Yeosang looks at his unwelcome guests, a mixture of surprise, confusion and anger in his expression. His whole life living alone, no one apart from Mingi and Jongho has come to his home, he's pretty sure no one even knows there is a house out here.

So he is very concerned when there are three people at his door, two with blue marks and one with none, most likely hiding them with a spell.

He would have maybe been nice to them if they weren't practically threatening to break his door down, so he decides to be rude too. Before he met his two friends, rude has always been his default reaction to strangers, since all he's experienced from absolutely everyone were harsh words. But, Mingi and Jongho have unfortunately softened his heart, immensely so.

Although, old habits die hard. It's excruciatingly difficult to be mean to his two friends, but fortunately, it is a piece of cake with strangers, especially ones that are in his territory.

"What do you want?" Yeosang crosses his arms, his muscles bulging out from his t-shirt.

The one in the middle, without any marks, steps forward with an authoritative gaze. "We have some questions for you but first, take it off" he points to Yeosang.

Yeosang frowns at him when the other doesn't elaborate, only staring at him, waiting. "Take what off...?"

He wants to glare at him when he rolls his eyes but he decides it best to keep a neutral face for now. "Your spell obviously- oh right." The person in front of him waves a hand in front of his own face and soon after, purple hearts appear on his cheeks.

Yeosang almost widens his eyes but stops himself, it finally clicks in his head. Jongho and Mingi had told them about two blue marked and a purple marked coming to them about his crops, how had they found out about him? Both of them said they didn't mention him at all to these people.

It doesn't matter now anyway, since they're currently at his door, he's going to have to deal with them now.

"Go on then, undo your spell," The purple said to him, "you know its against the law to hide your marks from royalty".

Yeosang almost scoffs in his face, then looks at the two blues behind him. He finds it amusing that they're just waiting for him to do a little magic trick and reveal his 'marks', these people are very slow at catching on. "I don't have any marks" He says, pointing to his cheeks with raised eyebrows.

The way all three of their mouths hang open almost makes him laugh, maybe he would've laughed but he'd like them to just get out of his property.

"That's impossible. Stop lying and reveal your marks before we have to do it forcefully ourselves" Yeosang can tell they're bluffing with the way they glance at each other quickly. He's caught them off guard with his identity.

"I'm not lying, why do you think I live here in the middle of nowhere?" Yeosang lets himself scowl at them since they threatened him, he isn't going to let them treat him like that.

The purple one frowns in confusion. "You... don't have marks?" They all subconsciously take a step back, as if he's going to become feral at any moment and attack them.

Yeosang ignores the dumb action and nods in a 'duh' motion. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, why did you come here?" Even though he already knows why they're here, he figures it would be best to let them do what they want instead of kicking them out immediately. Something tells him they wouldn't leave if he did that.

The other seems to still be distracted by the fact that he's unmarked but Yeosang just tells him to carry on, he doesn't know why these marks are so revolutionary, it even has these people in front of him speechless due to the fact that he has none.

The purple one seems to regain his senses though. "You've been illegally selling your crop haven't you?" He says, pointing to the land where he grows his food.

"No." Yeosang simply says. Technically it's not him that's selling it. And even if he was, he's not going to expose Jongho and Mingi just like they had protected him. Though, it probably doesn't matter anyway since they already know about them. But it doesn't hurt to play around a bit.

He's never had friends before so protecting them like this makes him feel good.

The other just sighs in frustration. "We know you've been giving your crop to Choi Jongho and Mingi for them to sell in the market. Why are you doing this? Have you threatened them? What are you getting in return?"

Yeosang rolls his eyes at all the questions. He's certain they're only being so careful now because they've discovered that he actually has no marks. "I have no idea who you are talking about, does it look like I interact with you marked people?" He gestures to his house surrounded by nothing, proving his lonely life.

"You're lying". One of the blues at the back speaks up, looking timid. "We followed Choi Jongho and Mingi to your home and heard everything too".

Yeosang grits his teeth. So that's how they know about him. "Okay. So what are you going to do about it?" He gives them a pointed look.

"Hey." The purple steps forward with a glare, right into Yeosang's personal space. "Watch the attitude". He looks him up and down.

Yeosang smirks "or what?" He watches the other's throat as he swallows. They're practically the same height so it's obvious where he's looking.

The other's cheeks glow, Yeosang isn't sure if it's in anger or something else but luckily for him, he takes a step back. "Do you know who I am?"

Yeosang scoffs at the man's egotistic words. "I know what your silly little marks mean, unless you're asking if I care?" He fake shrugs at him, satisfied with the way his jaw clenches in response.

"Okay. Listen you." The purple crosses his arms. "Marked or not what you're doing is illegal, I don't know what you're getting in return but you need t-"

"Isn't following someone to their home and eavesdropping stalking? Stalking is illegal too- unless you're unfamiliar with your kingdom's laws". Yeosang doesn't actually know if it's a law or not, he couldn't care less about this kingdom's rules, he just wants this purple fool and his minions gone.

It seems to shut him up, and Yeosang gladly takes this opportunity to tell them to sod off. "Now that we're on the same page, get the fuck out of my home. And don't come back". He slams the door shut, not even looking back at their faces even though he would have loved to see the shock on their entitled faces.

~

Wooyoung blinks at the closed door, needing a moment to process what just happened.

"Well..." San begins, glancing at Yunho who still has shock written on his face.

"Should we go tell your father about this? I mean we've done the task but now there's an unmarked-"

"Not yet" Wooyoung doesn't want to end it here yet, something about this uncivilised jerk intrigues him. He wants to know more. At first, he had been so surprised that he is unmarked, he has so many questions. If he wasn't so rude maybe he would have befriended him, he can see why he's lonely and miserable.

"Not yet?" Yunho asks obviously confused since after finally finishing their task Wooyoung wants to postpone telling the king when he was the one dying the most to get it over and done with.  They did as asked, only having to find out who was growing and selling the illegal crop. All they have to do now is tell the king.

"Let's just go for now," Wooyoung says walking away from the little house, the pair following them quickly, concerned about what he is up to.

~

The next day, Wooyoung, Yunho and San find themselves in front of Yeosang's door again. San shakes his head "Tell me again why you think this is a good idea?" Wooyoung ignores him and just looks around, not knocking. "Wooyoung- we can just tell your father we've finished the task, isn't that what you wanted? we've done everything we had to, just give him names, we don't have to do all this-"

Wooyoung silences him with a spell, the other mouthing angry words at him. When Yunho reverses the spell, he stays silent, crossing his arms in irritation.

"I just want to check something" he whispers, looking back at the pair. He's about to knock on the door but before he even lifts his fist up, it's already opening.

Yeosang stills, looking at Wooyoung surprised, then glances at San and Yunho behind him, then back to Wooyoung, expression darkening. "Why are you back"

Wooyoung looks at him for a second, thinking that his facial features don't suit his deep voice. Although, his rough personality definitely suits it. "I have some questions for you"

The other sighs, pushing past them and going into his garden. Wooyoung is baffled at the audacity. "Hey! I'm talking to you" he goes after him.

The way Yeosang abruptly turns to him makes him surprised, the hardened expression displayed on his face almost makes him gulp. "I told you not to come back, if you're not going to listen to me, I'm not going to listen to you"

Behind him San snickers, making Wooyoung look back for a second and glare at him, the other only clings to Yunho and sticks out his tongue, still upset about the silencing spell.

He groans inwardly and turns back to Yeosang. "Are you really unmarked? How is that possible?" Wooyoung has never even considered the thought that someone could be unmarked, all his life he's been surrounded by people with them. "Are there more people like you?"

The other ignores his questions, focusing instead on watering his plants and pretending that Wooyoung and his friends aren't even here. It makes him frustrated. "Yeosang!"

He pauses, his name getting his attention. Looking at the prince with a wary expression, he puts his stuff down. "How do you know my name?"

The prince looks smug, happy now that he's got his attention. "We overheard those Jongho and Mingi guys say it the other day. Anyway- have you been listening to what I've been saying this whole time?"

Yeosang clenches his jaw. Oh, right. He had almost forgotten that these people had followed Mingi and Jongho to his house and eavesdropped. He's in disbelief at the fact that a prince of all people has the nerve to stalk someone and then come uninvited to their house, twice. "I don't care for anything you have to say, now get lost."

Wooyoung feels like he's experiencing deja vu. This is exactly what happened yesterday. "why can't you get it through your thick head that I want to talk to you!"

"You must have an even thicker head because you can't seem to get that I don't want to talk to you!" Yeosang walks up to him until he's right in front of him. "Leave."

For whatever reason, Wooyoung finds amusement in the other's dominant glare, itching to challenge him. Their faces are close and Wooyoung is tempted to move even closer just to fluster Yeosang a little. "No".

The other steps back, huffing. "Fine, just stay standing there until your legs fall of I guess". He walks away back to his garden and gets on with his daily routine, completely ignoring the presence of the prince and his friends.

Wooyoung observed him for a bit, not wanting to give in to the ghosting just yet. Yeosang is quite buff, it did make sense if physical labour like this is what he he does all day, his skin also more tan due to being out most of the time.

His black hair is wavy, the rugged look on him makes him look sexy Wooyoung can't help but think. His eyes trail to his face, there is too much empty space because of the absence of marks. It was strange, not in an bad way but Wooyoung is so used to seeing shapes and colours on people's faces it was shocking seeing someone without them.

"Wooyoung, let's just go now" Yunho says behind him, knowing it's useless to just stand there all day long.

"Let me just try one more time" Wooyoung responds, determined to find out more about this mysterious guy.

Wooyoung walks into his garden in an attempt to make it impossible to ignore him. He isn't going to wreak havoc and destroy his things, he does actually have some manners. But he'll get his attention in other ways.

"Yeosang" he calls, the other hadn't even spared a glance when he came into the garden.

"What"

Wooyoung blinks, not expecting the response. He looks at Yeosang, who has the tiniest hint of a smile, finding it amusing that he caught Wooyoung off guard.

He rolls his eyes. "Listen, you're going to answer my questions or else I'm going to report you, I wonder if the council know about an unmarked living in the kingdom".

"Go ahead" Yeosang doesn't care if he's bluffing or telling the truth, what were they going to do anyway?

"That wasn't a request." Wooyoung scoffs.

"Don't care".

"I order you to answer my questions"

"No"

"I'm the prince, you have to obey my orders!"

"No"

Yeosang has his back to Wooyoung, not even bothering to look at him while speaking. Wooyoung is so irritated, he's never in his life been treated like this before.

"You will!" He holds his hand out, making Yeosang freeze with a spell. Time stops for a moment as everything is silent.

The spell is gone as soon as it's cast though, Wooyoung immediately feeling guilty. When he hears the gasps from Yunho and San, he knows he went too far.

Yeosang wobbles a bit when he's let go of the spell, he's never been under a spell before and the fact that he's just been forced to stop moving made him angry. How dare he even think about doing that. Especially with his back turned away from him.

When Yeosang storms toward him, Wooyoung gulps. His shirt is grabbed, Yeosang pulling them close. "You've crossed the line" he growls. He had already crossed the line with a dozen other things but this makes Yeosang genuinely angry and offended. "Who are you to put a spell on me?"

Wooyoung looks down, acknowledging his mistake. He doesn't even get to speak before Yeosang is pushing him away. "Leave. I mean it" he says without even looking at them, heading into his house.

Yeosang breaths heavily, even though it was just a freezing spell, he feels like he's just been attacked. He felt so vulnerable for those few seconds he was unable to move. This purple guy is too entitled, Yeosang hates entitled people.

Fortunately, they don't come back the next day. Or the day after, or for the whole week.

~

A few days later, he has welcome guests with him. Jongho and Mingi having stopped by on their day off. The three of them are huddled around the fireplace with warm milk since it's snowing outside.

Yeosang loves the times they come and do nothing, being free like this is his favourite thing. It gives him time to recharge since his life requires a lot of hard labour.

A lot of the time, Jongho and Mingi offer to do his chores for him, since they can do it quickly and easily with magic, it doesn't take much energy from them so who is he to reject help?

Yeosang is always envious of everyone else, thinking about ask the things he could do with magic. Mingi had tried once, to transfer some magic to him but it didn't work obviously, they even tried to get him to recite a spell but as expected, nothing happened.

They often show him cool magic tricks to entertain his mundane life, Mingi showing him the new spells he's working on. At times like this, he feels like a kid again, being fascinated by everything they do, magic is the perfect word to describe it, it's magical.

But then he remembers what happened a few days ago, when he'd been frozen with a spell. He didn't like that one bit. He knows people put spells on each other all the time, even Jongho and Mingi do. Maybe it's because he's unfamiliar with magic but that was a bad experience.

He knows it could have been worse, he was only frozen for around 3 seconds. He's heard about dark magic from Mingi, magic that harms people like possessing them and controlling their movements and words. Only purples own dark magic, it was a law made decades ago because it was too dangerous in the hands of ordinary people.

He decided to let the pair know about his unexpected visit, he don't like keeping things from them especially since they tell him everything too. "Those people you mentioned last week, the ones who came to your stall and interrogated you, they came to me a few days ago".

Jongho chokes on his drink, Mingi looks at him with wide eyes. Neither speak for a moment, processing the information. Until Mingi speaks up. "How did they know about you? We didn't even say your name once, we didn't even admit to selling your crops!"

Jongho nods, trying to recall if they accidentally mentioned Yeosang, but they really didn't.

"I know, it's okay. They only asked me a few questions but they were more shocked with the fact that I'm unmarked than my crops." Yeosang shrugs, he doesn't think they'll do anything to him so it's not a big deal, and it doesn't seem like they're coming back too.

"How did they even know you or where you even lived?" Jongho can't wrap his head around it, Yeosang has been hidden all his life, the only trace of him only being rumours that no one believes. Or even if they do know about him, they certainly don't know where he lives.

"They... followed you two here, and heard our conversation with a spell".

Jongho frowns, immediately feeling guilty. "They followed us?" He looks at Mingi who also has guilt written on his face.

"I had no idea they'd do something like this, we're so sorry Yeosang- I knew those people were trouble"

Yeosang dismisses their worries, shaking his head. "It's okay guys, they didn't do anything, but" he debates on whether to tell them that the purple one put a spell on him. It's not that big of a deal and the spell was only
For a few seconds but, he wants to be entirely truthful to them, not wanting them to be upset if they find out later.

Jongho notices his hesitation "did something else happen?"

He sighs, "the one with purple marks, he got annoyed that I wasn't listening to him so he froze me with a spell. He took it off straight away though but it still surprised me. They left after that".

"He did what?" Mingi covers his mouth with his hand. "That's out of line, why would he think that's okay!".

"I don't even think he meant to, he took it off quickly" Yeosang doesn't know why he's even defending him. He remembers how the purple himself looked shocked that he even used his magic on him. Somehow, that look of guilt stayed in his head for the rest of the day after the incident.

"That's it," Jongho says, standing up. Yeosang and Mingi look at the younger in confusion. "I'm going to look for those rude bastards. First, they harass me and Mingi and force us to take them to my family's garden, and then they follow us to your house and interrogate you then attack you with a spell!"

Despite the diamonds on his face, Jongho doesn't portray himself as other diamonds would. Sure, he's stronger than the average person but his personality is kind and gentle, Yeosang has never once seen him abuse his strength or be angry.

"It's okay, Jongho. I don't think they'll be coming back here or even to you guys, I've made it clear that I won't be answering any of their questions, they're most likely going to give it up. If they do come back, you can give them a piece of your mind. But don't waste your energy hunting them down in such cold weather. Besides, you know one of them is a royal, you'd be sent to the dungeons before you can even think of getting near them" He sits Jongho down again, wrapping a blanket over him.

"Okay, I'll just wait for them to come to me," Jongho says, completely disregarding what Yeosang said at the start.

He thinks it's cute that Jongho is this protective over him, it makes his heart warm. He'll just let him do whatever he wants.

~

Almost a week later, Yeosang is hurriedly covering his crop and harvesting ones that are almost ready. Mingi had come earlier to let him know that there is a snowstorm predicted later in the day and now, it has already started snowing lightly, but you can tell it will get heavier with time.

At times like this, he gets really engrossed in his work, mind only focusing on the task at hand and ignoring his surroundings.

Which is exactly why his heart nearly leaps out of his chest when he hears a quiet "Hello" behind him.

He yelps, dropping the fruit in his hand, falling onto the soft snow. "Jongho! I told you not to sneak up on me like th-"

It's not Jongho behind him, but someone else.

He wouldn't have recognised the person because their face is covered, but the tips of purple hearts give his identity away.

"You." He says, not knowing how to respond, he's mostly surprised but also angry that this person is back again after he specifically told him to never appear in his presence again.

He pulls the scarf covering the lower half of his face down, revealing his face which has a sheepish smile.

"Why do you keep coming back" Yeosang doesn't get it. He definitely is not nice to him and any sane person would not contact someone whos been rude to them again. He can't wrap his head around this person. Maybe it's how people with hearts are like. He looks behind the intruder but there's no one else. "Where are the other two?"

If it were someone else, he'd probably be glad that it's just one person this time, but the person in front of him is a royal. He's 100% sure he's not supposed to be out without anyone with him.

"They're not with me today, I kind of snuck out. They don't even know I'm here". He says with a bashful smile.

Yeosang frowns, "What are you talking about? Why would you sneak out and come here?" he definitely does not like this situation.

"I can tell you don't like people, so I came alone. Also, San and Yunho would not approve of me coming here again"

Yeosang scoffs, how kind of him to think about his feelings. "Yeah. I don't approve either, go back to your castle".

"But I came all the way here, your house is really far you know, all the way outside the kingdom grounds!" the guy pouts, making Yeosang groan.

He has no clue why this guy is so insistent to talk to him, it's not like he's been treating him with kindness. There's nothing about him that would make someone want to be friends with him. Although he knows this person isn't here to make friends, he's just irritatingly fascinated by his whole existence, Yeosang is not bothered to answer all his questions, he doesn't even know the answer to most of them either.

"You're really annoying you know that?" Yeosang would like to think hes' intimidating and rude but clearly, he's at most: a little mean. He can't even get this roach out of his house, he keeps coming back.

"Yeah, I get that a lot" the other shrugs. "I'm Wooyoung by the way, Jung Wooyoung."

"Didn't ask" Yeosang goes back to the task he probably would have finished by now if it wasn't for this guy.

"Well? what about you?" Wooyoung asks, looking at him and waiting.

"You already know my name"

"Yes, but I don't know your surname" Wooyoung rolls his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why do you want my surname? To file it away on the list of unmarked citizens, you going to get the council to keep an eye on me now?" Yeosang doesn't like this Wooyoung guy, he's clearly got some ulterior motive he's not revealing. He figures he's spying for the council, there's no way he keeps coming back just for fun. Especially when he keeps asking the same questions over and over again.

"No!" Wooyoung sounds offended. "Why would I-" he groans. "Yeosang, I swear on my life we haven't told anyone about you, I don't have any sort of undisclosed mission to find out information about you, if that's why you're being so prickly around me"

Yeosang scoffs, it's almost like Wooyoung is telling him to trust him.

"Oh and by the way, I apologise for the spell last week, it seriously wasn't intentional!" All of a sudden, Wooyoung looks timid. "It must have accidentally slipped out of habit, I swear" his voice is quiet, Yeosang is good at recognising who's genuine or not and he can tell Wooyoung is, which he doesn't know how to feel about.

"Whatever," Yeosang grabs his things and heads to his door, he's been out too long so he's feeling cold.

Expectedly, Wooyoung follows him, making Yeosang stop and look back at him. He doesn't say anything because his expression says it all.

Wooyoung isn't an idiot, he knows Yeosang is telling him to get lost but he won't leave this easily, he still wants to find out exactly who this guy is. Even though he looks very scary, Wooyoung sucks it in and ignores his glares, challenging him instead. He doesn't seem like the type to physically get him to leave, only sending empty threats so he takes the chance and remains persistent.

It works thankfully, as Yeosang lets out a heavy sigh and heads into his house, ignoring the fact that Wooyoung slips in before he can shut the door.

Wooyoung relishes the victory, not even minding that he is being ignored. Looking around the little house, he takes a seat on a cushion. From here, he can basically see the whole place, the small kitchen area with a table is basically in the living room, he can see only two closed doors which he assumes are the bathroom and bedroom.

He looks out the window behind him, giving him a clear view of the impressively large garden. "Is this where you grow the stuff you give Choi Jongho and Mingi? Are you guys friends or business partners... how did you guys meet?"

Yeosang pretends not to hear him, his home is so tiny that even being in his bedroom he is able to hear Wooyoung, or it might be the fact that this guy is louder than the average person. He doesn't even know why he let him in, Wooyoung is a walking headache to him.

He jumps in surprise when the headache is suddenly behind him, "I saw you before taking out the crop manually, isn't that a lot of work? Why didn't you just use magic?"

The prince takes a step back when the other groans loudly, maybe he is overdoing it with the questions.

Yeosang turns around to face him, he knows Wooyoung's tactic is to annoy the answers out of him, and he himself is not a very patient person. So he decides it's just best to give the boy answers since it's clear that he won't leave if he keeps getting ignored. "I don't have magic."

Wooyoung gasps, covering his mouth with his hand. "You- oh my god" he starts pacing the room, "you don't have marks AND magic?"

Yeosang wants to laugh unironically at him for rubbing it in that his life is miserable. "I don't have marks, how would I have magic? You're not very bright are you."

The insult flies over his head as Wooyoung continues pacing the room, seeming fascinated and somehow guilty at the same time. "I can't believe I put that spell on you when you don't even have magic! I practically attacked you"

Yeosang scoffs, at least he feels guilty for it. "I don't need your pity, why are you assuming having no marks and magic is a bad thing? At least I'm not lazy and entitled like you people, obsessed over some shapes and colours".

This time Wooyoung scoffs, regretting the time he wasted feeling guilty about putting a spell on the other, he ought to teach him a lesson and do it again. Before he can even reply though, Yeosang is out of his sight. He frowns, not done with his questioning especially now that he's found out that he doesn't have magic.

He waits for him to come back, not wanting to intrude in his bedroom out of politeness, even though he's done nothing to deserve his courtesy. It doesn't take long before he's back, heading towards the kitchen.

"So you're telling me you grew them by hand? And waited years for them to grow!" Wooyoung learnt about plants and how they take ages to grow, especially food producing ones. Except for botanists, practically everyone uses magic to grow things, the time taken decreasing from years to days. Now Wooyoung understands why Yeosang's crop taste exceptionally great, it's all organic and natural, no magic in it.

There's just one thing he's still incredibly curious about, it has been killing him this past week. "Why exactly are you unmarked, were you born without them or perhaps cursed?"

Yeosang expects this question of course, glancing at the prince who just waits for an answer. "I don't know, I was born like this". It's true that he has no idea, his mother just never told him. He used to die to know why he's like this, an alien to everyone else. But as he grew older he stopped caring, becoming numb.

"Oh, okay." the prince says, visibly disappointed by his answer, wanting an interesting backstory. Yeosang is satisfied now that he's quiet and the questions have ceased.

At least it did for a second before Wooyoung is opening his big mouth again. "So you do everything without magic... by yourself? I know no one knows about you so that must mean you do every single thing by yourself?" He frowns, realising how difficult and lonely that must be.

"You already know the answer to that." Yeosang sighs, he can tell the other is back to pitying him again.

"Wow" the prince whispers, it was probably to himself but Yeosang hears it. This guy definitely has Wooyoung's respect, being a prince while listening to Yeosang's lifestyle is making him realise that he's taking everything he has for granted. In his life, everything is obviously done for him, he doesn't have any basic life skills like cooking or cleaning, let alone things Yeosang has to do like grow food and hunt by himself. He can only imagine how his youth was stolen away by needing to do things a child shouldn't need to worry about.

Watching Yeosang cook in front of him is making him feel guilty, he can understand why Yeosang doesn't like him, they are two complete opposites. If the reason why he doesn't have marks is because he's cursed, he just knows his family have got something to do with this, only they have the power to do something like that. It makes sense that Yeosang hates him, so, he doesn't mind because if he were in his shoes, he would have been a lot more horrible.

He involuntarily shivers as the cold air seeps into the house. Looking behind him, he gasps "oh shit"

Yeosang frowns but doesn't turn to look at him. "What"

"There's a snowstorm outside, it's bad"

Now Yeosang looks back at the window, trying to suppress his groan. He had completely forgotten that there was supposed to be a storm today and he had stupidly let Wooyoung in his home. "You need to go. Now".

Wooyoung looks at him in disbelief. "You want me to leave, in that?" He points to the window, snow falling down so quickly you can barely see anything outside.

Yeosang huffs, there is no way Wooyoung is staying here, who knows how long the storm will last. "Yes, go now before it gets worse".

His arms are crossed as he waits for the prince to get up and when there is no sign of movement from him, he takes matters into his own hands.

"Wha- hey!" Wooyoung yelps as Yeosang grabs his arm, pulling him to the door.

As soon as it's opened, snow tumbles in. It is covering half the door as the relentless snow has piled exceptionally high. Yeosang has never seen it snow this much before.

The door closes with much effort and reluctance from Yeosang, glaring when Wooyoung sits back down smugly and makes himself comfortable.

"Can't you teleport back?" Surely these magical people can teleport.

"Not in these adverse weather conditions," Wooyoung says as it is the most obvious piece of general knowledge.

"Well that isn't helpful in life or death situations" Yeosang huffs at the incompetency of whoever invented teleportation. Surely you'd need to teleport most when you're at risk of dying.

He sighs heavily, taking note that he's been sighing all day because of someone. He has a big problem now. "Well, how are you going to get home?" He asks, annoyed that Wooyoung is just sitting there all calm.

"Simple. I just wait for the storm to be over" he wraps his coat tighter around himself, smiling contentedly.

"You can't stay here"

"Why not?"

Yeosang pinches his eyebrows in an attempt to ease his massive headache. "You've been here around an hour. You said no one knows where you are. So what's going to happen when you stay here during the storm and people get worried for the poor prince? I'm not having a search party of guards finding a royal in an unmarked person's house, then sending me to the dungeons for kidnapping you".

"Relax" Wooyoung dismisses the other's overdramatic thinking. "They won't find me here"

Yeosang puts his hands on his hips, glaring at Wooyoung. There's no way the kingdom won't be turned upside down in search of the prince, especially when his friends don't know where he is, which makes things worse since they might suspect him to be here, leading others here too.

But Wooyoung makes no effort to come up with ideas, already making himself comfortable. "Fine." He grits his teeth "but as soon as the storm slows down you are out of here, understood?"

"Yeah yeah," Wooyoung waves him off. "Start the fireplace will you? I'm freezing here"

In a different situation, he would have left Wooyoung to freeze but unfortunately, he is also freezing so he rolls his eyes and starts the fire. He plans to ignore the other for the rest of their time together, for the sake of his mental health.

After an hour, Yeosang finishes the soup he's making. Soup is the perfect remedy for a painfully cold day. He reluctantly gets out an extra bowl, mourning for the loss of the soup that he's about to give the prince. He doesn't even know why he's giving him a portion too, but he doesn't know he'll feel guilty if he didn't.

When he turns around, he sees Wooyoung siding directly in front of the fireplace, still shivering. "Here" he hands him a bowl of hot soup. "That should help you warm up"

Wooyoung looks at him with wide eyes. He had noticed Yeosang cooking something but he was almost certain he wouldn't give it to him. He's thankful anyway since he's both hungry and cold and the food smells delicious. When he takes the first bite, he pauses, taking in all the flavours. Yeosang tries not to look at him but he can't help wonder what he thinks.

After the pause, Wooyoung is suddenly eating quickly as if he hasn't eaten in days. The feeling of hot soup going down his cold chest is addicting. "This is amazing". He says in between mouthfuls, not bothering to take a break to actually breathe.

Yeosang smiles in satisfaction, he's taken pride in his food ever since two years ago when he met Mingi for the first time. He knows his food is good, but it brings him immense pleasure to see a prince, who can eat the most delicious food, find his outstanding.

Yeosang would not like to admit it but, he is very easy to flatter. Just Wooyoung enjoying his food is making him soften up to him a tiny bit. He grabs one of his thickest blankets and drapes it over Wooyoung's shoulders, making him look up in surprise. "I'll go get you another serving".

Yeosang takes the empty bowl from his hands and heads towards the kitchen. Wooyoung freezes for a second, then shyly wraps the blanket tighter around him, hoping he isn't blushing even though his heart rate has increased. Somehow the unexpected gesture has him flustered, muttering a timid 'thanks' when he's given another serving, watching as Yeosang sits in the kitchen, having his own bowl. When they're both done, Yeosang also takes his bowl and cleans up, leaving Wooyoung to watch curiously, unconsciously snuggling into the blanket.