diadem | hyunho

1. the bitchass prince

"WHAT? Father, you cannot do this! I'm still young! I can't get married yet! This is not fair!" He yaps more and more bullshit and it eventually gets on my nerves.

"If you excuse me, I'll take your leave," I say, getting out of the chambers. On the way to my room, I run into my younger brother.

"Why the long face? Missed the target by a millimeter?" Felix asks with a laugh, referring to my need for perfection in archery.

"I'm getting married, Felix," I say, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in.

"Uh-oh," he says, face turning grave. "Don't tell me they set you up with a girl."

"No, but I want to marry someone I actually love. Not this bitchass prince with a fat ego."

"EXCUSE ME? What did you just say about me?" A voice booms from behind us. We immediately turn around and find Hyunjin staring us down like a hawk. My soul leaves my body for a second, and so does Felix's.

"What the- Why are you here?" I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. He was already such a pain in the ass.

"Why not? I'm more interested in knowing why you say I'm a bitchass prince with a fat ego," he says, and I regret opening my mouth at all.

"It's just the truth. You know Felix, he was so rude to me earlier when I accidentally bumped into him. No respect at all," I narrate dramatically to my brother.

"Tch, why should I respect you? You don't deserve any," Hyunjin says with a scoff.

"You do not speak to your future king like that," I press. I wasn't actually butthurt about this whole thing, but it was just really entertaining to annoy him. I'm meeting him for the first time but he was certainly interesting. You've got to make the most out of the situation, right?

"Guess what? I'm the future king too!"

"Because of whom? And I'll have you know that you're filling in for Queen. Your job is basically to just sit there and look pretty, so don't get too ahead of yourself," I say with a smirk, knowing that I hit a spot. He freezes in his place for a moment, letting the new information sink in. And then, he unexpectedly smiles.

"THIS IS AWESOME! I WAS MADE FOR THIS!" He yells out loud, but then remembers that we were arguing. "That doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," I reply in a challenging tone.

"Is it just me or is the sexual tension between you two really high?" Felix asks, interrupting us.

"SHUT UP!" We respond at the same time, walking in opposite directions.

HYUNJIN:

Okay, let me clarify. I'm not as bitchy as I appear to be, alright? I've been in a really bad mood since the morning and this whole marriage thing with Minho was driving me up the walls. Why did he have to be such a frustrating human being?

"Prince Hyunjin? Your presence is requested at the king's chambers again," a maid walks up to me and says.

"What more now?" I mutter under my breath as I follow her.

"Apologies, boys. We forgot to mention that the engagement will be in a week and Hyunjin will be staying here from now on. You have schedules for public sightings to convince the them that you're actually in love, so you better put your acting shoes on. Get ready to be real busy these coming days," King Lee says as we enter the room. He walks up to Minho and mutters something along the lines of "mess this up and you know what happens" into his ears before leaving. That was odd.

"I understand," Minho simply says, as if it was a matter of staying over at your friend's place for a day.

"How could you? This is ridiculous!" I exclaim. He seemed to be so chill about it.

"Do you think just because we're against it they're going to stop it from happening? This is a whole merger between two of the biggest kingdom's in the continent. We need to make some sacrifices," he whisper hisses to me as we exit the room. I won't admit it out loud, but I could tell that he would make a good king.

"Why'd it have to be you?" I say, rubbing my temples with my fingers.

"It's between me and my brother, but as is customary the older one is the heir to the throne. Unfortunately for you, you're the only child. Unless..." he says, a devilish smirk creeping up his face as he eyes someone next to me. I turn my head to see that he was looking at my best friend and bodyguard, Jisung. Minho sends him a wink and he blushes.

"Hey, Jisung is not my brother! Don't even think about it," I say. "Quit blushing," I whisper to him from the side.

"I was just joking around. Are you jealous already? Oh my, I didn't expect you to fall for me so fast," he says in amusement, bringing his hand to his chest to show that he was touched. Not actually, obviously.

"Just so you know, I can do way better than you."

"Sure, sure."