The Prince's Star Boy ➳ Taegyu ✔

II. Star Boy

*The next morning*

Taehyun woke up to kids running around the room and rubbed his eyes.

"Taehyun! Taehyun Hyung!" A little boy screamed, jumping on his bed. "There's a limo from the palace outside! They brought you something!"

He confusedly sat up and put on a jacket and sweatpants before walking out. He walked down the stairs of the building and saw palace guards by the door.

"Kang Taehyun, this is from his Royal Highness, Prince Beomgyu." One of them gestured towards a large, plain brown box with a bouquet of roses and a gift basket on top.

"But-"

"Good day," they said before leaving.

Taehyun sighed and carried the heavy stuff upstairs to his room, closing and locking it behind him so the kids wouldn't bother him.

There was an envelope on top of the gift basket with a red stamp to close it and he opened it, seeing two things inside.

One was a note that read:

Dear Star Boy (Kang Taehyun),

Thank you for last night. I dont know if talking to me helped you at all, but your presence definitely helped me. So again, thank you Star Boy. Please read the invitation in the envelope. I hope you'll consider joining us.

Sincerely,
Prince Charming

He took out the other thing and saw that it was an invitation to the palace's masquerade ball on Halloween. That was in three days and he sighed.

He definitely didn't have enough money for a costume or anything. He just decided to open everything, first being the caramel popcorn from the gift basket (he had told Beomgyu it was his favorite snack the night before). And then he opened the box. On top of all the wrapping paper was another envelope with the words,

"In case you need money for your costume"

Written on it.

With wide eyes, he opened the envelope, seeing more than enough money for an outfit. And then he looked further into it and saw a little jewelry box, holding a necklace with a silver star as the pendant. And the last thing in the box was a microphone, and Taehyun felt himself tearing up at this point.

He quickly hid everything under his bed after putting the roses in water and went down to the kitchen.

"So... you're friends with the prince, huh?" One of the girls asked as she did the dishes.

His eyes widened. "No. We just talked a little bit last night. Let me do that. You go relax," he said, lightly pushing her out of the way.

"You know, not a lot of people even get to talk to him, let alone get a present from him. I guess you're lucky," she chuckled and walked away.

He rolled his eyes at her and started doing the dishes until there was a knock on the door and the kids all started going crazy.

Taehyun was a really busy person. Him and the girl were the only adults there with like twelve kids, and the little help they got from the higher up people was barely enough to get by.

"I'll get it," a little kid said, but the girl beat him to it. As soon as she opened the door, a camera crew pushed their way inside and news people galore filled the living room.

"We saw a palace limo stop here and drop stuff off."

"Is this place special?"

"Are you Prince Beomgyu's future spouse?"

Taehyun's ears perked up at that question and he walked over.

"Who's Beomgyu's future spouse?" He asked.

"Well we don't know. That's why we're asking her."

"What? Does he have to marry someone or something?"

"Have you been living under a rock? To become king, he has to marry someone. And the fact that he sent gifts here means that that person could be you," the reporter said, gesturing to the girl who was basically Taehyun's sister.

"N-no, I don't know. I don't know him. I've never even met him!"

"Then who..."

They all looked at Taehyun who yelped and ran upstairs, locking his bedroom door when he heard quick footsteps behind him.

"Go away!" He yelled when he heard them yelling at him. It took about an hour for them to finally leave and he groaned, going back to the envelope to take the money. He put a cloth mask and sunglasses on and then climbed out his window, going to go get his outfit.

There were multiple stores he could go to. And when he went to them, they were either closed for the week or just didn't have anything he liked.

Being poor his entire life, he wasn't really picky. He was usually just grateful for anything he had. But this was a masquerade ball. Chances were a lot of royal people would be there, and he didn't want to screw it up by wearing something stupid.

He nearly ran out of hope until he came across a clothing shop, that he knew was owned by the creator of all the outfits worn by the royal family.

No normal person had enough money for this place...

Except for him now.

He walked inside, the smell of lavender hitting his senses. The walls were neon white, way ahead of their time, and nice clothes lined the walls and formations in the center of the huge room.

"Excuse me?" He asked the goth girl behind the counter. "I'm looking for something to wear to the ball in a few days."

She looked up from her phone and then looked him up and down, loudly chewing gum and making him stand there awkwardly for a moment.

"And what will you be doing at the ball?" He took the invitation out of his pocket and she nodded. "And money?" When he pulled out the wad of money, her eyes widened and she stood up. "Follow me." He did, following her to the back room. More clothes lined the walls and she picked a black suit with white crystals on the shoulders, buttons, and cuffs. "Is this good?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"And here's a mask." It was a black lacy one and his eyes lit up.

"These are great."

"I assume you've never worn fancy clothes like this?" He shook his head. "Oh jeez. Well, just be careful. Do you know how to dance?"

"Kind of..."

"Just figure it out," she said, putting the stuff in a bag and taking the money from him. "You should learn how to. You got a specific invitation from the palace for a reason."

He nodded at her words and thanked her before walking out.