Royal Temptations

Chapter 23

This whole weekend calls for rain yuck.

Chapter 30 is done. Guess what that means? Yep. An update.

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Junmyeon's POV

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"Are we sure this is really necessary?" I asked, watching through slitted eyes as palace staff shuffled my belongings back and forth. At mother's insistence, I was being moved the the grand suite at the top of the palace. "Really, my old room is perfectly fine," I tried reasoning.

"After that anonymous tip we got, we can't take any chances," she told me. "Don't worry. I told your father it was because moving you up there would likely entice you into finding a wife sooner than later. I just want what's best for you. That's all I want." I resumed watching them whisk my stuff away. I guess one good thing that came out of this was now I'd have a large, private space, away from the general humdrum of the palace. It also had an attached bathroom, and a library, painstakingly built up by the generations before me. Even if a lot of the country's history was just a click away, some things were very closely guarded. And that's where those books came in.

"I suppose it is about time I move up to that room anyway," I sighed, accepting my inevitable fate. "It's a lot more convenient anyway." I glanced sideways at her. "But I want to keep my office space the same."

"Of course sweetheart," she replied. "Not everything has to change." I fixed my gaze straight ahead, working through a list of appropriate responses. Maybe in her mind it didn't, but I honestly felt that things were constantly changing now. And maybe not always for the better. Maybe she sensed my weird mood, because she gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Baekhyun's here," she told me. "Why don't you go see him? Your father and I have this under control." I accepted her offer of escape, making my way to the longue he favored when he came here (large in part because he got to hook up his PlayStation to the TV).

"Hey Baek," I greeted when I saw him sitting on the couch. He glanced over to me as I sat on the other end, groaning slightly. "Why are you here?"

"How was London?" he asked instead, avoiding my question. A frown made its way to my face. He sounded strangely subdued today. "How was meeting King Henry?" I decided to leave the matter for now as he clearly didn't want to talk about it, but I would get him to open up before he left tonight.

"A bit surreal," I replied. "He and Queen Allison are so nice. They invited me over as a kind of 'get-to-know-you' kind of thing, and make sure that we started off on the right foot as well, since he was allies with my father." I paused. "I'm sure you don't want to hear all about the technical stuff, so what's up?" For a good long while, all he did was stare at his hands on his lap. "Baek?" I prompted gently.

"Remember my friend I was telling you about?" he asked at last. "That goofy giant of a boy, Chanyeol?" I waited patiently as he collected his thoughts. "I...I kissed him." That took a second to sink in.

"You kissed him?" I asked. Baekhyun groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Yes," he answered. "I don't even fully understand what happened. We were sitting on my bed playing video games, just a normal every day activity for the two of us. He comes over all the time to play with me. I just glanced over and suddenly had this overwhelming urge. So I got his attention, kissed him quick, and then freaked out and sprinted out of my room." He groaned again, and I winced. "I can't face him. What if he hated it?"

"What if he didn't?" I countered. Baekhyun glanced up to me. "You never know Baek. Maybe he likes you too and you don't know it. I certainly didn't suspect anything from Yixing. Maybe this could lead to the best thing that's happened to you."