New Rules ⇿ YEONBIN

⇿ 15 ⇿

Yeonjun felt like time was moving fast, too fast. It felt like just yesterday he had met a Duchess he didn't know the name of, but now the same woman had moved into the palace as his fiancée. And, for once, Yeonjun felt happy. In fact, he'd never been happier. The Duchess loved him and he loved her, and on top of all that he was beginning to receive love from the Queen once again. The Duchess really did turn out to be his happy ending in disguise.

"Y-Yeonjun?" A voice that had grown familiar almost squeaked out, the said male snapping his head to the door to see none other than the Duchess.

"Yes?" The Prince responded, a slight fondness in his voice.

He liked the Duchess, maybe not loved precisely, but she was a nice person. Likeable. Yeonjun was sure everyone that had met her felt the same. She was perfect, but, to Yeonjun at least, there was something about her. Something that seemed hidden, closed off. It made her come off as fake, but the brunette was sure that wasn't the case. Maybe she was just a private person-

"You're doing it again" The Duchess interrupted Yeonjun's thoughts, a slight whine in the tone of her voice.

"Huh?" The Prince widened his eyes, his cheeks tinting pink due to the startle her sudden appearance had caused.

"Spacing out. It's like you've got something on your mind. It's been like this since we met each other" Serayah, the Duchess, spoke again, Yeonjun's blood running cold.

In actuality, he didn't know why he kept spacing out. Okay, that was a lie, he knew damn well why his mind was distant, but if he addressed it things would only spiral out of control. To the point where his happy ending would be destroyed into a thousand flames, to the point where he'd be back at square one. And, to Yeonjun, that was the scariest thing in the world.

"It's nothing. I-I just like... reflecting" Yeonjun fumbled out an answer, his eyes fixated on the ring that wrapped around his index finger lightly.

It was the only thing he had left of the person whose name he wouldn't mention, the noirette had dropped it one night and Yeonjun had, selfishly, taken it for himself. Though, the Knight never cared. He simply stated that it suited the Prince and left it like that. To Yeonjun, the noirette always came off as a bit selfless, at least until their last conversation together. That was when the brunette began to question everything his Knight had ever said to him.

"I guess I'll just leave" Serayah tucked a stray strand of black hair behind her ear, slight annoyance causing her words to sound bitter as she left the room.

Yeonjun couldn't help but let his heart sink as he watched her leave, inwardly cursing at himself for letting his mind wander too far and too deep. It seemed that the more time passed, the more frequent the royal would get into his feelings and forget his surrounds. To the point where he, unknowingly, ignored people. It was mostly Serayah who he ignored, however, since she was the person who spent the most time with him. Though, it was still a problem nonetheless. Yeonjun just didn't know how to stop it. Okay, that was a lie, he did know how to stop it. Closure. Even if it was the smallest amount, he wanted to have a contempt end to whatever it was that occurred between him and someone who he won't mention-

"She's worried about you, you know" a cold voice almost scolded, it's sudden appearance causing Yeonjun's thoughts to halt completely.

"I know" the Prince simply responded, turning his full attention to the woman to show respect. After all, she had led the brunette to his happy ending.

"Then why won't you do anything about it?" The Queen nagged, furrowing her eyebrows in a slight anger.

Yeonjun sighed deeply at his predicament, wishing he could simply float through the intricacies of maintaining a relationship and let things flow naturally. For whatever reason, the Prince didn't feel comfortable telling Serayah about his problems and he knew he never will be. He didn't know why, maybe it was because he loved her so much. He didn't want to give her the burden of his problems. Yeah, that's it. Yeonjun couldn't confess his dilemmas to his partner because he adored her too much. That made sense.

"I will. I just need time to-to think" Yeonjun stammered quickly, seeing as he hadn't spoken for a while.

His heart sank as the lie left his lips. The Prince didn't need more time to think, he had been alone trapped in his thoughts since three am last night when he couldn't bring himself to slumber. The brunette had had more than enough time to think, he just found it easier to formulate excuse after excuse than ever facing the task at hand. It was easier that way. At least, that's how Yeonjun felt, alas, the Prince's mind was too far gone. It was tainted. Twisted. Broken.

"Well, don't take too long. Serayah's a nice girl" the Queen finished, leaving Yeonjun alone with his thoughts once again.

The Prince found it quite amusing. His own mother seemed to love the Duchess more than him, even though she had only known Serayah for a few months. Just mere months. That's all it took to replace Yeonjun as a son with a woman that wasn't even her daughter-in-law as of yet. It hurt, even though Yeonjun didn't want to admit it-

The brunette furrowed his eyebrows at the sound of knocking on his door. He was so used to people barging in since the only people that visited him was the Duchess and the Queen. His father never visited Yeonjun much. He didn't know why, it was just the way things were. The brunette didn't mind much, however. The more his father saw him, the less he'd love him. That's how it worked. Yeonjun was unlovable.

The Prince came to his senses when he made his way to the door, not wanting the visitor to wait much longer. He furrowed his eyebrows, however, when the door revealed a tall man with a familiar stature in full knight uniform, helmet and all. It made Yeonjun scared to say the least. Such visits only meant important things like possible war or a lockdown.

"M-may I help you?" Yeonjun stuttered once the knight had stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, the brunette's hands beginning to shake in pure nervousness.

The knight took off his helmet, Yeonjun feeling his whole body freeze as his eyes widened.

⇿ It was Choi Soobin. ⇿

sry for the wait, my emotions have been like a rollercoaster lately.