A/N: For Nining.  Happy birthday :)

Okay. 

He took back everything he said now.

Yesterday he said that he wished the Thief would get caught.  So everyone would finally able to see how he was actually like.  So he could prove that the so-called idol of the maids wasn’t as charming as they were gossiping about.  So no one would interrupt his playtime with Tao.  But now that the man was actually here, out in the open, in front of everyone—and that apparently he didn’t look like a frog nor a 40 years old ahjussi—Sehun wished for the opposite.

“What.  Are.  You.  Doing.  Here?”

Sehun replayed his question, saying each word slowly, clearly, even with humongous gestures to emphasize it, just like how he usually did to the almost-deaf gramps of his favorite bakery in the kingdom.  Because—seriously!

What if the guards arrest him now?  What if they throw him into the prison?  What if they wouldn’t let him free forever?  Oh well, maybe the maids would be happy because they would be able to see him everyday, he could already imagine the scene of the maids fighting over the turn to bring him food, oh wait maybe that’s not a really bad idea so he could see him everyday too—NO!

No, no, no, Oh Sehun, get yourself together!  It’s a thief we’re talking here, the Thief!  Not a third-class pickpocket!  They wouldn’t let him off that easily without severe punishments!  He had to go, now!

“I’m asking you again, what do you think you’re do—“

“First of all, I’m not deaf.” 

The man finally spoke.  His voice was exactly like how Sehun remembered it, smooth like a velvet, deep and entrapping like the ocean—but there was something different about it now.  Sehun didn’t waste his time trying to figure it out, as all he could think of now was how to save the man from whatever that might happen if his real identity revealed.  Which, from the way the man talked so sedately, he didn’t seem to care about. 

“Second.  I came upon the invitation.”

Sehun blinked.

“What invitation?”

Sehun was baffled.  Yes, he had to admit that he kind of thought he wanted to see the man again, but no, not this way.  Not by seeing him come recklessly like this.  Not by letting him being arrested. 

“I don’t recall inviting you to come, I don’t even remember inviting you for anything.  Now, shoo, shoo, go home, Brownie.”

“Oh Sehun.”

His mother glared at him, telling him to stop.  And why was he being called by his full name again?  What was his mistake this time?  She gave him another warning look as he opened his mouth to protest—before turning her face to the man with a very sweet smile. 

“Pardon our misbehavior,”

Huh?

“And welcome to the kingdom, Prince of Arctus.”

For all dragons and unicorns and alpacas and llamas’ sake—WHAT???

The man slightly bowed to the Queen, before walking past him to enter the castle—without sparing him even a glance.  And without him even had the time to ask, to protest, or to argue, Sehun already had to stand in the middle of the ballroom, taking his position to sing the march of the kingdom, in front of everyone—including the Thief, who was now sitting on the honorary guests’ tables, along with other princes and princesses.

He actually wanted to confront the man and ask him for a good explanation—and to make sure it wasn’t a prank because the last time he checked, today wasn’t April first—but Baekhyun already started conducting the music.  And Sehun surely didn’t want to be killed by him if he failed the singing, so he tried to put his mind in focus.  He straightened his back and shoulders, chin held up in just the right height without looking too shy nor too arrogant, eyes fixed on the guests right in front of him, and replaying what he had practiced for hundred times.

“On the land of the golden grasses,

Between the bronze lines of the meadows and mountains,”

Okay, good.  He didn’t mess up the lyric, he didn’t miss the tempo.

“Under the gleam of the azure skies bestowed upon us,

Beneath the array of the ethereal winds,”

Everything was good, he started to think he would boast about his singing which was unusually eloquent,

“We rise into the ray of sun—“

—until the man’s gaze suddenly collided with his.

“—lightASDFGHJKLMNBVCXZ.”

......Oopsie.

Everything went silent.  Everyone stared at him with jaws dropped.  The musicians stopped playing the background song.  Baekhyun glared at him.  Uh oh.  He should do something before Baekhyun grabbed the nearest weapon he could find. 

But with that pair of dark obsidian eyes locking on him—he just couldn’t remember any word.

Sehun was almost impulsively doing the Abracadabra dance his maid Gain once taught him to distract everyone from his mistake, if it wasn’t for the pocket-sized fairy Kyungsoo sneaked behind his ear to whisper him the rest of the lyric to save the day—and his neck from Baekhyun’s pretty fingers’ strangle.

Now he decided one thing.

That stare should be banned.  Along with that smirk.  Along with that face.  Okay, just banned the person entirely already!

Because ever since the man came into his sight, Sehun just couldn’t do anything right.  He couldn’t think straight.  He kept messing everything.  First, the march.  Now, the dance.  He couldn’t make his steps right, he kept stepping on his dance partner’s foot.  And since it’s a tradition for every princes and princesses who attended the party to dance with the kingdom’s heir, Sehun lost count of how many feet he had already stepped on.

And after a very, very long routine of dancing—and apologizing, there was finally only one person left for him to dance with. 

The Thief. 

Sehun was torn between wanting to finally talk to him and running away from him in a speed of light.  Because if only having him staring at him could make him turn into a total klutz, what would happen if he have him dancing with him?  He probably would step on his face instead of his foot. 

Uh oh, he was coming closer.  Uh oh, he was reaching his hand for him.  Uh oh, he was pulling him closer by his waist—

“WAIT!”  Sehun nervously pulled away from his grab in panic, spontaneously blurt out an excuse in order to escape the strong grip, “I JUST REMEMBER I HAVE A KNITTING I SHOULD FINISH BEFORE TOMORROW SO I HAVE TO G—“

“Shut it, Blondie.”

The man pulled him back by his waist, locking their hands in position.  Sehun pouted at the commanding tone—and at the not so gentle words of order Sehun never received from anyone else—but he obeyed him anyway.  He shut his mouth and he let the man lead him to dance.  And surprisingly, he didn’t even once step on his foot. 

His hold on his waist was harsh, yet he could feel the tenderness in it, like the man was trying to save him from falling, from hurting.  His grip on his hand was rough, yet he could feel the warmth in it, like the man was trying to keep him safe, to keep him close.   He didn’t smile at him, he didn’t even look at him, but he managed to make his heart beat faster, his chest heavy with a seething of an unnamed emotion.

Sehun didn’t understand. 

Why?  How?

“Who are you?”

And what have you done to me?

“Kim Jongin.”

Sehun’s head snapped up to see his face, he blinked confusedly.  Last night he avoided answering by telling him to sleep when he asked for his name, and now he easily gave away his name just like that?  Sehun frowned.

“And you’re a prince?”

“Yes.”

“From the Cactus Kingdom?”

“Arctus.  And yes, I’m from the kingdom.”

Sehun frowned deeper until his eyebrows formed a thick line of bewilderment, and he squinted his eyes in suspicion.

“Are you making it up just so you can see me?”

“You mean so I can listen to your horrendous alien-language singing and getting the possibility of my foot getting stepped on?”

Sehun smacked his chest, pouting.  The man—Jongin, scoffed, hiding his laugh behind his smirk. 

“No, really.  I’m from the kingdom.”

Following a particular hit of notes in the song, Jongin spun Sehun by his hand before catching his waist again, and Sehun didn’t try to pull away anymore.  The edginess already stepped aside to give a way for the new risen curiosity. 

“Is it the new kingdom?  In the west?”

“It’s in the west, yes.  But new, no.”  Jongin said calmly, as he led Sehun to do another turn, “Quite the opposite, we’re ancient.  We’re the oldest kingdom.”

Sehun widened his eyes.

“Oldest?  Then why do I never heard of it before?”

“Because we don’t like to show ourselves much.”

“That’s why you never came to any of the parties before?”

“Yeah.  And I don’t like crowds.”

“So why are you suddenly coming today?”

Jongin paused, slightly but visibly tensed up.  He glanced down at Sehun, who looked at him in a pure curiosity.  The color of his eyes seemed to be darken with an inexplicable emotion—grief, anger, agony; Sehun couldn’t decide. 

“I’m trying to keep our kingdom exists,” he said, and his voice suddenly sounded vacuous, “Since not much of it remains anymore.”

Their steps came to a halt, just like how Sehun felt his heart skipped a beat.  The sudden nothingness in Jongin’s voice, in his eyes, had drowned him, trapped him—but this time it wasn’t in a way Sehun would ever want.  After a minute of stifling silence, Jongin started to slowly lead him to dance again, but Sehun couldn’t feel any emotion in him anymore.  Jongin felt so distant, like he suddenly built up a tall thick wall that separated them, stopping him from getting any closer, and he didn’t abruptly let go of his hold only to make the sudden change in him goes unnoticed.

But Sehun noticed it.

And it bothered him.

“Hey,”

Sehun softly pulled his hands from Jongin’s grip, instinctively raising it to gently cup each side of Jongin’s face, staring right into the darken pair of irises with eyes full of honest concern.

“What happened?”

The touch of Sehun’s hands had Jongin stopped moving.  He stared pensively at Sehun with those empty dark eyes, seemed to be thinking if he should answer the question—if he could answer it.  Sehun could see him hesitating.  Sehun knew the disconcerting silent Jongin let to encase his being wasn’t simply to give him some time to sort his mind, but more to gather the will and courage to pick up the scattered words that lodged in his throat, stifled in a smother of unknown anguish, which made Sehun quite terrified at the possible reason that might had caused it.  But Sehun wouldn’t back away. 

Without knowing how and why, Sehun knew it pains him to hear the low presumptuous yet calming tinge in Jongin’s voice being taken away, it hurts him to see the haughty yet endearing shimmer in Jongin’s eyes being faded away, as if someone just seized all of Sehun’s favorite constellations on the night sky, and he would do anything to grasp it back.

Sehun kept his eyes trained on him, giving Jongin fleeting emollient caresses  on his face with his thumbs, telling in a silent word that it’s okay to talk.  That he would listen. 

“Jongin?”

There was a vague glint appeared in Jongin’s dark eyes as he heard Sehun calling his name.  And his voice made its decision.

“We lost our Light.”

“What?”

Jongin pulled Sehun closer, trying to ease Sehun from the shock by leading him to dance again.  He held his head close to the side of Sehun’s face as he started his story—in the same hollow voice.

“Our kingdom used to be on an island in the middle of the sea, far away from here.  From all kingdoms.  Because that’s our way of living.  We don’t like to interfere.  Nor we want anything unnecessary to disrupt our lives.”  Jongin told every word slowly, right into Sehun’s ears, as if it was something he didn’t want to share with anyone else but him.  As if it was something too painful to repeat—and by the way Jongin breath out each word, Sehun knew it wasn’t a mere imagery.

“Our kingdom was built on an arid land, surrounded by a ridge of steep cliffs, between the unforgiving heat at noon and unrelenting cold at night.  But we lived in peace, nothing seemed to be lacking or flawed, as we have the Light as our beacon of hope and protection.  We were blessed with a silver range of lights in semblance of a wolf, as our ancestors and elders believe to be the symbol of intrepidity and perseverance of our people.”

Sehun could feel Jongin’s lips lift up into a sheer smile, seemed to be replaying a memory in the past, a sight of his beloved ones.  But the bout of serenity in him dispersed grimly and abruptly as the words continued in a broken equanimity.

“But one night, not so long ago, the Light shattered.  Fallen into pieces.  Fallen into decay.  We didn’t know how, we didn’t know what caused it, but one thing we knew for sure, we had lost our Light.  We lost it to the nothingness, and nothingness was the one landing its hands on our land, devouring our kingdom, devouring everything, every life, every...” Sehun held on Jongin’s shoulder tighter, as a tremor of misery sent a small but unmistakable cripple on Jongin’s composed surface, “—soul.”

Sehun clamped his eyes shut.  He only knew about the Light for one day, one night.  But as beautiful as it had been described, it was just as terrifying for him to imagine how petrifying losing a Light was.  And he vaguely could hear the undeniably enormous grief lying underneath Jongin’s calm utterance.

“The sky crumbled.  The earth collapsed.  The sea broken.  We drowned into a cold darkness.  Breath by breath of our people harshly being snatched away without given a chance to fight.  And just like that, everyone’s gone.  My friends, my brothers, my parents.”

A sigh of despair involuntarily escaped Jongin’s mouth, he unconsciously tightened his grip on Sehun’s waist a bit too hard as he tried to look unwavered, but Sehun didn’t mind. 

“Only a few survived, a few that me and my remaining siblings could save with our ability to teleport.  And since then, we live on a high cliff on the west mountain.  We tried to build everything back.  But no matter how hard we tried, how high we settled, without the Light, it would never be the same.  The stars wouldn’t shine above our heads.  Albeit bleak and dreary, the sun became the only light we could have.” Jongin unconsciously leaned his head lightly on top of Sehun’s, his voice was getting raspier.  “We might have survived, but the feeling of being thrown away into the endless and rayless darkness was not that easy to be erased.  When the sun goes down, when the darkness of the night started to course into the remnant of our kingdom, everyone would go, run to any place that catches the lights, of the moons and stars.  Because for some of us, being blinded by darkness seemed to be just a tick away from having our souls being perished.”

Silence once again fell upon them, Jongin let it put an end to his story.  He pulled away, getting into the initial position of their dancing, only his composure became rigid and tense.

But Sehun still had his hands latched onto Jongin’s shoulders, unwilling to let go.  Sehun couldn’t just let it like this.  The silence wasn’t of a soothing one, like the one Sehun had last night with him on the tall branch, it wasn’t like the one he had when he had himself being lulled to sleep by him, it wasn’t like the one he just had that made his heart beat faster in a confusing but delightful way.  The silence was suffocating, congested with a heavy air of grief and grim.

He stared at Jongin with chest intangibly scarred.  He grieved for the irony of how the same man who took him to meet one of the most wondrous things he ever knew, the one who awed him with the way he portrayed the magnificence of the Lights, was also the one losing it—the one witnessed and faced the devastation it could bring as it fell down into unmendable pieces.

And it saddened him even more to hear how the remaining people of his kingdom desperately tried to find a brighter place at night, frightened of the dark.  The view of the giant tree came to Sehun’s mind.  It was so high on the land, like only a reach away from the layer of the twinkling stars and floating Lights, but it was also so far from anywhere, from anyone.  It dawned on him that maybe, that was the reason Jongin built the small hideaway , even though he already had a new castle on the high cliff—to see more lights.  The sight of Jongin smiling so serenely last night replayed in his head, and contrary to how it usually did, the memory made him feel miserable.

Jongin might seem calm and composed, he even laughed so heartily with him, but who knows how he really felt inside, every night?  Did he feel alone?  Sad?  Frightened? 

Sehun’s hand unconsciously reached up to rest at the side on Jongin’s face again, worry painted all over his face.  Jongin’s eyes darted back at him, saying wordlessly,

“It’s okay.  I’m okay.”

Sehun shook his head languidly.  He wanted to do something.  But what could he do?  A measly sympathy wouldn’t get everything that had gone back.  And he somehow knew it wasn’t that easy if not impossible to rekindle the Light.  But even if he didn’t have the power to bring everything back to how it was, even for a small thing, Sehun wanted to do something.  So that Jongin would see more light—more reason for him to smile, to live.

“The song’s over.”  Jongin grab Sehun’s hand, pulling it down from his face, just as he let go of Sehun’s waist from his hold.  He pulled away, giving a brief bow as the time for the obligatory dance had ended, and turned his back to walk away. 

“Wait—“

Sehun was already stretched out his hand to stop Jongin, when a thought suddenly struck him. 

Wait.  There is something.

Retreating his hand, Sehun his heel, too fast that almost had himself tripped over his own foot, and he run out of the castle in a hurried stride, drawing everyone’s confused and curious stare.  The King and the Queen exchanged looks, wondering what had happened between the prince of the faraway kingdom and their son that made him act that way.  Jongin had his eyes fixated on Sehun until his silhouette disappeared, his unreadable expression hiding a notion he had in mind.  But then he just shrugged it off, walking towards the table for the afternoon tea, one of the dance party tradition. 

Sehun didn’t appear throughout the afternoon tea, in which he ought to sit with his family, enjoying the only part of the party he liked.  Everyone chattered in low but cheery voices with one another, giving a pleasant ambience in the air.  Jongin was seen talking a few times with other guests, even that he was more of the listener in the conversation.  But as the thin gleam of bronze light flew in through the windows, he put down his cup, just as he ended the conversation. 

“You’re not staying for the night?” Chanyeol, the one he was talking with, asked as he stood up from his seat, “It’s common for the guests to stay overnight, especially if the kingdom is too far to reach before the night comes.  I’m staying, I think Yifan is too.  Why don’t you stay with us too?”

Jongin smiled wryly.

“No.  I can’t.”

He strode to where the King and Queen were, bowing at them respectfully.  He also greeted a farewell to the oldest prince of the kingdom, Suho, and after he excused himself to leave, he walked towards the gate, under the sharp inquiring stare from Tao.  He ignored it and made his way straight to the front yard of the castle, his untainted white cape flowing behind him.  He looked up to the sky.  The blue already infiltrated by reddish shade.  The sun was on its way to crawl down into the seam of the horizon.  He let out a sigh, before steadying his feet, ready to dissipate himself into the whirl of smoke, going back to where he belonged—

“JONGIN!”

He turned his head sharply at the voice.  Sehun came running to him, face glistening with sweat, panting hard—but his eyes lit up brightly nevertheless.

“Woah!”

He stumbled, but he didn’t take out his arms to save himself from falling.  Stupid, Jongin thought, as he walked towards him, offering a hand to help him stand up.  Sehun took his hand, grinning sheepishly, and Jongin took notice of something in Sehun’s arm, being held securely against his chest, which was given to him the next second.

“For you.”

It was a jar.  With a sleeping yellowish bud of a flower placed safely with its root alive in the soil at the base of the glass.  It was as if the flower was just being tucked in gently into the bottle instead of being taken away from where it was originally grown. 

“It’s Glowdrop.”

Sehun said, his lips woven into a smile.

“It’s sleeping most of the times, but it will be awaken when it senses a wish for some luminescence.  The bud will be opened and emanate a drop of glow, just like a little sun.”  Sehun the lid of the jar as he continued, “Kyungsoo-hyung planted it around the castle, so when I lost my way at night, when I can’t see anything under the darkness, there will be lights to guide me home.”

Sehun raised the jar a little higher, wishing for Jongin to take it.  A tint shade of pink bloomed on his cheeks.

“I know it’s nothing compared to the Light, it can’t gather the stars back on your sky again, but I hope it would give you a light that would unconditionally shine for you, so the darkness wouldn’t scratch its fingers on you ever again.”

The flower slowly and gracefully opened its bud, emitting a ball of glow right between its string of petals—saying its promise to be just like how Sehun said.  It would shine, unconditionally, answering hopes for its glow.  The radiance landed on Sehun’s face, lighting the contour of his snowlike skin in a mild gleam, as he smiled assuredly at Jongin.

“So you can always find your way home.”

With his gaze softened, Jongin finally took the glass jar from Sehun’s hand, and Sehun light up even brighter than the flower.  His smile widened, sending crescents to his eyes.  Jongin returned the smile, reaching out his hand to Sehun’s.  Sehun’s hand was spoiled with dirt and grime, there were even some small cuts on his fingertips, showing how hard he tried to get the flower for him.  Jongin wiped away the dirt off of Sehun’s hand with his thumb, before he got down on one knee, bringing the hand closer to his lips.

“Ah!  Don’t!  My hand is dirt—“

And planted a soft kiss on his line of knuckle.

“Thank you.”

Sehun felt the foreign yet familiar tug in his heart.  A scene replayed before him, where the man with the enamoring pair of dark orbs gave the same kiss that had a spark bloomed in his chest last night.  The feeling came back like an immense wave, sending a gush of warmth through his body, reaching even the tip of his fingers.  It created a hope in Sehun, a selfish hope. 

“Jongin,”

He wanted him to stay.

Sehun paused for a while, biting his lower lip.  He knew it was an impossible request.  Jongin wouldn’t stay, he had his people to stay with, to protect.  Jongin stared at him, patiently waiting for him to continue his words, still holding his hand in the confine of his fingers.  The way Jongin stared at him as if saying that whatever it was that Sehun wanted, he might grant it.

“Yes?”

So Sehun said it.

“Will—“ Sehun’s voice cracked a bit, interrupted by nervousness.  Jongin sneakily let out a small chuckle as Sehun’s cheeks flushed in a vivid shade of red, “W-will you take me again tonight?”

The smile on Jongin’s face wiped away at the question.

“Take you...again?”

“Y-yes.”

Sehun started to wonder if he had just made a mistake.  If he was just fooling himself thinking he was special enough for Jongin to deserve another chance of his company.

“W-well, it’s okay if you don’t want to.  I mean—“ Sehun managed to talk despite his suddenly constricted throat, “I understand if you want to keep the place only for yourself, the tree is so comfortable to be in and the scenery is so magnificent from up there, so—“

“No.”

Sehun’s smile completely gone.  His gaze fell down to his feet.  He knew it.

“I understand.  I’m sor—“

“It wasn’t me.”

Sehun raised his head, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What?”

“It wasn’t me.”  Jongin repeated, his eyes lost its gentle glint, once again veiled with the thick layer of a darken color—only this time it seemed to reflect exasperation rather than agony.  “It wasn’t me who took you there.  It wasn’t me you met.” 

Sehun was stunned.  He couldn’t comprehend what Jongin just said.  He stared at Jongin with a bold sign of perplexity.  It wasn’t him?  It wasn’t Jongin?

So who was it?

Jongin’s eyes went darker than it already was, he gave an angered squeeze to Sehun’s hand, before snapping it harshly out of his hold. Sehun caressed his abused hand, but the pain was nothing compared to the effect Jongin’s cold eyes gave on him.

“Don’t ever mistaken me as him again.”

And with that, as the sun sank down, Jongin disappeared, right in front of Sehun’s eyes, leaving him alone, stupefied.

Who was it?

Who was the one he had let himself being stolen by? 

A/N: Hello, everyone ^^ I finally updated this story again after 6 months, I hope you still remember this story :D I'm still in semi-hiatus but I'll do my best to update the other story, too.  I'm on my way plotting for Alohomora, I hope I can update it in a few weeks.  In the meantime, please enjoy the new chapter(s) of ThiefJongin. Comments are always welcomed ^^ Saranghamnida ♥

PS. My grammar is still awful as ever (and my betas seem to be so busy lately). Anyone willing to be my beta-reader? :D