Promise- Minsung

Chapter Eleven

When morning light once again woke Yongbok, the young prince groaned loudly, his brain pounding against his skull, like it was trying to escape. He held his head and curled into a small ball. He knew it must have been late, but he had to reason to get up out of bed. The meetings between the two crown princes had not started yet, and so he had nothing to rise to.

His memories from the night before were blurry. What had happened? How did he get to his bed? Why did he get drunk so easily? Was the liquor here much stronger or something? It was indeed so, but the prince did not know this.

After a few moments of groaning and holding his head, Yongbok decided that he better go visit his cousin, to make sure that he had not shared the same fate as him. He called his servants to draw a bath, and sat up, rubbing his eyes. It must have already been almost lunch time, because the sun was shining so brightly, it made Yongbok's head pain twice as bad.

The servants came to escort him to his bath. He enjoyed the fresh aroma of the bathing room, the familiar herbal scent much like the ones at home. He was already home sick, but he knew that he would have to stay here for a while yet. From the message King Lee Minhyuk had given, it had been obvious that he did not expect his youngest brother home soon. Even Min-hyung had been acting like that, and he always seemed to know what was going on.

He sent the servants away and quickly undressed, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor without a care, as he stepped into the water. It was warm, but not too hot, and gave him a deep feeling of comfort. He lay back, resting his head against the wood side of the bath as his thoughts began to drift.

Yongbok missed his small village home, his escape from the chaos of a prince's world. The pressure of getting married, having a son, and taking care of his estate. All of the things that Yongbok didn't want to do. Managing estates wasn't too bad, and it was the only option that sounded manageable to him.

Why?

Because he likes men. Like many of those around him. Those who knew the amount of men in the royal family that were "sickened" said it was a curse sent down from God, damning the line of succession in the family. Yongbok didn't know what to think. And since the only queen that the Lee Kingdom would have would be Ji-eun, he was worried about the future. But not enough to be able to marry a woman.

In fact, he didn't want to get married in the first place.

Yongbok sighed. Why was he thinking all these dark thoughts on such a nice day? He stirred the water around him with his hands, staring at the glimmering surface. What was he doing here? His cousin would be fine without him, so why had he come? Should he leave? But he had just gotten there...

There was a knock on the door that snapped Yongbok from his thoughts. His hands went to block his private body parts as he jerked forward, away from the bath's wall.

"Prince... it is me," Yongbok froze. No... not him. Why was he here? Not now. He was in such a vulnerable state in his mind right now, where he could burst into tears in seconds... Why was he here?

"Please... I know this is not a good time, but I need to speak to you in a place that no one will hear us!"

Yongbok sighed a long, deep breath, and pulled himself out of his warm water, and crossed the room to put on a robe. He secured it around his waist before walking to open the door.

Changbin stood there, in a black robes once again. His eyes seemed to bore right into Yongbok's, and he was frozen for a moment, forgetting what he was doing and why he was there.

"Can I come in?" Changbin asked.

Yongbok blinked before nodding. "Yes, yes. Of course."

They sat down on a wooden bench, Yongbok carefully covering his entire body with the robe. He sat awkwardly, a lot of tension building up through his body as he waited for what Changbin was going to say.