"far, far away but close, close to you" part II
Fandom: EXO
Title: Far, Far Away but Close, Close to You
Pairing(s): chinguline, major Baekhyun/Jongdae, minor Jongdae/Kyungsoo and Chanyeol/Kyungsoo (+ additional pairings in further chapters)
Genre: comedy, humor, prince!au, crack for occasional bad Kpop references
Length: Chaptered
Summary: Being a middle child sucks. Being a middle prince is even worse. Jongdae knows it well especially when his parents leave him with choices A) go and find your inner peace in a monastery and B) go and find your own fairytale. No wonder what he chooses but what follows is beyond everything Prince Jongdae, 2nd Prince of Far, Far Away has ever expected...
Rating: PG-15 (please, keep in mind that the rating always depends on the actual chapter)
Warning(s): nudity (but not detailed)
Disclaimer: I do not own EXO. Hell I would though. I love fairy tales and such even though I handle them in this story carelessly and a bit lame. The idea has just popped into my mind, any similarity with other works must be an accident.
Word Count: 2,311 (altogether ~20,000)
Previous Parts: 1
Prince Kim Jongdae and Knight Do Kyungsoo start their journey earlier than they’ve expected.
The princess selected by The King and The Queen of Far, Far Away goes by the name of Princess Sunyoung, said to be kind-hearted, cheerful and witty and her parents are obviously running out of patience.
“Princess Sunyoung is living in the castle on the North for ten years now but nobody could save her.” The Queen explains dramatically. “The commoners in the nearby village say that a formidable dragon guards the castle and doesn’t let anybody pass the front gate. She can’t even message her parents how her health is because of that dreadful monster. It’s an emergency!”
Jongdae wants to say why they hired that dragon then they could have chosen a less terrible guard but Kyungsoo speaks at the end instead of him.
“We’ll rescue Princess Sunyoung, majesty, so you don’t have to worry about her anymore.”
The King looks up from the monthly report with doubled eyes.
“You go too, Kyungsoo-ya?”
“We’ll go together, father.” Jongdae announces. He’s glad Jonghyun went home to his wife and Jongin has dance practice because if they were there, they wouldn’t stop laughing. “Kyungsoo offered his help and I’m honored to have him as my company.”
Jongdae knows Kyungsoo will beat him up for this later but for now he just enjoys the bliss of authority.
“Ah~ and which army do you take?” The Queen wakes up from surprise. “You’ll need force of arms to fight the creature.”
Oh. Good question.
Something Prince Kim Jongdae forgot to think of.
“Oh. Well… I’m sure the two of us can manage.” Jongdae blurts out after some awkward silence. “If we can’t then I letter you for some backup.”
Kyungsoo facepalms as soon as they leave the castle as well as the capital.
“The two of us can manage? What were you thinking, Kim Jongdae?”
“I’ve had enough with my parents’ help. I want to do something on my own finally.”
“Really? Then go and knit a sweater for Ribbon but don’t try to take on a dragon alone!” Kyungsoo shrieks. The horse under him - Moonlight - jerks a little by the loud sound.
Jongdae winks at him.
“I’m not alone, I have my knight.”
Kyungsoo looks away red-faced.
“Not even an army of knights is enough to save your royal ass and there’s even a princess.”
The castle on the North where Princess Sunyoung is imprisoned in is far, even further than Far, Far Away. Also is somewhere where Prince Jongdae has never been. He once got outside of the capital (he accompanied her father and Jonghyun hunting and well, it’s not surprising that none of them shoot anything that day) but it was relatively close still. It’s the first time Jongdae takes on a journey alone (there’s Kyungsoo but two people is still less than two hundred) but instead of fear all he feels is excitement. He can discover the world outside the palace; can feel the freedom of will and maybe even find the one he never knew he needs but will give him the happiness and love he wants.
Over the past days, Jongdae came to the conclusion that this journey can be the best idea regarding to his (non-existing at the moment) love life. He thought more and more how it would be to have somebody by his side, have somebody to share happy and hard moments with, have somebody to call his and shower with affection. And the more he thought, the more it felt good. Marriage is scary but only if you don’t marry the person you love, Jongdae thinks. If you find the person, the one you love with all your heart, marriage can be the most beautiful union of love.
Maybe Princess Sunyoung is that person?
“Wake up, dreamy boy.” Kyungsoo pokes Jongdae’s side and waves the map in front of him. “There’s a creek we have to wade through.”
The two of them pass by creeks, rivers, hills and valleys and stumble upon a little inn just as the sun disappears behind the horizon.
“I’ll propose to spend the night there.” Jongdae announces and stops his horse, Thunder. The horse is strong and tough but they were going from morning to evening, they will tomorrow and even after that, he needs some nap time. Just as much as his rider needs.
“Good idea.” Kyungsoo is too tired to resent. He yawns big and both of them got off.
The inn is small but fortunately seems bigger from inside. There is also no crowd which fills Jongdae with hope. It’s too late to look for another place to sleep at.
“Good evening.” The innkeeper greets them. He’s about their size (which is a surprise there are undeniably more people who is bigger than Midget 1 & 2) and has a smile which reminds Jongdae of home. “I’m Minseok, the owner of Two Moons. What can I help you with?”
“Good evening. We want um -“
Jongdae stops. The last time he didn’t sleep at home he had his accommodation arranged for him.
“We need two rooms next to each other and two places for our horses in the stallion.” Kyungsoo comes forward speaking rapidly. “We’d like to have our dinner in our rooms separate and the breakfast down in the dining room the morning. We’ll leave a little after breakfast... Good evening by the way.”
Minseok opens his mouth to say something but then closes just as fast. Jongdae understands the gesture - Kyungsoo can be intimidating despite of his size.
“Um, we don’t have rooms next to each other but they’re on the same floor separated by a single room.” Minseok speaks up after getting himself together. “Minho will take care of your horses. I’ll show you your places now.”
The room is simple but clean and Jongdae already feels cozy just by looking at it. He would step in to make himself comfortable when Knight Caretaker Kyungsoo strikes again:
“There is a bathroom for every room, right?”
For once Minseok looks less pleasant.
“Well, there was once. But the bills were too much to pay, this is an inn you see not a hotel so there’s only one at the end of the floor. But I can assure you it’s big and there’s a tag on the door to indicate if the bathroom is under use or not… You also don’t have to worry about it being crowded. There is a bathroom on every floor, only the habitants of this floor use it and it means less than fifteen people.”
Jongdae’s mind panics at “there’s only one at the end of the floor”. He has to wait to get his bath? He has to bathe in the same tub as other fourteen people do at most? What happened to his life?!
Kyungsoo recognizes his state with a smirk.
“We don’t have other choice but use that bathroom then. “ He turns to Minseok. “Thank you for your help, sir. If we need anything, we’ll call for you.”
“Yeah, please, do that.” Minseok bows with the same nice smile from earlier and leaves.
Once they’re left alone in two, Jongdae pops.
“Kyungsoo, what to do?!”
“What you mean? You use the bathroom when you need.”
“I can’t bathe in the same tub as other people! I’m a prince!”
Kyungsoo shrugs, still smiling evilly.
“Well, if you want to be clean, majesty, you have no other choice but do exactly that.”
Jongdae plops down onto his new bed with a big sigh. It’s bouncy and soft but his mood is too ruined to find glee in it.
“You make my bath at least, right?”
Kyungsoo answers from the door.
“No? We’re not in the palace anymore, Jongdae. This comes with the freedom of will… Good night.”
Jongdae spreads on his bed with a groan. Who could have thought searching for your true love requires such sacrifices?
He stays in the same place for a few minutes (or more). He already misses the palace. Not his room, the food or the orders but for example, he misses Ribbon. The warm fur and quiet purring of the cat could comfort him well. He also misses the music sheet of the song he last practiced in utter secret. (He managed to rent to place in the building next to Kyungsoo’s home and went there every two days to sing to his heart’s content.) It hasn’t been long since he composed that song so he doesn’t remember ever part of it yet. Only the tune actually.
Soon Jongdae feels sleepiness getting control over him so he gathers every will of his and stands up to get ready for a bath. He’s a prince after all. He can’t go to bed dirty. It’s going to be a bad and undignified feeling but he’s been through worse. (For example, once his toothbrush fell into the toilet and there was no one around to get it back for him so he had to… It was his favorite one with a blue ribbon at the end. He couldn’t let it go!)
When he exits his room, Jongdae considers asking Kyungsoo once more, this time nicer to prepare his bath for him but knowing Kyungsoo he’s already snoring under the sheets so Jongdae gives up just as quickly.
(Despite of not being royalty Kyungsoo spent a lot of nights at the palace as the holder of the title ‘Prince Jongdae’s Dearest Friend’ and thanks to this Jongdae got to witness how easily his friend can fall asleep. Do Kyungsoo is asleep as soon as the back of his head touches the pillow. No kidding here.)
Once Jongdae arrives to the bathroom, he reaches for the handle. He hears some kind of murmur from inside but then again, there is no sign on the door. Minseok mentioned a tag, didn’t he? Well, tag is none. The noise may come from downstairs.
So Jongdae pulls on the handle confidently.
The sight renders him speechless.
There is somebody in the bathroom. The person is standing beside the tub with his back to the door and currently drying his hair with a towel - aside from that they are naked.
Jongdae gulps. It’s not the first he sees somebody naked (he’s in the honor of walking in on Jonghyun and his relationships before his marriage countless times) but it is the first time Jongdae sees something as beautiful as the body is in front of him. The person’s skin is flushed, probably from the hot bath but it still looks smooth and nice to touch. Jongdae decides it must be a she because her waist is little but her hips are broad - they make a nice curve to her body. She also has a plump bottom and thick thighs and once Jongdae arrives to her feet he finds the female is probably his height or a little under.
Jongdae looks back to the female’s head. She’s still drying her hair, not being aware of somebody staring at her naked form. As the towel slips a little he gets to see black hair, long fingers and an unblemished neck.
Jongdae is now dying to see her face. If her face is half as pretty as her body is, he has no complaints. Actually Princess Sunyoung can stay in that castle for a little more then.
Jongdae is about to say something but then humming reaches his ears.
…
The noise did come from inside. The beautiful female was making it.
She’s humming and she sounds wonderful.
Jongdae is in love.
Jongdae also is in a daze because he only registers that the female has turned around when there’s a towel in his face and a voice ringing is his ears:
“Get out you creep!”
Jongdae, the creep would get out but his legs don’t move.
“You haven’t heard me? I said get out!” The surprisingly low pitched voice repeats and realizing words don’t work, tosses the frozen prince outside and slams the door.
Jongdae’s mouth runs dry; he can hardly blink as he stands in front of the door which now has an UNDER USE tag on it.
This is… this is something he never thought would happen in a little inn in the middle of nowhere. But it was beautiful. She is beautiful.
Jongdae remembers all the times she deemed a princess pretty - when he first saw Princess Taeyeon and her delicate features or Princess Sooyoung and her slim figure. After seeing the girl in the bathroom neither of the two seems so special now, Jongdae thinks. Neither of them can be compared to the beauty he got to witness. (Even if the beauty sounded a bit angry… Well, it’s not polite to stare at naked people so it’s understandable.)
Jongdae only wakes up when a hand is tapping lightly on his shoulder.
“Excuse me but what’s happening here?”
The person is a tall male, so tall that Jongdae has to crane his neck painfully to be able to look at his face. Said face is actually funny (big eyes accompanied by protruding ears and disheveled hair) but the look on it is not.
Jongdae clears his throat.
“Um, I was about to use the bathroom but it seems like somebody got in before me… I’ll just come back later.”
“I heard a scream.”
The giant insists and there is something in his voice that says to Jongdae that he’s some kind of soldier. (It’s the same way Head Guard Kris and Vice Head Guard Zitao speak when they’re sensing danger.)
Well, one more reason to get to his room as soon as possible.
“I’ve heard nothing.” Jongdae replies as innocent as he can and after a little bow marches back to his room.
He’s dreaming about smooth skin, a cute butt and tinkling laughter all night.
Here goes the 2nd part! What do you think? Do you see what's coming? (Or who the two un-introduced characters are?) Don't hesitate to share your thoughts. :)