halcyon || seungjin

13: For The Better

Hyunjin wakes up to Seungmin next to him, sitting up in the bed and leaning on the headboard with his arms crossed, as well as six additional pairs of eyes watching him, all standing in a row by the foot of his bed like birds perched on a wire.

"I told them all to leave and question you once you had clothes on, but they refused." Seungmin says sleepily from next to Hyunjin, his voice raspier than normal from just having woken up.

Hyunjin props himself up to lean on the headboard with his arms but he's instantly reminded of his burn by a sharp pain that sparks though his left hand. "Ouch," he hisses and looks of concern and worry meet his gaze.

"What happened?" Jeongin is the first one to speak. "What did he do to you? Are you okay?"

"This," Hyunjin holds up his hand and tries to isolate his ring finger by sticking it up, but to no avail. Instead, his hand just feels stiff as his last two fingers are locked into place. Hyunjin is met with various gasps and exclamations. "I'm fine though," Hyunjin tries to reassure his friends and he waves his hands in front of him, the cool air making his burn sting even more and he bites back a wince.

"You are so not fine." Felix riffles through his pocket, pulling out what appears to be a small tube of some sort of ointment. "Try this. It's a burn remedy I use when I accidentally touch the oven or a pan," Felix immediately explains, "it works like a charm for superficial burns. I don't know how much it will help with yours but it's worth a shot."

Hyunjin gratefully takes the tube from Felix and sets it on his bedside table, only to be bombarded with more questions.

"What happens next? Any word on the wedding?" Jisung inquires, and Chan nods his head.

"I've gotten word that it's officially cancelled. The King and Queen are off on 'emergency business' with Yeji's parents to try to ease the situation." He explains.

Hyunjin feels himself huff out a breath of relief. He might have just cost an alliance to his entire kingdom, but at least he doesn't have to get married now. He can pursue a certain gardener too, if he isn't killed by his parents, at least. And Yeji, she can find her secret admirer and love them more than she could ever love Hyunjin. It's probably for the better.

...✦

Seungmin reluctantly leaves Hyunjin's room around noon so the prince can take a long, hot bath and recuperate from the previous night's events. He goes back to his room, breathing in the scent of flowers that have spent a day too long in old water and freshly washed sheets. The room feels a bit empty, maybe because he's so used to being around Hyunjin now, all traces of him gone with the washed blankets on his bed.

Seungmin takes off his suit and dress shirt, tossing them on the floor and heading straight for the shower, turning up the heat as high as he can take it and standing under the stream until the bathroom mirrors fog up.

Seungmin cuts off the water after a while and throws a towel around his waist, heading back to the main room. But when he opens the bathroom door, a person who was not previously there is sitting on the edge of his bed, fiddling with the little wooden dog on his bedside table.

"Why are you in my room, Sungie?" Seungmin raises a brow.

"You know," Jisung shrugs, and Seungmin shakes his head.

"I don't know."

"I have to head to my post in a bit but I figured I'd stop by your room before I do. I don't have time to go back to my quarters anyway but I know you can't ever resist letting me in."

Seungmin rolls his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you let yourself in."

"What? You start messing around with a prince and suddenly I'm not your best friend anymore?" Jisung scrutinises him.

"You know that's not true," Seungmin plops himself down next to Jisung and he's met with a,

"Gross! You're basically naked! Save that for Hyunjin!"

Seungmin pushes Jisung lightly and he falls backwards onto the bed. "What did you really want to talk about?" Seungmin asks, leaning over Jisung, who makes a disgruntled face back up at him.

"Last night. What'll come of it. That kind of stuff."

"Like, with Hyunjin?"

"Yeah, I don't know. He's not getting married anymore, so..."

"What makes you think his parents will react any kinder to him dating me?"

"Maybe at this point they'll have entirely given up on him?" Jisung smiles even though he doesn't sound at all convinced of himself.

"I'm a boy. I'm a gardener. I didn't grow up royal," Seungmin argues, "among many other things. Even if Hyunjin managed to squirm his way out of getting married, who says it's not onto the next kingdom to look for another princess? That's probably the most likely-"

"Maybe he can leave the royal family." Jisung cuts Seungmin off. "Live somewhere else, like the countryside. You can go with him. We can all go with him."

"That's..." Seungmin wants to tell him it's unrealistic and a horrible idea. But... that life sounds like everything Seungmin could ever hope to ask for. It would be nice to live in a little countryside house with Hyunjin, a big garden surrounding the house to keep Seungmin busy and a studio inside where Hyunjin can paint and dance. They can get a dog, maybe, and take nighttime walks in open fields and forests and watch the stars.

Maybe it isn't so unrealistic. Maybe Jisung is onto something.

"Honestly, Minho and I have talked about it before. Moving away. We were going to do it eventually. Minho says Jeongin would leave too. It's not like his parents treat him any better than they treat Hyunjin. By default, Chan would follow Jeongin and Changbin would follow Chan which means Felix would leave with him, and that just leaves you and Hyunjin."

Seungmin slowly nods his head. "But what if Hyunjin's parents don't let him leave?"

A sly smile spreads across Jisung's face. "Maybe they don't have to know."