The Spoiled Prince || WooSanSang

Unexpected Allies

San wasn't usually an overdramatic person, but he didn't think he'd ever been so cold in his life. Clothed in only the cotton pants and sleeveless shirt he'd worn to bed, he tried his hardest to stop shivering. The guard outside was watching him through the cell bars with eagle eyes and an ever-present smirk, and San didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing him visibly in pain.

Secondary to the cold, San's body was littered with little cuts and bruises. On the seemingly endless journey down, San had been tripped or pushed into the stone wall by the guards countless times. Either these guards were unusually sadistic, or they had been ordered by the Queen to treat him so roughly. But each time they did it, San didn't lift a finger to fight back. He knew how this worked; he wouldn't give them a reason to truly harm him.

And after they'd deposited San unceremoniously into his cell, nobody had spoken a word to him since. Well, that suited San just fine. There was nobody here he would want to talk to, anyway. The Queen might send somebody to torture him later, and surely kill him after. That, San had already accepted. He just wished he'd be able to convince them that this whole thing had been San's doing and hopefully get Yeosang out of too much trouble.

There was no bed on the floor. No blanket or pillow, either. Just the cold, hard, concrete floor and a bucket he supposed was meant to be his toilet.

He sat with his back to one wall, humming to himself to pass the time--and a lot of time did pass. He hadn't meant to but at some point, he must have fallen asleep, until the sound of metal on metal suddenly jolted him awake.

Confused, San tried to see what was happening outside his cell. It was even darker now--some of the candles must have burnt out, but he could make out two figures fighting. One was clearly smaller than the other yet the smaller one was...winning?

San watched the larger one crumple to the floor after receiving a nasty blow to the head. The victor bent down and fetched something from the fallen one's pocket, emerging with a set of keys. They then turned to face San.

"Hey, idiot. You alive in there?"

San wasn't sure whether he should be relieved that the voice was familiar. "What do you think, the guard was just watching a corpse?"

Wooyoung only shook his head as he picked up the remaining lit candle from the ledge on the wall and brought it up to the lock on San's cell. Now that his face was illuminated, San could see blood running down the guard's nose.

"What, are you here to break me out?" San questioned as he watched Wooyoung try and fail to open the lock with the many keys on the keyring.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Wooyoung snapped. Then, after trying a few more keys, "Are you hurt?"

"No," San dismissed. "Is the prince okay?"

"He is...physically unscathed," Wooyoung said. His words were calm but he was rushing so much that he almost dropped the keys.

San pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled forward a few steps before his legs gave out. The cold must have gotten to him more than he realized.

Wooyoung watched with wide eyes. "Just...just wait a second. There are only a few keys left..."

San's eyes strayed to the unconscious guard on the floor. San could hardly believe Wooyoung had managed to best somebody so large with only a bloody nose to show for it. He was stronger than San gave him credit for.

Finally, the gate creaked open. Wooyoung put down the keys and the candle, grabbing something else from the floor before joining San in the cell.

"So, what's the deal?" San asked. "The prince is making you smuggle me out of the castle?"