Into The Mirror

Chapter 16

"Looks like you're stuck with me for a while." Subin nudged Sejun's arm with his shoulder as they walked out of the palace, away from Seungsik.

"I don't have a problem with that." Subin may have blushed at that comment, turning his face away from the older so he wouldn't see.

"I just have a problem with your brother. I don't like him, not one bit." He felt bad practically shit-talking Subin's brother to him, but it had to be said.

"But you understand why he's like that, don't you? He's overprotective. But I've almost gotten used to it, you do when you grow up with it."

"I know. I get that he means well, but he hates me."

"Hate is a strong word." Subin tried to persuade him.

"And he has strong feelings! I can sense it." Subin rolled his eyes.

"He'll come round to you. You just need to stay on his good side, that's all." The prince was hoping it would work, he wanted Sejun to stay and he knew that would only happen if Seungsik was happy for him to. That effectively meant that he needed to not act up while around him.

"I'm not the kind of person who can do that. Have you seen me? I'm a fucking assassin."

"Yes, but a good-looking, kind and funny one - even if it is a weird combination. Just don't kill anyone and you'll be fine." He didn't quite realise what he had said until it had left his mouth so he had to roll with it and hope that Sejun wouldn't question it.

"Am I now?" The older smirked, like usual, seeing how flustered the younger became.

"Shut up!" He lightly slapped his arm, something that had become a habit, especially when Sejun made him flustered or picked up on his comments, like just then.

They continued out of the palace, both of them secretly excited about spending the foreseeable future together.

~~~

"So what do you want to do first? This place is pretty boring, so there's not much to do." He trailed off.

Sejun thought for a moment. "Why don't you give me an official tour around the palace grounds and palace?"

"But you already know it all?" Subin cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"I haven't been here in years. Besides, I kind of blocked as much of it as I could out of my memory after what happened." Sejun had to try and keep his composure from the cuteness of the prince in front of him.

They both knew they had to be careful no matter what happened, because everyone would be watching both of theirs' every move. Although Subin just wanted to act normal around him, he felt like he couldn't while in the palace, which frustrated him. He wanted it to be just him and Sejun so they could both relax and somewhat put their guards down, but that couldn't happen there. There was always servants and other guards who were more than willing to 'report' conversations to others, and that could get very much out of hand.

After having walked around the palace and half of the gardens, they both decided they had had enough and Subin took them to a secluded part of the garden, out of the immediate sight of others there. The spring sunshine had decided to play ball and had come out once again, bathing the whole garden in warm rays. The prince sat down against a large tree that they were currently stood under, looking up at the older like he was asking if he was going to join him and sit down too.

He sat down a few feet away from him on the grass. His arms were behind him, propping himself up, with sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tree and onto his face, which was tilted up towards the sun.

A peaceful silence fell over the two of them, only the sound of the slight breeze rustling the leaves of the tree and a few birds chirping happily to each other filling said silence. They stayed like that for a while, just appreciating the fact that they could relax for a while away from everyone else in the palace. Subin after a while thought that Sejun had fallen asleep, or was at least dozing off, as his breathing had steadied and he wasn't making any small movements, but he began talking, startling the younger.

"You know I can't stay here, right?"

"What do you mean?" Although he already had some kind of idea what he meant.

"I'm going to have to leave at some point." He sighed. "I don't belong here, that much is clear, and I hate to break it to you, but I need to go back to my boss too." He turned to glance at Subin.

"I know. But not yet. You can't leave yet. I don't want you to be put in prison, I know what Seungsik will have done to you." He didn't want to think about it, but he almost had to.

"Not yet." Sejun agreed. "But at some point."

Sejun thought that would have been the end of the conversation, but Subin began speaking again.

"Are you on a job - or whatever you call it - at the moment?"

"What?" The older was shocked at the sudden question.

"You went to see your boss yesterday, didn't you? Did he give you a job?"

"Uh, no. He didn't. That's the only reason I accepted your brother's offer, otherwise I would have left."

"But you would have been locked up!"

"Do you really think they could keep me in there?" The assassin laughed. "I've lost count of the amount of times I've escaped from places like this." He crawled over and sat himself next to the prince, also leaning against the tree.

"I'm not scared of him. I'm not scared of anyone here."

"Even Seungwoo hyung when he's angry?" Subin giggled.

"Okay, maybe, but only that!" Sejun laughed along, internally screaming at the fact that the prince had just giggled.

Once the laughter had subsided, they both sighed in content, Sejun letting his head fall back onto the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes. He felt like he could fully relax for once, let his guard down. It confused him, because he shouldn't feel like that, especially in the place he was out of all places. In the midst of his thinking he felt Subin rest his head on his shoulder, but it still surprised him that the younger could trust him enough to even get that close to him.

Yet, he liked it.

He didn't want to leave both Subin, and the Mirror Kingdom eventually, even though it was inevitable that he would have to. The prince made him want to stay.

~~~

I know it's slightly shorter today, but don't worry, in the next few chapters the pace will pick up! I hope you enjoyed it, nevertheless. 

What do you think about Sejun lying to Subin? Do you think they should be so trusting of everything that has happened?

Have a good day/night  💛