Changmin wakes in the bustle of the boys returning from the corner store with the instant noodles (and a host of other snacks that Yunho doubted they would even be able to start on). When he wakes, Changmin blushes – Yunho thinks no one's ever seen Changmin asleep besides himself and the royal family.

"Did I snore?" he whispers into Yunho's ears.

"I wouldn't have let you keep sleeping if you did," replies Yunho with a smile.

"Thank you," murmurs Changmin quietly.

Kyuhyun avoids looking at both Yunho and Changmin as he carries the instant noodles to the kitchen to cook them. Changmin, clearly oblivious, squeezes Yunho's hand and smiles. "I think I'm going to go and help Kyuhyun in the kitchen."

Yunho draws in the breath to say that Changmin doesn't belong in the kitchen and to remind him that he is royalty, but then he realizes, Changmin isn't here today as Prince.

"Okay," concedes Yunho with a nod that he hopes is natural. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Yes, Mr. Jung," teases Changmin with a smile, then gets up and follows Kyuhyun into the kitchen.

A few moments later, Yunho is overcome with the burning urge to follow Changmin into the kitchen just to make sure he's safe, but then he reminds himself that Kyuhyun already thinks that Yunho cares about Changmin beyond his post, and so he turns his attention to the two other boys in the living room instead.

Minho takes out a pack of cards and starts shuffling them. While he does that, Ryeowook turns to Yunho.

"So, Yunho, what do you do?" he asks.

"Um," says Yunho, only slightly taken aback. "I teach."

"Oh, you're a teacher?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'm a tutor, technically."

"Oh, cool," says Ryeowook. "I'm a piano major, so I want to do the same thing."

"Uh… yeah. I studied history, so I'm not sure if it's the same thing as teaching piano."

Yunho thinks he should be quite careful with self-disclosure now.

"When did you graduate?"

"Six years ago," muses Yunho.

He remembers the first couple years when Yunho started tutoring Changmin. He had to go to his own university classes and then come back to the palace to teach Changmin.

Yunho had come across the job purely by chance when he was just eighteen years old.

Changmin's previous tutor had apparently quit quite suddenly, and the palace was looking for someone to teach the Crown Prince for a couple of weeks, just until they hired someone new. The internal news had reached one of Yunho's history professors who apparently knew someone at the Palace. The professor absolutely adored Yunho in his class, and it was that professor who suggested the job to him. Yunho suited up for an interview with the King's administrator that very day, and the next day, he was teaching the Prince.

Yunho treated Changmin like he would any other twelve-year-old at the time. Yunho made each lesson into something that the young prince might enjoy, and it seemed like he did. He called the prince by his name, high-fived him when he did well, and passed him candy for treats.

As it was a short-term job, Yunho was let go – or so he was led to believe – about a month later; apparently they had found a new tutor for Changmin, one who was more fit for the job.

A few days later though, he received a phone call while he was in the middle of class, asking him to return to the Palace to meet the King for the first time.

Yunho didn't even know why, but when he arrived at the Palace, the King brought him into his office and stared him down.

"You are too young to teach my son; you don't even have a bachelor's degree," the King had hissed as his first words to Yunho.

Yunho didn't even know what to say except, "I… was under the impression that I was no longer teaching him. Your Majesty," he added hastily.

The King had not been pleased as he regarded Yunho. "Prince Changmin is throwing a fit, Mr. Jung. He says he will not do any work if it isn't you tutoring him."

Yunho stared, struck speechless.

"He's never behaved like this before, Mr. Jung," said the King. "I am not sure what you are doing with him, but I'm not happy."

"Sir, I swear –"

"That's Your Majesty," snapped the King.

"Your Majesty, I swear I haven't encouraged the prince to do anything that doesn't conform to–"

"You do not know the royal procedures, and you are too young to teach my son. His education is of paramount importance, and I cannot leave it in the hands of a college student."

Yunho stared.

"I never asked to work for longer."

The King had scowled at Yunho, and clearly Yunho had fully tipped the boat.

"And I do not want you to work for longer," snapped the King.

He seemed to regret that outburst, and then he sighed.

"But Prince Changmin insists. I do not spoil him, but his new tutor is not willing to stay. Just until we find a new tutor, I am asking you to continue to teach Prince Changmin."

Yunho reluctantly accepted – although perhaps he wasn't so reluctant because he accepted right on the spot.

That time, Yunho was given a very large book of the royal procedures that he was required to learn, was asked to consult the royal proceedings expert if he had any questions. By the end of the week, he more or less knew the entire book off by heart.

They never found that new tutor, and eventually, Yunho moved into the palace, because between travelling for classes at the University, the palace to teach Changmin and home to sleep, Yunho was losing too much time.

Nevertheless, the King made multiple attempts to fire Yunho. Once, it was because apparently he wasn't paying enough attention to Changmin while Yunho had exams at the University; thankfully, it was Yunho's last term, and he didn't start a Masters after that, preferring to work with Changmin full-time. A year or two later, the King tried to fire Yunho again, and this time, it was because Yunho hadn't been treating Changmin too casually. This required Yunho to beg on his knees to keep his job and give his word never to do it again. The last time the King tried to fire Yunho was when Changmin's grades in University hadn't been what the King had wanted. Changmin had stood up for Yunho again then.

This time, neither Yunho nor Changmin have much grounds to contest the dismissal. It's true, Changmin is out of school and he knows how to behave himself in formal settings; Changmin no longer needs Yunho.

Yunho's throat tightens as he realizes it.

Changmin no longer needs Yunho.

"Ouch!" yells Changmin's surprised voice from the kitchen, and, snapping out of the train of thought, Yunho startles and runs into the kitchen.

"What happened?" shouts Yunho, but as he does so, he realizes that Changmin is wearing a huge smile and Kyuhyun has his fist raised and is punching Changmin's arm playfully.

"Nothing, Yunho, we're just playing around," says Changmin.

Yunho lets out a breath of relief. "Stop it. It's dangerous to play around like that in the kitchen."

"Yes, mom," says Kyuhyun, rolling his eyes.

Yunho glares, unimpressed. "I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble." He turns to Changmin. "Changmin, I think you can let Kyuhyun finish. We're going to play cards in the living room."

Changmin nods and smiles at Yunho. "Okay."

Kyuhyun snorts and took one step closer to Yunho.

"Make it less obvious that you're in love with him, maybe? If you're not going to do anything about it?" whispers Kyuhyun's playful voice quietly into Yunho's ear.

Yunho flushes in anger and embarrassment. "Enough," hisses Yunho. "Just so you know, hitting Royalty is actually in the criminal code, punishable by up to two years in prison. I'm saving your ."

"Hitting anyone is in the criminal code," retorts Kyuhyun. "Changmin's not as special to everyone else as you think he is."

Yunho clenches his teeth. "One more cheeky word out of you and Changmin and I are out of here."

Kyuhyun rolls his eyes again. "God, I swear Changmin said you were fun. His threshold for describing someone as 'fun' must not be very high." He sighed. "Go sit with your boyfriend in the living room. I'm gonna bring out the noodles when they're done."

Yunho shoots him one more glare before moving into the living room, where everyone is sitting on the floor and Ryeowook is dealing the cards.

Yunho reaches for another glass of wine.

Yunho and Changmin step out of the apartment building at the end of the night, and Kyuhyun takes them to the front gates.

"Oh, it's snowing!" exclaims Changmin, a huge grin on his face. But it is snowing indeed, large snowflakes falling steadily from the dark sky and beginning to form a white blanket over the ground.

"Yeah. It's pretty," says Kyuhyun with a laugh. "Thanks for coming."

"Invite me back," says Changmin, and Kyuhyun smiles and nods.

"Anytime, Changmin."

Kyuhyun then turns to Yunho and extends his hand.

"Nice meeting you properly, Yunho."

Yunho takes the hand and shakes it. He doesn't quite get out, you too. Instead, he opts for, "Thank you for having us."

"You're welcome," smiles Kyuhyun. "Are you guys going to be walking? Since you drank a bit, Yunho."

Yunho shakes his head. "I'm going to call a driver from the palace to come and pick us up."

Kyuhyun nods, but Changmin pouts. "Yunho, let's just walk! It's so pretty." He extends his arms out to his sides and turns around to face Yunho. "Please?"

Yunho begins to shake his head, but then he hears a massive sigh from behind him.

"I mean… the palace is right there," says Kyuhyun. "It's a fifteen-minute walk from here."

Yunho begins to protest, just because Kyuhyun is the one backing this idea, but then Changmin is looking at him with these glittery, excited eyes.

Plus, Yunho's already been fired anyway, it's not like he can get into any more trouble.

"Fine," sighs Yunho. "Let's go, Changmin."

Yunho wraps a protective arm around Changmin's back, and he hears Kyuhyun chuckle.

"Good night. See you again, hopefully," says Kyuhyun.

"Bye!" yells Changmin happily. "Merry Christmas!"

Yunho thinks Changmin might still be a bit buzzed from all the beer, because he practically skips on the way to the palace. Yunho doesn't stop him. He lets Changmin run up to the lights then back to Yunho. He flushes when Changmin clings to his arm afterwards.

The walk like that until they're right at the palace gates, and then Yunho looks at Changmin and brushes off some of the snowflakes that have settled in Changmin's soft hair.

"Did you have fun today?" asks Yunho. Changmin nods enthusiastically, and for just a split second, he sees the old Changmin – the one that was always smiley, happy, and excited to see Yunho.

It has been quite some time since Yunho's seen Changmin so genuinely happy.

"Yes," says Changmin, his eyes glistening again. "Yes, Yunho, thank you –"

 And then he reaches for Yunho's face with both of his hands, pulls him in, and kisses Yunho on the mouth.

And before he even knows it, Yunho is kissing back.

Changmin jumps into bed but he does remember to change out of his street clothes, although he's still feeling giddy after the kiss. It had felt so right, and maybe Yunho didn't feel the same way, but Yunho had kissed back, and that was all that Changmin needed. This is it, Changmin knows – Changmin had spent all night with Kyuhyun and his friends, and that was when he realized that what he feels towards Yunho and what he feels towards Kyuhyun are different because what he feels towards Yunho is love. True, genuine –

"Love," says Changmin aloud.

The word sounds so foreign, but so, so soft and nice.

Love.

Changmin giggles to himself and tucks himself under his blanket.

And then he falls asleep.

Yunho thinks it must have been a dream.

He lies in bed in his darkened room, and touches his lips with his finger.

But it felt so real, Changmin's soft, warm lips pressing against his…

He had been mortified after the kiss, flushing and flustered, but Changmin had laughed and run into the palace grounds ahead of Yunho.

Yunho wonders if Changmin will even remember the kiss in the morning.

Yunho curls up in bed and hours and hours later, he eventually falls asleep.

The mortification doesn't find Changmin until the next morning, when Changmin unfortunately also has a severe hangover.

When he kissed Yunho last night, he didn't think about how he will face Yunho the next day.

Changmin sits up in bed and hugs his knees and tries to ignore his burning cheeks and ears.

It's almost noon though, and Changmin doesn't know whether Yunho hasn't come to get him because he's letting Changmin have the day off or if he doesn't know what to do with Changmin either after what happened yesterday.

Changmin buries his face into the pillow and wishes he could turn back time, and prays and prays and prays to the gods to let him go back to last night so he can make the correct decision, and kicks at the blanket, but nothing changes.

It isn't until almost three in the afternoon that Changmin works up the courage to get up from bed.

He has to talk to Yunho, because he's going to have to see Yunho day after day, and yes, maybe it will be awkward, and Changmin regrets kissing him, but what he felt towards Yunho last night had been genuine…

Changmin practices what he's going to say, goes over what he will say in his head a thousand times before getting dressed and practicing again.

When he feels that he looks adequate, he takes a deep breath.

Changmin finds Yunho just outside, in the hallway adjoining their rooms together. Changmin loses his confidence for a second, but then speaks.

"Mr. Jung," says Changmin seriously, "About last night, I –"

Changmin practiced the line so many times, but he doesn't find the next words because he just noticed –

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," offers Yunho to break the silence. "I was just on my way to see you."

Changmin swallows.

"Why… why are you carrying – why are you carrying so much luggage…?'

Yunho looks into Changmin's eyes softly, then speaks.

"I'm going to be leaving," says Yunho. "I was on my way to see you to say goodbye."

Changmin's heart drops to the pit of his stomach.

"L-Leaving? What do you mean?"

Yunho smiles sadly. "I mean I'm leaving the palace."

Changmin's eyes grow wide. "Vacation? Ex… Extended leave?"

"No. Your Highness –" Yunho looks right into Changmin's eyes. "Your Highness, I'm leaving for good."

Changmin freezes and looks up at Yunho in horror. "W-What? Yunho, you can't – Y…Yunho, are you leaving because of last night? I – Yunho – Mr. Jung – I'm so sorry, please forgive me – please – I'm sorry –"

"Changmin – " despite everything, as Yunho says Changmin's name, Changmin's heart still beats a bit faster – "It has nothing to do with last night, Changmin, please believe me," says Yunho quietly, but Changmin can't quite believe him. "I found out I was leaving yesterday, just before we left for Mr. Cho's."

"What do you mean?" explodes Changmin. "What – What do you mean, leaving? Mr. Jung, why can't you –"

Yunho sighs.

"I've been dismissed by the King," confesses Yunho honestly.

A few moments pass as Changmin stares blankly, and then a fire of anger builds inside his chest, and he can't control it anymore. He reaches forwards and grabs hold of Yunho's shoulders.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" screams Changmin.

"I'm telling you now. I didn't want to tell you last night, I wanted you to enjoy your time at Mr. Cho's place."

"Yunho, I don't need you treating me like a child!" shouts Changmin, his ears burning in anger.

Yunho decides not to argue.

"I know, Changmin. I'm sorry. I had a lapse in judgment."

Changmin lets his arms fall from Yunho's shoulders and hangs his head.

"How am I supposed to stay angry at you when you say that?" whispers Changmin.

Yunho silently takes Changmin's hands.

"He dismissed me because you don't need me anymore," says Yunho. "I was here because I was your tutor."

"He's wrong, I still need you, Yunho, I – I –"

"And I agree with him, Changmin," coaxes Yunho. "You don't need my help anymore. What you do need is a smart assistant who might notice that you don't like to read the news and brief you on some important points each day."

Changmin shakes his head. "Oh my God," he whispers. "This can't… This can't be happening, I –"

Changmin loses all strength in his legs and sinks to the floor.

Yunho is much more heartbroken than he thought he would be.

"Changmin, stop this, get up," says Yunho, holding out his hand and bending down. Changmin takes Yunho's hand weakly, and when he raises his head, Yunho realizes that Changmin is crying.

"Oh, Changmin," sighs Yunho, and he pulls Changmin up and into a tight embrace. "I'm… so sorry I'm leaving. But… I think it's going to be better for the both of us."

Yunho feels Changmin nodding, and Yunho gives another squeeze and pats Changmin's head.

"Thank you so much for being my prince," whispers Yunho, and he has to clench his own teeth for a second not to cry as Changmin lets out another sob into Yunho's shoulder.

Yunho takes another deep breath.

"Be happy, and healthy," says Yunho quietly.

Because that is what Yunho worries the most about. That Changmin will not be happy or healthy without Yunho watching over him. Yunho's official title might have been 'tutor', but to him, teaching wasn't the most important part of his job.

They stay hugging for a longer, and Yunho tries to push away the guilt of having started something last night when he knew that nothing would happen.

"Call," says Changmin, and when he says it, his voice is broken. "Please."

"I will, Changmin," says Yunho with a sad smile. "And I will call."

"Yunho…?"

Yunho turns around. "Yes, Your Highness."

Changmin swallows back the tears.

"About last night… I just…" he chews on his lip for a bit before continuing. "I'm sorry."

"Changmin, don't –"

"But… I do love you. That… That was real."

Yunho clenches his teeth.

"Keep an open mind," says Yunho quietly. "You'll learn to love someone else just as much."

"And you?" demands Changmin's wet voice.

Yunho hesitates.

Yunho might eventually find someone else. But he doesn't know if he will ever find someone to be as devoted to as he was for Changmin. Even if he does, he doesn't think that he will ever be as happy doing it as he was when he was for Changmin.

"Honestly, I'm really not sure."

Yunho manages to smile.

He considers going ahead with the royal procedures of getting on his knees to bid Changmin goodbye, but he opts not to. If he were to follow the royal procedures, he wouldn't be allowed to turn his back on the prince, but he will have to today anyway.

Instead, he decides to wipe Changmin's tears from his face with his thumbs.

"Goodbye, Your Highness," bids Yunho. "It was such an honour and pleasure to serve you all these years."

Yunho doesn't hear a goodbye from Changmin, but he turns and walks away anyway.

He doesn't look back, because he doesn't want Changmin to see the tear that's just fallen from his eye.

When he turns a corner, he hears the prince break out into a fresh set of sobs, and he has to leave the palace before his heart breaks into any more pieces.

--

Epilogue

It had been a difficult adjustment for Yunho, his life outside the palace.

He moved into that apartment that the palace had provided for him, because – well, why not, but it took him a really, really long time to get settled.

He really didn't know what to do with his time anymore, and he didn't start looking for another job for months after that.

He spent most of his time lying in bed mindlessly, and occasionally ordering pizza with all the money he had saved up from working at the palace. Eventually, he found a job tutoring a few high school students. He liked teaching, but he was never as enthused about it as he was when he was tutoring Changmin. He saw his job as purely just that – a job, and nothing else.

He didn't call Changmin like he promised, only because he thought that he would break down if he heard Changmin's voice.

But, perhaps it was a good thing, because Changmin didn't call Yunho either. Yunho followed news about royalty still, because they were still celebrities. And only months after Yunho left the palace, Changmin announced his engagement with Victoria, and a few months after that, they got married.

Yunho wasn't invited to the wedding.

He didn't watch the ceremony on TV, because, as much as he wanted to deny it, he didn't want to watch the love of his life marrying someone else.

Yunho never found anyone else.

Yunho kept the apartment although he started paying rent on it after a year, and kept the tutoring job. He kept it for around two years, when one night, he thought to himself – What are you doing?

He was heartbroken, to be sure, but why was he living this life when Changmin had moved on?

Yunho had his own dreams, when he was a college student – dreams that had been put on hold because of his unexpected employment with the palace.

This was the time to achieve all it.

And Yunho was going to do it.