nytis
that night, jihoon couldn't sleep a wink. he was paranoid as hell that a group of guards would somehow make it through the maze of alleyways and find him. it was a foolish fear and he knew it but he was still concerned about it happening.
on top of that, the events that happened earlier that night played on repeat over and over again in his mind like a record on loop. jihoon didn't like raising his voice or yelling at that moment his mind was just too clouded with emotion. he didn't understand how seungcheol could just wave off something like this as if it was no big deal?
seungcheol could smile and lie as much as he wanted saying that he's okay with being back in a wheelchair but jihoon knows that if there's one thing that seungcheol could wish for, it would be wishing his legs were back to normal. it leaves jihoon feeling sick to his stomach whenever he sees seungcheol smile and lie about something that means so much to him.
suddenly escaping nytis became ten times more difficult. jihoon remembered soonyoung asking him if he was willing to leave for reinwa with him. he responded no, saying that he wouldn't leave with his two brothers and up until now his thoughts haven't changed.
as much as jihoon wanted to be away from dongyun and back with soonyoung beside him, there is no way he is leaving nytis without chan and seungcheol with him. so if he really couldn't find a way to bring seungcheol along then he wouldn't be leaving.
"psst! jihoon!" there was a whisper coming from the other side of the tarp.
jihoon recognized that voice, "shouldn't you be sleeping, kitae?" he asked pulling back the tarp. kitae stood in the dark, fully clothed, shifting from foot to foot.
the weak moonlight reflected off of his blue eyes, making them seem that they were glowing. "shouldn't you be sleeping?"he questioned back with a small grin. jihoon let out a little sigh and rolled his eyes.
"my brain doesn't exactly want to sleep right now."
"same here," the man chuckled, "i mean, this is the first time in years since i've been out of that dingy cell. i never thought that dirty brick walls and weeds could look so beautiful. jihoon, take a deep breath in."
with nothing better to do, jihoon breathed in.
kitae clapped his hands like a little kid, "doesn't the air taste so sweet? ah.. so much better than that musty, stale air in the dungeons. take time to appreciate it jihoon." the prince was about to take another gulp of air in when he was abruptly cut off by a small sneeze.
scoffing, jihoon motioned him to come over to the mattress he was lying on and then wrapped the blanket he was given around kitae. "still careless as ever, huh." jihoon said, shaking his head.
sniffling, kitae laughed, "still caring as ever." shifting his position kitae turned to jihoon, "so.. what did i miss while i was 'dead' ? chan's still with you so somethings clearly haven't changed. but just wondering, is channie taller than you now? or is that just my imagination?"
jihoon narrowed his eyes, "your imagination!" to be honest, height had always been something a bit concerning to jihoon. he refused to believe seungcheol's words saying that chan would grow to be taller than him some day. those words were easy to brush off when chan only came up to his neck but as the younger started growing taller and closer to jihoon's height that's when he started to worry again.
jihoon and chan haven't measured their height for years now but somehow he had this feeling that his height would still be the same and as for chan's... it was something he didn't want to find out.
"well for starters, cheol became a soldier a few years back. he got sent home early after injuring his legs. chan.. i sent chan to school. he's been doing quite well but i'm not sure if he's going to school as of now."
"what about you? traveling much? seen any dragons on your journeys yet?" the prince joked.
"ah.. you know how travel around nytis is." jihoon said, feeling slightly guilty for not pursuing his dreams. "instead i got a job. as a baker. it's quite relaxing and i enjoy my time there."
"baker," kitae's eyes widened, "never saw that one coming."
"yeah, me neither," he thought back to the day jeonghan threw an apron over his head, suddenly declaring that he was a baker.
"but i can't bake.."
"listen jihoon." the man smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "i like thinking that my bakery is the best bakery in all of nytis, even better than whatever goes on in the royal kitchens. if i'm the head of it then that makes me nytis' best baker and you nytis' second best baker!"
"i'm sure you heard about the killer that is running around nytis right now and drama that happened at the ball.."
"hmm.. yes. the killer wears red.. i'm assuming that it'd be minghao then? and i did hear about the ball! apparently prince kwon soonyoung from reinwa was there! it would have been wonderful if got to meet him! i heard he was also with his lo-
"wait. aren't you surprised that minghao's the killer? or even a little scared?" kitae was acting awfully relaxed talking about a wanted murderer.
the prince shrugged, "not really. in the short amount of time that i spent with him, he doesn't seem like a bad guy, i mean the people in the alleyways love him. i'm sure that killing is only one side of his story."
jihoon smiled, "you know kitae, i think you'd be a great king. something that nytis needed ages ago."
"being king never really interested me. but i don't want my brother wrecking this place and i believe the people deserve better. i will get the throne back, after all i am the rightful heir to the throne." kitae patted his side lightly, "i just need a plan... but now i'm curious, what are you planning to do?"
"i plan on leaving. head over to reinwa. i want cheol and channie to come with me but i'm just not sure how to bring them along if i do go. the walls around the kingdom are too tall to climb... and even if i had enough money to leave, they would never let me."
jihoon sighed but kitae did not. "but jihoon! there is one way to get people in and out..." the prince grinned, "it's not exactly allowed but... how about trading?"
