Crossed Hearts | Stray Kids Royal AU Fanfic

The antiquity shop

Syrex = Seungmin
Zolan = Chan
Prince Zayyan = Hyunjin
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2022, New York

Zolan and Agatha entered the antiquity shop, careful not to bump into any of the vintage and expensive objects. Zolan's mouth opened wide as he admired every single shimmering thing, from dolls without eyes to ships inside crystal bottles and fake swords.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Agatha asked as she rested her arm on the counter.

"SYREX?" Zolan shouted from the top of his lungs, startling the witch.

"I told you they don't remember-"

"I see you made yourself comfortable enough to shout in my shop. Please look around! If something catches your attention, I would be more than pleased to sell it to you." The man said as he limped past them and reached the other side of the counter.

He was holding on to a black cane with a golden handle in the shape of an upside-down 'u'. He was wearing a green sweater, rolled three times on his neck and chestnut fabric pants squeezed around his waist with an old black leather belt. Sliding down the bridge of his nose there was a pair of thin round glasses.

"Syrex, I missed you! You haven't changed a bit." Zolan continued excited.

"It's Seungmin. I am no longer Syrex."

"You remember..." Agatha was left aback. "How?"

"I have the right to keep it to myself." He smiled politely while his eyes held hatred and annoyance.

"I don't understand. You shouldn't be remembering your past life."

"I'm glad you do, Syrex! We can find the others and make our glorious return." Zolan chimed in.

"Once again for the slow minds here: it's Seungmin."

"Like a dog?" Agatha held back her laughter.

"I'm not taking that from someone named after a murder mystery writer and someone whose name can very well come from the Legend of Zelda." He spat back with no hesitation.

"What's a Zelda?" Zolan asked dumbfounded.

"You didn't give him any knowledge about this world? I wonder why. A parasite stays a parasite until the end. You just want him to need him, to make you feel useful." Seungmin leaned over the counter to watch the glorious expression of despair on Agatha's face.

"You're a waste of time." She backed off.

"And you of power. A shame to Atorvenna. But what to expect from an immigrant." He scoffed.

"Look who's talking." She clenched her jaw. "You're nothing but the prince's pathetic amusement."

"I wasn't the one in chains, darling." He smirked victoriously.

She was so close to jumping on him and beating him to death if Zolan wasn't there to hold her back. His grip tightened on her waist, pilling her closer to his body just to lock his arms around her in a cage.

"There you go... Keep your little witch away from me."

"Enough!" his deep authority-like voice clashed through his ribs, sending a vibration through his whole body. Agatha could feel it perfectly.

"Ronan leaves tomorrow. We need to know how did you regain your memories. I'm begging you, Syrex!" Zolan added. "For the old days spent side by side."

Seungmin sighed in defeat and went in the back to recover a teapot and a liquor in a bottle he kept hidden under his bed. He poured its content in the cup and gave it to Zolan to taste.

"What is that?" Agatha stopped Zolan from drinking it.

"Tea. We had tea back then, didn't we?" he smiled.

"I don't trust you." She said, having a bad feeling about it.

"Well, I don't need you to. As long as he blindly trusts me." He tilted his head, beckoning her to look at Zolan who had just finished the tea.

"No!" she yelled. "What did he drink?" she slammed her hands on the counter, hoping it would make her look threatening.

"This is an antiquity shop. I have everything your heart can desire. Including a memory potion. I gave him a new life and erased the poor farmer one. He should be happy now." Seungmin explained, nipping the inside of his cheek to refrain himself from laughing.

Agatha looked behind her and noticed Zolan's absence. She felt her heart drop to the ground. A sudden need to throw up pushed her to the closest chair.

"I thought witches are more seductive and wicked. What a joke."

The woman got up, barely maintaining a straight line and took a deep breath before punching Seungmin in the face. The latter felt his legs giving in and landed on his butt, holding his now-broke nose in his palm.

"I don't need magic for this. I'll be back with him and I will find out why you're the only one remembering." She proclaimed before rushing out the door and locked around her, praying that a miracle would let her spot Zolan's figure in the crowd.

She was freaking out, spinning in the same spot, searching to the thousands of faces the one she needed to find. The sound of the tires on the highway, the voices of the people mixed with the advertising screens made her head pulse. She covered her ears in pain and crouched down, trying to calm herself down.

Then she saw it. The orange scarf wrapped around her wrist in the shape of a tattoo. She could use it to find Zolan like she did with Seyvon. It didn't matter that he would have to find a way to drag him back to the shop or that she needed to take the words right out of Syrex's mouth. She had to find Zolan before he could injure himself, before he would go too deep into his new life, deep enough to regret leaving it behind, before he would completely forget her.

Atorvenna, the Royal Family's Castle, 1231, one month before the war broke out

"Does it hurt?" Syrex asked worried while patting carefully a soaked piece of cotton on the prince's purple cheek.

"I can bear it." He flashed a reassuring smile.

"His ring cut you. It's all my doing... If I weren't selfish, you would have..."

"I would have married a woman I do not desire." Zayyan completed.

"What do you see in me, Your Higness?" Syrex looked up in the prince's brown deep eyes.

"What do I see in you?" he tilted his head confused.

"Yes. Why me?"

"I see... I see my future. Someone worth fighting for. I can't get you off my mind. I see you in my dreams every night. I sometimes find myself eager to go to sleep early just to meet you. Isn't it the same for you?"

"Worse... I think of you with every breath I take. I'm going mad when you're away." He confessed with a tear streaming down his flushed cheek.

"I'm right here now. Maybe the answer is... we should stop thinking it and just do it. Be happy. It may not last long, yet it can be beautiful."

What had started as an innocent friendship between the prince and the blacksmith soon flourished into a forbidden romance between ranks. Neither of them saw it coming. With time Syrex raised his gaze to meet the prince's glorious eyes and couldn't look away ever since. The prince was promised to someone else, yet he disobeyed his father's words and chose to feel alive for the first time in his life.