Into The Mirror

Chapter 18

Although Sejun had the journey back to the palace to process the details of his now changed job, he still hadn't, even as he arrived at the gates. Seungyoun as usual let him in, offering a smile after seeing his somewhat glum face. The assassin tried his best to act normally, or what had become normal in the past month, and smiled back, thanking him as he passed.

He made a bee-line for the palace, expecting to find Subin somewhere in there, either with one of his brothers, or holed up in his bedroom. Yet, when he checked with both the other princes and in Subin's room, he was nowhere to be found, panicking Sejun. He couldn't have left, they had an agreement, and he surely wouldn't have gone against that - seeing how close the two of them were.

"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind Sejun, making him jump and let out a noise of surprise.

"You dick!" He shouted at Seungwoo while he was nearly on the floor from laughing so much. "It's not funny!" He slapped his arm, the older showing no signs of stopping.

"You... your-" Seungwoo tried to talk, but ended up laughing again at the assassin's offended face.

"Your face!" He wiped away the tears in his eyes from laughing so much. "You still react in the same way."

His comment made both of them reminisce on the countless times that Sejun had been scared by something or someone, usually Seungwoo, when they were children. He still reacted in the same way he did all those years ago.

"Shut up!" He shoved the older once again, refusing to acknowledge that he was right.

"Are you looking for Subin?"

"Yeah. I didn't see him before I left this morning."

"Which, let me guess, means you're going to not leave his side for the rest of the day?" Seungwoo teased.

"It's my job, I'll have you know."

"Sure." He didn't seem convinced. "But I think he's somewhere in the gardens, I think something happened, but I'll let you deal with that." Sejun thanked Seungwoo and made his way into the gardens, instantly knowing where the prince was most likely to be.

Seungwoo watched his friend leave the palace and enter the gardens, a fond smile on his lips. He was happy that Sejun had come back into his life, he missed him greatly, and seeing him also happy was the best part. He hadn't seen him that happy since they were children, and he could almost guarantee that it had something to do with the youngest prince.

~~~

Subin was, in fact, where Sejun thought he would be. Sat under the same tree that they went to on the first day of the assassin staying in the palace. Of course he would be there, why didn't he think of that to begin with?

The prince was sat with his back pressed up against the trunk of the tree, his legs pulled up to his chest, and his chin resting on his knees, making him look like he was pouting (well, more than he already was).

Subin was aware of his presence, which he knew, but he made no effort to acknowledge it. He didn't even lift his head to look at the older when he sat down, even when their shoulders brushed.

"What did I do this time?" Sejun jokingly asked, trying to get some kind of answer, however, he just turned his head away from the older, mumbling a response.

"It's not you."

Sejun frowned. He wasn't expecting to arrive back to a grumpy Subin. Usually he was ecstatic to see him whenever he arrived back from any of the places he'd gone to, yet not this time.

"Do I not even get a hug this time?" Subin turned his head towards the older, getting shocked at how close his face now was to his. Their noses were nearly touching, and Sejun could clearly see both panic and something else unidentifiable in the younger's eyes.

The prince unwrapped his arms from around his legs and around Sejun, burying his face in his neck. The older wrapped his arms around him, but in the process accidentally making him lose his balance so he practically fell into his lap - not that either of them minded.

Subin's body tensed at first, but soon relaxed, as he let out a sigh of contentment, feeling all of his worries dissipate in that moment.

"What happened?" Sejun tried again after a few minutes, feeling the younger's body tense in his arms once again. He felt him shake his head.

"Look at me, please?" He spoke softly.

Subin slowly lifted his head off of the older's shoulder, shocking him that there were tears in his eyes.

"I don't know." He tried his hardest not to cry, he didn't want to be the crybaby that everyone said he was.

"I just feel... I don't even know how I feel." A tear rolled down his cheek, followed by a few more. "I'm... confused."

Sejun used his thumb to lightly swipe away the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. "About what?" He looked the younger in the eye, getting drawn into how pretty they were.

"About why my heart is beating to fast right now." He whispered, staring back into Sejun's eyes.

The older's eyes flickered down to the prince's lips as they both leaned in slowly. Subin closed his eyes, feeling Sejun's lips against his. A shy smile graced his lips as he pulled away, light pink dusting his cheeks as he rested his forehead against Sejun's.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." Sejun whispered, looking a shy Subin in the eye once again.

"Me too." He whispered back in reply, the smile not leaving his lips.

And in that moment, both of them felt entirely at peace.

~~~

So, I was listening to Nostalgic Night and Beautiful Moment (by K.Will) while writing this... anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry it's so short! It was either content or gay and you can tell which one I chose.

Also, thank you so much for 1k reads, it really does mean the world to me!

Have a good day/night 💛