Chapter Text
Taeyong wasn't ready yet.
He wasn't ready now, he wouldn't be ready tomorrow, and he wasn't even remotely ready yesterday when he said his final goodbyes to his family, scared that it may have been the last time he'd see them. No, Taeyong wasn't ready, but halfway to another kingdom in the back of a carriage in the middle of the night he had to force himself to be.
They arrived at the borders of the Jung kingdom at dawn when the town outside the carriage seemed to start to rustle and bustle. The other maids he had been shipped with didn't know of his plan, they were just sent here for work or as part of a debt the Lee kingdom owed to the Jungs. All but one maid though and his name was Haein, he also subsequently had an unbearably tight grip on Taeyong's hand.
"Relax, Tae, you're going to blow our cover,” Haein leaned over to him to whisper. To the rest of the maids in the bumpy carriage it looked like friendly reassurance but if the tone in his voice was anything to go by, Taeyong knew it was anything but.
Taeyong nodded with a shaky exhale from where he sat and Haein's grip on his hand weakened. Their dimly lit carriage came to an abrupt halt and the maids began to rustle up.
Taeyong held unto the handle of his small suitcase tightly. He didn't own many belongings, just some undergarments, letters his family and few friends had written him before he went off, and a necklace his grandmother had given to him on his deathbed. All decrepit and useless items but to him they meant the world. They were literally his world since he was being thrust into someone else’s.
The driver at the front seat called them out gruffly and Taeyong was pulled out of his reverie. He watched as the rest of the workers got up before realising he probably should too and made his way out of the carriage awkwardly behind them. The carriage had stopped in front of the gates of a large caste, big, bold, and magnificent, nothing particularly new, Taeyong had seen it all before, but the Jung kingdom was different in a way. There was something in the air that told him this place was going to change his life.
Or maybe not. He'd been listening to too many of the townsfolk’s made up stories.
"Welcome everybody.” A large man dressed in a large, dark blue robe clapped his hands loudly at the handful of workers that had gotten a job in the royal house. "I'm Sir Doyoung," he said, clasping his hands behind his back. "Welcome to the Jung Kingdom."
The man — Sir Doyoung — scanned the crowd, everyone trained to be calm and composed and except that Taeyong alone was fidgeting. The anxiousness that he felt in the carriage was clawing up his throat and making him nauseous as Sir Doyoung eyed them in a line.
"You," he said, suddenly pointing a finger at Taeyong, "introduce yourself."
Taeyong's eyes shot up and darted towards Haein for help. Haein looked straight forward, purposefully avoiding his gaze. Taeyong was meant to keep a relatively low profile yet how could he do that if all eyes were on him from the very first day. He looked back at Sir Doyoung who was staring at him expectantly but sporting a gummy smile that was surprisingly kind of reassuring.
"I'm Taeyong," he said quietly. "Taeyong," he repeated himself firmly and louder this time. Sir Doyoung's smile seemed to widen — if that was even possible — and he moved unto the next person in line smoothly, not commenting on Taeyong's obvious slip up.
There's no room for mistakes.
He reminded himself as the man did his introductions, mistakes could cost you your life. Mistakes could cost him his family's life.
"Well done everybody. Now, as soon as we grace the halls you must behave proper." Sir Doyoung's voice called for attention. "The Crown Prince will be there to greet us before you will have the head maids show you around. This is your first day and please make no mistakes." Doyoung quirked a brow and Taeyong cheeks warmed at his insinuation.
Trailing after Sir Doyoung in pairs, Haein slotting himself smoothly beside Taeyong instead of his original partner to keep an eye on him, they finally stopped at the entrance hallway of the castle. He'd only been in the Lee palace a few times but this place by far outshone. The Jung kingdom was on top for obvious reasons.
"Greetings," a man dressed in fine, fitted clothing and a small, golden crown welcomed them with a large, dazzling smile. He had two men behind him at alert and for a second, Taeyong thought it was the king himself. But the man was too far too young and far too handsome (Taeyong admitted the last part under his breath).
"I'm Prince Sangyeong." He smiled at them warmly with a bow and Taeyong felt his nerves finally begin to settle. The prince had that effect, he noted.
"Crown prince," Doyoung corrected sharply, his nice demeanour completely changed, but Prince Sangyeong's smile only widened as he continued, "Welcome to the Jung Kingdom. I hope you will find us as kind and of course be in return."
Taeyong realised that this man actually seemed to have respect for workers unlike a lot of soon-to-be kings, either that or he was putting up a front but a smile that genuine told him otherwise. He had been feeling nervous about his mission before, a part of him was even more nervous now that he had met his target, but a new part of him became excited. Prince Sangyeong was actually attractive and well mannered.
The prince continued with some brief introductions and welcomes before he was called away to complete his duties. Sir Doyoung, his royal advisor, went off with him and now all sense of familiarity but Haein was gone. And Haein himself wasn't exactly the most comforting person anyways.
"Come with us," one of the head maids said as they were split into two groups. Fortunately for Taeyong, Haein was put in a second group so Taeyong was no longer forced to be under his intense glare. The way the man looked at him sometimes made him shiver.
The head maid of his group showed them around the palace, never repeating herself as they were expected to just remember. Ridiculous in Taeyong's opinion, he'd need at least five rounds of the place before he was even semi-okay with walking around alone. He just nodded and smiled though and that seemed to please the large woman enough to not comment on the fact that he wasn't really listening.
Somebody beside him nudged his shoulder and Taeyong looked at them, startled.
"Do you have any idea what she's saying?” The boy snickered. If it was anyone else he'd think it was a scolding for not paying attention but the boy looked younger than him, playful, and probably not supposed to be there. "I don’t either," he reassured when Taeyong said nothing.
Taeyong smiled at the boy and subtly quickened his pace behind the leader. The boy faltered behind him for a second before catching up with him, smiling . Looking over at him again, Taeyong realised he was probably just as nervous as he was under that bubbly — probably jittery — facade. He looked like the youngest in their group and he wondered for a moment how he hadn't noticed him before.
"I'm Donghyuck," he whispered not so quietly to Taeyong and the head maid sent them a quick warning glance. Taeyong just smiled at him again not wanting to speak and cause further trouble. Lay low, he reminded himself.
"You can call me Haechan, though." This time Donghyuck, or Haechan, wasn't as quiet and had successfully caught the eye of the head maid again. Now with her eyes on them, so was everyone else's.
"You two boys," she said with a look of disdain, "step forward."
Taeyong groaned internally but followed her orders and Donghyuck followed suit, a warm blush spreading over his cheeks and twiddling his thumbs. Taeyong was looking at the woman, well not really looking at her, more at the mole on her neck because he was too afraid to meet her gaze as she pursed her lips into a thin line.
"You, what is your name?" She pointed sharply at Donghyuck and the boy spluttered. This was it, Taeyong thought, he'd be fired and it was barely his first day on the job. He had pity for him as the woman scolded him and his bottom lip trembled. He oddly reminded Taeyong of his younger brother in that moment and Taeyong suddenly remembered that he probably had a family too, most likely a struggling one or he wouldn't have been sent to work so far away.
Be it stupidity or pity, whatever it was, it compelled Taeyong's mouth to open up against his will.
"It was me," he interrupted her quickly and the woman's eyes darted over to his, giving him a once over. It was obvious he was lying, he'd never been good at it, but she shifted her attention to him instead anyhow. "I was the one who made the noise in the back."
Taeyong hung his head in shame as all eyes were trained on him, Donghyuck's in shock and the head maid's in disapproval. He also hung his head in regret, he was about to lose his job over some boy he didn't even know. It was a good deed but sometimes good deeds never got you far in life, Taeyong had learned that the hard way. So why did he put his job on the line for him?
"If you choose to take his fall, so be it. I intended to assign everyone their first piece of work so you can have yours first."
Taeyong looked up with a frown, he had a bad feeling about this. Donghyuck, who was staring at him so intently before, looked away quickly, fearing Taeyong's wrath. Taeyong was annoyed, sure, but he'd never actually do anything to the kid.
"Your first task is to clean the halls upstairs. You must sweep it up before the hour ends," the woman said finally before turning away from him and giving other menial tasks to the rest of the workers.
Her order was simple enough, he figured. The cleaning supplies were in the kitchen and he at least knew where the kitchen was. Cleaning the halls wasn't much of a problem either, they were fairly empty other than a duke who passed through and he bowed to. It was so easy that Taeyong began to think this whole mission thing probably wouldn't be that bad.
His mission itself was simple enough; Flirt with the Jung family's eldest son (even though Taeyong had never flirted with anyone a day in his life, the Lee kingdom were relying on his beauty here) and coax secrets of the Jung's military plans out of him and whatever else he could gather. It was all relatively straightforward.
That was what he thought until he bumped into a man with a head of dark hair and crash landed on the floor.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the man hissed as Taeyong was stunned in his position on the floor. Maybe it was his fault that he was walking backwards as he swept but that didn't give the man permission to curse him out like a filthy sailor. He had half the mind to curse him out too before he looked up and his jaw dropped.
If he ever thought the crown prince was handsome, whoever this was blew him out of the water.
The man was dressed in fitted riding gear, pants so tight that they were damn near sinful. Taeyong had to force himself to look up and even then it wasn't much different. The man was horrifyingly beautiful even with sweat on his forehead and fire in his eyes, anger that was clearly directed at no one other than Taeyong.
"Can you watch where you're going you imbecile?" The man scoffed from above him with a deep, gruff voice that made Taeyong's spine shiver.
The question wasn't meant to have an answer, he knew that much, but the adrenaline that had lingered from speaking up the last time temporarily made him mad. "Yes, I think I can."
The man looked at Taeyong incredulously as Taeyong stood up and dusted himself. Bad idea, his gut was screaming at him, bad, bad idea. But It was too late to think about how bad of an idea it was when he was already face to face with the (annoyingly handsome) repercussions.
His body now fully erect, Taeyong met the man's gaze. He had to look away almost immediately though, his piercing brown eyes were too much to handle.
"Do you know who I am?" The man sneered at him, pointing a finger at himself. Taeyong did him a slow once over, enjoying the view, before landing on the man's face again. Oh. He probably should know who it was. He looked sort of royal.
"Prince Jaehyun!" a voice called out behind them and Taeyong whipped his head to face Haein who was quickly approaching with a strained, polite smile. Prince Jaehon, or whatever his name was, watched Sangyeong bow with pursed lips and a quirked brow.
Great, Taeyong thought, now he was in trouble with two men and one of them was a goddamn prince.
"I'm sorry for his behaviour, he's new here," Haein apologised with another bow as the prince eyed him distastefully and Taeyong resisted the urge to roll his eyes, so was Haein. Jaehyun's attention quickly shifted back unto Taeyong and for once, Taeyong felt exposed, raw and naked. There was something glinting in the Prince's eyes he couldn't place his finger on.
The Prince didn't leave him time to think as he side stepped them and continued off to wherever he was going in the first place. When Jaehyun was out of sight, Haein turned to Taeyong with narrowed eyes.
"Follow me," he said and began walking off sharply like he'd known the place his entire life. Taeyong followed like a puppy dog, head hung low and ready to deal with Haein lecturing him about the mission for the millionth time.
He had started his day off on a bad, bad foot, he muttered to himself, and the rude Prince that was stuck on his mind didn't make the rest of his day any easier.
(Well it did, Taeyong now had an eensy weensy crush.)