SUNOO | Crown ✓

prologue.

SPRING OF 2010

Spring time-where cherry blossoms bloomed beautifully before being carried away in its spring breeze. A time when families come together, when friends are one and lovers love. Gone days filled with smiles and wholesome memories made.

A 7 year-old Kim Sunoo trudged his tired feet against the concrete pathway laced with fallen cherry blossom petals. He was patiently waiting for his mint chocolate chip ice cream by South Korea's major river. While passers looked at the young boy with concern, Sunoo only beamed happily at them.

Who would've thought that he was capable enough to fend for his little body in a big world? Nobody to be honest.

He certainly wasn't strong enough and didn't hold enough knowledge on how to get out of dangerous situations. Instead of being a well-trained Taekwondo fighter like his friend, Yang Jungwon, Sunoo found safety and comfort in nature. From how the trees bathed in sunlight and the way the sky showed various paintings every dusk and dawn, the world was his sanctuary.

Until it wasn't.

"Hey sunshine, what are you doing all alone?" A low voice asked from across Sunoo.

Squinting up at an unfamiliar hooded figure standing before him, Sunoo flashed a friendly smile before pointing at the ice cream stand. The hooded man only smirked sinisterly as he noticed the empty queue at the said stand, licking his lips in satisfaction as he glanced back down at Sunoo.

"I'm waiting for my older cousin to get me mint chocolate chip ice cream!" Sunoo exclaimed as he somehow managed to befriend the older man.

"But there's nobody queuing," the man responded in an unamused tone.

The young boy creased his brows in confusion as he faced the ice cream stand. True enough, his older cousin was nowhere to be seen and so were his bodyguards. The jet-black haired boy couldn't help but suddenly feel lost and neglected. Anxiety rose in his heart as he jumped up to his feet before running around to find them. The older man only watched the distress 7 year-old run around in amusement, too unbothered to even help him.

"Mister Stranger, have you seen them?! By any chance do you know any man named Kim Seokjin? He's my cousin!" Sunoo asked as hot tears streamed down his round cheeks.

"I don't know anyone named Kim Seokjin," the stranger retorted monotonously before smirking at the crying boy.

Everything was going according to plan.

Rolling his eyes internally, the hooded figure crouched down to Sunoo's height as he stroked the back of Sunoo's head comfortingly. Sunoo, now hiccuping due to his uncontrollable cries of help, was unaware of the evil he was faced with.

"Say, why don't I bring you back home and raise you as my own instead?" The hooded man asked, his honey-like tone hiding his ill-intentions.

Despite his blurry vision, Sunoo felt a sense of security as soon as he looked at the man's face. His kind features and comforting smile enough for young Sunoo to give in. Unbeknownst to him that he would be living in Hell for the rest of his life-that he would lose his smile and all things bright about him.

"W-What's your name Mister Stranger? I'm K-Kim Sunoo!" Sunoo choked out in between tears as the man took his smaller hand in his.

Sighing heavily at the nickname given to him, the hooded man only flashed a fake smile and Sunoo. His droopy-eyes lacing the fury and sharpness of his appearance while he stared down at the 7 year-old boy.

"Well Sunoo, just call me Papa," Papa responded back dryly before leading Sunoo away from the deserted area.

While Kim Sunoo managed to find a new family, little did the young boy know that his 18 year-old cousin was being buried alive at a remote area in Seoul; his bodyguards taken to to a warehouse to be brutally murdered.

That he, Kim Sunoo, Prince of South Korea, was kidnapped in broad daylight; and it was all Papa's doing.