"My Queen, I believe something suspicious is going on with our Prince Wooyoung. I thought I had heard voices coming from there last night, and then I had heard the sound of glass. When I went into the room, the Prince appeared to be asleep in bed, but I was ordered to report anything amiss."

"Ah, I will check into it myself, thank you. You're welcome to change shifts with the day guard now."

The door to Wooyoung's bedroom opens loudly, and is shut with a hint of force. The sudden ruckus wakes Wooyoung up from his sleep, and he's met by the face of his mother in front of his own.

"How was your night?" Queen Siyeon asks, clear disinterest in her tone when asking the question.

Wooyoung's eyes are wide as he sits up, resting back on his hands, "It was... peaceful, why do you ask, Mother?"

Queen Siyeon's eyes narrow at Wooyoung, getting closer to examine his face closely, "I suspect that you're up to no good, you little devil," she sneers, pulling the collar of Wooyoung's night garbs to yank him closer, "And I will figure out what you're up to."

"Mother, I-" Wooyoung starts, his heart rate picking up at the accusations, but is cut off.

"You're a whore, aren't you?" Queen Siyeon's lips turn upwards into a sinister smile, "I bet you're sneaking the whole kingdom in here to fuck, aren't you?"

Wooyoung's eyebrows furrow, becoming angrier and angrier the more she goes on. His blood boils under his mother's touch, feeling her grip on his collar tightening. Wooyoung grits his teeth in an attempt to contain his venomous words that threaten to come out.

He's unable to hold back any longer.

"Like mother like son," Wooyoung spits, and he watches as his mother's face twists into a furious look of hatred.

Slap!

The loud sound of skin slapping against skin erupts at the same time as the bedroom door opening once again, revealing Yeosang.

Queen Siyeon keeps her back turned, but Wooyoung's reddening face is visible from behind her stature. Yeosang's eyes go wide at first, but he swallows his anger and tries to keep his face neutral as he walks up to the two of them, a tray of breakfast in his hands.

"Good morning, my Queen, my Prince... I'm here to bring Prince Wooyoung his breakfast this morning," Yeosang explains, carefully placing the tray onto the bed, trying not to look up at Wooyoung, or the Queen, but he can't help but try and steal a glance at Wooyoung.

He's looking anywhere but at him.

Yeosang sees the side of Wooyoung's face growing a darker red by the second, and it isn't hard to miss the tears surrounding his lower lash line, daring to fall down his cheeks at any second. Yeosang wishes so badly to take his Prince into a hug and tell him that it's okay and that he will take care of him, but he can't.

By God, he can't, not with the Queen in the room. He must pretend like he didn't see a thing.

Wooyoung feels the tingling sensation of burning left on the side of his face, the pain willing tears to well up in his eyes, but he vows not to let them fall in front of his mother.

"Good morning," Queen Siyeon says half-heartedly, having let go of Wooyoung's collar, letting him fall back onto his bed. She stands up straight, flattening out her day gown, "Wooyoung, I expect for you to say goodbye to Jeong Yunho today. I also expect for you to stay in this room afterward, I've canceled your lessons for today."

"Yes, Mother."

With that, Queen Siyeon leaves, leaving Yeosang and Wooyoung in the room of thick air and deafening silence as Wooyoung finally lets his tears fall. His eyes grow blurry from the water within them, and he can't bring himself to wipe his tears, feeling them drip down his neck and when he leans forward, onto his trembling hands.

"P-Prince Wooyoung..." Yeosang starts, not expecting his voice to shake like that.

Wooyoung shakes his head and a whimper escapes his mouth, his bottom lip quivering heavily as his mind runs wild.

Wooyoung knows that his night guard must've said something to his mother about last night. He must've heard more than just the clinking of the lantern's glass. He must've heard his voice, and if he heard his voice, he definitely heard San's.

His shoulders slump as his body closes in on itself, curling his arms around his stomach as he hunches over in bed, the tingling pain of the smack turning into a burning. Wooyoung almost got San in trouble yet again, and the guilt he feels is almost more painful than the burning skin. He could've gotten San hanged by getting him caught like that.

Hanged...

Wooyoung remembers the dream he had a few nights ago and shivers at the thought, only taken out of his ever so dangerous mind by the sound of Yeosang's caring voice.

"Prince Wooyoung, it's going to be okay," Yeosang gently touches Wooyoung's shoulder, trying to get him to meet his eyes, "I'm going to get some salve for your face, okay? I promise I will be right back, and the pain will go away."

Wooyoung does meet Yeosang's eyes, but he isn't sure about his words.

Will the pain go away?

His time with San is only dwindling.

Wooyoung doesn't hear when Yeosang gets up and leaves the room, only registering movement when he feels Yeosang's fingertips applying the salve onto his face.

"There... See? I have a few of these jars from the physician. They'll cool the skin and lessen the pain," Yeosang explains, but his voice is laced with worry as Wooyoung's eyes still seem glazed over with sorrow.

"Thank you..." Wooyoung chokes out, his voice hardly above a whisper, "I'll be back to normal soon, just... I need just a bit longer," He says, trying to offer a smile, but he feels too weak.

Yeosang nods, "Whenever you're ready, Wooyoung."

Wooyoung got dressed with the help of Yeosang after a few more moments of soft crying, but after the crying turned into subtle sniffles, Wooyoung stood up from his bed, ready for the day ahead.

~

"I'll be back for your marriage ceremony with my husband Minho," Yunho says, a smile on his face as he hugs his best friend, "Don't worry, Woo, I will still write."

Wooyoung squeezes Yunho more than normal today, his heart aching at Yunho's departure, "You better write to me... It always seems like I'm the one sending all the letters."

"I promise this time, I'll be more on top of it," Yunho and Wooyoung part from their hug.

Wooyoung smiles up at Yunho, "I can't wait to meet Minho, Yun."

Yunho gives Wooyoung's head a small pat before he turns and heads towards the carriage to take him home, "You'll like him, he's... He's a good man, Woo."

Wooyoung shows a big smile, feeling happy for his best friend, knowing that he always talked of wanting to get married when they were younger. He always wondered who he would end up with since Yunho had the biggest crush on Mingi.

"Be safe," Wooyoung calls out as the carriage door closes, Yunho's face still visible through the carriage window. He sees him about to sit down but sees Yunho's eyes widen, making Wooyoung confused.

Mingi coughs from behind Wooyoung, trying to be casual, but it's hardly working. His eyes are focused on the carriage where Yunho's head stays poked out of the window, their gazes meeting almost instantly.

Yunho's heart leaps in his chest as he holds Mingi's gaze, making sure he gets a long-lasting look of Mingi while he still can. Suddenly, the carriage begins to move and he doesn't want to leave, he doesn't want to go back home. Watching Mingi get smaller and smaller as the carriage takes him away tugs on the strings of Yunho's heart.

In that moment, Yunho realizes what a big mistake his life has been.

Wooyoung sees the way Yunho doesn't take his eyes off of Mingi as he's taken away, seeing the look of longing and sadness on his face. He looks down at his fingers, fumbling with them for a moment while he thinks about San. He knows he's going to have the same look on his face when he has to leave San.

It's inevitable...

That night, Wooyoung is lying awake in his bed. His night guard having checked on him long ago according to the moon's placement in the sky outside of his window. He can't get his mind off of San.

Wooyoung slips out of his bed as quietly as he can, sliding into a night robe over his nightclothes, not bothering changing out of them as he makes his way over to the secret door.

He has to see San...

Wooyoung makes his way, a bit haphazardly, through the tunnel leading to the outside, his movements becoming frantic as soon as he breathes in the air beyond the castle door. He gets to the Hide quickly, knowing he looks like a mess, but he continues to walk towards where he remembers San's room being.

Wooyoung's mind is so preoccupied, he doesn't realize someone is in front of him until he collides with the tall figure.

"S-Seonghwa?" Wooyoung looks up at Seonghwa, hoping his face doesn't look as messy as his clothing or as wrecked as his mind.

Seonghwa studies the little Prince in front of him, steadying him by placing his hands on his shoulders, seeing the clearly emotional look adorning Wooyoung's face. The look causes him to start reminiscing of when he was younger and had a similar look when he lost his lover to someone else.

"What are you doing here at this hour, Wooyoung?" Seonghwa asks with a hint of concern, remembering how the Prince had preferred his real name and not his title.

Wooyoung looks down at Seonghwa's hands on his shoulders and sees that one of his fingers glints with a small ring.

"I... I wanted to see San," Wooyoung says, sounding as if he's out of breath.

Seonghwa sighs, letting his hands fall back to his sides, "My dear, San is taken for the night. Apologies for you having come all the way out here, but if you'd like, you could come have some tea with me. You seem a bit, how shall I say, worked up?"

Wooyoung just nods, trying not to be too sad about San's booking, and trying not to think about the acts he's engaging in, "I would like that very much, thank you..."

Seonghwa takes Wooyoung back to his room and they sit down at the small table just as they had at the party San took him to.

Wooyoung looks down at the teacup in front of him, watching as Seonghwa pours him some, his eye catching the ring again, "Seonghwa?"

"Yes, dear?" Seonghwa sits down across from Wooyoung after pouring both of their cups.

"Where did you get that ring?"

Seonghwa's face heats up at the question, holding out his hand for them both to admire the silver ring decorating his finger, "Ah, this?" A melancholy look settles on Seonghwa's face, but there is a hint of reminiscence coming back to him, "It's from my first love," he begins to explain, "I must've been just about your age when we had to split apart."

"What happened? Why are you two not still together?" Wooyoung asks, afraid to hear about another heartbreaking situation, but his curiosity is piqued.

"He had... Commitments... That were more than our relationship. Commitments that he couldn't just abandon, and ones that I couldn't coincide with, not that I wouldn't've... It was more complicated than that," Seonghwa chuckles, "But what love isn't a little complicated... He and I had very different situations that we were in, and as you can see, Wooyoung, I work at the Hide. I may not be a worker as much as I had been, but this is still who I am. His family would never have allowed him to wed someone like me. In fact, I'm not sure if he ever did tell his parents about me. Our love was more of a secret for everyone he knew. He knew my mother, though. He'd visit her often..." Seonghwa's voice trails off for a second, his eyes getting lost in the tea in front of him.

Seonghwa clears his voice and focuses back on Wooyoung, a smile still on his lips, "He was to be married to someone else, you see... We stopped seeing each other for a while, but he had come to see me for a few nights not long into his marriage. I still feel... rather guilty about those nights of his infidelity, but back then, I was so happy he had come back to me. I just wish he could've stayed."

Wooyoung's heart aches at Seonghwa's story of his long lost love, causing his eyes to water, "Where is he now? Have you seen each other since? When did he give you the ring?" Wooyoung's intrigue came out in the form of questions.

"He actually has a ring just like this one," Seonghwa smiles down at the beautiful silver on his finger, "We gave them to each other as a promise of our eternal love for one another no matter the circumstances. He is still here in the kingdom, but we haven't seen each other purposefully since those nights many many years ago."

"Do you miss him...?

"Every day of my life," Seonghwa replies easily.

"Do you still love him?"

Seonghwa chuckles, "I still have the ring he gave me, do I not?" He smiles, "That kind of love never fades, Wooyoung. The love we shared was just as our rings represent. Eternality."

Wooyoung nods, thinking of San as Seonghwa speaks, a yawn escaping his mouth to show just how late it truly is.

"Oh, Wooyoung, please, you should be getting back home. I will tell San that you stopped by to see him," Seonghwa says, standing up from the table along with Wooyoung as he nods sleepily.

"Tell him that I'll await our next night together," Wooyoung mumbles, sleep slowly overtaking him as he walks out of the Hide and back to the castle.

"Of course. Be careful, Wooyoung..."

On his way back, he sees a dark figure that has an outline similar to his mother also going into the castle, but through the front.

Where had she come from...? Wooyoung wonders to himself, but the disdain for her from earlier comes back to him and he shakes it off, not wanting to think about his mother's likely infidelities right now. He's known about them for a while, but he never knew why she did it, nor where she would go to engage like that.

Wooyoung eases back into his bed, staring up at the ceiling as his eyelids flutter closed, thinking of Seonghwa and his past lover as himself and San. It sends him off into a sad, emotion-filled sleep, and he knows his dreams will haunt him just as reality does.

End of Chapter Twelve