Night Prince

"We need more wood." Pyo Chi Su shouted over his shoulder.

"On it!" Eun Dong jumped up and dusted off his hands.

"I'm coming too!" Joo Myeok called out to their youngest, sticking close to him as they ventured back into the deep woods they emerged from hours before.

Turning back, Captain flowerhead continued to poke at the pile of wood they've collected for their makeshift campfire. The day was already slowly fading to dusk, which meant they needed a fire to survive the night.

"We're back!" Seri said in a sing-song voice, holding up a brown trout as evidence of their success.

Behind her, Ri Jeong Hyeok held his usual quiet seriousness as he deposited the rest of the trout they caught on the ground. Yet, if one were to look closely, they would be able to identify the ghost of a smile playing on his lips and the slight crinkle in the corner of his eyes. 

After all, he had a splendid time catching the trout with Yoon Seri. In fact, the prince was still sporting the evidence of Seri's sneak attack on him.

While Seri remained dry to the bone, Ri Jeong Hyeok was completely drenched to the skin.

Beyond that, there was laughter like the prince never found before his Yoon Seri.

"Did he jump into the water for a shower or what? It's so unfair. I want to shower too." Pyo Chi Su muttered underneath his breath, trying but failing to ignore Seri's victorious smiles and infectious giggles as she skipped around the clearing to prepare their dinner.

Pyo Chi Su's comment did not go unheard by Park Kwang Beom who fixed the nuisance of a Captain with a steely gaze. The coldness shut Pyo Chi Su up as he turned back to the task at hand.

For a few precious seconds, all was quiet until the prince stripped off his many layers of clothes in the middle of the forest – only the top, of course.

Layer by layer, the prince peeled off the clothes sticking to his skin until he was left in his inner tunic. With how wet the white cloth was, it truly left little to the imagination.

"Ri Jeong Hyeok, do we just poke the stick through like – goodness, I'm sorry!" Seri shrieked, dropping the fish to cover her eyes in that instant.

Chuckling softly, the prince quickly changed out of his last layer, seeking humour in the whole situation. In a way, this was all Seri's doing. If she hadn't snuck up to him and splashed him with a ton of water, they wouldn't be in this situation.

"I'm decent, Seri ssi." The deep tenor sliced through the heated atmosphere as Seri peeked through her fingers.

Finally convinced that the prince was indeed decent, Seri's hands fell back to her sides and she gulped hard. She swore that her cheeks were still flushed. For once, she didn't quite know what to do with herself.

Now donning a simple black tunic that hung off the man to serve his charming looks, the prince was every bit of the royalty he was born into. 

His usual air of regalness emanated off him in waves and he was practically glowing even in the face of the setting sun. With the beautiful orange and yellow hues of nature's canvas bouncing off his silky smooth skin, Seri had to pinch herself subtly to snap out of her trance.

"Shall we do it now?" Ri Jeong Hyeok uttered with that sexy deep tenor of his.

"W-what?" Seri stuttered, blushing even harder at the suggestiveness of his speech.

Do what exactly?

"The trout? For dinner?" Ri Jeong Hyeok reminded Seri gently.

Coughing awkwardly, Seri gestured to the pile of trout by her feet. "Right...trout, of course. I mean, yes, let's do that."