NCT Oneshots {ot23} | open

King and Queens (or just kings): ChenJi

▹prompt: royalty
▹word count: 4378
▹genre: royal au, fluff
▹warnings: n/a

ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹❀◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ

The thing Chenle hated most in the world was having to wear a pressed white shirt, with the ruffled collar tight around his neck throughout the day. Chenle loved everything, always bursting with positivity wherever possible, but the suffocating outfits he had to wear on days such as today tested his patience. His mother, however, loved them.

"You look so precious, darling!" She cooed, running a gloved hand through her son's hair then squeezing his cheek until he squirmed away.

"It's embarrassing." Chenle hissed back.

He glared at his reflection in the mirror. His shirt collar was too bulky, the golden buttons on his dark red jacket only looked tacky, in the boy's humble opinion, and he didn't understand why he had to wear such heavy boots. They nearly reached his knees and clunked around on the wooden floor when he walked. His mother was adamant it was just because of the way he insisted on stomping everywhere in a sulk whenever they were brought out of the cupboard.

"I'm sweating already." Chenle groaned. He began to shrug his jacket off, hoping to burn the long tails off it with his gaze, but his mother rushed forward and placed her hands on his shoulders to stop him.

"Just behave like a prince for once." She reminded him, voice now laced with irritation. "You can't wear the waistcoat on it's own. This outfit was tailored specially for you, so be appreciative. You have to make a good impression."

Chenle bit back his complaints this time, giving in. He met his mother's eyes in the mirror, her hair pulled up into an extravagant do with a tiara that sparkles to match the beads on her silk ball gown. She had to lean to reach her son because of the uncurbed skirts flowing all over the place.

"You might get on well with Princess Aecha." She said, followed by an excited giggle at the thought of her son falling in love, but Chenle scowled.

Chenle wished he wasn't born into the kingdom's royal family. His father was a fair king so life in the villages wasn't at all insufferable, and the boy really wanted to just be able to frolic through the fields with some friends after school instead of having to return to his chambers with his arms stacked full of books he was ordered to read by his personal tutor, no classmates to be seen. Anyone else would give up everything to be in his position, but he was fed up of the castle walls.

And, to make matters worse, his parents had been arranging various dinner parties with the kingdoms they do business with to try to find him a princess to marry.

"You can't step up to the throne on your own, honey."

Chenle hoped to not step up to the throne at all, but he wouldn't dare utter those words within a thousand mile radius of his parents. And, much to his frustration, he had never left the castle without them so he never got a chance to stray so far.

"We should get going." His mother spoke, smile returning before she took a hold of Chenle's hand, as though she'd forgotten that he was nearing nineteen, to lead him out the room.

Chenle frowned and glanced back at his luxurious bed, wishing to just be able to laze around all day and eat Kun's amazing cakes instead of avoiding the weird, exotic food prepared for all the banquets of this kind. He'd always argued that, if the princess was the one for him, it shouldn't matter how fancy his lifestyle was because they'd love each other regardless.

He still hadn't met the one and he was set on never meeting the one.

The princesses were always really sweet (although there was one malicious one he had long banished from his memory), and much to his parents' frustration he had a tendency to remain in contact with them. As friends. They would visit the castle to study with Chenle or to make a mess of the kitchen if they attempted to cook instead of going on dates around the grounds. In a scramble to get their son to seek a fiancée, the king and queen told Chenle lots of stories of when they fell in love. Chenle was sure it was all lies because he knew it was an arranged marriage for the sake of making peace between two kingdoms.