The Prince's Prince [SeungJin]

Chapter 18

A/N: Would be great if you let me know what you thought of the plot:)

This chapter is dedicated to @giantsweet who upvoted

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The sun was probably burning their noses to a crisp as retaliation for hiding everything else. Their hands were busy holding a bag – switched in between one hand to the other once Seungmin finally relented and let Hyunjin carry the smaller carpenter bag – but they sometimes shrugged off the sweat from their faces. The scarves helped to absorb the moisture and protect what was covered for which Hyunjin was grateful. He was probably already getting burns from the straps, he didn't need sun marks as well. The bag was meant for traveling but it still wasn't the most comfortable.

The desert was not fun. It looked like the beach for all of one minute before it transformed into a dry, heaving monster. Or perhaps that was them thanks to said desert.

"Can we go to the road?" Hyunjin asked, not for the first time.

"Let's see what we find here. We may need to hide in the desert then we can go to the road"

Hyunjin wanted to whine but he accepted it with grace or whatever passed for it when he was sweaty and stinky. It was in their best interest to map out every inch they could; that would be their advantage over the troops that were uncaring and went about trampling everything under their feet.

Oh how he hated when they did that. Some beautiful plants –ones that looked plain to others but definitely not to him– had met their fate that way. He was certain that was the case for a lot of fauna too and many people to boot.

At the rate they were going, they would be out of water soon. It probably wasn't that good to drink so much water either but it was the freaking desert!

It did create another problem. Now, Hyunjin had only done it a few times in his life but there wasn't an outhouse here so...

"Can we stop for a while. I need..." he reddened. "I drank quite a lot of water so..."

"You need to pee? Sure. I'll wait. Actually maybe I should go too just in case but leave the bags here and find somewhere. When you're done I'll go."

It had never before been so glaringly obvious to Hyunjin that Seungmin was a peasant than right that moment. Hyunjin was a fairly open minded noble; he literally frolicked in the forest and touched people to heal them and even got undressed in front of others (well in front of Seungmin and with a robe but still; anyone you were not married to or who wasn't your servant helping you bathe or your doctor was usually considered as a no go). There were however some things that had been hammered into his brain and not discussing his bodily functions with others was one of them.

He still wasn't sure if it was liberating to speak in such a manner or simply disgusting. Not that Seungmin would ever be disgusting; just the action.

He cleared his throat and nodded and all but dropped his bags which wasn't good considering there was food in them. Some were wrapped in cloth but some were in earthenware pots that closed with metal (thanks to Changbin). He considered removing the waist bag but it would be too much of a hassle and he was kind of attached to it. It had a lot of plants in all their forms and he needed the connection in such a deserted place.

He was still discovering the flora here. They always greeted him warmly but he felt like a visitor rather than the steward role he felt at home. Still, he'll tend to these plants too if he was needed but it seemed that these plants were thriving already without his interference and Hyunjin would believe that away from people, they were okay. He just hoped they wouldn't get a disease.