Junmyeon is doing his upmost not to pace around his study, but his upmost is clearly not enough since he had walked the length of his extensive library around three or four times at this point.

He had asked Jongdae to stay when the servant had dropped by with tea and cake (freshly made by Baekhyun that morning), for the purpose of telling him his plans for this afternoon and likely the evening, so that Jongdae would go and tell the maids not to set a place for him at the evening meal. However, it kind of backfired when his mouth decided to spill his entire bucket of worries.

“You’re meeting with a commoner my King?” Jongdae asks incredulously. Junmyeon smiles sheepishly and nods in affirmation; to which Jongdae blinks three times, slowly, and then let out an unintentional burst of laughter.

“What?! Do I seem like a king who is not familiar with my subjects?” Junmyeon demands, embarrassed by Jongdae’s seeming disbelief at his plans. Jongdae covers his mouth politely to snicker a little more before responding,

“My King, it would not bother me in the slightest if you had decided to meet with a group of your subjects, or perhaps the scholars. But you are meeting one specific man in the city’s flower gardens, Your Highness! No King seeks out one commoner to meet alone.” the young servant replies, and Junmyeon his head in thought. He has a point. Most of his brothers will make a point to seek out the university scholars to discuss a topic, or with the craftsmen to discuss business. It was rare for a king to seek out a specific subject to speak with alone; and situations as such would only occur in dire situations.

“I met him… in a bookshop, you see. He seemed quite charming, although a little nervous. I promised him I would see him again and I cannot very well bring a man of no official title into the castle for an evening meal, now can I?” the king retorts back, and Jongdae simply smiles impishly and nods.

“Charming, you say?” he responds, his voice taking on a hint of childish taunting, to which Junmyeon flicks his hand and looks away.

“He was charming! I’d like to speak with him more, you know of my love for books. He seemed like the type to have written one or two…” Junmyeon trails, thinking of all the possibilities. Perhaps he was a writer of fiction? Romantic love stories? Or perhaps he wrote of an area of knowledge; such as gardening or clothes making, or book repairing! Junmyeon finds himself pondering the many options for a man he has only met twice, and Jongdae laughs again at the clouded look in his eyes.

“Alas, our only king who is not betrothed and he has already set his sights on a non-noble gentleman… What would your mother think?” he teases lightly, and Junmyeon narrows his eyes at the boy.

“My mother nor my father are here to debate my choices in friendship and romance, thank you very much” he states curtly, which makes Jongdae smirk and stand up straight with his hands behind his back in a proper fashion.

“Is there anything else I can assist you with, Your Highness?” the servant enquires, earning a shake of the head and another flick of the wrist of his King, symbolizing that he may leave.

“Very well, I shall inform the cook of your absence at tonight’s meal, Your Highness” Jongdae bows respectfully and turns; taking the empty tray with him and closing the door to Junmyeon’s study quietly.

Junmyeon frets alone in his study until the large standing clock by the door chimes noon. He had agreed to meet Yifan at 1pm by the entrance to the Exodus Nursery and Herb Garden. Junmyeon adored the city’s garden; it was right on the Exodus River and most flowers would bloom nearly all year round, producing divine fragrances that could be smelt throughout almost the entire city.

He’s nervous about properly meeting and talking with the bookshop owner, what would they talk about? What if his tongue refuses to cooperate and he is unable to carry a conversation? Gods forbid, what if Yifan was a bore to talk to? Doubts swirled his mind as he swallowed the last of his lemongrass tea and took his cloak off the back of his chair, clasping it securely around his shoulders.

He was lucky that none of the kings were around in his part of the castle; Yixing and Sehun were honeymooning on the Isle of Amaryllis (around 60 miles away from the main city of Exo, 10 miles off the coast) and King Kyungsoo was in the Kim Kingdom with Jongin’s family.