Chapter Two

A Fool and His Bitter Realization

The follow morning, Luhan awoke with a startling jolt. His mind blurred with confusion and his heart rate sped up to an alarming rate. Narrowing his tired eyes, Luhan scanned the room. His eyes landed on the prince sleeping mere inches away from him. That painfully stoned face looked so relaxed as the younger slept. After crawling out of his tiny bed, Luhan made his way to the kitchen. There, his family huddled around the kitchen table drinking coffee and engaging in short winded conversation. They smiled at his appearance. Yifan pulled out the chair to the left of him.

"Hey, Lu. How did you sleep?” Yifan greeted. Luhan sighed.

“I’ve never met someone so arrogant in my entire life,” Luhan griped, “But he has potential. I’ll live.”

"You better! You’ll be taking him into town today,” Tao scolded, “Whether you like him or not this is a favor to Yixing. Getting along with him is for the best.”

“And say I don’t get along with him?” Luhan pressed on, playing with a lock of his own hair.

“Then I’ll set up a date with that cute girl, Seohyun, from down the road,” Tao smirked. Luhan gagged. Seohyun, the typical girl next door with long brown hair accessorized by pretty white bows. Seohyun was rather plain with no interesting figments of her personality. Besides, she practically stalked him. Luhan lost count of how many times he found her innocent eyes watching him from behind a bush in the forest.

“Don’t count on it,” he spat, “I’ll go with him.”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t want to hang out with him either,” Yifan whispered to him with only a hand separating his mouth from Tao’s general direction. Luhan giggled.

Half of the morning flew by, the sun still hiking to the peak of the sky. Out of his mossy bedroom window, Luhan, leaning on the pane, gazed out at the shapes hidden within the clouds. He saw a big pirate ship sailing through the sky by its condensate sails, some hearts filled with so much water that they appeared to be beating, and a flower blowing along with the clouds. Fingers tapping on the chestnut wood, he awaited the prince’s awakening. Luhan peered back at the drooling figure sprawled out on the spare bed. How adorable, Luhan thought. If Sehun planned to sleep any longer, Luhan had to take matters into his own hands.

Water filled an old, rusty bucket to the brim making it much harder to get a firm grip on. Avoiding confrontation from his parents, Luhan trudged into his shared room. Luhan smirked, adjusting the towel draped over his shoulder. Payback time. For what? Luhan didn’t really know. All he knew was that Prince Kim Sehun was a jerk who deserved punishment. It took longer than expected for Luhan actually to get the heavy bucket to dangle over Sehun’s head as he dreaded that he might drop it on the prince’s precious face. What would King Joonmyun do him then? Tipping over the bucket slightly, Luhan bit his lip. Once a single droplet fell onto the younger’s face, Luhan felt honor bound to finish what he started. With just a tip of the bucket, a river of icy water splashed onto Sehun’s face. Convulsing up from his flat position, he screeched. The bucket fell to the ground with a crash. Staring into the furious eyes of Prince Sehun, Luhan felt a tinge of guilt sweep over him, but he instantaneously masked it with a poker face.

“Get up, Sehun. We have stuff to do today,” Luhan said blandly. He grabbed a towel and began wiping Sehun’s face dry. The younger blushed.

“Stop! I can do it myself,” Sehun sputtered out, pushing Luhan away. Luhan shrugged.

“I thought royals were incapable of being independent,” he fruitlessly stated. Sehun scoffed at his claim.

“As if, you commoners are just-“he was cut off by Luhan tossing clothes at his face. Sehun peeled them off himself with haste. Distorting his face, he eyed the faded blue jeans and tacky rags—he guessed that it was supposed to be a shirt, but it was so outstandingly hideous that Sehun refused to believe it. “Do you expect me to wear these-these poor people clothes?”

“You don’t want to draw any attention, do you?” Luhan dictated, “So, you’ll wear them or else you’re sleeping with the chickens tonight.”

---

Needless to say, Sehun threw on the old rags with little complaints. In utter silence, the pair walked down the rocky dirt path into the smooth streets of town. All around, the women gawked at the prince’s handsome appearance as they strutted past. By the way his lip twitched up into a small smirk, Luhan could tell he enjoyed the attention. He rolled his eyes and muttered insults under his breath.

“What? Are you jealous?” Sehun mocked once he heard Luhan cursing to himself. Shuttering, Luhan glanced at Seohyun, who ignored Sehun in favor of Luhan. Her brown eyes sparkled at the sight of her beloved. Luhan wanted to run away. The thought of being with her, let alone any girl, curdled him. Briskly, he turned away from the star struck female.

He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

"Luhan! Luhan over here!” Seohyun called, but when everyone, excluding Luhan, who bowed his head, shifted their gaze to her, she grew bashful. She scurried up to Luhan, who looked down on her with a weak smile. “Hannie, I made you some cookies. Please think of me while you eat them!” Promptly after her mini scene, she shoved the plate into his hands, bowed, and scuttled off. Luhan gulped.

“Thank you,” Luhan mustered. Sehun glanced at him with amusement.

“A secret admirer? Oh, so this is why you are jealous?” Sehun needled, “You didn’t seem so pleased with the confession.” Luhan remained quiet, staring at the ground. “Hannie!”

“I hate you,” Luhan impassively muddled through gritted teeth. Sehun guffawed.

“I’m sure you do,” he pestered, still laughing.

Whistling, Sehun slipped his hands into his pocket, feeling a tinge of guilt for teasing Luhan so ruthlessly. However, with no more than a shrug, they returned to ignoring each other. They popped in and out of various shops and stores, but Luhan always finished before Sehun caught the chance to snoop around each location. Every time, Luhan forced him to wait in the corner of the store while he gathered what he needed. And every time, Luhan returned within three minutes of arrival. As they left, Luhan would wave goodbye with his dazzlingly bright smile.

“Clean Jongdae’s dishes, help Minseok with his problems, feast,” Luhan continuously repeated. These were all of the things on his commotion list for the day. As they walked along, Sehun listened attentively.

“So, Lu…han, since you so rudely asked about my home, I’m going to ask about yours (oh no, actually conversation! What a pity!)…So, like, what’s everyone, you know, like around here?” Sehun asked. Luhan stopped in place.

“Simple, I guess. They have a very conventional way of life that kinda, I guess, carried over to their disposition. This painfully plain lifestyle left them super closed-minded. Besides that, they are somewhat ignorant. Most of the time, they’re pretty friendly. Just don’t get on their bad side,” Luhan trailed off, “despite that, I managed to stumble across some unique people who don’t make me want to get exiled.

While Luhan laughed to himself, Sehun couldn’t help but frown. His father ruled over kingdom of conservatives—something of which he would most definitely be ashamed. Still, Sehun yearned to learn more. However, a zestful Luhan cut his thoughts short, dragging him to a tiny tavern on the street corner. The place itself stuck out like a sore thumb; orange roofing and railings on a light brown wood. As he hauled him through the door, Luhan mentioned briefly how he liked its simplicity. Inside, Sehun gazed, slack jawed, at the interior. On one side of the room, faded wood furniture matched by pastel yellow, pink, blue comforters. The other had lush red seating with a darker, mahogany color to the bar. The room seemed to split right down the middle. Sehun couldn’t see the simplicity at all.

“Jongdae!” Luhan called eagerly, using his hands to amplify his voice. Sehun shook his head as a squirrel-ish male with round eyes and chubby cheeks entered the room. He looked like a fourteen year old. “Oh, hey there oldie. Where’s Jongdae?”

Oh. So, this is the older one, Sehun thought.

 “Finally arrived, aye?” the male nudged on, “I missed seeing your baby face around here.”

Luhan narrowed his doe eyes. Sehun blinked a few times. The male turned to him with a weak smile.

“Luhannie, who is this?” he inquired.

“Prince Sehun. He’s staying with us for a while,” Luhan explained with a frown. Sehun shot a glare at him, to which Luhan followed suit. “He’s my new one.”

The male laughed. “For such an old man, you have too many young friends!”

“I do not. Blame them, not me,” Luhan protested, folding his arms across his chest. He looked a Sehun, who stared at Luhan’s adorable face with a subconscious smile.

“Minseok Kim, it’s a pleasure,” he introduced, sticking out his hand, “My husband, Jongdae, is in the back. He’d come greet you, but he’s sick.” Sehun tightly grasped his hand in a firm shake.

“Prince Sehun,” he grunted, releasing the older’s hand. Ignoring the prince’s attitude, Minseok spun back around to Luhan with a disgruntled face.

“Lulu! Forget the dishes for now, I need help,” Minseok exclaimed anxiously

"What about breakfast?” Luhan muttered disappointedly.

"Help me over breakfast!” He cried, sealing his eyes shut frustratedly.

With little hesitation, Luhan obliged. As Minseok briskly prepared them a meal, Sehun pressed on with more questions. Chuckling at Sehun’s inquisitiveness, Luhan answered all of his questions to the best he could. From the local occurrences to relationships within the town.

“So, the baker and the butcher are best friends, but they hate the local midwife because she’s stronger than them?” Sehun restated, eyeing him suspiciously. “That’s immature.”

“Well, Sunny could destroy anyone in this town,” Luhan said, “I love her though. She’s funny.”

“I’d like to meet her,” Sehun forced a frown, “Well, actually, never mind.” This new side of Sehun intrigued Luhan much more than his stoic toughness, even though he hated to admit it. He especially loved his crescent moon eye-smile.

 When Minseok returned with a massive tray of food, the pair immediately shut up. They began scarfing down on everything they could fit on their plates. Minseok laughed.

“Glad to see you like it,” Minseok teased, pinching Luhan’s stuffed cheeks. “Now, I need you.”

“Hm?” Luhan hummed, noshing his noodles happily.

“Jongdae is sick, you know. I mean, he’s obviously going to recover, but…” he trailed off, playing with his fingers “his birthday’s coming up.”

“Give him birthday ,” Luhan stated simply. Sehun choked on his food, but it went unnoticed by his elders.

“Jongdae and I have regularly,” Minseok whispered, eyeing the costumers around them.

“First of all, I know. I have walked in to you two going at it like rabbits many times.  Secondly, make it special. Wrap your self up in ribbons and lie ily on the bed. Do something , I don’t know,” Luhan said. Sehun blushed furiously at the topic.

“You’re no help! Jonggie deserves the best!” Minseok groaned, burying his head in his arms.

“And you’re the best he’s ever gonna get!” Luhan exclaimed, earning a few petrified stares from the elderly at the increasing noise level.

Minseok sighed, shaking his head. “You’re scaring the innocent little prince.”

“Pssh! No, I’m not. He doesn’t have feelings,” Luhan retorted. Sehun shot him a glare.

From then on, the conversation took a turn and the other two engaged in conversation, excluding Sehun. Never in his entire life had Sehun felt like an outcast in his own skin. He was a prince! Shouldn’t they be asking questions about him and his life? Rather, they decided that talking about their boring commoner lives would be much more interesting. He could just scoff. Sehun was the only Luhan was supposed to talk to—not Minseok. Definitely not Minseok. Fortunately, the opportunity to express his anger with Luhan arisen when Minseok left to give his husband his daily medicine. Mentally, Sehun cheered for himself.

“Luhan, why did you ignore me?” Sehun griped, folding his arms across his chest.

“Huh?” Luhan titled his head to the side before laughing heavily.

“What?” Sehun snarled irritably.

“You’re as spoiled as sun soaked milk,” Luhan snickered, flicking Sehun’s arm.

As he jumped out from behind the nearest counter, Minseok giggled, “You two make such a cute couple.”

“Please! Get a grip. He’s a spoon-fed prince, not boyfriend material,” Luhan jabbered. Face burning, Luhan’s cheeks turned bright red. Before he could process what Luhan had said, Sehun nodded.

Minseok never did take back what he said. When they left the vicinity, Luhan thought about it. His friends sure were nutty at times. Luhan Wu with a prince! That’s the most bizarre thing he’s ever heard. Once again, Sehun and Luhan unfortunately returned to the awkward silence, in part to that comment and also due to their lack of compatibility. However, Luhan noted Sehun’s curious peering around. As much as he tried to deny it, Sehun seemed fascinated by his subjects’ way of life. If only he got over his arrogance, Luhan didn’t get to finish his thought as his owl-eyed friend scuttled up to him.

“Luhan!” Kyungsoo hollered, “I got in! I got in to the castle’s doctor program!”

While Luhan cheered loudly, Sehun nearly choked on his own spit. He recognized this boy from the last time he was in town—his stubby legs, dark brown hair. Yes, he recalled him immediately. In fact, the whole scene popped back into his mind. His father’s jealousy, Yifan’s obliviousness, Kyungsoo’s concern, Jongin’s crush, Luhan’s perfectness. Oh. Oh. As he pictured Luhan’s beautiful and frustrated features as his father disobeyed the kind, Sehun felt those same butterflies from before fluttering about his stomach. Those feelings returned.

“Y-you!” Sehun blurted out, face pinking. Rapidly, Luhan blinked several times.

With no more than a short glance, Sehun spun around on his heels and ran.

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