With his two maids by his side, Ryeowook made his way to the south gate after lunch the next day. The thought crossed his mind that it probably wasn’t a particularly good idea to meet a stranger, a traveling artist on top of that, somewhere in the city all on his own, but he quickly discarded that thought. He had already met Kyuhyun several times during the spring festival, so this meeting, too, would certainly be fine. Plus, with his two maids by his side, nothing could happen to him.

He arrived a little later than expected, but a brief scanning of the gate area revealed that Kyuhyun wasn’t there. Merchants, families, and guests to the city mainly entered through the gates, only few going into the opposite direction, but there was no sign of the fire artist while the guards at the gate checked everyone who came or left. Had he arrived too late?

“Looking for someone?”

Ryeowook turned around calmly, keeping his expression carefully clean of the surprise that he felt. Kyuhyun just stepped out of a small road off to the side, smiling.

“I think I found him?”

“Really? I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I think it’s rather the other way around.”

Ryeowook shook his head lightly, yet he couldn’t help but smile in response. The two maids by his side were whispering to themselves, but he didn’t pay them much attention while he watched Kyuhyun step out of the house’s shadow and onto the bright square in front of the south gate.

“So, why don’t you show me your blacksmith?”

The young prince nodded quickly and took the lead, motioning for Kyuhyun to come with him. The other did and naturally walked right by his side, causing the maids to whisper more; following the hierarchy, Kyuhyun would have to walk at least slightly behind Ryeowook, but certainly not right next to him. Instead of protesting, though, Ryeowook turned towards the artist a little. “Is this your first time in the city?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “It’s been a long time since I first came here as a child. That time, my family and I also came for the spring festival. I knew then that I would have to come back one day.”

“Your family?” Kyuhyun merely nodded and the line around his lips hardened. Ryeowook couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Kyuhyun’s family: were they alive? Were they dead? If so, what had happened? Or had Kyuhyun left after a huge fight with them? “Did you decide then that you wanted to become a fire artist?”

“Not quite.”

In the silence that followed, Ryeowook was certain that he wouldn’t get a more specific answer. What else was there to ask? Where Kyuhyun originally came from? His parents’ jobs and status? No, having seen the other’s reaction to the mention of his family, those didn’t seem like questions that Kyuhyun would want to answer.

“My teacher found me one day and gave me the means to become an artist. I had to figure out almost everything on my own, but she gave me a lot of tips, too.”

Ryeowook looked at the other curiously, surprised to have gotten more information. “Your teacher was a woman? A shaman?” he asked carefully, quietly. As much as he trusted his maids and was grateful for them, this wasn’t the kind of conversation that they needed to hear. At least they didn’t need to hear all of it.

“Something like that, yes.” Ryeowook raised an eyebrow, waiting for more, but it didn’t seem like Kyuhyun was willing to answer.

Before the silence could weigh down on them, they arrived at the blacksmith’s house. It was comparably quiet on this day. Was the blacksmith not working? Was he on the market place, using the spring festival to promote his products? But so far, Ryeowook hadn't seen him there...

The young prince went further to the part of the house where the blacksmith worked and listened carefully, yet he couldn’t hear anything. He stepped forward to knock, but before he could make a move, the younger one of his two maids was right by his side and rapped her knuckles against the wood.

The door was opened soon after by a surprised man whose age bordered on elderly. “Oh, young prince!” the man bowed formally and Ryeowook nodded in a greeting.

“Blacksmith Park.”

“What an honor. I haven’t seen you in a long time!”

“Mr. Park, a friend of mine was stopping by in the city and asked me to give him a tour, so I only saw it fit to start in your shop.”

The blacksmith bowed once more, thanking him profusely while he stepped aside and motioned for the visitors to enter. Ryeowook flashed Kyuhyun a smile, then he entered the shop. On the other side of the room, another door was open, leading outside to the area where Mr. Park did the actual work. The inside was rather used as a storage room before the items were delivered to the customers.

Ryeowook let his gaze wander, taking in the familiar patterns on the different metallic objects. They looked a bit rougher than he remembered them, but he wasn’t too surprised—the blacksmith hadn’t become younger in the meantime, after all. When they passed a corner piece waiting to be attached to probably a wardrove or shelf, Ryeowook lightly ran his fingers over it, smiling. It had really been too long since he had last come to this place!

“Mr. Park, is there anything that you’re currently working on?”

“Of course there is. In a town like this, a blacksmith is always busy. Do you want to watch?”

“Will that be very loud?”

Ryeowook turned around to Kyuhyun who had followed slightly behind him, eyeing him in surprise

The blacksmith, on the other hand, laughed. “Well, of course! A blacksmith’s job is always loud.”

“Then I think I’d prefer to miss out on this experience. I’m a bit sensitive to loud sounds.”

“Oh come on, there’s nothing to be afraid of!”

The young prince shook his head lightly. “It’s okay, I’ll come back another time to watch.” He would have loved to show Kyuhyun the process of Mr. Park’s work since it had always fascinated him, but he didn’t want the other to feel uncomfortable.

“Thank you.”

“But young prince, if not my work process, what else brought you here on this day?”

“Your general work, actually. My friend asked me if there was anything good to see here, so of course I had to start my little tour at this place.”

Mr. Park laughed heartily and patted a shelf by his side that held work utensils. “What an honor, my prince! That you would immediately think of me at a chance like this. You must know,” he turned to Kyuhyun with a promising smile, “I have inherited this skill from my father, may he rest in peace. He started out as the average blacksmith. One day, a woman came in and complained about how the designs are always bleak and boring. My father took that as a personal offense and soon thereafter started to decorate his works. The woman who complained? She came back and they got married!” He laughed as if he had just told the greatest joke and Ryeowook smiled. He already knew that story and many more from the blacksmith, but he never got tired of hearing them.

“Tell me, tell me, prince, what’s the next location that you’ll take your out-of-town friend to?”

“I was thinking about going to Mina’s.”

“Mina, what a fine woman.”

Ryeowook nodded lightly and turned to Kyuhyun who looked back and forth between them. “Shall we go?”

“What’s ‘Mina’s’?”

Ryeowook’s smile deepened and he nodded towards the door. “C’mon, I’ll show you.”

Kyuhyun didn’t look entirely convinced, but they left the blacksmith’s place anyway.

Mina’s wasn’t far away. Even before reaching the place, the scent of her extravagant flowers filled the air. Ryeowook had no idea where she got her flower seeds from, but Mina knew how to cultivate flowers that the young prince hadn’t seen in any other corner of this country before.

☆ ☆ ☆

It was only when Ryeowook knew that he was expected back for dinner that he led Kyuhyun to the court and they came to a stand in front of it but far enough away to be out of earshot from the guards. After hours together, even the maids gave them some privacy, walking ahead a little.

“Will you come watch my performance again tonight?”

“Are you performing every night of the spring festival?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “Of course. There are always people who like to watch, after all, especially in a big city like the capital.”

Ryeowook gave a brief nod in acknowledgement. “Yes, I’ll certainly be there.”

“Great! It’s always nice to have constant admirers.” The fire artist winked at him and Ryeowook was tempted to role his eyes, yet his manners kept him from doing so.

“Who says that I’m an admirer?”

“Your constant showing up might have given that away. Plus, your interest in me… No, don’t even attempt to deny that. If you didn’t have some kind of interest, you wouldn’t have agreed to meet me today.” Ryeowook had indeed been about to protest, but he closed his mouth when Kyuhyun called him out. “Which actually does make me wonder: How come you agreed? I know I’m irresistible, of course, but until today I would assume it to have been unheard of for a prince to go on an outing with a wandering artist.”

Ryeowook watched Kyuhyun for a moment, taking his appearance in, though it was the same as always: slightly messy, fluffy-looking, dark hair, bright eyes, tight-fitting, black clothes, sharp and attentive features… “I don’t know. There’s something about you that…” He couldn’t say ‘drew him in’, that would sound like too much, wouldn’t it? “Something interesting about you.”

Kyuhyun let out a short laugh. “Interesting… Yes, I guess you could say so. Not everyone plays with fire the way I do.”

Ryeowook nodded, but the fire wasn’t all that drew him in. It was Kyuhyun’s attitude, the half-smirk that seemed to be chisled on his face, the way he replied directly and looked straight at him instead of abiding to the rules of hierarchy, his good looks… Was that something that a man should find attracting in another man?

“Since you came for the spring festival, will you leave right afterwards?”

“Probably not. I think I’ll stay a while longer until I grow tired of this place or money runs low, then I’ll move to the next place.”

“Do you have anywhere you really want to go?”

Kyuhyun shook his head lightly. “Nothing specific, no. I’ll just go wherever life leads me.”

“It must be tough…”

“Actually, it’s not. At least not to me. It gives me freedom to just go wherever I want whenever I want, to explore new places, get to know more people even though I’ll see many of them only once…”

“So you don’t usually return to a place?”

“Not often at least, no.”

Ryeowook nodded lightly and looked away, the thought that he wouldn’t see Kyuhyun again once he had left pulling at his heartstrings. There were many wandering artists among whom were some really good ones, yet he had never wanted to get to know any of them better like he did with Kyuhyun.

“Would you come back here?”

Their eyes met once again and this time, the half-smirk returned to Kyuhyun’s lips. “You’re cute, so sure.”

“I—what?”

Kyuhyun laughed and stepped back, performing an exaggerated bow towards him. “I’ll see you in the first row tonight, little prince.” Without giving Ryeowook the chance to respond, Kyuhyun straightened, turned around on his heels, and left.

Ryeowook looked after the other. He certainly wasn’t cute. And neither a ‘little prince’! He was the youngest, that was true, and the smallest one among his brothers, something that the others liked to about every now and then, but ‘little’ sounded like he was still a child! He glared at Kyuhyun’s back as if that could make the other take back his words, then he swiftly spun around and caught up with his two maids, entering the court with them.

Yet, when darkness fell, he found himself in the first row of the main stage again, waiting for Kyuhyun’s performance to begin.