Once upon a time, in the Cha mansion, lived Sir Cha and his only son, Hakyeon. Hakyeon was a sweet and docile young man, with delicate features and even more delicate personality, he was well-behaved and educated, because his parents were the most loving of all and he had inherited their goodness. Since his mother's death, Hakyeon had never been anything else than good, caring and gentle, even though becoming lonelier and lonelier as time passed by. Sir Cha, saddened by the sight of his son growing and turning into a beautiful man without any motherly support, took for wife a respected lady, in the hope of her becoming an affectionate mother-in-law for his beautiful heir.

Not much later, though, Sir Cha found himself gravely sick, his already fragile constitution rendered even weaker by the loss of his beloved former wife, and died several days later, leaving Hakyeon in great despair. Devastated, the poor child cried two entire days and nights, enclosed in his bedroom. Adding to his already awful misery, little did Hakyeon know that his deceased father's second wife wasn't as respectful as she seemed.

She was a very picky woman, whose only purpose and goal in life was to marry one of her daughter to the Royal Heir and live engrossed with fortune until the rest of their days. Her two daughters, even though beautiful in some ways, were as despicable as their mother, and disliked as much as one can dislike Hakyeon, because even as a man, he was the prettiest of them three. Therefore, he was seen as nothing but a shadow on a painting, sentenced to live as a domestic in his own household.

Hakyeon never complained once, though, working hard to keep everything clean and in order despite the huge amount of work put on his shoulders ; he was just as good as this. Because of working, as well in the garden, he got even more handsome, if possible, and that got his sisters cringe in jealousy. Even tanned as a peasant, Hakyeon was as gorgeous as a prince, and as delicate and skillfull as a lady.

He wasn't feeling so bad about his life. Even though he came back to his room under the roof exhausted every day, at least, he hadn't the time to mourn too much about his parents' death, and could try to move on until his horrible stepmother would leave eventually ; he was the one inheriting everything, after all, and he knew perfectly that. His only regret, was not to be able to enjoy balls and receptions like most people of his age. There was a time when his father would recall him how he met his mother one day, after dancing with her twice, and Hakyeon's eyes would sparkle at the mere thought of dancing with someone, under the chandeliers light and the faint chatter of the court, twirling and turning in a complicated pattern.

His twentieth birthday came out and he never once stepped into a ball once.

By this time, though, he heard about Prince Jung, who was about his age, and that his sisters were planning on seducing at the ball he will be holding on his twenty-first birthday; a time for him to get married. He wasn't lifting his hopes up, but his desire to go to that ball grew stronger as the event was approaching, and he found himself nervously asking his stepmother if he could for once, just for once, go out and go to that ball with his sisters.

"Of course," she said with fake kindness, "as long as you finish all of your chores."

Hakyeon knew very well that was as close as a 'no' as it could be, but he didn't let himself feeling down about it. At least, his stepmother had technically said yes, to some extent, and he was confident in finishing all of his chores in time, as hard as it could be, if it meant being able to go to a ball once. 

As expected, he received even more work that week, with his sister bickering about anything and everything, starting from their dresses that weren't fancy enough for the court all the way to their spoons that weren't matching the napkin. Hakyeon went through all of it without a complaint. He dedicated himself twice harder to work, going to bed even more exhausted, with scratched hands and sore limbs, but still the ghost of a lips floating on his lips at the thought of going to dance. The day of the ball arrived in the blink of an eye and Hakyeon didn't even have the time to buy himself a decent costume. But because he had finished all his chores on time, he presented himself anyway, borrowing one of his dad's old suits, ready to go along with his sisters.

That for sure didn't pleased his stepmother one bit.

His sisters made a show in pointing out every flaw they could find, mocking him and laughing all the way around, as they were tugging and tearing his sleeves apart, under his horrified eyes. His stepmother didn't say a thing, neither did he dare touch his sisters, even though his desire of slapping them and ruin their dresses was big, because he knew perfectly what bad could happen to him if he lifted even only his pinky. 

He decided to run out of this humiliation, going to the backyard to cry his heart out. This was unfair, and so disgusting, the way life treated him. For the first time in his entire life, a real anger took the best of him, and he slammed hard a tree to let out his rage, as tears rolled down his cheeks, burning his skin with all the fury accumulated all those years. He kicked and punched the innocent tree for quite some time, vision blurry from all the angry crying, until his fist suddenly hit something that felt like flesh.

"Woah, easy there, son," a voice he had never heard before elevated in the thick air. 

He lowered his hand, bringing them to his face in order to wipe all those ugly tears deforming his pretty face. In front of him stood a tall, good-looking young man in a navy blue robe and thin glasses hanging on his long and cute nose. Hakyeon had punched right on his chest.

"Oh my," he exclaimed, horrified, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!"

The other gave him his most cheeky grin. "It's nothing. I should learn not to appear in random places for my own sake anyway."

Hakyeon gave him a puzzled look, sniffing and wiping his face off. "Who are you?"

The young man before him beamed as he got out a star lightstick out of his robe, waving it happily to emphasize his greeting:

"I'm your fairy godmother Jaehwan, of course!"

"You mean godfather," Hakyeon furrowed his eyebrows, slightly confused.

Jaehwan ignored it entirely.

"What is the trouble, child? It's the first time you ever summoned me to help you with your struggles."

"Mother won't let me go to the ball even though I worked so hard to do all my chores. She even let my sisters tear apart father's suit."

"I see... Do you want me to summon SatanHyuk to out their souls and continue to live in peace?"

"What?" Hakyeon widened his eyes, alarmed. He would never think of such horrifying treatment, even for the ones that had made a living hell out of his life. "No! I don't want anything to do with Satan! I just want to go to the ball!"

The fairy godmother pouted, crossing his arms in disdain. "You really are no fun, aren't you. Well, it can be done too, although the first option was far more exciting!"

Then, with a wave of the lighstick, Hakyeon was granted fancy clothes in the blink of an eye, as well as a car made out of a radish pulled by horses made out of little mice. There were impressed 'oh's and 'ah's coming from the young man, for it was the first time he saw such magic, but it didn't stop Jaehwan from being offended that his offer wasn't chosen. With a bored look, he warned Hakyeon:

"The spell will only last until midnight. Be sure to get home before!"

"Midnight?!" Hakyeon exclaimed, just as he finished to admire his new clothes.

"Well, yeah, excuse me if that's not good enough for you!" Jaehwan bitterly retorted.

"No, it's... It's enough. Thank you for all."

The self-proclaimed fairy godmother snorted, seemingly in disdain, but a blush could be seen gracing his features. "Yeah, yeah, it's nothing, really. Go have fun and dance and all those youngster crap."

Hakyeon beamed, and hugged Jaehwan tight to express how thankful he was, before hopping in the car to go straight to the ball, mind all dizzy imagining how it would look and feel like.

When he arrived at the castle, the most luxurious he had ever seen in his entire life, he was left speechless. There were lights and lanterns everywhere, providing a soft halo that made everything seem prettier; Hakyeon wondered if he himself would look prettier under that light. Truth to be told, Hakyeon wasn't simply pretty but stunning in the outfit provided by Jaehwan - despite his weird looks, the fairy godmother had quite good taste - so much so that all heads turned as he went by, and whispers started to elevate as he was pacing towards the stone staircase that lead to the castle's main door. 

Was he a foreign high dignitary? Was he another exotic country's Prince? Was he some mysterious retired noble’s heir?

Nobody knew, and nobody dared to ask. However, the rumor quickly spread across the court that Hakyeon was a Prince coming from a country beyond the sea, where the sun shone bright and people were handsome and tanned like him.

As soon as he entered, he was greeted by every single person in the room coming to him. Everyone found him pleasant and with good conversation; they shortly fell for his charms to the point that they started to gather more around him than Prince Jung, listening to his stories of foreign countries that his dad told him once. This intrigues the Royal heir, who had never heard of any foreign dignitaries coming to his castle. He dismissed every lady coming by his side to go to Hakyeon, curiosity growing in him as he caught sight of his beautiful face.

He greeted Hakyeon with a slight bow of the head, and everyone in the assistance went quiet, looking at the two handsome men who were now facing each other.

Hakyeon bowed just like his father taught him years ago. “Your Highness.”

Prince Jung was taken aback by his beauty. Even after Hakyeon explained that he wasn’t a foreign Prince but simply one of his people, he was still impressed by the delicate aura surrounding him, making him seem as if he was part of a Royal family.

He immediately took a liking on Hakyeon. Everything about the young man was captivating, starting from his alluring looks to the wealth of his conversation. Prince Jung was even so busy discussing with him that he did not take the time to ask for his name, rather listening and taking in every single thing Hakyeon said. Hakyeon himself was charmed by the Prince, to the point that he forgot to dance, even though it had been his dream for so long. They spent the evening chatting, until Hakyeon eventually lost track of the time and only got reminded of the spell he was under when the first of midnight echoed into the castle, bells ringing as if to urge him to go home.

He jolted up, suddenly alarmed. Jaehwan’s words came to his mind: the spell would only last until midnight.

“I have to go!” He exclaimed to Prince Jung, taking his hand in his own and squeezing it for a half second before letting go. “I had a lovely evening, Your Highness. Thank you for everything.”

Then he fled away without glancing back, running towards the exit as the bells continued to ring, counting down to the end of Hakyeon’s dream. He went out in the chilly air as the seventh resonated, a flock of stairs separating him from his ride. Relief washed over him. Just a few more seconds and he will be safe, at home.

“Wait!”

Prince Jung’s cry made him startle and turn his head around.

“Holy—“ He swore under his breath.

Hakyeon started running like a madman. Since when were princes that athletic? Behind him, Prince Jung was gradually catching up.

He gritted his teeth.

Send help! He thought from the bottom of his heart, hopefully strongly enough to reach Jaehwan’s ears.

The only help he got was from his own feet, tripping on a stair

As the twelfth ringed, Prince Jung got a hold on his hand. His luxurious clothes vanished to reveal his tore apart father’s suit, the car changed back to a radish and the horses to mice, scattering in the yard instantly.

“So I guess you were saying the truth all along,” the Prince commented, looking at him with an unreadable expression, “You’re not a Prince.”

Hakyeon pursed his lips. “I’m the heir of the Cha household. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had never heard about me before.”

“Actually… I heard about your father. I didn’t know he had a son.”

“Well,” Hakyeon let out a sheepish laugh, “Here I am now!... I am sorry for hiding my identity from you, but I- I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

A little silence fell between them.

“Since you are here now, why not stay a bit longer?” Prince Jung finally said, pulling him bak towards the castle, “I could give you a new suit.”

“That would be an honor,” Hakyeon followed him whole-heartedly. He mentally thanked Jaehwan for putting fortune by his side allowing him to stay longer by Prince Jung’s side.

Little did he know back then, that he never left it.

Fin.