KILLBLACK

three

Jungwoo abruptly opened his eyes, the darkness enveloping his room. Panting heavily, he perused at the open balcony doors, the shining moonlight illuminating his caliginous bedroom.

 "Thank heavens, it was all a nightmare," Jungwoo muttered to himself, clutching his chest with a balled fist. "I might catch a cold. Which menial left these doors navigable? Perhaps I am to give them quite a scolding..."

 A somber, statuesque figure stood on Jungwoo's balcony, making the prince's eyes open wide in shock. Slightly trembling, he quietly reached for one of the guns kept in one of his desk drawers.

 "Who is this, an assailant? How did he enter the royal castle?" Tiptoeing behind the flowing curtains, the prince slowly moved, fearing the unknown figure might hear him. "I will not be taken down just because of an assay at an ambuscade!"

He pointed the derringer at the unknown man, who cast a shadow that loomed over Jungwoo. Preparing to pull the trigger, he was interrupted by a hand over the firearm, and Lucas' resting mien inches from his face.

 "Shh. Do not be afeared, my prince." One of his gloved mitts over Jungwoo's supple lips, he smiled as he ogled at the young prince, running his thumb across Jungwoo's rubicund lips. Jungwoo, after having realized the younger's provocative eyeing, pushed Lucas away. 

"You fool! Why are you at my balcony at this hour? Are you going to harm me?"Lucas looked at him with round eyes. "Me? Harm you?" He let out a small chortle, his voice raspy. "I would never harm you, my dear prince, I love you too much for that."

He felt his visage turn bright scarlet from Lucas' footle, slapping his hand away. "Your trivial talk is getting irritating, Lucas. Get a hold of yourself!"

Lucas ignored the lambaste of his dear prince and carried him. "You are algid, my prince."

"Put me down, you scoundrel!" Jungwoo thwacked the strong Lucas who barely budged. "Father will hear of this, you insolent knave!" The younger still held on to him, walking him to bed whilst ignoring the orange haired who menaced and screamed.

"I have a gun, Lucas, unhand me!" The prince pointed the small pistol at the dark haired male, who stopped in his steps. 

"Will you shoot me, my prince?" Whispering against Jungwoo's ice-cold skin, Lucas slowly put him down. "Will you, Jungwoo?"

Tensing as the young Lucas' bold orbs pierced through his, he was out of words. Feeling Lucas' warm breath against his freezing skin made his heart skip a beat.

"Silence is your answer, perhaps?" Ever so lightly brushing his lips against Jungwoo's porcelain skin, Lucas' lids closed.

Lucas slowly knelt to elevate himself whilst running his hands over the royal prince's silk sleepwear. Jungwoo, frozen at the spot, barely moved a finger, his breaths slow and deep. A bright scarlet enveloped his pale complexion as Lucas inched closer to his statuesque figure lying on the sheets.

His chin being lifted by a gloved hand, his mind in utter confusion and chaos, and his body blazing with an appetency to be able to feel the handsome young noble's lips against his own, Jungwoo lost control of himself, and let Lucas do what he was about to.

Lucas noticed Jungwoo's fluttering eyelids and his ragged breath, bringing his lips into a smile. "What a cute prince you are, Jungwoo." He gave the prince's agape lips a soft peck, surprising Jungwoo who already snapped to his senses.

"Lucas- No!" He pushed the nobleman away, abruptly sitting up. "Why not, my prince? You clearly were wanting it as well." 

"It's still..." Roughly expunging his lips of traces of Lucas, his face burnt into a bright scarlet. "It's still wrong, Lucas." 

"But it felt so right, didn't it?" A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "So, why are you still constraining yourself, my dear Jungwoo?"

"I..." Lucas wasn't abroad, it did feel right. The feeling of the other's lips against his own, even just for a mere fraction of a second, sent his heart soaring with delight, a happiness he has yet to feel before. Was this love, infatuation, adoration? Jungwoo was unfamiliar, but the mania he felt every time was incomparable to feelings he's discerned before. 

"Lucas, I told you, I cannot be a part of your ridiculous jokes!" Jungwoo lashed out on Lucas, slamming his fists on his sheets. "You may be someone who is free to do whatever he desires, but I..." His eyes gazed on the floor, sadness evident from his wavering voice.

With a pained expression, Lucas sat beside the petite prince and held his hand. "You always think of others, your subjects, but what about yourself, Jungwoo?" The red haired prince looked up, tears on his eyes as Lucas gave his hand a buss. "Are you happy with the way your life is? A prince, a prisoner of his own duties, who only lives to serve his kingdom but not himself?"

Lucas' words pierced through Jungwoo's heart like a dull knife, slowly, painfully. Of course he was aware that he was no free man, but a prisoner of his royal duties. He was conceived in this world to serve a purpose, and he shall not waver from his impetus in life - to serve his kingdom and its subjects for as long as he lived.

And here Lucas was, an irresistible force that kept trying to take him away from that purpose. But still, Jungwoo found a comfortable bliss in him, a feeling that sent him into cloud nine. Jungwoo didn't want to let go of this ecstasy, to him, Lucas was like the light in his dark world.

"... Please leave at once, Lucas." Jungwoo knew the consequences of his own happiness. He lived for one purpose and one purpose alone, and it wasn't to love or be loved. As Lucas left, a cold spot grew in Jungwoo's heart. It was like a part of his heart left him, and as Lucas went farther, it got colder.

"I would like to have a word with you after breakfast, my prince." Lucas halted to give Jungwoo a brief glance. "I'll be waiting." Lucas disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving Jungwoo with his thoughts.