The Spoiled Prince || WooSanSang

Apologies + Confessions

The journey was silent as they made their way through the dirt forest paths. At least, it started out that way. They'd picked up enough food to last them a few days before setting off, and it was well into the evening before San seemed to bore from the silence.

"So...You missed me that much, huh?"

"What?"

"Why else would you insist on being the one to retrieve me?"

"I simply figured that I would have better luck convincing you than a soldier you don't know," Wooyoung reasoned.

"Because we are the best of friends?"

Wooyoung huffed. "I didn't say that!"

San looked at him and chuckled, adjusting the bag of food on his shoulder. There were three packs between them; Wooyoung shouldered two of them. "Are you always this quick to anger?" San asked.

"Only around you." 

Much of their conversation went like that on the first day; mindless bickering. Or, San having a bit too much fun getting under Wooyoung's skin. 

Annoyance aside, Wooyoung did take pity on San when he could tell the other was getting tired. Much of his stamina must have been lost after months of no training. They stopped for the night; it was starting to get dark, anyway. Wooyoung managed to find the same clearing he'd slept in on the way there.

Stubbornly, San insisted on being the one to start the fire. Wooyoung watched impatiently, itching to take over and do it himself as San fumbled with the sticks, a look of hard concentration on his face.

He did eventually manage to light the fire after about ten minutes of trying. He turned triumphant. "I told you I could do it!"

When he smiled, San looked more like his old self. Younger and healthier. Wooyoung felt a sudden sense of guilt over the fact that San had gone off on his own, whereas at least he and Yeosang had each other. For that reason, he refrained from mentioning that he could have gotten the fire started himself in less than a minute.

Wooyoung sat back and let the warmth from the fire wash over him. It felt impossibly good after being cold for so long.

Meanwhile, San grabbed for the food.

"Don't eat too much," Wooyoung warned as San ripped off a chunk of bread. "We need to make it last until the day after next."

"I know."

San passed the bread to Wooyoung, who took some for himself. His bad mood lightened some now that he was warm and finally sating his hunger. Perhaps he got a bit too comfortable...

"When did you first love Yeosang?" he asked, surprising himself. Usually, his conscience stopped him from asking such questions.

"The day we first went to the garden," San said with no hesitation, before going into a more detailed account of the moment. He told the story like it was yesterday, like he still remembered every detail. And after he finished, he asked, "How about you?"

Wooyoung regretted that he didn't have a singular, epiphany-like moment like San did. "Sometime throughout the first year I was stationed as his guard, I suppose."

"It took you a year to fall in love with him?"

"We didn't talk much!" Wooyoung defended. "Not like you two did. At first, I was even upset at being given such a boring position."

After a couple more minutes of eating in silence, Wooyoung voiced another question that had been on his mind. "Why did you choose to work at the apothecary? Surely, there must have been other openings more suited to you."