Not for you. | Changjin

13

Four more days had passed and thankfully Changbin had been back for the previous two of them. He'd complained to Hyunjin about how boring the trip had been, but that it was important since he had meetings with mayors of different major cities. Luckily the short boy had only been grumpy for a short part of their hangouts, as the rest of the time they filled it with fun activities.

Or at least, fun for one of them. Hyunjin still didn't like riding horses, yet despite his distaste for the animal he seemed to be quite the natural. The two had also done a painting class together, in which again; Hyunjin excelled. The prince on the other hand didn't seem to be quite as gifted as the leaves on his trees seemed to blend in with the sky itself. He later admitted that he'd never liked painting in the first place, but he wanted to spend more time with Hyunjin. The latter didn't really like the fuzzy feeling a small comment gave him, so he decided to ignore it alltogether.

Everything had been peaceful and not much had happened apart from those things, expect for the usual conversations. However it seemed as though today was going to change that, because the moment Hyunjin was awoken by Minho, he noticed three other maids waiting to dress him up in the fanciest hanbok he'd seen yet.

"Good mo—" he groggily said, however Minho quickly interrupted him.

"Get up immediately, the king told us last minute he will be attending breakfast with you and prince Changbin." If anything was going to wake Hyunjin up within seconds, that would definitely do the trick. The boy almost immediately jumped off the bed, the other maids rushing to him as they started taking off his pyjamas. Having strangers do that was definitely weird, especially since Minho only helped him get dressed in the beginning, yet he knew better than to show his awkwardness. It would probably cause rumors to go around that Minho wasn't 'doing his job properly', even though it was per Hyunjin's request that he dressed himself.

After he'd been bundled up in the familiar dark blue and gold colors, he headed out the door where he was surprised to see Changbin waiting for him. Upon their eyes meeting, the older gave him a wary smile.

"Good morning, ready to meet my father?"

"Ready as anyone could be when they are woken up to the news that they're meeting the king."

"Ah, seems like you're fine then. Lets go." Changbin chuckled as he watched Hyunjin's mouth open in surprise, but before the taller boy could protest the other was already walking down the hallway.
The two made their towards the doors of the dining hall, where Hyunjin sighed as a last attempt to calm down his nerves. The maids left them as Felix and Minho pushed open the doors, showing that there was still no one sitting at the head of the table.

"Jesus ch—" Hyunjin whispered under his breath, build up anxiety flooding out of him like a popped balloon.

"Sshh." Changbin laughed again as he heard Minho scold his friend. The pair of six reached the table and Changbin and Hyunjin sat down in their designated spots.

"When he comes in, stand up and wait for him to be seated." Minho instructed Hyunjin, who could only nod as he took in the information.

It was almost on cue when the doors opened again, revealing a group of guards and servants nearly twice the size of their own party. It was only to be expected for the ruler of a country, yet it still took Hyunjin by surprised. He nearly forgot to stand up, but when he heard Changbin's chair scoot back he quickly followed his moves. As the man came closer Hyunjin was able to see his face, jaw dropping slightly as he recognized the face.

It was 'Jisung's dad'.

Confusion spread across his face as his head snapped back to Jisung, who saw the motion and glanced over at Hyunjin. He smiled at the taller boy as if nothing was wrong, which only confused him even more.

"Good morning son, Hyunjin."

"Good morning."

"Morning dad, I'm glad you could join us for breakfast." The two boys watched the king fill up the chair that had been vacant until this point before the two boys sat down as well.

"Well... I've been feeling a tiny bit better and it was long overdue, right?" He glanced over at Hyunjin, who could only nod as his thoughts were still going faster than the speed of light. He was still mentally recovering from having a chat with the king four days prior... without realising it was the king. Honestly; he might never recover.

"So how have you two been doing?"

"We're getting along well, thankfully." Changbin said. "Yeah, Changbin's been really nice and the others have been as well."

"Glad to hear that, if my son was not being accommodating I would've had to reconsider the way I raised him." The king chuckled, looking over towards his son fondly.

"Oh god... Please don't embarrass me dad."

"Embarrass? I didn't say anything! Although I could tell Hyunjin about that one time you fell into the fountain when we had the queen of Kagaya over?"

"No."

"You what?!" Hyunjin held back his laughter, staring at Changbin who's ears were slowly turning red.

"He wanted to sit on the edge but miraculously missed completely, resulting in him falling in back first." The king laughed as he continued, "A-And then when Jisung wanted to fish him out, Changbin slipped and pulled him in too!"

"I was collateral damage, like always." Jisung grumbled jokingly, punching his best friend's arm lightly as he clearly seemed unbothered by the king's guards' presence.

"We had a cold for three days because the water was freezing."

"At least we shared a bed so we weren't that bored." Jisung smiled as he recalled the memories. Hyunjin felt a bit jealous as he would've liked to have a close friend like that as well, but he pushed the thought aside quickly as the king interrupted it.

"Speaking of visitors, Changbin. Even though I do like Hyunjin here, I'm not sure if one option is enough in such a short time." Hyunjin's heart skipped at least three beats as his breath got caught in his throat. He recomposed himself, taking another bite of his omelette as he glanced over at Jisung, who gave him a surprised look back.

"I've arranged for Yang Jeongin to stay with us for a while as well. It's someone you've known since you were little, so you two at least get along already."

'Shit?! If they go way back, I'm doomed...'

"J-Jeongin? Alright, I understand where you're coming from... I'll make sure to give him a warm welcome." The prince responded, warily glancing over to meet eyes with Hyunjin.

"Again, this has nothing to do with you, Hyunjin. My condition is worsening by the day and I just want to make sure Changbin has someone to fall back on when I'm gone."

Now how was Hyunjin supposed to feel bad about all of this after hearing that? Whether he likes his chances being cut in half —if not more disadvantaged, the king only wanted the best for his kingdom and especially his son.

"It's alright sir, I understand."

He'd just have to work harder in winning Changbin over, but he'd do whatever it takes.

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Oops i dissapeared for a hot minute. Apologies. Thinks are gonna start rolling now.