Coming back home has never felt so good for Baekhyun. He could go back to his luxurious room, hang out with his favorite aunt, and run around his garden while planting random plants. He even missed his dad, and his dad missed him more than Baekhyun missed him. Soeun doesn't show it though. While Baekhyun was away, Soeun got to discover more about his son through the stuff he brought with him. He saw everything and memorized every single photo. Every polaroid, every letter, every album, and every postcard— he memorized it all. To his surprise, Baekhyun was the perfect mixture of him and Hana. It made him wonder about his former lover, the person he still loves until this day. Seeing everything also made him remember how much he loves her too.

Sitting outside with a newspaper in his hands, Soeun was reclining back on the couch as Baekhyun was running around with a hose in his hand. He was doing what he usually did before he left: planting and being playful with the gardeners. He loved to play with the hose the most, which reminds him of the times he would water his plants back in America and play with his mom and his neighborhood friends. This time, his dad was outside lounging on the outdoor chairs and he was feeling a little mischievious.

Baekhyun held his hat as he ran towards his dad while lowering the hose down to his side. Soeun raised his eyebrows and lifted his eyes from the newspaper with a small smile on his face, "Baekhyun?" His son looked at him with a cheeky smile without saying a word.

He knew Baekhyun liked gardening. Based on what was in the photo album and what he has been hearing from the maids about him, he knew. To his surprise, Baekhyun took on his gardening skills. He, himself, loved gardening, and he loved to flaunt his skills to Hana. He would always give her a flower whenever they met. He wondered if Baekhyun has liked a person before, and because of his uality, has he ever liked a male? Soeun has been wondering about that for the past few days, and Somin always had to bite her tongue whenever her brother would ask.

"Soeun," Baekhyun answered as he inched closer, "anything new with the world?" He asked while grasping on the hose.

His dad shook his head. "No, but I'm tired of seeing myself in the newspaper." He showed his photo on the front cover, making Baekhyun laugh at the horrible picture the photographer took. "Don't laugh at me like that!"

"You look so funny!" The prince laughed out loud before squeezing the handle of the hose and spraying his dad. The water splashed his face and his newspaper, causing Baekhyun to giggle more as he sprayed him once more. His dad was stationary in his position while his newspaper was falling flat in his hands. Baekhyun stopped his antics and became concerned as his lips became pouty and he dropped the hose. He approached his dad with two of his hands extended out to wipe his face. The action shook Soeun.

Pouting, Baekhyun said, "Did I cross the line? I play too much, huh?" He took out a handkerchief in his shorts and wiped his dad's face. "Sorry, Soeun— AHH!"

Baekhyun felt a shot of water at his back and arched his back before throwing his head back and being slapped with a water shooting right in his face. Soeun began laughing out loud as his little sister was holding the hose with a wide smile on her face. The young prince ran towards her and tried to grab the hose from her while laughing loudly. Soeun got up quickly and ran towards one of the gardeners to ask them a question.

"Let go you weakling!" Somin chirped as she struggle to keep a grasp on the hose. She used her free hand to tickle her nephew and he fell immediately to the ground while wheezing. Somin rolled his her pants before turning on the hose and spraying Baekhyun heavily with water, soaking him until he was begging her to stop. Without their knowledge on where Soeun was, the water sprinklers activated and began shooting water all around the area, immediately drenching Somin and causing her to scream.

Soeun watched from afar with all of the gardeners and they all laughed together as they saw the two running around screaming for help. Jongdae rushed outside alongside with some maids and quickly ran back inside when they saw Baekhyun running with the hose chasing his aunt in front of them. 

"He is such a ray of sunshine, my King!" One of the gardeners said while chuckling, "Your prince is truly a gift." The king shrugged, but deep down he was in agreement.

[Juicy Juicy]

Chanyeol came out of the supermarket with grocery bags in his arms as he ran towards the parking lot to where Yixing was. He approached his car and went to the trunk once Yixing opened it. Placing the groceries in the back, Yixing turned his head around. "Did you get my cookies?" The younger stopped what he was doing and stared at the elder as he tried to recall back to when he was in the market. He looked inside one of the bags and took out the Oreo cookies that Yixing wanted. He threw it at his face and closed the trunk.

Once he hopped into the driver seat and closed the door, Chanyeol took off his hat and his fake piercings before placing his hands on the wheel. They both looked at each other with wide grins. "Road trip!" They exclaimed.

Yixing made a plan to take Chanyeol out when he gets back from his vacation, and with this road trip, Chanyeol gets to decide wherever they want to go. It was about time that Chanyeol gets to escape the house and have a little vacation of his own. "To where are we going, sir?" Yixing asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

Chanyeol buckled his seatbelt and started the engine. "Bucheon!"

The elder nodded at the location before echoing the name in his head. Bucheon? It sounded so familiar.

"I figured we could go down there and check the place out. I've never actually explored that region before too. I figured you might've had since you're a prince—"

Yixing butted in. "Bucheon you said?" Chanyeol nodded. . That's where Baekhyun lives. "Is there a specific reason why we're going there?"

Chanyeol began to drive out of the parking lot to head onto the busy streets of Seoul. He only shrugged. "I know a person. Maybe two. You remember Jongdae, right?" Of course he knows Jongdae for crying out loud. "I haven't seen him for years, even though I talk to him. I just think that maybe this is a good opportunity to finally see him again. I'm not sure how to take him out of the Byuns though. I'd figure you can do it," the giant rambled as Yixing tried to come up with a decent plan to get Baekhyun to avoid Chanyeol at all costs due to high risks. "Well , there's traffic." This was going to be one long morning drive for the two of them.

[Juicy Juicy]
 

Jongdae measured Jongin while Baekhyun was playing chess with one of the butlers in the room. The man moved his pawn up and clapped his hands together, causing Baekhyun to look at him with furious eyes. "What does that mean?" He asked. The butler simply got up and walked towards the door. Before leaving, he stuck his tongue out at the prince and left in silence, leaving behind a very heated prince. "Not fair!"

"He played very fairly," Jongin sighed as he placed his arms down to his side when Jongdae finished measuring him. The blonde shot his head towards him with a glare and Jongin scrunched his face at him.

"You shut it," Baekhyun snarled, "Dae, dress me!" His tone of voice changed as he jumped out of his seat and ran to his cousin to push him off of the stand.

Jongin pouted as he was pushed off and slapped his cousin's . "What are we getting dress for anyways? Is there a huge event coming?"

The designer nodded his head before opening up his closet of fabrics. "Yeah. In the afternoon we are having a luncheon, and tomorrow evening we are flying to Japan for a birthday celebration. That reminds me," he said as he picked two fabrics before shutting his closet, "You two have not yet experienced a royal birthday party."

Both of the cousins looked at each other. "How extravagant could it be?" Jongin asked as Baekhyun nodded.

Jongdae's lips curled up into a small smile. "You'll see! Baekhyun, pick between coral or emerald." The blonde immediately picked the coral and Jongdae assigned emerald to Jongin, who seemed to be drawn towards the color.

Baekhyun felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his shorts and fished it out to see messages from Chanyeol. He flooded his phone with pictures of him in a old man filter in his car, which caused him to giggle lowly to himself while Jongin tried to glance over to see if it was who he think he is. When he found out he was correct, he grabbed his cousin by the neck and started shaking his arm to bother him.

"Oh!" The blonde exclaimed. "I forgot to ask you, Jongdae."

The designer looked up from his sewing desk and pursed his lips as he nodded his head at him to proceed. "Does the public know that Chanyeol was in Barcelona?"

He shook his head. "No. Only the kingdom knows," he replied before getting up and going towards his sewing mannequin. "Do you want your pants to be fitted and longer this time? The last time a lot of people criticized your pants for looking too 'short' at the ankles."

There was an incident, besides the gay rumors, that Baekhyun's pants appeared too short and revealing to other royals. Although it was a huge fashion statement, many of the royals disliked the fact that it made him different and not royal-like. It annoyed Baekhyun to an extent because they were paying more attention to his ankles than the couple getting married. Now that proved something to social media about their standards.

"Will I be criticized for wearing fitted pants that outlines my ?" Baekhyun joked.

Jongdae looked up to the ceiling as if trying to pull out an answer from the air and then shook his head. "Nope. It'll hint your preferences though, if you know what I mean," he said before winking at his best friend.

"Kim Jongdae, how am I so lucky to have you?" Baekhyun swooned before going to his designer and attacking him with a hug from behind.

"Wait! Me too! I am lucky for you too, Jongdae!" Jongin cried as he ran over and hugged the two of them.

Jongdae laughed out loud before kicking both of them off of him so that he can focus on his suits. The two ran off to the chess board to start a fresh new game right after Baekhyun sent a few text messages to Chanyeol to for looking 'so old for a twenty-nine-year-old.' He wondered where his runaway prince was traveling to.

[Juicy Juicy]

Byun Baekhyun, Prince of Bucheon, was found being very close towards his personal designer, Kim Jongdae, and Prince Kim Jungmyeon at today's luncheon! The three were stuck together as they were captured being very intimate and playful during the afternoon activity. Many people are creating speculations surround the Californian prince's preferences, and some are hoping that they turn out to be true! What is your take on this? Is Byun Baekhyun a closeted prince?

Jongdae turned off the TV before throwing the remote control aside and faced his best friend in his own bed as he played with the hem of his pajama shirt. "See how they jump into conclusions that are actually real?" He chuckled. "You got the whole world wrapped around your finger, Baek."

The boy huffed before his back hit the mattress as he stared at the chandelier above Jongdae's bed. "The spotlight is crazy. Everything I do leads up to something. What if I don't like men? What if I'm aual? What if I don't like the smell of roses? I do though. Don't get me wrong—"

Jongdae hushed him before rolling him on his side to face him. "I understand you completely. That's the life of a royal, and for me, part royal. You're constantly monitored."

"I am still not used to it at all. First, being caught with Chanyeol unknowingly by paparazzi— which they don't know— second, my uality assumptions— which are hilariously true— and third, everything?" Baekhyun sighed before frowning. "Am I too different still?"

It may not seemed to bother Baekhyun like crazy, but the more exposure he gets over the smallest details on television, the more he worries about how American he still appears to be. He didn't find it hard to be a royal since all he does is attend events, follow his family, greet people, and many other things. He's doing a lot more than what he has done back home. It was overwhelming him. The whole royal status reminded him of his favorite movie, What a Girl Wants, which is what his state of life is at right now. He pouted before pulling his best friend closer to hug him while whining. Jongdae cracked a smile before hugging him back.

"Is it bad being gay?" He mumbled.

Jongdae stayed silent for a bit before answering. "Of course not. It's not normal in the kingdom though," he answered quietly. "Shouldn't you be happy that you're unique? Outside of the kingdom, everyone adores you. I haven't met a prince who is widely loved internationally."

Baekhyun pulled away from him and blinked at him. "Wouldn't it upset me? I mean— look at Chanyeol for an example! He wasn't happy because he wanted to pursue music, right?"

"Right," Jongdae nodded.

"Then being assumed such accusations that are false, or true, is annoying! I want a voice but I can't because it'll hurt my family! Even being myself is slowly bringing them down—" Jongdae pressed his hand against his mouth while shushing him to quit blabblering.

The elder looked at him with questioning eyes before his hand and making Jongdae yelp out before wiping his hand on his shirt. "Listen to me!" Jongdae said sternly before sitting up on his bed. He pointed a finger at the elder before speaking. "Chanyeol had a different story than yours, and whether you like it or not, you have it way easier than him! Besides, you're still adjusting to this, so don't worry about a thing and be yourself. American or not, you are still something the world has never seen before."

"But what about Chanyeol? Why didn't people accept him?" Baekhyun asked. Jongdae sighed. He always wished Baekhyun would never ask about his old best friend. Despite all the information he could find online, which had nothing but who he was and why he ran away, he still hoped the blonde would never bring him up. He began to fidget with his fingers without looking at Baekhyun who was silently begging him to tell him by tugging on his sleeve. "I want to know more about what happened, Dae," he whispered.

Jongdae bit his lower lip. "It's complicated," he croaked. He was afraid to speak out information that shouldn't be exposed because he knew something that involved Yixing and Yoora. Because he overheard of their conversation, he swore to never speak of it to Yoora along with Yixing. Even though it has been many years ago, it still felt as if it happened yesterday. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything. I want to know what went wrong between you two. You were friends, am I wrong?" Baekhyun asked. He rolled over to get more comfortable as if he expects Jongdae to speak about Chanyeol right away. The younger chuckled while shaking his head as he watched the prince smile patiently with a pillow tucked in his arms. "Entertain me," he cooed.

Sighing deeply, Jongdae laid back down and took back his pillow before opening his mouth. "He is my childhood friend. Before you took his place as being my best friend, he was mine. We met at an event celebrating Children's Day when I was five. He was fourteen. I knew he was a royal, and since he was my partner for that event, we instantly became friends and he begged his butler to make sure he has my contact information. He would personally invite me over to play with him at his house, tutor me when I needed help in school, and take me to his royal events. He is a very caring person, but when I turned ten, he changed."

Baekhyun cocked his head. "Changed?"

Jongdae swallowed a dry lump in his throat as he tried to gather his words together. "H-He— He grew cold for a while, but then he comes back to the same person I grew up with. As a person, he is really soft. I think you can tell from the conversations you had with him, right?" Baekhyun nodded. "He has a very delicate heart. It's easy to hurt him. We grew distant because one day when I was getting tutored by him, his parents threatened me to leave. I didn't know the reason behind their explanation, which didn't even make sense, so I left and cut Chanyeol off thinking I was a nuisance. Chanyeol still tries everything to keep a hold of me, and until this day, he is. This time, he is constantly nagging at me about you." He instantly giggled when he saw how Baekhyun's eyes lit up from looking sad.

"Firstly, I am so sorry for you. I wish you had a proper explanation as to why you had to be pushed away like that," Baekhyun said softly. "Based on my research, his parents were so perfect. Why would they... threaten someone? A child?" He watched as Jongdae began to grow uncomfortable at the question and quickly shook his head. "Don't answer it. I won't bring it up again."

"I have never seen Chanyeol so talkative about another person," Jongdae saved them by switching the topic. "He talks about you way too much. I'm shocked that he doesn't know who you are internationally," he teased before squeezing the prince's nose. Baekhyun yelped before swatting his hand away from his face. "You know he's one of us?"

Squinting his eyes, Baekhyun shook his head before biting his lips. "Are you saying he's gay?" He asked with a hint of joy in his voice. Jongdae nodded his head and Baekhyun laid on his back before kicking his legs in the air and waving his arms above his head. "I am winning tonight!" He cheered before joining his friend in a lazy hug. In his mind, he still hoped that Jongdae would be able to rekindle their relationship back together. He deserved to have a proper friendship, but he was glad to be the one to give him a real one.

As the two left Jongdae's bedroom and office to sneak downstairs to the kitchen for snacks, Jongdae's phone vibrated in his room with two missed messages from Chanyeol:

[Chanyeol: Dae, I'm in Bucheon! You think you can stop by sometime tomorrow?]

[Chanyeol: I think you should bring your friend with you. I want to meet him ^3^]

[Juicy Juicy]