The parades held annually for the Elemental Princes were always beautiful. There were bright lights, people dancing, good food, good music, pretty outfits - it was just an all-round good time for everyone involved.

But as soon as the sky lit up with an explosion of colors to kick off the celebrations that year, Mark knew that he could not put up with this any longer.

"This could've been over by now." Jaebum spoke under his breath, so as to not cause any suspicion from the bystanders near them, “Why are we still waiting?”

"We're waiting until we actually have a solid plan." Mark replied, “What do you suggest we do? Rush a bunch of elementals and hope they pity us enough to lie back and let us murder them?”

“Don’t sass me, Mark.” The other man glared, “I’m just sick of this.”

“I know. Me too. But there’s not a whole lot we can do now. We need to come up with some sort of strategy or we’ll ruin our only chance.”

Jaebum sighed in frustration, "Well, that's your forte. Let me know when you manage to seduce a prince or turn them against each other somehow." With that, he walked away from the other man, leaving Mark to watch the parade on his own.

The same thing happened every year like clockwork. The Elemental Princes were paraded by on big, fancy, over the top floats.

The first to come by - in the bright blue and white float - was always Jackson, the Ice Prince. He was both the oldest and the most powerful of the five and never let anyone forget it. He was loud, boisterous and loved to wave to the crowd and pump everyone up.

Mark found it infuriating really...

Behind him was a contrastingly dark and gloomy float carrying the Prince of Darkness: Jinyoung. He always looked like he didn't want any part of this. Like he was forced to be there. He clearly hated the fanfare and never waved to or even looked at a single person throughout the entire parade.

Jinyoung was the one Mark was most interested in. Partly because he seemed to despise the whole 'Elemental Princes Being Worshipped Like Gods' thing just as much as Mark himself did. But also because the darkness was unnaturally exciting to him.

Before Mark could dwell too much on his rapid heartbeat and the itch in his fingers that occurred every time he saw the Prince of Darkness, the next float was already passing by.

This was Youngjae. He was the healer among them and was held in pretty high regard because of his unique power. The five of them were commonly referred to as the 'Elemental Princes', but Youngjae didn't have a specific element, unlike his comrades, and that seemed to make him all the more special to the people. But equally as much of an annoyance to Mark.

After Youngjae was BamBam. He was more like Jackson than any of the others. He was also loud and loved attention but, unlike Jackson, he didn't seem to have the power or the sense to be of any real use to the kingdom. His element was earth and his childishness caused him to do stupid things with his power sometimes, like creating an earthquake for the hell of it or making a huge sculpture of his face out of the ground and the vegetation.

Finally, the last prince, bringing up the rear, was the water elemental, Yugyeom. He was laid back and actually kinda likeable, but he was still a prince and Mark was sure he was yet to release his full power. That was worrying. He had the potential to become more powerful than even Jackson was...

There were more floats behind them, filled with dancers and more spectacles, but Mark had seen enough at that point and turned around, deciding he should probably go and find Jaebum before he set Jackson's float alight or something.

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Jinyoung didn't understand why this whole celebration had to last more than a day. If everyone really had to celebrate the existence of five people, surely they could have had just one day a year dedicated to it.

But no, year after year, Jinyoung had to sit through four days of doing nothing but being fawned over and he hated it.

He understood that the five of them were special, sure. Not everyone had the abilities that they had. But he had been stared at and tiptoed around and treated like he was some delicate glass being that everyone loved but also didn't trust to do anything by himself lest he fall over and break.

It was maddening.

The second night of the festival was something he particularly despised. The first day was about celebrating and, although Jinyoung couldn't stand people cheering at him, it was easy enough to just zone out and ignore it, to some extent.

The second day, however, was about socializing.

Aristocrats and those with excellent social standing brought their sons and daughters to a gathering at the palace in a desperate attempt to woo one of the princes and ultimately marry into royalty. It was how generations of Elemental Princes and Princesses found their partners and even Jinyoung’s father was one such person, pushed by his parents to charm someone - anyone - into marriage or into bed, whether or not there was any love involved was completely optional.

It was bad enough fending off everyone's advances in the past, worse now that he was secretly engaged to his best friend.

Well, it wasn't a total secret and they weren't even officially engaged. That, like everything else in Jinyoung's life, was arranged by the court. He and Jackson had been inseparable since they were kids and there was a lot of talk amongst the court about having them get married for the sake of making the people happy. Elemental royalty almost never married each other, but the two princes were loved by the people and they clearly cared very deeply for each other. Their potential marriage was saved for a time when morale amongst the people was low and they needed something to rejoice about and, hopefully, restore their faith in the kingdom.

Thanks to that, they had obviously wondered what it would be like if they were in a real relationship and slowly began acting – and feeling - less like friends and more like lovers. However... there was still something off. Something incompatible about them that Jinyoung just could not put his finger on.

Not that he would voice those thoughts to anyone. When the time came, he would just shut his mouth and do what was ‘best for him and best for the people’ like the sheep he was trained to be his whole life.

“You've been sitting by yourself all night, My Lord.” A middle aged woman - somebody's mother, most likely - commented with a large, fake smile on her face, breaching Jinyoung's little bubble of personal space, “My daughter is just like you; quiet as a mouse. She's been too shy to talk to anyone tonight, you two will get along.”

Jinyoung just barely managed not to scoff right in the woman's face because what she just said was bull. He may have been by himself in his own lonely corner the whole night, but he had been watching. He had seen her walk in with that daughter of hers who had almost immediately walked up to Yugyeom and attached herself to his arm for a good hour, gushing over every word coming out of his mouth before, from what Jinyoung could deduce, he told her he wasn't interested. She then quickly moved on to her next conquest.

“Thank you, but I think I'm just gonna stay here by myself. I'm not feeling so well tonight.” The Prince of Darkness replied, trying his best to remain polite.

That wasn't a complete lie. He did feel slightly sick to his stomach when that very same girl that was previously Yugyeom’s biggest fan ran her hand down Jackson's body, brushing daringly over his crotch before he had stepped out of her reach as respectfully as possible.

'Too shy’...

“Oh no.” The woman placed a hand on her chest in exaggerated concern. Jinyoung had to clench his fists to stop himself from cringing. “You know, sometimes when you're sick, it's better to take your mind off it by having some fun. You don't feel it as much that way. You stay here, I'll tell her to come talk to you. Maybe you'll feel better by the end of it.”

Before Jinyoung had a chance to protest, the woman was already on her way towards the crowd of people and her daughter who, since being rejected by Jackson, looked like she was plotting who her next target would be. If her mother had anything to do with it, Jinyoung himself would be next. Lovely...

Deciding that he would not - could not - deal with the inevitable conversation with the girl with the wandering hands, Jinyoung stood from his lone chair and walked out of the room, instinctively sticking to the dark corners so as to not be detected as he made his escape.

It wasn't that he didn't like people. He liked his fellow princes a lot. Jackson, of course, was his best friend for as long as he could remember and, whether as friends or something more, Jinyoung loved him.

Youngjae was his rock. His comfort. The one who would listen without a word when it was needed and the one who's literal presence was comforting. Jinyoung blamed it on Youngjae being the healer, but there was just something so gentle about the younger man's aura that always made his stormy mind feel just a little more calm whenever he was around.

BamBam was the mood maker. Although Jinyoung had a hard time outwardly expressing his emotions and hardly, if ever, laughed visibly at BamBam's antics, the Earth Prince had a knack for lifting Jinyoung's mood. Most of the time, it was due to the dumb things he did on a regular basis and, while BamBam was probably a nuisance to the rest of the kingdom, Jinyoung and the other princes always found themselves just a little happier after spending time with him.

Then there was Yugyeom, the youngest. Jinyoung remembered the day Yugyeom was born. He remembered, albeit vaguely, being three years old and hearing all the commotion around the palace because ‘The second child's eyes are special’. He remembered how Yugyeom’s mother had previously had a son who, at 5 years old, didn't seem to have inherited any elemental powers. That boy got cast out of the palace without a second thought when the Water Prince was born. But among all the families with only one child in the palace, Jinyoung decided that having an older brother was a rare honour that Yugyeom shouldn't have to give up and took on the role himself. Yugyeom could be a brat and Jinyoung could be moody, but they were brothers, blood or otherwise.

Before Jinyoung could really think about where he was planning to go to hide from everyone, his feet had taken him all the way up to the roof of the palace; his new favorite spot.

He had been going there a lot over the past week or so to watch as the people in the town in the distance set up their yearly market leading up to the festival, developing a small interest and a strange pull toward it. It was just a basic flea market where they probably sold the same things at 10 different stalls but Jinyoung had been to a few of those before, in more high-class areas, and he always managed to find something that caught his attention. A diamond in the rough in the form of some trinket or the other that actually had the sellers hard work and time put into it. Something that had their heart put into it.

It somehow made Jinyoung feel a little less empty. A little more… human.

He leaned over the railing, watching the busy people in the little rundown town. He wanted to go there at some point. Maybe tomorrow, during entertainment day. It wasn't the worst part of the festival - Jinyoung reserved that honour for the current night - but it wasn't mandatory, so he could leave if he wanted to.

Which he definitely wanted to.

“Ah, I knew you'd be up here. You're so predictable, Hyung.” Yugyeom's voice floated lightly through the air.

Jinyoung turned, spotting him walking closer with Jackson trailing behind him.

“You know, it can actually be kinda fun to pretend like you're interested in those people.” The youngest mused, standing next to Jinyoung and mirroring his pose of leaning over the railing, “Call me a , but there's nothing wrong with having someone gush over you like a shameless whor--”

“Yugyeom…” the older interrupted, frowning in that ‘big brother’ way that he'd perfected over the years.

Yugyeom shrugged, “I'm just saying, Hyung. Things like this are all about attitude. Try to look for the silver lining and you'll find it.”

Jinyoung sighed. He knew Yugyeom wasn't any more interested in a relationship with these people than he was. Yugyeom just wasn't interested in a relationship at all. It was somewhat against what they were taught, but he just didn't seem to care that much.

The court pushed romantic relationships heavily. Well… they pushed children heavily. Heirs. Even if there were any same couples, they were forbidden from adopting, they had to use a surrogate and the elemental partner's DNA. It made sense, they couldn't allow the elementals to die out like they came so close to doing only about a hundred years earlier.

There were more of their kind back then. At least forty each generation, but most of them were wiped out thanks to a princess who went rogue and murdered almost all of the other princes and princesses with the help of her mysterious lover. The only reason there were still a handful of elementals left is because the two were caught and executed before they could finish the job.

It was unheard of for someone to have more than one elemental child, and 99% of the time, a couple's first child will inherit their powers so there would be no need to have another, seeing as how they would be cast out of the palace for being useless. Yugyeom's brother was an extremely rare case. Jinyoung never did know what became of him.

Of course, if there were two elementals - i.e. him and Jackson - they could essentially have two elemental children, given that one would be Jackson's and one would be Jinyoung's. That's what the court was pushing for anyway.

“Where’s Youngjae and BamBam?” Jinyoung questioned, noticing the absence of the two princes.

“BamBam disappeared. Probably with somebody. You know how he is.” Yugyeom laughed, “And last I saw, Youngjae Hyung was with some guy who was whispering something to him. Probably something filthy, judging by how Hyung was blushing like a school girl.”

Jackson chuckled, finally standing next to Jinyoung with his back against the railing, “So Youngjae's alone in there with a hundred single people trying to get into his pants. Wow.”

“Should we save him?” Yugyeom mused.

“Nah.” The Ice Prince replied, stretching, “He's allowed to have some fun. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into a or… y'know… a hundred on one ? We do need to save him, don't we?”

“We probably should.” Jinyoung spoke, “The guards probably won't let them all assault him, but you know Youngjae can't say no to people. If we're not there, he'll agree to stupid things.”

“True. Come on, let's go save our princess.” The youngest teased, making his way back towards the door.

“We'll catch up, Gyeom.” Jackson called after him, “I just wanna talk to Jinyoung for a moment.”

Yugyeom threw him a thumbs up and walked back inside.

Jackson let out a breath before turning a smirk on his best friend turned fiancé, “Soooo… I saw you glare when that girl touched me.”

Jinyoung looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “And?”

“Your jealousy is flattering.”

The Prince of Darkness sighed, “You make it sound like we're not already engaged. You know I love you, you don't need confirmation through jealousy.”

“I know.” Jackson smiled, moving closer to the other man.

Silence fell between the two princes. Jinyoung's eyes automatically rested on the town again, feeling entranced by it once more. Why had he never been there his whole life? It had a somewhat bad reputation for being dangerous, but he'd always wanted to go anyway. There was just something holding him back every time.

Mostly, that something was the distaste of how people outside the palace usually treated him.

“Hey.” Jackson's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” He turned to the other man who was now shoulder to shoulder with him, a soft smile playing on the Ice Prince's lips.

Jackson tilted his head, “Smile for me.”

Jinyoung blinked in surprise at the unusual request, “What?”

“I feel like I haven't seen you smile in forever.”

“Jackson, I…” the younger cut himself off at the realization that he also couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled. There wasn't all that much to smile about these days, after all. His lips pulled up into a half-grimace, half-strained-smile before just as quickly going back to his previous expression. “Sorry…”

The other prince chuckled, “Well… practice makes perfect, right? Try smiling more and you'll get used to it.”

“Give me something to smile about.”

Jackson's eyes lit up, “As a matter of fact…” he started excitedly, digging through his pockets, obviously searching for something. Having located it, he looked back at the other man, “Put out your hands.”

Jinyoung raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, holding out both his hands in anticipation of whatever gift Jackson was giving him.

The Ice Prince hesitated for a moment. “Close your eyes."

“Jackson…” the younger sighed in exasperation.

“Just do it.” Jackson replied quickly, “Please?”

With another sigh, Jinyoung let his eyes flutter closed.

A few moments passed and the older man seemed to be making zero movements. Jinyoung was about to open his eyes and scold Jackson for wasting his time when he felt the Ice Prince's cold hand grabbing one of his, followed by the distinct feeling of cold metal sliding up one of his fingers to rest at the base.

Jinyoung opened his eyes, inspecting the band around his ring finger. It was simple; black with a light blue, sparkling stripe in the middle, Jinyoung figured the color choice was probably meant to represent darkness and ice because Jackson was cheesy and sentimental like that.

“Are you proposing to me?” The Prince of Darkness mused, “You're supposed to get down on one knee and ask me to marry you. You're making a lot of assumptions.”

“I'm pretty sure you already said yes.”

“Really? I don't remember.” Jinyoung replied off-handedly, eyes still glued to the ring.

Jackson went quiet for a few seconds before he held Jinyoung's jewelry adorned hand and linked their fingers together. Faster than the Prince of Darkness’ mind could compute what his companion was doing, Jackson's lips were suddenly on his, kissing him softly.

It was rather ironic that Jackson had the elemental power of ice. The prince's body - from his skin to his blood to his lips - was cold, but he radiated a sweet, emotional warmth at the same time and Jinyoung barely took any notice of his icy limbs anymore.

Breaking the kiss, Jinyoung felt a smile - a genuine smile - cross his lips. Maybe things weren't terrible. Maybe things could have been so much worse and he was just a pessimist not being able to appreciate what he had.

He had everything, after all.

He had his best friend and the love of his life wrapped into one little neat package in the form of Jackson. He had friends, family, wealth, power, love, admiration.

“You should smile more often. It suits you.” Jackson whispered against his fiancé's lips.

Jinyoung had everything.

… right?

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A/N: Ah, I'm always so nervous to start a new story, but here you go! Intro chapter done!
        I don't really have much to say since it's the first chapter... so...
        I'll see you guys on Wednesday!
        Oh, right, I'm going to be updating every Sunday and Wednesday~

Thank you to everyone who subscribed~ <3
And also to everyone who gave this first chapter a read ^^