“Donghae,”

At the end of the line of well-dressed dashing princes, the only head of blonde amongst the sea of brown hair startles to attention and the boy glances up from where he’d been staring at his shoes. Donghae feels the heated stares of his ‘brothers’ as they squint at his small form taking a step forward, the sound of his shoes tapping against the marble floors echo throughout the royal throne room.

Even the rows and rows of well-trained warriors standing at their best posture, fight their surprise at the sudden call for the little prince. But no one dares to speak against authority; no matter how outrageous it seemed for the youngest and least… deserving prince to have the First choice privilege.

 “My queen?” Donghae keeps his voice steady despite the obvious tension in the air.

“You will go first,” the finality in BoA’s tone and the glint in her eye left no room for debate as she straightens in her seat, glancing at the four other princes who looked ready to protest.

Servants watching from behind pillars began to murmur in disbelief.

Kangin, the eldest of the royal princes, growls but bites back his remark at the slender raise of BoA’s brow.

The entire room is thrown into hushed chaos but amongst the warriors lined up for inspection and silently wishing not to be chosen by the young prince, there is an unflinching pair of eyes watching the back of Donghae’s blonde head with mild interest.

“Go on,” the queen encourages the boy standing frozen in disbelief. “Choose your warrior, Donghae, and choose wisely.”

With a subtle gulp, Donghae bows and walks toward the line of men standing upright, their metal armor large and intimidating. He hears the murmured insults of his brothers as he passes them, but does not listen and instead fiddles with the gold band around his wrist.

“Who does that brat think he is, he doesn’t deserve a guardian…”

“Little orphan boy better not choose my swordsman.”

“Mother is taking this too far…”

Donghae scans the rows of large muscled men and their variety of sharp weapons glinting in the occasional ray of light. The room is plunged into silence as they all watch the peculiar little prince in a mix of anxiety and protest at the tip of their tongues. First Choice privilege is not something to belittle. It’s the perfect opportunity to choose the finest, most skilled warrior to protect you night and day, at every waking hour and at every second your life is threatened as a royal.

Yet the queen gives this privilege to the little orphan prince, who was not even of her blood nor considered true royalty. Who would target this nobody? This freak?

He didn’t need a guardian, yet BoA gives him the opportunity to choose the strongest one.

It was absurd.

Outrageous.

No one could understand.

Donghae himself didn’t either and he could feel the scrutinizing eyes of everyone in the room—his brothers, the servants watching from the sidelines, even the warriors—watching his every move and so, with even, measured strides, he continues to walk down the aisle, passing the best swordsman and the most cunning wizard and the fiercest soldier.

He passes every renowned warrior with only a single, undaunted glance into their eyes.

The murmurs around the throne room grow in volume, some in disbelief, others exclaiming the boy’s stupidity; yet Donghae keeps on walking until he reaches the very end of the line, where he finds exactly what he’s looking for.

Sharp, single-lidded eyes that judged nothing, said nothing, and at same time, said everything. The warrior was young, smaller and frailer than all those lined up with him, equipped with nothing but a measly bow and arrow.

Clearly, a long-distance fighter and clearly, too young and small to be any good.

Yet, with a ghost of a smile on his lips, the little prince raises a slender finger and reaches out to tap the boy’s armor clad chest, right above his heart.

“You.”

At that moment, the entire world stared in disbelief at Donghae’s unrelenting and confident smile.

“Very well then,” BoA answers with her own small smile, “we have our first warrior.”

“Ha!” Kangin bellowed, “I’ve always thought you were a fool, Donghae, but this? A skinny archer boy, a first-timer as First Choice—what a joke!”

“What a waste!”

As if taken out of a trance, the rest of the crowd bursts into laughter that, however, does nothing to falter the smile on Donghae’s face as he stares into the eyes of his newly appointed Guardian, holding out a hand and leaning close to whisper.

“I’m Donghae,” he speaks as if it were a secret.

The young archer could only smile and whisper back, “I’m Hyukjae.”

“Let’s be friends.”

➳