nytis
neither jihoon nor soonyoung kept track of how long they stayed outside but they had no intentions in going back inside. "oh- watch out ji," soonyoung (who was just as unsteady as jihoon) laughed, as jihoon almost tripped over the edge of the big fountain in the middle of the garden.
soonyoung quickly grabbed his arm, steadying him before he could fall into the water. "thanks," said the boy tiredly, taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. soonyoung quickly sat down beside him and the two boys said nothing. the only noise that could be heard was the light trickling of water and their tired breaths.
"that was... fun," jihoon spoke out, staring at the light pouring out of the open castle doors. "the most fun i've had in some time. i hope you know that tonight one of my very first wishes came true."
"you mean spinning around outside in the dark until you feel like throwing up?" soonyoung teased.
instead of the usual scowl or roll of the eyes, jihoon laughed, "no, going to a ball you dummy." looking down, jihoon lightly patted soonyoung's hand and then flashed him a smile, "i'm glad i didn't go by myself, i'm glad you came with me. thanks soonyoung."
there was one of his smiles again. capable of knocking the breath out of soonyoung every time he saw one. soonyoung suddenly felt the urge to do something, so he did. his hand shot out and grabbed on to jihoon's before he could pull away.
"jihoon," he gave the hand a light squeeze, and turned to face him. "originally i wasn't planning to stay in nyits for long. that is until i me-
"hey! you two!" a sudden voice rang out, making both boys jump apart. soonyoung internally sighed, of course someone comes right when i want to confess. a guard walked out of the shadows and frowned. "are you two drunk?" he barked out, "why are your faces so red?"
"we are not drunk, sir. we were just dancing." jihoon explained.
"dancing? outside?" the guard muttered to himself and shook his, "i hope nothing was damaged? his majesty if very fond of his garden."
"nothing at all, sir." soonyoung said, clearly remembering how just a few minutes ago he accidentally trampled over some roses.
"well," the man grumbled, "you two need to head inside. his majesty is going to make his twelve o'clock announcement very soon. also, i'd like to ask you two to refrain from dancing outside in the future. there is plenty of room inside."
the guard kept a sharp eye on both of them until they were back in the ballroom. both soonyoung and jihoon were a bit sulky because one, they were no longer allowed outside and two, soonyoung never got to confess.
"you definitely trampled over those roses," jihoon whispered to soonyoung as the music stopped playing.
"you saw nothing," soonyoung insisted back quietly.
the people in the room had stopped dancing and all looked up at the top of the second level where dongyun had appeared. he was wearing a dark suit like everyone else but at a closer glance you could see the little gems on it which were supposedly stars and his cuffs along with the edges of the suit were all lined in gold.
jihoon refrained from rolling his eyes when he heard whispers of how dashing the king looked and how much they wanted to dance with him. jihoon wouldn't even dance with the king if someone paid him to.
"ladies and gentlemen," he started, eyes sweeping over the crowd below, "i'm glad that all of you could join me here today, at the midnight ball. i hope that everyone is having fun dancing and getting along nicely. as most of you can tell tonight's theme is 'night' which is why-
