The cover came in and let me tell you it is so cool. We shall see how this all goes.

Obviously I used it lol. It was too cool not to use.

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Yixing's POV

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I didn't care how old I got, waking up to see Luhan lying across from me, fast asleep, would always be a sight that brought me comfort. He'd accepted my offer to come up to my room, and we must've both fallen asleep talking late into the night. I yawned, lazily rolling on my back to face the ceiling. I'd let Luhan sleep for a bit longer before he had to go back to work.

I expected the first thing on my mind to be wedding plans, but today that wasn't the case. Junmyeon was turning eighteen next week. They were throwing him a party. And my family had been invited. God what would I even say to him? We hadn't spoken to each other in over a year. Did he have a girlfriend finally? What did he think of taking over so quickly?

"Hey." I jumped when a voice spoke. Luhan chuckled lowly. "Don't overthink again. You're bad at that." I smacked him lightly, but I wasn't mad at him. Not in the slightest. "Are you thinking of Junmyeon?" Again, it was like he could read my mind some days.

"Yes," I admitted with a groan. "It's been nearly two years since our short time together. I don't know if I can actually face him." And maybe that was another reason I'd been so hesitant to reconnect with him. Because I wasn't sure if I could face my past. It wasn't like I regretted it, because I didn't, but it was a hard pill to swallow.

"Nothing much has changed I hear," Luhan said. I glanced to him. "What? You aren't the only one who wanted to keep in touch. Sure, texting the royal blood of another country is probably highly frowned upon, but it never stopped me from doing it." He seemed to think for a second. "I think our last little conversation was last week." My jaw dropped. Luhan still kept in steady contact with him, even when I didn't? "He texts me when life seems especially overwhelming," Luhan explained. "I offer advice when his family or Heechan can't. Or Baekhyun."

"Baekhyun?" I did not recognize the name. Luhan paused.

"Oh yeah you don't know," he said. "Baekhyun is Junmyeon's best friend. They became friends last year, and have been pretty inseparable since." I felt a flash of jealousy, but quickly swallowed it down. It wasn't my business if Junmyeon had found other friends. "Baekhyun provides another sort of comfort for Junmyeon, allowing him to be however he pleases without fear of backlash."

"That's good," I said through gritted teeth. Luhan smirked, and a part of me wanted to burrow under the covers and never come back out.

"Is somebody jealous?" he asked me innocently. I scoffed.

"Of Baekhyun? As if," I replied. "Alright, I can't wait to meet him. And see Junmyeon again." That part wasn't a lie. I was a little apprehensive, but excited nonetheless. "I guess he'll get to meet Ying Yue as well, huh?" I asked Luhan. "How do you think he'll take it?"

"Even if he doesn't like it, it's not like he has much choice in the matter," he responded. "You're marrying her whether he likes it or not. And even if he doesn't, he has to pretend like he does." That was a fair point. But I hoped that he liked her. "We'll find out next week, yeah?" Luhan got out of bed as he said this. He gathered a few things in his arms. "I should get going. If Ying Yue catches me in here again..."

"She'll answer to me," I said. "Remember Lu, you answer to me first, and her second. You're welcome in here any time."

"Thank you sire." I wondered why the very sudden formality, but then I heard voices coming from just outside my door. I rose and threw a robe on over my pajamas. I padded quietly to the door, pressing my ear against it.

"Can you believe Prince Junmyeon is going to be taking over the country next week?" It sounded like some of my staff, gossiping as usual. But upon hearing his name cross their lips I decided to keep listening. "He and Yixing have a good relationship already. He should never pose a threat."

"Agreed," a second voice said. "Is he ready though? He's not even married. And during their press conference he did not seem ready at all." It took a lot of my willpower to stay put and let them talk about him like this. "Oh well. He'll be easy enough to deal with in the future if this is how he carries himself now." They moved off, still talking quietly. I strode away from the door, silently fuming. Luhan looked at me questioningly, but I sat on the edge of the bed and mentally counted to ten. Twice.

"Junmyeon?" he asked. "He's been a topic of hot debate down there." He wrinkled his nose. "I don't particularly care for that kind of gossip, but I tend to not get involved either way. If you're wondering Junmyeon's ready to take control."

"I figured," I replied. "If he's anything like I remember, once he gets his mind set on something, there's no stopping him." I chuckled. He was a feisty thing, but I loved him dearly for it. And then I realized what I'd thought and quickly shook my head.

"I'm going to get going, kay Xing?" Luhan spoke up once the silence had stretched on for a long time between us. "I'll see you and Ying Yue later." And with that he left. I watched him go, releasing a frustrated sigh when he was out of ear shot. There was a delicate balance between keeping both Luhan and Ying Yue happy, and I often felt I was teetering over the edge on either side. But I would continue to do so. Ying Yue was my fiance. But Luhan was my older brother. I was not losing either of them.

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Junmyeon's POV

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If it weren't for Baekhyun jabbing me, rather forcefully, in the side, I might have dozed off. I didn't sleep at all last night. With the party being less than a week away, I'd stayed up all night playing out imaginary scenarios in my head, worrying over things that hadn't even happened yet. The party served as more than a celebration of eighteen years of my existence. It would also be the start of the change of power to me, and I knew that if I didn't make a good impression that night, my reputation would be tarnished for as long as I was king.

"Hey, pay attention," Baekhyun hissed. I snapped to attention once again. "I know this is mundane stuff," my friend continued. "But you kinda need to know this."

"Baekhyun! Junmyeon!" We both jumped as father called our names. "Are either of you actually paying attention to anything I was just saying?" Sheepishly, I shook my head. "So you think knowing who our allies are is unimportant?"

"I'm sorry father," I apologized. "Of course it's important." He'd helpfully made me a map, which I pulled in front of myself and studied. Red for enemies, blue for allies. I was relieved to see a lot more blue than red.

"It might never come that you'll need to know this, but if you can keep good relations with countries who are already our friends, all the better," he said. "Also if we were ever to go to war, you'd know exactly who your allies would be." My stomach twisted itself in knots, but I nodded all the same. Baekhyun leaned over, studying the map over my shoulder. "It's a peaceful time in our lives boys," father continued. "Let's hope it stays that way." He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "How about, since everyone is having trouble concentrating, we take a break for lunch."

"Yes I'm so hungry!" Baekhyun exclaimed. Father laughed. "Come on," Baekhyun said to me, pulling me out of my seat and hauling me behind him. "Okay spill, what were you thinking about?" he asked, suddenly serious.

"Kind of everything," I admitted. "This is going to be my last chance to impress people. Because after next week I won't be Prince Junmyeon anymore. I'm going to be king. And it's kind of terrifying." Baekhyun nodded. "Also kind of one person," I added in afterthought.

"Yixing?" Baekhyun asked. I simply nodded. "I kind of don't blame you, if this really is the guy you got together with while he was here." I shushed him, but he did have a point. It seemed I was incapable of erasing him from my memory entirely. And maybe I didn't want to. Those couple of weeks had remained my happiest. Sure, I'd had other happy memories, like meeting Baekhyun, but nothing quite beat the two weeks Yixing and I had spent together.

"Gah!" I suddenly exclaimed, causing Baekhyun to jump. "Why? Why is life so complicated? I haven't thought about him in so long and now..." I trailed off, throwing my hands up in the air. "Now it's like he never left my mind at all. Is it bad that I want to forget?"

"I guess not?" Baekhyun said, though the way he said it made it sound more like a question. "I don't know Junmyeon. I've never actually been in a relationship before. What was it like?"

"It was nice," I answered honestly. "Even if we had to keep it secret, there was just something so... Let me just say lying down and waking up was the best part of the day. Because he was just there. Even if he was sleeping, he was there, beside me. My bed felt full when were together. I never realized how lonely it was until he was gone, and gone for good."

"Oh wow you really loved him didn't you?" Baekhyun asked. Love? I liked him a lot, sure, but love? That was absurd. We were sixteen years old at the time. I couldn't have possibly loved him. "Maybe this will be a chance for you to reconnect, even if he is married. You can still be great friends with him again, right?"

"That's kind of the problem Baek," I replied. We were using up our lunch break to talk, but I wasn't very hungry anyway. "I fear once I see him again, all of this is going to come rushing back. All the feelings and thoughts I had for him. I don't know if I can just be casual friends with him." I shook my head. "But another thing is, no matter how much I like him still, reality is calling. He's getting married and I'm taking control of my country. We were never fated to be together forever."

"That sounds horribly tragic when you put it that way," Baekhyun said, ever the hopeless romantic. But such was life. It was horribly tragic from the get go. I knew better than to fall for him, and yet I still did. The really tragic part is given the same circumstances, I'd still do it all over again.

"Come on back boys," father suddenly spoke, startling us both. "Lessons are going to resume." He disappeared inside the throne room, the place were he was giving his last minute prep classes.

"You don't have to come you know," I said as Baekhyun fell in step beside me. "These are my lessons. Besides, you should be doing something fun with your time here, before you go back to your own castle."

"As long as it's with you it is fun Junnie," he simply said, rendering me speechless. Mostly because that nickname was one I hadn't heard in so long. "Besides it's kind of neat learning some more about the history of your family, and of course war strategy."

"You are a strange one," I said to him, and his response was to flash me his killing smile. I wasn't afraid to admit the first time I saw that smile butterflies exploded in my stomach. "But I like you, so I think I'll keep you around." Baekhyun slung an arm over my shoulders.

"You'd better, otherwise you're flying solo at your party next week. No date for you!" I laughed, something that felt good to do. Maybe Baekhyun became my friend because he was good at lightening the mood, and I wasn't known to be the most light-hearted of people. Baekhyun could make me laugh even if I didn't want to, and that to me was so special. I hoped as we grew older, that wouldn't change.

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These chapter lengths vary all the time I swear. Okay I think next chapter will be the party.