Unexpected

Chapter 8.

A few days have passed. Wukong felt better and was ready to return to his duties. Several meetings with the king and his board. Everything would be really normal, but everyone in the palace started to treat him as a woman. To make matters worse, their behavior made Wukong feel weak. He kept telling them all to treat him as a man, but of course they didn't listen. He wanted to vent his anger. But the question on what? On everything. He tried to hold back. At least Liuer hadn't changed his demeanor towards him. He was still too nice. Wukong felt everything changing again. And he's in the middle of a tornado. He doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know what he's for. The memories still hadn't returned to him. He still has flashes of memories, but they are too fast for him to understand. He still knows as much as last time. He had brothers. Brothers who abandoned him. This made him even more angry.
He's in the training room right now. He came here earlier than he should have. And he was hitting a huge punching bag. Just to vent the anger. The more he thought about all that shit, the harder his punches got, faster. His eyes turned red. He felt trapped. Where everything tries to change him by force. change it. Reshape. His soul tries hard to keep those damn shadows from controlling him. Wukong started emitting golden energy. Gold cracks appeared on his body. He delivered the final blow. The punching bag fell apart. Wukong stood. And he stared at his work of destruction. He was breathing heavily. With each breath he felt more desperate.
"Hey? I see you started training without me," Liuer said with a smile. Wukong immediately turned to him and instantly stopped emitting energy and his eye color returned to normal.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough that I think you'll have enough for today"
Wukong processed his words and then understood what was going on.
"What? No. We can still start our training."
"No. You need to calm down"
"What?! I'm calm!" Wukong said angrily and then he glowed with golden energy. Liuer walked over to him. He took his hands.
"Wukong, breathe," he said gently. Wukong looked him straight in the eye. He had to control himself. He didn't want to hurt him. He took several deep breaths in and out. He closed his eyes. He calmed down. And something happened that he did not expect. He managed to catch a memory. It took a few seconds, but he saw. He was in some kind of cave that looked like a throne room. There was one big stone throne. He was just sitting on it. There were some monkey demons in front of him. But they didn't look like monkey demons on this shadowkingdom. They were different. There was more light. Everyone looked happy. The memory was gone. Wukong wanted to keep it. He wanted to be there again, but he opened his eyes. Before him was Liuer. The prince smiled warmly. He held his hands. Wukong was surprised for a moment, but quickly realized that he was still where he was.
"It's better now?" He asked and put his hand on Wkong's cheek. Wukong felt a prick of heat. On one hand he didn't want to be here, but on the other hand Liuer was here. The only person who cared too much for him.
Wukong nodded. "So since there is no training.. then I will go back to my room" Wukong wanted to return to the room as soon as possible to analyze the vision. Maybe he will be able to achieve this state again? Must try. But he cannot say that to Liuer.
"Uh.. wait," Liuer said.
Wukong turned to him.
"Exactly... Since there is no training... Then maybe we can spend time together in a different way"
"Oh.. what do you suggest?" Wukong crossed his arms.
"I have planned.. I mean I'd like to show you the city," he said nervously.
"Have you planned?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah... I wanted to invite you on a tour of the city after our training, but since we're not here anyway, can we do it now?"
As Wukong looked at the prince, his heart softened. He couldn't refuse him. Hardly his plan to recover his memories can wait.
Wukong smiled warmly. "Okay. My prince"
.
.
.
Wukong didn't know what he expected, but it certainly wasn't that they would walk with the guards. The guards stayed behind, but it was uncomfortable anyway. The second case Liuer had him wear gold black hanfu. It was comfortable, but it didn't suit him anyway, especially since it was a woman's version. Despite everything, even Liuer recognized him as a woman. Pretty bad for Wukong. Now they were walking along the main street of the Night city. It was one of the most lit streets in the whole city. There were colorful lanterns everywhere. The street wasn't that crowded. (Maybe it's the prince's business, because this street has always been crowded.) They were practically in the middle. Wukong looked through the pages. But he did not dare to move away from the prince. Liuer was walking very close to Wukong. He would like to take his hand, but he decided that it wasn't time yet. Wukong has to fall in love with him himself like Liuer did.
Wukong felt everyone's eyes on him. Some looked at them with admiration, others with shock that their prince had found a partner. Their Prince that has got cold heart,  finaly found partner not just ordinary but the special. Evryone could see that the golden monkey was incredible.
Everyone was whispering. Liuer smiled at their comments. Of course Wukong didn't have super hearing so he couldn't hear anything, but he was really uncomfortable with all the onlookers. Plus, everyone in the kingdom had dark fur. And he's the only gold. It definitely didn't help. He tried to ignore it and enjoy the trip. But then he noticed Liuer's gaze, staring at him. Wukong blushed.
"So where exactly are we going?" Wukong asked. Liuer shook himself.
"I'm taking you to the show first"
"Spectacle?"
"The Show. A Game of Shadows"
"Oh.. ok. About what?"
"you'll find out there," he said with a sly smile.
.
.
They got to the theater. They sat in a special place for the aristocracy. The story was about a pair of lovers. Who were from two different worlds, but their love brought them together. Liuer was fascinated by the story. He imagined it was him and Wukong. Wukong wasn't too interested in the show. Maybe when there were moments where they fought, but that's not the case. He focused his attention more on Liuer and his eyes full of delight. Wukong smiled slightly. He still couldn't classify the feeling that was building in his heart. He had definitely never felt it before. True?
The show ended after an hour. An hour too long. Wukong's butt hurt and he had trouble getting up. Liuer laughed at that. He helped him up. They left the theater.
"Did you like it?" asked the prince.
"Yeah... It was... interesting"
"I'm glad you liked. Are you hungry?"
Wukong nodded.
Liuer took him to one of the best restaurants in town. They sat on the best table. The staff handed them menu cards. And here began the problem for Wukong. Wukong looked at the menu in confusion. His facial expression showed it too. But he didn't want to admit that he didn't know what was written.
Liuer noticed that something was wrong.
"Hey? If you don't like anything, we can go somewhere else," he said gently.
Wukong was embarrassed. He looked away.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?"
Wukong felt everyone in the restaurant looking at him. He felt that everyone was waiting for what he would say. He felt so stupid.
"It's okay but.. you know what I'm not hungry"
"What, but.."
"Liuer. Let's get out of here. Please" he looked at the prince with pleading eyes. The prince respected that.
"Okay" Liuer as a gentleman helped Wukong get up. He even gave him that charming smile, but Wukong kept his gaze averted. He didn't want to look the prince in the eye. One of the waiters approached the prince.
"Is everything okay? Did something go wrong? We'll fix it right away," the waiter asked nervously.
"everything is alright."
"Are you sure.."
The prince looked at him angrily. The waiter bowed and left. Liuer and Wukong left. It was still night outside. For a moment Wukong hoped to see the sun, but he saw the moon. They walked in silence for a while. Wukong did not look at the prince. Liuer wanted make eye contact with him. Liuer stopped him.
"Wukong? I know something is wrong"
Wukong continued to avoid eye contact.
"You can even tell me very quietly. You know I'll hear. What happened?"
Wukong looked at him and sighed. "Because.. I.. didn't know what was written on that menu," he said as quiet as he could and quickly looked away and blushed. Liuer processed it in his head.
"Oh.. and that's why you didn't want to eat there? On the contrary, I'd tell you."
"But there were so many people and..."
"Hey that's ok. Nothing happened." He said softly and smiled. "We can work on that later. Hey, do you still want to eat? They have good food at the market too."
Wukong nodded. He felt relieved. The prince understood it was quite nice.
Now they were at one of the food stalls.
"What would you like to eat?"
"It looks good." He pointed to the skewer.
"I'll have that twice, please," said the prince. The clerk handed Wkong skewers. The prince paid. Wukong handed the prince a skewer. They went a little further. They ate.
"This is good," said Wukong.
"Do you like it now?"
"Yeah... It's quite nice, but are these guards needed?"
"Actually, it's not.. you know what I got idea"
Wukong looked at him questioningly. And suddenly they fell into the shadows. Wukong groaned.
He looked around. They were in a different part of town. More calm.
"Don't do that again. Or at least warn me"
Liuer chuckled.
"Where are we anyway?"
"On the outskirts of the city. Come on, it'll be fun"
Liuer grabbed Wukong's hand and dragged him somewhere. It looked like they were on the shore of the lake and there were a lot of people there. But at least they weren't paying attention to them. They all held lanterns in their hands. Wukong and Liuer stopped somewhere to the side so as not to enter the crowd.
"Wait here," said Liuer and walked away. Wukong looked around. He felt a little cold. But he liked it much more now. No onlookers. But where did Liuer go? Liuer returned with two golden lanterns in his hands, one bearing the symbol of the sun and the other of the moon. Wukong smiled. Liuer handed one lantern to him.
"Did you plan that too?"
"No. It's just spontaneous"
"I like"
They smiled.
The crowd released the lanterns into the air.
"It has begun," said Liuer.
They looked at each other and nodded. On three they let the lanterns go up. They soared far. Wukong looked on in awe. The whole mass of lanterns looked like the sunshine he longed for.
Liuer looked at him and smiled. Wukong quickly turned to him and hugged him tightly. The prince was shocked, but returned the hug.
"Thank you," Wukong said. Liuer felt warm. His heart was overflowing with joy.
"Everything for you. Sunshine," said Liuer in a charming voice. Wukong looked at him (they were still hugging).
"Sunshine?"
"And why not?"
"Then you are…" Wukong grinned widely "moonshine"
"Seriously?"
"If I'm sun, you're moon"
Liuer smiled and lifted Wukong up. They did a pirouette. Wukong chuckled.
"My Sunshine"
"My Moonshine"
They approached each other. One move and they'd almost kissed.
Now or never thought Liuer and kissed Wukong gently. Wukong was shocked. It was fun, but he really, really didn't expect it. His eyes widened in surprise. Liuer put the Wukong down on the ground and moved his face away, but still had his hands on Wukong's waist.
Wukong's heart was beating fast. Maybe it's fear, maybe it's some other feeling that Wukong couldn't name?
They stared at each other for a moment. Now the rest of the world didn't matter.
Liuer stared at Wkong with eyes full of love. He waited for an answer. What should Wukong do in this situation? What is he supposed to do? Now the rubble of his world has turned upside down. His mind was telling him not to step into that darkness. He has to run away. His heart probably longed to reciprocate the prince's feelings. Maybe then he would calm down? And his soul? Well, the soul wanted peace. Maybe Liuer was the answer? What if Wukong steps into the darkness? He wanted the sun, but he also wanted to stay with Liuer. Wukong really wanted his memories back, but that didn't matter at the moment. And now it dawned on him. The prince only gave him two options. Option #1. Reciprocate the feeling. Option #2. Break his heart. Of course, Wukong would hate option two. He couldn't see his best friend in disarray. It's enough that he himself is a mess.
The seconds ticked by. Liuer began to feel that something was wrong. Was he wrong? But doesn't Wukong feel the same as him? This last thought depressed him. His smile faded. His hands slowly moved away.
Wukong noted this. He had to make a quick decision before it was too late.
In the end, he chose option  #1. Involuntarily, he smiled gently and quickly connected his lips with the prince's. The prince was stunned, but after a few milliseconds he was overjoyed. He placed one hand on Wukong's cheek (touching his hair as well). Wukong pulled away when he needed air. Liuer was smiling.
Wukong felt awkward. The wind blew. Wukong shivered with cold. The prince took off his cloak and placed it on Wukong's shoulders.
"Thanks," Wukong said.
Liuer noticed the garden shed. They went there. Definitely, Liuer want to stay like that forever. Especially now that he knows his feelings are reciprocated. Unlike the golden-haired monkey, who would rather get out as soon as possible. Wukong noted that it was getting darker and colder?
They sat down on a bench. Wukong felt his embarrassment subside and he was already tired. He approached the prince and laid his head on his shoulder. The prince smiled even more. His heart was overflowing with joy. He considered Wukong's every gesture as reciprocated. And what was he so worried about? He just didn't need to worry. They are made for each other. Liuer looked at Wukong. The outline of the future was already forming in his mind. He couldn't imagine his life without Wukong, without his sun. But everything has its time. And now he enjoys a joint (cold) evening. The prince noticed how Wukong is getting colder and colder. Well, it's hard. They will have to go back.
"Hey? Do you want to come back?"
Wukong nodded.
They disappeared into the shadows.

Hi evryone, I hope you like it ☺️
That was definitely a date. Good one? For Liuer yes for Wukong🤔? What is your opinion? (Comments welcome)

And on the palace evryone will treat him as a female but I will write as he/him. Plus on special occasions he will has to wear women's clothes (because evryone will expect it from him to wear that type of clothes) but normal he just wears shirt and baggy pants. Okey that's all. Bye. Have good day.