reinwa
now that soonyoung was back in reinwa his lessons and duties as a prince fell upon him once again. back in nytis he had forgotten how hellish and painstakingly boring his lessons were and now wished he had appreciated his time there more.
it was hard for him to fall back into the swing of things. often times, soonyoung would find himself waking up early in the morning and then freaking out when he saw the time because he was going to be late for work when in reality, the only work he had was the pile of papers heojoo assigned to him (which he hadn't even touched yet).
he found it weird whenever jisoo came in and placed out a brand new outfit for him each day, the food that he ate was so familiar yet so foreign at the same time (and if you were to ask soonyoung, he'd rather eat plain meals than the extravagant dishes that he got instead) and having people do everything for him just didn't feel right.
his tutor would often complain saying that he was spacing out too much and that after coming back from his trip his posture has gotten a lot worse. soonyoung only shrugged wherever she scolded him. he blamed his change in posture on jeonghan who often told him, "damn, why's your back so straight?" and it was obvious why he spaced out so often now. he couldn't help but worry about how things were going in nytis.
worry about jeonghan, seungcheol, chan, jihoon... jihoon. the one person that was constantly on his mind the one person he couldn't stop thinking about, wishing for. sometimes soonyoung would look out into the distance and wonder if jihoon was thinking the same.
soonyoung felt particularly drained after meeting yet another girl that week. the girl was especially chatty and he felt like his ears were going to fall off if she were to stay for any longer.
the prince didn't even bother to hide a sigh as he slumped down on a velvet couch across from his parents who looked very happy after the meeting. his mother and father were chatting, saying words like "trade" and "alliance".
pinching the bridge of his nose, soonyoung closed his eyes trying to ward off an oncoming headache. "she seemed like a nice girl, right soonyoung?" yoonsun saïd out to him, offering him a smile. "she is quite a smart girl too."
"yeah.. i could tell." soonyoung said monotonously thinking back to how the princess couldn't shut up about anything. "i didn't like her." soonyoung stood up and was about to leave when his father motioned for him to sit back down.
"son, moria is a very strong kingdom. it would be very beneficial for us to make an alliance with them. and in terms of trading-
the prince purposefully let out a loud yawn and stared at his father. "why are you telling me this?"
"i'm telling you this because your mother and i think that hejin is a very nice girl and we've decided that she is the one you'll marry."
for a split second, soonyoung sat down completely frozen. "i.. i refuse. there's no way i'm marrying hejin. i already told you that there's someone i want in nytis. you just never give me the chance to tell you about them."
"that's because i don't want to know. they're not here right now so forget about this person soonyoung!" shiwoo bellowed. "this isn't about if you want to or not, it's not about you or your opinion!"
"what do you mean?!" soonyoung hissed, "this is all about me! this is about who i'm going to marry not who you're going to marry! every bit of my opinion is relevant!"
"you don't know how kind we were to allow you to actually search for a bride," his father said furiously, "i would've never let you if i knew that you'd come back like this!
soonyoung's entire body felt hot, his hands were trembling from anger. he was so frustrated right now all he could do was take in deep breaths hoping that he would snap and punch something. "fuck you." he seethed, "the marriage is not happening."
just as furious as soonyoung, shiwoo raised his hand to hit the prince. that's when yoonsun quickly stepped in grabbing her husband's arm. "since when did i marry an abusive man?" she snapped coldly. the woman then turned to soonyoung, "soonyoung, you're definitely changed after coming back." she said with just as much coldness, "since when were you like this?"
when seeing his mother angry like this, it did make him feel a little guilty. maybe he shouldn't have said the "fuck you" but then again, there was no way he was going to marry some random girl. he doesn't care if "that's the way it's always been". soonyoung isn't taking that bullshit. "we'll talk later," he said lowly before leaving the room.
jisoo dropped into a deep bow before lifting himself up. "you called your majesty?" the servant stood in the king's study and waited patiently for shiwoo to answer him. the king looked at jisoo.
he let out a long sigh, "soonyoung...that son of mine... you're one of the servants in that castle that have been working for the longest time."
"yes i am, your majesty."
"you do a good job in taking care of soonyoung and the castle."
"that is just my job, your majesty."
"i have a feeling," the king paused, "that soonyoung might do something rash. jisoo i command you to stop him with your all if you ever catch him trying to escape. if he tells you anything about running away, i demand you to inform me at once. is that clear?"
jisoo bowed without hesitation, "of course, your majesty."
