𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲•𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

seven

SNUGGLED UP in jisoo's favorite fuzzy purple blanket, jeonghan laughs again at the show playing on jisoo's desktop. it was amusing to scroll through jisoo's list in netflix. jeonghan had never had a netflix subscription because he was too busy.

jeonghan was lucky that jisoo and his friends were done in their recent project, or else, three other people would've witnessed a living lie straight from the palace: jeonghan. still, it's nothing to be too relieved about, jisoo's friends come over uninvited many times.

why did jisoo even take jeonghan back to his apartment? why not back to the tree house? maybe because it was raining and the nearest shelter they could run to was jisoo's apartment.

(yes, the coffee shop was shelter, but jeonghan had to fake faint and he might get recognised soon if they stay there for longer.)

jisoo's whole apartment was about the size of jeonghan's room in the palace. when the prince had stated that, jisoo showed an offended expression which made jeonghan apologize quickly.

"stop watching romcoms." jisoo says, walking behind jeonghan. the air whirred as jeonghan swirled in jisoo's swivel chair. "it's not even funny."

"but the romcoms are on your list, hong jisoo-ssi." jeonghan says, in a questioning tone. he recieves a little glance from jisoo's direction, making jeonghan feel a little intimidated. not like jisoo glared at him or looked at him in disgust—but it felt like jisoo was judging jeonghan. "okay, i won't watch romcoms."

"hmm, to kill time," jisoo says, crossing his arms and approaching his desktop. "why don't we look at our childhood pictures? ugh—never mind. if we didn't go to that cafe, you wouldn't have ended up here searching through my netflix list."

jeonghan giggles, shrugging. "i wouldn't mind if i looked back at the times when we were the closest of friends."

jisoo sighed and started to search for the hidden folder(which junhui managed to find) that contained his childhood pictures.

jeonghan was excited. he wanted to see how he looked like with a genuine smile of a child, not the one he's practiced a million times. no feigning of expressions—just sheer happiness because he was with his friends.

jeonghan barely had any friends nowadays. what more, now that he's labelled dead? would he gain any friend who won't post details about his existence and his staged death on social media? it's hard to find people who don't have ulterior motives.

even jisoo has ulterior motives. he's broke.

jeonghan understands. he won't even be surprised if jisoo turns jeonghan in to someone who offered him money—that's why jeonghan offered jisoo money before anyone else did.

jeonghan is not the only one who'd changed. jisoo had completely changed too. will they be able to have the kind of friendship that they had before, knowing that both their circumstances are different yet equally hard?

"here, these two pictures are the only pictures i have of you." jisoo clicks on one picture, and it immediately increases in size. the picture of him and jeonghan smiling, hand in hand, was showcased on jisoo's big computer monitor.

wow.

jeonghan felt himself smile as he noticed the little, significant details on the picture. they seemed to be straight out of a cooking activity, since their faces and uniforms were smeared with flour. they were holding hands loosely, in the midst of a laughing fit.

jeonghan was wrong. the same smile painted on toddler jisoo's face was still the same smile he saw earlier. jisoo hadn't completely changed. just a little bit.

"hong jisoo-ssi, i remember what we were baking that day. cookies." jeonghan states. "i gave you some of mine and you pocketed them, which made me laugh a lot." jeonghan laughs, reminiscing the funny scene in his mind.

jisoo seemed to remember as well, if you notice the little smile on his face. jeonghan took note of that, secretly.

"anywho, you should get home. the rain's not as bad, though the soil around your tree house might still be wet. you'll suffice." jisoo walks inside his room, grabbing a small backpack before grabbing his car keys. "leave my purple blanket."

with a sigh, jeonghan lets go of the cozy blanket and goes out with jisoo.

"p-prince jeonghan?" jisoo started, unsure of his way of addressing the other male. jeonghan didn't mind if the 'prince' title was gone now, though: he was a commoner right now. "who... um... why do you live in that treehouse? won't what's-her-name track you or whatever?"

jeonghan laughs. jihae was so irrelevant to jisoo that he even forgot her name. "all of our land properties are listed publicly, much to our dismay. miss jihae would look for me in all of those properties, and i can't stay in any of those places. so, i stay here.

"this treehouse is built when my father, an author, was still alive. me, my mother—the queen, obviously— and my father always go here. my father made the treehouse, for the mere reason of stars being more visible at the rooftop of the treehouse. it was our secret little place, so it's not listed anywhere public. until my father died and the queen remarried, we stopped going there."

jisoo gave jeonghan a lengthy sigh, which jeonghan did not try to comprehend. was he sighing, because he was pitying jeonghan? or for whatever reason?

jeonghan felt like he needed to do something for jisoo. he'd inconvenienced jisoo much. though jeonghan wants to reward him, jisoo did not clearly state what he wanted so jeonghan could give it to him in return of his good deeds.

maybe, leave? stop contacting jisoo? stop taking up most of his time?

"i understand your situation, i know we're friends before too—but i can't keep on doing this." jisoo says, and jeonghan shut his eyes tight. shit. "maybe check on you from time to time, but not everyday. i've got to work to pay my bills, too."

maybe jeonghan did need to leave, and cut off all connections with jisoo. but jeonghan can't let jisoo out of his sight, either—jihae.

"that's... fine. you do what you need to do, hong jisoo-ssi, you don't need to feel that i am a responsibility you need to attend to. thank you." jeonghan smiled, as jisoo drove into the pathway surrounded by trees.

they sat in silence, until jisoo pulled up near the treehouse, and grabbed his bag from the backseats. jeonghan curiously looked at the bag before he stepped out of the car. what might that be?

"here. these clothes are mine, and i outgrew them. i think they'd fit you perfectly, though," jisoo reasoned, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "i bought some undergarments for you, too, so you don't have to wea—"

due to excitement, the prince had lost all his manners and fancy-speaking. cutting off jisoo, his eyes sparkled: "thank you, truly! i don't know what i'd do if people recognize me outside again! oh my god, you are a blessing!"

jisoo did not show a smile nor a frown, simply handing the bag to the prince who was enthusiastic about recieving old clothes and undergarments. yeah, jeonghan isn't usually like this. he wasn't homeless before.

(technically, he had a home, but jeonghan was having a hard time living by.)

"you can go out if you want to," jisoo turns around, heading to his car. with a chuckle, the man looks directly into jeonghan's eyes and says, "you can fake-faint."

jeonghan blinked. jisoo makes jokes now?