a horn blared through the peaceful morning, alarming both the castle and the people within the kingdom. those who had heard of the horn before were terrified, while the others were just confused.
san woke up instantly upon hearing the horn, waking the younger boy that was sleeping in his arms, "hm, sannie, sleep for a lil' longer..."
san smiled towards wooyoung and placed a quick kiss on his boyfriend's — huh, it has a nice ring to it — forehead. "i'll just go check out what's wrong, then i'll be back. is that good, cinnamon?"
wooyoung didn't reply and only turned to the other side, san cooing at how adorable wooyoung was in the morning. not that wooyoung wasn't adorable during any other time of the day, of course.
san got dressed simply and went down the halls of the castle, speeding up once he heard the chatter, or more like the arguments behind the closed doors of the strategy room. this wasn't going to sound good, he already knew it.
once san got into the room, it went dead quiet with jongho looking at him with eyes wide open. all the others seemed to look at him with expectations and hope, but jongho looked at him differently. it was like jongho was warning san against this, that he shouldn't get himself into this. it wasn't like he had a choice, though. san was the crown prince; he had to join the war.
"son, i'm glad you could join us." his father said sternly, his voice grim and a bit shakier than usual. something bad must've happened near the west borders, san thought.
"there was an attack at the south-west region of the kingdom. the park gang is going for our water source. next thing we know, they're going to cut off our food source from other kingdoms as well as our own farms!" the old advisor exclaimed, "we need to start the war with him, your majesty. if we don't do it now, the only people that will suffer is our own!"
"calm down, yoon ssi," jongho replied calmly, "all we have to do is plan out an ambush of sorts to scare them, to let them know that we are not a kingdom they can mess with. do you agree, your highness?"
san nodded, locking eyes with the old advisor and then with his father, "i agree with jongho, father. there is no reason for us to start a war now — that will only make us look weak, like we couldn't do anything but start a meaningless war that would only harm our people. we need to ambush them. we need to show them that we do not cower from challenges. plus, that's probably the only way where we could prevent as much civilian death as we could."
the king started to nod, the old advisor looking frantically at other advisors to see if anyone would support his cause. although the advisor had been by the king's side for many years now, no one would defy the king's decision even if the advisor had his own reasons.
"prepare an ambush, we will strike in two weeks' time. jongho and san, you two should be leading the soldiers. they would want to hear from their very own prince and first cousin. i believe in you two, that you will lead our soldiers to glory. so, put on your gear and we shall begin strategising this instant." the king announced, everyone springing to action after he said so.
as everyone was pouring out of the meeting room, jongho pulled san aside, "you might want to talk to wooyoung ssi about this."
san frowned, "what is there to talk about? it's my fate, jongho, i can't do anything about it. wooyoung can't do anything about it, either."
"you know he'd want to fight alongside with you. but he couldn't be in your quadrant unless he's trained enough. you know that, hyung. ask hongjoong hyung to train him so that he could use his powers to the best of his abilities, so that he could join your quadrant and so that even when he have to fight, he'll be with you in every step." jongho stopped for a quick breath, "you wouldn't want to let him out of your sight either, would you, hyung?"
san shook his head. jongho smiled, patting san on the shoulder, "don't be like me. keep your eyes on him and don't let him get hurt like i did."
san smiled softly, swinging his arm around jongho's shoulders, "don't be silly. it wasn't your fault you had to do that. plus, i see you looking out at the village pretty often. you know that he's wooyoung's best friend, right?"
jongho's eyes widened, "wait, what?"
"yeah," san hummed, "you could see him again. would you want that?"
jongho went quiet for a while, contemplating the choices he had on the table. of course, he'd want to see his soulmate again, but would his soulmate want to? would his soulmate want to even hear his voice again after what happened to them so many years ago?
jongho had longed for nothing more than the touch and voice and laughter of his soulmate for five years, hoping that one day, he'd see him again and that maybe, just maybe, his soulmate missed him too.
but jongho wouldn't blame his soulmate if he didn't want to seem him again. something big happened all those years ago and that day still haunted jongho's dreams to this very day. he would wake up with a thin sheet of sweat covering him, chest heaving up and down as he felt tears streaming down his eyes. it was five years ago. get a grip, jongho, he'd always tell himself, but he never seemed to forget his love and attraction to the seemingly cold person.
he was the first one he ever opened up to. the first one that knew his true feelings and knew how to deal with the anxiety attacks and quick, short breaths. jongho was always there when he needed him, always next to him when the attacks started.
but jongho wasn't there the one time he needed him the most. jongho was off somewhere, doing his duty as the first cousin to the crown prince. and jongho still blamed himself to this day. why wasn't he in the village? he should've been next to him, on his bed as he curled into his chest, jongho's hand brushing his back as the two just listened to each other's breathing, calming them both down bit by bit.
he should've been there for his soulmate, for yeosang, but instead, he wasn't.
—
a/n: vry unrelated but this chapter is 1117 words long
edit: in celebration of me finishing writing this book, two chapters will be published per day!! which means this book will be ending real soon 😭😭💔💔 (calculated n it'll all end within a week so buckle up!!)
