darling

first feelings

Zhou Keyu decided not to put pressure on Yin Haoyu, but first just take a closer look at him. Keyu accidentally (or intentionally) crossed paths with him in long corridors and greeted him politely.

Yin Haoyu is always the first to bow to him, as required by etiquette. At first he looked wary, but after a few days he seemed to get a little more comfortable and didn't look as timid as he seemed to Prince on the first day.

Now he even smiled sweetly at Zhou Keyu when they saw each other. Although he was still afraid of the two older Princes.

Young Prince was looking for any excuse to see the boy, because he increasingly wanted to see him smile. Keyu thinks that Yin Haoyu is charming and likes that the young musician obviously doesn't mind his attention.

Their first, but unfortunately, short conversation took place in the library, where Zhou Keyu came to select a new book. Yin Haoyu didn't immediately notice the Prince. He wandered slowly between the bookcases and shelves, reading the spines of books aloud. This seemed very sweet to Zhou Keyu, and he watched the boy for a while longer before mustering the courage to speak to him.

– Choosing what to read? – Keyu asked as he approached Yin Haoyu. He flinched at the sound of his voice and bowed politely to greet the Prince.

– Yes, I want to spend the evening doing something interesting. – Yin Haoyu answered.

– Then read this book. – Zhou Keyu handed him a thick battered book. – One of my favorite books.

Yin Haoyu nodded and bowed deeply again, accepting the book. He raised his radiant gaze to the Prince, and Zhou Keyu literally fell out of touch with reality, looking into those warm, grateful eyes. A sudden, incomprehensible tremor in his chest suddenly made him embarrassed.

– Thank you. Young Prince is so kind. – Yin Haoyu said, and looked slyly at Keyu.

– Forget it. What is your name? – Keyu asked, as if he didn't already know this.

– Yin Haoyu. – he answered, smiling him, – This is my Chinese name.

– Do you have another name? – Prince asked in surprise.

– Patrick. Mother calls me that, but... you can too. – Yin Haoyu answered shyly, bringing a soft smile to Keyu's face.

– Okay, Patrick. – Zhou Keyu nodded, hardly suppressing the urge to ruffle Haoyu's hair. – Be sure to tell me if you liked the book when you read it.

– Thank you very much! – Patrick bowed again, clutching the book to his chest, and then left so as not to disturb the Prince.

For some reason, Zhou Keyu felt incredibly happy and played this short conversation over and over in his head. These thoughts prevented him from concentrating on his evening reading. Usually he read several pages before going to bed, but after talking with Patrick he couldn't assimilate even a few lines, constantly being distracted and losing the meaning of what he read.

– So cute. – he said to himself, turning over the pages of a book he couldn't finish reading, preoccupied with thoughts of Patrick. – Why is he so cute?

Zhou Keyu also found out that Patrick likes to walk in the palace garden, where servants were allowed to go if they didn't have important things to do. Therefore, now Young Prince began to more often go out for walks, where he and Patrick invariably crossed paths. They usually talked about the weather, but once Patrick even told Keyu about a funny incident with one of the servants. To be honest, Zhou Keyu doesn't remember exactly what happened there because he was busy admiring Haoyu and his laughter.