Inside Prince's quarters

"No."

"Why?"

"No, Taehyung. It's highly dangerous for your safety, and I, as a security head and your escort, can assure you that."

"Hyung, tomorrow is the last day of the arcade, and I'm sick of these cumbersome political meetings!" The prince whined.

Namjoon tried to maintain his demeanour by looking straight into the eyes of the younger man without any expression, but the prince spoke again.

"Hyung, what's going on with you lately? Ever since you received this position, something feels off bout you. I mean, you were never so serious around us, yet here you are looking so damn cool with a straight face as if, if you smile in front of me I'll whoop your ass."

Namjoon couldn't hold back his laughter, and he chuckled at Taehyung's words, almost pushing his guards down.

"Look, Taehyung, nothing's changed. It's just that I've got to follow the orders."

"No, it's not just about your position," Taehyung added, and just like the dim lightning that surrounded them, the tension between them darkened, to meet the level of darkness flowing in the room.

Namjoon sighed and spoke in a rather soft voice than before to reassure him, "Taehyung-ah, nothing has changed."

"Sure?" Crown Prince asked while lifting one of his brows, and Namjoon hummed while smiling softly at the younger boy in front of him. His heart swelled with warmth, as he felt like a noticeable and important figure to at least one person.

"Then take me to the arcade."

The elder male's smile faded as he sighed, "Fine."

"Thanks hyung!" Taehyung snickered and gave Namjoon a bear hug. Namjoon smiled in his embrace and patted his back softly, the texture of his black velvety jacket made him want to rub his back even further, but what Taehyung said next made Namjoon's muscles tensed, "He'll join us too."

"Who?" Namjoon asked, even after knowing exactly who he was talking about. Taehyung pulled himself away and gave him a confused look.

"Hyung, are you being for real? Did you forget how in our old days when we three used to sneak out of the castle and visit the arcade every spring?"

"Who said I forgot those golden days."

"That's what I meant. Let's go there together and clear our minds," the prince added while giving Namjoon a look of assurance as he smiled and nodded in response.

The prince was the youngest among the three of them, but there were many instances when he proved his high emotional intelligence from his two older brothers.

"Tomorrow evening it is," the charming Crown Prince chimed in excitement.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

NEXT DAY

Inside the girls' dorm of the human world

The sun rays paving through the window made Y/n's sleepy trance half awaken. It was the weekend. The aroma of freshly cooked breakfast being served in the cafeteria reached her nostrils. Her eyes were still heavy with the sleep when she curiously made her way towards the cafeteria, her steps, slow and drowsy.

*BANG!*

The coldness of the floor on her skin and the small bump on her forehead made her eyes stretch open, making her realize that she just crashed into the wooden entrance.

"Agh!" Y/n groaned in frustration, while her hands gently caressed the bruised area of her forehead.

Moments later, her stomach growled, making her steps move forward, towards the bathroom.

While sitting on the toilet seat, the chestnut-haired girl stared at the white tiled wall in front of her and anticipated that the digestive medicine she had taken last night should have worked by now, making her stomach clean from the thing that was irritating it.

Y/n then quickly took a warm shower and picked a regular baggy outfit.

"Maybe I should just go straight to the doctor," she murmured to herself while peacefully combing her hair, confusion and worry filled her mind as she again felt the slow churning inside her belly.

Upon hearing a knock, Y/n's head swung towards the door of her room, and she proceeded to grab the doorknob. The door creaked open and a low-pitched 'startling voice' echoed in her ears, making Y/n startled in response.

"What?! Jihoon!"

"Oops, I got scared by your eyebags," Jihoon sarcastically replied, and Y/n gave him a look of disbelief, before letting him step inside her room.

"What are you doing here, sneaking inside the girls' dorm? What if the warden catches you?" Y/n showered her friend with questions.

The young male perched at the corner of Y/n's bed with his arms inclined on it, as his eyes traced the details of his friend's room.

"I was with Hoseok in the cafeteria, and he asked about your whereabouts," Jihoon blurted while looking straight into Y/n's eyes as if not wanting to miss the chance of capturing her reaction.

Y/n's jaw slightly slacked down and her eyes widened in astonishment, while her mind already swooned over the little information.

"You weren't seen in your favourite spot for like thirty minutes, so I came here to inform you that you just missed an opportunity," Jihoon continued and teasingly added before giggling at his dearest friend's dumbfounded trance, standing frozen in the middle of the room.

Shortly after, Y/n came back to her senses and opened her mouth to confront him, but an excruciating pain arose in her lower abdomen, making her land on her knees. Y/n groaned in pain and closed her eyes while her one hand tightly held her stomach.

The blond head sitting on her bed abruptly stood up after getting stunned for a moment, and as soon as he realized something wasn't right, he knelt in front of her, supporting her meekly trembling form.

"What is happening Y/n?!"

Y/n peered into his eyes, her vision blurred by the painful tears, "I don't... k-know?" She stammered before she inhaled a long deep breath as the pain gradually evanesced.

"Y/n! What's happening?! You're hiding something, right?" Jihoon said in a confronting tone.

She heaved a sigh and looked straight into Jihoon's still-worried eyes, "You know, that night when Kyla's canary was eaten up by some creature... I wasn't asleep. I heard something metallic clash and fell to the ground with faint voices of canary chirping. At first, I thought it was Kyla playing with it, but then I heard maybe a dog growling or should I say, coughing?!"

"Then I heard footsteps of guards marching probably to shoo the creature away. I was intrigued, and when it was silence again, I quickly stepped into the garden by crossing my room's window," Y/n said while signalling towards the window of her room while Jihoon was busy listening to every syllable that slipped from Y/n's tongue with concentration.

The emotions of his orbs drastically changed from being worried to being dead curious.

"On stepping forward, I witnessed a broken cage with feathers soaked in blood, but what caught my attention was something that was radiating silver bioluminescence from a far distance," as Y/n continued, Jihoon's eyes twitched at the newfound knowledge, and it didn't go out of Y/n's notice, how his expression changed suddenly as if he just figured out something.

"I walked past the broken cage and slowly approached the thing that was casting a glowy radiance in the night. Behind the bushes, it was a very small smooth pebble, resembling a bead."

The male's inclined eyes widened in realisation as he spoke, "Don't tell me that you accidentally gulped it because of your clumsy ass?"

Y/n accepted her defeat and flashed an awkward smile in his direction. Jihoon exhaled and massaged his forehead with his forefinger and thumb, in disbelief, indicating his upcoming outburst on Y/n.

"Y/n! How can you?! Did you gulp something so precious?!"

"Precious?! How? Do you know what it is?"

"Of course n-not!" He stuttered, "I meant, it could have been a real bead or a pearl worth millions."

"Does that mean now I am worth millions?" Y/n said while swiftly flipping a strand of her hair backwards.

"Still not worthy of being Hoseok's girlfriend," He purred.

"Yah! You don't have to–"

"We are going straight to the doc... NOW!!"

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

MEANWHILE

The moment Namjoon and Taehyung stepped inside the arcade, the cacophony of bells, and pixelated melodies hit them like a time machine. Where colourful stalls selling everything imaginable sat in a confused muddle, from types of clothes to types of eatables. A sweet, enticing smell wafts between the stalls, masking the unsavoury smell of sweat and heat ascending from the walking bodies filled with life and joy.

"Smells just like I remember," Taehyung said, as a grin spread across his features making Namjoon nod in agreement, his eyes wide as he took in the rows upon rows of stalls.

They moved shoulder to shoulder, their loose t-shirts flowing along the direction of the breeze. In their childhood years, the arcade was the favourite part of the spring, where they used to hang out, play, eat, and kick each other's butt in public. When there weren't any challenges of adulthood when they were unaware of the complicated relationships.

'It's good that he didn't show up. His presence was enough to make me question my sanity,' Namjoon thought while walking beside the Prince.

"Hyung, look. It's the same Ferris wheel that we three used to ride and threatened to push each other from the cart," Taehyung said while pointing at the mini version of the circular structure made up of a net of steel rods, present in the human world.

Namjoon smiled as he admired the children enjoying themselves while sitting on their carts, their childish waves of laughter echoing in their ears.

Moving forward, the prince adjusted his baseball cap as they entered the busiest area of the arcade, "Hyung, adjust yours too or else girls will fall for your dimples," Taehyung nudged Namjoon playfully.

A loud environment filled with types of voices of their kind surrounded them. They walked further and visited the same spots of the arcade from their shared childhood.

Thoughts started clouding Namjoon's mind, nostalgia hit the right spot in his mind as he visited the memories, but there lay a lie in these memories. A person whom he neither related to nor wanted to relate to anymore.

His mind drifted from memory to memory as his feet drifted from place to place. However, he was soon pulled out of his trance when Taehyung suddenly blurted.

"Hyung! We're late! And probably will be dead if Father finds out!"

Namjoon looked around and saw the approaching dusk. He cursed under his breath, "Shit, let's move!"

In a flurry of movement, Namjoon and Taehyung dashed forward. The paths connecting the arcade bustled with the crowd, their chatter amplifying their anxiety. Sunlight cast golden shadows onto their restless features, accentuating the sculpted outlines of their faces.

After crossing various streets and shortcuts, the castle came into view when they hurriedly moved across the arched wooden bridge. Almost tripping into each other, Taehyung pushed Namjoon forward, gesturing for him to run and reach as early as possible.

Their breaths came out as gasps when they finally stopped at the entrance. The sentries guarding the entrance bowed in their direction. Moving forward, Namjoon occasionally glanced back while crossing the stone veranda of the King's quarters, like a fugitive who was afraid to get caught.

Both of the sneaky culprits hurriedly entered the main palace and were met by butler Kwon, who came rushing towards them to inform them about the King summoning their presence.

Namjoon gulped hard and anxiously clenched his jaw.

"Hyung! What do we do?"

"You're asking me? While you're the king's son!"

While bickering among themselves, they entered the king's quarters and walked down the hallways, but their steps halted in nervousness.

The view of the main corridor was too enthralling for them to ignore as the tantalizing scent of fresh flowers in intricately designed stands adorning the hallway entered their nostrils; marking the entrance of the King's working room.

"Something to say! Something to say!" The Prince repeatedly added and tried thinking of some valid excuses.

The chandeliers that hung with sophistication and grace perfectly reflected the beads of sweat adorning the Prince's forehead.

By now, his Prince demeanour was back. They both glanced at each other one last time before moving ahead and opening the door.

The room's door wide opened and there sat the King of their clan on his custom-made chair with glittering rings and gleaming royal attire embedded with rubies of different kinds.

His eyes shifted from the papers on his desk to them, entangling his hands together while his intense gaze got fully focused on the brats in front of him.

"Come closer," he commanded and rubbed his chin with his fingertips before continuing.

"Hum, before you brats start making excuses answer a simple question."

Namjoon responded without hesitation, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Whose brainchild was it to use pillows under the sheets to appear as a resting person?" His Majesty asked while raising his brows.

Taehyung's eyes widened at the unexpected question and he answered without considering the consequences, "Mine."

Namjoon's facial muscles twitched as he groaned internally.

The King sighed, "That's why so childish."

The King of the Kim clan stood up from his position and stepped closer to them, folding his arms on his back, claiming respect and admiration and clearly not disturbed about the situation.

Both of them were left confused by his actions, but when Namjoon was about to sincerely apologise, the King spoke again, making their eyeballs almost fall off from their sockets.

"So, how was the arcade? At least learn better ways to sneak out of the palace."

They both grimaced, and the King continued, "And you, Namjoon? How can you fall for his trickeries?"

"I apologise for my actions, Your Majesty! This will never be repeated," Namjoon said as he bowed in front of the King.

His majesty exhaled a long breath, "Stand straight or else your spine will attain this as a permanent posture," he chuckled softly.

"Tell me your sneak-out plan next time maybe I'll join as well. Meetings can be exhausting sometimes."

With their jaw dropped, both of them gawked in each other's direction.

✧