Dokja leaned over to murmur to Joonghyuk, "This wasn't even in our plan…" and looked at him accusingly from where he sat in Joonghyuk's lap, still unable to comprehend what Joonghyuk done earlier.
Joonghyuk scowled at him, leaned in a little into his ear, "I told you that we should stick together…" Dokja could feel his hot breath brushing against his ear.
"Still…" he murmured, unsure as he looked down.
"This was the best outcome," Joonghyuk stated as he gripped Dokja's hand, "You are my date, so you are under my care."
At that Dokja's heart did a particularly strange leap, he could hear the audible thump against his ribs. He turned his head away, his bottom lip jutting out, "…sly bastard…" he muttered under his breath, a slight warmth heating up his face.
"Kim Dokja?" The prince called out, putting a gentle palm on his forehead, he looked at him with skepticism, asking, "Your face is red, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing, don't worry about me…"
While they were talking, both were unaware that they were being closely watched by Sooyoung, Sangah, and Jiwon.They were standing near the buffet, each with a wine glass in hand, staring at the way the crown prince seemed to dote on Dokja.
"Are we sure they're just exes?" Lady Jiwon whispered to the other two dubiously.
Taking a big swig of her wine and grabbing another glass from a passing servant, Sooyoung sighed out, "I'm betting their either back together or the rat's just lying about being exes, but who knows, maybe they're just being dumbasses." She turned away, wanting no more exposure to the two of them.
Sangah responded with a sympathetic smile, "Maybe we should help them get together."
"Why? So we can keep watching them act like lovesick teenagers around each other? I'll pass" Sooyoung sneered.As if to emphasize her point, Dokja took a piece of cake from the table, extending a forkful of it to Joonghyuk. Even before gossip of the two had spread amongst the nobles, everyone had known that the prince was particularly picky about the food he was fed. But they had concluded that it was from being spoiled rotten by the chefs of the royal palace, after all, it was far from strange for nobles to have high tastes.
Unbeknownst to them, after the king had disowned Yoo Joonghyuk and Yoo Mia, even the servants and maids began to skimp on their services to them. The chefs often put undercooked or even spoiled food into their already subpar dishes, feeding the two scraps when they didn't want to cook full meals. Not wanting Yoo Mia's health to suffer from the treatment, and wary of being poisoned with his stepmother breathing down his back, Yoo Joonghyuk took the initiative to learn cooking.
After Joonghyuk started visiting the Underworld Ducal, the knights and servants that caught sight of the meals the prince prepared started telling everyone about how exquisite they looked, making everyone aware of just how capable of a cook he was. Rather than being the spoiled prince they'd previously thought before, the nobles now knew that the prince simply had a high preference for his own food and was skilled enough to provide for himself.
Though, it's also because of these newfound discoveries that the room stared in disbelief as Yoo Joonghyuk accepted the forkful of cake Sir Dokja had offered him. A week's worth of the nobility psychoanalyzing the crown prince's pickiness for food, now gone down the drain as he casually ate it.
"What kind of dog shit is this?!" Sooyoung hissed in disbelief as she watched Dokja wipe Joonghyuk's mouth with his handkerchief. Even the emperor, queen, and the second prince were staring at them with eyebrows raised.
The two seemed like they were in their own little world. While Dokja had proposed doing it to put on a show for the nobles, he remained unaware of the exasperated but fond smile he gave the prince while doing so. For Yoo Joonghyuk, if he could continue to stare at his Dokja's star filled eyes and bright smile, he didn't mind putting up with second-rate cake.
The ghost of a smile that graced the crown prince's lap almost made the room's occupants faint. It was already obvious how handsome the prince was, but the amount of power that his smile held was overwhelming. Everyone had thought he was incapable of smiling, but now he showed it so willingly to Kim Dokja.
Han Sooyoung suddenly turned around and started storming away, yelling, "I'm done, they're disgusting." On her way out, she grabbed a few handfuls of desserts to eat later, a reward for herself for putting up with her friend's behavior with the crown prince.
Sangah sighed and gave an apologetic smile to Lady Jiwon, "Ah, please excuse me, I think I'll go accompany her."
Jiwon nodded encouragingly at her, "It's alright, follow your heart Lady Sangha", she flashed a big smile in her direction.
The saintess's eyes widened a fraction, but then she also broke out into a warm smile, "I will," she promised, and then took off to search for Sooyoung in the royal garden.
Lady Jiwon's eyes trailed after Sangha for a bit before turning to look back at Sir Dokja and Prince Joonghyuk. With a content smile and a hopeful sigh from her lips, she mused to herself.
"Haah, to be in love..." she breathed out.
------
As the orchestra began to play their repertoire , the aristocrats started migrating to the center of the room, hand in hand with their partners as they began their dances. Noticing Dokja staring on in rapt interest at them, Yoo Joonghyuk decided to indulge his partner for that moment, getting up and dragging Dokja behind him to the dance floor. If he'd almost unceremoniously dropped Dokja to the floor in his own eagerness, no one would bring it up.
Dokja stumbled behind him, trying to get his attention, "Oi, sunfish bastard, warn me before you do that! Where are we going anyways?" he hissed out.
Joonghyuk, looking straight ahead, answered simply, "Dancing."
"Eh?", Dokja tried pulling away his hand, but it was useless, he would've had a better chance at biting his hand off than escaping the prince's grip, "I don't think I know how to dance though…"
It was that sentence that got Joonghyuk scowl back at him, "You did with Lady Jiwon just fine before, didn't you?"
"Well…" Dokja tried to come up with any excuse he could, but as they arrived at the dance floor his head was still scrambling.
"You'll be fine," the prince told him. The guests around them parted to let them pass through. Soon they stood at the very center, all eyes looking eagerly at them.
While pretending to act like Joonghyuk's ex-lover was just a fun act, something like dancing required actual skill, one that Dokja wasn't exactly confident to display in a royal banquet. The last time he'd done it was out of pure instinct, but this time he didn't want to test his body again when the stakes were so high.
"I don't think this is a good idea." He muttered out, glancing around nervously at the nobles around them.
Joonghyuk, wrapping his left hand around Dokja's waist, put a finger under his chin and made Dokja face him directly."Kim Dokja, just focus on me."
He guided Dokja to put his right hand on Joonghyuk's shoulder, their other hands clasped together. When the music started, they moved slowly, Joonghyuk subtly guiding him through the steps that he fumbled on. At first, Dokja's attention had all been poured onto the movement of his legs and feet, following the prince's practiced strides and making sure not to step on his toes. With each step, it felt like everything around them was melting away, leaving only Joonghyuk as the lead and Dokja as the desperate follower, struggling to keep up.
But after the two men had made their way around the floor, repeating the same steps over and over again, Dokja had started getting some of his confidence back. Sure that he had the basic movements and steps down on lock, his motions became swifter and more assured as he kept up with the prince.
No longer nervous enough to constantly monitor the position of his legs at all times, he glanced up to face the prince properly. To his surprise though, he was met with an intense stare, Joonghyuk unblinking as he stared down at him.
Taking the prince's indescribably stare as a challenge to keep up with his dance, Dokja smirked at him, and ramped up his strides.
A high note from the orchestra signaled Joonghyuk let go of Dokja's waist, bringing his arm up to guide the man into a spin.
Each step and turn matched the syncopations of the instruments playing behind them; their breaths aligned with one another's. While the music had set the rhythm of their dance, their fluttering heartbeats were the ones truly controlling their bodies, as the pounding against their rib cages urged the two of them to hold each other closer.
Joonghyuk couldn't take his eyes off the man in front of him. Years of clashing swords against knights and nobles alike held no candle against the thrill that he felt in this moment. Dokja in his white suit was like a deity who descended to Earth, blinding everyone who dared even to try to take in his beauty. The only thing that shone brighter were his eyes, the ethereal speckles of light in them sparkling as if to reflect the heavens that the man in front of him had come from. The mischievous flash of teeth that man showed him betrayed his saintly form as he pulled the man into a sudden spin, his laughter ringing out like church bells across the breeze.
Then, as the dance came to a close, Joonghyuk's hand came up to Dokja's back, supporting the other man as he lowered Dokja into a dip, their faces mere inches apart. Both let out puffs of breath, their bodies overloaded with exhilaration. As their breaths mingled together between them, they could only stare at each other, losing themselves in their bubble.
It was only the faint applause around them that pulled the two men away from each other, the claps getting louder as they returned to reality. The audience around them were captivated with their performance, seeing how the hatred that brewed between the men for years on end gave way to a breathtaking waltz before their very eyes, the two looking enamored with each other.
When Dokja was about to pull away from him to bow to the audience an arrow struck on the side of Joonghyuk's arm, blood instantly staining his suit. Joonghyuk had fallen over from surprise, but he was quickly caught by Dokja, who was luckily still near.
"Joonghyuk!" Dokja yelled as he looked at the man in his arms, getting uncomfortable flashbacks to the assassin attack in the forest. Around him Dokja spotted the irregular movement of the shadows being cast onto the ground, and only then did he look up to see assailants clad in black descending from the ceiling and drawing their swords.
At that moment royal guards rushed from where they were stationed around the room, pulling their swords out and one of them yelled out, "Protect the royal family!" as they surrounded the emperor, the queen, and the second prince.
Hyunsung and some of the guards under Joonghyuk's authority immediately started to surround both of them too.The attackers began their assault, and everyone could hear the clashing of swords and the yells of panic as nobles desperately tried running from the hall. However, in their rush to run out, the guests had made a minor stampede, blocking the exit as some tried desperately to run or even grab others to escape themselves.
This only made them an easier target for the attackers, with Dokja able to see blood splattering from the crowd. It made rivers on the floor from where he held Joonghyuk in his arms, behind the protective shield of knights that were fending off the assailants for them.
"Sir Dokja, Your Highness... please follow us…!" Knight Hyunsung ushered the two men up as the royal guards tried to protect them as they guided the men towards the exit.
Soon the entire banquet hall turned into a blood path. Several dead and beheaded, while others left mercilessly disfigured.
But it ended as soon as it started. Seemingly satisfied with their work, the assassins started making their escape from the palace, with the royal guards following in pursuit. The assassins grabbed a circular object and threw it at the royal guards. Instantly the ball started to glow and copious amounts of smoke started pouring from it, obscuring the assailants as they fled into the forest surrounding the castle.
------
Joonghyuk sat on the edge of his bed as Dokja headed to the bathroom to retrieve a towel and a pail of water to wipe the wound on his arm. Setting down the supplies with a firm thump on the nightstand, Dokja took a seat next to the prince on the bed.
"Take off your shirt," Dokja ordered.
Joonghyuk stared at him before pulling off his clothes, letting Dokja start cleaning his wound. To say the scene playing before him didn't stir up heated emotions in his gut would be a lie. Kim Dokja so expectantly commanding him to take off his clothes did something to him, something he thought shouldn't be delved into right now. Though, it didn't help that they were in the very same room where that fateful night between them had happened.
He regretted the way he approached Dokja that night, when he was still torn between his devastation at Lee Seolhwa's poisoning yet having to face the prospect that there was tangible proof that the man before him had truly changed for the better, into something mysteriously captivating. There was no excuse for it.
But even with the regrets he held from that night, Joonghyuk always found his mind drifting back to it, and the lovely image that Doka made. During that time, it had been him who had pushed Dokja to sleep with him. However, what if it had been Dokja pushing him down onto his own bed, if it had been Dokja who had rode him until he was spent dry, begging Dokja to stop…
Taking Joonghyuk's burning gaze on him into stride, Dokja worked in silence, diligently wiping off any blood and dirt he could find; he wasn't as skilled at it as Lady Seolhwa, but at the very least he could handle basic first aid.
Inspecting the puncture in the skin to see if there was any spot, he missed, Dokja deemed it safe to move on to the next step.
As thorough as he wanted to be in this procedure, Dokja also wanted to move along swiftly, wary of any airborne bacteria getting into the wound and infecting it. He moved to bind the wound, securing the bandage tightly enough that it wouldn't slip from the prince's arm but not so tight that it cut off circulation. Getting Joonghyuk's confirmation that the wrapping felt fine, he started cleaning up the medical supplies when the bedroom door opened rather unexpectedly. Hyunsung made his way over to the two while donning a blood-covered armor. Hyunsung bowed to both of them respectfully.
"What happened to the assassins?" Joonghyuk asked him.
Hyunsung hung his head guiltily, a frown overtaking his face, "Unfortunately, the assassins escaped. The number of nobles that are either dead or gravely injured is considerable, to say the least. Though almost none of the knights or royal family have sustained any major injury," he reported somberly.
Dokja and Joonghyuk exchanged glances before turning to him and asking, "Any info about who sent them in the first place? Dokja inquired apprehensively.
Hyunsung shook his head, "I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid that not a trace of them has been left behind to look into further.The royal officials plan on opening an investigation, but there's very little to go off on. That's all the information I have to report for now, please excuse me," Hyunsung said and bowed before turning to exit the room, the door closing behind him with a click.
Dokja aimed an unusually cheerful smile at Joonghyuk. "Looks like they have no idea, Your Highness."
Joonghyuk grunted in satisfaction, leaning forward until his head rested on Dokja's lap. Dokja softly snorted at his childishness as he began playing around with the prince's hair, twisting the strands that came down over his eyes around his finger. They both basked in each other's company, savoring the secret that only the two of them would know.