Rivals Seongjoong Ateez

12

   Hongjoong's pov

We've been in Seonghwa's castle for two weeks now. I try my best to keep up with his busier schedule, but I never have a clue what I can do to help.

I spend all of my newfound alone-time reading the stories from Seonghwa's bookshelf in his room. I've read about half of the stories there, and I'm getting tired of reading all of the time.

It seems like the only time my boyfriend spends with me is when we go to sleep at midnight each night.

When I wake up at nine in the morning, Seonghwa is already gone from his room. I wake up in his huge bed completely alone. I hate it.

I hate that the only time I see my boyfriend is a few minutes before he crawls into bed beside me.

Thinking enough is enough, I stepped out of Seonghwa's room alone for the first time. I glanced down the hall and saw a guard at the end.

"Excuse me, have you seen where Prince Seonghwa left to?" I asked, trying to be polite to the guard. The guard looked me up and down before scoffing.

"Who are you? How did you get inside?"

"I'm Kim Hongjoong; I'm his soulmate," I said. The guard rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Prince Seonghwa is with his advisor right now. It may be better for you to wait until they are finished."

   "Please, just lead me there." I gently demanded the guard. He nodded and walked away, causing me to follow behind him.

   He led me upstairs and down a few hallways before pointing to the slightly open door at the end of this hall. I thanked him and he walked away.

   I walked towards the ajar door before pausing, hearing Seonghwa laugh louder than I ever had before. I soon heard a loud thud and a different voice's laughter come from the room. I furrowed my brows but continued towards the door.

   "You spent all that time on a pirate ship and still lack-"

   I coughed from the doorway. I had opened it a bit more to find my boyfriend on the ground with his supposed "advisor" sitting atop his waist and holding his hands above his head.

  "I didn't realize an advisor would pin my boyfriend to the ground like this, Seonghwa." I shook my head and laughed dryly before jogging down the halls in hopes of getting back to his bedroom.

  I soon got lost as I jogged, and stopped against a wall. I could hear someone's footsteps drawing near, so I entered the first room I found that had its door open.

   I shut the door and slid my back down it silently. My eyes were closed as tears formed, so I hadn't noticed I entered someone's bedroom.

"Hongjoong? Are you okay?" A feminine voice called out to me, causing me to freeze where I sat. It was Seonghwa's first younger sister, Yeji, who spoke to me. I quickly placed both of my palms over my closed eyes and apologized profusely to the woman in the room.

   "What did my idiot brother do, Hongjoong?" Yeji asked as she knelt down beside me. She gently tried to remove my hands from my eyes.

   "Please tell me you're fully clothed, Princess Yeji," I asked. She laughed softly.

   "Of course I am, Captain Kim," she teased lightly. She had told me time and time again to call her by just her name, not her title, but I still felt a bit nervous to.

   When I dropped my hands from my eyes and opened them, I noticed Yeji looked genuinely concerned.

   "I am sorry for-"