| eventually jihoon listened to the kid he used to be, procuring himself a prince to protect and love unconditionally. | ENG |
pairing : park jihoon & bang yedam ( and : watanabe haruto & kim doyoung / kanemoto yoshinori & choi hyunsuk )
start : 202...
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as the soft murmurs rang in the room, yedam looked to his left. doyoung was humming some melody most probably made out of boredom. he played with the rice in his bowl, forming balls out of grains, piling them to check how high the consequent tower will be. yedam rolled his eyes witnessing his sibling acting like a kid even if he had recently become an adult, still, the corners of his lips went up unbeknownst to him.
on the other side was hyunsuk, occupying the place the closest to the king. one of the crown prince's privileges. how his conduct differed from doyoung's could easily persuade a stranger that it is a no-go that the former and latter are brothers from the same mother and father. his face composed, back straightened more than a needle, the shirt with velvety frills intact, the lilac material wrapped around his arms giving an impression of a just sewed product. eating the broil with a spoon, holding the chopsticks in the other hand, ready to dig into rice soon convinced yedam that his older brother read "table manners and not-to-dos" more than twice as he had claimed.
"doyoung you are nineteen years old. behave like a man and start eating. the soup will get cold."
the deep voice made the boy's hand twitch the second he was putting another ball of rice on the top and so the whole construction fell hopelessly on the plate miraculously scooted there by yedam's eminent reflex. doyoung scrunched his nose up but reflected soon enough, muttering "my apologies father" and finally dining like others.
after some minutes of silence or at least void of human voices' sounds, only the clattering of dishes and utensils could have been heard, the king took a sip of the jasmine tea and taking a sweeping look around the room, spoke earnestly :
"do you all remember the king of the adjacent kingdom, kanemoto yoshinori? I had been exchanging correspondences with him for a while now, and recently we have decided to hold his visitation in our castle."
his speech was abruptly distracted by a fit of coughing and desperate attempts to catch a breath. yedam's head snapped to the side, gazing at his older brother worriedly. he gave him some pats on the back, mouthing a "are you okay?" question repeatedly. the middle prince assumed that the other must have been drinking his beverage as the father was elaborating and the boy choked on the liquid unexpectedly.
doyoung also gave his attention utterly to his eldest hyung, even tried to get up to follow yedam in his actions but the king beckoned him to stay low, not making a fuss over the whole situation. as hyunsuk finally managed to regain composure, only clearing his throat occasionally now, bowing towards the highest personage, the mentioned figure continued.
"we are expecting to see him tomorrow in the afternoon. he agreed to come under one condition, he wanted to be given some time alone with you, the crown prince. I see no objections for if my dementia hasn't whirled my memories as much as I am afraid, you and him used to be good friends."
yedam watched his brother's reaction or its scarcity. his face muscles didn't even twitch on a mention of his friend, he didn't even look up, persistently gazing at the cup of tea in front of him as if he found it more interesting than father's speech directed personally to him. his behavior was unusual, out of ordinary and since yedam was a keen observant he couldn't just let it be.
"thank you father for always choosing what's good for our family." he let out habitually, bowed in the same manner, and didn't add anything else till lunchtime was over.
after giving more details like the fact that king kanemoto is going to come with his younger brother, and also around fifty official guards – so yedam assumed that they should count in around one hundred in disguise – the king left the dining hall. three boys finished eating quietly, only from time to time letting doyoung interrupt them as he seemed to like stealing shrimps from his brothers' plates.
hyunsuk excused himself first, leaving the room so grimly that two remained exchanged dubious looks.
"what... what is with him hyung?" asked doyoung, pinning his small hands to yedam's silky top. "maybe the food upset his stomach...?"
the older smiled despite himself, playfully pushing his brother away.
"the food was remarkable as always, what are you saying you ungrateful kid." he teased the other, brushing his hair lovingly.
doyoung sulked a little for he hated being called "kid" the most, but the boys parted ways in high spirits. the older started seeking the crown prince, checking every room, corner, and nook of the palace. the one needed wasn't in his room, not in yedam's or doyoung's, not in the throne hall, and not in the library. in the archive only some spider's webs could be found, in the garden, the youngest was lying on the grass, enjoying the weather and staining his elegant garment for which he had already got scolded by his hyung, but still kept on repeating the mistake calling it a "one pleasure of life".
at last hyunsuk's figure showed itself in the unexpected but not least unexpected space – among thousands of porcelain teacups that once belonged and were collected by their mother. he was sitting on the floor, resting his back on one of the glass panes. in the air tons of dust were flying as the room has been only scarcely used for the past nineteen years.
yedam sat down next to his brother, looking at him with a silent plea to talk. hyunsuk was down, and the other wanted to do something for him.
"I... haven't seen yoshi for four years. I don't think I am ready to meet him." the light chuckle escaped his mouth but it wasn't a consoling one.
it made yedam worried even more.
"he had become a king at that time, no wonder you must have hindered your meetings."
the other nodded, still avoiding eye contact. yedam felt that what he said wasn't enough.
"he was the one suggesting to spend some time alone with you. maybe he misses you and wants to retrieve what once lost?"
the crown prince was a very kind, and empathetic person. upon seeing the efforts yedam gave to provide comfort and take off his mind of worries, he smiled at him feebly.
"I know yedam-ah. thank you." putting his head on yedam's arm, they stayed motionless for a while.
hyunsuk bit his lip as a person who four years ago left him hopeless and heartbroken was about to come back. and it wasn't hard to guess that once he reappears, the mutual feelings they had will appear the same, maybe much stronger than before.
