The air inside the castle was cool, and for that, Hyunjin was grateful. His outfit was stifling and itchy, but the slight breeze running through the halls made it all the more bearable. He adjusted his crown, trying to make it sit as prettily as possible atop his head, though it kept slipping. Today more than any other he needed to look as presentable as possible.
Someone knocked on his door, and he glanced in the mirror to see who was standing in the doorway. His older brother was leaning against his door frame, already immaculately dressed. He had a soft smile on his face, and despite his stress, Hyunjin couldn't help but smile back at Jinyoung.
He waved his brother in, "Come in hyung."
His brother stood behind him, resting his hands on Jinyoung's shoulder, "Are you nervous for today? Or excited? This is a big deal."
Hyunjin shrugged, "I guess I'm feeling a little bit of both right now, but mostly nervous. I don't want to let father down."
"I suppose that's my fault. I apologize that the burden of finding a wife has fallen to you, and that it was my fault."
Hyunjin scoffed, "Oh please, I have never seen you as happy as you are married to Jackson. I would never want to take that away from you. Where is Jackson anyways, I must thank him."
Jinyoung smiled widely at the mention of his husband, "He's out in the hall, working on some last-minute changes. You know how he gets when he throws a ball like this. He just needs it to go perfectly. I'm sure that you can catch up with him at some point though, he'll love to hear from you."
"Yes, I will have to catch him at some point. I really am grateful to him for throwing this ball for me, it means a great deal."
Jinyoung simply smiled at him, "Well, what better place to find your wife than at a ball thrown by Jackson?"
Hyunjin reached up and gripped his brother's hand that was resting on his shoulder, "Do you really think I'll find a wife here?"
"Well, if father has anything to say about it, you will."
Hyunjin laughed along with his brother but the words sent a pang through his heart. His father, the King, was getting older, and had recently fallen ill. Though it was likely his father would soon recover, it was more important than ever for the prince next in line marry a woman to carry on the family line. This should have fallen to Jinyoung as the eldest son; however, it became impossible when Jinyoung chose Jackson as his husband-to-be at his choosing ceremony. With Jinyoung unable to continue the line, that left the job to be Hyunjin's burden, or honor, if their father was asked. Hyunjin really needed this ball to go well, and by the end of the night he had better have chosen his bride.
Hyunjin stopped laughing abruptly, "But, really brother, what if I cannot? What if I fail father?"
Jinyoung sighed and pressed a kiss to the back of Hyunjin's head, "Father only wishes for you to be happy. If you find a bride or not tonight, father will be proud of you. You know Jackson would be so pleased to throw you another ball."
Hyunjin laughed again, but this time the tightness in his chest loosened, "Of course, I am only seventeen, there will still be time. Father grows stronger every day; it is not that urgent."
"Exactly! Now come along, I fear we have wasted all the time we had left. Let's go find you a bride, hmm?"
His brother fixed Hyunjin's crown and lead him out of his room. Hyunjin followed behind his brother with light steps, wringing his hands tightly together. As they got closer to the ballroom, he could hear the musicians playing and the sounds of soft chatter floating down the hallway. Soon enough they were rounding the corner to the top of a grand staircase, where he and his brother stood overlooking the ballroom and all of their guests.
Jackson's booming voice cut over the rest of the noise, "And I will now introduce Prince Jinyoung, and our main guest tonight, Prince Hyunjin!"
Hyunjin waved at the people down below and walked in step with his brother. It was nerve wracking to walk down the stairs in front of all those people (he'd fallen once as a child and was terrified ever since), but he kept his smile on his face. Most of those down below seemed to be young women, dressed all in their finest clothes. Many were accompanied by older men, who Hyunjin assumed to be either their father's, advisors, or servants. Great, meeting the parents on the very first date.
He had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, but his brother pushed him forward lightly, "Good luck."
Hyunjin took a deep breath and walked into the room. He'd only taken a few steps before he was cornered by a girl. She bowed to him with a large smile on her face.
"Hello Prince Hyunjin, my name is Shin Ryujin, it is so incredible to finally meet you. My family owns a large amount of land, all of it with fertile soil and–"
"Prince Hyunjin! Hello! I am Minatozaki Sana, I come from Japan and my family owns the largest trading company in all of Osaka and we–"
"My name is Princess Tzuyu and this would be an excellent opportunity–"
Hyunjin's head swam at the number of young women surrounding him. He didn't like this; he didn't like this at all. Certainly, the girls were pretty, but all they were doing was telling him about who their family was, and what they owned. None of them wanted to marry him for him. This was all just a business venture to them. He didn't want that, not for him and not for them. He wanted them to marry someone they loved, and he wanted to marry someone because they loved him, not because their grandfather owned the most rice fields in Korea or something.
He managed to escape, cutting off a man showing off his three daughters, all named Chae- something or other, with a polite smile. All he needed to do right now was breath. His eyes caught sight of a long table filled with food. Perhaps a snack couldn't hurt. He weaved through people on his way to the long table, coming to a stop in an area covered in desserts. The table was filled with all sorts of things, piles and piles of songpyeon and dasik, and Hyunjin was even pleased to see platters full of bukkumi, the flowers on the rice cake dumplings his favorite light purple ones. He was bummed not to see any yakwa, but he would have to make do.
He shoved a songpyeon in his mouth, the rice cake soft and sticky, just the way he liked them. He hummed happily, and he could feel his eyes scrunching up as he smiled. He washed it down with a sip of sikhye. He turned around, eyes surveying the ballroom once more. Some people were dancing, some people were talking, but he could still see many of them were staring at him. He was glad that it was seen as rude to speak to a royal so he could have a bit of a breather from the crowd.
Someone bumped into him. His tea cookies shifted on his plate but luckily none of them fell. He could hear a small gasp from whoever bumped him. Hyunjin looked up from his plate of desserts to see a younger boy staring at him with wide eyes.
"Oh, my goodness, your Highness I am so sorry. I didn't see you there I am so sorry. Please forgive me–"
"Where did you find those?" Hyunjin cut the boy off.
The boy tilted his head at him, "I'm sorry, what?"
"The yakwa! I've been looking for them and I couldn't find any."
The boy moved to the side, "They're right here, your Highness."
Sure enough, hiding behind the boy was a large platter filled with Hyunjin's favorite sweet honey pastry. He piled them high onto his plate. He turned back to the younger boy, smiling at him. The boy was still looking at him with wide eyes.
"Oh, don't worry about bumping into me, I know it was an accident. I'm so happy I could get some yakwa tonight. Who are you?"
The boy seemed to melt in relief, "I'm Yang Jeongin, from Busan. It's so nice to meet you your Highness, you are just as kind as they say."
"Well then don't worry about calling me your Highness, you can just call me hyung."
The boy blushed with a smile, "Of course, hyung."
When the boy wasn't afraid of offending him, he sure had a pretty smile. And his blush was so cute that all Hyunjin wanted to do was make him blush some more. Someone this cute had to be here for the same reasons as all the others, and he was quite surprised to see that Busan had sent a boy to try and marry him. He would have avoided him to shove more honey cakes in his mouth, but something about Jeongin intrigued him.
"Tell me about yourself."
Jeongin fiddled with the end of his waistcoat, "Well, I'm fifteen years old and I'm from Busan. My parents run an animal sanctuary, so I spend a lot of time helping out there. All the animals are so cute and so sweet! My noona wants me to learn how to play piano so we can play together, but I'm not very good yet. Do you play any instruments hyung?"
Hyunjin had been wary when Jeongin started talking about his parents, but it seemed he just wanted to talk about the things he loved, the fact that his parents owned it didn't seem to be the focus of the statement. He was surprised to hear that Jeongin had an older sister, surely, she would be who Busan would send? But the most surprising, was that Jeongin had asked him a question in return. Jeongin wanted to learn something about him.
"I learned violin for a while when I was younger, but I am still pretty squeaky at times," he paused to listen to Jeongin's absolutely adorable giggle, "You said you had an older sister?"
"Yeah! Jeongyeon noona's the best! She should be out there right now, probably avoiding you to be honest. I don't think she wants to get married yet."
That piqued Hyunjin's curiosity, "Oh? Is that why you're here then?"
Jeongin nodded, "Yes! I am noona's personal moral support! But being moral support apparently makes me hungry, so I came to get some desserts. They looked so yummy I just couldn't help myself!"
So Jeongin wasn't here with the intentions of marrying Hyunjin. He was here to support his noona, and had somehow crossed paths with Hyunjin, making the best first impression of anyone else yet. The thought made a stone pit sink in his stomach and he had absolutely no knowledge as to why. In fact, he was starting to feel a little sick. Perhaps he shouldn't have eaten so many desserts.
He spotted Jackson out of the corner of his eye, "It was so nice to meet you Jeongin, but you must excuse me I just saw someone I have to speak to. Here, you can have the rest of my sweets."
Hyunjin pushed his sweet filled plate into Jeongin's hands, stomach churning as Jeongin yelled out behind him, "Thank you hyung!"
He weaved through more people before coming to a stop in front of Jackson, "Jackson hyung! There you are!"
Jackson stopped his conversation with someone and whirled around to grin at him, "Hyunjinnie! How are you liking everything?"
Hyunjin allowed himself to be swept into Jackson's arms, "It's all great hyung, thank you. This really means a lot to me you have no idea."
"Have you met anyone you like yet?"
Hyunjin saw Jeongin take a bit of a rice cake out of the corner of his eye, "Maybe. I haven't decided yet."
"Well, let me introduce you to a few more people then!"
Hyunjin followed behind Jackson and let him introduce him to girl after girl. He thought they were nice enough, but he wasn't really paying attention. All he could think about was asking Jeongin what his favorite animal was, or if he would be able to see Jeongin blush that sweet petal pink again.
"–jin, Hyunjin!"
Hyunjin broke out of his daze to see Jackson staring at him with worried eyes. The girls were all gone, and it was just him and Jackson in the corner.
"You okay Jinnie?"
Hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah sorry, I was just... thinking about something."
He saw Jeongin placing more sweets on his plate. He couldn't help but smile, noticing that he had two plates held in his small hands.
"If you would just excuse me, I have to go... do something."
"Wait wait wait," Jackson grabbed him by the shoulder before Hyunjin could walk away, "Is that the one you were 'maybe' interested in? The cute little boy over there at the dessert table?"
Hyunjin flushed, "He's not a little boy, he's fifteen. And his name's Jeongin and he's from Busan. And he spends all his time at an animal sanctuary because all the animals are too cute. And he's supposed to be here as moral support for his noona, but I think he's actually just here for the food."
Jackson stared at him with his mouth wide open, "Oh my god you are so cute you dumb little Prince. Go over there and get your man, Jesus Christ."
Hyunjin blushed again but hustled off towards Jeongin. As he approached, he noticed that the sun filtering through the windows were settling around Jeongin's head, making him look like an angel. Hyunjin thought it was fitting.
Jeongin noticed him when he was only a few feet away, and Hyunjin would pay anything to see the smile that bloomed on his face every day. Hyunjin closed the distance between them with haste. He stopped in front of Jeongin with a smile.
"You came back," Jeongin's voice was soft.
"Of course, I did. I heard it's blasphemy to leave angels on their own."
Jeongin flushed that pretty petal pink again and Hyunjin could feel his insides light on fire.
"Oh."
Hyunjin smiled, "And besides, I never got a chance to ask you more about the animals you work with."
Jeongin's eyes lit up and he started telling Hyunjin all about his family's animal sanctuary. He told Hyunjin about how cute the dogs and cats were, and how his noona wouldn't let him work with the horses yet because she didn't want him to get trampled. That led to Jeongin whining about how he was fifteen, and there was no way he was going to be trampled by a horse. Hyunjin couldn't help but agree with Jeongin's noona, Jeongin was too tiny and precious to be playing with such large animals.
"I mean, the worst thing that's ever happened to me was a cat got scared and scratched me. The scar's not even that bad!"
Jeongin lifted his hand to show the scar. Sure enough, there was a long scar marring the back of Jeongin's hand, the color standing out on his pale skin. Hyunjin grabbed Jeongin's hand and brought it to his mouth, laying a gentle kiss on the scar. Jeongin's skin was soft and he never wanted to let go of his hand. So he didn't. He laced their fingers together.
"That's not so bad of a scar, angel. I think there are much worse things in life than being so uniquely beautiful."
Jeongin flushed again, that same petal pink that Hyunjin was quickly becoming obsessed with. That's what Jeongin was, his pretty petal.
"Thank you, hyung. I'm happy you think so."
"I have a question, petal."
He could hear Jeongin whisper the name under his breath before responding, "Anything, hyung."
"You said your noona didn't want to marry so soon. How about you?"
Jeongin cocked his head to the side, "Well, I don't really know. It's not really my place to tell noona what she should or should not be doing. But I support her. I'm the best moral support, remember hyung?"
Hyunjin chuckled, his petal was so sweet, "Of course you are angel. What I mean was, how do you feel about getting married. Would you say yes if someone like, I don't know, me asked you to marry them."
Jeongin's hand clenched in his, "I would say that, I wouldn't want to marry someone like you."
Hyunjin made to pull his hand away, his stomach twisting into knots, but Jeongin held on tight.
"I wouldn't want to marry someone like you, because I only want to marry you."
Hyunjin felt his whole-body freeze, before he registered what Jeongin had said to him, "You sneaky little fox."
Jeongin giggled, resting his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, "I'm sorry hyung, I couldn't help it."
Hyunjin pulled Jeongin away from him, "It's alright petal, I'm just so happy you feel the same as I."
Jeongin grinned and Hyunjin couldn't help but to lean forward and press a kiss to the younger boy's forehead. He could hear Jeongin sigh below him, his body relaxing when Hyunjin wrapped him in his arms.
He pulled away when someone cleared their throat behind them. It was Jackson, of course, a manic smile on his face.
He greeted Jeongin before turning to Hyunjin, "I'll go tell Jinyoungie you're ready. Come to the staircase so you can come announce your decision."
Jackson rushed off and Hyunjin turned to look at Jeongin. The boy seemed to have gone even paler and his eyes were wide.
Hyunjin felt his stomach sink, "Are you okay my angel? You do want this, right?"
Jeongin seemed not to have heard him, "That was, that was Prince Jackson. The husband of Prince Jinyoung."
Hyunjin laughed, the boy was simply starstruck, "Yes my precious petal, you're going to have to get used to that."
Jeongin began to smile a small grin, "Right. Because you chose me. Because we're going to get married. Because I'm yours."
By the end of his sentence Jeongin was smiling widely and Hyunjin couldn't help but to smile with him, "Yes, and I am yours. Now come, I have to announce you. You should come to me when I call you. I want everyone to see the little fox who stole my heart."
Jeongin laced their fingers together and allowed Hyunjin to lead him away from the dessert table. Jinyoung had called the attendants to attention, a large crowd forming near the bottom of the stairs. Hyunjin left Jeongin right at the very front, joining Jinyoung at the first plateau of the staircase. Jinyoung greeted him with a wide smile, his eyes shining.
"I am so proud of you, little brother." Jinyoung whispered in his ear as they embraced before he addressed the crowd below them, "Hello everyone, and thank you for coming. I am proud to announce that Prince Hyunjin has made his decision!"
The crowd clapped and Hyunjin could feel it thundering in his ears. They became silent as Hyunjin stepped forward, but he could still feel the pounding in his ears. That is, until, he looked into the crowd and saw his Jeongin smiling up at him. Suddenly his head was clear, and he had never been more excited for public speaking.
He took a deep breath, "This night has been amazing. I was skeptical that I would find someone tonight, but I am so happy to say that that is not true. I found someone who, even in this short amount of time, has made me feel like no one else has. Has cared about me for who I am, and who makes me want to know everything about them. Someone who blushes as pretty as a pink petal and laughs like an angel. I have found some who I want to see everyday forever. Please meet my Chosen, Yang Jeongin."
The crowd clapped politely, looking around for the Chosen. Soon Jeongin was emerging from the crowd and joining Hyunjin on his step. Hyunjin placed his forehead on Jeongin's, content to feel the other's breath on his lips. They pulled away soon and Hyunjin held Jeongin in his arms as the boy waved out to the crowd.
"That's my boy!" A loud voice called out from the crowd.
Hyunjin could feel Jeongin laughing in his arms.
"Hi noona!"
Hyunjin looked into the crowd and could see a short-haired woman waving at Jeongin. The infamous Jeongyeon noona. She looked happy, if still a bit in shock. Hyunjin was relieved to see that she didn't appear to be angry. He would not have wanted her to try and take Jeongin away from him.
Jinyoung appeared in front of him, smile wide on his face. He held a hand out for Jeongin to shake, and the boy did so, while also bowing as well as he could with Hyunjin still clinging to his back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Jeongin. I am looking forward to getting to know you better. Welcome to the family."
Jeongin leaned into Hyunjin's hold, "Thank you so much Prince Jinyoung. I'm so happy."
Before Jeongin could say anything else he was yanked out of Hyunjin's hold. Hyunjin almost protested until he recognized that Jeongin had been pulled into the arms of his noona. Hyunjin could only watch as Jeongin snuggled into his sister's hold; he couldn't bear to break that up. Not when they were so clearly celebrating. He had the rest of his life to love his angel, he could give her this at least.
He almost yelled when Jinyoung put his arm around his shoulder. His older brother had come out of nowhere. Jinyoung was smiling watching Jeongin hugging his sister. Hyunjin was glad that it seemed like Jinyoung liked Jeongin, even from the little he had met him.
Jinyoung rested his head against Hyunjin's, "You know this means it's all up to Yeji now, right?"
"Oh my god she's going to kill me."