Changmin changes out of his clothes for bed and gets back into his clothes from the day before in the darkness, with the sun only just starting to rise into the dusky sky. He fumbles with the tie, because he's so nervous, but he manages to tie it and comb his hair. He remembers to make his bed, place the note on his bed and close the curtains around his bed.

Changmin packs a small bag, not expecting to have for longer than a day anyway, and at the longest, two. He'll just buy everything he needs if he's missing anything. And then he needs –

Cash, thinks Changmin. I need cash to get anything outside the palace.

Changmin digs through his dresser for his wallet that he rarely uses. He has cash in his wallet for the rare times he's allowed to leave the palace. Sometimes Yunho will take pity on him and take him shopping, and Changmin likes to treat him then, even though Yunho always refuses.

Changmin checks over his clothes and his bag once more and takes a deep breath.

His heart is beating out of his chest, and he is almost shaking out of excitement and nervousness.

He takes a deep breath before putting his hand on the doorknob and creaking it open the slightest bit. The tiniest bit of light seeps out and he knows that Yunho is up already, and the light is seeping out from under his door.

How is Yunho awake already? How? Asks Changmin to himself in despair. Yunho will hear when I walk by, and if I know Yunho, he'll check. I know he'll check.

Maybe he should hold it off for another day, Changmin thinks. But no, because tomorrow, I won't have the guts to do it. It has to be now.

So Changmin takes off his shoes and carries them in his hands. He'll put them back on once he's sure that he's out of Yunho's hearing range.

Hallway is clear, Changmin thinks to himself. Now just don't get caught.

Changmin opens the door and takes a deep breath. He turns the doorknob before closing the door. He takes the small key from his pocket and locks the door, slowly and as quietly as he can. This will hopefully buy him more time and it'll take a while for someone to figure out that he's gone.

Please. Please, please, please let this work.

Changmin begins to glide down the hall in his socks, knowing full well that he is going to be on camera and they'll certainly be watching him doing this later, but he doesn't even care.

He just wants to get out of here, now.

And he prays to God that in a few minutes, he'll be outside these bars.




Yunho is up and dressed, has made a cup of coffee in his room, and is combing through the five newspapers in two languages to pick up on any bias one might have, when a small noise distracts him. He hears a small click from the hallway and he thinks a shadow fell on the door for the shortest second.

He frowns at the unexpected noise, and wonders if he should investigate. He is halfway out of his chair to just poke his head out of the door and see if something is wrong; but it's completely silent again now.

It's most likely Changmin's butler. It is a bit earlier than he usually is, but he had a very early evening last night, it makes sense for him to start the day a bit early, too.

A couple of bad scenarios cross his mind, including one where Changmin is kidnapped and one where Changmin runs away, but he pushes those scenarios into the recesses of his mind, forcing himself not to think such horrible things, and soon succeeds in forgetting.

He makes his way down to the dining hall for breakfast an hour or so later, after finishing reviewing his lesson plans for the day, reading the news and making notes. He is halfway through in a table with the princesses' tutors as well as Changmin's horseback riding instructor when he gets a phone call. When he sees that it's Changmin's butler, Yunho frowns and excuses himself from the table to take the call.

"Good morning, sir," answers Yunho.

"Good morning, Mr. Jung," says Changmin's butler, sounding slightly distressed. "I've run into a bit of a problem, which I was hoping you could help with."

"What is it?"

"The Prince won't open his door for me, Mr. Jung. He's locked it."

Yunho frowns.

"What do you mean? Do you not have a key to his bedroom?" Because Yunho has one.

"No, Mr. Jung. His Royal Highness has also given me specific instruction in the past not to come in if it's locked."

"And you haven't tried calling him?"

"Of course I have. He doesn't pick up."

Yunho nods. "I will be there right away."

"Thank you, Mr. Jung," says Changmin's butler, and Yunho hangs up and quickly throws away the rest of his breakfast.

He more or less runs up to Changmin's room. His butler is there, standing outside of it looking completely lost as to what to do.

"Thank you," he says. Yunho nods approaches Changmin's door. He stands outside of it for a little bit, listening to see if Changmin is up and about, but it's completely silent.

So he knocks.

"Your Highness?" calls Yunho. "May I come in?"

No response.

"Your Highness."

Still no response, and Yunho knocks once more. When he's again greeted by silence, he pulls out the key from his pocket.

"May I come in, Your Highness?" asks Yunho one more time. There's no response.

Yunho puts the key into the keyhole, but then hesitates. He respects Changmin, and he wants Changmin to open the door for him. So he swallows and knocks just once more.

"Changmin, it's Yunho. Open up. Please."

Yunho is almost sure that Changmin is going to open the door after hearing his name. He has just risked everything and called Changmin by his name for the first time in years.

He's horribly disappointed when he doesn't.

So Yunho sighs. "I'm coming in, Your Highness," warns Yunho, and he turns the key with some deliberation and opens Changmin's door.

The room is pristine, no signs of struggle and certainly there's no mess. The bathroom door is open and it seems clear; Yunho is at least a little bit relieved. The curtains around the bed are closed, and Yunho approaches the bed carefully.

"Your Highness," says Yunho carefully. "Are you still feeling unwell?"

Changmin doesn't answer him, and Yunho waits for a little bit for Changmin to answer him. When he doesn't, he pulls back the curtains a tiny bit and peeks in, hoping that Changmin is at least sleeping with clothes on.

"Your High –"

Yunho's breath hitches as he realizes that the bed is made perfectly, and it's been left empty. He throws back the curtains all the way.

"Y-Your Highness?"

Yunho feels dizzy, and he only just manages to notice that there is a note propped up on the pillow on the bed. Yunho picks it up with a shaking hand.

He is shocked to see that it is addressed to him. As soon as he glances at it, he recognizes it as Changmin's handwriting.




Dearest Mr. Jung,


I feel that it is my duty to tell someone that I'm safe. I would prefer to write this to a friend, but I don't have any of those, Mr. Jung. You are the closest thing to a friend I have.

Mr. Jung, I am safe. As spoiled as I may seem to hate my station as Prince, as much as I know that I have everything that I could possibly ask for, and as much as I know that I am extremely privileged, I don't have the one basic right that the Constitution guarantees everyone else in the country: freedom.

I am going to find my freedom, Mr. Jung.

And maybe – hopefully – I will also find a friend or two along the way.

Thank you for all that you have done for me, and I hope with my entire being that we will be friends someday.


Sincerely,

Changmin.




Yunho squeezes his eyes shut. "Oh God," he mutters. "I am so stupid."

He should have seen it. He should have seen that Changmin was burnt out, depressed, alone, and at the end of his rope. He should have investigated that click and that shadow this morning.

"Mr. Jung…?" asks Changmin's butler uncertainly from the doorway. "Is everything all right?"

Yunho looks up at him and swallows.

"Could you please alert police and the Royal Guards and let them know that Prince Changmin has left the Palace with no security and he should be found and escorted back as quickly as possible?" says Yunho, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He swallows. "And I will let His Majesty know."

The horror on the butler's face would have been comical if it weren't for the situation.




Changmin is running. He runs and runs and runs, as far away as he can from the palace, ignoring the curious looks he gets from the people on the street.

Changmin doesn't have a destination; he hasn't really thought that far.

He can hardly believe it.

He is free.

And that is really all that matters.

Soon, he's out of breath and his feet tightly packed into his dress shoes are starting to ache.

He starts to walk then.

It's kind of cold and really, really early, but Changmin is ecstatic. Overflowing with energy.

He walks all the way to the University, which is around a 20-minute drive from the palace; Changmin has probably been walking for over an hour. Only when he thinks his feet can't take it anymore does he stop at a cute little coffee shop just outside the campus. It's bustling in the morning with students, and Changmin feels amazing. He approaches the counter, so excited about the prospect of buying himself coffee, when he hears a throat clear and someone tap his shoulder.

"Excuse me?"

Changmin turns around to see that a girl is frowning.

"The end of the line is that end," she says, pointing. The line is about seven or eight people long, and Changmin is so excited.

He is so excited about having to wait in a line.

"Oh, I apologize," says Changmin with a smile. "Thank you for letting me know."

Changmin very nearly skips to the end of the line, and he almost blends in with the rest of the students, except he's terribly overdressed. Everyone else is in sweaters and jeans, and Changmin is in a designer suit. He feels a little bit uncomfortable, but only because he's a bit concerned that someone will recognize him. So far, no one has said anything, thank goodness.

The line moves quicker than Changmin would like, but he can't complain about getting his morning coffee, finally. When he finally gets to the counter, he's so excited and nervous at the same time that he temporarily loses his speech, as the girl at the counter says, "What can I get for you?"

She has to repeat herself once more for Changmin to find his voice. He's ordering coffee for himself for the first time ever.

"C-Could I get a coffee please?"

"What size?"

Changmin feels this rush of… of joy. "A large one, please and thank you."

"Room for milk?"

"Pardon me? I'm afraid I didn't quite understand."

The girl looks at Changmin. "Do you want me to leave a bit of space in the cup so you can add milk to it without the cup overflowing?"

"Oh!" says Changmin. Of course. "That sounds great, I do like milk in my coffee, but – but, uh, where –"

"The milk and sugar is on that table over there," says the girl, pointing. All of this suddenly makes sense to Changmin. She hands Changmin a paper coffee cup. "Anything else?"

Changmin shakes his head. "No, thank you."

He then pulls out his wallet, he's been waiting for this moment, to pay for a coffee. He hands the girl a hundred, because that's the only bill he has.

The girl looks irritated as she gives Changmin his change, although he's not quite sure why. Changmin doesn't forget to thank her again as he collects his change, and that seems to soften her up a little.

Changmin gathers his coffee and his wallet and moves to the condiments table to add the milk to his coffee. He's not sure how much to put in because he rarely has to do this himself, but soon, he finds himself having mixed in just enough milk and sugar for the coffee to taste just fantastic. And now, all he has to do is enjoy is cup of coffee, and he is so thrilled to just sit there and have a leisurely cup of coffee without his butler nagging at him to hurry or the pressure of knowing that Yunho would be testing him on the news later on.

The café is rather full and busy in the morning, and every seat is taken except one by a window, next to a student who's studying with papers and notebooks occupying all the table space for another seat.

It looks like he hasn't combed his curly hair in weeks, and it's still the tiniest bit damp from a shower. And he's wearing a loose grey T-shirt with the hem fraying the tiniest bit and sweatpants – really, clothes that Changmin wouldn't even be allowed to wear to bed. The boy's head bobs up and down ever so slightly from the music out of his earphones.

It's intriguing.

Changmin walks to the boy with his mug held tightly in his hands. The student is too absorbed in his work to notice.

"Excuse me," says Changmin carefully.

The student looks up and pulls one earphone out of his ear. "Hey. What's up?"

"May I take this seat?" asks Changmin.

The student nods and pulls the chair out for him. "Yeah, go for it."

"Thank you," says Changmin.

"No worries," says the student easily with a friendly smile.

Changmin takes the seat and sets his mug down on the counter around the papers, and crosses his legs. And then looks out through the window.

The sunshine is in his eyes as he sits down, and it's a little bit too bright and he crinkles his eyes a bit. And he swears, everything that he can see out the window sparkles, and the sip of the coffee is a sip of heaven itself. He is completely lost in the sights when a notebook is lightly pushed into his elbow.

"Oops… sorry," says the student next to him. He tries to gather up some of his mess so that he's not occupying so much space.

"That is quite all right," says Changmin with a small chuckle.

The student smiles at him before securing the earphone into his ear again and turning back to his work.

Changmin watches him for a bit, his shoulders bent over his work. The student soon starts chewing on the end of his pen, and Changmin is glad Yunho isn't there; he would definitely have a fit.

"Are you a student at the University?" asks Changmin.

The student nods and takes his earbuds out of his ears again. "Yeah. You?"

"I graduated last spring," says Changmin. "What do you study?"

"Astrophysics."

Changmin's eyes widen. "Good for you. That's excellent."

The student laughs. "This is my fifth year in university though. I couldn't decide on my major for, like, two years. So I had to take an extra year, 'cause I was trying to decide between astrophysics and nanoengineering."

Changmin nods. He wishes he could have done that. He's jealous of this boy. As he looks at the work sprawled on the café table in jealousy, the student extends his hand.

"I'm Kyuhyun."

Changmin hastily takes the hand and shakes it. "My name is Changmin."

"Changmin," repeats Kyuhyun slowly. A curious expression cross his face and he looks around the café. He looks around sharply before his eyes land on Changmin again. Changmin shifts uncomfortably as he realizes that he probably should have used a fake name.

God, he should have used a fake name.

Changmin is ready to bolt out of the café when Kyuhyun nods.

"What did you study?"

"I studied history," says Changmin, relaxing just a bit. "Albeit not by choice."

Kyuhyun laughs. "History?" he asks with a laughter. "Were you the only guy in your program?"

Changmin wishes he could be answer that question. "No," he answers honestly. "I don't believe so. But I suppose I didn't attend many classes, so I can't be positive."

"Fair enough," says Kyuhyun.

Changmin smiles and takes another sip of his coffee. He dabs at his lips with the paper napkin and is looking out the window again when he realizes that Kyuhyun is staring at him.

"Are all history majors like you?" asks Kyuhyun.

Changmin flusters. "Excuse me?"

"You are," says Kyuhyun, squinting, "unnaturally polite and well-spoken. And God, you're so preppy."

Changmin his lips in nervousness.

"Do you dress like this every day? Or is there a conference today or something on campus?"

Changmin clears his throat. He does wear something like this every day, but… "Today is a… very special occasion."

"Well, that's a relief," mutters Kyuhyun. "I would have judged you so hard if you said you wore that every day."

Changmin is almost offended. This boy in sweatpants and a holed T-shirt is criticizing Changmin's clothes?

"Haven't we only just met?" asks Changmin with a frown. "Is it necessary for you to be that rude?"

Kyuhyun gapes at him. "What? When was I rude to you?"

"Just now, you said –"

"Oh, calm down," says Kyuhyun, rolling his eyes. "I was just joking."

"It's not very funny, Kyuhyun," says Changmin, shaking his head.

Kyuhyun sighs. "All right. Fine. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"And how might you do that?" asks Changmin skeptically, still unable to stop himself from feeling self-conscious over his clothes.

"I have to turn in this assignment in an hour," says Kyuhyun. "But then I'm off for the rest of the day. I'll take you out for brunch. If you want."

Despite everything, that sounds wonderful. So Changmin agrees.




The King takes the news much like Yunho expects him to. He is an exemplary King, calm and proper even in times when it might be completely reasonable to get angry or panicked. He only consistently loses his temper with one person, and that's Changmin. Yunho thinks that if only the King treated the Prince the same way he treats everyone else, he would have a much closer relationship with his son.

And Yunho knows that had Changmin been in the room with them as the King reads Changmin's note to Yunho, the King would be screaming at the Prince. Alas, Changmin is not here, and so instead, the King folds up the note neatly after he finishes reading.

"He addressed the note to you?" says the King, looking up at Yunho.

Yunho nods. "Yes, Your Majesty."                                      

"Why?" asks the King. "Why you? Are you involved, Mr. Jung? Do you know something I don't?"

Yunho knows that the King doesn't like him as much as he would like. Yunho isn't as educated, at least not on paper, as the King would like for his son's tutor to be, and Yunho thinks that the King never truly forgave him for treating Changmin like a regular child his age when he was younger. Yunho knows that the King has made multiple attempts to dismiss him in the past. The only reason why he has lasted this long was because Changmin responded to him so much more than he had with other tutors, at least until he got to University. The King had made one final attempt at dismissing Yunho when Changmin had received his first grades out of University, and they hadn't met the King's expectations. Yunho barely held onto his job by his fingernails, Changmin giving his father an ultimatum, saying that he would not continue on with his History degree if it weren't Yunho tutoring him. It was the first and only time Yunho saw Changmin stand up to his father – and Yunho doesn't know whether he feels sorry or grateful that it was to protect Yunho.

"No, Your Majesty," says Yunho hastily. "Not at all. I think it must be because I spend the most amount of time with him out of everyone who serves him."

The King sighs and massages his forehead. "I know the boy is not stupid," whispers the King. "I'm shocked that he thinks that this can work."

Yunho doesn't say anything to the King, but he knows Changmin much better than the King does.

And he knows that Changmin doesn't think it can work.

He's just desperate enough to try it anyway.




Kyuhyun watches with interest as Changmin cuts up a tiny piece of his waffle and deposit the piece carefully in his mouth. Kyuhyun had finished his omelette long ago, and was now waiting for Changmin to finish. It's like Changmin acts like he's the Prince just because they have the same name – never mind the hundreds of other people in the city named the same.

It seemed like it might be a while, still, until Changmin seems like he just realized something. And then, to Kyuhyun's shock, Changmin grabs the waffle with his hands and shoves a large bite of it into his mouth.

Kyuhyun is extremely confused at the inconsistency as Changmin finishes the waffle in three large bites, looking extremely smug and satisfied with himself. Changmin wipes his greasy hands with the napkin and leans back against the chair.

"How was that?" asks Kyuhyun.

"I can't say expected it to be so delicious," admits Changmin.

Kyuhyun almost snorts as Changmin wipes the corners of his mouth daintily with the paper napkin. This guy is just so interesting. Kyuhyun almost wonders if he's fallen for a joke. But Kyuhyun decides to play along, because he'd been bored anyway.

"Is there anything interesting to do around here?" Changmin asks. "I expect I won't have a very long time. I want to make the most of the few hours I have."

Kyuhyun tilts his head and thinks.

"Have you been to the Civilization museum? If you're a history major –"

"No," says Changmin hastily. "I've been to it. And I also kind of hate history."

Kyuhyun frowns in confusion. "Then why –"

"My father wanted me to do it," says Changmin. "I wanted to study medicine, I got an acceptance too, but my father…"

Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows.

"Don't most parents push their kids to go into medicine?"

"Not mine," mutters Changmin.

"I hear you," says Kyuhyun sympathetically. "I hate history too."

Changmin sighs so sadly that Kyuhyun feels his heart tug.

"Have you been to the Aquarium?" suggests Kyuhyun.

Changmin looks up, interested. "The Aquarium?"

"I've heard it was really fun, and always wanted to go to it." He then eyes Changmin, who hesitates. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I suppose I'm just… not the most comfortable around crowds."

Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows and picks up his cup of tea. "You just asked me if there was anywhere to go, and you don't wanna be near a crowd."

"Yes. Also, preferably, I'd like to not stay in one place for too long." Changmin eyes Kyuhyun carefully as Kyuhyun drinks from his cup. "How would you feel if – if I spent the day with you?"

Kyuhyun splutters, nearly spits out his tea. "Um, what?"

Changmin flusters too, clearly. He seems lost for words at Kyuhyun's reaction, and Kyuhyun talks instead, wiping his chin with a napkin.

"You want to do something fun, and you want to spend the day with me?"

"Does that offend you?" asks Changmin, his eyes wide. "I apologize. I didn't mean –"

"I'm not offended, Why would I be offended?" Kyuhyun sighs. "It's just…" he hesitates before looking up at Changmin. "Are you trying to pick me up?"

Changmin almost yelps. "Excuse me?"

"We just met and you're asking me if you can spend the day with me," says Kyuhyun uncertainly. "If you went to university here, you must have friends around here."

"I – I – " begins Changmin. He stops and sighs. "It's very complicated."

Kyuhyun sighs. "Just tell me."

"I can't right this moment," says Changmin apologetically. "I will eventually, Kyuhyun. I promise."

Kyuhyun sighs, but he supposes that's okay.

"We could go for a movie," suggests Kyuhyun. "Or we could go to that Aquarium. Or we could chill in my apartment. I don't know. It's up to you."

"How about…" hesitates Changmin. "Something like a… a club?"

Kyuhyun goggles at him. "In broad daylight?"

"Yeah," says Changmin. His eyes sparkle. "Is that not –"

"No," says Kyuhyun flatly and firmly. "That's not a thing."

Changmin looks slightly crestfallen. "Oh."

"We'll go at night if you want."

Changmin looks pleased enough, and Kyuhyun sighs. Kyuhyun's not sure why he's doing this for Changmin. They've literally just met.

"Amusement park," says Changmin suddenly.

"What?" says Kyuhyun.

"Let's go to an amusement park."

Kyuhyun gapes at him. "Changmin. It's a weekday, it's getting cold, and you said you didn't want to stay in one place for too long –"

"So what? I'll be paying," says Changmin with a shrug. "I'll pay for everything."

Kyuhyun hesitates.

But Changmin's eyes are sparkling. With excitement, he guesses.

Kyuhyun sighs. "Fine," he says. His eyes then travel to Changmin's tie. "But can we buy you some normal clothes first?"

Changmin's lopsided smile is so bright that Kyuhyun can hardly believe that it's real.




The Chief of Police is more or less interrogating Yunho, sitting in the chair that would normally be occupied by Changmin during their morning lessons, which Yunho doesn't appreciate. Yunho knows that it's because Changmin had addressed the note to him, and they think that Yunho might have more information than anyone else. Yunho supposes he does, but even then, he doesn't appreciate someone glaring at him as he yells into his face for information.

Yunho stays calm until several spit droplets splatter onto his face, and he can no longer stand it.

"Chief Officer," says Yunho politely. "I will be as cooperative as you wish. I daresay that I hope for the Prince's safe return more than anyone else. So please, all I'm asking for is for a bit of trust and respect."

The officer finally pauses, and Yunho lets out a breath and wipes the spit from his face with his sleeve.

"What I understand is that the Prince was looking for a day or two of freedom, so to say," says Yunho calmly. "From what I know, he left at daybreak, and the Prince I know is responsible enough to stay near the Palace, somewhere within the city, so it's probably best that you start the search here."

The Police Chief narrows his eyes at Yunho. "You didn't see something like this coming. How can you claim to know him enough to make suggestions like that?"

Yunho sighs.

"Perhaps I don't know him as well as you would like," says Yunho simply. "But I daresay I know him better than anyone else in the world."

The Police Chief is silent.

"You don't have to take my advice. But you've asked for it, so I'm giving it to you. My advice is to start searching near, maybe begin at–" he takes another look at the map – "the university, the shopping centre and…"

Something catches his eye, and it seems like something that Changmin might do.

"The Amusement Park," concludes Yunho. "But quietly, Officer. There will be hell to pay if the tabloids find out that the entire Police Department was chasing the Crown Prince around the city."

The Police Chief finally concedes.




The clothes are just so comfortable. Changmin's stuffed his clothes into his bag, and is wearing a grey hoodie and jeans for the first time in his life, and now they're strolling about the Amusement Park. His feet just feel so free in these sneakers, and he wishes he could stay in these clothes forever.

"Feels so good," moans Changmin, his eyes lolling back. "So good."

Kyuhyun snorts. "Calm down."

"I'm calm," defends Changmin. "I'm so, so calm."

"Do you like roller coasters?" asks Kyuhyun.

"I don't know. I imagine so," says Changmin. He then takes a deep breath and pulls out his phone. "Wait. I have to take a picture."

Changmin doesn't even care that Kyuhyun has burst out laughing, and pulls Kyuhyun into the picture with the roller coasters as the background. He ignores the seventy-six missed calls alert before shoving the phone back into his pocket.

Kyuhyun smiles for the camera, but as soon as Changmin snaps the picture, Kyuhyun slaps Changmin's arm, hard.

Changmin is startled, since no one has ever, ever, ever slapped him before, and he's still dazed when Kyuhyun pulls him by his wrist into the Amusement Park.




"Have you found him yet?" asks Yunho nervously.

He's starting to feel nervous because it's been nearly seven hours since Changmin's been out of his bed and he hasn't heard anything promising.

Yunho had thought this would take an hour or two at the most, but it's taking longer, and he's worried. He's worried that Changmin might have done something both rash and stupid.

"It shouldn't be long now," says the officer, who has become much more polite since the morning. "It's difficult as we don't want a huge police force involved. We have a number of undercover officers about the city. They've been instructed not to approach anyone until they're sure. We'll come to you for verification, Mr. Jung. Be patient. It's just not easy when we're not asking for civilian tips."

"I hope you're not looking only at people who are wearing what I told you he was wearing when he left the Palace."

The officer pauses and looks at Yunho. "Excuse me?"

Yunho suppresses the great urge to roll his eyes at this man who is supposed to be the Chief of Police. "Changmin – I mean, the Prince is not stupid, Officer. I'm almost certain that he'll have changed out of his clothes."

The Officer's hand trembles a bit as he reaches for his communication devices to alert the officers searching for Changmin.




Changmin is sitting at a bar with a beer after a couple hours at the Amusement Park. He'd asked Kyuhyun if he'd wanted a drink, but Kyuhyun refuses, because he's the one driving Changmin everywhere today in his rusty little car that smells like stale gym clothes. But Changmin is more than glad to drink on his own, because this is fun anyway.

"Would you believe me if I said that this has been the best day of my life so far?" asks Changmin after his third beer.

Kyuhyun laughs. He seems to find Changmin amusing more than anything else. Kyuhyun bites into a nacho. "Yeah, I believe it somehow. You're pretty fun though. I didn't expect you to be so fun."

Changmin looks pleased with himself as he reaches for a nacho, too.

"So. Are you going to tell me who you are?" asks Kyuhyun.

Changmin sighs. "Well, let's just say… my father is… a very successful man, and he expects me to follow in his footsteps."

"Ah," says Kyuhyun, even though he doesn't actually get it at all. "But you know, it's your life. You make your own decisions, right?"

Changmin chuckles. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Kyuhyun laughs. "Look, so he wants you to take over his business, whatever. He's doing it so you have a step up on your competition. If you don't want to be in that field, then you just tell him you don't want his business."

"It's not that simple," repeats Changmin, starting to get frustrated. He takes another swig of his beer.

"It is that simple," says Kyuhyun. He's feeling rather passionate about this. "Look, if you're so unhappy, no one can stop you from leaving home. Yeah, sure, your life might for the first little bit, since you'll have to earn money for rent and groceries and what not, that's the price you pay for being allowed to wear jeans and hoodies for the rest of your life and study what you want. Do what you want. It's your life, dude."

"I," says Changmin quietly, "am literally the only person in the whole country for whom that logic doesn't stand."

Kyuhyun narrows his eyes as Changmin finishes his last beer and slams it back down on the counter.

"It's getting dark," says Changmin, looking outside. "Do you smoke?"

"No," says Kyuhyun, crossing his arms.

"I don't either," says Changmin. "But I've always wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes. And go grocery shopping."

Kyuhyun perks up a bit. "I'm out of groceries, I wouldn't mind going, actually."

"All right," says Changmin with a smile. He pays for his drinks and the snacks before turning to Kyuhyun. "Let's do this."




Yunho understands that it can't be easy to find Changmin when they have no idea at all where he is, but it's getting dark, and Yunho is just worried now. His biggest worry is that someone might have recognized Changmin as the Prince and taken him hostage. As much as the Prince is an adult, in a lot of ways, he's also naive and doesn't know much about the real world; there's no guarantee that Changmin wouldn't fall for some simple trick.

Yunho tries to push that horrible image out of his mind. He hates that he can do little more than fidget.

What feels like hours and hours later, the Chief strides into the tutorial room in the Palace where Yunho has been all day with a piece of paper in his hand.

"We found him," says the Chief, visibly flushed. "One of our officers managed to take a picture of him coming out of a bar. This is him, yes?" asks the Chief, holding out the paper.

Yunho takes the picture.

It's striking.

Changmin's wearing a grey sweatshirt and jeans, and he looks like he could be any normal college student. That's not what's striking.

Changmin is laughing in the picture, so genuine and happy. It's been a while since Yunho had seen Changmin's mismatched-eyed smile appear. And a part of him wants Changmin to stay out and be happy. He just wants the Prince to be happy for the first time in years, because God knows the kid deserves it.

"Mr. Jung?"

Yunho swallows and looks up.

"Yes," says Yunho with a nod, doing all he can to keep his eyes from watering. "This is him."

"Finally," says the Police Chief. "He's with someone else. Do you recognize him?"

Yunho gathers himself enough to look at the picture. It looks like just another college student, but not one that Yunho knows.

"No," says Yunho. "I don't know who that is."

The officer swears and takes back the picture of Changmin smiling from Yunho and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

And all this guilt floods over Yunho. Here Yunho is again, taking away Changmin's freedom and happiness.

Yunho sighs and buries his face into his hands.

I'm sorry, Changmin. I'll be the bastard just once more.