𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲•𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

five

NOBODY WOULD expect such a blunt and careless response to a dangerous accusation—especially, coming from a prince. jisoo actually reconsidered the possibility of jeonghan here being a con artist. well, there's nothing left of jisoo for jeonghan to feast on; jisoo is broke, if put into simple words.

the police seemed confused as well. second police officer says, "is this licensed, sir? do you mind if we take you with us to the police station for questioning? don't worry..."

jisoo tunes out. he was not interested in the consequences anymore; he was, however, an advanced thinker so he was already thinking of cremation services that are cheap enough for jisoo's budget.

anyway, jeonghan had other plans—surprisingly connected with jisoo's previous fake backstory(which flopped because of his own mistake of throwing away a bloodied lethal weapon around).

"sir, pardon my intrusion, but i am here right now merely to practice my aiming skills. as you see here," jeonghan points to his shoulder. "i am kang ayeon's son. kang ayeon is grazia's vice secretary, and i am prince yoon jeonghan's friend. i also attended his wedding, and he died. alas." jeonghan dramatically sighs.

jisoo was impressed, now. where did he learn how to lie? in the palace? the palace full of lies? is it correct for jisoo to dub the royal palace 'the palace full of lies'? wow. such an exemplary deed, jisoo.

"this is prince yoon jeonghan's gift to me. this house, for my birthday!" jeonghan feigns an expression of excitement. jisoo wondered if he should take acting classes since he will need it now. "me and joshua go to bellezia to unwind, or practice my aiming skills. joshua is a part of grazia's knighthood and he's the best at aiming!"

they ended up in the police station.

don't worry, though, nothing bad happened to them—— prince fucking lee jihoon just appeared in front of them and the police to defend his brother(and jisoo). bedazzling, jisoo knows, but he thinks that this prince is rather grumpy. oh, scratch that—temporary ruler of bellezia while jeonghan camps in a fucking tree house to wait out the maniac(sister of jeonghan's fiancé).

as jisoo and jeonghan walked home(the police wouldn't let jisoo drive him and jeonghan to the police station, of course, they even handcuffed them), jeonghan started apologizing profusely out of nowhere. "i am sorry. terribly sorry. really, i am. if they didn't see the gun, they would've bought our little boyfriend agenda and they would've left. i should've buried that gun."

jisoo can't find the energy to yell at him—the sun was already setting behind him, and it just tells jisoo that it'd been a long, tiring day. "it's okay. i was the one who threw it on the ground anyway. it was my fault, so sorry."

"somehow, we both have our contributions to this stressful day. i hope prince jihoon doesn't feel spiteful for the inconvenience i caused hin today." jeonghan beams. jisoo doesn't spare him a glance, so he never saw the huge smile. "thank you for walking me home as well."

"you're a dead prince walking around. you can't be unsupervised." jisoo replied simply, blinking once. "why don't you go somewhere far from bellezia? you'd be better off outside this kingdom."

"i have to keep my enemies close, but indirectly, may i add," jeonghan giggles, but jisoo did not. it was not funny at all; jisoo doesn't get the humour of rich people. "miss jihae's unpredictable."

jisoo guessed that jihae was the name of suhae's sister. with that information, jisoo shut up and just walked silently beside jeonghan. the prince, though, was being such a disney character that decided to sing lovely melodies.

jisoo raises an eyebrow. of course he can sing. jisoo doesn't dwell much about that, though, his phone rang incessantly. maybe a call from his vanilla-ice-cream friends.

"hello?" oh, it was hansol. "jisoo, we need your opinion."

"i prefer swirls than static parallel lines and solid shapes," jisoo replied. he figured that hansol would be asking the same question everytime they edit the videos of their clients. "or, if the parallel lines are fitting to the theme, choose that then."

"oh... i didn't even ask yet but i got an answer! tha—"

"OI JISOO WHERE ARE YOU?! JUNHUI'S MESSING AROUND WITH YOUR DESKTOP AND FOUND OUR CHILDHOOD PICTURES! OUR FACES ARE SMEARED WITH SNOT!"

jisoo cringed, glancing at jeonghan. that was unnecessary. nevertheless, jisoo replied: "please don't get distracted and get the work done. i'll be home in a few minutes." jisoo drops the call as fast as lightning, and put on a 'nonchalant' smile.

jeonghan, as expected, commented. "you're still friends with them."

"course i am."

"by the way, i love how you staged our relationship using photos. it looked real to me," jeonghan added, making jisoo furrow his eyebrows. once again, the innocent and confused man was reminded of his first kiss. from the prince. "i'd like to thank you. is there any way which i can express my gratitude?"

maybe if you still had your place in the throne then you could, jisoo thought, but he wouldn't say that. he would expose too much of himself; he wouldn't expose how he has become materialistic as he became an adult.

"i'll think about it." jisoo replied. stealing a glance at jeonghan, he remembers how bad jeonghan was at treating his own wounds. "want me to help you put a dressing on that wound? oh, and also, take down the pictures."

jeonghan beamed. "okay! and—oh! you know, an alternative way to escape from the police earlier was fainting. do you understand, jisoo-ssi? i mean, you get out of all the atrocities using that skill. not to brag, but i have fake-fainted over five hundred times to get out of my princely duties. i could also hold my breath for seven minutes. do you want me to..."

jisoo tunes out again, making a sour expression. jeonghan is the kind of person who is smart, but whose intelligence would terrify jisoo. jeonghan is too much of a trickster to become a prince. what would happen to bellezia if he eventually becomes the king?

ah, relief. jisoo was relieved now that a hitman showed up in jeonghan's wedding and he did not become king, which meant sending bellezia to doom. if he had any time, he'd meet the hitman himself and shake his hand after giving him congratulatory money.

"you've got good techniques, prince." jisoo replies flatly. "my feet hurt."

jeonghan bursted into giggles, seemingly cute to jisoo. what. the. fuck. "perhaps, i've caused you too much frenetic problems today. and... and, tomorrow. hong jisoo-ssi, can you accompany me to the nearest cafe tomorrow?"

jisoo furrowed his eyebrows. what, is this turning into a coffee-shop-fic now? with uncanny main characters that don't fit in coffee-shop-fic aesthetics? nuh-uh. plus, is jisoo jeonghan's bodyguard now? why should he accompany jeonghan everywhere?

"i don't see the need for me to be there. i'm not your bodyguard."

"well, for one thing, i can't order in those lovely little shops... and i can't buy things using my credit card because i'm supposed to be dead. i desperately want black coffee with three sugar cubes and a splash of milk, hong jisoo-ssi."

jisoo sighed. tomorrow is the last time i'll ever hang out with him.