Cursed - Enhypen FF

Bad News

"No"

That word had been pronounced so many times that Jungwon's head was kind of dizzy. After their meeting with the Council, the seven princes had gone to Sunoo's bedroom, as it was the biggest. They couldn't take the news they had just received.

"We are not getting married" mumbled Niki.
"No way" added Sunghoon.
"Has anyone ever heard about this princess?" asked Jake.
"What's her name again?" asked Jay.
"Princess Jayoung" replied Heeseung in a whisper.

They stayed silent, still processing everything.

The last words of the meeting kept resonating in Jungwon's mind, adding even more to his dizziness.

"You are getting married" said queen Nishimura. "All of you."
"What do you mean?" he had asked.
"If you are old enough to fight, then you are old enough to get married" she continued in a low voice. "And thankfully Osta's Princess is of age as well. Everything is already prepared."
"So when you said all of you..." started Jay, desperately looking at his mother, Queen Park.
"It means the seven of you are getting married to her" she said.

Astonishment hit the princes like a tsunami.

"How would that even work?" mumbled Sunoo.
"I admit that group marriage had become less and less common. But back in the days, it was quite popular" said king Lee. "And the king of Osta wanted to make sure the seven of us would fully commit to our treaty, so that means the seven of you will represent us through the union."

"None of this makes sense" said Sunghoon. "They can't make us marry her."
"At least in their plan we can stay together" mumbled Sunoo, trying to stay positive.
"Yes, together, but married to a stranger and acting as our parents' pawns?" replied Niki.
"Let's just try to calm down" said Jungwon. "There has to be a way out of this, we just need to focus and think clearly."

Easier said than done. The seven boys were boiling inside from the injustice. They had already tried talking their parents out of it, however the Council seemed decided. Not only had they discussed this matter without their sons, but apparently the deal had already been made.
The princes hadn't been asked, they had been informed about the whole thing.

"She'll be here in a week" said Jake, thinking out loud, glancing at Sunghoon.
"I can't believe they dared doing that to us" mumbled Jay in the corner.

Jungwon looked at him, but not for too long. The two of them would have plenty of time to talk alone later.

Unfortunately for them, they were late. Time hadn't stopped during the meeting and their talk afterwards and their duties were waiting for them. Between fencing lessons, reading and answering diplomatic letters and war meetings, their day passed in the blink of an eye.
As the Council knew very well that they weren't happy at all with their decision, they had planned everything so that the princes wouldn't be able to meet each other, and thus talk about their marriage during the day.

At night, however, things weren't the same.

Jungwon heard three fast knocks followed by two slow ones on his door, the secret code.
Jay let himself in and reached Jungwon's bed. The later was sitting with his back against the headboard.

"What took you so long?" he whispered as he felt Jay's lips on his cheek.
"I had to wait for Felix to fall asleep. You know he would have told my mom if he had heard me sneaking out" he explained.

Jungwon nodded.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Jungwon, lips trembling slightly.
"Have you thought about my offer?" asked Jay, trying to meet Jungwon's eyes.

However the latter was looking at his hands intensely.

"I know it sounds insane, but I do think we could make it" added Jay.
"We can't Jayjay" replied Jungwon, pouting.

Jay delicately took Jungwon's chin and turned his head until he could see his face.

"It's you and I" said Jay.
"You know I want to" replied Jungwon.
"But?" asked Jay, knowing what Jungwon would say.
"We can't leave them behind" replied the latter.

Jay sighed. Obviously Jungwon was right, however a small part of him wanted to believe Jungwon could have said yes.

"You know you wouldn't forgive yourself for abandoning them here" added Jungwon. "We can't just disappear. Plus the situation is even worse now... I mean, knowing that the King of Osta wanted to make sure that the whole Council would commit to the treaty, if we ran away now, your mom and my grandma would be in danger."
"Ugh..." sighed Jay. "You're right."

"They would be blamed by the others for sure" added Jungwon after a few seconds of silence.

Jay sighed again and sought comfort in Jungwon's arms. The latter naturally hugged the older, trying not to get too overwhelmed.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, cuddling on the exterior but fighting invisible demons of doubt, guilt and anger on the inside.

They had very different personalities. Jay had never wanted to be royalty. He had never wanted to be a prince. He hated his royal duties as much as he hated this whole situation. The only thing that motivated him was meeting Jungwon every night in secret and finally being able to be himself around him.
Jungwon on the other hand was very mature, even though he was younger. It was clear for everyone that he had been born for royalty. He spoke eloquently and always thought about the others' wellbeing before his own. He had demonstrated his leaderships a lot in the past, and ever since his mother, the late Queen Yang had passed, it seemed that it had shone even more. Those qualities would certainly make him a wise and selfless king the day he would access the throne. At least everyone in the castle thought that.

In a way they completed each other.

No one knew about their relationship. It was their most precious secret. It represented Jay's motivation and Jungwon's only form of rebellion.
The couple had already talked about leaving everything behind and setting themselves free from royalty. In that scenario, their couple wouldn't need to be a secret kept in Jungwon's bedroom every night.
It would mean freedom and love, everything that Jay longed for.
However Jungwon was the voice of reason, especially now that war had weakened their country.

"What if..." started Jay.
"Jay.. please" said Jungwon.

He didn't want to go through it all again. He knew this tone. Jay had an escape plan that would get him excited. Jungwon didn't want to be the one crushing his ideas again.

"Just listen!" said Jay. "I get that we can't leave just the two of us. Repercussions would hurt your grandma, my mom and the others. But what if the seven of us disappeared?"
"The treaty would be over and our people would continue suffering because of us" replied Jungwon.
"I'd rather be on the battlefield and helping our people with my blood and sweat rather than sitting here, waiting to be a stranger's husband" said Jay. "In fact, if we stay here, I'll never be your husband, which is already unbearable on its own."

Jungwon nodded. He agreed somehow.

"We can't make this decision alone though" he whispered. "Let's talk to them tomorrow. If everyone agrees on leaving, we'll leave."

Jay smiled, not believing Jungwon's words. For the first time that day, a smile spread on his lips. Hope had bloomed in his heart again and he felt lighter.

"Thank you" he whispered, covering Jungwon's face with kisses.