Snow was falling on the day San and Wooyoung returned. It was in the early afternoon; Yeosang had just eaten lunch and went back to his duties in the throne room when one of the double doors opened.
But that door had opened plenty of times in the past few weeks. Yeosang had stopped getting his hopes up that it would be Wooyoung because he would then have to face the disappointment of the guest just being a messenger, or a servant, or even his mother.
Still, his eyes moved on their own accord, shifting his attention from yet another proposal he'd been reading to see who had entered...
A servant.
Yeosang deflated. "What is it?" He asked, trying unsuccessfully not to sound annoyed.
The servant bowed. "My apologies for the interruption, Your Majesty, but I have word that your guard has returned."
Yeosang's heart leapt. "Alone?"
"I do not know, Your Majesty."
"Where is he?"
"His carriage has just arrived. He should be on his-"
Yeosang couldn't wait that long. He rose from his throne and had never been so glad that the throne room was close to the castle's entrance. He halted at the castle gates. True to the servant's word, a carriage was waiting outside.
But more importantly, them. Two people. Yeosang had half-expected Wooyoung to return alone, which would have been perfectly fine and Yeosang would have welcomed him happily while concealing his disappointment. Seeing San in front of him was something he'd hardly let himself imagine.
They had already gotten out, both clad in all black, and their heads shot up when Yeosang appeared. Yeosang was relieved to see that Wooyoung looked mostly the same as ever, if only a bit tired. As for San...well, he still looked handsome, but it didn't look like his life away from the castle had been easy. Yeosang itched to go up to him but he hesitated at the gate. What if San was mad at him? What if he didn't like Yeosang anymore? What if-
"Did you not miss me, prince?" San smiled.
That was enough for Yeosang to abandon his King's image. He ran down the steps and through the snow just so he could tackle San into a hug. San grunted at the impact but remained upright, immediately holding him tightly. Yeosang didn't know whether to smile or cry at the familiar feeling and was pretty sure he ended up doing both.
"It seems that you did," San laughed before gently pushing Yeosang away. "But you should really let me bathe first."
As if Yeosang cared about that now. He just took in San's beautiful face. San's skin had always been so smooth, that much hadn't changed. His lips were dry and cracked yet Yeosang itched to kiss them.
He refrained. Instead, he looked past San to Wooyoung, who was already looking at them with a faint smile. "You are a genius, Wooyoungie! I cannot believe you found him."
"He didn't make it easy," Wooyoung said, glancing at San before he moved closer. He seemed the slightest bit uncomfortable, though Yeosang wasn't sure why. "We should go inside," he went on. "You must be freezing out here."
Yeosang had forgotten all about the falling snow but after Wooyoung mentioned it, he shivered. "Yes, let us go inside."
He took one of their hands in each of his and led them inside, the others trailing behind him as they left the servants who had just come outside to take care of their bags. He kept looking behind him to make sure that San and Wooyoung were truly there. "I really did miss you, both of you."
"We missed you, too," San said, squeezing his hand. "Your name came up in many of our conversations."
They ascended the stairs leading to Yeosang's wing. "Did you two talk a lot?" He'd always been disappointed that San and Wooyoung seemed to dislike each other before. They hadn't exactly left on bad terms, but Yeosang wouldn't be surprised if San harboured some resentment toward Wooyoung.
"A fair amount," Wooyoung answered, which for him could have meant anything from a few sentences to non-stop conversation.
"And how often did you fight?"
"Once or twice," San said. Yeosang expected as much. "Mostly in the beginning. Then I told Wooyoungie to stop being so rude and things were alright from there."
Yeosang laughed.
"I thought we agreed not to tell him that part!" Wooyoung scolded.
Things were different between them, that was for sure. There were no glares or directed insults. Not yet, at least. That animosity between them had lessened, perhaps it was even nonexistent, and Yeosang couldn't stop smiling.
Yeosang's door was in sight when Wooyoung suddenly stopped walking, making Yeosang and San halt too. "I kissed San!"
Yeosang turned around slowly. There was no way he heard Wooyoung right, and San's expression betrayed nothing. "You what?"
"Well, he kissed me," Wooyoung admitted. He seemed so nervous. "Yesterday. It all happened so fast and-"
"You kissed back!" San spoke up. "I don't want to seem like some kind of villain."
"Did you like it?" Yeosang asked.
"Yes," San answered. Wooyoung remained silent, which was telling enough.
Yeosang was absolutely giddy. "That is amazing! It is...it is even more than I had hoped!"
San nudged Wooyoung. "I told you we didn't do anything wrong."
"I never said it was wrong, I just thought Yeosang should know."
Yeosang hugged Wooyoung; he just realized he hadn't done that earlier. "You are too thoughtful, Wooyoungie. Now, you two must bathe and change clothes so you can tell me everything."
~~~
Wooyoung must have gone insane. He couldn't even chalk up his kissing San to being in the heat of the moment because he knew exactly what he was doing. Letting Yeosang be with San was one thing but Wooyoung himself? That was something he hadn't been prepared for.
He voiced his concerns to Yeosang, who sat at the edge of the sunken bathtub watching Wooyoung scrub his hair. "Bringing him back is one thing," Wooyoung said. "Even if we didn't explicitly say so, it was obvious we were going to...share you, if you will."
"Share me?" Yeosang laughed. "Well, I suppose you did already tell me you would be fine with it. I believe I remember you asking to be my affair if I ever got married."
"Don't remind me. Even San knows about that." Wooyoung covered his face with his soapy hands. "But about San...I really don't know what came over me. I was willing to tolerate him and perhaps even be friends, and then..."
"Do not overthink, Wooyoungie," Yeosang told him, taking over to massage the shampoo into Wooyoung's scalp. He'd never done that before, it felt nice. "It was bound to happen. San is quite irresistible."
Wooyoung's face heated every time he thought about it. At least this time, he could blame it on the hot bathwater. "Don't let him hear you say that. His opinion of himself is already high enough as it is."
"As it should be," Yeosang said. He leaned down to kiss Wooyoung, and Wooyoung almost melted into the bathwater. He'd missed this so much. "Now, I will let you bathe in peace. Come to my sitting room when you are finished."
~~~
Meanwhile, San was content as could be. He kissed Wooyoung and he'd do it again. His focus at the moment, however, was Yeosang. They were alone in the sitting room--San had bathed quickly in one of the castle's spare bathrooms while Wooyoung seemed to be taking his time.
Yeosang had changed, that much was certain. He seemed more mature, like being away for those months with Wooyoung had made him realize how the real world works, and that was how San knew he would make an excellent King.
"I think Wooyoungie is nervous," Yeosang said quietly.
Wooyoung had a lot of things going for him, but he sure could be dramatic. "What's there to be nervous about? What happened, happened. I liked it, he liked it, even you're happy about it."
"You think that way because you are carefree, but Wooyoungie takes things more seriously. He has lived these past years thinking he only loved me, yet clearly what you two did affected him. He may need some time to accept whatever may happen." Yeosang said, then snuggled closer to San--his uninjured arm, luckily, and added, "I am glad you still smell the same."
San looked down at him in awe. Yeosang could say the most insightful thing followed by the most endearing. "And what do I smell like?"
"I do not know how to describe it. Just you."
Wooyoung appeared in the doorway.
"Wooyoungie!" Yeosang greeted, detaching himself from San.
Wooyoung managed not to look too uncomfortable as he sat across from them. Then, he and San took turns recounting their trip back. 'Every minute detail,' Yeosang had demanded. 'Especially the kiss.'
The only part they left out was San's still-healing injury. Yeosang didn't need to worry about that. Besides, Wooyoung must have worked some magic because it felt better already.
Afterwards, Wooyoung inquired about what Yeosang got up to in the castle, which, according to Yeosang, was a bunch of boring King stuff. It was probably the first normal conversation they'd had between the three of them, yet it felt normal. Nobody was left out, nobody was spoken over.
~
Later, a servant came to fetch Yeosang for something that needed the King's attention. San fully expected Wooyoung to offer to go with him but he didn't, so Yeosang assured them that he'd be back as soon as he could.
"This is perfect," Wooyoung said after Yeosang left.
San looked at him, wary. "Did you mean that sarcastically, or...?"
"No," Wooyoung said. "I meant it. This is the perfect opportunity to find you a doctor to look at that arm."
San groaned. He knew Wooyoung was right but the longer he went without thinking about it, the better. "We just got back!" He complained. He supplemented his next words with a look he knew made most people weak in the knees. "There is nothing else you'd rather do? Perhaps we could see whether what happened yesterday was meant to happen again." It was; he already knew it was.
"Uhh," Wooyoung shifted in his seat. San had never seen this side of him before--timid. "Later. If you do this first."
"Fine," San gave in a little too quickly. "You are an excellent negotiator."
"And you are incredibly..." Wooyoung paused for several seconds before settling on the right word. "Difficult."
San remained undeterred. That was nothing new.
~
As it turned out, the castle's best doctor was currently on leave and wouldn't return for another two days.
"Well," San shrugged. "We did our best. Now it's time for your part of the deal."
Wooyoung put a hand on San's chest to stop him from moving any closer. "The deal was that you had to see a doctor, which you didn't, so you will have to wait." His eyes shone with amusement; this was the version of Wooyoung that San liked the most. "Now, let's go find our King."
San groaned once again at Wooyoung playing hard to get. At least Yeosang was already his--it had been less than an hour since the King left but San was already itching to see him again. Everything else would eventually fall into place.