Dokja groaned as he turned over his body. Suddenly, he felt something constricting his waist. He grunted and tried wriggling away, but its grip tightened. His whole body was being pulled against something his cheek smushed up against what he thought was a brick wall. Upon opening his eyes, all he saw were some muscular pecs. He then looked up to look to see...Joonghyuk.
…Right, the memories were coming back to him now. Last night Yoo Joonghyuk didn't stop at just two glasses of beer. Ilhun and the other villagers kept refilling his glass and he never opposed, downing whatever was given to him like a robot. No matter how high his tolerance may have been, drinking so much alcohol on an empty stomach never boded anyone well.
At the end of the feast, it was left up to Dokja to haul him back to their shared bedroom, the man not helping as his legs had practically refused to work. He dumped the prince on the bed with all the grace of a rampaging bull before falling face first onto the sheets and knocking out himself.
Dokja tried to pull away from Joonghyuk's body, bracing both hands on his chest to push him away. But Joonghyuk only tightened his hold around him. He was close enough to smell the soap the prince had used from yesterday's shower wafting from his body. Looking upon the man's softened face as he quietly breathed out, Dokja couldn't help but stare at him.
'He looks like a puppy when sleeping.' Dokja was starting to hate the author who made Joonghyuk infuriatingly perfect, physically at least.
As soon as Dokja heard Joonghyuk start to stir from his sleep, he removed his hands from the prince's chest and closed his eyes to pretend to be asleep, burrowing himself deeper into the covers. The prince groaned out, perhaps feeling the effects of his hangover right now. Though, only one arm was removed from around his waist. The other remained steadfast in its position even as Joonghyuk adjusted himself on the bed.
After that, there was no more movement. All Dokja could sense was Joonghyuk's heavy stare on him. He had no idea what to do, so he just tried keeping his breathing steady and continued pretending to sleep.
After another minute or so, the stare finally left his body, but not before the hand his waist tightened its grip and a hand brushed against his face to tuck some of his hair behind his ear. The sheets rustled as Joonghyuk got off the bed, letting out a quiet sigh as he stretched out his muscles. His feet softly padded against the floor as he left the room to get ready for the day.
As soon as the door clicked close, Dokja's eyes shot open. He had no idea what just happened, left to deal with the uncomfortable beating of his heart alone.
------
"Oh! Good morning Guwon! How was your sleep?" Ilhun brightly greeted him as he stepped into the living room.
"Good morning, the room was fine, thank you." Dokja responded quietly, warily eyeing the room for any signs of Joonghyuk. Sighing when he didn't see any, he observed Ilhun cleaning a sword. "Are you going to hunt again?"
Ilhun nodded, "Yes…it's hunting season so everyone will be a bit busier these days, we may ask for you or Joonghyun for your assistance with some of the tasks, we hope you don't mind" Dokja only nodded. Ilhun, reading his mind, added, "Joonghyun is in the kitchen if you were looking for him, by the way."
"Ah, thank you," he replied. Making his way into the kitchen, Joonghyuk was preparing something over the stove.Omurice, Dokja noted with delight."Wow~, so kind of you to cook for me," Dokja said, making his presence known. Joonghyuk glared at him, making him grin even wider.
"Who said I was preparing it for you?"
Dokja sat down at the countertop and looked at him dryly, giving a pointed glance at the other plate of omurice set aside on the countertop.The prince just tsked and went back to his cooking, letting Dokja watch him all the while. Though, it was hard not to just grab the plate and eat it then and there, the aroma coming from the kitchen was heavenly, and watching Joonghyuk cook the eggs to fluffy perfection wasn't helping all that much either. As he was finishing, he spoke up again.
"That man asked me to go hunt with the villagers, so I accepted."
Dokja frowned at him, "Really? You didn't seem too keen on getting along with them yesterday, why the change of heart?" Joonghyuk laid the perfectly cooked egg on top of a bed of steaming rice then responded.
"We need to check if the royal guards are really searching for us," he explained as he handed the plate to him.
"We didn't encounter them the entire time we were stuck in the forest, why would it matter now?" Dokja asked as he accepted the plate, the two moved to sit at the small dining table.
"That guy, Minseob, said that there's a rumor about you pushing me off a cliff and running away." Joonghyuk remarked, "Don't you think that's strange?" He added, eating a spoon full of omurice. Dokja hummed in agreement,
"I had my suspicions about it, but are you really saying what I think you're going to…?"
"… only the assassins knew that we fell off the cliff. Whoever sent them has enough power to twist the truth to make you the criminal here and spread that lie throughout the capital." Joonghyuk turned his attention to his own food and ate silently.
Dokja had also been pondering that idea when they arrived in the village. Everything about it seemed so dubious.His mind went back to the bag that Biyoo, Popo, and Griffin had found for him. Currently, it was stashed away between the bed's mattresses.
"You already have someone in mind, don't you?" After saying that, Joonghyuk immediately stopped eating and remained silent. "Who is it?"
"…it's the Archduke" Dokja raised an eyebrow as Joonghyuk leaned against the chair, crossing his arms over his chest, saying, "He's my stepmother's father, so they have a mutual hatred for me. They want to kill me so that her son could have a claim over the throne. When they heard you were there, they probably saw it as a good opportunity to use you as a scapegoat."
Dokja went silent once more, the once delicious meal before him now tasted like ash on his tongue. He rubbed his fingers against his temple and heaved a sigh.
"What a headache, this is going to be hell to deal with once we get back."
"Agreed."
After they finished eating the rest of their meal in silence, Dokja went to wash the dishes, with Joonghyuk helping him carry the dishes over and wiping down the counters.
"Kim Dokja."He hummed, letting Joonghyuk know he had his attention."Our conversation yesterday… I'm sorry for my brashness, I'll be more careful next time it happens," He stated lowly, putting the dishes in the sink and then leaving to go shower, not pausing for a moment to look at Kim Dokja.
Blinking dumbly, Dokja could only stare after the man, thrown off by his sudden apology. The sound of running water shook Dokja from his daze, making him slowly return to scrubbing the plates and spoons. Contemplating
Joonghyuk's apology, he huffed out in amazement. The prince had all the mannerisms of a man who had never been made to utter that phrase in his life. Dokja shook his head and internally groaned, knowing that he, being the fool he was, had already forgiven the bastard as soon as he called out his name in that contrite tone of his.
Though, he paused for a moment.
What exactly did Joonghyuk mean by 'next time?'
----
When Joonghyuk finished washing himself, he emerged from the bathroom wearing only a simple shirt and pants (both black, of course). Dokja saw that his hair was still dripping with water. He sighed and walked over to him."You're not a little child anymore, Yoo Joonghyun, you should know to not leave your hair all wet, you'll catch a cold!"
Dokja lightly chastised him, grabbing the towel around his shoulders and making the tall man lean over so that he could reach his hair to wipe it dry for him. After making sure to catch as much of the water droplets as he could while wiping his hair, Dokja took a step back."Done" he noted as he looked at his handy work. Joonghyuk's signature fluffy hair had regained its style. It was only after a pause that Dokja noticed the prince staring at him with a strange expression on his face.
"Ehem," they both turned to face Ilhun, an awkward smile on his face as he shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "I'm sorry to interrupt... whatever that was, but Joonghyun, we need to go. The hunters are preparing to head out now."
He nodded. "Let's go." Ilhun was the first one to leave the house.When Joonghyuk turned to gaze at Dokja right as he was about to step out the door.
"Wait for me to come back home."
Dokja blinked at him, confused, "Of course I will, it's not like I can go anywhere else right?" With a satisfied nod,Joonghyuk jogged to catch up with Ilhun.
Right after the two left, Dokja set his mind to thoroughly cleaning the entire house. It was one of the only things he could do there, not to mention he wanted to pay back Ilhun for allowing them to stay in his home. That alone took him half of the day. With the house sparkling clean by the time he was finished, he rewarded himself with a long hot bath to rest his muscles. Afterward, he left the house, eager to see if he could find a library.
After wandering around the village for a while and encountering the villagers, he got the courage to approach some of them to ask for directions, to which they kindly obliged. Arriving at his destination, he walked through the door and was immediately basked in the familiar smell of aged leather and worn pages.
He took his time surfing through all the shelves, making sure to scan every interesting novel he came across. Unfortunately, the library was small, so there weren't any seating areas for him to relax in. Not wanting to intrude for too long, he grabbed as many books as he could carry and checked them out at the front counter.
The old woman running the library was all too happy to see someone so eager to read. While signing out his books, she told him that with the village so busy maintaining itself, people rarely had the time or interest in reading. The lady sent him off with a pinch to the cheek and a handful of candy.
Dokja was practically skipping home, his heart full from finally getting his hands on his beloved novels and his talk from the nice old woman. But of course, his luck never lasted for long. As he was exiting the busier part of the town, he spotted armor-clad knights questioning villagers passing by.
Slowing his pace, Dokja stared closer at them, only to recoil back as he spotted the insignia of the royal palace on their armor. Panicking at what to do, he stacked the books in his arms to cover his face and tried shrinking in on himself, hoping to pass by unnoticed.
"Hey, you!" one of the royal guards called out, marching closer to him, the imposing clang of his armor emphasizing each step he took. Dokja's feet were rooted to the ground and his entire body tensed up. He could hear his heartbeat ringing in his ears. The guard bent down before him.
"Here, one of your books fell down," he pointed out, picking it up for him and putting it on the stack in his arms.
Dokja hadn't even noticed.
Still trying to obscure his face as much as he could, Dokja cowered behind his books. After he bowed and said his thanks to the knight, he walked away extremely normally, definitely not attracting any undue attention to himself.
Dokja arrived home on wobbly legs and as soon as he passed the entrance to the door, he dropped all his books and slammed the door shut, making sure to lock the door and close all the curtains in the room. Sliding down to the floor in sheer relief that he wasn't caught, he put his head between his knees and closed his eyes.