"what happened between you and wooyoung?" seonghwa asked when he and the prince was sitting on the training grounds, having just finished a duel and san seemed extra jumpy and vicious these few days. he just duelled whenever he could, not giving a crap if cramps were starting to get the best of him or when he had a searing headache from the abnormally bright sun on a november afternoon. it wasn't until seonghwa stopped them from duelling any further that the two finally sat down and rested.
san rolled his eyes, "do we have to talk about him?"
seonghwa was really confused now. at first, he thought it might just be some playful banter between the two. he's seen how san acted around wooyoung; it was almost like the two had known each other for their entire life. so it was safe to say that this wasn't what seonghwa expected. he expected a chuckle and san telling him that it was all just a joke, that he was just faking his sulk right now.
"san, did something serious happen?" seonghwa continued to press on, knowing that san will only feel better after he ranted at the older. seonghwa always acted as a shoulder to cry on for literally anyone, including maids and cooks in this castle. he was like the mother most of the people didn't have one in the castle, and therefore he was widely popular within the staffs of the castle. but, of course, his top priorities were still hongjoong and san, san a little bit above hongjoong because san needed more guidance and reassurance but seonghwa will never tell hongjoong that.
san sighed, head dropping to the space between his knees as he uttered, "wooyoung and i are soulmates. he saw our red string of fate probably since the day he arrived at the castle and yet, he didn't say a single thing to me. i told him a few days ago that i asked the moon goddess herself and he—he just freaked out! told me shit about how we're not supposed to be soulmates and that moon dusts weren't supposed to have soulmates at the first place! it's just — hyung, why couldn't he see that i only ever want him? that i only ever want him to be by my side, in my arms, in my heart? why—why..."
san broke down into tears, the tears falling down uncontrollably onto the grass as san sobbed and sobbed. seonghwa sighed softly, glad to hear that san was letting his feelings out but sad that san was suffering so much because of it. he slowly guided the younger's head onto his shoulder and allowed the prince to cry there. he also wrapped his arm around san's shoulder, tugging him closer so that the two of them wouldn't get cold with the november near december air.
san calmed down after a while, his sniffles reducing to soft catching of breaths and his eyes now dried of tears. seonghwa turned to him, asking questions since san was in the right mindset to answer them now. "you talked to him about it. what did he say afterwards?"
"that he needs time." san replied truthfully. he scoffed, memories of that night flashing in his mind, "should i have just told him to take all the time he needs? but it really sounds stupid, given that he knew about this before i did. so why does he need time at all, hyung, why? why can't he just accept that i'm his soulmate and we'll probably have no right to say no to it?"
seonghwa smiled, patting the prince's head fondly, "like you said, he said that moon dusts aren't supposed to have soulmates. he's probably still wrapping his mind around the fact that not only does he have a soulmate now, the said soulmate is you as well. i'm sure it's a lot to take in. as in why he didn't tell you sooner, he's probably afraid of how you'll react, or more importantly, how your father might react if he told you this piece of information. you know how your father's like, and i understand where wooyoung's coming from. yes, it is wrong to keep this information from you, but keep in mind that he's just a village boy. he doesn't get protection like you do. he's probably scared for himself just being here for so long."
san didn't say anything, so seonghwa continued talking, "just talk to wooyoung whenever you have the time to. he's a good kid, i can tell, but he's still just a boy. he might be almost the same age as you, but he grew up in a different environment. and i just know wooyoung wouldn't have lied if he didn't need to, considering the lie he told is possible to get his head chopped off. so, just talk to him, yeah?"
"talk to who?" a new voice intruded the duo's calm conversation. the two looked up and all of seonghwa's worries seemed to fade away when he saw his lover standing in front of him. "hey baby." seonghwa smiled, opening his arms to allow hongjoong to fall onto them.
san smiled at the couple. they really made san believe that love was possible. that no matter what happened, love would conquer all. that if anything happened, these two would be there for each other and for him, too, which san really appreciates.
"what are you doing here? i thought you were training." seonghwa noted, kissing hongjoong's temple firmly. hongjoong hummed, a smile present on his face as well, "was training with wooyoung. he's just somewhere around here. i could yell for him to come to us?"
seonghwa looked at san, who was already staring at the younger at the stables. wooyoung was talking to one of the stable boys, the two laughing at something wooyoung said. wooyoung seemed to be quite close to the stable boy, which made something burn in san's stomach. fuck, he knew he shouldn't be feeling jealous — him and wooyoung were nothing after all — but seeing his crush, no, soulmate talking to someone else instead of him made his insides burn.
"i'll go." san said through gritted teeth. seonghwa caught his arm before san fully strode away, the younger's eyes softening when he saw seonghwa's concerned look, "don't make him more scared than he already is."
as san walked away, he heard hongjoong asking seonghwa what's going on between the two of them, but seonghwa knew better than to tell hongjoong san's story without san being there, and san really, really appreciated his hyung for doing that. san walked over to where wooyoung was and when the younger saw him, his eyes widened. san didn't know if it was out of fear for the need to actually talk to him now or just, y'know, whatever, the jealousy game san had within him, but san didn't slow down at all. if anything, he quickened his pace so that he could be there before wooyoung managed to slip away from him.
the stable boy saw san and immediately bowed, scrambling to get back to his work and left wooyoung standing next to a horse, alone. san finally got in front of wooyoung and raised an eyebrow, "have i given enough time for you yet?"
stupid question, if you're asking san. even he knew it was a stupid question. but he didn't regret it. not when he saw a blush rising up onto wooyoung's cheeks.
"well, yeah." wooyoung replied, not meeting san's gaze at all, "it has been a few days."
san placed two fingers underneath wooyoung's chin and lifted his face up to look at him, "and your decision is?"
wooyoung opened and closed his mouth, seemingly trying to find something to say to san. there was something that the younger was hiding from him, he knew it, he just didn't know what it was nor why wooyoung was still hiding it from him.
"c-can we talk about this another day?" wooyoung asked instead, his voice soft as feather. when san was about to ask why, he shushed the prince and said quickly, "it's my birthday today."
san's eyes widened. he never knew it was wooyoung's birthday. well, you have to give him the benefit of doubt since he did just meet wooyoung a month ago, but the younger did mention that his birthday was in a few weeks when they first met. of course, it was wooyoung's birthday.
"happy birthday, cinnamon." san whispered, a small smile slowly creeping its way up wooyoung's lips, making the older male smile softly as well, "happy 19th?"
wooyoung chuckled, nodding, "yeah, happy 19th. now, are you just going to stand there or are you going to bring me to the kitchen where i happen to know that a few tarts and cakes might be lying around."
san wouldn't be honest if he said he wasn't disappointed in how quickly the conversation was dropped. he really wanted to talk about the whole soulmate, red thread thing, but seeing that it was wooyoung's birthday and that he really missed how bubbly and happy the younger was all the days before his big reveal, he decided to let it slide.
"okay," san said, kissing wooyoung's forehead and held wooyoung's hand tightly, "follow me."
—
a/n: ending is kinda awkward but it's ok. next chapter literally one of my favs n it doesn't even focus on woosan
