𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2,200 words

𝐘𝐞𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠

It happened at the same moment that the commotion appeared in the hall; a small group of maids and other servants burst through a door that Yeosang first noticed now. The aspect seemed odd, but somehow made sense when he realized that they were all human. His eyes flashed a purple color when he sensed all the fear those innocent people reeked and he guessed that they had been too scared to leave their safe place in the kitchen before someone actually needed some kind of assistance. And the fuss out in the hall was somehow enough to send a pair of servants out in that direction.

Yeosang did not regard the issue much, as he sat by the table with a demon in front of him who stared him down. The prince did his best to remain calm and unbothered by the gesture, but the eyes were practically digging him down, and he wished nothing else but to wipe that frustrating smirk off the dark creature's face.

"What made you even come here, pretty little fairie? You know that you will be dealing with creatures of the night."

That assured him the demon had seen the purple color in his eyes and only used his words to spark more fear out of the situation - but Yeosang would not give in to his dirty trick. The blonde prince had already discerned Hongjoong's intentions.

"The same reason as you, I suppose," Yeosang answered, still not sparing the other a single eye. Lucky for him he always had been very persistent.

And still, he couldn't help but glance over at the demon out of the corner of his eye. His pitch-black hair splayed over his almost mad-distorted expression, and it made Yeosang's heart skip a beat as he tensed in his seat.

"No, I don't think so. The reason why I came here is that I made a deal with my dear mother which you rather not want to hear," Hongjoong purred, "Although I can reassure you that it's less horrendous than normally."

Yeosang didn't want to think of what deals demons made with each other, so he busied himself with looking down at his fiddling fingers. The act made confidence bloom in Hongjoong, and Yeosang felt that wave hit him harshly.

"Then I'm good without," he muttered instead, twisting one of his golden rings around on his index finger.

He heard the demon giggle - a sound that never would make sense coming from a creature like him.

"Oh, would you look at that," Hongjoong hummed sweetly and the sudden musing had the fairie prince lifting his eyes to look at the other, only to find the remnants of dark dust where Hongjoong had been a few seconds prior.

Alarmed, Yeosang turned his body around in his chair to find the demon before chaos would break free. And there, in the door-opening, Hongjoong had led his attention all the way over to a newcomer, whose hair was dripping with water. His own eyes shifted from their green color to a blended red and purple one when he caught up on the emotions coming from the prince entering the dining room. And they were strong.

Hongjoong was standing in front of him, making it so painfully obvious that this man was tall, and Yeosang guessed he would tower himself with nearly one and a half head if not more. And as he was thinking that, the giant suddenly turned his head at him, golden eyes colliding with his green ones and he saw him smell the air inquisitively, lips parting slightly.

"I see something is bothering you, no?" Hongjoong's words were smug and just accurately touched the line of vexation that had the tall prince snap his eyes away from Yeosang and silently growl at the demon.

The warning turned louder, but Hongjoong didn't find it threatening in any way, "Mind your own business."

He moved past the smaller male, coming closer to the dining table with determined steps there told Yeosang, that he had his eyes on him. The fairie carefully observed him, as he pulled the chair out beside him and let his handbag fall to the floor as the gentleness of an honest smile appeared on his face. Soon he reached out with his long, slender hand for Yeosang to take it.

"Hi! I go by Yunho, I'm from the royal pack, Lunae lumen," the man said while Yeosang wrapped his little hand around the bigger one and greeted him, "What about you?"

It made sense now. The growling, his temperament, the golden eyes. Yeosang had never seen a werewolf in the years he had lived as the wolves lived rather north, but he knew from his studies that werewolves' physical traits matched Yunho's very well, just like he had read that those wolves liked to call their societies for packs. And his spectacular crown decorated with three phases of the moon revealed the important title this werewolf carried.

Despite that he already had seen the shadow of the demon out of the corner of his eye, he simply just couldn't not answer this friendly soul.

Yeosang gave Yunho a rather tiny smile -  but it was the first smile-like that he had given any in this castle, and that made an impression on him, "I'm the crown prince of the fairie kingdom, my name is Yeosang."

His hand was small in Yunho's, he felt it from the way he enclosed his fingers around his because he was occupied with staring into the werewolf's beautiful golden eyes there nearly reflected the color of his own hair. Yeosang didn't realize how long they held hands before the devious devil himself came to interrupt.

"What a pretty name for a pretty little fairie crown prince.." Hongjoong pulled a chair out on the other side of Yeosang, propping up his elbow on the surface of the table as he rested his head in the palm of his hand, counterfeiting the adoration he held in his eyes as he was peeking at the fairie.

Yeosang glared back at him.

_____

𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨

Now, Jongho wasn't the best at reading foreign people under certain circumstances, but when he entered the room the servant had escorted him to, he nearly saw how the tension clouded the room thickly. There were three princes, already seated by the grand luxuriously table carved out of a tree. On top of it was the table set with eight plates and nothing less than 3 forks and knives as well as two different spoons for each plate and four different glasses. A large assortment of dishes was already lined up along the table's middle and Jongho's gaze snapped to the rare tempered steak; the meat that was the rawest and closest to his natural food.

He continued to the table, figuring he better sat down instead of stalling by the entrance. His echoing footsteps had them all three turn their heads at him, and Jongho spluttered out the first words that made sense at that moment.

"Am I interrupting?" the siren prince asked, carefully, while he hesitated with pulling out a chair on the opposite side of where the others sat.

Jongho's eyes traveled from the two he hadn't greeted, taking in the stark contrast of their dark and light appearance of both clothes and hair colors before his sight ended at the handsome man, who had helped him and San in their misery outside just before.

Yunho was the first one to respond, his smile subdued the tension for now, "No, not at all actually," he inhaled shortly, "That lovely green suits you greatly."

Referring to the dry silk shirt a maid had offered him, Jongho felt a light heat rise to his cheeks and he spent the excuse of sitting down in the chair to look down, shy of the compliment.

"I must agree; the silk too," another voice chanted sleekly. 

The fabric fitted close to his body, cupping all curves and solidity of his torso and arms, and Jongho fretted it was too see-through. Disregarding the eyes on him, the siren lifted his head to look around the room, finding a beautiful gold-plated chandelier hanging from the ceiling even if multiple candles were lit on both the table and around the room. He thanked them decently, but as he did, Jongho knew that they had seen them when one gasped.

How he wished he could blame San for this too.

"Y-your teeth!"

Immediately, he closed his mouth entirely, moving his head to look at Yunho with deep regret, "Oh yeah.. sorry," the siren mumbled with a hand for his mouth, "I will restrain from showing them too much..."

"No wait, that wasn't what I meant!" Yunho exclaimed and his next words had Jongho widen his eyes too stunned, "Can I please see them again?"

Jongho hesitated for a while, thinking that what the other just had inquired wasn't something he truly meant. It just wasn't a possibility. But as seconds passed and Yunho still hadn't called it a joke, Jongho slowly parted his lips and made himself smile carefully. The tall man, beamed.

"Woah, how did I not notice them sooner?! They're so cool!"

Jongho closed his mouth again and gave him a lip-smile instead, "Well, they're quite not something I'm that proud of, so.. But I appreciate your thoughts of them."

He pulled his hands to rest in his lap and glanced at the other two. The man with the black hair was smirking devilish.

"They're very impressive, but if I was to have my dick sucked by you, I would rather not. They can surely do a hell lot of damage."

Even the blonde prince and Yunho were looking shocked because of the bold words.

"P-pardon?" Jongho stuttered, a sudden confusion appearing on his face, but he still dared to remove a trailing drop of water from his hairline.

The black-haired man made eye-contact with him, and Jongho felt as if an invisible spell was swathing around him his being, like he was forced into something much like a trap, "Oh? I must have said that by accident, my mistake."

The energy was pressing into the pores of his skin, cold and dark, and unsafe. And Jongho knew instantly that he was not to be trusted, not when his eyes were filled with so much shadiness. He would have felt chasmic offended by the other prince's words, but the tension coming back to the table was the only frame of mind present.

He lost his appetite to a remark, that perhaps, had been told just for fun. But Jongho was taking his words personally, for the matter of touching something vulnerable. After all, he had spoken the truth when he had said he wasn't proud of his teeth, or his alluring voice, or the way his subconscious mind and deepest nature wanted to prey on Yunho, using those damned teeth that he so much hated.

The siren made himself swallow thickly as he pinched the skin on his hand with his sharp nails. Awkward.

"Why would you think I would ever suck your dick? I would bite it off before you realize what I'm doing."

And the conversation ended with the table unexpectedly having turned.

_____

𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠

Wooyoung spotted the crown on his head, immediately. It shined with glitter and gold, entangling with the bearer's hair so naturally that it seemed it never would come off again.

That made him coil back to his thought a second before: was it ever taken off? Did he sleep with it on? What was it made out of? - and what would happen if he came to touch it?

Purring with excitement he nearly fell off his chair and it made San turn to the side, giving him a confused, yet very amused stare. The merman was digging into his food as if he had starved for weeks, although his skills of using a fork and knife were poor. That only made it even more entertaining.

Their giggles echoed between the eerie sounds of jarring cutleries and porcelain. Sometimes a glass was raised and slammed against the surface of the table, but that was it. No one spoke a single word.

It reminded Wooyoung of the far back times he had shared his dinners with his then beloved mother and younger brother. Silence. Dragons were a calm species; keeping quiet instead of sharing thoughts, and his family had been no different from that.

But this table reminded him of one particular dinner there had been bound to be flawed from the beginning.

This table was made for eight different kingdoms, but for no one's au courant. Wooyoung had no idea of what and how and why they were all gathered here, seven princes and an empty chair, a distinguished dinner, and a huge, empty castle for themselves - to do with as they pleased.

He could burn it all down if he wanted to, crown himself and be called a king of disappointments.

There was a reason to why exactly they had been chosen, and Wooyoung wondered with a wiseness what fate had in mind to do with them.

♛