"Come on Taeyong! Hurry up we're gonna miss the announcement!" A boy calls out behind him as they run towards the large crowd of people.
"I'm trying!" Taeyong yells back in an effort to show that he truly was.
Once the 3 boys and 2 girls got to the crowd, they all tried to see but there were too many people in front of them. The whole town was here, and for one thing.
The queen and king of the northern hills arrival was today, and so was the princes. The girls in the towns heard the news and went crazy as they all had their best clothes on, which was a dress and a corset that Taeyong thought would suffocate them.
"Look! There he is!" Taeyong snapped his head to to the front, and saw a small fat man holding a rather large tube.
"Attention all citizens of Klax town! The Queen and King and their Prince have arrived today safely from their northern palace! Tonight, they are throwing a ball at the royal palace! All are to be invited and to show up in their best clothing!" The crowd cheered in excitement, and Taeyong looked over to find his friends slapping hands with one another.
"Quiet down! Quiet! There will also be a courtesy for the Prince, as the Queen and King have wished upon our maidens to become his wife!" The women in the crowd screamed out in laughter and happiness at this, volume going up by the second.
Whatever the juke-man said next wasn't heard, or wasn't important as he said it and want back into the carriage he came from.
"Guys we gotta go get ready! It's already half passed 7!" The black headed boy, Jeno, requested eagerly.
"Jeno's right!" Another boy with brown fluffy locks, Mark, agreed.
"I can't go." Taeyong interrupts, getting everyone's attention.
"Why not Tae?" A reddish brown hair boy asks, Haechan.
"I have to take care of my mom, I can't leave her alone at night. I also have nothing to wear." Taeyong explains quietly, looking apologetic.
"I'll take care of your mom Taeyong-" The 2nd to only girl in their group spoke up.
"No no Dahyun don't worry about it. I never liked parties anyway. I'll be fine, just grab some food while your there, yea?" Taeyong asks, and they all agreed full heartedly.
Heading home, the boys split and went into their houses to get ready for the ball. All except Taeyong, who stepped into his house and went to see his mother. She was lying on her bed, asleep soundly as she has been for the past few months. Taeyong never talked about it much, but his mother was sick. She got ill during winter when a large snow covered their town, and left frost everywhere. All their crops died and many fell sick due to the change in temperature and barely any food. His mother was one of those victims. It was spring time now, however, she was not better.
Taeyong went into the kitchen, taking his shoes off as he hung up his flimsy coat on a railing. He then got some water and put it into a tea pan, putting it on top of a burning flame that warmed their house.
Taeyong was not wealthy, in fact, he was very poor in their town. He didn't have his own bed, their house did not carry electricity like some other houses, he only had 4 pieces of clothing, and barely made money to get himself and his mother by.
'It is not an easy life,' that is what his father told him before he passed away, right in front of him from an illness Taeyong still did not know of to this day.
Waiting to let the water boil, he stared at it aimlessly. He had lied when he said he didn't like parties, he just didn't want his friends to feel bad for him. He wanted them to have fun even if he couldn't, in which he never did. Many of the town people have told him to just put his mother out of her misery, but he's never taken their word. His mother was his everything, the only thing he had left. Taeyong didn't know what he would do if his mother went away.
The water started boiling, and that's when he added some herbs to it he gathered yesterday while hunting. His hunting was failure, he never got to catch his prey.
Taking the water off, he put it into a small chipped cup and made his way back to his mothers room. Walking in, he set the warm water down on her bedside table.
"Taeyong," his mother calls him weakly, and Taeyong is quick to listen.
"Yes mom?"
"Why are you here?" She asks softly, her eyes barely open as her thin hair lays lazily across her pillow.
"I need to take care of you." Taeyong answers, as if reminding her she is ill.
"Go to the ball." His mother suggest, and Taeyong shakes his head.
"I can't leave you here." He objects, helping her sit up on a stack of pillows.
"Go to the ball." She repeats, staring at him as he hands her the warm herb water.
"I have nothing to wear." He argues.
"Your father does." That sentence made Taeyong freeze, staring at the end of the bed.
A moment of silence passes through the room as Taeyong switches his gaze from the bed sheets to the window.
"I can't." Taeyong whispers.
"You can. He would want you to son." His mother has a small weak smile now, staring at Taeyong.
"What about you?" Taeyong questions, and his mother shakes her head.
"I'm a grown woman, I can survive a night without supervision." She jokes, and Taeyong presses his lips into a thin line. "You know where it is." His mother adds softly.
Taeyong stays still for a moment before getting up and slowly making his way towards the closet in the corner. He opens it, making a creaky noise as he opens it widely. Looking down his eyes catch a brown box that had dust piled up on its front. He bites his lip, feeling anxious to even grab it.
He bends down slowly, wiping the dust off the leather brown case that held his fathers suit. His hands slightly trembled as he unlocked the lock, and opened it revealing a pure white suit. He stared at it for a moment, and then grabbed it, bringing it up to see the blazer. It had some dust, but not a touch of imperfectness was on the white fabric.
Something about seeing the clothing made Taeyong feel nostalgic, imagining his father walking around in the exact same blazer 4 years ago. It still looks the same. A single tear drop falls down his cheek and onto the hard wood floor below him,
"It still looks the same." Taeyong whispers inaudibly.
"I can still see him wearing it." His mother sighs, and takes a sip from her cup. "Go ahead son, put it on."
Taeyong hesitates before standing up, thinking about his father one last time. He gritted his teeth, standing up straight as he picked up the brown case. Stepping into the bathroom, he took out the white pants and blazer. Stripping himself of his own clothes, he puts on his fathers. A familiar scent passes his nose, and lingers. It still smells like his father, lavender and honey tea he used to drink every morning. How he missed this smell.
After a minute, he had them both on, and looked at himself in the broken mirror. It fit perfectly, almost too perfectly. The blazer nor pants were stained, the wrinkles were naturally placed, and the buttons were still tightly sewed. Taeyong stared at himself, seeing his father in the mirror rather than himself. He imagined his fathers dark black hair, thin frame, and hearty laugh he would let out here and there. He missed it, he missed him. More than anything, he would give up everything to just see his father again.
Taeyong slowly stepped out of the bathroom to meet his own eyes with his mother's.
"You look just like your father." She whispers.
Taeyong could only crack a small smile, and gulp nervously.
"Are you gonna be okay?" He asks to make sure.
"I'll be right here when you get back." His mother assured him.
"Bye mom."
"Bye Tae, have fun." She wished him, and he left.
Taeyong rushed to meet with his friends, as they did not know he was coming. On the way however, he was stopped by a beautiful flower. It was purple, and large for its small stem. He picked it, and put it in his pocket to show some color from the white suit.
He then saw Jeno's raven dark hair amongst others, and yelled out to him which caught the whole groups attention. Taeyong then noticed Tzuyu and Dahyun were wearing white dresses with laces, and Jeno, Haechan and Mark were wearing some peachy colored suits.
"Tae! I thought you weren't coming- look at you!" Jeno complimented, eyes catching the white suit.
"I know, but my mom said I could." Taeyong realized only after he said that sentence was it pure childish.
"Guys were all matching!" Dahyun asserted with a goofy smile, linking arms with Tzuyu.
"Haha cute, anyways your just in time, we're entering the gates!" Tzuyu says enthusiastically.
Taeyong didn't notice as he was too much in a rush to get through people, but she was right. They were just about to enter the gates of the palace. He suddenly felt scared, but excited at the same time as he had never been beyond the gates of the palace. His eyes widened as he realized just how large the palace really was. There was a water fountain, large trees, many people on the balcony, and the grass was green. It looked like a fantasy.
Entering the palace, Taeyong started to look around at other people. They were holding things, such as gold and silver. Lots of expensive minerals. He then looked back at his friends and realized they were holding minerals too, and furrowed his eyes.
"Guys why are you all-" Taeyong started to talk, but was quickly interrupted.
"Guys look it's Prince Jaehyun!" Dahyun cut him off, pointing towards the front of the line revealing Jung Jaehyun sitting their on his throne.
"We'll meet your guys in the ballroom, I need something to drink." Tzuyu gave a heads up, dragging Dahyun with her to the front of the line.
"Wow, he's even hotter in real life." A girl behind Taeyong said aloud, and he raised an eyebrow.
He looked towards the Prince, who looked like he bored out of his mind. Taeyong wanted to laugh at the expressions he forced himself to make at the people greeting themselves before him. However, that soon turned into realization that they weren't just bowing and entering the ball room, they were dropping gold and silver at his feet. He was suppose to bring a gift.
Taeyong panicked, but the line was moving to fast. He knew he had no time to go find silver or gold, or even copper. He had nothing of such, he barley held a coin in a week. His breaths became short, and he looked down at the pile of minerals below Jaehyuns feet. They never specified he had to bring such expensive things, and his eyes feasted upon the shine of gold. How he would love to just have one coin.
His thoughts were quickly snapped back into reality once he realized he was next to give Jaehyun a gift, and wished the person in front of him would give his gift as slowly as possible. However, his wish was quickly ignored as the person flipped a gold coin into the pile, bowed, and went away.
Taeyong stood their frozen, staring at Jaehyun. His hands felt sweaty, and his teeth gritted themselves.
"Don't you have an offer boy?" A guard from the side asked him quietly, and Taeyong thought for a moment.
His mind then snapped into action and his slim hand reached up without second thought, grabbing the purple flower from his blazer. Bringing it out, he couldn't even look at the Prince in front of him. He was too ashamed as he set the pretty toned flower onto the pile of riches. His face felt like it was on fire, in embarrassment as he felt like an outcast. He then quickly made his way into the ballroom, crowding himself with people to feel unseen. Jeno, Mark, and Haechan were all in the ballroom, and so was his whole town, however it felt like he was in a room full of strangers. Strangers who stared at him like he didn't belong.
Taeyong felt sick, and looked around him to see everybody laughing and having fun. He hated this, he hated feeling this way. He hated how his hands sweated from anxiety, and how his breathing was un-normal. He hated himself, more than anything right now. Why couldn't he just fit in? Why couldn't he have fun with the crowd and not act like he wasn't invited?
Taeyong thought he should leave, and quickly decided to. He should've never came in the first place, he should've never put on his fathers blazer only to disappoint him and his mother. He should've never left home.
Pushing his way through the crowd, he became more desperate to just get out of the ball room. He felt like he was suffocating in the bodies of people he couldn't even recognize at the point, and wanted to just isolate himself. Just then, he saw the opening of the ball room doors into a empty corridor and raced his way there. His feet moved by themselves, and he didn't know when but he ended up in the corridor and sped down the hall trying to find a way out.
He turned a corner, and saw an exit that revealed the outside. He suddenly began to run for that exit, but was abruptly stopped when he collided into something hard. He staggered back, but a hand jolted out to grasp his own- preventing him from falling.
"Oh I'm so sorry-" Taeyong started, but his voice was quickly caught in his throat as he looked up to see the person he bumped into.
'Dear god save me.' Was Taeyongs exact words that he said in his mind as he looked up to meet the eyes of Jung Jaehyun.
Taeyong took in his features quickly, as his body was on fire from the grip Jaehyun had on his wrist. The brown sharp eyes, the manly structured face, the soft brown hair, it was everything a prince should have. Jaehyun had just that.
"It's you." Jaehyun whispers, his eyes furrowing.
Taeyong didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then realized quickly. He felt a burning sensation run through his heart, and he frowned deeply as he stared at the ground.
"I-I'm sorry. I should've never came- I should go." Taeyong said quickly and tugged his wrist back as he scurried past Jaehyun, feeling so low he wanted to cry.
"No wait!" A voice called out from behind Taeyong.
Taeyong didn't know what made him stop, maybe it was desperation in the males voice, or maybe it was his instinct, he didn't know.
"Stay, enjoy the ball." Jaehyun suggests behind him, but Taeyong truly just wanted to go home and cry in shame.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I should leave." Taeyong started walking again, but this time a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could walk out the doors.
"I liked your flower!" Jaehyun yells out, and Taeyong furrows his eyes in confusion.
He turns around, slowly to meet Jaehyuns eyes.
"It's ok, you don't have to lie to me. In all honestly I didn't know we had to bring a gift...." Taeyong says truthfully, "that was all I had." He whispers, and stares at the floor.
"No I mean it, I liked it. In fact, it's the only gift I kept." Jaehyun admits back, and reaches behind his back to pull out the purple flower Taeyong gave him. "It was nice receiving something that wasn't worthless."
Taeyong looks up in shock, at the flower, then at Jaehyun. He was confused, he really was. Aren't princes suppose to be stubborn, spoiled and arrogant? Why wasn't Jaehyun like that, why did he keep his flower?
"I never got your name." Jaehyun suddenly asks, staring at Taeyong.
"Taeyong. Lee Taeyong." Taeyong whispers, fiddling with his fingers. "So you...like the flower?" Taeyong asks softly.
"Yes, I do." Jaehyun answers with a breathtaking smile. "So, will you stay?" Jaehyun asks hopefully.
Taeyong thought for a moment, deciding whether he should leave and go home to mope, or stay and make a memory at a palace he's never been in. He looked up at Jaehyun for a moment, and then decided in the glint of his eyes.
"Where's the harm?" Taeyong whispers.
Part 2?