A Royal Flush| Minsung | completed ✔️

Chapter 8

Minho rushed through the halls of the castle. It seemed like the party was being cut short, or at least the royalty of Muin was being escorted out. Hopefully, it didn't ruin their business with Hielm. He knew that many cities relied on Muin for their gems and mining –Islac included.

Minho looked in each room that was unlocked as he tried to think of where Jisung would likely have disappeared too.

"Usually I like eating my breakfast in the gardens, it's always quiet there."

Minho brushed his hair out of his face as he ran down a set of spiral stairs, as he reached the bottom he felt around for a loose stone. It took a couple of attempts but after pushing it in hard enough, another door made of stone swung open and Minho took a step inside. He was thankful Jisung and him used to mess around when they were younger now. The secret passages in the castle were very helpful in certain cases. He just had to hope he remembered correctly and this led him towards the gardens.
He sped-walked down the dark alleyway, feeling a small dip in the floor, Minho knew he was close to the end of the passage so he felt around in front of him so he wouldn't faceplant stone and get a bloody nose.

When the stone doorway opened, Minho was met with the chill of the September air. It had been so warm in the ballroom that he was almost glad to feel the cool air on his neck as he stepped out into the gardens.
The gardens were a lot smaller than the ones back at the Islac Palace and so Minho knew the best place to find Jisung was most likely by the pond which was situated on the left side.
Glancing around the area it seemed like there were minimal amounts of guards out there, all of them probably got told to help take control of the commotion inside. Still, Minho nodded and smiled at a guard who stood against one of the back walls. Most of the hedges had started to slowly fade into light oranges,yellows and brown. It was a clear night and Minho could see the stars shining brightly in the sky. He already knew Jisung was probably looking up at them.

After a small walk, the Prince reached a small pathway that led into the open area which held the pond, a few picnic benches as well as a hammock. Minho spotted Jisung immediately. Well, not Jisung himself. But without any wind, it was obvious that the hammock that was swinging back and forth was where Jisung was hiding.
The older boy made sure to step on a couple of leaves and a stick so that Jisung would hear him approach. He didn't need to scare the boy anymore than he probably was.

"Hey Sungie" Minho said softly as he reached the hammock and saw Jisung curled up in the hammock, even in the darkness of the night, he could see that Jisung's eyes were red and puffy. Jisung was picking at his bracelet as well as the skin around it.
When the two princes made eye contact, Minho noticed Jisung's eyes get watery again.
Minho sat down awkwardly on the edge of the hammock, Jisung covered his face with his arms, and he shuffled around slightly so that Minho could sit slightly more in the hammock.

"I'm such an embarrassment to Hielm..." Jisung said softly as he let Minho pull him into a side hug.

"No, you aren't Jisung." Minho said softly as Jisung hid his face into the crook of the Princes' neck. Tears ruining his white jacket.
Minho let Jisung continue to cry softly, his hand stroking his back lightly as he clamed himself down.
"Sorry, now i'm literally crying on another prince, i'm a mess." Jisung sniffled as he lifted himself off Minho, rubbing his eyes roughly to stop his tears.

"Don't do that, it will only hurt more. Just let them fall Sungie." Minho grabbed Jisung's hands to stop him from hurintg himself. Minho rubbed his thumb over Jisung's bracelet and under the thread to where Jisung had scratched and picked at his skin. In the dark he couldn't tell for certain, but it didn't look like he had made himself bleed.

"I hate celebrations," Jisung grumbled, his voice slightly sore from all the crying.

"Me too, do you want to go back inside or stay outside for a bit longer? I know Riku was worried about you. She was going to come and find you but the guards rushed her off to the family wing for protection, we have no idea if anything bad actually happened. But Muin insulted Hielm, your father seemed super angry. I think it was pretty lucky he didn't have a sword on him." Minho tried to joke lightly.