Yeosang was whisked away early in the morning on the day of his coronation. In contrast to the black he'd worn to the funeral, the seamstresses had created an intricate white outfit for him to wear--not quite a hanbok, but not quite a traditional tailored suit, either. It took quite some time to get him dressed, then the stylists did his makeup and hair. By the time they were done, not a hair on his head was out of place.
Wooyoung was somewhere else, probably getting the same treatment. Yeosang couldn't wait to see him.
It was the quickest morning of his life and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the largest crowd he'd seen in his life. Not even this many people had attended Jongho and Yuna's wedding.
Jongho...his brother was standing to his right, looking like this was the last place he wanted to be. In another world, it would have been him getting the crown today. Had he always wanted it? Had he always planned on trying to stop Yeosang from getting it?
~~~
Yeosang looked like an angel on that throne, yet Wooyoung forced himself to split his attention between Prince Jongho and Yeosang's mother, wary that either one of them might still try to do something before that crown was placed on his head.
But neither of them did, and the golden crown was lowered onto Yeosang's head in front of them all. It looked heavy, yet Yeosang kept his head held high. His eyes found Wooyoung's easily as everybody clapped. Wooyoung smiled but Yeosang didn't; Kings didn't smile so easily, not in front of others. If anything, he looked slightly saddened to be sat on that lonely throne, but it was only for a moment and Wooyoung was probably the only one to see it.
The event was supposed to be a happy one. So, after Yeosang made a short speech about how he planned to lead Aurora into even more prosperity followed by another round of polite applause, the music began.
Nobody was to dance, though. Not until the King did. There were surely many people in the room who were not happy that Yeosang was King, yet all eyes were on him in anticipation to see who he would choose as his dance partner.
Everyone in the crowd parted when Yeosang rose from his throne and walked down the few steps to the main floor; everyone except for Wooyoung. Yeosang didn't hesitate to grab his hand and finally granted a smile for all to see, mirroring Wooyoung's own expression.
Wooyoung hadn't done much dancing in his life, but he knew the steps to the most common waltzes such as the one the orchestra was currently playing, and his body seemed to naturally know what to do. Yeosang was also a good dancer, though that was nothing new. They'd never danced together before but it felt effortless, as easy as breathing for Wooyoung to glide around the room with Yeosang in his arms.
He couldn't bring himself to look away from the boy in front of him, but he felt everyone watching. Were their expressions filled with disgust? Awe? Shock?
That first song came to an end a short minute or two later and Wooyoung discovered that it was a healthy mix of the three. So dramatic, all these people were. Hands over their hearts and mouths wide open. Yeosang looked around at the other guests, none of whom had started dancing when the second song started to play.
"Dance," he said simply. Not angrily, but still an order. The guests had no choice but to overcome their surprise and find their own partner.
Not everyone danced, though, and Yeosang pulled Wooyoung away to where other people were talking rather than dancing.
"There are probably hundreds of people wishing to speak with their new King. It is traditional for me to stay on my throne while this happens, but I wish to stay next to you." Yeosang's eyes were big and questioning. "Will you stay with me?"
Wooyoung took his hand. "That should not even be a question, my prince. Of course I will."
"You-" Yeosang started to say, but then the first of the hundreds of people Yeosang mentioned came up to them, congratulating Yeosang and wishing him luck. Some seemed genuine, some not so much. Some were even brave enough to ask about Wooyoung, to which Yeosang simply said, "He is my lover," followed by a look daring them to say anything against it. Nobody did, nobody would dare oppose their newly-appointed King.
"You have even more nerve than I thought," a female voice said. After a while, Wooyoung had stopped marking the faces of the people who had come to talk. But this one, he recognized.
"I shall take that as a compliment, Princess," Yeosang said.
"You should."
Yeosang looked between Wooyoung and the princess. "This is a conversation I must have alone, Wooyoungie."
Wooyoung knew what Yeosang wanted to talk to Princess Chaeryeong about. More than once he'd expressed his regret for essentially abandoning her when they'd just gotten engaged and began wedding preparations. Perhaps he didn't have romantic feelings for her but he did appreciate what she had been willing to do.
So, Wooyoung left and quickly found Yunho--it was easy, being as he was taller than most of the guests there. Yunho was there tonight not as a servant but as a guest. "Why aren't you dancing?" Wooyoung asked.
"I would put everyone else to shame on the dance floor but alas, I have no partner." He looked Wooyoung up and down. "You play the part of a royal very well."
"I may look it," Wooyoung admitted because indeed, his perfectly fitted black suit and styled hair allowed him to fit in seamlessly with the other upperclassmen. "But I will never pretend to be something I'm not. To anyone who asks, I will tell them the truth. I come from a poor family and have no power."
"And there will surely be many people asking after tonight." Yunho smiled. "Perhaps Prince- King Yeosang didn't explicitly say it, but your love for each other was plain as day when you two danced. Word will spread quickly."
"Let it," Wooyoung said. "If people don't like it, they are not forced to stay in Aurora."
They chatted for a short while. Eventually, Wooyoung glanced back to see how Yeosang's conversation with Princess Chaeryeong was faring, but his heart skipped a beat when he realized that she was no longer the person Yeosang was speaking with. If the back of the prince's head didn't give it away, Yeosang's uncomfortable expression sure did.
"I have to go," he told Yunho hastily, then left without bothering to wait for a reply.
He took his place by Yeosang's side. "Good evening," he said, without so much as a bow of the head toward Prince Taehyun. "It has been a while since we last spoke."
Taehyun looked at him with distaste before turning his attention back to Yeosang. "I was just inquiring about your King's availability now that his...preferences are open for all to see."
Wooyoung burned with anger at even the thought of Taehyun pursuing Yeosang. He wrapped an arm around Yeosang's waist and Yeosang moved in closer. "I'm afraid my King is spoken for."
"Hm," was all Taehyun said. "We shall see how long that lasts."
"Wooyoungie is the one I love," Yeosang spoke up. "Not just a mere dance partner."
Taehyun showed no reaction. He backed up. "You are lucky, then," he said before he left. "You have what I never will."
'What I never will', Wooyoung knew, was Yeosang's ability to openly love another male. Such a thing would never be allowed in Cheshire, where the rules were even more strict than in Aurora.
"Thank you," Yeosang whispered into Wooyoung's ear. Wooyoung just kept his hold on his King, and they didn't part again for the rest of the night.
~~~
Being King was...not as hard as Yeosang expected it to be. The right decisions on the issues brought forth to him were, for the most part, glaringly obvious. A dispute between an old man and a developer trying to take over his shop? Let the old man keep his business. Not enough room in the castle's budget to give the servants their requested pay raise? Take some money out of the small fortune the treasurers spent on acquiring new art, for some reason.
Each morning that first week was the same; waking up next to Wooyoung. Outside was cold but even though there was no fire heating his room, he'd feel so warm.
"Good morning, my prince," Wooyoung would say.
"Wooyoungie, you need to stop this," Yeosang finally whined one morning. "I am not a prince anymore."
"Good morning, my king?"
Yeosang wrinkled his nose. "No, I do not like the sound of that at all." In his mind, 'King' still meant his father.
"My love? My star? My world?"
They'd just woken up and Wooyoung already had Yeosang blushing. "Any of those would do, I suppose."
And then the two would get ready for their day--Yeosang with the help of his usual servants and Wooyoung on his own, unless there was a special event that day.
This day was not special, so Wooyoung wore his usual guard uniform while Yeosang wore an outfit of white and blue. Yeosang had told Wooyoung countless times that he didn't need to act as his guard anymore--simply being with him was enough, but Wooyoung insisted. Yeosang couldn't complain. Seeing Wooyoung in that uniform, following him around the castle, reminded him of the days before everything changed.
Life was still not perfect. Yeosang had grown up with anything he wanted handed to him on a silver platter, and becoming King should have done nothing to change that. Yet there was still something he wanted but didn't have, and everything reminded Yeosang of that thing. That person. Back at the farm, it hadn't been so bad except for in his dreams. But here, it seemed that every hall he walked down brought back memories
"You are thinking about San, aren't you?" Wooyoung asked.
Yeosang was in the throne room, where he was supposed to be reading over a proposal before signing his approval, but his wandering mind had forced him to read the same paragraph three times in a row without retaining a single word.
"I..." He felt traitorous. Wooyoung loved Yeosang so much and Yeosang loved him, too. He'd never let his guard go in a million years, but he just couldn't help that his heart called to somebody else, too. "I cannot help it. Perhaps I am crazy, but I can feel that he is alive and not too far away. Can you?"
Wooyoung looked at him, calculating. Contemplating. "Please excuse me for a minute."
Yeosang nodded almost automatically and watched him leave. His heart tightened. He shouldn't have told Wooyoung his true feelings. But then again, how could he have lied?
He tried to distract himself by turning his attention back to the proposal in front of him, eyes still reading the words without his brain comprehending any of them. By the time he'd gotten through three paragraphs like that, Wooyoung had returned. He carried a folded-up piece of paper, unfolding it once he got to Yeosang's side.
It was a map, Yeosang realized. A map of Aurora and the surrounding continent. Still standing, Wooyoung held it out to Yeosang and pointed out a marked place near the centre. "This is where we parted in the forest." His finger traced over the map towards the left. "And this is the direction we saw him go off in." That finger settled on another marked location. "This is most likely the town he ended up in. At first, at least."
He then pointed out a few other places San could have gone from there, places where the Queen's guards may not have looked. Yeosang looked up at him in shock. "You have been working on this on your own?"
Wooyoung shrugged, suddenly a bit sheepish. "I know you miss him," he said, and before Yeosang could open his mouth to apologize, he added, "It is okay, I understand. And you know...he wasn't so bad. I too would also at least like to know if he is alright."
"And how would you feel if he were to return here?" Yeosang dared to ask.
Wooyoung answered Yeosang's question with his own. "What would you want to happen if he returned?"
Yeosang sighed, deciding to voice his own convoluted thoughts and trust that Wooyoung wouldn't get mad. "I do not know. Even now, I still feel so confused. It is as if my heart beats for you but also for San. And even though I have you with me and I know we could be happy together, something feels incomplete without him here. Which is strange because I have only known him for a short while and-"
His ramble was cut short when Wooyoung took his hand. "Do not cry, please."
Yeosang hadn't even realized he was crying. Just a few stray tears. He quickly wiped them away.
"How about we find him first, and then see what happens from there?" Wooyoung suggested. "No matter what, I will love you."
Yeosang nodded and stood up, the proposal he'd been reading flying away as he embraced Wooyoung tightly. The most kind, smart, thoughtful person he'd ever known. "I shall send some soldiers to the places you pointed out."
"No."
Yeosang pulled away. "What? But I thought..."
"Sending a team of soldiers will do no good," he explained. "San is no longer a wanted man, as per your first decree as King, but he may not know that and think they mean to arrest him. Only I will go."