Chapter Text
Jeyou huffed as he ran quickly out of Jaeyun's office, not even fully closing the door behind him. He grinned widely, sprinting down the hall as fast as he could. He ran down the stairs and through the main hall, straight to where he knew Jerome would be in his absence. He burst through the doors of the library and ran to the back left corner, weaving between shelves and library staff. He cut around a corner and saw Jerome, who jumped up from his sitting place as soon as their eyes met. Jeyou, unable to slow himself in time, grasped Jerome's upper arms and felt their bodies collide. They fell back onto the padded lounge chair with an 'oof' and sat in silence for a moment.
"Well hello to you too Jeyou. It's very lovely to see you after I just saw you not even two hours ago." Jerome finally spoke, looking to where Jeyou had his face tucked below his chin. He felt Jeyou grin, shaking with silent laughter before he sat up abruptly. He still had a wide grin and adjusted himself to sit properly over Jerome's legs, swinging to sit sideways. Jerome let his arm fall naturally behind his back and looked at him expectantly.
"Did you find out what Jaeyun wanted to talk to you about?" Jerome asked, looking at Jeyou's dumb smile fondly. Jeyou smiled, shaking his head vigorously as his smile grew.
"Are you going to tell me what it was or...?" Jerome continued when all Jeyou did was smile and nod. Jeyou began to speak, words coming too fast to properly understand. Jerome grinned and slapped a hand over Jeyou's mouth. Jeyou looked at him with wide eyes before his eyebrows furrowed, lip coming out to lightly touch Jerome's palm in a pout. They sat at a stand still briefly before Jeyou stuck out his tongue, licking the hand that was silencing him. Jerome just looked at him with a raised brow.
"I've kissed you before. Do you think that really bothers me?" He spoke monotonously, still maintaining his condescending look. Jeyou reached up and pried Jerome's hand away from his mouth, his lip still out in a pout.
"First of all, you're very rude and I can't believe I ever liked you." Jeyou spoke in offense, glaring with no real heat. Jerome simply grinned and gestured for him to go on.
"And second of all, Jaeyun said he convinced my father to let me start training with Donggeon again!" Jeyou bounced where he was still seated, grabbing Jerome's shirt collar and shaking him lightly. Jerome laughed brightly, reaching up tp wrap him hands around Jeyou's wrists to stop him from shaking.
"That's great!" He exclaimed happily, "I wonder why he suddenly agreed though. Haven't you been trying to convince him to let you resume since he took you out of training like six months ago?"
Jeyou nodded excitedly, "Yes! That's why I'm so excited about this!"
Jerome simply threw his arms the rest of the way around Jeyou's body and drew him in tight, squeezing until Jeyou smacked his arm.
"I just got good news, don't try and kill me yet." Jeyou glared, sitting back up.
"Where's the fun in that? Maybe you can use some of that training you get from Donggeon." Jerome pinched Jeyou's side causing him to squeal and fall to the floor. Jeyou looked up with a pout from where he landed.
"No, but seriously, why do you think your father suddenly changed his mind after all these months?" Jerome asked as Jeyou readjusted himself to sit cross-legged on the floor. Jeyou hummed and leaned forward to rest his head against Jerome's knees.
"If I'm completely honest, I don't actually know." He started after a moment of thinking. "It is kind of odd though. He's usually so stubborn, so for him to suddenly change his mind so quickly without the influence of my mother...it's just a little bit weird."
Jerome hummed in response and they sat in silence for a moment longer.
"Do you think it has anything to do with why the Dragonborn were here?" He eventually spoke again. Jeyou looked up with wide eyes.
"I didn't even think of that!" He exclaimed, lifting his head. "I wonder what could be so serious though. Not only for him to call reinforcements, Dragonborn reinforcements at that, but for him to also put me back into defense training. It all raises a lot of questions."
___
Jeyou looked over as he heard a soft voice call his name. He met his mother's eyes and smiled widely. He stopped walking and waited for her to catch up to him, offering his arm when she finally reached his side. She slid her arm through his with a smile, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his cheek, exactly in the place a dimple would appear if he smiled.
"My sweet boy." She spoke lovingly, lowering herself back on to flat feet.
"Hello Mother," Jeyou bowed his head slightly, raising a hand to rest atop hers where it wrapped around his arm, "How have you been today?"
She continued to smile as they began walking again.
"I've been wonderful, even better now that I get to see you." She spoke cheerfully. Jeyou could only chuckle softly and shake his head. Sometimes his parents were so different that he couldn't believe they could ever stand to be around each other.
"The same goes for me Mother. My day is always better in your company." He scrunched his nose at her as they approached the doors for the dining hall. She laughed, patting his arm. He reached out and took the door handle, swinging the door open. He held an arm out and gestured for his mother to go first, bowing with a flourish when she thanked him. They were currently the only people in the dining hall and made their way to their respective seats. Jeyou sat to the left of his father, who usually sat at the head of the table. His mother sat straight across from him.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to wash up quickly before I came to join you." Jerome bowed shortly before grinning and making his way to sit next to Jeyou. He grinned at Jeyou's mother and sat.
"Your Majesty," He greeted joyfully, "You look just as beautiful as always."
The Queen laughed and waved him away.
"You always flatter me Jerome. Truly, I think you treat me better than my own son sometimes." She teased, grinning at the noise of offense Jeyou let out at the statement. Jerome prepared to answer before the door was swung open once again. All heads turned to look as the King walked through the doors. Everybody stood to greet him.
"Father," Jeyou bowed, "It's wonderful to see you."
The King smiled and gestured for them all to relax.
"Please relax, I have some news to share with you." The King spoke as he made his way to his seat. He stopped just behind it and waited for the other three to look at him before he continued.
"We will be having guests for the foreseeable future." He made eye contact with each of them before continuing, "Everybody please greet Prince Chanhyuk and Prince Chihoon from the kingdom of Vaessicia, as well as their companion Woonggi."
Chihoon grimaced at the title given to him.
"Please just call me by my name. I'm not a prince." He requested, bowing his head towards the table. Chan looked over at him briefly before turning to scan the table. He found Jeyou's eyes and grinned a sharp grin.
"Hello. I am Prince Chanhyuk of Vaessicia, but please do just call me Chan. It's a pleasure to formally meet you." He spoke generally, but held eye contact with Jeyou throughout the introduction. A third male, the same from the garden, stepped up to introduce himself. Jeyou only caught his name, Woonggi, as he was still caught up in his staring contest with the other prince. He furrowed his eyebrows in what he hoped was a mean glare, still not happy with being called a kid earlier. Chan simply smiled wider and suppressed a laugh.
Jeyou felt an elbow softly hit his side and realized that everyone was beginning to sit. He bowed one last time to their guests before he sat.
"What was that all about?" Jerome murmured quietly when they properly settled into their seats.
"What are you talking about?" Jeyou asked quietly in return. He glanced at Jerome from the corner of this eye.
"Oh you know, the whole holding intense eye contact while he spoke thing." Jerome nodded subtly towards the other end of the table where Chan and his companions had settled. Jeyou looked over briefly before he turned to look at Jerome.
"I was trying to be intimidating. I'm still mad about the kid comments from earlier. I wasn't about to lose a war of nerves." Jeyou explained, a pout subconsciously making itself known. Jerome grinned and a spark of something flared in his eyes.
"Really? Cause to me it looked more like you were just admiring his face." He responded, jumping when a loud cough sounded from the end of the table. They both swung around to watch Chan hit himself in the chest, Chihoon patting his back with a concerned look.
"I'm sorry. I'm fine, I just drank my water too fast." Chan explained quickly after calming down, a mysterious color staining his ears and cheeks. The Queen checked on him in concern, signaling a maid over to get him a towel. Jerome looked over at Jeyou with wide eyes.
"I don't know what it is, but something is telling me that he heard that." Jerome spoke sheepishly while Jeyou glared at him.
"Great! Now he really isn't going to take me seriously, because he thinks I have a crush on him!" Jeyou exclaimed quietly, an incredulous look on his face. Jerome just stared at him for a moment.
"Which I don't!" Jeyou continued when his bestfriend did nothing but look at him.
"Okay okay." Jerome slightly raised his hands with a teasing grin. Jeyou glared at him and huffed, turning towards his plate to finally begin eating dinner. Jerome laughed quietly and followed the example, taking a small bite of their dinner.
___
Chan felt an elbow nudge him lightly in the ribs and looked over to look at Woonggi.
"What was that all about?" He asked, scanning Chan's face shortly before meeting his eyes.
"Nothing. I just heard a part of a conversation I don't think I was supposed to hear." He answered, looking back to his plate. Woonggi grinned and leaned towards him slightly.
"What? The part about the prince having a crush on you?" Woonggi grinned as the color on Chan's ears darkened again.
"You know I wasn't joking earlier, the kid is pretty cute..." Woonggi trailed off, letting his gaze drift to where the prince was gesturing frantically to his friend. "We will be here for a while from what it sounds like."
Chan looked up abruptly and followed Woonggi's gaze.
"While I appreciate your opinion, I don't remember ever asking for it." Chan eventually responded, watching Jeyou huff and turn to look at his plate. "We're here to help the King, not to make friends Woonggi."
Chan drew his eyes away from the prince to meet Woonggi's evenly. The younger man held his gaze confidently with a low hum.
"You know something casual wouldn't hurt. " Woonggi watched Chan turn to look back at his dinner, pushing it around a bit before taking a bite. "We'll be here for a couple of months at least, who says you have to fall in love or develop a relationship in that time. It doesn't have to mean anything." Woonggi spoke with a mischievous grin, nudging Chan's shoulder lightly.
Chan grunted lowly with furrowed brows.
"I already gave you my answer. I'm not here to make friends, even the physical kind." Chan glanced sharply to the side, gazing at Woonggi before looking to eat more of his dinner. Woonggi simply shrugged.
"Well if you won't try then I don't see why I couldn't." Woonggi ran his eyes appreciatively for a moment. "I did hear him refute the crush claim."
He spoke casually and Chan simply hummed with food in his mouth. He swallowed and joined Woonggi in looking at the prince, who seemed too preoccupied to realize the attention.
"Just don't let it distract you." He said lowly, running a million bad scenarios through his head.
"Of course boss." Woonggi saluted mockingly, bowing his head towards the table.
___
As the last dinner plate was cleared, Jeyou stood from the table. He gave a short bow to both his mother and father before pushing in his chair and stepping away from the table. He heard Jerome join him from the side, chair softly tapping against the table's edge.
"Mother, Father, if I could have your permission I would like to return to my quarters to rest." he spoke softly, making brief eye contact with both them before waiting for an answer. His father hummed in thought for a short moment.
"Of course, it is getting quite late." The King eventually spoke and Jeyou gave a small grin, ready to thank him before the King continued to speak, "Would you mind showing our guests their quarters as well? I'm sure they're all quite exhausted after the long trip here this morning."
Jeyou felt his grin tighten into something resembling more of a grimace. He knew this wasn't actually a request. It was an order hidden within pleasantries. Jeyou swallowed harshly and glanced to where the other prince sat conversing seriously about something with his companions.
"Of course we wouldn't mind. It is on our way to our rooms after all." Jerome jumped in quickly, grabbing Jeyou's arm harshly. He looked at the King with an innocent smile and Jeyou turned to look at him just as harshly.
"Yes, of course we could do that Father. I assume they're going to be staying in the usual guests quarters?" Jeyou followed up, roughly tugging his arm out of Jerome's hold with a tight smile. His father looked between them briefly before deciding to let it go.
"Actually, these guests will be staying a bit longer than the typical guests. I have had the maids prepare their rooms on the same floor as yours and Jerome's. I trust them not to cause in trouble." He glanced quickly over Jeyou's shoulder at the last sentence, giving only a small warning before Jeyou felt heat against the back of said shoulder.
"Of course Your Highness. We will be the most well-behaved guests ever received in this palace. You won't even know that we're here." Jeyou felt a chest vibrate behind him, turning quickly to meet eye-level with a sharp jaw-line. He felt his breath catch and jerked back slightly in surprise. He quickly turned to look back towards his father, ignoring the man standing almost directly behind him at the table. The King smiled a kind smile.
"Wonderful. We would hate to have anything happen to anyone. There's already too many accidents these days, with the recent problems arising." The King's smile was warm, but his eyes were sharp. Jeyou felt the man to his side stiffen, the threat very apparent to him. Chan felt his eyes reflexively flash, a low growl building in his chest at the provocation. He swallowed it down with a grin, hoping his eyes had returned to their natural color.
"Of course Your Highness. One could only imagine what would happen if one of these accidents were to occur. I'm sure my father would be absolutely devastated." Chan replied in a calm voice, an easy smile still painting his lips. He could see the King's smile tighten slightly in return, but no more words were spoken to him.
"Now, I think it's about time you kids get off to bed, don't you think so?" The King looked back towards Jeyou, who nodded quietly. He turned his head slightly towards the man behind him.
"Are you ready to see your quarters, Prince Chanhyuk?" He asked softly, having physically felt the tension across the other man's shoulders. Chan glanced down to meet his eyes quickly before giving a short nod, turning sharply to gather his companions at the end of the table. Jeyou bowed quickly to his father and walked stiffly to the other side of the table where his mother sat.
"Goodnight Mother." He murmured, leaning down to give her a short hug. She gently kissed the top of his head, running her hand through his hair briefly. She smiled at him and pinched his cheek softly.
"Goodnight my boy, please do sleep well. I like to see you healthy." She spoke softly and Jeyou nodded with a small grin. Jerome walked over to bid the queen goodnight as well before standing and looking at Jeyou, head gesturing towards the doors. Jeyou took a deep breath and nodded, starting towards the doors and stopping shortly to let their guests join them before continuing on. He pushed the doors open and led them down the hall, towards a long stairwell.
___
"What was that about?" Chihoon spoke lowly when Chan returned to them, a very faint orange glow just on the edges of his irises. Chan let out a harsh breath and roughly dragged a hand through his hair, gripping and pulling quickly before letting it go. He let his hand rest on his forehead and closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths in and out. He felt Chihoon rest a gentle hand on his shoulder, rubbing soothingly down his collarbone and back up, the circular motion helping to calm Chan's rapid heartbeat.
"What happened over there? I saw you flash." Chihoon spoke again, voice taking on a slightly harder edge. Woonggi walked around the table end to join them as well, sparing a short glance to where the King sat. He stopped next to Chihoon and looked expectantly at Chan, waiting for an answer as well.
"Nothing worth starting a fight over. Watch yourselves. They will prepare each of us separate rooms, but until I give the order, we stay in one room with one person posted at the door at all times. We might be the ones here to help, but we aren't truly welcomed." Chan spoke lowly, glowing blue eyes flitting between his two companions. They both nodded, Chihoon squeezing Chan's shoulder briefly once more before letting his hand slide away.
"We were threatened?" Woonggi guessed, arms crossing over chest and a rare serious expression resting across his features. Chan nodded shortly, leaning back on his heels to try and force his body to release some tension.
"Not directly, but obviously enough to force a reaction. My advice Woonggi? Stay away from the prince." Chan mumbled, glancing to where the smiling prince was talking sweetly to his mother. Woonggi followed his gaze and pouted, instantly breaking to serious atmosphere they found themselves surrounded in.
"But Chan..." He whined, arms dropping to his side. Chihoon closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of this nose, shaking his head. Chan felt the corners of his lips tilt up and felt his eyes fade back to their brown color, the lighting in the room seeming just a bit dimmer than they were a few seconds previous.
"Yes Woonggi?" Chan humored the younger, maintaining his straight face while making eye contact.
"Chanhyuk listen," Woonggi began again, dropped arms coming back up to rest his hands against his hips. "I'm a very social creature and when I tell you that I will not survive months only talking to you and mister 'I would rather sleep than talk', I'm not lying."
Chihoon sent a glare towards the younger, huffing quietly, but not saying a word to argue. Chan simply shook his head lightly and felt the rest of the tension melt from his body.
"Then continue with your plan to befriend the Prince," Chan began, throwing an arm over Woonggi's shoulders. "But if he decides to have you beheaded then I can't say I didn't tell you so."
Chan joked lightly, but both of them knew that if it actually came to that point Chan would kill every person that stood in his way to make sure it never happened.
"Are you all ready to go?" A soft voice paused their joking. They all turned to see the prince, still with a slightly awkward smile resting on his lips.
"Yes, please do show us our rooms." Chan spoke dully in return. He no longer had any interest in teasing the boy in front of him. Chan felt the gaze of eyes to his right and glanced to see the King watching them carefully, he turned his head sharply and flashed his eyes once more before stiffly turning away from the king and joining the shorter prince by the dining hall doors.
"Hello!" The taller boy by the door greeted once they were closer, "I don't think I actually got to introduce myself earlier in the garden. My name is Seongmin, but please do call me Jerome."
"It's a pleasure Jerome, you heard my introduction earlier, but I'm Chanhyuk." Chan smiled at the younger boy, gesturing towards his friends, "These are my companions, Chihoon and Woonggi."
The two waved quietly as they walked through the, now open, dining hall doors and headed towards a stairwell down the corridor.
"We have to go up two floors, if you need a break just let me know." Jeyou warned them as they started up the stairs, voice still quiet.
"I think we'll be fine Prince." Chan spoke in an even tone, not even bothering to look at Jeyou. Jeyou simply nodded and stayed quiet. Woonggi sharply jabbed an elbow into Chan's side with a glare, speeding up to walk next to Jeyou and Jerome. Chan just shook his head and stayed where he was, feeling Chihoon move over to fill Woonggi's spot.
"You don't have to be mean to the kid just because his father said some things." Chihoon admonished quietly. Chan stayed quiet and stared straight ahead.
"You are the one that decided to stay and help the King. You said you weren't here to make friends and that's understandable, but remember you also aren't here to make enemies. Just something for you to think hard about before you cause something irreversible." Chihoon continued before falling silent. Chan didn't answer once again, but let out a deep breath.
____
"I'm sorry about Chan." Woonggi spoke softly when he caught up to the quiet prince and his friend. Jeyou simply hummed shortly and glanced over.
"It's fine, my father did threaten him after all." Jeyou spoke softly in return, eyes finding the floor again.
"That still doesn't give him the reason to act the way he just did. We are here to help, not to make the people here uncomfortable." Woonggi continued to speak in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"And what exactly are you here to help with?" Jeyou's eyes cut sideways sharply causing Woonggi to flinch back slightly.
"I...we..." Woonggi stuttered slightly, not having expected the sudden sharp words.
"I'm sorry kid, but that's currently classified information." Chihoon answered as he fell into step with them. Jeyou flicked his eyes between the two dragonborn, settling his gaze against Chihoon's. They held the contact for a few seconds, that felt like years, before Jeyou let his eyes fall with a shrug.
"Whatever." He let the words slide between his lips with no real meaning, brain turning a mile a minute. They fell back into silence as Jeyou thought before Woonggi suddenly broke it.
"Do you mind?" Woonggi asked after a short few steps. Jeyou looked at him in confusion and Woonggi mimed resting his hand on Jeyou's arm.
"Oh...I don't mind." Jeyou gave the man a small smile and tilted his head slightly. Woonggi smiled in return and gently rested his hand on the upper arm next to him. He squeezed softly in hopes to release some of the tension left from the dining hall.
"You know we don't mean any harm by being here." He spoke quietly, leaning forward in an attempt to meet the prince's eyes. Jeyou met his eyes and gave an easy smile, resting a hand lightly over the one that still laid against his arm.
"Of course I know that Woonggi. I was simply just curious." Jeyou gave one last smile before they rounded the corner. The next corridor was lined with doors on each side. Jeyou lead their small group to a large, dark-wooded door and stopped.
"I believe this is the first room that was prepared. The other two will be the ones directly next to this one down the hall." Jeyou gestured to the mentioned doors and looked back to the group he was leading. He sought out Chan's eyes and flashed him the best smile he could muster at the moment.
"Is that acceptable your Highness?" Jeyou asked with a sharp glint in his eye, holding his gaze as the prince scanned his face.
"Yes it is. Thank you for your accommodation." Chan replied after a short moment of tense silence. Jeyou simply nodded and let his smile drop.
"Great! Then I do believe that my job here is done." Jeyou spoke with false excitement, clapping his hands shortly. "I will bid you all a good night and retire to my room."
Jeyou gave a short bow and met Woonggi's eyes one more time with a wide dimpled smile. "Goodnight Woonggi. Hopefully we will see each other again soon."
Woonggi smiled and bowed his head in return. "Hopefully we will Prince. Rest well."
With that Jeyou turned and began walking away, letting his face drop back into a neutral expression. He heard Jerome's light footsteps join his as they walked further down the corridor and the door to the guest's rooms opening and closing quietly. They walked just a bit longer before Jerome let his voice carry.
"You're playing that boy harder than you play games." Jerome spoke with amusement coloring his voice. Jeyou hummed and glanced around the corridor.
"Of course I am." Jeyou replied boredly, rolling his head to grin at Jerome. "Now, I do think it's time to figure out why they're actually here."