I'll be waiting for you | Nomin

Chapter 4

Jeno had just finished the last sentence of his speech and the prince stepped down to greet the people and join in on the festivities. He walked to the main square where there was music and dancing taking place, vendors lining the outskirts with people purchasing goods to eat or take home at the end of the night, and musicians providing the perfect music to dance to all day.

The music was a mix of different Celtic folk songs. Some were slow and some were fast, but ever since the musicians decided to take requests from the people to earn some extra money, they barely played any slow ones anymore.

Everyone was dancing arm in arm to the rhythm of the melody, the dance to it required having to switch partners every now and then. Not many teens learn the dance, as they thought it was boring and too difficult.

As soon as he arrived, Jeno joined in, gently lacing his arm with an old lady who was watching on the side. He pulled her to the middle of the square and he smiled at her, leading her through the song.

After twirling her around a couple times, he let go of her fragile arm and handed her over to an older man who was already dancing in the crowd. Jeno threw him a subtle wink, which the older man returned, as he now danced with the lady he was looking for.

He knew he would get scolded later by his father for letting himself go, but right now Jeno just wanted to have a little fun. He missed the past when he could enjoy his time with everyone at the feast as a small child.

He continued to dance going from person to person. Some people were quite surprised to see that the prince had joined them into dancing, but they went along with it and smiled brightly at him, Jeno returning the favour. They were glad he enjoyed every second of being a prince before taking over the role of king.

Before Jeno could even realise it, he was now dancing with another boy around his age. He looked to his side and the other just smirked at him. Their arms were still hooked together, their feet following the quick rhythm of the small orchestra. They twirled and enlaced their arms again, feet crossing over feet.

The dance was quite difficult, it was mostly danced by adults. Jeno assumed the other had been dancing for a while, and with him being just an ordinary boy, Jeno was even more impressed. With himself being the prince, he had learned all sorts of dances, from folklore dance to ballroom.

Jeno's eyes trailed to the boy's hair. It was very unique. A white strand of hair hovered over his forehead and Jeno thought it was familiar. Then he recognized him. He was the guy that disturbed him while he was trying to tame a dragon.

Jeno abruptly stopped dancing and the other boy looked extremely confused, wondering what had him disturb their dance. His eyebrows furrowed and he was about to leave to dance with someone else, but Jeno held onto his wrist. They both gazed at each other for a few seconds. Jeno was at a loss for words for some reason.

"Oh! You're the king's son." The boy's voice was a lot more cheerful than the last time he talked to him. Jeno wasn't sure he even recognized him from the last time. The male turned around completely so he was facing Jeno. They were still in the middle of the dancing crowd and Jeno's hand hadn't left his wrist.

"And you're the guy that roams around in the forest at night?" Jeno's question was rhetorical, because he already knew the answer. The other boy's grin faded into a frown. Jeno was amused at his confused face. It was clear he didn't recognize him that night.

"How do you know that?" The boy was left perplexed, since Jeno didn't answer. The prince just scoffed, a little annoyed that the other didn't remember him.

"Just stay safe. Don't go in the forest at night, it's dangerous out there." Jeno's hand landed on his shoulder. Jaemin was still trying to put all the pieces together, but in vain. He was still confused about the whole situation.