak. Taemin takes the Prince's phone and puts in his number, his hands shaking with every touch of the button. When he gives it back, their hands brush slightly and it sends a rush of electricity over his entire body. 

"Thank you. Kim Kibum, Kim Jonghyun, it was a pleasure meeting you... And Taemin... I hope to hear from you soon. I do apologize for the quick visit but duties await. Thank you very much for your hospitality." The Prince extends his hand towards Taemin once again for a handshake and proceeds to pull him in close, just like he did earlier in the day. "Call me Jinki."

"Goodbye," he waves. The three bow and say their goodbyes as the Prince turns around and exits the little cafe.

And just as fast as he came--he was gone.

*****

The Prince and his convoy are finally on their way back to the Palace, racing for the royal to be able to finish the screening of important proposals before the end of the day. The young man has found peace and he smiles contentedly in the back seat of his tinted, armored car. But Minho is feeling the exact opposite. He had to have a word with him now before he could lose his chance. 

"You shall be having tea tomorrow with Lee Taemin, Your Highness?"

"Yes, Minho," Jinki says, his voice unflinching. He already knew that he was going to have to defend his decisions.

"Your Highness, you have tea with someone else scheduled for tomorrow." He is trying his best to be as respectful as he can be, even if his patience is being tested.

"Then perhaps we would have to find another time for that person? Or better yet, maybe we should cancel all other tea times from today onwards."

"Sir?" Minho could hardly believe his ears. All this time that he had known him, the Prince had always been obedient, responsible, considerate. It was as if in a matter of hours, he had developed a will that the royal had never had before. If Minho had ever come close to having a crisis with the Prince, this was probably it.

There was no way that he was backing down now. Jinki knew exactly how to play his hand. This wouldn't be a fight that he could win if he would start to heads with Minho. The only chance he had was to get him to be on his side, rooting for him. And he knew what to do to get that ball rolling. 

"Minho, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Do you believe in what most people refer to as a spark?"

He could tell that Minho had taken a breath and thought carefully about he was going to answer him. "Honestly speaking, I think it's a rather childish notion, Your Highness."

The Prince chuckles softly, and admires the way Minho had freely expressed what was really on his mind. "It is, isn't it? I used to think that it wasn't real either. But apparently, it is. And I've found it."

"What do you mean to say, Your Highness?" The younger man thought he knew the Prince quite well, but he really didn't know where the royal was going with this.

Jinki lets out a sigh before he proceeds. He would just need to be as honest as he could. "I don't have many people in my life that I can truly call friends. And even though our relationship is mostly anchored on me carrying out my responsibilities, I do think of you as a friend, Minho."

Minho was completely caught off-guard. There had always been an unspoken fondness between the two of them, yes, but the Prince didn't usually make a display of his affection in this manner. "Th-thank you very much, Your Highness... And I, you," he says, a warm feeling growing in his tummy. It was always good to feel appreciated, especially by the person that you laid your life down to serve.

"I'm glad to hear that. As a friend, I'm asking you this favor... Perhaps there could be a way for me to be able to spend more time with Lee Taemin? Being with him would make me quite happy." 

The younger man looks at the Prince through the rear-view mirror only to find that he was looking at him through the same means as well. The look in Jinki's eyes was something that Minho had never seen before, like the Prince was pleading for his help. He was fully aware that it would put him in hot water with his superiors at the Palace, but he knew that some things were more important than following protocol... Like his friend's happiness. 

"I'm sure I can find a way, Sir."

*****

Taemin stands in the middle of the cafe, still in shock. Things weren't sinking in as fast as they should have and the young man clings to the unopened envelope with his dear life. Without all those people there, the cafe was now painfully empty and it felt like their voices echoed loudly throughout the space,

"Taemin?" Jonghyun says softly, as he attempts to approach the young man. "They gave us our phones back... Here." He doesn't move at all, even when his phone is being waved in front of his face. "Uh... That's okay, I guess I can hold on to it for now..." The eldest of the three pats his arm, just to let him know that they were there for him. 

The normally talkative Kibum is also at a loss for words now, trying to process everything that had just happened. "Taemin, this is amazing! He really did come here for you..."

"D-Did that really happen?" the young man asks, still frozen in place. "Did he really want to have tea...? And did he really ask me to go to the ball...?"

"Yeah, Taemin. He did..." Jonghyun says carefully, growing increasingly concerned for the young man.

Kibum pries the envelope from Taemin's hands and holds it up to admire. "I've never seen a royal invitation before... It's so pretty... Jjong, isn't it pretty? But the Prince is prettier. Oh my goodness, I knew he was good looking, but I didn't think he was THAT handsome! His friend was pretty cute too."

His gushing was interrupted by Jonghyun who was pointing towards the young man who had still not moved from the spot he was in. Kibum slowly moves towards him puts his hand on his shoulder. "Taemin, sweetie? Is everything alright?"

Everything that happened today was playing in his mind: the glances between them, the way the Prince's eyes crinkled as he smiled, the unfortunate sneezing, the visit, the invitation, the warmth of his hands when they touched, the way that he said his name, that spark of energy that the Prince could so easily send through his whole body... Taemin had never felt this way about anyone before in his life. Sure, part of it was because Jinki was the Crown Prince. But the bigger part of it was, deep in his heart, he knew. Taemin knew that finding Jinki was the beginning of the big adventure he was dreaming of his whole life. 

"Why do I get the feeling that everything in my life is about to be turned upside down?"