I'm going to at least start it while I have a moment.

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DaeHyun's POV

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"Your schooling is truly fascinating," Hojun observed, and truthfully the sparkle in his eyes as he spoke was adorable. "What would you call this? Home schooling? Castle schooling?" At that I had to chuckle, closing my workbook. Dad said most of my basic schooling was done, and anything I needed to learn was already taught. However I was free to explore any topic of interest I wanted at my own free will. I'd devoloped quite the love of lookong at the sky, so in my spare time I'd been studying that. Hojun accompanied me to many of these lessons, given in a mix of online courses projected onto the wall our school room and professors that dad flew in from various places througout the country. "At any rate," he continued without missing a beat. "Would you like to hang out tonight? We haven't really spent any time together since Japan."

"Ah, I..." But instantly the thought abandoned me. I didn't have any otjer commitments as far as I knew, nor did I have a good excuse. "You know what? Sure." His mouth opened in an O of surprise. But then morphed into one of delight. "Allow me to go change into something more comfortable." He nodded rapidly. I chuckled. He followed me to my room, flinging himself onto my bed while I wandered over to the closet. I frowned, seeing repeat color after repeat color. The same style a thousand times over. Finally I picked something, moving off to my attached bathroom to change.

"Woah." I paused when I emerged, tilting my head quizzically to the side. "You should DEFINITELY wear purple a lot more often." And finally I realized what was happening, and annoyingly felt my ears burn. "Any color looks good on you, really." He grinned crookedly at me. I glanced to the ceiling. Something about him flustered me to no end. Maybe it was his sweet words. I wasn't used to them directed at me. Or maybe ot was just HOW he said it. So confidently. He didn't even have to think twice about it. It seemed to be on the tip of his tongue at all times. "You're so cute when you're flustered," he added with much delight.

"Oh stop," I begged. And finally he laughed. An unexpected sound, yanked right out of him. And I'll admit, something inside me twisted and turned at the sound, though I still wasn't sure what it all meant. It wasn't like when Li Jie was around. His I understood. But also I liked Li Jie. Like a lot. I wasn't even sure what I felt towards Hojun. So why was he making me feel funny? "Wanna come and get some food with me?" I asked at last, trying in vain to redirect the conversation. "I'm hungy."

"Just the two of us?" he fired back, eyes flying wide open. I was sure I mimicked his pose. In truth I hadn't thought of that fact. "Like a date?" For that one he smirked. I floundered. A date? No. Not really. Right? But it WOULD be just the two of us. I didn't want to bring ChaoXing with us, amd there was no way in hell Li Jie would come. "What about that servant of yours?" Suddenly the happy demeanor dropped away. He scowled. "You seem pretty attached at the hip. Would he come too?"

"No, I don't think so this time." Instantly the scowl vanished, replaced with a beaming smile. "One night without him will be okay." Hojun finally sprang from my bed, taking long strides to reach me. He linked our arms together. I had a flashback, just two seconds of images, but it was more than enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. But I tired to keep that down. I didn't need to ruin this with my overthinking and anxiety. So much like dad it was almost painful some days. There were certain things I wished I never inherited from him. And this was top of that list. Hojun dragged me down the stairs. Passed maids and servants and tutors. An endless sea of faces. The bowed as I passed.

We rode into Seoul in silence. I knew exactly where I wanted to eat, though a part of me wondered if he would misinterpreted it. At some point his hand found mine, and while I wanted to brush him off, my love language was physical touch, and it actually felt kind of nice. I did draw a line when he tried to lace our fingers together, flinching and yanking my hand away. He pouted, but he didn't push it either. The actiom just hit way too close to home for my own good, and I didn't want to ruin whatever we had going. Whatever it was.

"Damn," Hojun swore softly when we pulled up in front of the restaurant. "Jungsik's." He whistled. "Guess that means I'm special." I flushed, and he laughed, reaching out and brushing his fingertips along my rosie cheek. My own hand flew up, caressing the spot he touched. But he'd turned his back to me, unaware of anything even happening. "I feel a little under dressed sire," he confessed. "You should have told me we were coming here. Then I could have worn something more...appropriate." He fiddled with the collar of his dress shirt, which honestly looked fine to me. I wasn't dressed much differently, actually. I placed a hand in his shoulder, and I caught him peeking at me.

"You look great," I told him. That wasn't a lie. He did. In this like impish, cutesy way he always did. I wasn't really sure how to explain what exactly he was. Handsome or cute or just... Hojun. He shot me a radiant smile, and I'll admit to my stomach doing a little flip. "Ah, well," I added, trying to cover my embarrassment. "Let's go in, shall we?"

...

"How was dinner?" I should have been surprised that dad was the first to greet me upon my arrival home. But I wasn't. He stood in the entryway, appearing tiny nestled in with the grand staircases and massive oaken doors. He dressed for bed in blue silken pajamas, his old robe thrown overtop and slippers on his feet. We embraced. "I saw you and Hojun leaving," he admitted after a pause. "I could only assume you went out together." I nodded, and something on my face must have given me away, because he held me at arm's length, studying me. "What's up pumpkin?"

"I don't know," I confessed. "Everything just seems really confusing right now." He frowned in a thoughtful way, soaking it in. "I just don't know what to do. What my heart and head say I want. Cause what my heart says I want and what my head says I need are two different things."

"I know that feeling," was all he said, a saddened look on his face. "I can't exactly say how you feel, but... I know." And he did. He went through the same thing I did when he was young and didn't know any better. "I truly you'll know what to pick when the time comes."

"But what if I don't?" I finally asked him. He simply stared. "Or what if I pick wrong? What if... what if I just don't pick at all?" Dad wrapped me in another bone crushing hug, and for a moment everything became a little misty. "I'm scared dad. Scared I'll mess up. Scared I'll..." I faltered. But dad prodded my shoulder with his thumb. "Scared I'll disappoint you and pa."

"Oh pumpkin, you will NEVER disappoint your pa and I. We're always proud of you." His words shot straight through me like an arrow. "And no matter what you do, we'll always be with you. We promise."

"Thanks dad." At last we separated. "I better get upstairs. If I remember correctly I have early morning self defense lessons tomorrow." Dad accompanied me up the stairs to my room, pecking my forehead before continuing up the stairs to his own suite. I sighed, hovering in my doorway and surveying my room. So many memories felt trapped in these walls. And suddenly I just wanted them to go away.

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Li Jie's POV

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"You ready?" I made an affirmative noise, not sure what tonexpect out of the Korean prince. But he asked me to see something important, then blindfolded me and drug me along the halls gor what felt like an eternity. Finally we paused. I felt his fingers brush along my neck as he took the blindfold off. I opened my eyes. "Woah," I breathed, gaping at everything. "It's...different." It didn't really scream him either. But then again I was beginning to realize I didn't know the current him very well at all, even though I claimed to.

His room, which I'd always associated with this feeling of comfort, because as we grew he kept it largely the same. Same pale blue walls that he slapped posters over to mask the color. Same giant bed in the same place in the middle of his room, complete with posts and an ornate canopy. Same desk and vanity that had been passed down to him from King Junmyeon. Everything had this lived in feeling I adored.

But now his walls were painted a rich red color. It almost made the room seem...dark. Totally unlike him. His posters were gone, bare walls in their place, save for a few shelves of knick knacks around. His bed was gone, replaced instead with a simplified version of it. Gone were his usual blue and white bedspread, more red prevalent. His vanity was gone entirely, and he had a new black desk for his computer and gaming system. His TV remained where it had once been. Snd finally a bookshelf with a few books and trinkets had sprung up next to his desk. Nothing in here seemed like him.

"I thought it was time for a change," he told me, making his way over to the bed and gingerly sitting on the bedspread. He ran his fingers over his new blanket, looking troubled. But I stood rooted in my spot. I wasn't aure what I thought of this. "The other room seemed...too babyish." It was almost like he was trying to convince himself. "Plus, eventually, I'll be bringing other people over, and..." At that he paused. "I needed a room that reflects some maturity."

"I think your old room was fine sire." At last I made me way to him. I knelt, and he dropped his gaze to meet mine. "What's really going on? It's not like you to do sudden changes. In fact, you hate it." He said nothing, instead turning to stare at the wall. I placed a hand on his knee. "Sire." He heaved a sigh.

"What do you care anyway?" he mumbled. I rocked back, a little hurt but brushing it off anyway. "And nothing is going on Jie. Nothing you don't know about anyway." But I wasn't so sure. Something else seemed to be going on up in his mind, and for the first time in our lives he wasn't sharing. Being little made things seem so simple. He would always tell me what bothered him. "I was just sick of seeing the same thing, okay? Because everywhere I looked it just reminded me of something I couldn't ever have. So starting anew seemed like the best thing." I frowned. Of course I knew what he was talking about. Me. I was the reason for this.

"You can't just erase those memories," I informed him. He scrunched up, looking really small and vulnerable right now  and I longed to comfort him. But I knew that it wouldn't be wise right now. "You can change your surroundings all you want sire, but the things you want to scrub from the walls... you can't. I'm sorry." He sat unmoving. "I'm sorry for a lot of things sire. I'm sure it will be lovely room." I finally stood, and I caught him following the movements. "Would you like something?" I figured the best thing for him right now was to simply slip into a role I was comfortable in and he grew up used to. "Food or drink? Want me to draw you a bath? Or would you like to be left alone?"

"Stay." I smiled softly. Sometimes DaeHyun was a man of few words. But he made them count when necessary. "And... food? I'm peckish. I think." I nodded, contenting myself with going down to the kitchens, giving Kyungsoo a wave as I arranged a little snack board for the prince. Fruit and cheese and meat and light things, since he didn't seem particularly hungry, just needed to keep himself busy. I took the tray up to him, settling it at the foot of his bed. Then I crawled up next to him as he helped himself to some goodies, turning on his TV so we could watch a movie together. "Thank you Jie," he whispered.

"Of course sire," I replied. I scooted closer to him, resting my cheek against his shoulder. I felt him tilt, his cheek resting on the top of my head now. We sat like that for a long time, enjoying each others presence for the first time in ages. I missed this. I missed HIM. This him.

I definitely pretended not to notice when his hand sought mine. But I didn't give a little content sigh when he linked our pinkies together. Maybe things were changing, but one thing was for sure. He was still DaeHyun. He was still the goofy kid I grew up with, with his same mannerisms. And I loved him for it.

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Okay I'm tired but I HAD to finish this. Bye bye!