“Pardon my intrusion Minseok, but have you seen Prince Jongin today?” Prince Sehun interjects while Minseok, the Lord Chamberlain, is in the middle of assigning several palace maids for her mother’s monthly tea party. 

 

“It’s fine, Prince Sehun. I believed I saw him knocking on your mother’s chamber a while ago. Did something happen?” Minseok tilts his head to the side. 

 

“N-no, I am–we’re fine; I’ll find him myself. Thank you!” Sehun wipes his clammy hands on his tunic, running off before Minseok could speak. 

 

He should’ve called this whole competition off the moment his parents suggested it. The queen, his dear mother, invited several princes and princesses that she carefully selected to fight for the crown prince’s hands and, ultimately, a seat beside the throne. 

 

How can he forget that defeated expression, his eyes gleaming with tears as Prince Jongin picks himself up on the ground after being pushed by none other than him. 

 

The crown prince doesn’t care who started the fight, but he’s definitely sure that Prince Jongin has the capacity to rip off the poor hair of that princess from the southern kingdom. Upon sighting the chaos, he marches towards them and tries to resolve it by breaking them off, but they are persistent in grabbing each other’s hair.  

 

When the princess releases a shrill cry, Sehun has no choice but to push Prince Jongin away with a force that causes him to stumble down on the ground. 

 

The on-lookers around them gasp, shocked by the violence that the crown prince has shown. 

 

The princess mouths off her gratitude and decides to cling to him even before fixing her unruly hair or covering her exposed shoulder from the torn-off sleeve.

 

An evident shock settles on Prince Jongin’s face as he glances down. His wide hazel eyes bore into him, and slowly it started to get filled with tears. His expression morphs into something that causes unexplainable pinpricks of pain in his chest. 

 

He hadn’t seen him since then when Jongin ran away from that scene. It’s been two days, not that he is counting, but panic is slowly rising inside him. 

 

Sehun softly knocks on his mother’s door, and her royal servant lets him enter with an amused expression on her face. He wonders why. 

 

“My dear son, it is unusual for you to grace me with your presence in a hot afternoon. Is there anything you need?” Her mother elegantly motions him to come closer, patting the empty space beside her on the sofa as she carefully moves away the flounce of her skirt; the sewn gems on the fabric shines under the sunlight through her window. 

 

At first, Sehun hesitates, but he gives up that idea when her mother patiently waits for him, looking at him with concern but her regal smile she’s wearing never falters.  

 

He lowers himself on the cushion with a heavy sigh. 

 

“What’s bothering you, my prince.” She carefully dabs the sweat forming on Prince Sehun’s forehead with her silk napkin. Her caring nature on her son extends to the kingdom she’s ruling alongside his father. The people of their domain are grateful to be under the kind queen’s sovereign. 

 

“I heard from Minseok that Jongin came for you earlier?” He asks nervously. 

 

The queen chuckles softly. “Oh, that poor boy. I talked to him a while ago, he asked for my permission to withdraw as your potential spouse. I wonder what happened, he is such an enthusiastic child, even my servants informed me of his huge adoration over you.” 

 

“W-what! No, that’s not what I wanted.” He mumbles with his fist clenched. 

 

A warm hand lands on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze, pulling him away from his anxiety. 

 

Sehun looks upon her mother with a gentle smile on her face. “I’m sure it is not what you wanted, my prince. It’s just that there are some things that we humans have no control over, and that is emotion, I hope you realize that.”

 

“Whatever happened between the two of you must be causing a misunderstanding that led to this.” 

 

She places a hand on his chest. “But this feeling is yours to reign over. It is yours to follow whatever or whoever it calls for.”  

 

A knock interrupted their candid conversation. 

 

“Oh! I think a few guests have arrived. I need to change my garb.” 

 

The prince hastily stands up to excuse himself as her mother’s words are still ringing in his ears. “Thank you mother, for such wise words.” 

 

“My dear son, before you close that door, you should hurry, for I think by this time, he should be ready for his departure.” 

 

Sehun’s face twists in anxiousness as he runs away without closing the door of his mother’s room gently. 

 

SLAM  

 

“Golly! That brat almost gave me a heart attack.” She shakes her head. “He’s just like his father when he was younger, a klutz and a fool in love.” 

 

👑👑👑

 

This is insane. He’s an absolute lunatic. 

 

“I can’t believe he withdrew from that foolish competition.” 

 

Prince Jongin should’ve known, he should’ve let him know. 

 

He runs downstairs, raining down apologies along the way as he bumps into several palace maids. 

 

Perhaps there were better ways to end the fight he saw without hurting Jongin in the process. This is what his tutor has constantly reminded him of–To be wise and critical in all of his decisions as soon as he will inherit the throne and rule their kingdom. 

 

As his linear thoughts clutter, he misses a step and falls on top of a boy who screams like a little girl. 

 

Groaning a little, Sehun immediately raises himself away from the boy he just squashed. 

 

What now! He should hurry to find Prince Jongin.

 

“I’m sorry, I was in a hurry, It’s my fault.”

 

“Bloody son of a–Oh, it’s you, yo-your highness… I didn’t see you there.” Prince Baekhyun, one of the competitors, smiles at him in pain while he’s still on the bottom of the steps. “Or you uhm... Didn’t see me there.” 

 

“Here, let me help you stand up.” Prince Sehun extends his hand towards Prince Baekhyun to pull him, but the latter cries in pain when he tries it. 

 

“Oh no, I think you broke your arm.” 

 

“No, your grace, I think it is you who broke my arm.” The other prince corrects him with such sass. 

 

Sehun scratches his head. Well, he’s right. 

 

“Let me carry you, and I’ll take you to the physician. Is that okay?” 

 

Prince Baekhyun nods and whispers under his breath. “I hope Jongin doesn’t see this.” 

 

“Hmm? What do you mean with Prince Jongin?” He pulls Prince Baekhyun’s body in his arms and carries the boy in bridal style. 

 

A noticeable blush spreads through Prince Baekhyun’s fair face. Clearing his throat, he says, “Well, Jongin is a good friend of mine, and I just knew he would be extremely jealous if he saw you carrying me like this.”

 

Watchful eyes of the people inside the palace follow them as Sehun threads through the hallway. 

 

“Well, aren’t you supposed to be a competitor in the contest that the queen had set up?”

 

The prince in his arms shakes his head. “Competing for your hand? Haha!” The boy laughs so loud that it annoys Sehun, he’s slightly offended by the prince’s tone. He is not a joke, isn’t he? 

 

“Apologies for laughing, your grace.” Prince Baekhyun tries to smack his forehead, but he forgets his arm is broken and proceeds to yowl in the process. “Stupid hand. Okay, as I was saying, I only accepted your mother’s offer because I had few friends in our kingdom and socializing with the other royals was a good chance to gain several associates and connections.”

 

Prince Sehun knows it’s a lie because everybody inside the palace knew the loud prince from the middle kingdom.

 

He only raises an eyebrow in reply to the prince in his arms. 

 

Prince Baekhyun giggles. “You got me. As much as I’m ashamed of telling you this, I have to tell the truth. I’m only in it for the food.” 

 

“What? You endured a lot of the tests and lasted this long, and your only drive is because of our kingdom’s delicacies.” 

 

Prince Baekhyun boldly agrees with him. Their kingdom is in the middle of the desert. Of course, he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity where he could eat without a stray grain of sand on top of it. 

 

Sehun’s shock almost made his feet tangle. “Be careful there, Prince Sehun. I don’t plan with you on breaking my other arm with your baby steps.” 

 

“Also, I’m rooting for Prince Jongin to be your spouse. But it seems you royally messed up a few days ago when you threw him away like a ragdoll from that troll a few days ago.”  

 

“He was about to shred the princess’ hair. And he’s a man; he shouldn’t be doing that to a lady.” 

 

Prince Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Whatever.” He crosses his arms but forgets again that his other arm is still broken and won’t be healing anytime right now. “, why do I keep forgetting...” 

 

Upon reaching the royal physician, they are ushered inside the room.

 

“It was that blonde monster’s fault anyway.” 

 

“What do you mean?” Prince Sehun curiously asks.

 

“Your highness, you can put down Prince Baekhyun on the bed here.” The assistant timidly mutters.

 

“Well, she started to grab something in Jongin’s hand while we were sitting on the grass in your garden. I didn’t see what it was, but it seemed precious to him. One of her evil minions was drinking a glass of wine, so she grabbed it and poured it over Jongin’s head. I know Jongin, he adores his soft locks, so I understand his anger when he fought back by snatching her hair.” 

 

“My precious friend was the one who was assaulted, yet you….” Prince Baekhyun’s nose flared in disappointment. 

 

“Apologies for interrupting your discussion, but will you please lay down the prince on the bed and tell me what happened!” The royal physician who’s in front of the screeches. They were so occupied that they failed to notice the people inside the room. 

 

Sehun stands there awkwardly before carefully laying down Prince Baekhyun, he informs the physician about his fall and the prince’s broken arm. 

 

Prince Sehun looks down at Prince Baekhyun sharply. “Okay, you may continue your story.” 

 

“You’ve deeply hurt my friend. This time I think he’s had enough. I tried multiple times to visit him in his room, but he refused. Well, you’ve hurt his feelings a lot of times throughout this contest.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, nor I am aware of any actions that brought aches to Prince Jongin.” 

 

Prince Baekhyun chuckles flatly. “Of course, you wouldn’t. You’re too busy parading yourself with the other princes and princesses.” 

 

“W-what? When have I–” 

 

“Oh, come on. Remember when the queen taught us to bake, and you tasted everyone’s pastries except Jongin’s? It tasted delicious, for your information. But you left his on the table.” The prince frowns. 

 

Sehun pouts. “Because I had it packed and ate it during our hunting trip!” 

 

“Really?” Prince Baekhyun squeaks. “That explains its disappearance. We thought they threw it for the dogs.” He throws his arms up. “Wait, there’s mor– Ouch!” 

 

The assistant clears his throat. “Prince Baekhyun, please try not to move your broken arm anymore.” 

 

“It’s your fault!” He hisses. “Then what about the time when we read storybooks to the children at the orphanage, and when it’s Jongin’s turn, you laughed at him so loud.” 

 

“Well, the child beside me whispered that he imagined Jongin as one of the bears in the book he was reading. So I laughed, but not directly at him.” Prince Sehun defends himself. 

 

He didn’t meet his eyes. “And uhm…” Sehun touches the back of his neck. “He was kinda cute that day. His ears became so red when our eyes met... I should’ve known he was embarrassed.”  

 

Prince Sehun’s a joke. How can he be so insensitive? He doesn’t have any idea of what Jongin felt because of his careless actions. 

 

The prince on the bed looks at him with a straight face. “Okay. I wasn’t expecting that, but you’re right about him being cute.” 

 

“He is leaving today, am I right?” 

 

Suddenly Prince Sehun remembers why he is in a hurry. 

 

“Oh my god, yes he is, that’s why I was running around to search for him.” 

 

Prince Baekhyun shrugs. “You have a lot of explaining to do if you actually manage to catch up with him.” 

 

Sehun fixes his messy hair. “Have you seen him?” The prince on the bed shakes his head. 

 

Is there any hope left? He doesn’t even know where to start. To add, their palace is so huge. 

 

“Your grace, I think I saw him entering the ballroom on my way here.” The royal physician interjects. 

 

Then something lit up in his eyes. “Oh, thank you, Lay! Please take care of Prince Baekhyun for me.” 

 

“Hey, hey! You owe me, huh! If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be slapped by reality.” 

 

Prince Sehun nods towards Baekhyun then leaves the room hastily. 

 

“Oh, he is blushing.” Baekhyun squeals to himself. 

 

The royal physician added. “He indeed is.” Then the assistant standing beside them giggles. 

 

👑👑👑

 

Carefully touching the walls of the room he adores, he closes his eyes to register the magnificent view of the garden through the tall glass windows. 

 

Prince Jongin will definitely miss this place. He stands in front of the windows as the warm light of the sun touches him. 

 

He positions himself and raises his arms as if he has a partner, and there is music flowing throughout the room, for the dance they practice is about to begin.

 

The prince closes his eyes again. He dances without care while humming the tune. 

 

Save the room for embarrassment since it’s his last day here. 

 

The sun dust that illuminates in the room also dances with him; he twirls and spins, precisely what his instructor taught him. It’s a pity he won’t be able to perform nor have a partner in this routine because he has already left the competition. 

 

So there he is, dancing his heart out. 

 

He may have miscalculated when he spins around to the side that tangled his feet. Jongin already braces himself to the impact, but someone holds him and flawlessly executes the spin he was thinking about. 

 

His savior perfectly fits with him, holding his hands and the other cautiously placed on his waist. The curious prince slowly opens his eyes to see who saved him. 

 

Jongin gasps as the air leaves his chest because the one in front of him is no other than the boy he decided to forget from this day on.

 

He removes himself quickly away from Prince Sehun because he absolutely looked immaculate as the sunbeams behind while gazing at him softly with concern written on his face. And he is glad he did it, or else his dramatic persona would be gladly faint in his arms.

 

They both stood there face to face. Jongin bites his lips as he roams his eyes around the place just to avoid the prince. 

 

Sehun mentally slaps himself and clears his throat. Jongin might have put a spell on him that renders him speechless as he watches him dancing expressively earlier. 

 

“Jongin, I... heard the news.” 

 

The prince nods slowly, head in a bow, still not meeting his eyes. 

 

“Please look me in the eyes.” Sehun pleads–no, it sounds as if he was begging to Jongin.

 

An air of melancholy caresses Jongin wholly. Why does Sehun look so sad? His tone screams for yearning. 

 

His heart wrenched in ache. Jongin wills himself to finally say the words he kept pushing back on the back of his mind. 

 

“I give up Sehun, I know you’ve been dreaming for this day to come, everyone knows it, so here I am.” Jongin shrugs, voice laced with pain. 

 

Prince Sehun shakes his head. Lies, it was all lies, how can Jongin believe in such a foolish thing.

 

“From the moment you step foot in my home, I have always cherished you, Jongin. I realized I was ignorant and childish–too careless of my mindless actions. I am truly sorry for every second that I’ve hurt you.”

 

Jongin takes a short intake of breath even before a sob escapes his lips.

 

“It will only break me if I stay in this candidacy anymore, and seeing you like this in front of me hurts me much more.” Prince Jongin mutters in a shaking voice.

 

A stray tear falls on his cheek, but he immediately wipes it.

 

He offers his hands towards Sehun for a shake, plastering a fake smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. 

 

Prince Sehun is petrified. 

 

Sehun walks up to him. Instead of accepting the hand, he pulls Jongin towards him.

 

The motion happens so fast for Jongin to realize that Prince Sehun has already caged him in an embrace.

 

“You’re a fool, Jongin! You never really listen to me! 

 

“I know, I know, that’s why I’m leaving. So goodbye, my prince.”

 

“I wouldn’t be giving my family’s heirloom ring if I didn’t choose you to be mine.”  

 

“I should be leaving–what?” Whilst in a hug, he raises his hands high to stare at the sparkling emerald placed upon the gold band in his ring finger. 

 

Pulling himself away from Jongin briefly, Sehun smiles at him, his thumbs his tear-streaked cheeks. 

 

Jongin can’t believe it, he thought Sehun bought this from a random jeweler on the plaza. 

 

“W-what!”

 

Sehun only nods. 

 

In a matter of a second, both of them fell on the floor, with Jongin’s arms cushioning Prince Sehun’s head and hugging each other tightly.

 

Jongin jumped on him, making him lose his balance, and is now crying like a baby in his chest. 

 

“Please don’t cry anymore,” Sehun whispers while trying to console the sobbing prince on top of him. 

 

“I j-just can’t believe it. I didn’t notice that you also have feelings for me.” Jongin mumbles, wiping his tears and snot on the Prince’s coat. 

 

“If this is a dream, please do not wake me up because I’m going to flip if—” 

 

Prince Jongin felt a light touch on his lips as if a butterfly flapped its wings on his skin. 

 

Well, that closes his mouth. 

 

“Y-you…”

 

Sehun wills himself to look at Jongin straight in the eyes despite his whole face flushing. “If you do not stop rambling, I’m… I’m going to k-kiss you again.” 

 

“Please do.” Jongin blurts out softly, then rapidly shakes his head when he realizes what he just said. “No! no! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

 

Sehun laughed so loud that it vibrated through the walls of the ballroom. There he is, the clumsy Prince Jongin that took his breath away. The tips of his ears are getting red again from embarrassment, making Sehun’s insides somersault in delight.

 

“Well, if we’re going to get married soon, we might have to do more than that.” The prince averts his eyes away from Jongin when he suddenly thinks it’s too early to discuss it. 

 

Jongin squeals and hides his face on his chest. 

 

The Prince underneath chuckles. He places his hands gently on the shy prince’s hair, running his fingers through it. 

 

The sunlight from the glass window slowly crawls from where they are lying, shining upon the young couple who are currently listening to their heart which now beats in sync; as if the sun is blessing them with its warmth and comfort. 

 

“I hope this moment never ends.” Says Prince Jongin.

 

Sehun shakes his head and kisses the top of Jongin’s head. 

 

“This is just the beginning.”

 

👑👑👑

 

“The King and Queen will announce at the ball about Prince Sehun’s marriage.” 

 

“At last! An overthinker and a nerve wrack, what a match made in heaven.” Baekhyun whispers before taking a bite of the strawberry tarte fresh from the oven, gifted by Prince Sehun. 

 

The assistant who’s been spoon-feeding Prince Baekhyun chuckles. “They both look wonderful.” 

 

The Prince agrees. “But you know what’s more wonderful? This dessert. You should take a bite, Chanyeol!”  

 

“Oh no, your grace. Prince Sehun asked the cook to make this special for you.” He refuses timidly. 

 

“Okay, but promise you’ll join me for lunch when my arm is healed.” The assistant glances at him bashfully before nodding. In return, Baekhyun grins at him gleefully.

 

👑👑👑

 

Earlier that day:

 

“Say my Prince Jongin, that is a lovely ring you have. May I know where you bought it?” The queen softly mumbles after he asks for permission to drop out of the competition. 

 

“This?” He glances at the queen’s judging eyes, unknowingly touching the ring as he reminisces the memory it holds. 

 

“Prince Sehun gave it to me after I saved him from the wolves when we were hunting–As what he calls as a sign of gratitude. I didn’t accept it at first because it looked quite expensive, but he whined to me the whole day until I wore it.” He retells with a smile. 

 

The queen hums in delight, smiling as she bats her eyelashes while raising her cup of tea for a sip. 

 

Interesting.