reinwa
"your highness, you shouldn't be playing with jisoo! he is merely the child of a servant whereas you are the prince." a plump maid wearing a wrinkled brown dress placed her hands on her hips, frowning at young jisoo.
looking at the ground, jisoo dropped the stick he was holding and headed towards the maid. the woman was right. his highness should be playing with other royals while he should be sitting quietly in the kitchen.
but jisoo couldn't help it, the prince looked so lonely waving the wooden stick in his hands by himself. "come along now jisoo, let's leave his highness alone." she bowed to the tiny prince and then beckoned jisoo to follow her back inside the castle.
"hey! where are you going? we haven't even killed the dragon yet!" soonyoung dashed forwards on his little legs and tightly clung onto jisoo's arm before he could leave. "i'll be bored without you.. stay.. stay.. pleeease?" the prince whined.
the maid looked at the prince and then back at jisoo completely flustered. she wanted to pry soonyoung off of jisoo's arm yet she knew she wasn't allowed to. "er.. your highness, why don't you play with the other children perhaps it's best if you leave jisoo alone.."
"no!" soonyoung shouted, clinging even tighter onto jisoo, "the other kids are boring. they never want to play outside saying that a bug might crawl on them and they won't even jump in puddles with me! jisoo's waaay more fun and nicer too.."
looking up with hopeful eyes, the lady sighed, "alright your highness.. have fun with jisoo."
only when the lady walked off did soonyoung loosen his grip. he flashed jisoo a wide grin, "play with me everyday okay, jisoo?"
"yes, your highness!" the servant said happily.
"no. soonyoung. please call me soonyoung."
"jisoo stick with his highness alright? make sure he is safe, keep him happy. his orders are your priority, understand? you are to do anything to please him whether you want to or not. you belong to his highness now."
the boy smiled, "i understand. anything to please his highness. i belong to him now."
"good, now off you go."
his smile didn't waver walking down the halls. his smile never wavered. "anything for his highness..."
jisoo stopped in his track and turned around when hearing a glass vase shatter on the hard ground. standing behind him was soonyoung who scratched his head sheepishly. "oops, i'll clean that up." as he bent down to pick up the larger shards, jisoo sped forward and slapped his hands away.
"don't touch it! you might get cut!"
"but i was- "
pushing the prince aside, jisoo bent down to clean the mess.
"be careful, i'll get a broom!"
once again, the servant stopped the boy, " sit down soonyoung. don't worry about it, it's my job after all."
the next day, soonyoung noticed that his friend's hands were patched up with bandages. he didn't mention anything and neither did jisoo yet he couldn't help but feel an unexplainable rush of guilt run through him.
it was only until soonyoung almost got trampled by a horse and a cart when he decided to have a talk with jisoo. the boy had pushed him out of the way without any hesitation resulting in jisoo being the one getting injured. "hong jisoo. you are absolutely out of your mind!" the prince scolded, sitting on a chair beside jisoo's bed.
he gripped onto jisoo's hand and frowned at the boy on the bed who only smiled. "soonyoung, i'm only doing my job- "
"no! stop saying those words!" soonyoung yelled out, "perhaps part of your job is to protect me but that doesn't mean you do stupid reckless things like this. you're not supposed to hurt yourself because of me, take the blame for me or overwork yourself for me."
"soonyoung. i'm a servant." he replied blankly from the bed, "there are hundreds of servants. i am replaceable while you are not."
"where did you get such bullshit ideas from?" the prince spat out angrily, "you are not just a servant. no servant is just a servant. jisoo, i never saw you as my servant and i never will. above everything, you are my best friend. you are irreplaceable."
jisoo looked at the prince, "that's what you think?"
"yes, that's what i think. and you know what? i'm sick of all this 'servant' crap. you'll listen to whatever i tell you right?" jisoo nodded, "well then listen to what i'm going to tell you next. jisoo, from now on you are free to do whatever you'd like. if i'm about to fall off a cliff and you don't want to save me? then let me die. you are not obligated to do everything i say. you are not under me, you are beside me. and take care of yourself because, believe me, you are irreplaceable."
the boy on the bed blinked, "this is ridiculous soonyoung."
"ridiculous or not, this is the way things are going to work from now on," the prince huffed. "got it jisoo?"
hong jisoo smiled. it was the same smile every time but soonyoung felt like this time the boy actually meant it. "of course."
"j-jisoo.. n-not now.." soonyoung choked out from the ground. chuckling, the man pressed his foot down with a little more force before removing it off of the prince's chest.
grabbing soonyoung's arm, jisoo pulled the flabbergasted boy to his feet and headed to one of the stalls. "that was for leaving reinwa and not bringing me along," he said as he gently guided a brown horse out of the stall. "and i also wanted to see your reaction."
"w-wait, so does my father know?" soonyoung scratched his head, still not fully aware of what just happened.
"currently... his majesty thinks you'll be running away a week from now," the servant shrugged casually as he hooked a wooden cart to the horse, "but who knows now.. i probably should've been quieter slamming you on the ground."
soonyoung placed a hand over his pounding heart, "don't do that again jisoo! i seriously thought i was done for."
"you might be if we don't hurry and leave now," climbing onto the horse, jisoo looked back at soonyoung and watched as the prince quickly scrambled into the back.
the was a thud against the wood followed by a quiet groan, "you couldn't have been any gentler?" soonyoung's muffled voice said.
"oh trust me, i was being gentle." the servant murmured, "that was one arm and not even full strength." although jisoo couldn't see soonyoung, he knew damn well that he was making a face. "your word is my priority and it's not because someone told me, it's because that's what i believe in."
