Seunghyun slowly walked down the stairs and the beautiful aroma of food greeted him happily, making his mouth water. It smells like bacon and eggs, biscuits poured over gravy, and a lot of freshly cut fruit… Mmm…

                He proceeded with light footsteps, fearing that he would terrify the boy once more. He watched the boy prepare the last bits of breakfast, hard at work. To his surprise, the boy turned around with a shy smile. The prince felt as if all the expected tenseness completely vanished. “Good morning, Mr- I mean, S-Seunghyun!” the boy stumbled, turning red at his silly slip-up.

                Seunghyun chuckled at the boy’s clumsiness, patting the boy’s head. “Good morning, Ji.”

                Jiyong froze for a second as he felt Seunghyun’s unusually gentle touch. Once again, he felt that strange feeling linger in his heart again. Flustered, he nodded quickly and resumed cutting fruit, not saying another word.

                “L-Let me help.” The prince murmured, reaching over the boy’s arms to retrieve another knife. He didn’t notice Jiyong freezing again, becoming a potential victim to a heart attack. The boy felt a soft brush against his shoulder and felt his heartbeat accelerate again, for some strange reason. He in a quick breath and continued preparing.

                Daesung stood at a distance, watching this cute little scene. Seunghyun, that rascal… he never helped out with chores before. Has he ever picked up a knife to cut fruit before? He thought, laughing to himself. This will be interesting.

                “Y-You don’t have to help me…” the boy said quietly, watching Seunghyun pick up a butcher knife.

                Augh, you idiot. Daesung groaned, face palming.

                “I… I want to.” The prince said, picking up a strawberry awkwardly. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I know, it was the wrong thing to do, yelling at yo-”

                “Me too.” The boy quickly interrupted, looking into the beast’s eyes unconsciously. He felt himself being strangely into those auburn eyes so he quickly broke the gaze and stared at his feet. “I-I didn’t mean to say those things e-either. I’m sorry.”

                Seunghyun’s eyes widened as he heard those words and his heart strangely softened. He nodded silently and began cutting the strawberry with his abnormally large knife. “It’s okay. I guess we were both wrong.”

                Daesung’s heart began to melt as well. When did he get so soft with others? Did Jiyong strike a chord in his heart?

                “Yeah. I wanted to make you breakfast to make it up to you.” The boy said, revealing a shy smile once more. “I didn’t know what else to do so I guess this will have to suffice.”

                The prince was temporarily captivated by the boy’s kindness, so much that he forgot he was cutting a strawberry with a butcher knife. The knife accidentally grazed his finger but immediate pain came soon after. He felt an agonizing, soul-ripping, bloodcurdling roar build up in him, reaching the tip of his tongue. But he glanced over at the boy and remembered that he was a delicate little soul. Instead, he started whimpering.

                Whimpering.

                Oh sweet mother of Pearl… Daesung sighed, burying his face into his hands.

                The boy looked over at the prince with a concerned expression and his eyes widened as he saw Seunghyun’s small wound. “Oh, my gosh! How did you get this!?” the boy exclaimed, holding Seunghyun’s hand. He immediately began searching for a bandage in the cabinets, leaving Seunghyun wordless and flustered.

                Why the hell did I whimper? He thought, sighing in embarrassment.

                After a pleasant breakfast, Seunghyun asked Jiyong to start helping him clean the garden. The boy willingly accepted, glad that he could fix this disaster that his father may or may not have made. The three made their way outside, greeted by the pleasant fall air. Daesung took care of fixing the water fountain while the other two picked up the pieces of the broken vases and statues that lay scattered throughout the garden.

                “I feel like… I haven’t been able to introduce myself properly.” Seunghyun said, carefully picking up shards of porcelain. He looked up at the boy, smiling softly. “Can we start over?”

                “Arasso.” The boy smiled, removing his pair of gloves.

                “I’m Choi Seunghyun.” He stuck out his hand, offering a handshake. The boy accepted it, slightly laughing at this silly gesture.

                “Kwon Jiyong. Nice to meet you.”

                “Nice to meet you too.”

                The two shared a small laugh as they engaged in this childish exchange of words.

                “What are you two goofballs laughing about?” Daesung called, still attempting to fix the water fountain. “I wanna know!”

                “None of your business!” Seunghyun called back, teasingly giggling along with Jiyong. The boy felt many layers of fear peel away from his wariness of the beast. He began to feel a bit more trust in him, but wasn’t ready to let his guard totally down. But, that couldn’t stop him from slightly enjoying himself.

                “So you’re eighteen? Where do you go to school at?” Seunghyun asked, resuming his cleaning.

                “I don’t go to school anymore. I stopped going in order to have a job to support my father. He’s been sick for a couple of months now. I work three jobs. We manage.” The boy flashed a melancholy smile, attempting to hide his pain that lay underneath. “I’ve always wanted to go back to school, so I’m waiting until my father recovers.” The boy’s eyes gleamed of hope and innocence, causing a smile to tug at Seunghyun’s lips.

                “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

                “A musician. College professor maybe? Or a songwriter. Or even a singer!”

                “Woah there, cowboy! You’re pretty passionate about this!”

                The boy let out a melodious laugh, one that Seunghyun had never heard before. He felt his heart skip as the laugh danced in his ears. “You’re right, I am! Just watch, I’ll be a singer one day. You’ll be able to recognize me on television and everything!”

                The prince suddenly remembered about Kwanghee’s party. He was sure that there will be many famous singers and television personalities attending his party, so it’ll be a pretty cool experience for Jiyong. “Do you wanna come to a party with me tonight? There will be like, singers and other famous actors there. I mean, if you wanna go that is.”

                He saw the boy’s eyes light up like Christmas morning. “Are you serious? That would be so cool!” His bright expression turned to confusion, then worry. “Wait, how are you going to go out like tha- Um, How are.. you…” he stammered, looking at the beast.

                Seunghyun smiled and nodded his head. “I know, I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering how I’m going to leave the house looking like this.”

                Jiyong slowly nodded, his face scrunched up in confusion.

                “You’re wondering why I’m like this as well, right?”

                Another nod in return.

                “It’s okay, Jiyong. I’m trying to figure it out myself. I wasn’t always like this before. I’ll explain it to you one day, whenever things simmer down. But you don’t have to worry for this party. It’s a Halloween party. We come to the party all dressed up like beasts and witches and other scary things. It’ll be fun. No one will recognize us.”

                The younger sighed in relief. He nodded and smiled again. “I can’t wait!”