You were awake, but not fully. You were conscious and you could hear everything going on around you, but your body refused to move and try as you might, you couldn’t push any words past your lips. Your eyes refused to open too, so you couldn’t tell who was speaking, whose voices had woken you up from a deep slumber. They did sound familiar, though.

Accepting that you attempts were futile, you stopped trying to move. Instead, you listened closely.

Were those your aunts, who had taken care of you since you were ten? Or, as you recalled now, your fairy godmothers, who had been trying to protect you before…before you were put in this position. If you could, you would have sighed and huffed in indignation, but the breaths leaving your mouth were annoyingly soft and steady.

You perked up, as much as a person who was frozen could, when you heard someone else speak. Who was the owner of that male voice? He sounded familiar, but not…you weren’t sure you had ever spoken to someone with this specific voice. It was smooth, but husky, lighthearted, but sometimes a little loud. Still…it was as if you had met him before, but a long time ago, long enough for the voice to change and grow. You couldn’t conjure up a name.

“Kiss her?” you heard him ask. “Will that work?”

“We don’t know until you try,” one of your aunts answered, voice pleading.

“You do want to save her, don’t you?” a second aunt asked, urgency apparent in her voice as well.

The male spoke up at that. “Of course I do,” he replied. “The whole reason I got lost in that blasted forest of thorns was because I was looking for her.” There was a pout in him voice. He continued on, voice becoming more agitated and confused by the second. “There I was, sitting in my gardens when someone runs up to me and tells me that my childhood best friend is in a never-ending sleep in the neighbouring kingdom. Last time I heard, she had been taken and hidden in the forest-”

“Chanyeol!” aunt number three called out, exasperated. “Just hurry!”

Chanyeol?

“Okay, okay,” he conceded, sounding a little amused. You heard footsteps coming closer, and soon, there was a presence above you. You didn’t know why, but your heart was racing. If your damned body would let you, you were sure you would be shaking a little in nervousness. What was happening? If only you could see. If only you could-

“Well, dear friend,” Chanyeol started, interrupting your inner monologue. You could hear a smile in his voice. “I’m going to kiss you now. You can hit me when you wake up, if you want. You did have a really strong arm when we were kids.”

A pair of lips landed on your own, soft and warm. It was like being splashed with cold water on a hot day. The wind was knocked out of you, or maybe into you, because you felt breathless but full of life all at once. When the lips left yours, you wanted to follow.

You opened your eyes to the gentlest smile you had ever seen. It was a smile, you realized with a start, which you had missed for eight long years.

“Hello, princess. I hope you remember me. My name is Park Chanyeol!” You smiled. How could you ever forget your prince?