Update~ Keeping this pace, we'll definitely reach the end soon... Anyway, hope you'll like this chapter. Enjoy~
I've changed the titles of the chapters because what I write is so short it can't be called a chapter really /awkward laugh also the numbers this way suit the story more, right? ^^

Warning: too much clihé for one part, so fluffy you can get a sugar rush

Baekhyun prefers princes to princesses… like that way?

2^nd Prince of Never, Never Land doesn’t move away but leans back a bit to take a look at the other’s face and his reaction.

“You know what I mean, right?”

Jongdae nods at the speed of lightning. He’s naïve and oblivious and ignorant but the way the other prince is looking at him, all of his actions and cheeky words from earlier and these days… make sense. What an idiot he has been missing something like this.

Baekhyun is like Sehun. They don’t look alike, heck they’re on the opposite ends regarding to money and career but… Baekhyun touches males too. Baekhyun kisses males too.

No ing wonder why he’s running away now.

“So your family –“

“Yeah, they don’t approve it… actually they kind of flipped when I announced I don’t want to marry a princess. Any princesses for that matter.” Baekhyun’s smile falters for a second. “They said I either marry a princess and settle down or make myself useful somewhere else. Well, since I’m clearly not able to go with the first option I left. I wanted to leave alone but Chanyeol has stuck to me and you know how he is like glue, I couldn’t ditch him even if I wanted.”

Sad.

Jongdae feels tears prickle behind his eyes. Crying doesn’t help on 2^nd Prince of Never, Never Land but his story is so heart-wrenching, makes Jongdae feel so wrong somehow, he really wants to cry.

It’s his turn to comfort (not to cry).

“Hey.”

Baekhyun looks up with unfocused eyes. Jongdae pats his shoulder and the former leans on it.

“Your parents shouldn’t have given an ultimatum for you. It’s just not right. Parents are to raise you, support you on your way… and even though they eventually have to let our hands go, they can’t do that by pushing us away.”

Whoa, so sentimental.

“We’re in the same shoes?”

“Pretty much. If I wouldn’t have taken up this journey, I’d be wearing brown cowl and praying to God.”

“You’d be an awful monk.”

Universal fact.

“I know… Anyway, I had to choose and I chose this way. I wasn’t as brave as you.”

“You don’t want to marry?”

Jongdae buries his face into the other prince’s soft hair in embarrassment.

“I didn’t want to… as in I haven’t thought yet of getting married. I’m eighteen, for God’s sake. I can’t even decide to eat vanilla or chocolate ice cream.”

“Choose chocolate. You can never be disappointed with that.”

What a cutie.

“Now… I think I can marry someone but only someone I like.”

“Do you have someone you like?”

Do you have somebody else in your heart, hyung?, Sehun asked and back then all Jongdae could answer was maybe. The question is has his heart changed since then? Can he say yes finally?

Jongdae is about to answer when his ears catch a light buzz coming from the creek.

“They’re flying out!”

Oh mayflies and their timing.

The princes crawl a bit closer and watch with big eyes how the insects take their first (and it’s a spoiler but last) flight above the water. They’re a lot, loud and move swiftly but in the moonlight, with the wind lightly blowing the water under them they’re a great sight.

Teacher Suho is never wrong, see.

“Beautiful.” Prince Kim Jongdae murmurs in awe. “They’re so tiny and all they do is scattering around but they’re… so beautiful.”

Baekhyun puts his head back to his shoulder humming.

“You were right. This is worth watching.”

It’s indeed a lovely sight…

…for approximately ten minutes.

By the eleventh minute starts, Jongdae is on the verge of crying out in frustration. How can something beautiful become something so boring? Teacher Suho hasn’t said about this at all, he’s so going to suffer when his prince is back in Far, Far Away…

Jongdae really should just stand up, ride back to the inn and do anything which is at least one more percent exciting than this but there is a Baekhyun attached to his side… and it’s quite nice. The view is boring but the company apparently isn’t.

Life is full of hard decisions, isn’t it?

2^nd Prince of Far, Far Away is ready to suffer some more but his companion squirms by his side.

“Um… Jongdae.”

“Yes?”

“How long it’s been since the dance has started?”

“I don’t have a watch… but I’d say ten minutes.”

“I see. And how long it lasts?”

Jongdae bites on his lip not to laugh out loud.

“You’re bored too, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun lifts his head up slightly.

“You too?”

“Very.”

“Thank God! I was keeping it together because of you but now it has become awfully monotonous. One more second watching insects flying around and I’ll die of boredom – Why are you laughing?”

Jongdae is trying to hold back his cackle but it just doesn’t die down. Baekhyun has to wet his hands and splutter cold water onto him to get him stop.

“You’re rude!” Jongdae whines, shivering all over. “It’s night, the water is cold!”

“You were laughing like somebody who’s just lost their mind. I had no other choice… And it’s not like I can’t do anything to warm you up.”

It’s not their first time cuddling but the very first time Prince Jongdae doesn’t freak out. This time it’s just simply nice. The least Prince Baekhyun can do is warming him up after trying to get him catch a cold but Jongdae thinks it’s not just that.

With the embrace his heart warms up too.

And his happily-swimming-in-denial mind surfaces and starts to function again.

How much you like Prince Baekhyun, Kyungsoo asked. When he heard that, Prince Jongdae was freaking out of course. For once, speaking about a topic like this with his friend-slash-henchman proved to be really awkward (taking into count Kyungsoo is very bad at expressing his emotions and his prince is just too sappy in general). Secondly, the question found Jongdae surprised. It was like that harsh punch coming from Baekhyun, waking him up to what he has been doing… and feeling.

The supposed-to-be obvious problem, that he’s supposed to feel like this towards a princess, hasn’t even crossed Jongdae’s mind, proving that…

“Is it okay that we’re cuddling?”

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you Prince Byun Baekhyun, the little destroyer of every big realization.

Jongdae snaps out of his thoughts.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Wait. “Oh you mean… It depends. Does this make you uncomfortable?”

Baekhyun snorts the uncivilized barbarian he very is not.

“Excuse me but I think I’ve made it crystal clear like ten minutes ago or so that I don’t have any problems with this kind of interaction between princes. You should be the one totally freaked out by now unless…”

He doesn’t finish his sentence but Jongdae came out of the thick fog of denial and ignorance to catch where the 2^nd Prince of Never, Never Land wanted to go with that… and oh boy, he’s right.

“Um…”

“That’s all you can say?”

“Let me breathe for a second and then I might come up with a proper answer.” Jongdae grunts. Impatient bi-prince. “Well, I’ve told you I had taken up this journey because I had pretty much no other choice. Would I have started a journey for a princess on my own? Five years later, yes, maybe I would have… Does it disturb me that you’re practically attached to me? No… or at least not like in a way which makes me go ew and drop you into this lake.”

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Prince Kim Jongdae, diamond of speech in the rough.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

Baekhyun accuses with a pout Jongdae just wants to kiss off- wait.

WAIT.

“I’m trying so hard here to get you come out or at least decide which team you play in and you’re just mumbling nonsense like a drunken poet.”

Baekhyun rambles on in frustration, getting bolder and bolder with his words but Jongdae can’t hear anything because of the inner emotional turmoil he has in his heart.

Prince Kim Jongdae needs a moment.

“It wasn’t easy to tell you my um… preference, you know? I’m not ashamed of it but I didn’t want you to know because I was afraid of your reaction. Now I did, I’ve seen your reaction which was surprisingly disappointing on the contrary of what I was hoping for… and now I want to hear your opinion.”

But Byun Baekhyun doesn’t know that.

“Your opinion matters because… You’re not that smart but you’re kind, you know? What has kindness to do with this? Obviously nothing, I’m just making things up but – The point your opinion matters, your um… preference matters for some mysterious reason which I pretty much know but I’m not brave enough to say out loud so please, share your words with me, I’m getting really desperate here.”

As more ridiculous statements pour out from the other’s mouth, slowly Jongdae gets frustrated as well because, oh Heavens how could one think when somebody is sprouting nonsense at twenty words per minute speed next to them like it was his job? Prince Jongdae needs silence and concentration, he really doesn’t need that much me-time, just a little, he’s almost there but-

“You can’t keep staying in silence. Silence is not an answer to any questions- Okay, it can be, I know that ‘silence is consent’, I’ve been taught enough no matter how much I’ve wanted but in this situation silence is not an answer. You can say yes, I side with you, Baekhyunnie because I liked when you called me like that, and maybe you can even proceed to achieve my expectations or you can say no, you’re nice and all but I’m still as straight as I have been raised up… I won’t break out in a cheer if you do the latter but it’s still an answer, you know? It’s still better than what you’re doing right now!”

Jongdae does nothing but screaming “Shut the up” in his head right now. Baekhyun talks too much. He has to shut up. Now.

This way Jongdae can’t think, can’t comprehend and has to follow what his guts tell him. (If we say that guts can speak.)

“Just say something, anything, okay?” Baekhyun sighs, his voice cracking from speaking too much under too little time. “You can you have the hots for your cat, I don’t even care anymore- Okay, I obviously care, if you do you need to see a physician but for real, Jongdae, say or do something because I –“

It’s very cliché but the 2^nd Prince of Never, Neve Land gets shut up by a kiss.

Which is not cliché and only happens in twisted fairytales like this is that a fellow prince urges forward to do that.

That’s not what Jongdae has wanted to do… okay, we all know that’s a lie. Even Baekhyun knows, judging by how, even if he’s kissed out of nowhere, he leans into the touch comfortably and finds purchase on the other’s prince shoulders while shuffling closer.

The thing is, Jongdae wanted to think. After postponing common sense for so long, for once he wanted to come to a conclusion by some great brainstorming but no, growing tired with it, he just did what… whatever has told him.

He did what seemed right and damn, he did well.

Kissing Baekhyun is not like kissing Sehun. Of course kissing is kissing but Jongdae is sure he hasn’t felt so dizzy and melting like he does now, not even when he fell off from the railing of the stairs in the palace, ending up with a missing tooth and huge bump on his head… The two situations can’t even be compared.

Jongdae’s little heart is beating fast, he feels overwhelmed and oh my, if he knew kissing Baekhyun can feel this good he would have done it sooner… way sooner.

It really feels too good to end but even love-struck teenager princes have to breathe.

Jongdae pulls back. Even the loud smack, which follows, rings pleasant in his ears… He’s such a sap.

“Whoa.”

“I know, right?” Baekhyun breathes, still as close as he can be. “Let’s do it again.”

Now that’s a very good and appealing idea and Jongdae would really have no protests but there is something needed to be done… or more like cleared up.

“Baekhyun, we need to talk about this.”

“We’ve talked enough.” 2^nd Prince of Never, Never Land puts his arms around Jongdae’s neck and even moves his legs to straddle the other and make it clear he’s ready for anything but talking. “On the contrary, we haven’t kissed enough.”

Undeniably true, Jongdae admits with a hum when Baekhyun re-connects their lips and presses a little harder against him.

But even so.

“It’s… we haven’t established anything.”

“I’ve asked you if it’s okay to cuddle and you kissed me.”

“But –“

“I’ve told what I like and I kissed back.”

“Still…”

“Just let it go, Jongdae. We’ll have time for talking later.”

“We’ll have time later for this too.”

Oh really now?

“I like the way you think.” Baekhyun whispers, his voice dropping to a register Jongdae doesn’t know but finds himself to like. “But I’ve been waiting for this too long. Let me kiss you more, hm?”

Saying no to kisses from Baekhyun once has been hard enough. Jongdae is too weak to protest once more and even his head is a jumble of fuzzy feelings and useless questioning, he finally gives in.

I'm not good at writing kiss scenes damnit