“No, Prince Sehun, it’s a Fa, not a Re!”

Sehun had it enough.  He screamed comically in frustration, flailing his arms dramatically—because seventeen is a right age to do everything hyperbolically, no?  He faked a ‘ahuhuhuhu’ sobbing sound before leaning his body to the musician of the kingdom, clinging on to him like a little koala, making a childish whiny voice.

“Baekhyun-hyung~~~  Can’t we just stop the practice?  My throat hurt because I sang too much.”

Baekhyun, almost being knocked over by Sehun’s height, which was quite taller than him—but well everyone was  taller than him—chuckled.

 “Unfortunately we can’t, Prince Sehun,” He said, as he Sehun’s hair, “The dance party is tomorrow and you have to sing our kingdom’s march in the opening just like the tradition, and it’s my job to make sure you won’t fail on it.”

Sehun grunted.  The dance party, again.  The big kingdoms always hold a dance party every now and then, and they usually would send a prince or princess from each kingdom to represent them.  They said it’s to keep the good relationship between the kingdoms.  Well, it’s true, though, but some kings and queens—particularly his parents—also used the occasion to find a bride and a groom for their own children. 

And as the prince of the Ventus Kingdom, he was expected to behave nicely.  Meaning, he had to wear those tight shining suit, stand up straight, and following all the oh-so-old-fashion traditions.  His parents were not one of those strict parents, they didn’t control everything he does and says, they loved him too much to treat him that way.  But still, as the prince of the kingdom, there were still a few things that his parents needed him to do, no matter how much Sehun unwilling to.

“But, hyung~ You know I’m tone deaf, I won’t be able to sing beautifully like you, or Kyungsoo-hyung—you two are practically angels when it comes to singing—so can we just end it now?” Sehun kept making a pouty face, one of his ultimate weapon, still snuggling to the petite Light-caster, “And didn’t I tell you to just call me by my name when it’s just the two of us?”

“Alright.  Sehun-ah, as much as I love you, I don’t want you to fail the march,” Baekhyun pat Sehun’s head lovingly, “Now let’s go back to where we left it.”

So the ultimate weapon lost its power today, and Sehun had to sing the song for ten times in a row.  Despite his calming and refreshing face, Baekhyun could be really strict when it comes to music.  Sehun was almost reenacting some scenes he saw in one of the telenovelas his mother once watched, of a girl kneeling down on her knees, crying a super exaggerated cry to make the overly possessive boyfriend let her go—well Baekhyun was not his boyfriend but the scene seemed convincing so why not—when a savior came hopping on the window.

“TaoTao!”

The little panda hopped down from the window.  The panda was only about three apples tall, he barely fit on Sehun’s hand, but as he walked closer to Sehun, the panda swiftly transformed—into a tall raven-haired boy. 

“My favorite shape-shifter!”

Sehun jumped from his seat, welcoming his best friend slash bodyguard slash martial-art teacher with a big hug.  Baekhyun was not amused.

“Huang Zitao, we’re still in practice.”

“The queen needs you,” Tao said straightforwardly, “The puppies made a ruckus again.  They only can be tamed by you, no?”

Baekhyun sighed.

“Fine,” He closed the music sheet, “You can go, Sehun-ah.  But promise me you’ll practice the song by yourself later, okay?”

“I will, hyung, I will!”

Sehun bounced in excitement, showering Baekhyun with a thousand kisses of gratitude before he jumped out of the window with Tao holding his hand—forgetting what his etiquette teacher taught him to always use the door.

Sehun smiled widely.  He finally could step outside.  As a prince, people expected him to be able to do everything, so he always had so many things to learn—how to sing, how to dance, how to speak Runes, how to eat in a proper manner, even how to knit, for God’s sake.  Even though he’d been quite enjoying all the lessons, he actually loved the outdoor activities more.  His favorite lesson was archery, along with riding the horse and fencing.  It just felt so good to have his feet touched the smooth grasses, to feel the sunshine greeted him, to feel the wind blows. 

“Heyhooo, hello, everyone!”

Sehun greeted everyone he met on his way.  Yixing, their doctor, who was healing the withered flowers in the backyard, Kyungsoo, the tiny forest fairy who was singing a rhapsody for the flowers in their garden, the horse-taker at the stall—everyone.  And everyone greeted him back, waving and smiling at him, shaking their heads to see his careless and his daily unprince behaviour.

Sehun spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Tao at the wide backyard.  They climbed the trees, they jumped over the rocks, tackling each other and rolling on the grass.  Sehun laughed heartily the whole time, he’d always been so happy being outside of the castle.  Sometimes he wished his parents would let him take a journey outside the kingdom—but he guessed he had to wait until his parents stop thinking of him as a toddler. 

“Hey, let’s take some rest, Sehun-ah,” Tao pulled Sehun to lay together on the soft grass, “You shouldn’t tired yourself.  You have a dance party to attend tomorrow.”

Sehun snorted.

“I don’t care about the dance party.”

His parents should just make an archery battle to choose someone he could marry.

Tao chuckled, “You really don’t like the dance party, eh?  Why?  None of the princes—or princesses—charming enough for you?”

“Well, they’re all nice—but nope.”

“Really?” Tao cocked his eyebrow, “How about Park Chanyeol, the Fire-caster from Ignis Kingdom?  I heard he’s super handsome and fun to talk to.”

“He’s in love with Baekhyun-hyung.”

“How about Wu Yi Fan or—what he called himself?  Kris?  Yeah, him.  How about the descendant of the dragon?”

“He’s in love with Yixing-hyung.”

“Kim Jongdae?  The half-merman from the Tonitrus Kingdom?”

“He loves to troll too much.”

“Kim Minseok and Luhan?  The twins from the Duratus Kingdom?”

“They look too young for me—even though they’re much older than me, gosh God is unfair.”

Tao let out a laugh, ruffling Sehun’s hair.

“Hell, you’re picky.”

Sehun pouted.

“I’m not.  I just can’t find someone that fit me yet.  Maybe someday.  Maybe never.  I don’t really care, though.” Sehun looked at Tao, smiling, “I have you, Baekhyun-hyung, Yixing-hyung, Kyungsoo-hyung, and everyone.  It’s more than enough for me.”

Tao smiled back at him, patting his head, forever defeated by the way Sehun smiles.

“Oh, and do you know that there’s a new kingdom on the west?  They said the prince is—“

“SEHUN-AH!”

Both Sehun and Tao sit up, startled by the voice.  They turned their faces to see Sehun’s older brother, Joonmyeon—or Suho, like how Sehun loved to call him, running hurriedly to him.

“Yes, hyung?  Why are you running like that?”

“It’s—“ Suho panted, putting his hands on his knees, “I need you to come back to your room, now.”

Sehun frowned, “Why?”

“It’s getting dark, Sehun-ah,” He said, and before Sehun could protest, he added, “And the Thief will probably come to our castle tonight.”

Sehun grunted.  He really wanted to keep playing with Tao—he wasn’t afraid of the dark anyway, and he wasn’t afraid of the Thief either.  But it’s almost impossible for Sehun to disobey his brother.  Because seriously, who on earth could say no to such angelic face?

“Okay.”

Defeated, Sehun got up, dusting off his clothes.  He and Tao walked together hand in hand to Sehun’s room on the tallest tower of the castle, with Suho on his side, guarding him.  Suho made sure Sehun arrived at his room safely, couldn’t let his beloved little brother get hurt.

“Stay here and don’t go anywhere until the sun rises, okay?” Suho kissed Sehun’s head, before turning his face at Tao, “You come with me, Tao, we need your help to guard the castle.”

“Sure.”

Tao shrugged his shoulder, casually pulled Sehun into a brief embrace, saying “Be a good boy, I’ll see you later”, before following Suho walking out of Sehun’s room.  Sehun made a big sigh.  He jumped on his bed, rolling like a buffalo there—wait, not exactly like a buffalo, but it sounds cute so please just let it be.  He then buried his face in the pillow, grumbling.

It’s going to be a boooring night.

Why did everyone so scared of the Thief?  Yes, yes, he heard enough stories about the Thief, but it really pissed him off that he had to stay in his room like a Rapunzel, without his panda best friend.  Blame everything on the Thief.

They said that the Thief always come in the night, and he already made a visit to another kingdoms, so the guards thought that their kingdom would probably be his next target.  People said that the Thief was really hard to catch.  He had swift moves and smooth steps, he could easily come and go without anyone noticed him.  So no one ever saw his face before—well they didn’t even sure if he was a man.  And there was something strange about the Thief that Baekhyun-hyung once told him.  He said that the Thief didn’t always steal valuable things like gold, or diamonds, or diadems.  He said the Thief chooses by himself of what he thinks is valuable—or precious. 

Sehun scoffed. 

He didn’t care what people say, and he didn’t care either at the fact that the maids usually gossiping about him in an admiring tone, as if he was some kind of a god-like idol.  How did they even sure if he was handsome or not?

What Sehun knew was, stealing is a bad thing.  And someone who does bad things must look bad too.  There’s no way the Thief has a handsome face. 

He heard some ruckus outside.  He heard Tao yelling—“I saw him!”  See?  He wasn’t as good as people said he was.  And with TaoTao guarding the castle, there’s no way the Thief could run away now.  Sehun giggled.  They finally would be able to see him in person.  He bet the Thief was not as charming as Suho-hyung.  He probably looked like a frog, or he probably was a 40 years old ahjussi or—

A silhouette stopped right in front of his window, made him stunned. 

It was a man.  In a long black coat.  He was squatting down on his window frame, one of his hands was holding the side of it.  The full moon behind him made his figure looked—enthralling.  His dark locks slightly messed up by  the cold night wind, making him somehow looked wild yet appealing.  His skin was bronze-colored, glimmering under the shine of the moon.  And his obsidian dark eyes—it was so captivating that Sehun forgot how to breathe the moment he met the gaze.

The man looked intensely at him, directly into his eyes as if trying to dive into his soul.  After a few seconds that feels like eternity for Sehun, the man curved his lips into an ensnaring smile.

“Good evening, princess.”

His voice was deep, yet smooth like a velvet—and Sehun drown into it.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to steal you.”

A/N: Unbetaed.  My lovely betas are busy ;__; But anyway that's the first chapter. I'll try to update when I got the time. Feel free to comment~ ^^)/ Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to my pedo alliance dear Naj! Remember when we talked about Sehun being a Rapunzel? XD