chin up, princess 》johnten

jesus, my dear

Ten woke up, groaning at the pleasant stretch that tingled from his head to the tips of his toes. Doyoung laid beside him in all his shirtless glory, lips parted to release silent breaths into the room that reeked of sex. Ten gagged at the smell and pulled a sweater over his torso so he could safely talk to his guard. 

“You suck, Jung,” was his usual greeting, and Jaehyun rolled his eyes. 

“Thank you, your majesty, but you have it wrong. I am never the one doing the sucking.” He replied, his voice leaking with faux seduction. The two laughed softly under the heat of the rising sun, hearts light. Ten gazed at Jaehyun with cautious eyes, teeth toying with his swollen bottom lip as he pondered over the question bouncing around his mind. 

Finally, he asked, “How’s Johnny?” 

Jaehyun looked over at the Prince's worried expression and smiled. 

“He misses you more and more every day. Why don’t you go see him?” 

Ten wondered when Johnny would muster up the courage to ask him that. It was true that Ten had been distant from his boyfriend since the day they got caught, but disclosing the reason for his distancing would lead to heartache. Instead, he replied with a half-assed, vague excuse. 

“Jaehyun, you know I can’t.”

No, Jaehyun didn't know why he couldn't, and the disappointed frown on his best friends face every night when the Stitch slippers didn’t slap around the kitchen was beginning to weigh on him. 

“Beautiful? Where did you go?” Doyoung called from the bedroom, voice raspy from sleep. Ten sighed quietly as his fiance walked to the door and slipped his arm around Ten’s waist. Jaehyun saw the fresh hickies blooming across Doyoung’s shirtless torso, but didn’t comment. It made sense why Ten hadn’t visited his supposed boyfriend, now that he appeared to be falling for an all too eager Doyoung. Johnny doesn’t need protecting, Jaehyun reminded himself when his relaxed hand stiffened into a fist that he wanted to aim at Ten’s face. 

“What are you doing out here?” Doyoung removed the hand hugging Ten’s waist to rub the sleep from his eyes, blinking rapidly. 

“Nothing, hun. Go back to bed, I'll be there in a minute.” Ten kissed Doyoung’s cheek and gently led the man back to the bed before rejoining Johnny and shutting the door. “We need to talk.”

Jaehyun scoffed and shook his head. “Nah, I have nothing nice to say to you, and you're stupid if you think I won’t be telling Johnny about this tonight.”

(not very professional or relevant, but after that sentence, I got distracted by stray kids for two hours)

“Jaehyun, please, you need to let me explain.” 

“I don’t need to let you do anything," Jaehyun responded, emphasizing the need. "You know what, I’m leaving. I’m going to end this right now.” Jaehyun turned his back on the fuming Prince and stalked down the corridors in the direction of his best friend. 

“Jung Jaehyun, I demand you to stop.” Ten yelled. Jaehyun halted. “This is an order from the Prince and if you do not listen you will be killed. I forbid you from seeing him.”

Jaehyun growled deep in his throat and faced the Prince. “Then I’ll die, but at least I'll die loyal to my best friend, which is something you can't seem to do.” 

The flash of hurt that caused Ten’s eyes to water didn’t deter Jaehyun from his mission; if anything, it gave him satisfaction. He stormed towards Kun’s room, throwing his helmet to the side with a metallic clank. Ten’s timid footsteps followed him, but he couldn’t care less when he saw his best friend standing, clearly bored, at the oldest Princes door. 

“Jaehyun, what are you doing?” Johnny hissed at his friend when he noticed he was definitely not supposed to be able to see his annoyingly cute dimples. Jaehyun just shook his head and motioned to Ten straggling behind him. 

“Johnny, I need to tell you something that I saw today,” Jaehyun started calmly, hoping to break the news gently.

Ten cried out, falling to the carpeted floor with a thud that alarmed even Jaehyun. The Prince was on his knees in a deep bow that would have pleased the Gods, voice cracking with every pitiful sorry that spilled from his lips. 

“What’s wrong, angel?” Johnny asked as he walked towards his hurting lover. He was stopped, however, by a hand firmly holding his arm. 

“Let me talk first, Johnny, then you can decide if you want to comfort him. Please?” 

Johnny glanced between Ten’s huddled form and the raw sincerity in Jaehyun’s usually comedic expression and decided to listen to his friend's words. 

“Ten has, at the very least, marked up Doyoung. I'm assuming they’ve kissed, too, maybe even slept together, in the past two weeks since he stopped visiting you.” Johnny crumpled to the floor, and Jaehyun followed him down. “I'm not saying he doesn't necessarily love you, but I think maybe it's for the best that you two stop. You deserve loyalty in whoever you choose, Johnny.”

Johnny removed his helmet to wipe his tears while Ten stood shakily from the floor, walking to his boyfriend and placing a hand on his shoulder. Johnny slapped his comfort away with a scowl.

“You're right, Jae. I don't ’t deserve this, Ten, we’re done.” Johnny moved to replace his helmet, but Ten grabbed his neck and placed a wet kiss on his lips. Their tears mixed in the divots of Johnny’s lips and he almost caved, eventually resisting. Slowly, he parted from the crying Prince, put his helmet back on, and returned to his post. 

“Oh, so that’s where you went.” Doyoung chided from the end of the hallway, having witnessed the last part of their interaction. “Even after letting me fuck you senseless, you’re still being
someone else’s bitch.” Doyoung grabbed Ten’s hair and yanked, hard, bringing them level with each other. “Tell your dad his whore of a son just started a fucking war.” He spat. Ten dropped to the ground, Johnny didn't flinch, and Doyoung stormed off.

True to his word, the King received a declaration of war hours later, stating that cause of war to be a broken deal. The King knew the implications of the words, approaching Johnny with furious and hurtful words, fists flying at the shirtless boy who just wanted to sleep his heartache away.

“My King, please, the Prince and I no longer see each other. Doyoung misunderstood,” Johnny pleaded, protecting his swollen eyes and bleeding lip from further damage with shaking hands. “He is with Doyoung.” 

“If he was with Doyoung, this wouldn't be a problem!” The King screamed while waving the declaration in Johnny’s face. 

“Please, I don't love him anymore, my loyalty lies with Prince Kun and you.” Johnny knelt down to softly kiss the King’s feet, but was pushed away by a strong kick to the ribs that made him groan in pain. 

“Prove yourself, then, in battle.” 

Johnny locked his steely gaze with the King’s and spoke calmly. “I will do whatever it takes.”  

[ to be continued... ]