♝
with a heavy sigh, seungcheol made way to his bedroom in the left wing of the castle. since him and the elves were far from done with discussing some major subjects regarding both kingdoms, he had offered them a place to sleep in the right wing, where visitors usually slept. their consultation would most likely last for another day, two or even three at most. and the thought of that alone drained all his energy.
though even when it was presumably far past midnight, seungcheol suddenly recalled his words from the day before. he had told his younger brother he would invite the intruders for dinner, yet forgot about that as the meeting had taken up all of his focus.
especially once he reminded himself of that weirdly familiar feeling he had gotten with the so called jeonghan, he felt the sudden urge to see or speak to him again. his exhaustion was momentarily forgotten as he sped past his own bedroom and lead himself directly to the bed chambers.
on instinct he picked a random room which was, coincidentally, instantly the right one as his eyes landed on the brunette boy. he was seated on the window sill with his knees pulled up to his chest, temple resting against the glass as he seemed to be fascinated with the starry night sky. seungcheol noticed how the maids must have exchanged his clothing, as the material hugging his body had the kingdom's family crest embroidered on it.
though once seungcheol closed the door, the long haired boy looked up with panicked eyes, color slowly vanishing from his face when the intimidating king stepped closer without speaking a word. to his surprise, however, the king took place on the other side of the window sill made of stone and mirrored the same position as jeonghan himself, their toes brushing against each other slightly.
jeonghan couldn't help but to notice how much more friendly he looked up close. his simple choice of clothes gave him a warmer appearance, not even to start about how jeonghan couldn't keep his eyes off his nearly black orbs.
"the stars are beautiful, aren't they?" seungcheol spoke, tearing his gaze apart from the night sky and focussing his full attention on jeonghan.
"they are." the long haired male gave a calm reply, figuring seungcheol was a lot less intimidating than he formally appeared to be. or at least the look in his eyes told him it was safe to speak, or to feel somewhat comfortable.
"say, yoon jeonghan, could it be we have ever met before?" the question hit jeonghan harder than he expected it to. so he remembered too?
eleven years ago, the visitation of adora on the royal ball. all royalty from the area, who could travel in less than two days by horse, were invited.
it was when the hall doors opened and the king of adora, together with his wife and two kids, came inside and were greeted by jeonghan's father, the king of semica. jeonghan, being their thirteen year old son, met someone of his own age for the first time in his life since he wasn't allowed to leave the kingdom.
and oh, how he and prince seungcheol had enjoyed their night..
"the ball of the semica kingdom, exactly eleven years ago." jeonghan let out a gloomy sigh, avoiding seungcheol's gaze by staring up at the night sky again. yet by looking away he missed a crucial detail. seungcheol's warmhearted smile.
"i remember." his voice lit up even more, making jeonghan turn his head back to check if his face matched the same expression his voice held. "it's been so long. i already thought you looked familiar."
