The Spoiled Prince || WooSanSang

Old News + A Decision

Wooyoung immediately caught Yeosang's eye, and Yeosang knew he'd heard it too. They stayed silent as they listened to the conversation, but the group of five seemed to already have moved on to another topic.

Yeosang leaned closer to Wooyoung. "Go ask them about it," he whispered.

Wooyoung looked at the group hesitantly. The people at the table--three men and two women--were all significantly older than the two of them, probably in their forties. "It's probably nothing," Wooyoung told him.

"Go ask, please," Yeosang said with a slight pout. That last word still felt foreign on his tongue, but it was enough to do the trick.

Wooyoung sighed and pushed his chair back slightly to face the other table. "What was this I heard about Aurora?"

The woman who had spoken now looked at Wooyoung and laughed much more loudly than necessary. Still, with the noisiness of the pub, it wasn't exactly out of place. "You seem to have something on your face," she said, motioning to the foam still clinging to Wooyoung's lip.

Wooyoung wiped it with his sleeve immediately and shot Yeosang a glare before turning back and pretending nothing had happened. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"You have truly not heard? This is old news. I thought young people these days loved to gossip."

"I don't spend much time in town," Wooyoung said. Yeosang could tell that he was already slightly annoyed, but hiding it. "News travels to me slowly."

"Ahh," one of the men at the table said, eyes flashing with recognition. "You must be that new farmhand. Christopher only has good things to say about you."

"That's me." Wooyoung smiled, and Yeosang didn't much like the way those two women were looking at him now. Like they'd just realized how handsome he was.

"Then I will tell you this," the chattier one said. "Neither of those princes can seem to find a wife. And the poor King...apparently, he looks ready to drop dead at any moment."

Yeosang spoke up. "But Prince Jongho has found a wife. They were married many months ago."

"Exactly. They were married, boy. Rumour has it, the princess ended the marriage on the very last day before it was sealed."

"I- I see," Yeosang said weakly. His mind was reeling from this new information. This must have happened a while ago, for the probationary period of Jongho and Yuna's marriage was already nearing its end when Yeosang left.

"And the kingdom was just beginning to buzz with news of the other prince's engagement when that was also mysteriously called off," she continued. "Poor boy hasn't been seen in months. Heartbroken, the Queen says."

Heartbroken. That was what his mother was saying. How long would the excuse last? "There is no news of Prince Jongho marrying another?" he pressed.

"So quickly after his old one ended?" The woman scoffed. "I should hope not."

Knowing that there was no more information to get out of them, Wooyoung thanked the people at the table before returning his chair to their own. Now, it was Yeosang's turn to swallow his drink much faster than normal. He was itching to get out of there. "Shall we go?"

Wooyoung nodded and they left. They were well on their way down the lonely road home when Yeosang spoke. "My father is still alive."

"It seems that his sickness has been progressing more slowly than your mother let on," Wooyoung remarked.

"Yet if- when he dies..."

"And Jongho remains unmarried..." Yes, Wooyoung had caught on to what Yeosang was thinking.