soooo... pretty much nothing happens in this part but please, look at it positively and keep in mind that it's important regarding to what's yet to come. It doesn't mean I don't feel super-duper bad that coming back from such long hiatus I'm posting this crappy part like this but that's my problem. OTL

Also, THIS BIG THANK YOU for all the subscriptions, upvotes and views! We're at 122 subs, 7 upvotes and 2307(!!!) views like WHAT THE HECK I did nothing to deserve this much love.. I won't hesitate and will pay you back by bringing better chapters. You're my vitamin, kyuties. (Yes, I've decided to call my readers kyuties *blushes*)

When they arrive to creek, Kyungsoo helps Jongdae getting off Moonlight and flashes a smile:

“Go and get your bath, majesty.”

Jongdae looks around warily. It’s not about his status anymore (he’s over that ever since he had to dip his toes in the bathtub back in the inn) but his well-being. What if not Sehun and his gang are the only thieves slash kidnappers around?

What he’s thinking must be written on his face because Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and tosses a little at his shoulder.

“I’ll stand behind the bushes and watch over. Now go.”

Jongdae reluctantly approaches the creek and takes a few steps in. Thanks to the light and nice weather, the water is pleasantly lukewarm. The creek bed is not-so-pleasantly dirty (it’s just an earthworm, Prince Jongdae, there’s no need to squeal) but the sand feels good under Jongdae’s soles. And it’s water, after all. Water which makes him clean and feel better.

Jongdae is at such ease, he doesn’t even worry about his state. The bushes are relatively tall, anyway. He has nothing to think about, just he and the calming, cleaning water. Oh how nice it would be to swim a little…

“AH!”

The sharp cry comes from close so Jongdae’s eyes snap open. He only has his pants on when the reeds split up and a very frightened Baekhyun runs to him screaming.

“What happened?” Jongdae asks warily. It can’t be that Sehun or Luhan came back for more, right? Please, Heavens above don’t let it be them (at least not the latter, he’s harder to deal with… pun not intended).

“Something bit me in the water.” Baekhyun whimpers then throwing his arms around Jongdae’s neck, clings onto him with all his weight, eyes shimmering. “Save my life again, please.”

Oh dear.

Jongdae pulls out every manner he has ever learnt from Teacher Suho (“You shall not deride royalty.”) and instead of laughing to his heart content, he threads his fingers of one hand through Baekhyun’s damp hair reassuringly.

“Okay. Where is that danger?”

Baekhyun is about to say something – based on how he opens up his pretty lips to reveal straight, pearly teeth – but he doesn’t get to because the bushes split, this time to reveal a horrified Chanyeol with a so-done-Kyungsoo in town.

“Prince Baekhyun, I’m here to sa- Oh.” Chanyeol slaps his hands over his eyes, then realizing there’s another (bigger) pair of next to him, he moves a hand to cover those too. “We haven’t seen anything. Do we disturb? I mean…“

Jongdae is conflicted for a second (why are they covering their eyes?) but then he discovers with a blush that both him and Baekhyun are half- and embracing. Oh.

“You do.” Baekhyun responds, still clinging, and suspiciously calm for the situation. “Leave.”

Huh?

Kyungsoo snorts and shoos Chanyeol’s hand from before his eyes.

“Excuse me but you’re nobody to order me around and more importantly –“

“Just continue where you left off, princes.” Chanyeol interrupts his fellow in an awkwardly high voice. “Forget we were even here. ‘Soo and I go and guard the horses.”

Jongdae is too stunned to say a word but he can detect Kyungsoo becoming a ball of rage. Fortunately Chanyeol drags him away before the glare he aims at Baekhyun could kill anybody.

When they’re left alone again, Baekhyun turns back to Jongdae with a smile.

“Where were we?”

“Um… You asked me to save your life.”

“Right!” Baekhyun’s eyes comically widen. “I was about to get dressed when something bit my foot!”

Jongdae sighs.

This is ridiculous.

He slowly gets Baekhyun’s hands off and squirms away a bit. He can’t think when Baekhyun is pressed so closely their skin contact.

“Chanyeol could have helped you. You shouldn’t have sent him away.”

“You’re the one who saved us from a bunch of bandits.” Baekhyun insists and grabs Jongdae’s hand. “Come, check it out!”

Jongdae lets himself be dragged through reeds, to another part of the creek. It is just as peaceful as he felt back where he was getting cleaned so Jongdae is a bit doubtful.

“I was standing here.” Baekhyun rambles on. “And I lifted my left leg to wash my foot when I felt something on the other.

Jongdae squats down to inspect the water. The creek is even shallower than it was at the other end. What dangerous could live in it beside dirt?

“I don’t see anything. Maybe your foot just itched.”

Baekhyun squats too and narrows his eyes.

“I wasn’t imagining things. I – I felt it again!”

Jongdae gets what he means on his own because he feels something at his feet too. He wriggles his toes experimentally and when he sees a dozen little things scatter around, he smiles.

Baekhyun shakes Jongdae’s shoulder in panic.

“Ya, what are you smiling at?”

“I doubt anything has bitten your leg.” Jongdae answers and shows around with his index finger. “These are mayflies.”

“May what?”

“Mayflies. You know, cute little insects with –“

“INSECTS?!”

Jongdae now can’t help but laugh at how quickly Baekhyun steps on a big rock nearby.

“Don’t say you’re afraid of them.”

“They’re insects. They’re evil.”

“They look strange but they’re not evil. It’s not even their real form.” Jongdae joins Baekhyun on the rock to prevent to hurt any of the animals in the water. “Not long from now they’ll grow wings and fly above the creek. They say it’s like they’re dancing and it’s beautiful.”

Baekhyun turns his head towards the boy next to him curiously.

“Dancing?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you dream that?”

Jongdae looks Baekhyun in the eye hurt.

“I’ve learned about them from my teacher. What did you learn, Prince Baekhyun?”

Not long ago Jongdae was all why-Baekhyun-keeps-changing and now he’s doing exactly the same thing but hey, don’t question The Mini Zoo Man.

“I’ve learned that insects are unpleasant and useless.” Baekhyun answers surprisingly calm, eyes wandering back to the water of the creek. “Though I haven’t heard about mayflies specifically but that’s what people in my country say in general.”

Jongdae feels a knot forming in his throat hearing this. He’s still hurt but in a different way… he almost feels pitiful. Everything we know is from the people around us, Jongdae detects sadly while Baekhyun squats down to get a closer look at the fauna deep down. We don’t have experiences. We don’t have things we have decided about on our own… What life we have?

“Um, you’re not crying, are you?”

Jongdae only recognizes he has been talked to when there are hands on his shoulders.

“Just because me and Never, Never Land don’t like insects, you can like them.” Baekhyun says in a reassuring voice. “If you find something likeable about them then… do it.”

Jongdae nods a little and holds back the tears ready to flow down his face. What is he sad for really? He’s not in the palace. He isn’t under his parents’ never-faltering gaze. He can do what he wants. He can have experiences… That’s it!

“We stay and watch the mayflies dance.”

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol are positively taken aback when the two princes emerge from the water, based on how the former trips on an invisible rock and how the latter almost falls off from his horse.

“Huh?”

“Stay to watch what?”

Jongdae points at the creek.

“The mayflies are going to fly out soon. I want to see them when they do.”

“We have a princess to save.” Kyungsoo reminds him. “And we’re late already thanks to the bandit incident –“

“I doubt mother gave Princess Sunyoung’s mother a specific date when we’ll arrive. One day loss is nothing.”

Kyungsoo clenches his mouth.

“We didn’t come out to have fun. Your parents must be worried sick.”

What?

“Please.” Jongdae snorts. “They wanted me to go on this journey. They’re happy I’m away.”

He’s not surprised Kyungsoo opposes (that’s something he has been doing ever since they had met) but Jongdae notice it in surprise that Kyungsoo sounds weirdly hostile this time. What for?

Chanyeol and Baekhyun exchange looks sensing the tense situation.

“Should we leave you alone to talk it out?” The former asks.

“No, stay.” Jongdae says quickly then shoots a brilliant smile to the other prince present. “After all your prince wants to see it too, right, Baekhyunnie?”

Said boy goes red but nods.

Jongdae smiles even wider at that. If the two of them want it, there’s no way their companions will just leave them here.

However he didn’t count with one thing – Knight Park Chanyeol’s sense which only kicks in when it’s needed but when it does, it kicks in hard.

“One thing for sure, there’s no need to initiate another fight.” He speaks. “When will that dance take place, Prince Jongdae?”

Said prince feels something not likeable will happen but shrugs.

“According to Teacher Suho at around evening.”

“We have a plenty of time until that. So I say, let’s go to the village and come back later.”

Kyungsoo blinks, face still frozen strict but at the ends says:

“Let’s.”

Jongdae’s jaw drops. That knight over there did not just dodge a prince’s order and came up with something against it and his knight who supposed to listen to him did not just went with it, right?

“But-“

But Kyungsoo just hops on Moonlight and starts to gallop away, Chanyeol following him with a sigh.

What the Heavens above.

Baekhyun pats his shoulder with an apologetic smile.

“I’ll let you sit behind me, don’t worry.”

* * *

“Conspiracy.”

Baekhyun slowly turns his head around to look questioningly in Jongdae’s eyes.

“What did you say?”

“They’re trying to sabotage my plan. This is conspiracy.” Jongdae murmurs then lets his forehead fall forward into the prince’s back sitting in front of him.

It’s not like Prince Jongdae would know a lot about conspiracies or politics in general – the King and the Queen made sure he stays in his happy bubble and showered their oldest son with responsibility instead, for Jonghyun’s biggest joy – but thanks to Vice Head Guard Zitao and his never ending spirit he got to learn a few things.

For example that when your sidekick for some reason can’t let you go the way you want (probably because of responsibility, like it always is with Kyungsoo) and just joins forces with another one in order to make you unable to do as you please…  is conspiracy!

Baekhyun chuckles hearing the proper sentence.

“They don’t want to harm you with this.”

“Whatever they want, they do… Why must we go on this soon? What if we miss the dance because of this?”

Just the idea makes Jongdae gasp. No way he passes on the mayflies, Teacher Suho was rambling about them for hours with twinkling eyes and exaggerated gestures. “It was the most beautiful sight, my prince. It can’t be described by words…” Oh dear, he even cried. (And Jongdae was so frightened for life, he made a promise to himself to see those creatures with his own eyes… They must be something.)

“You said evening. At least we can have a nice lunch.”

Jongdae lifts his head abruptly.

Excuse me?

“Excuse you?”

“I’m hungry.” Baekhyun answers calmly, pulling on the rein a bit. “Chanyeol and your henchman are probably as well. I bet you too you just –“

“You don’t want to see it, do you?”

Baekhyun purposely looks straight ahead but Jongdae can tell by how his neck is getting redder at every moment (Is there a place he’s not getting red? … No, this is not the time for inappropriate thoughts, Prince Kim Jongdae, restrain yourself) that something is fishy.

He sides with them, a voice in Vice Head Guard Zitao’s tone says in Jongdae’s head but knowing Baekhyun its possibility is below 1%.

But then why?

“Prince Baekhyun –“

“I said I’ll watch it with you, didn’t I?”

Jongdae nestles his chin in the bony shoulder of the prince in front of him. ‘I’ll watch it with you’… It sounds good. (Because watching it alone would be so bad- Ah, why the excuses really?)

The contact makes Baekhyun squirm.

“What?”

“Thank you for putting up with me.” Jongdae replies, smile evident on his face though the other can’t see it. “I know I’m hard to deal with.”

Sure he knows. His parents abandoned him happily… Thank Heavens he got to find someone who’s willing to remain (there’s Kyungsoo too but let’s ignore him now, we’re in the middle of a conspiracy).

“You could leave me behind since forever but you stayed.”

For long no answer comes but just as they reach the village (Small Mountains… what kind of a name is that?) Baekhyun slightly leans back.

“You can thank me by only looking at me.”

…

“Um, sorry, but that’s impossible. It’s rude not looking at people when they talk to you –“

Baekhyun snaps his head back, eyes flaming (charisma).

“Just stay next to me always, got it?”

Jongdae stiffens at the sudden scolding tone and answers automatically:

“Got it.”

Baekhyun murmurs something while turning back to the front but it’s so quiet, Jongdae can’t hear it by how loud his own heart beating, no matter how cheesy (and dangerous) that is. Because yeah, 2^nd Prince of Never, Never Land sure was angry but 1) he’s still so good to look at and 2) did he just say Jongdae should stay next to him?

Doesn’t that mean something?