Once upon a time in the kingdom of Nott, Kai, a young, handsome prince, was late getting to his dance practice which was in the neighboring kingdom of MyStyle. His dance instructor, Taemin, would be angry if he was late again, so Prince Kai took the shortcut that ran past the castle of the recently widowed Queen Heechul. As he was passing by the castle wall, the young man was startled to hear someone singing. It was quite a surprise for 1) he was under the impression that the castle wasn't a very happy place since the King died and Queen Heechul took over as leader of the land and 2) the voice of whoever was singing sounds like an angel! Not being a great lover of following rules, Prince Kai disregarded the "No Trespassing" notice along with the "Trespasser's will shot on sight" signs considering them more like suggestions than something he actually needed to worry about. He was royalty, that should be enough to be exempt from the silly warnings. He just wanted to see who was singing, not steal the good silverware, so no harm, right?

Prince Kai boosted himself up onto the castle wall for a better view of the surrounding courtyard. The only person that was visible was a young boy in ragged clothes. Kai assumed he must be a servant. Perhaps one of the stable boys. Kai continued his search for the singer only to have his gaze drawn back to the servant boy. The boy had ebony black hair, snow white skin and a rosy heart shaped mouth. He still hadn't noticed Kai sitting on the wall when he resumed singing.

Kai almost fell off the wall in his surprise. ‘Wow! The face of an angel to match the heavenly voice! I wonder if he'd be interested in coming to work over at my kingdom. It sure would be nice to have a (hot guy) great singer around to brighten things up! It probably wouldn’t take too much to convince him, considering his tattered clothes.’
Kai smiled to himself at the thought of having the boy close at hand. Oh, the trouble they could get into together! With his dance skills and the boy’s singing ability, they would be a winning combo.

Kai used a nearby tree branch to help in his descent from the wall with an almost ninja like stealth. Taemin and the scolding he would surely receive were far from Kai’s thoughts as he strolled over to where the boy was drawing water from the well and singing about some day finding his one true love.

Kai smirked to himself thinking, ‘He’s right here! Your search is over!’ He’d just started to reach out to touch the boy on the shoulder when the boy spun suddenly around and punched Kai in the stomach, followed by hitting him in the head with the bucket.

Kai dropped to his knees clutching his poor abused abs while trying to not pass out.

“Ohmygosh!! Are you okay? You startled me! Why are you sneaking around here anyway? Can’t you read? There’s signs warning against strangers coming here! Ohmygosh!” The boy finished in a huff.

After a moment of silence, which was broken only by Kai’s attempts to breathe again. The boy walked closer to Kai and squatted down so he could make eye contact with the injured stranger. Kai almost fell over when he got a close look at the young man. He was even cuter up close, if that was even possible!

Kai found that he couldn’t form a full sentence while the boy was so near. His eyes were fixed on the boy’s face as he gazed at Kai as if he was wondering if Kai was mute or perhaps just slow witted. He must have decided Kai meant no harm because he made no further moves to disable him.

The boy stared at Kai with unblinking eyes as Kai slowly straightened up and tried to regain his “cool” appearance,

“Hey,” Kai said but grimaced when his voice came out sounding higher and a little squeaker than normal.

The boy tried very hard not to let the smile steal across his lips at the other’s discomfort but a small giggle escaped anyway making Kai flush with embarrassment.

Kai cleared his throat and tried again, "You're cute! Let's get married!" came out of his mouth instead of anything remotely redeeming, such as, "I'm Prince Kai' future ruler of the kingdom of Nott. And you are.....?" or even "Come back with me to my castle, it's very nice, you'll like (me) it." No....out just poured the nonstop stream of stupid! "So.... come here often?" Was his even worse second attempt.

The young servant boy couldn't decide if he'd like to punch the stranger again or let the laughter out that was trying to escape from his lips. He couldn't stop staring at the stranger though, and that really confused him.

Kai was sure he looked like a weirdo or a ert because he kept staring and couldn't make a proper sentence but he was still recovering from the bucket to the head.

They both heard the sounds of footsteps moving towards them. The boy's eyes tried to take over his face again. In a near panic state, he grabbed Kai's arm and shoved him towards the castle wall.

"You have to go! NOW!" The shorter boy exclaimed. Kai resisted being moved. "I'll go, but not until you tell me your name."

‘Yay, that came out not half bad,’ Kai thought.

"Kyungsoo. My name is Kyungsoo, now PLEASE GO!"

"How 'bout a kiss for the road?" Kai pressed his luck a little farther. He offered his lips for the kiss as he grudgingly allowed the shorter boy to move him towards the wall.

"Do you have a death wish?" Kyungsoo asked.

Kai pouted. "Can I at least see you again tomorrow?" He asked using his best puppy dog expression.

"No, it's not safe for you to return here," Kyungsoo said.

"Then, I'm not leaving without you." Kai stopped resisting and instead grabbed Kyungsoo's wrist and started pulling the boy towards the tree Kai had used to gain access to the courtyard.

"I can't go. I'd be missed and it would cause a great deal of trouble," Kyungsoo said, while he was now being the one resisting.

"I'll let you stay if you promise to meet me tomorrow," Kai bargained.

"Okay, fine if that gets you to leave now!" Kyungsoo huffed, being slightly breathless from all of the pushing and being manhandled across the courtyard.

Upon hearing the response, Kai stopped, turned and gently kissed Kyungsoo's forehead just as the shorter male regained his balance after crashing into Kai, thanks to the abrupt stop.

Kai gave Kyungsoo a dazzling smile before he turned and grabbed a low hanging branch as he easily pulled himself into the leafy fullness of the tree.

Not a moment too soon either because no sooner had Kai disappeared than Queen Heechul came around on the path. An unmistakable look of fury darkened the Queen's face when he spotted Kyungsoo still staring up at the tree.

‘What is that little pain in the doing now?’ Heechul wondered to himself. He masked his hatred before Kyungsoo snapped himself out of his dazed state.

"There you are, darling!" Heechul's voice gave away none of his true feelings for the young man. "Are all of your chores completed? Since it appears you have time to stare at a tree."

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded, attempting to hide his unease. Even though his stepfather spoke kindly to him, he still couldn't help but feel like there was more going on with him than met the eye.

"Good, then go get my dinner ready!" Heechul snapped with barely concealed distain.

Kyungsoo nodded and after a quick glance back at the tree, he headed towards the kitchen (also known as his happy place).

Kai witnessed the entire exchange between Kyungsoo and Heechul from his hiding place in the tree. Unlike Kyungsoo, Kai didn't miss any of the expressions that crossed Heechul's face. He just couldn't understand how such a sweet boy could cause such intense anger and hatred in the Queen.

Kai waited until both the Queen and Kyungsoo entered the castle before he continued on his way to dance practice. Perhaps, Taemin knows the answers to some of his questions. Either way tomorrow couldn't come soon enough!

Taemin couldn't help Kai fill in any missing information about Kyungsoo but he did confirm Kai's suspicion about the Queen. According to Taemin, the Queen is bad news, some may even say evil and Kai would be wise to stay far, far away from the castle and anyone close to Queen Heechul.

Yeah, like that is going to happen! Kai is going to marry Kyungsoo, the boy just didn't know it yet! Tomorrow when they meet again, Kai would let Kyungsoo know about their impending wedding. He was so busy daydreaming about the wedding and happily ever after that he failed to see the fallen log in time to avoid falling over it and landing face first into a giant mud puddle. (Graceful on the dance floor but off the dance floor, not so much!) Kai picked himself back up and continued on his journey home, squishing all the way but still planning his and Kyungsoo's upcoming nuptials.

A/N: First chapter!!!!! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think :) And have a rad-tastic day!!