merry go round || nomin ✔

- twelve -

the next morning jaemin remembered the letter sent to him so suddenly. he did inform renjun about the message he got and at first the younger warned renjun about being close to the king but he decided to go to the castle with him as jaemin had begged him many times that morning. 

and so they took off to the castle together, renjun bringing his ingredients and jaemin just skipping freely ahead of him. 

arriving at the castle, jaemin followed renjun into his room quietly so as to not alarm the guards and sat down on renjun's bed with a small bounce. the older chuckled at the bubbliness of his friend but decided to keep it concealed with a small cough. 

"i'll go to the kitchen to cook some food for the king. you wait here and don't go anywhere, okay?" renjun pointed his fingers at the giggling jaemin who nodded obediently. he smiled and left the older alone in the room along with his things. he then headed to the kitchen where his fellow cooks are and started working. 

after cooking a few dishes, he decided that it would be enough just for breakfast. and so he plated them neatly and bid some of the chefs goodbye as his next shift is probably a bit after noon. he stepped out of the kitchen with a tray full of his cooking carefully and started walking towards the room of the king. but even before walking no more than 10 steps, he spotted his room door open. 

"ck, i told him to stay inside." renjun clicked his tongue and approached the door of his room carefully to check if jaemin is still inside. but there was no sign of the younger inside the room, making him more worried. he furrowed his eyebrows and huffed, deciding that he had probably wander around the palace for a bit. he couldn't be that far. and so he made his way to the king's room to deliver the meal he had prepared before it was too late for breakfast.

he took quick steps and went inside the hall of the king's room. there he spotted doyoung who he gave a small bow to and recieving one after doing so. doyoung opened the room for him but he spotted an empty one. 

"i was sure he was sitting on his working table while drawing." said the older to the cook who huffed again but still kept his calm face attached. 

"i'll just put the meal on his table, is that okay hyung?"

"i suppose it is. thank you renjun." the two bowed to each other again and parted ways. renjun jogged his way to his room but still, jaemin was not there. he mumbled small curses as he looked around the castle, searching for the older. but so far, there was no sign of him around. 

-

if jaemin had one destination to meet the king, it had to be the secret garden.

as soon as renjun left, he had planned to make a run for the garden to meet the king. although they were suppose to have breakfast together, his exitement covered his hunger up and his want to eat disappeared slowly. it was weird, truly, that he could be just as excited as a child going on a ride in the amusement park for the first time. and plus, it was not like he didn't meet the king before. 

he then swiftly ran to the small door and entered it. it seems like the butterflies had remembered him already, gathering at the front door as if it was greeting him. he giggled and looked around to admire the beauty of the small garden. it seemed magical, those were his thoughts.

"sir na." the call made his head snap to the other entrance of the garden. there the king stood with all his glory. he had a small soft smile on his face, wearing his usual royal fit. jaemin smiled widely, approaching the king and gave him a little bow. 

"your majesty."

"please, just call me jeno when you're alone with me. though i've been here for years, it doesn't really make me comfortable being called majesty." the king rolled his eyes as he gestured the younger boy to sit on one of the chairs in the garden that he had prepared. the table in the middle of the two chairs had many many traditional food that looked extremely appetizing to jaemin who was starving. he waiting for jeno to sit down as well and smiled.

"don't look at me like that, dig in." after hearing those words, he couldn't be more happier to eat the food right in front of him. he took the table spoon and fork and went in.
"is it good?"

"hmhm. definitely." jaemin said, munching on the food happily. jeno smiled, looking fondly at the boy who had beautiful features that he just noticed now.

"you know, i remembered your favorite snack in the convenience store back then."

"hm?"

-

"i told you! logarithms are super challenging i can't even get a B for the quiz." jaemin's friend, donghyuck, whined to the older as they barged into the store they walked into. as a reply, jaemin rolled his eyes.

"it's easy when you remember this one equation mr sohn gave us. though i may or may not get a B too on the quiz." jaemin giggled, picking up his favorite snack, these chocolate bread he craved almost everyday. the two grabbed a few more snacks and went to pay for them.

"ya hyuck-ah, can you take one more pack of this? it's my favorite." jaemin sheepishly smiled to his friend who just groaned playfully and went back to take the chocolate bread.

"that'll be ₩5,100, anything else?" a deep voice caught his ears, making it perk right up to catch it. he looked up at the cashier who was looking at the two, his blue snapback low covering his eyes.

"jaem?" donghyuck spoke up while nudging the smaller boy.

"h-huh?"

"i said i don't have the 100, do you have some?"

"oh yeah uh... here." giving the money to the boy, his cheeks turned bright red, betraying him when the handsome cashier guy smiled at him.

after hearing donghyuck thank the cashier, the two quickly exited the store, with donghyuck looking at his friend with a weird gaze.

"you know him?"

"hm? no, why?"

"you two seem... weird... earlier." donghyuck made a slightly disgusting face as a joke and the two laughed.

"it's nothing! really. i just..."

"just?"

"nevermind. let's go home quick before your mom gets mad at you again." finished with another laugh, they trotted down the streets together, going to donghyuck's home.

-

"you remembered." jaemin said, stopping his chewing which made him look cute in front of jeno. the king chuckled and went near the boy, wiping the edge of his lips to clean it.

"you clumsy little thing." jaemin's eyes widen at the actions, making jeno snap into realization and farthen himself away from him with a small blush.

"oh u-uh.. sorry, i got used to it."

"n-no no it's.. okay. it's okay." the younger smiled and dug into the food again. as the butterflies flew freely above them, jaemin somehow felt the same thing happen in his stomach.

God this isn't good.

-