im supposed to be studying for me exams dhdkdjdjdj but look what i'm doing at 3 in morning—

—

     3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"jisung!" kun calls out as they all headed to hyuwon's study room. the younger boy glances at the older with a look of confusion plastered on his face, "yes, hyung?" he responds.

"you look so happy today, did something happen?" kun smiles softly, it was a rare occasion to see jisung really happy so it was surprising for him.

the young one would only really be happy whenever he was with people close to his age. meaning, it was always chenle who would keep him hyped up and happy.

jisung was then reminded about the incident yesterday and his heart fluttered upon remembering it. his ears heat up as he faced his brother with a nervous look, "i just had fun with jaehyun-hyung and yuta-hyung yesterday!"

kun furrows his brows, "oh? where'd you three go yesterday?"

the three froze, they forgot about not telling kun where they went. if he finds out, it could probably be the end for them.

yuta clasps his hands together, earning kun's attention, "we roamed around the palace and jaehyun stumbled upon a rock and literally fell over! we also tried some yoga, didn't we?" yuta says with a grin, nudging jaehyun who walked beside him with a perplexed face.

realization hits him as he nods along, "yeah, stupid rock." he mumbles making yuta stifle a laugh.

"did he really?" kun chuckles as he shakes his head from side to side, "you should've brought me with you."

"eh, we saw how busy you were so we didn't bother." jisung utters, smiling sheepishly as kun ruffled jisung's hair.

hyuwon grinned at the sibling's conversation. "would you guys like to know what else we planned?"

hyuwon opened the doors to his study as they came in. they were shocked to see at how messy it was, at least for a prince.

"geez, never bothered to clean up, huh?" jaehyun chuckles as he eyed the blueprints all on the floor. there were different sorts of paper scattered around, there was even this huge bulletin board that had tons of pictures, but one stood out in the middle. the picture of baby haera.

"how long have you been looking for her?" yuta murmurs, his brows knitting together as he eyed the pictures on the board.

hyuwon shrugs, "i lost track,"

"i guess i've been searching her since then. though i wasn't able to really hangout with her, i would love to have little sister with me in this lonely castle."

jisung roamed around the messy place, his eyes wandering from the scattered pictures and open books. "what are the books for?"

hyuwon hums and trails onto the open books on the floor, "i've been trying to understand history, especially since there are tons of articles, stories, and reports about the tragedy."

"though there could be a possibility that she's dead, i just hope she isn't. i want to at least give her a hug..."

jisung glances at the older before picking up a book. "e-eh? i don't even understand the writing! this is old literature." he grumbles and places the book back down.

"what is this other plan you have?" jaehyun tilts his head.

hyuwon clasped his hands together as a wide grin crept up his face, "the ball is going to be open for everyone!"

the boys flinched at hyuwon's sudden outburst. "w-what?" kun stammered.

"is that even okay? you're going to open the gates for everyone, are you insane?" kun eyed his friend while hyuwon just nodded.

"i'm a bit insane, i guess." hyuwon joked, giggling a bit.

"numerous of royals are attending that grand ball, you're going to put our lives in danger!"

hyuwon shakes his head stubbornly, "we're not going to be in danger, kun-ah."

"our security is at its finest, plus, criminals aren't really popular in our place. no danger would occur at the night of the ball, i promise!" hyuwon pointed out, his smile not faltering.

kun sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "you don't understand–"

"–what if someone intrudes the place, knowing about the gates being open to everyone! it's easy to disguise, hyuwon." kun crosses his arms, still not letting go of the fact that they could get harmed during the grand ball.

hyuwon pursed his lips, "no, you don't understand."

"the only reason why you're not agreeing is because of your hatred towards women. trust me, it's not that hard to try again, kun."

"i know how much she crushed every single one of you, but that doesn't mean others would do the same." hyuwon said sternly, the happy smile on his face was now gone and was replaced with a cold, stoic look.

jisung scrunches his nose and could only shiver at the tone hyuwon used on kun. he was afraid they would end up fighting just because of the open gates.

hyuwon sighed and grabbed the necklace laying on the table. "this necklace is a replica of the one she was wearing when she got lost, i just hope the pendant didn't got washed away or something."

"that's so beautiful," jaehyun breathes out, his eyes darting on the gold circle pressed flower necklace. "is that...?"

"it's a baby's breath flower." hyuwon says softly with a faint smile. "it was the flower blooming at that time of her birth."

"how are you gonna make sure that the person who has the necklace is the actual one?" yuta questions.

hyuwon chuckles and stores the necklace away in a velvet box, "oh i'll know. she's a child of hera, that's a fact we have to keep in mind."

the boys all looked at each other and nodded before continuing their discussion about the grand ball awhile ago.

"hey, um, kun?" hyuwon turns to the prince, who was busy flipping through some pages of a book.

the said prince hums back in response with a raised brow.

"you aren't mad, right? about the... open gates?"

kun freezes while his eyes remained unsteady. "i-it's okay, i just hope the rest wouldn't mind."

. . .

— back in heflorescence.

the four princes have finally returned to their district and was happily welcomed by the rest of their brothers. although some were a bit annoyed with the news they brought up.

"what do you mean open gates to all?" doyoung huffs, his brows knitting in annoyance.

kun sighs, "all, as in, everyone is invited. no matter who you are, you can enter."

"well, that's gonna end up chaotic, really." youngho sniggers and leans back onto the chair.

taeyong, however, remained unfazed about the idea. taeil noticed this and gave him a small nudge, "are you hearing this?"

taeyong nods slowly, "loud and clear."

the boy's all averted their attention onto him. "and you're okay with it, are you?" jaehyun asks with a quite unsure tone.

they all got startled when taeyong suddenly chuckled, "of course i am. why wouldn't i be?"

"you don't have to force yourself to agree on this, tae." taeil says and crosses his arms. "if you're still not over with what happened with mina, then we'll tell them you're not going."

everyone in the room froze at the mention of the girl's name. it seemed like taeil had struck everyone a nerve, but it didn't matter.

jaemin tapped his fingers on his wooden desk, "not every girl is like mina. i've realized that a few days ago..." he blurts out.

ten, who was beside the teen, nudged him on the side. jaemin ignored this and continued talking, "maybe... we should stop this boundary we have with others, more specifically, with women."

"jaemi—"

"no." taeyong cuts off jungwoo, startling everyone in the room.

"jaemin's right." taeyong admits, "it's time for us to start a new."

jaemin's eyes widened, he couldn't believe taeyong didn't freak out this time. every time this topic was brought up, he would always push it aside, but today was different.

chenle pressed his lips into a thin line and glanced at renjun who was literally silent the whole time.

the boy was busy fiddling this his pen as he stared intently at his desk. "hyung," chenle whispers, trying to catch renjun's attention. "hyung!" he raises his voice a little bit higher.

when the boy still didn't answer to the younger's call, chenle suddenly kicked one of the leg of renjun's chair causing him to snap out of his trance. the older faced the lad with gritted teeth, "do we have a problem, chenle?"

"geez, what has gotten you so grumpy?" chenle mumbles and avoid eye contact.

"apparently there's this kid who keeps annoying the heck out of me, i think his name was chenle?" renjun raises a brow.

chenle sends him a sheepish smile, "i'm sorry, but i just wanted to know if you're okay? you've been silent the whole time, it's not normal."

"i'm fine. you don't need to ask." renjun mutters and draws his attention back onto his desk.

"doesn't seem like fine to me..." chenle whispers causing renjun to groan in annoyance.

"anything wrong, renjun?" lucas asks the younger from behind.

renjun shakes his head, "perfectly fine, xuxi."

lucas grins, "good to know!" before going back to his conversation with jisung.

mark, on the other hand, overheard chenle and renjun's little bickering session and couldn't help but think about it. he did notice how renjun was so distracted today, he normally isn't distracted at all.

after their meeting, mark hurriedly went up to renjun. "yah, renjun-ah!" mark called.

the said boy stopped walking and waited for the older to catch up on him. "what do you want, hyung?"

"i just wanted to know if you wanted to come to the library with me today?" mark questions. he thought that maybe if he brought renjun out to the library, maybe he'd be okay again.

renjun presses his lips into a thin line, it was a hard decision to make. he really did want to escape the stuffy palace again and breathe in some fresh air, away from all the stress he gets from the people inside the palace.

"come on? are you in?" mark grins, nudging the boy a bit.

renjun squints his eyes a bit, "hmm, who else is gonna come?"

"i don't know, jaemin? jeno? donghyuck?" mark shrugs.

renjun sighs, "fine. just let me have a few minutes to myself before we go."

"all right! i'll inform the twins and jaemin." mark exclaims before running off.

few minutes passed and the five princes all rode the car to the library. "let's not make a mess, please?" mark pleaded as they got off.

donghyuck snorts, "can't promise you that."

"do you think we'll see her here?" donghyuck questions jaemin.

jaemin chuckles, "i wish we do."

jeno suddenly butts in, "see who?"

the two boys flinched, "no one."

renjun rolls his eyes, "suuuure." he utters, dragging the 'u' in a sarcastic tone.

"shut up." donghyuck huffs.

mark quietly roamed around the vacant isles of the library. it was quite empty and there weren't many people around either.

he strolled around the fantasy section when he heard faint humming. the sound was familiar, like a famous lullaby. he remembers hearing the tune when he was way younger.

"i know that tune... i just don't remember where i heard it." he huffs and follows the sound.

he turns to the corner and finds a girl, in a light blue dress, flipping through some books while seated peacefully on one of the chairs.

he continued to stare at the girl, attracted to the sound and her beauty.

the girl finally noticed and looked up, "a-ah, did i disturb you?" she questions faintly. "i apologize if i ever did."

mark shakes his head, "n-no, it's alright. it was lovely. reminds me of a lullaby i used to hear."

"do you want to share the table?" she questions, gesturing at the chair across from her.

mark nods, "if you don't mind."

she chuckles, "of course i wouldn't."

mark gladly took the offer and sat on the chair. "i'm..." he starts off, uneasy.

"lee minhyung."

"minhyung? that's a pretty name."

"i'm—"

"jaeyoung."

—

the girl's everywhere isn't she?

hmMmm

i'm probs gonna start studying now, school's just in a few hours and i'm here writing a chapter dhdkdjd what a somewhat productive person??

-jibin