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Words of Affirmation
In an outsider’s perspective, Alberu’s status as a crown prince gave him the privilege to receive praises on a daily basis.
“You are as radiant as the sun.”
“You’re our kingdom’s treasure and a blessing from the Sun God.”
“Your wisdom transcends the wisest of the magistrates in the continent.”
True enough, Alberu does get one every single day. From the servants and guards that have been roaming around the castle grounds, to the advisers and nobles that stops by in the throne room to have a little chat with him.
Alberu would be lying if he said that everyone should tone down their compliments for him to a bare minimum. No, he wouldn't do that. After all, he’s kind of narcissistic by nature. And, he did long for these things ever since he was a struggling child who was not noticed by others and even his own family.
However, he felt that those praises were just empty words — no weight to it, no truth about it. But, who was he to complain when he himself does that kind of false admiration to other people. He’ll just shrug it off and comfort himself that at least the people around him have finally given him some attention, even though what he presents to the public is a fake appearance and personality.
And so, he lived his days like that, adapting to what others say about him.
Then, suddenly, came a red-haired guy who effortlessly disturbed his well-ordered life. What started as an exchange of deliberately fake and non-sensical compliments turned into a battle of wits, scheming and plotting.
Who would have thought that at this point in time, he’ll prefer Cale’s constant complaints, bickerings and requests over the millions of praises he gets from the most notable people in the kingdom.
He could easily see through Cale’s lies and surprisingly, he doesn’t even get bothered about it. Alberu knew whenever Cale’s “I’m sorry” came from the heart or just an attempt to suppress his anger. He was aware that the “I’m sorry for causing trouble. I won’t do it again.” was simply saying “I can’t help it! They have an interesting ancient artifact!” He’ll just turn a blind eye to it and allow Cale to snicker behind his back. Blowing up another island... it would surely repeat again.
Cale’s rare “goodbye” with an accompanying “take care” at the end of their nightly calls would no doubt make him smile.
Was there a magic to it? Because Alberu would have good dreams whenever he hears it.
Hearing Cale say “Hyung” out of his mouth was just enough to make his heart somersault in complete adoration. Even his reluctant “yes” to his request of being sworn brothers somehow made him completely ecstatic.
Truly, everything involved Cale. Because all that Cale has spoken and will speak in the future would definitely be meaningful to him.
Out of all the words said by his dongsaeng, the one that he treasures the most was that particular reassuring phrase that brought his confidence back, “Fate, you’re fated to be here."
And yes, he was fated — fated to be here, fated to be the king and fated to have met his dongsaeng.
Despite Cale being the most troublesome person he ever met, Cale’s simple chatters, advice, once-in-a-blue moon compliments and complaints were now worth every second of his time and something that Alberu’s looking forward to in his everyday.
Quality Time
They say time stops when you fall in love.
That’s probably a lie.
Because no matter how hard Alberu falls, Cale just keeps moving.
A manipulative, sneaky, gold-loving, sacrificial idiot dongsaeng of his that he can’t seem to get enough of. To the point that his sleep-deprived self would take up Cale’s calls even late at night.
“Seriously, if you’re tired… just go to sleep.”
Look who’s talking.
Alberu focused his sight over the big black eye bags that formed below Cale’s eyes. If one considers the fatigue level between the two, it’s definitely his dongsaeng who got it harder. Cale has been running around here and there, without any rest, in an attempt to stop White Star. He may be doing it out of sheer self-interest and fulfillment of his ultimate slacker life dream but really… Cale’s a good person who has been saving a lot of lives.
Alberu sighed, well-aware that “self-care” was completely thrown out of Cale’s vocabulary ever since the Plaza Incident.
“Ah… I’m beyond saving…,” Alberu mumbled to himself as he stood up, without any notice, and proceeded out of the frame of the communication device.
Cale was so focused in listing down the numerous requests he desires that he did not immediately notice his conversation partner went missing. He went close to the screen, wanting to peer through it (if only he could).
“Eh?! Your highness? — Hyung???”
No matter how many times Cale tried to call out Alberu, no response came. Even Raon, who was beside him, got dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of the prince.
Annoyed that he got ditched midway in the conversation, Cale shouted out loud, “I ditched sleep for this, Narcissistic Prince!”
“So, I’m ‘Narcissistic Prince’ now...,” a voice suddenly came out from behind him.
Cale flinched and turned around upon hearing a familiar voice. His eyes widened upon recognizing the figure that just appeared in his room.
“Wha—,” he looked back and forth at the person in question and at the screen of the communication device. “Why are you here, hyung? How?”
Alberu simply shrugged his shoulder and just let Cale be confused even more. His gaze and smile, then, got directed to the little black dragon beside Cale.
“Raon-nim, it’s nice to see you again.”
Raon, aware that there’s no need to use any device, pulled out his mana, turning it off. “Somehow, I feel that the prince is amazing.,” the dragon uttered, right after.
Alberu snickered upon receiving a compliment from a great dragon and continued on, “If it isn’t too much, I need to talk privately with this dongsaeng of mine.”
Raon made a quick glance at Cale, waiting for his human to say something. The bizarre appearance of the crown prince took a great amount of time to sink in and Cale had to admit, he may be troublesome but this crown prince before him takes the cake.
He patted the dragon on its head, softly telling him to join On and Hong in the other room. “I’m pretty sure this Narcissistic Prince would not do anything bad… hopefully…”
That made Alberu laughed out loud.
And as Raon left the place, Alberu found himself sitting comfortably on the long sofa that was adjacent to Cale’s bed. His eyes roamed around taking into sight everything that is present in Cale’s room. His gaze, then, finally landed on the not-so-amused-looking Cale.
He smiled and patted his lap.
“Come! I’m giving you a once-in-a-lifetime premium service.,” he said proudly while gesturing down onto his lap.
“Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this…,” Cale remained in his seat, hesitating to come over to his hyung’s side.
“Just come! It's a fact that many in the kingdom, both women and men, always wanted to have me as a lap pillow. And, look, I’m giving this privilege to you.”
Cale raised a brow. “I… highly doubt that.”
Alberu chuckled, admitting, later on, that it was indeed a lie. Or... maybe not, an unnecessary plan came upon him and he decided that after this, he’ll check with his advisors if they could do a survey around the kingdom, specifically on topics concerning lap pillows and sleeping buddies.
As the night dragged on so is the banter between the two. Cale was still unwillingly to come to his side. It was seconds of silence after when Alberu’s playful façade gradually turned melancholic.
He gazed down and began to speak, "My aunt used to do this to me whenever I’m tired or sad. She would gently pat me in the head, occasionally sing a little song while I slowly drift to sleep and forget all the problems that exist.”
This time. It was the truth. Whether Cale believes it or not. It's his choice.
Cale heaved a deep breath. Even if he complained endlessly, Alberu would still insist in doing the lap pillow no matter what. Not to mention, that little backstory of his that caused Cale to feel a little guilty for rejecting Alberu's offer. This sneaky bastard playing the past card on him.
“Fine... I’ll take that privilege.,” he gave in as he stood up and made his way beside Alberu.
Delighted by Cale’s response, he scooted over to the side and made space for Cale. Using his hands, he carefully guided Cale’s head down on his lap. Seeing how things came to be, Alberu became all giddy and happy.
“So how is it?,” Alberu immediately asked.
Cale adjusted his head on Alberu’s lap, trying to find the best position where he can lie comfortably. He moved a few times but it was still not to his liking.
With his eyebrows completely furrowed, he complained out loud, “…It’s not comfortable at all and your lap is so hard!”
Despite the consistent whinings, Cale remained still and did not make any attempts in releasing himself out of the position.
A small smile took over Alberu’s face. Cale’s bickerings were just a music to his ears and he did not pay close attention to whatever comments he has about his “premium service.”
Instead, he cradled Cale, further, in his lap, fingers slipping through his hair and began humming a lullaby that he used to hear when he was young. Seeing that his dongsaeng finally calmed down, Alberu continued to hum and stroke Cale’s head as if he was soothing a troubled child.
It was peaceful and quiet until he felt Cale shaking. He gazed down and saw that Cale was trying his best not to burst into laughter. He began to frown and spoke out loud, “What now?!”
“Apparently, the crown prince is tone deaf.”
Alberu pouted and glared at the ‘ungrateful’ man on his lap. “For your information, the one giving the premium service has the option to stop anytime he wants.”
A small bit of laughter came out of Cale and as an act of reassurance, he patted Alberu’s laps. “No no, it’s good… continue.”
Alberu rolled his eyes and proceeded back to what he was doing earlier.
Cale smiled and snuggled even deeper in his position.
This one…
...This one he’s experiencing right now, wasn’t so bad.
The hands that keep on distracting him from sleeping, the hard lap that’s supposed to be his soft pillow, the off-tune hum disrupting the silence of the night — everything’s wrong, still… Cale thinks that these kind of moments, once-in-a-while, make for a perfect night.
“Hey…,” Cale suddenly spoke
“Hmm…”
“Sometimes, nights like this, aren’t that bad.,” he softly whispered as he closed his eyes shut.
Receiving Gifts
Cale’s in a crisis. First, Alberu’s birthday is coming. Second, for a guy who already has everything and can buy anything that he wants, any object that Cale would give to him would not be worth it at all. He has visited every gift shop in the region and ended up with nothing.
That’s how Cale got stumped over one particular problem for an entire week.
“Time! You can give him time!,” a blue-haired guy by the name of Bud, unexpectedly, came out of nowhere.
Cale gave him an unwelcoming look before commenting, “Why the hell are you here? Besides, he doesn’t need some kind of time-reading device. He have assistants who could tell him what time of the day it is.”
“No, no.,” a chuckle from Bud was heard. “I mean time. You offer your time to him.”
Cale frowned further. “Are you an idiot? Why would he be happy about that?”
“I think the proper question is ‘why would he NOT be happy about it?’ Just take my advice and offer yourself. It will shoot you up in his likability ladder.”
Cale did a facepalm. “I’m not giving him a gift to compete with others.”
“Right… because you’re already at the top of the ladder.,” Bud spoke, seemingly satisfied with what he had said. Too bad, the other party was not and he was chased out of the room in an instant.
And just like that, Cale was back to square one. He did seek advice from others; for instance, Choi Han who insisted that he should give him some kind of a weapon to protect the prince from any impending danger. Definitely not, he has tons of it already and by now, he has a very useful weapon that’s probably irreplaceable at this point.
Rosalyn, on the other hand, suggested to knit him a scarf since autumn and winter were just right around the corner. Cale did try but knitting was to complex and time-consuming, considering that he have tons of stuff to do.
Meanwhile, Ron gave him an idea of sending some exotic teas that cannot be found near the region. Unfortunately, Alberu can easily purchase that with just a flick of his finger.
In his desperation, he even asked help from the three kids and as expected, it was for naught because the three suggested to bake him some cookies. Sweet but Cale wants to give something more than that.
And as he pondered on this deeply, probably, Bud’s idea wasn’t so bad after all. But, how would he materialize the concept of time.
Suddenly, an idea passed through him and right after, Cale let out a big sigh.
“I never thought I would be doing this…,” he berated himself.
So, weeks passed and the dreaded — no, well-celebrated event of the kingdom came. Alberu was busy with the morning and afternoon festivities that it was only during the evening that he could finally meet up with Cale.
They decided to meet at the courtyard of the palace grounds. Cale have been waiting patiently for minutes now with his hands on his pocket, seemingly making himself warm but in reality, he was fidgeting something inside of it.
Not long after, he caught sight of Alberu rushing towards him with an excited expression painted on his face.
“Why does he look so happy…,” Cale mumbled, a blush starting to peek on his cheeks.
Alberu was panting heavily when he arrived. It must have been hard to escape from the guards who were supposed to watch him.
Cale noticed that he has yet to change back into his normal everyday clothes. He assumed that the man ditched the party just to meet up with him. He bit his lips in an attempt to supress the emotions that were about to burst out.
“It’s hard to sneak out.,” Alberu laughed, recalling the numerous excuses that he had to come up with just to get out of the party. “So… what’s this ‘secret’ meeting about?”
“Well… ah—,” Cale found himself unable to utter a single word. Was it always that hard to say a birthday greeting, give a gift and be off. How did he end up like this?
Alberu tilted his head to the side, quite curious on what his dongsaeng’s up to. “Wait— are you about to prank me?!,” he teased.
Irritated by the timing of his joke, Cale hit Alberu’s shoulder lightly causing the man to yelp in pain.
“Of course not! It’s just…”
Then, he made a deep breath, “Happy Birthday and this…” Cale pulled out a stash of paper from his pocket and shoved it right at Alberu’s chest.
Alberu staggered a bit due to the unexpected force that Cale applied, luckily his hands were agile enough to grab hold of what was given to him. He checked its contents and was surprised on what he saw.
‘One hour massage’ ; ‘two hours of PURE FRIENDLY conversation’ ; ‘Ask one request’ etc. — those were all written in the paper given to him.
“What’s this?”
“Your birthday gift…”
“I meant… how do I use this?”
Cale completely forgot that romance comics does not exist in this world. To be honest, he still can’t believe that him, of all people, would use a cliché gift idea that was lifted off from a romance comic. He had to admit that this was the cheesiest thing that he has ever done for a person.
Scratching his head, he began to explain, “For example, if you want me to give you a massage, just tear the portion where ‘One hour massage’ was written and give it to me. Then, I’ll be doing that.”
Alberu sounded a big ‘Ah.’ “It’s like a ticket.,” and he smiled while holding tightly to the piece of paper.
Feeling embarrassed by what he gifted, Cale coughed and then, added, “Just to remind you, those tickets are one time use only so use it sparingly.”
“I see.,” Alberu nodded and as if Cale’s early reminder did not exist, he instantly tore a piece from the given paper.
Cale’s mouth gaped open and he looked at Alberu, mentally cursing him if he has already lost his common sense.
“What are you doing?!,” he said out loud. “I just said ‘use it sparingly’. It’s your loss if you ended up with nothing left.”
Alberu chuckled and showed the piece that he tore to Cale.
Cale’s eyes widened and a blush began to form on his cheeks. “Are you sure? There’s always next time. It’s highly suggested."
A smug look appeared on Alberu’s face. He, then, replied, “I want it now.”
And, without a moment’s hesitation, he stretched his arms wide and exclaimed, “Here!”
Cale stepped back, overwhelmed by Alberu's enthusiasm. It was now too late to replace the gift that he had given to him. He was not at all ready to suffer the repercussions of his decision.
Cale quickly glanced to his left and right, checking if there’s anyone around. And then, slowly, he approached Alberu. Step by step, he took; until, he’s inches away from him.
Alberu merely stood there, with a stretched arms and a grin on his face. With no other options left, Cale ultimately gave in and just let himself be pulled into Alberu’s embrace.
“Happy?,” Cale asked in a low voice.
Alberu squeezed Cale even tighter and replied with a big sounding, “Yes.”
Acts of Service
“Ah… This is too tiring,” Cale whined while walking through the long stretched of corridor leading to the location where the alliance meeting will be held.
“Why am I even here…,” Cale grumbled under his breath, completely accepting the fact that he might have been, once again, wrapped around in Alberu’s fingers. He promised to himself that next time he'll get back at Alberu.
He was about to head straight when someone suddenly pulled him into a corner. Quickly turning his head around, he almost gasped in surprise upon seeing the person responsible for giving him a fright this early morning.
“You—“
“Shh…,” the person hushed him upon noticing a group of guards passing by the corridor.
Cale sneak a glance at the hallway and back at the person who was tightly holding his hand. He yanked the hand away and stared daggers at him.
“What are you planning this time, hyung?”
Alberu gave a sinister smile. “Want to sneak out for a bit?”
“Ha?!,” Cale looked at him as if he was the biggest idiot he has ever seen. “The meeting’s in an hours time. Shouldn’t you be preparing for it?!”
Alberu positioned himself behind Cale’s back and gradually pushed him out of the corner. “I’ve already done the report last night. Besides, we’ll be back before the meeting starts.” He, then, showed a toothed smile and Cale could only sigh in agreement. There’s no use in arguing with this hyung of his.
“Well then, where are we going?”
Alberu grabbed Cale’s hand, again, and began dragging him outside. “Visiting my plants.”
“Pla— plants? When did you start having a garden? — You know what, never mind. I’m not asking anymore.,” Cale gave up midway for he already knew that Alberu would just give a reason that’s just utter nonsense.
He let Alberu lead the way and it did not take long for them to arrive in a small greenhouse that’s quite near the building where they will hold the meeting. Alberu excitedly pushed open the door and looked back at Cale in all smiles.
Cale was caught by surprise by the amount of plants that adorned the place. It’s quite varied: there were orchids by his side; an edible garden was set up at the very center; big horticultural greeneries dominated the left part of the greenhouse. One word to describe: Amazing. To be able to grow a variety of plant species, the magic technology placed into this must be of high quality.
His sight shifted to crown prince beside him who, since earlier, has been rambling non-stop about how this was all setup. Cale’s eyes narrowed, full of suspicion. Surely, he’s not the one taking care of all of this.
“…Isn’t this place nice?,” Alberu, finally, ended his long speech about his newly-built greenhouse
“Oh okay, that’s great…,” there was no enthusiasm in Cale’s voice.
Alberu folded his arms over his chest and shook his head sideways. “Just be a little bit excited, for me.”
Not minding the indifference that was clearly expressed in Cale’s face, Alberu brought Cale close to a small herb plant and pointed at it.
“Here, look! The nice thing about edible plants is that you can use it for cooking. This spearmint over here, can be incorporated to the cookies you eat — Mint cookies! Doesn’t it sound delicious?”
Cale focused on the plant in question. He crouched down and brought the leaves closer to better observe it. He properly checked the shape of the leaf and even brought his nose near to smell the herb.
A deep breath escaped his lips. “Hyung… to tell you the truth, this is not spearmint. It’s a peppermint.”
“Wait what?!,” Alberu, hurriedly, sat down beside Cale and inspected the herb’s leaves. Not understanding the difference, he simply muttered, “I was told this was spearmint.”
“Well, it’s a bit tricky but if you get used to it, you can easily tell the difference.,” Cale explained while he placed the herb back to its original position. “Seriously… how will you raise this if you can’t tell which is which…”
”One of the hardest part in raising herbs is that there’re more than one kind for one classification. There’s plenty of thyme, plenty of mints and how you raise and use them are different...,” Cale continued on.
Alberu propped his cheek over the palm of his hands and observed Cale intensely. There’s a part of him that wants Cale to slow down the rush of words coming out of his mouth but at the same time, he doesn’t want to because of how cute and adorable he looks when he talks passionately about plants.
Noticing the piercing gaze directed at him, Cale stopped and gave a big frown. “What?”
“Nothing… it’s just… how did you know all of this?”
Cale stared back at the peppermint that they were talking about earlier, his expression becoming unreadable. “Someone I know asked me to build a garden for him. If I’m gonna take on that task then I might as well be knowledgeable about it or else those plants would die on me.”
Quite responsible and heroic, Alberu would applaud Cale on that. But for some reason, there’s a slight twinge in his heart knowing that Cale was doing this for the sake of someone else.
“When will you build that garden?,” Alberu asked.
“After all of this! After I finally get out of this damn situation!”
Laughing, Alberu suggested. “Want me to help you?”
This time it was Cale’s turn to laugh. “How can you help me when you’re such a big newbie? I’m afraid even seedlings won’t survive if you’re the ones taking care of it.”
Alberu was not offended at the slightest. He was aware that he needs to study up on gardening 101 plus if he wants to one up Cale, then he should add in his study sessions, agriculture 101. That would take a lot of time and effort for a busy crown prince.
Nevertheless, he was amused by the thought of setting up another greenhouse or even farm with this dongsaeng of his.
He enthusiastically declared, “Then, I’ll study hard.”
A soft smile appeared on his lips.
“…for you.,” he added after a few seconds.
Cale was slightly taken aback. He turned his gaze away from Alberu, dumbstruck on what reaction he should show. However no matter how much he tries to hide it, the red blush forming on his neck and ears gave his feelings away.
Alberu smiled even more. He placed his hand over the top of Cale’s head and started ruffling it. “Why do I have such a cute dongsaeng!”
“Ah— stop!,” Cale struggled under Alberu’s hold as he used all of his strength to push Alberu away.
Laughter filled the greenhouse and as Alberu basked into the present situation, he could not help but get excited on the future that he promised with Cale.
Physical Touch
The first time they met was also the first time they touched. It may look like a simple handshake on the outside but considering what was going through the heads of the involved parties during that time — it might not be so innocent at all. For one, both of them have no intentions of getting close with one other. Even Cale blurted out a praise that’s so fake and most likely lifted off from a loud-mouthed noble.
Nevertheless, fate played around with their lives. It was days after when they found themselves in the arms of each other, not a romantic kind of way, not even a friendly kind of way. Despite the not-so-good intention behind that hug, at that moment, it was through that touch that they learned to understand each other way better than the previous time.
Little by little, the distance between them started to shrink. Sometimes, Alberu would pat and ruffle Cale’s hair as a way to tease him (or as a way to acknowledge his adoration towards him). Then, right after, an annoyed Cale would appear and start reprimanding Alberu about it. Even though, Cale shows irritation towards the action, deep inside he was pleased.
A pat in the head, simple as it may seem, have a huge impact on him. It was soothing, calming — and a good way to cheer him up. Cale scolded himself for being such an easy person.
There were even several moments when Alberu becomes bold enough to have a physical contact with him to the point that in the face of a large crowd, he would sneakily hold his hand. Just like that one particular lunch meeting with Alberu’s advisors. For whatever reason, Cale was dragged into this kind of unnecessary gathering.
He was seated beside the prince and unexpectedly felt that their hands were inches — no, centimeters, away from each other. Pinky fingers almost touching. He held his breath. It was kind of stupid for him to have his heart pounding.
As Cale steadied his composure, he did not expect that Alberu would reach out and grab his hand. What an insane man. Cale almost yelped out loud; fortunately, he prevented himself in doing so.
Just because their hands cannot be seen does not give him the right to do that. Cale glared at the man beside him and decided that later he’ll demand an explanation and hit the back of Alberu’s head the best that he could.
The later did came, the explanation was heard but no hitting at the back of the head happened, only blushing. Because that afternoon, with all the advisors and nobles gone, Alberu confessed his feelings wholeheartedly to the unsuspecting dongsaeng of his.
At that particular moment, their hands intertwined. Alberu’s other hand was on Cale’s cheeks, gently, carefully, caressing it. This touch was different — very different from the first time they made contact, the hug that they made in the plaza, the simple pat in his head and shoulder. It was a new kind of sensation and he loved it.
From then on, Alberu’s touch became special. It became the most natural thing in Cale’s life. Sometimes Alberu’s touch was gentle, sometimes it’s intense, sometimes it’s rough. The friendly cuddling, the romantic embrace, the intense love making sessions — everything was important to him.
Cale assumed that the hand holding they did when Alberu first confessed was the most special out of all the physical contact that he gave but he proved him wrong. It was that hand that placed a ring on his finger during the quietest of the night, inside the crown prince chamber, that became his most favorite.