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Chapter Text

Yeonjun hears his blood pumping through his veins as his feet clang down onto the earth. He feels the air pushing against his face, cold enough that it stings at his eyes at how fast it blows. But the wind is not blowing. It’s not the breeze that burns at his eyes, but it is from how fast he’s running. 

He hears the pitch of metal clanging and his fingers twitch, recognising the sound as if it was as familiar as his own heartbeat. He swears he can time the sound of the squeaks in the wooden floor as it was a tune he fell asleep to. Each colour that passes in a blur, like the hundreds of drawings and paintings he had created on the floor of his bedroom, in the bus, the subway, at the art classes he once took. This moment is disorientating, a veil of déjà vu that brings the feeling of cold sweat pricking at his skin, but it doesn’t outweigh the panic that sets deep into his bones like a feverish chill. 

When his feet leap off the ground and he lands on the earth sodden with recent rainfall, he waits for the wet ground to soak the bottoms of his robes, weighing him down and when it comes he fights the scream that threatens to escape early. 

Yeonjun knows when he’ll scream, he knows this moment like the back of his hand, as if it is something that has been engraved in his mind for his entire life. 

And then the scream comes, a deep vibration from the depths of his chest, rippling out of him like thunder. The sight of crimson spilling into the wet earth, bleeding across the dirt like the touch of pigment on damp watercolour paper, and the figure falling in a heap surrounded by the gruesome paintings on the earth. And as he locks eyes with the round eyes he has seen so many times, the pain in his head comes. 

That’s when Yeonjun wakes up. 

Every single time this dream plays in his head, he is plagued by not knowing what truly happens even when he closes his eyes after flashes of him holding the figure, weeping and screaming up at the skies. 

Yeonjun reaches over to his bedside table, his hand clutching around the flask of warm water he keeps every night for moments like this. The first sip to soothe is sore throat as if he had screamed in his sleep too, but his mother and father have never heard him scream since he was a young kid. The second and third sip to calm him down and to try to settle his racing heart. It doesn’t matter how many times he has had the same dream, when he dreams and wakes it is like the first time all over again. 

He takes a deep breath, an attempt at getting his heart to slow down, but Yeonjun knows it’ll take a few minutes before he can function without thinking he can feel the cold wind on the tip of his nose and that the sounds of clanging metal is in his head. 

His mother is already up, her hair piled atop her head in a lose bun as she beats eggs to make omelettes for breakfast. The rice cooker is working hard in the corner of the bench. His father is picking out bowls to use for the rice, debating between the painted flowers or the ones with cats—both works of his mother. “The cats.” Yeonjun says to him and both of them look at him. 

His mother smiles, that same one meant to comfort him, usually it does, when he has different dreams that flash in the briefest moments of warm, round eyes and flashes of bright silk, to soft pink lips, a jewel glistening in sunlight and then moonlight, resting in a soft palm, red pillars and warm hued light shining through paper walls in the dark. 

She recognises right away that it was the dream he dreaded, the dream that would leave him on edge for weeks until he’d finally move on only to witness it again too soon.

Yeonjun had grown up going from doctor to doctor with his worried parents to why their son was suddenly plagued with reoccurring nightmares that first left him screaming in terror and hiding in peculiar places. He had been to countless specialists that had suggested he had PTSD but they could never pinpoint a cause for it. They tried medications and melatonin to try to give him a peaceful sleep, but they were persistent and always as vivid as the one before it. The art lessons were an outlet suggested by professionals saying perhaps he needed to let it out. Yeonjun had first thought that it had worked. He learnt how to paint the pair of eyes that seemed full of life in the brief flashes he had then weak and dying the next moment. The colours that blurred in his vision as he ran and the jade green tone of his robes soaked with blood. 

Three months he had gone without that dream, the longest since he first had it. And then that outlet seemed like torture again when those eyes filled his mind. 

Choi Yeonjun is a lost cause.

A man that will go the rest of his life dreaming about a man that doesn’t exist anywhere else except his mind. He doesn’t even know his name after all his time. He feels like he knows him, though. From the brief glimpses of his smile, his hands to his body, frail and limp in his hold. 

“This drives me insane.” he whispers beneath his breath, but his parents had obviously heard him by the sorrowful looks on their face. 

“Come,” his mother presses a warm hand to his back. “Sit, I’ll make you some tea.” 

Yeonjun follows his mothers command and slumps in the chair, his fingers raking through his hair. His beta parents busy themselves to look after their agitated son. He knows his scent mustn’t be pleasant, a certain electric feeling to his usually calm petrichor scent, and it’s times like this he’s glad his parents are betas that don’t have a heightened sense of smell and be affected by the pungency of his pheromones in his times of inner turmoil. Which is a pretty common occurrence in his life.

“Perhaps the fresh air side will do you some good today,” his father pats his shoulder as his mother places the cup of hot tea in front of him. “Immerse yourself in nature! Become one with the breeze!” 

“Dad,” Yeonjun sighs weakly. “Don’t be like that.” his mother scolds. “It probably will do you well. Give yourself a break. You’ve busied yourself enough with the dance group for too long without a break now, enjoy your time. We won’t disturb you either if that’s what you want!” She pats his back. “Drink up and eat well and then we’ll be off.” 

Yeonjun gives in and picks up the cup to his lips just before his mother puts a bowl of rice in front of him, piled high as if he tried to fit an extra bowls worth piled up. 

He truly doesn’t know how he allowed his parents to rope him into this trip. It had been planned for two months now and Yeonjun just doesn’t have the heart to even attempt to not go when it was so obvious his parents were so excited to have a trip together like they used to when he was younger, before the dreams had hit him. 

They started when he was twelve, now fourteen years later he had grown out of his explosive reactions he had as a kid to some type of sad understanding that he was just going to have to live like this forever. 

After they eat a relatively quiet breakfast— mostly in respect for Yeonjun to sort his head out, trying to clear the images in his head— he’s almost thrown in the car by his father and then they’re off. 

Yeonjun is brave enough to try to sleep in the car. After that particular dream comes it doesn’t come back so easily, but this time, images flash through his mind. 

The same ones go past and then to his surprise several more scenes—dare he even say memories, because it feels so real . 

He sees him from the back, dressed in pale green and white, like a piece of fine jade gazing out at a garden. A flash, then his face, eyebrows knitted together and his lower lip between his teeth, looking as if he’s fighting tears. 

He sees him in a courtyard with others dressed in fine fabrics and playing like pups. He sees him standing in front of a large tub, steaming with warm water and petals scattered across the surface and then the briefest glimpse of his robe falling from his shoulders. 

There’s a courtyard filled with people feasting and enjoying music and dances, but he sees him sitting on a raised platform, dressed exquisitely with two others sitting higher behind him staring down at him as he holds a teacup in his hand, and Yeonjun does not miss the horror in his eyes.

He sees him again, eyes narrowed and his posture strong, a sword thrusted outwards from his body, and Yeonjun swears he can feel the cold blade nick his throat. 

And the last scene he sees is of his face, sweat slicked and his long dark hair matted to his face as his brows knit together, his teeth clenching and then the scene disappears like dispersing smoke just as a shrill scream fills his head. 

Yeonjun jerks awake and his father and mothers eyes dart to look at him through the mirror. Yeonjun gulps, his fists digging into the fabric of the car seats. He takes a moment to take it in. He’s had these dreams for fourteen years but he’s never seen anything but the three dreams.

He looks like royalty ; he finally concludes from what he just saw. Previously, he thought him to be a noble born, never seeing anything to pinpoint him as a royal but these new… flashes seem to lean in the direction of him being a prince. And by the style of his clothing, he did not belong in the Joseon dynasty but the Goryeo dynasty. He had figured that part out a while ago, but seeing him in a palace so much more lavish than that of Gyeongbokgung, the palace of the Joseon Dynasty

“I think he’s a prince,” he finally says. His parents wait for him to talk. They knew about all of his dreams, the flashes, the tormenting race to find him half dead and the ambiguous aftermath. 

His parents listen intently as he tells them what he just witnessed, pausing regularly, trying to picture them again to describe them with the amount of detail he saw them in, but he doubts the pictures in his parents minds do not compare with the scenes he just saw. 

Yeonjun is so invested in explaining his new dream to his parents that he doesn’t register the car turning off until he stares out the window, trying to trigger his memory to recall what the last scene meant. 

“Oh?” He turns to his parents who look amused at him. “I didn’t realise we arrived already.” 

“You were quite invested in telling us everything,” his father comments with a laugh. “Now help me get the bags while your mother unlocks the cabin.” 

Yeonjun doesn’t know what triggered this new dream, but his mind is going haywire with possibilities. Was he truly a prince? He surely has to be, every time he saw his face and clothing he had been wearing gold and jewels that caught the light. 

It drives him even more crazy wondering what his name is, if he even has one because Yeonjun doesn’t know if he even exists or had existed at all, or if he only exists in these dreams of him. He could be just something his mind conjured up for all he knows. 

But these things feel so real, down to the reaction of his body when he wakes. He doesn’t know how to describe the way his heart thumps after the dream any other way than having ran his hardest and fastest towards something— someone , he had come to acknowledge after his alpha awoke and the dreams came with the added instinct to protect, protect, protect . 

Yeonjun wouldn’t describe himself as an alpha that usually felt the need to protect others. In his dance group he made sure his friends were okay, but his mind never screamed at him like it did in his dreams.

And now he can’t stop thinking about him throughout the day. During the hike he follows behind his parents like a duckling, his mind only on him and him only. He wants to know why he seemed to be fighting tears, then holding a sword so confidently later. Why did he look so horrified at the banquet held seemingly in his honour? 

He’s being haunted by this man. A man who he doesn’t even have a name for. 

When he was younger, he had tried to make a name for him, thinking it would be easier to just make one up for him but nothing fit. It never felt right, so he quickly gave up. 

When he tucks himself into bed that night, he falls asleep quickly, listening to the sounds of soft rainfall outside his slightly open window.

A dream comes quickly. 

It starts with Yeonjun walking towards him in a courtyard, each step echoing in his head and when he reaches him, he turns him around with a hand on his shoulder to find him sobbing, his fingers clutching at a necklace. 

When he sees him next, he’s staring up at him from the floor, his mouth parted and blood smeared around his lips. His eyes are wide and filled with something Yeonjun cannot pinpoint. 

Then, he sees him with flushed cheeks and a dazed look in his eyes before he tears his head away and Yeonjun gazes at the mess of robes around the room. A gazebo on a large pond is where he sees him next, seated in front of what looks to be twenty men of noble birth. Yeonjun is poised close to him and he sees how he flinches slightly when one man asks; “I believe you like jade, my prince,” and it fades away quickly. 

The mood shifts and his usual round eyes are narrowed as he stands in front of a taller man, dressed in regal robes. Yeonjun realises he’s being held back as well as two other men. “Do not talk to him like that! He is our brother!” 

Then, he sees him in the sunshine, a flower held between his fingers before he tosses it away with tears in his eyes. 

There is a furious step to his gait as he follows him down long winding halls, his eyes clear but filled with intention to fight. Yeonjun says something, but it sounds like nothing more than a rumble but the prince turns to him. “I am not like my brothers,” is what he says. 

A scream, and he witnesses him curled in a ball on the ground, broken vases around him as he weeps. When he sees him, he simply reaches out his hand before sobbing out, “I tried my best,” he speaks softly, his voice croaky from crying. “But my father is not one to change his mind so easily.” 

And before he awakes, he is dishevelled, his hair loose around his face, cheeks flushed and tears streaming down his face as he’s manhandled by two guards dragging him away despite his best efforts. Yeonjun is far away and as he breaks out into a run towards him, the prince catches sight of him and releases a scream that is nothing short of panicked. 

“ Yeonjun !” He screeches through tears. But Yeonjun is too far away to make it before he’s shoved into the palanquin and locked inside. Yeonjun feels himself fall, knees hitting the hard ground before he wakes, startled. 

❀

Yeonjun thinks he might just be going insane. 

Why after fourteen years had he gained new dreams? Why has he only just heard his voice, a soft timbre that made his hands clammy? He refuses to leave his mind, stubbornly staying at the forefront of his thoughts, shimmering in and out of his imagination as he climbs up the mountain his parents had been so excited to go to. 

He tries to push him to the back of his mind and focus on spending time with his parents for the rest of the day, but sometimes he turns, swearing he heard him screaming out his name and he half expects him to be standing there in his hanbok and glistening jewels. 

But he isn’t, and it’s driving Yeonjun insane . Other times, the words he had spoken in his dreams float around his mind and Yeonjun wants to know so badly what he meant by “I’m not like my brothers,” and what he had tried his best for? Yeonjun wants to know if the way he’s been dreaming of these moments are in chronological order or if it's just a blur. A blur of memories?

And he wants to know even more if he had died in his dream, that his crumpled body in his arms was just him badly injured. 

Yeonjun doesn’t know . 

Instead of lingering on him any longer, he speeds up to throw an arm around his mother’s shoulders and dives into their conversation. But as hard as he tries, those warm brown eyes stay stubbornly in his mind, refusing to go away. 

He hadn’t told his parents of his recent dream yet. Usually, he wouldn’t hesitate to share the details of his dream but something about this past one left him with a pang in his heart. The dream where he finds him so still and silent always left him upset, but there was something more… intimate about this past dream. From the way he looked at him, flushed and a dazed faraway look in his eyes to how he flinched at the man offering him a gift. 

The prince was an omega, Yeonjun thought he might’ve been ever since he began to dream about him, but he hadn’t been sure. But that look on his face was a heat dazed look, the clothes around the room showing a struggle to build a nest. The way he was presented in the gazebo, given courting gifts to only a way an omega was. 

Yeonjun can’t fight his curiosity anymore. Once he gets home he rushes up to his room with his bag and abandons the full bag that he won’t unpack until he has satisfied his curiosity, and jumps onto his bed, opening his laptop that he left on the end of his bed for the weekend. He can’t even find himself to be embarrassed or ashamed when he opens up the search engine and types in ‘Goryeo omega princes’. 

A whole bunch of results pop up and he eagerly clicks on the first link titled ‘The omega royals of the Goryeo Dynasty’ the passage is rather long but he reads it, soaking up all the information. 

The article goes into detail how the lives of omega children of the king were not as lucky as the alpha or beta children. He knew that alpha and beta children were the ones that inherited the throne, it was common knowledge in most dynasties that omegas were not given the throne. Though Yeonjun had studied a few groups around the world that enlisted omegas as their preferred leaders and that deemed the most respect. The article goes to list several omega queens, concubines of the king and how they gained fame during their lifetime for their children’s efforts, not their own. 

Omegas were rare in the royal family. Alpha’s typically only mated omegas if they were born with strong alpha lines to ensure alphas would be conceived and most of the royal children in history were born betas or alphas. Yeonjun reaches the end of the article without a single mention of an omega prince. There were princesses, queens (rarely, but there) and the many concubines with alpha lines, but no mention of an omega prince. 

Yeonjun frowns and clicks the back button and tries the article underneath it. Again, princesses and talks of the practice of bringing in omegas to the palace to build a harem for the king's personal pleasure. Yeonjun’s teeth grit at that and he’s glad the world has changed so much for omegas. 

They were respected now as important members of society that could get any job they wanted and have access to further schooling that used to be only available for alphas and betas back in the day. And within the past few decades they finally passed paid heat leave. 

Yeonjun tries several more articles and when nothing comes up he furiously types in ‘pretty Goryeo princes’ and stares at what he’s typed in for a few seconds, feeling stupid and a little flustered but the prince is pretty. He hits enter and only finds still cuts from dramas and webtoons and he faceplants into his bed, realising a loud groan of frustration. 

“Where are you?” He whines, mindlessly scrolling through the images that pop up. He had hoped the face he had painted so many times would miraculously pop up through the mess of images, but it never comes and Yeonjun is left feeling even more annoyed and lost than before he tried to look him up.

He thinks if he had a name to put to his face he would have an easier time. And hell, maybe even a short description of him would ease his mind to know that he isn’t a glorified fraction of his imagination. But maybe he is with the way he looks, ethereal and untouchable. 

His father calls him down to eat dinner and he trudges away from the laptop, a frown on his face and his mouth set into a thin line. 

“You look like you’re in deep thought,” his mother says as she opens the lid off the takeout. Yeonjun barely looks up from where he’s burning a hole in their wooden dining table with his eyes. “Did you have a new dream?” She asks quietly, unsure whether she’s going to need to comfort him like he sometimes needed. 

Yeonjun looks up then as his father pushes his takeout bowl in front of him. “It’s written all over your face,” she tells him. “You’re not good at hiding that from us.” 

“Because it frustrates me so much,” Yeonjun replies and digs his spoon into the bibimbap, furiously mixing everything together. 

“Did something else happen?” His father asks around a mouthful of rice. 

“Nothing major,” Yeonjun grunts as he shoves his own spoon filled with rice with various toppings into his mouth. “He didn’t die this time.” 

His mother stares at him, her lips pursed. “But it’s bothered you.”

“Because I’ve dreamt of him for fourteen years without any answers! I don’t even know his name! All I know is that he’s a prince in the fucking Goryeo dynasty and that he’s an omega! So, yes, it’s bothered me because I see him in such detail that it feels real! I could reach out and grab him and feel his warmth, but every time I think of him I’m so frustrated because I want to know more! I don’t even know if he’s fucking real at this point!”

His parents share a concerned look as he huffs before shovelling in another bite. 

“Every time I go to sleep I see him and I’m tired!” He sighs, picking up his cup of water and skulls it down, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “I’m going insane…” 

“What would make you feel better?” His father asks carefully, prepared for an explosive reaction. “To at least know his name,” Yeonjun says with a frown. “So I can at least know he’s not something I’ve conjured up.”

“Oh, honey,” His mother pats his shoulder. “Maybe you’ll find out if you have more dreams? You didn’t know he was an omega before, now you know that,” she points out. 

“I guess so,” Yeonjun grumbles and then slumps into his chair. “Sorry. It’s just all getting a lot. I didn’t mean to snap at you both.”

“We understand how frustrating it is. We’re frustrated for you, too.” 

“Maybe I will finally dream of him more,” Yeonjun sighs. “I want a name to put to his face.” 

❀

Yeonjun does dream of him later that night. 

Yeonjun watches from the entrance of an exquisitely decorated room as a jade coloured silk outer robe is placed over the prince's shoulders by a maid that then ties a sash around his middle, accentuating the curve of his small waist. His hair is as dark as still-wet ink that flows down his back, loose and free and the hairpin that’s tucked at the side of his head, sweeping his hair away from his face is decorated with flowers carved out of jade and butterflies in pink quartz that glitters in the soft lighting in the room. Yeonjun catches sight of pearls shining in the hair piece, reflecting the light that hits them. 

He turns to him, lips full and pink, shining as if he had eaten handfuls of berries before this occasion. His eyes are downturned, refusing to meet his gaze. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun hears his own voice and slowly, the omega prince lifts his head, locking their gazes together. Earrings made of gold holding carvings of jade butterflies hang from his earlobes and his hand reaches up and softly tugs at the necklace sitting in the hollow of his throat. 

“Do I look presentable?” His voice is quiet, unsure and Yeonjun feels his lips twitch, the corners lifting at the apprehension in the omegas voice. 

He looks nothing like the prince thats wet with rain and covered in mud, hair a mess around his face and surrounded with red, blooming patches of dark blood staining his skin, his clothes and the ground beneath him. 

Here, he looks ethereal, a being from the heavens. The clothes he's dressed in bring out his beauty even more and Yeonjun thinks he might be the prettiest thing he’s ever seen. His eyes shine with life, not dimming like he usually saw them. His complexion is bright and healthy, his lips pink with a stain and not darkened by blood. 

And in his dream, Yeonjun replies in earnest, “Stunning, my prince.” 

Yeonjun would’ve been happy for the dream to end there but it continues. 

The prince is in a courtyard, surrounded by others with high status that Yeonjun assumes are his brothers. He’s in the middle, gazing up at a balcony that overlooks the courtyard. There’s movement and someone tall is rushing forwards, reaching for the prince that's dressed in pale yellow and pink. There’s a furrow in the omega prince's brow that suddenly softens into a look of terror and Yeonjun follows the line of his eye and sees a man dressed in black silk embroidered with gold thread lining his bow up to the omega. He doesn’t have enough time to see the man's face before the arrow is shot, whistling through the air, flying into his chest. It plunges into his heart and the prince staggers backwards before falling, blood staining his otherwise perfect robes. 

This time the dream doesn’t slowly fade into another scene, it flashes with the moment the arrow hits him until suddenly he sees him walking through the hallways in the palace, a rush to his step and when he spots the look on his face, Yeonjun feels his heart sink. The prince is crying, his mouth pressed together that shows clear anger. His fists are tight by his sides and Yeonjun suddenly reaches out a hand to him as they reach a set of stairs. 

“My prince,” a voice calls out and the prince flinches, almost flying out of his skin. “You cannot run away from your fate.” 

“I must have a choice,” the prince says back, his tone is not kind but he doesn’t spit at him. “If I am to be subjected to such a life, I’d rather make a choice.” 

“Then I shall do you a favour,” the sword comes out of nowhere and it strikes him down before Yeonjun can even react. He tries to look at the man's face as the prince falls down the stairs, but he races after the prince, pulling him into his arms. 

“You must remember your place even in death,” he sneers at him. 

The words ring in his head as the scene goes black. 

The prince is holding onto him, two hands around his forearms as he grits his teeth. He looks frantic, panicked at something Yeonjun can’t see. His grip is so tight on him that it breaks through his skin and his blood pools around the prince's fingertips, hot and sticky. 

“I mustn’t be any more selfish,” the prince cries out. “I will doom everyone.” 

“No.” Yeonjun grits out and then he’s dragging him out of the room and into the cool night air. The omega shivers and Yeonjun stops in his tracks at the army enclosing the space. 

Yeonjun feels the blade in his hand as he struggles to keep the prince up with one arm. 

The hauntingly familiar voice fills his ears. 

“You’ve made a grave mistake, dearest brother. The Jade Prince’s demise would be an epic tale, but I do not think I will give you the honour of remembrance.” 

Yeonjun shouts something but it’s too quick. The omega is torn from his side, dragged to his knees and Yeonjun feels an earth shattering growl rip from him as he watches the blade thrust into his stomach. The light leaves his eyes instantly and Yeonjun’s heart rips from his chest as he crumples. 

Yeonjun screams once more as he’s held back by several guards. His throat feels as if it's ripping as he screams and then everything goes quiet. He’s pulled out of his sleep as deafening silence fills his ears. 

Yeonjun wakes up in tears. 

He wakes up sobbing, his breathing uncontrolled and he feels light headed. Nothing makes sense. His heart hurts and his head hurts; just why had he seen him die over and over again in different circumstances? 

The heartless actions of a brother to the prince, the Jade Prince, Yeonjun’s mind remembers. He reaches for his water, gulping it down as he forces himself to breathe. He feels like his head is about to explode even as he calms down from the high of the dream—the nightmare. 

He reaches for his laptop before he can conjure a lucid thought and finds himself typing in ‘The Jade Prince’ into the search bar. 

But there’s nothing. 

The threat the omega princes brother told him in his dream before killing him lingers in his mind.

  “You’ve made a grave mistake, dearest brother. The Jade Prince’s demise would be an epic tale, but I do not think I will give you the honour of remembrance.” 

Yeonjun shivers and throws his head into his hands, still crying. 

What had the prince done to deserve to die like that? His face at the start of his dreams haunts him, the healthy sheen of his skin, the softness of his eyes and the shyness in his voice as he asked Yeonjun how he looked. 

Yeonjun hasn’t seen another person so blatantly perfect in his life. It makes him believe even more that the Jade Prince is something he’s made up. But why would his mind conjure up his death? And in so many gruesome and horrible ways? 

And in each death, it was Yeonjun’s fault. He knows it, he knows he could’ve stopped him from dying in each circumstance if he had paid more attention, been more attentive and— Yeonjun slaps himself, breaking himself off from such thoughts. That wasn’t him in those dreams. Perhaps they shared the same voice, the same gait and height, but Yeonjun cannot control himself in these dreams. 

But it doesn’t make things any easier. The prince still dies, over and over again in his mind. 

Yeonjun sits quietly as he cries, unable to keep his sobs down anymore as he thinks of his face suddenly crumpling to the look of death. Yeonjun cannot see anything else but the deep crimson of his blood and hear the sharp cry from his lips as he’s murdered over and over again. 

He is used to not having restful sleep, he knows the pain of fighting sleep so he doesn’t find himself running towards the prince, but Yeonjun feels unease like he hasn’t before. There is something itching inside of him when he closes his eyes to sleep for the next week. He’s ready to see more scenes to traumatise him in the mornings and throughout his life. 

But Yeonjun doesn’t dream again that week. Or the next. And then the next. 

Yeonjun doesn’t dream for a month, then for two.

For the next two months after his last dream about the omega prince, Yeonjun does not forget him. Instead, he’s more obsessed than ever trying to figure out the puzzle that the prince is. 

He dives headfirst into history, staying up late to read through thick history books that recount the Goryeo period, trying to find some clues to where this prince fit in. He learnt the order of the kings, wondering which one was the prince's father, and tries to piece together where he fit into all of this. There has to be something, but Yeonjun has yet to find something that gave him enough context to be able to theorise in which reign he lived in. 

He watches too many documentaries on the Goryeo Dynasty until he’s pretty fucking confident that he’d be able to speak middle Korean rather fluently and learns the names of popular rulers of the back of his hand, but the lack of information on the topic he needs so badly to know is beginning to get too much. 

Yeonjun is angry, frustrated and upset that he can’t find anything. He’s mad, too, at the fact that his dreams have suddenly stopped now after he’s the most curious he's ever been these past fourteen years about this prince. It’s more than a gnarring hunger at this point, it’s almost as if this is the reason why he breathes. 

Previously to this odd awakening, Yeonjun believed he lived to dance, to move his body to the rhythm and beat of music, to bend his body in an abstraction of art. Yeonjun barely has time to dance anymore. 

Every time he does, however, there’s a different edge to it, the style similar to when he had been a backup dancer for a popular group and had a choreographed sword fight with one of the artists. His mind plagues him with the images of the Jade Prince’s death. Yeonjun knows if he could control his body, he’d be able to save him. 

He knows he could. But he can’t move and he doesn’t know why he thinks he could save him when they’re so far apart, when the Jade Prince is increasingly becoming more likely to be a part of his imagination. 

His desperation reaches a new high when he calls his cousin and asks her to come with him to the museum that’s showcasing a collection of items from the Goryeo Dynasty he had found while searching online for resources. 

His cousin accepts it quickly, being a historian she’s naturally inclined to like these things and Yeonjun just wants to see if she can give him any insights on royal omegas during this time. Anything that gives him a better picture, he just needs something to cling onto while he feels like his life is falling apart beneath his feet. 

She has a comforting presence which does Yeonjun’s battered mind some good. She passes him an iced americano when he arrives at the entrance to the museum, waiting for him to go through the gates with him. “Noona,” he greets with a soft smile. She reaches up and pinches his cheek between her thumb and forefinger and gives him one of those coos that he whines at (but he loves it and that’s not so much a secret, either). 

“You look tired,” she tells him as soon as he takes the coffee from her hand and takes a long sip. He had already had a coffee at home this morning, but any more caffeine is welcome because now of all times in his life, Yeonjun can’t sleep. 

Yeonjun shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, not wanting to worry her further than what he is certain he already is going to once he lets her know what’s been going on. 

She knew about his dreams since around the time they started, most people in his family did and they understood for the most part. 

This, however, Yeonjun only trusts a few people with. 

Yeonjun gives his ticket to the woman manning the booth at the front and the gate beeps, a green light flashing as he walks through with his older cousin. The look in her eyes tells him he won’t have much time to explain on his own time before she comes in and shoots her own questions and digs right down to the root of the problem. 

But Yeonjun himself doesn’t even know what the root of the problem is. Is it him? His stupid fucking brain that has (potentially) conjured this all up? Or is it the prince's fault for infiltrating his mind in the first place? It’s a stupid thought and Yeonjun feels dumb for even thinking this made up person could be at fault, and it's just another sign that Yeonjun is slowly losing his grip on reality. 

Ultimately, he decides it better if he speaks first. 

“You know… the dreams,” Yeonjun runs a hand through his dark hair, feeling the strands stick to his sweaty fingers. It’s kind of gross really, and he pats his hand on his pants after with a small grimace. She looks up at him expectantly, but her eyes are still warm and comforting. “They’ve been weird at the moment,” he says with a frown and she cocks her head at him. 

“Yeonjun,” she says softly. “The dreams have always been weird,” she reminds him with a raise of her eyebrow. 

Yeonjun sighs and takes a swig of the coffee as he follows her to where the collection is. “No… I know that but it’s different now,” he tries to stress it out, still unsure if he should just dive straight into it and potentially be deemed insane by his cousin. Though, he supposes it would be a suitable reaction to… whatever is going on in his head. 

“Different?” Yeonjun sighs in relief and nods. Thank-fucking-god she is so emotionally switched on and Yeonjun was prone to wearing his emotions on his sleeve. 

“I’ve seen him more,” he whispers and he remembers the scenes of him living and the others of his death as he speaks. Involuntarily, his free hand balls up tightly by his sides, his nails digging into his skin. The pain startles him out of the thought and he looks at his cousin who’s obviously waiting for the rest of what Yeonjun has to say. 

“He’s a prince, Noona,” he says softly and he watches her face closely, looking for any change in her expression. Her lips lift the slightest bit, her frown deepening a touch. “An omega prince,” he finishes off and her lips press tightly together. She’s silent for the last few seconds it takes them to reach the beginning of the exhibition.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” she finally says and Yeonjun releases a breath. 

“I know this is ridiculous,” he begins to say with a sigh but she gives him a pointed look. 

“I can tell this is bothering you,” she tells him and Yeonjun’s cheeks heat and he gulps more coffee down. “You can talk to me without fearing I’m going to judge you. Talk to me.”

“Well…” he shuffles awkwardly on his feet. “Can you at least tell me if you know of any omega princes from Goryeo?” Her face scrunches as she thinks before she sighs, her eyes gazing at an aged painting of a king hanging behind a plane of glass. 

“There’s not much known about omega princes… there’s some information about Joseon omega princes, however…” she offers softly and Yeonjun’s shoulders fall.

“The Joseon dynasty doesn’t have anything to do with him,” Yeonjun mumbles as he gazes along the first room. There are several glass cages with lights illuminating the various items inside them. The room is rather dark but the little light they have is warm like fire and flickers lightly as it would’ve back in the day through paper lanterns. 

Yeonjun feels even more defeated at her lack of knowledge. It hurts a bit more than he’d care to admit that the Jade Prince really is just a fragment of his imagination and maybe it’s even a little bit humiliating that he’s made up this perfect looking omega that he dreams about. 

“So I am insane,” he mutters and his cousin pats his arm softly, giving him a gentle look. But she doesn’t say anything and Yeonjun isn’t sure if it makes him feel any better or if it makes him even more humiliated that he’s gone this far and taken his cousin away from her job. 

But Yeonjun just can’t shake off the thought that why would he conjure up such a perfect omega for him to only be killed over and over again. And this doesn’t explain why everything feels so real. 

“Well… you can still talk about him? Maybe things might make more sense to you if you speak it out loud?” She suggests and Yeonjun shrugs in response. 

“I’ve dreamt about him for fourteen years. The same three dreams until two months ago and suddenly there’s so much more… but why… he’s so,” he pauses, biting onto his bottom lip as his cousin sighs. “Beautiful,” he admits in a shy voice and he sees how her mouth quirks softly before settling again. “But then he just dies? Noona,” he suddenly looks at her with a hardened gaze. “I had a dream where he died over and over again. But it doesn’t make sense because each time he dies he is back alive after dying and then he dies again,” he tries to stress out and his fists shake at the memory of his dreams. 

“Well,” she clears her throat and then hums. “I guess there is no logical explanation for that,” she says in a way that concretes Yeonjun’s belief that he’s made this all up. His heart hurts, squeezing tightly in his chest. 

It’s awkward for the few minutes they stroll around looking at the various objects together. She makes a comment on each one, something about its use or who it probably belonged to but Yeonjun honestly isn’t listening that well. 

He feels like he’s grieving the loss of someone. Of someone he doesn’t actually know. It’s disorienting to walk around in a room full of objects from the time period this made up person lived in and before he knows it Yeonjun is standing in front of a glass cabinet, his lips parted as he stares at the carved jade.  

“It definitely belonged to someone with royal status,” she says calmly as Yeonjun’s eyes follow the details in the hair pin made of jade. 

Jade robes flash in his vision and Yeonjun’s mouth feels dry. “Probably an omega princess… if there was an omega prince it could’ve belonged to him or even a queen, it’s definitely not something anyone else could obtain,” she continues to talk but Yeonjun has drowned her out long ago. 

He doesn’t recognise it. He’s never seen it in any of his dreams but his fingertips are numb and there’s an ache in his chest, different to the pain that has been there since he’s made up his mind over his existence. It’s a familiar ache but there’s something tender there and Yeonjun lets out a choked breath as he blinks, his eyes trailing over the carved jade flowers. It’s chipped in some places but the colour remains vibrant, and the design is clearly there still. 

Yeonjun feels the overwhelming urge to burst into tears. The tickling at his nose forces him to take in a deep breath and he presses his tongue to the roof of his mouth, hoping that it’ll stop his tears from springing free. And luckily, Yeonjun doesn’t embarrass himself in the museum today at least.

His cousin isn’t blind to his sudden change in behaviour and picks it up in his scent even with her beta nose and she makes the executive decision to drag him out of the museum. Yeonjun doesn’t fight her and lets her guide him out of the building. 

“Junnie,” she places a hand on his back as he heaves in a deep breath. “Are you okay? What’s going on?” 

“Noona,” he replies weakly. “I think it would be best if I went home,” His voice is small, akin to a wheeze and when he looks down at her, he finds her eyes full of worry. Her own scent is beginning to sour slightly in concern.

“Right, right, I think that’s a good idea, Junnie.” 

She stays right by his side as they begin to walk away and Yeonjun allows her to guide him, one hand on his back in a protective manner. 

Yeonjun’s mind is going a million miles per hour, shuffling through every moment in his dreams to see if he can find that hair pin, because, god , he knows it’s familiar and it weighs heavily in his chest. He knows how it would feel in his fingers, cool to the touch and smooth. The flowers are strong but dainty and clang gently if he tapped his fingernail against it. He just knows . 

He goes to step out into the street at the crossing and a gasp leaves his mouth as his foot sets down upon the bitumen. 

The prince is standing in the middle of the busy road, still as ever as he stares back at him. Yeonjun’s body moves on its own as he hears the horn of a truck blow, but before he can go any closer to the Jade Prince, there’s a hand fisting at his jacket and pulling him back just as everything fades into a different scene around him. 

The prince stumbles on his feet, his bottom lip tugged between his teeth as he struggles to keep himself upright on shaky legs. His eyes are red and puffy but he’s holding his tears in, his cries locked inside himself as he breathes in shakily. His eyes dart around Yeonjun as if he doesn’t want him to realise that he’s trying his best not to cry, but even without not being able to smell his scent in this dreamlike state, Yeonjun sees it clearly. 

He slowly opens his mouth, only a soft whimper escaping him that makes Yeonjun’s heart twist inside his rib cage. His hands itch to reach out for him, to bury his nose against his scent gland and scent him up in an attempt to cheer him up. But Yeonjun stays still and watches the prince carefully. 

His cheeks are flushed from his effort to not sob and the tip of his nose is pink, a clear sign that he had been crying already but is now trying to hide it. It’s not fair how perfect he looks even now. He’s a visage of beauty and raw vulnerability. 

“There is no one here for me,” the prince finally whispers out. His hands fists at the sides of the pale green silk clothing his lower body and he shakes in his spot, his jaw shaking in his effort. Yeonjun finds it increasingly harder to not just reach out and grab him, take him within his arms and hug him. 

But he doesn’t. 

It pains him to just stand there and watch him but Yeonjun isn’t in control so he waits, hoping his dream self will get it together and just give the prince a damn hug. 

“Is there really no one I can trust? Why is it so lonely?” Yeonjun’s fingers twitch by his sides as the prince speaks and quietly, the prince's tears begin to flow from his jewel-like eyes down his soft cheeks. 

He takes a single step forwards, close enough to the omega it’s easily recognisable that he’s in his personal space. The prince doesn’t make a move to regain his space, however. He just looks up at him, the slightest crane of his neck to meet his eyes. Yeonjun realises now he’s not much taller than the prince. 

“I am here,” his voice carries out, soft but strong. Something to rely on, something to hold onto and grip when the prince was battling his inner turmoil that is so clear for him to see. 

“You have me,” he tells him and the prince lets out a quiet cry, his hand reaching up to cover his mouth to mute the sound. “My prince,” he whispers and his hand finally reaches out and his fingertips graze over the soft skin of his hand that covers his mouth. Yeonjun recoils at the touch, suddenly shifting back as if it was a mistake. 

“I will protect you,” the prince's face crumbles and his shoulders shake as he sobs quietly into his hands. “I will not go anywhere. You have me.”

The scene fades as if a gust of wind has come to disperse it and when Yeonjun’s mind frees him of his dreamlike paralysis he finds himself sitting on the side of the crosswalk with his cousin crouching before him. 

“Yeonjunnie!” she says as if she’s been calling his name for an extended period of time. Yeonjun blinks a few times, his vision still foggy from the vision before he can finally focus on her in front of him. 

“Noona I’m so sorry,” he whispers, cringing as he tries to get to his feet but she pushes him back down. 

“You almost got yourself killed!” she scolds but her tone is gentle as if reprimanding a child. “What the hell is going on?” 

“I,” he licks his lips and swallows, suddenly aware of how thick his saliva is in his mouth. Yeonjun wants to dunk himself in a bucket of water and scream. He recalls stepping out into the road, his legs ready to run to the prince and save him— and oh god he really has lost his shit!

Yeonjun blinks, staring ahead blankly as he tries to come to terms with whatever just fucking happened because what the fuck? What is happening now?

“Oh my god I’m hallucinating!” he cries out as he puts his head in his hands. 

“Yeonjun,” she says harsher this time. “What the fuck happened?” 

“I saw him! Standing right in the middle of the fucking road and I wasn’t thinking and I just saw him again, he was trying his best not to cry and he was saying that he doesn’t have anyone, oh god, Noona I’ve lost it!” his scent thickens with his distress to the point his cousin turns her nose up at it. 

“Junnie,” she places a warm hand on his knee. “Take a deep breath, come on.” 

He’s beginning to gain attention from others and he supposes the scent of a distraught alpha is pretty catching and rather worrying in most cases. But no, Yeonjun’s just lost his fucking mind! 

Even in his dazed headspace his cousin gets him home somehow. 

Yeonjun is slumped against the lounge, his hands still balled up into fists as they rest in his lap. 

“Maybe you need to see another doctor…” she whispers as she hands him a glass of cool water. Yeonjun gulps it down and winces, wiping his wet mouth with the back of his hand after. “I’ve seen too many doctors already,” he mutters. “What else can they tell me other than what I already know? My sanity is falling, Noona. I’m going insane!” 

“Yeonjun,” she frowns at him. “But you’ve said it’s changed. Maybe there’s some medicine that can help you out?”

“Probably not,” Yeonjun mutters. He had tried many as a kid and none had worked at all. But then again maybe there’s something new in the market these days. 

“Well,” she pauses and rubs his arm gently. “Keep me updated at least, I want to know how you’re going.” 

“You’re too good, Noona,” Yeonjun smiles softly and he forces a smile out. He’s still rather shaken up but he knows she’s a busy woman. “You should go. I know you’ve got things to do.”

“You’re important to me, Junnie,” she shakes her head. “Once I see your hands stop shaking I’ll go,” Yeonjun looks at his lap where his balled fists are shaking and he bites on his lip and tucks them beneath his thighs. 

“I’m fine,” he insists, but he’s definitely far from that. 

She gives him a narrowed glare. “Please,” he sighs out. “I think I just want to be alone right now,” Her face softens at that and it’s quiet for a few seconds before she stands from the lounge where they had been sitting.

“Call me,” She says as she brushes her hands down her sides. She hesitates again before Yeonjun smiles at her. 

“Bye,” He says weakly. “I will call you.” 

“You better,” she huffs and waves at him. “I hope you feel better soon, Yeonjunnie.” 

❀

In fact, Yeonjun does not feel better. 

When he goes to bed that night, hauling his tired body into the warmth of his sheets he’s asleep before he even knows it. He had expected to be kept up with his thoughts and analyse every single minuscule detail that he can remember. 

But tonight Yeonjun dreams. 

The prince is staring at him with soft eyes. His hair is loose around his shoulders, his robes white and pale lilac. The warm light flickers slightly in the corner and Yeonjun’s hand slowly reaches out. The prince stares at it before looking at him with an arched eyebrow and a soft smile across his lips. Yeonjun tucks his fingers in and begins to pull it back but soft fingers land on his before he can return it to his side. 

“You said you would protect me?” He questions softly as he wraps his hand around Yeonjun’s. His fingers are thin and long, a ring made of jade decorating his finger. Yeonjun’s thumb glides over the jade, feeling the smooth and cool surface. “I did,” Yeonjun hums back. 

“Then hold me,” the prince says quietly. It’s merely a whisper and Yeonjun has to think that he’s heard him right. The prince turns his head away, his nibbling on his lip as his cheeks flush red. 

“What… my prince.” Yeonjun swallows the lump in his throat. He turns his head back and he finds his eyes slightly glassy. “And please don’t call me that… not right now… I just want to pretend, Yeonjun. Can we not do that?” 

Yeonjun’s brain shortcuts and it’s running through all the possibilities that the prince is implying, but Yeonjun is lost to the prince's words. 

“Do I not have a choice in this all?” He whispers and he can’t hide the sadness in his voice but his cheeks are still pink, the tips of his ears beginning to redden. “My prince—”

“Yeonjun,” his tone is begging and the look on his face makes his heart clench. “Please,” he begs, shaking his head softly. 

“Beomgyu,” Yeonjun whispers instead and it’s like his mind is suddenly clear and the sight of the princes— Beomgyu’s — face lighting up with a gentle smile soothes the wounds from the days events. “I said I’d protect you.” he says and Beomgyu nods once at him. 

“So protect me from this,” he says. “Protect me from them and the things I’ll… I’ll be subjected to… can you not do this for me? Am I not good enough even for you?”

It breaks him. It’s like his heart is made of paper and someone has gripped it on both sides, tearing straight down the middle. 

Beomgyu’s hand tightens around his own and slowly brings it to rest at his waist. He looks down and his breath hitches in his throat. “Please don’t make me beg.” his eyes are teary as he meets his gaze once more. 

“Protect me.” he whispers. 

Yeonjun shoots upright in bed, his eyes wide as he heaves in deep breaths. 

“Beomgyu, Beomgyu,” he repeats, the name sending jolts down his body at the odd familiarity of it. Yeonjun stares at the wall in front of him, running his hand through his hair to try to calm his heart. 

“Protect me.” it reverberates around in his mind and Yeonjun’s hands begin to claw at his blankets. 

“Fuck!” He hisses, his chest rumbling with frustration. His body is trembling and something is curling in his stomach, a mix of trepidation and heat from whatever the prince meant by Yeonjun protecting him. He balls his fists up tightly and breathes in heavily. The passing thought that he’s close to his rut passes his mind but that can’t be it because he had one three months ago. But the sight of the prince with the flushed cheeks and the noise that passed his lips as he led his hand to sit at his waist—it does things to Yeonjun. 

“Beomgyu,” he says in nothing more than a whimper. “Who are you, Beomgyu?” 

Yeonjun has only ever wanted to know his name. He wanted to put a name to his face but now that he does, he wants even more. He wants to savour the softness of his skin, he wants to know his scent. He wants to know the prince. 

Yeonjun realises he’s quickly falling into dangerous territory. Not that this already hadn’t had it’s complications already but now? Yeonjun’s developing feelings for Beomgyu, real or not. 

Maybe his cousin is right and he needs to see a doctor to see what the fuck is going on. But something deep down tells Yeonjun that’s not what he needs to do. There’s something… instinctive in him that reacts to Beomgyu. Whether he’s just a dumb alpha drooling over this perfect omega he’s created in his mind or it’s something more complicated than that, Yeonjun just knows medication isn’t going to save him from this. 

Beomgyu has taken over his mind. When he closes his eyes again, hoping to sleep a bit more he sees his eyes, warm honey orbs blinking at him in waiting. Expecting him to do something. The feeling of his skin, a phantom memory that burns into his fingertips. Yeonjun is hopelessly entranced by the omega prince. 

And how can he not be? He’s seen Beomgyu in a variety of ways, angry, upset, open and vulnerable. Yeonjun is beginning to think he knows him instead of just being haunted by him like he was for fourteen years prior to going to the mountains with his parents. 

Yeonjun frowns as he sits up in his bed. The trip to the mountains had triggered something in him. Yeonjun doesn’t know what it awoke but maybe… just maybe if he goes back there’s a chance it’ll open up more information. 

He needs more. He needs to know more about Beomgyu. He wants to see him again, he wants to feel his body heat—and perhaps he is just an alpha enchanted by an omega but he doesn’t care anymore. 

When the sun rises and peeks through the cracks in his window, Yeonjun dresses himself in a sleeveless shirt and a random pair of jeans in the dark. He packs a bag quickly and distantly in his mind, he knows he’s not in his right frame of mind. But he gives in easily because he just needs this so badly. Closure maybe or even to finally put an end to the narrative in his dreams. 

His parents aren’t awake when he creeps down the stairs to leave and he supposes that’s better than them cooking together like they usually do in the mornings. Most mornings Yeonjun would help them out too but lately his parents have been tiptoeing around him, careful to not tip over his bubbling frustration. 

He probably shouldn’t be driving either, especially with the stunt he pulled yesterday with his cousin, but his brain isn’t fucking working so he does it anyway. And there’s no one to talk sense into him at 5:30 in the fucking morning. 

Yeonjun half expects to crash into a tree on the way there, waiting for the moment Beomgyu appears in his field of vision but he survives the nearly hour long trip to Gimpo without seeing the prince and forgetting all of his rationality. 

Yeonjun thinks he might officially break if he doesn’t find anything here. But at the same time, he doesn’t know what the hell he’s supposed to look for. It’s a mountain far from where the palace would’ve stood in Goryeo and he doesn’t think Beomgyu would’ve come out to a random mountain as a prince but what the hell there has to be something for these… memories to suddenly pop up at random. Maybe he should lay down in the middle of the forest and hope that he’ll dream again. It’s plausible in his rattled brain. 

He takes a swig of his water that he had packed because adding dehydration onto his frazzled self right now did not seem like a good combination. 

He stands on strong legs as he walks up the same mountain he had with his parents two months ago. It’s warmer now, less frigid even in the earlier hours of the day. 

Last time he hiked up here, he hadn’t thought of a single thing except him. He who didn’t even have a name back then. 

Now Yeonjun knows his name is Beomgyu and he seems to like jade if the times he’s seen him adorning it on his fingers, as bracelets, hung around his neck and pinned in his hair. Even his robes take the colour of jade most times he has seen him. And his title, the Jade Prince fits him perfectly. He’s soft, his voice gentle as he talks. He’s beautiful, shining like the jewels he wears. 

Yeonjun’s down bad or a prince that he’s made up. 

Wonderful . 

He keeps an eye out for anything that looks odd along the path but there’s absolutely nothing that sticks out and Yeonjun begins to regret his impulsive decision to come back when he reaches the summit with absolutely nothing. 

He flops to the ground, staring up at the blue sky and the fluffy clouds that decorate the backdrop. He groans, running a hand over his face and sits up, staring at the view down the mountain. There’s a clear view of the valley here and the river that cuts through the landscape, across the river, shrouded in fog, Kaesong, North Korea.

Now that he’s here he feels a clearer headed and not like he was ready to risk it all for more knowledge about the prince and instead he feels rather empty. 

Without all his frustrations and desperation there's just this odd sinking feeling inside him. Something feels wrong, he decides when his nervousness spikes suddenly. 

There’s no one else here though and Yeonjun is contemplating running back down the mountain but before he can take a step forwards to the path he took up, there’s a flash of green and white out of the corner of his eye. 

He turns rapidly and stares wide eyed at the prince that is suddenly before him, his hand clutched at his middle, his nose scrunched up in dissatisfaction. 

“Beomgyu,” he whispers without even thinking and he steps forwards, sniffing at the air hoping to catch a whiff of his scent. The prince takes a step back, frowning softly. “Wait!” Yeonjun calls out, his hand reaching out to grip at his wrist but he back away even more. Yeonjun takes a step forwards, he takes a step backwards. 

“Wait, I just want to know ab—“ the prince's face suddenly changes, his eyes widening in what seems to be fear and his mouth parts as his eyes begin to dart around. Yeonjun stupidly looks around him as if the prince is actually in front of him and reacting to his surroundings. When he sees nothing he turns back to Beomgyu, his hand still outstretched to him. 

The prince stares right into his eyes. “Yeonjun,” he mumbles so softly, nothing more than a whimper under his breath and Yeonjun’s own breath hitches at the way he calls to him. 

“I said no,” he says louder this time. “Where is…” his breath shakes and a choked sound comes from him. “Where is Yeonjun?” 

“I’m here,” he replies, reaching out to grab him but then there’s a shrill scream and Yeonjun watches helplessly as Beomgyu takes too many steps backwards and tumbles right over the edge of the cliff. His body dissipates into smoke as soon as he falls.

Yeonjun scrambles onto his hands and knees to the edge, a whimper caught in his throat. 

Tears well in his eyes and he doesn’t fight it. He lets out a scream, full of his pent up frustration. He screams until he feels dizzy and he cries until it’s hard to breathe. He’s shaking where he’s kneeling in the dirt, his body vibrating with a mix of adrenaline and panic. 

He digs his fingers into the dirt until its so tightly packed underneath his fingernails that it begins to hurt. “Beomgyu,” he whispers. He coughs weakly, his lungs abused in his chest. 

And he remembers the words that had brought him over the edge last night. 

“Protect me,”

Yeonjun wants to, he realises. He wants to protect him from the things he’s seen in his dreams, shield him from whatever pain he’s endured in his dreams. He wanted to protect him then, even though he knows he’s not real and he didn’t just tumble down the side of the mountain, but it seemed like he did. It looked so real and the burning itch in Yeonjun to protect him is nothing short of overwhelming.

But he’s not here. He’s not someone he can reach out and grab, he can’t pull him out of danger. He can only uselessly watch. Watch as he cries, watch as he hurts, watch as he dies. 

It’s too much. It’s all too much. It feels like his heart is being trampled by a stampede and he’s caught right in the middle of it all.

His head spins when he finally gets to his feet and he doesn’t dare look back at the drop off. 

He realises this was a horrible idea and the ache that’s sitting heavily in his skull is a testament to his bad decision making. Or maybe this was all just some rough wake up call to tell himself to pull himself together because he can’t protect Beomgyu. He’s watched him die for fourteen years. He can’t start trying now because it's useless. He can’t move in his dreams, he can’t even speak the words he thinks in his mind. It’s like he’s a different person altogether. 

“He’s not real…” he tries muttering to himself as he steps onto the path. His eyes are puffy and his vision is sensitive from the amount of tears he’s shed. His throat is hoarse from his screaming and feels tight from his sobbing. He’s a mess. 

His steps are sluggish as he walks. “He’s not real.” he says again and his voice breaks again before another tear trails down his face. “God,” he cries out. “Why am I so sensitive over you?” 

He can’t not be real. Not with the way he makes him feel. Not with the way his heart pounds after he wakes up. But they’re centuries apart. Dynasties apart. There is no Beomgyu here and there is no Yeonjun in Goryeo. 

He feels like he’s been splashed with icy cold water at this thought. 

He reaches up to his face to wipe away his tears that obstruct his vision and as he does, he takes a miscalculation in his step and his ankle rolls in a small ditch, knocking him off balance and tumbling in a heap to the ground. 

He groans as he hits the ground and pain flares up his ankle. He knows he’s sprained it again. The pain is familiar to him after dancing for so long and getting injuries like this often. 

He tries to get back to his feet and when he puts weight on his injured ankle as he takes a step, he topples over and instead of tumbling back to the hard earth below him, he glides through the air and he realises he’s gone off the edge of the mountains path. 

Before he can even scream, his body smashes against a tree and the impact takes all the already limited air he had in his lungs. He slips as he tries to manoeuvre and slides further down the slope. He cries out, trying the clutch at small rocks and saplings that are sprouting out of the ground but it falls out of his grasp. One rock is sharp on the side and rips open his palms as he slides by. Hot blood oozes from his hands and covers his palms. Instinctively he fists them tightly closed but now he has no hope of catching himself from falling further. 

He does come to a stop before he can be thrown off the side of the mountain. 

His head collides with a large rock that is peeking out of the coverage of dead leaves fallen from deciduous trees. His vision blurs instantly as his skull cracks against the rock. His shoulder follows swiftly after and a loud crushing noise alerts him as pain flares through his body. 

He can barely let out a cry before he fades away. 

Red paints the rock his head lays limply upon. 

❀

Yeonjun coughs. 

The first thing he notices is that his head only aches slightly. Nothing worse than a light headache. Water would fix it almost instantly. 

The second thing he notices is when he cracks his eyes open and is met with nothing but darkness. Everything is black. 

There’s nothing around him. He looks down and sees his own body, dressed in the same sleeveless tank and jeans he had thrown on in a rush.

He looks at his hands that had previously cut open and bleeding profusely. But there isn’t even a scar. Yeonjun frowns and squints around, hoping to find something, anything else but just himself and this void of black. 

“Oh my god, I’m dead,” he concludes and he recalls the way his head smashed on the rock, his shoulder crushed against it. But his shoulder is fine and other than his tiny headache, he feels fine. Perfectly fine, actually. His eyes aren’t puffy from all his crying and his throat is no longer ripped raw. 

“You’re not dead,” a voice calls out to him and Yeonjun yelps, his hands flying out around him as he searches for the owner of the voice. 

He searches in the endless darkness for the owner of the voice and when he turns on his heels after scanning one side, he sees a tall figure dressed in dark blue. 

The third thing he notices is that the person standing before him is not dressed like he is. Rather, he’s dressed in a hanbok as well. The silk is a deep blue, carnations embroidered with silver thread around the fabric. Half of his hair falls down his back, the other half in a topknot neatly pinned in place with a singular silver spin with a dragon's head. 

Yeonjun sniffs at the air and raises his brows at the scent he picks up. He smells clear like green tea but there’s a base note of something woody. He’s easily distinguishable as an alpha and Yeonjun grits his teeth, unsure of what to expect from the other alpha. 

“Well, not yet at least.”

Chapter Text

Yeonjun takes a step away from the taller alpha and glares at him. He shuffles beneath his gaze, obviously uncomfortable which gives Yeonjun a little bit of a confidence boost.

“What the fuck do you mean?” Yeonjun hisses out and the alpha blinks at him. “You have a peculiar way of speaking,” he says and Yeonjun grits his teeth. 

“Well I think it’s warranted when you just said I’m not dead yet. Yet! What the fuck does that mean?”

The man’s fingers pull slightly at the blue silk nervously. “Well… to get here... Ah, Yeonjun you’re in between life and death right now.”

“What the fuck?” He grits out through his teeth. His tone is harsh and is scent grows stronger, bitter with disdain. “How the hell do you know my name?” 

“I do not mean offence, Hyungnim.” 

“Ah, stop, what the fuck?” He puts his hands out and glares at the alpha. “I’m not your hyung, I don’t know who the hell you are?” He narrows his eyes at him and tries to think what he’d do if the alpha decides to get physical. He looks like he could take him on pretty easily but you never fucking know if he’s going to pull a sword out of his ass. 

“My name is Soobin. Wang Soobin,” he tells him and Yeonjun arches a brow. “Wang.” Yeonjun states and he stares ahead at Soobin before he frowns, giving him an odd look as the dots connect in his head. “Wang Soobin,” he says again. “You’re trying to tell me you’re a prince? Of the Goryeo dynasty of all things?” He says with a bitter laugh and Soobin’s scent spikes with a happy note of brighter green tea and Yeonjun’s frown deepens.

“Is it so hard to believe?” Soobin asks him, still playing with his robes as he talks. He tries to keep eye contact but he keeps looking away, intimated by the strong glare that Yeonjun is still giving him. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Yeonjun huffs out, growing defensive because he’s standing in front of someone claiming to be from Goryeo. 

And maybe Yeonjun is a hypocrite because all this time he’s been obsessing over a Goryeo prince, just not this one. Maybe it’s not such a stretch because he’s currently standing within a void of nothingness, but it doesn’t mean Yeonjun is going to give him an easy time because he still has never seen this man before. Not in his daily life or in his dreams.

Besides, it’s okay to be weary of someone who told him he wasn’t dead yet . Yeonjun’s isn’t that dense to trust him just because he’s wearing Goryeo style robes after he’s dreamt about this time period for fourteen years of his life. Or to trust him because he’s stuck with him in this limbo-like state. 

Technically, Yeonjun is dead right now because last time he was conscious he wasn’t here in this weird out-of-body-experience-but-not state— Yeonjun is confused. 

“Wait, wait, what are you doing here?” He frowns at Soobin because if he had died (did he really die? By tripping over a fucking hole in the ground? He’s a fucking loser , god.) “Are you dead?” Soobin arches a brow and his lips press together softly as if he’s thinking of what to say. “Don’t lie to me, Your Highness,” he spits the last part out mockingly and Soobin’s frown deepens. 

“I suppose you can say I am… in your timeline my time passed a long time ago, but now when we go back I will go back to living like normal.” 

“That’s vague,” Yeonjun deadpans. “Yes or no? Are you dead?”

“No?” Soobin asks back, his head gently cocking to the side. Yeonjun frowns at him and his top lip pulls up in disdain. “Yes?” He tries and Yeonjun lets out a quiet snarl that has the prince flinching. 

“But this isn’t what is important at the moment, Hyung— Yeonjun.” 

Yeonjun frowns at him when he trips over his tongue. “Do you actually know me?” He points a finger at Soobin then back at himself. 

“I,” Soobin clears his throat. “I suppose you’re different.” he replies. “And if your hair was longer and you weren’t dressed so… oddly then you would be the spitting image of the hyungnim I know.” 

“Ha,” Yeonjun barks out and his face falls suddenly. “You’re dead serious,” he then realises, face going white. 

His dream self instantly fills his memory and it makes him grimace. “I guess your Hyungnim is fucking stupid, then,” he says and Soobin’s mouth hangs open. “You speak of yourself like that…?”

Yes . Yeonjun knows he’s stupid and does dumb shit more than he should as a grown ass man. 

“Oh, we are definitely not the same person,” Soobin swallows and shrugs his shoulders. 

“Perhaps you are more… foul mouthed and not as respectful but I wouldn’t say that…”

“You’re being vague again,” Yeonjun points out, folding his arms over his chest. “What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

“A lot,” Soobin admits quietly and Yeonjun sighs. 

“Okay, okay,” Yeonjun waves his hands in front of him and Soobin watches him closely. “Let’s start from the start again, okay?” 

“I’m Choi Yeonjun, you are Wang Soobin. Where are we?” Yeonjun speaks and he watches the prince look at him as his scent turns slightly bitter as if the tea has been brewing in hot water for too long. 

“Between life and death?” He replies more in a question but Yeonjun lets it slide because maybe Soobin also has no fucking idea and his pride is too big as a prince to admit he’s got no idea. Yeonjun respects that but also it would just be easier for them both if he just admits it. 

“And why am I here with you specifically?” Yeonjun presses on and Soobin’s lips pout out slightly and Yeonjun rolls his eyes. 

“I have a proposition for you,” he replies and Yeonjun’s brows quirk. Soobin reads his face and continues on. “You need to save my brother—”

“You said it was a proposition, not a demand.” Yeonjun reminds him but this time Soobin glares back at him. Yeonjun huffs at him. 

“Well I don’t think you’re really going to have much of a choice,” Soobin counters and Yeonjun puts his hands on his hips.

“A proposition means I have a choice,” Yeonjun reminds him. “Just call it a command if that's what it is.”

“You are rather insufferable,” Soobin grits out, but then he smiles. “You really are the same person.” 

“Great. Let’s move on. What about your brother?” 

Soobin frowns at him but sighs and continues. “You have two choices I suppose. You can reject this offer and go back and die where you were before or you take this offer and live.” 

“Well what do you think I’m going to choose?” Anything that keeps his cause of death from being tripping in a tiny ditch . Anything. 

He supposes he also wants to live; he's not feeling up for the festivities of death at this moment in his life. “You might change your mind? I can’t look into your head, Yeonjun hyungnim.”

Yeonjun lets him off the hook this time. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Yeonjun sighs and gestures for him to continue. 

Soobin’s lips press together before he nods. “You need to go back and save my brother. He wasn’t supposed to die when he did and the whole timeline is messed up. It has been for centuries.”

Yeonjun frowns at the prince. “Why don’t you go back and save your brother?” Soobin genuinely looks distraught and Yeonjun grimaces at the sudden change in his scent. 

“Maybe you really are stupid,” Soobin says and Yeonjun barks out a laugh. 

“We win some, we lose some, in my case I hit my head real fucking hard I don’t know how many of my braincells are at work right now.”

“You are such a strange man, Yeonjun hyungnim,” Soobin whispers with a shake of his head. “But to answer your question, I can’t go back and save him because my time is over. I can’t go back but if you go back you can change everything and fix it.” 

“What? Whatever, okay, but why specifically me? Why not choose, I don’t know, someone else?” Soobin looks close to a mental breakdown as Yeonjun speaks.

“Because it’s you .” Soobin replies, exasperated. 

“Is that supposed to make me feel special and singled out?” Yeonjun points to himself and Soobin huffs out this time and he’s no doubt trying his best to not throttle Yeonjun. But Yeonjun still thinks he’ll win even though Soobin is taller. (In the back of his mind he remembers he was beaten by a ditch the size of a loose stone.)

“You have to save him, please,” Soobin’s eyebrows are knitted together, his eyes pleading. Yeonjun straightens his spine and eyes him. “He’s stuck in a place like this, too. He has been since he died. He wasn’t supposed to die and it’s been centuries… centuries we have waited for you to be reborn.”

“Hang on a hot second,” Yeonjun raises a hand. “You mean he’s stuck in here?” 

“Not specifically in the same void we are in,” Soobin tells him. “But his death was detrimental and now everything is in shambles because of it. I’m sure you know him somehow, please, he needs you.” 

Yeonjun stares at him with his mouth parted. “You must have some recollection of him, memories maybe? Please, you’re the only one that can fix this all.” 

A puff of air passes through Yeonjun’s lips. A laugh of disbelief before he blinks at the alpha prince. “Your brother is Beomgyu?” He asks quietly, his chest aching at the memory of him. 

Soobin breathes out in relief, nodding quickly. “He is. So please, will you go back?” 

“There’s not much of a choice,” Yeonjun replies.

And because it’s Beomgyu. Because it’s him Yeonjun feels like he cannot refuse. Even if rejecting the proposal meant he wouldn’t die, Yeonjun would go just because of him.

His face flashes in his mind before he recalls the way he held his body, limp and soaked in rain and blood. Yeonjun’s heart aches. 

He never truly knew if he was dead in that dream but the confirmation slaps him across his face and sends an icy spike through his heart. 

“You’ll go back?” Soobin asks, his eyes wide as he awaits the confirmation. Yeonjun bites onto his bottom lip and decides to dodge the question to try to squeeze more information out of the prince. 

“So… if I save him what will happen? Do I stay or do I just go back and die? Or will my great deed give me life again?” Soobin’s face falls at the lack of answer and the corners of his lips twitch in impatience. 

“I don’t know,” he says. “No one has done this before.” 

“Great,” Yeonjun drawls out. 

“Please,” Soobin tries again. “He’s been stuck for so long… please give him a chance. He didn’t deserve any of this… he needs you, Yeonjun. More than ever now.”

Yeonjun’s throat feels tight as he stares at the alpha. His scent is still bitter like tea seeped too long and it begins to tickle his nose uncomfortably. He’s desperate for an answer, distraught over his brother. 

“He really wasn’t supposed to die,” Soobin whispers, heartbroken over his brother. Yeonjun purses his lips. 

“When… when did he die? Or like… where?”

Because Yeonjun’s seen him die in many ways. At various stages in his life and by the hands of different people. 

Soobin gulps, his eyes closing as if the memory burns him. It probably does. This is his brother after all and judging by the bitter scent of distress he’s emitting, it certainly hurts him.

“There was this… courtyard,” Yeonjun nods softly and Soobin takes it as a sign to stop. He slumps in relief but his face is still contorted in a look of pain.

“I’ll go,” Yeonjun tells him and Soobin’s face lights up instantly but Yeonjun cuts him off before he can talk again. “Only because of him. I’ve had dreams of him for fourteen years. I know him. I’ve seen him die… But what about my life and my family? Are they going to find me dead in that forest? If I go back now what will happen to them?”

“I can’t tell you that because I don’t know…” Soobin whispers back, his eyes flickering around. “But they’d be in the future… or maybe they wouldn’t exist yet. Maybe time will freeze while you’re gone?” 

Yeonjun has a life. A dancer that has made it far in the industry. He’s worked with the biggest artists of his generation. He has a family that shows him endless love and support. All gone in one second. 

But as much as he would like to go back and maybe hug his parents one last time and tell his cousin that he truly appreciates her like no other, he can’t. 

“So… it’s just gone like that?” Yeonjun mutters and Soobin shifts on his feet. “All because of him?”

“But haven’t you felt like something has been missing in your life? A feeling of loss?”

Yeonjun bites down on his lip. 

More often than not Yeonjun had question what path he was taking. Something always felt like it was missing but he’s never been able to figure it out. Sometimes life felt meaningless and empty and other days he simply forgot the feeling that he was used to carrying around. 

“Maybe?” He replies. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Soobin’s smile is melancholy. “More than you probably think but I don’t believe I have the right to tell you.” Yeonjun frowns and goes to cut him off, demand that he tells him but Soobin continues on, glaring at him as if he had seen right through him. 

“I will be there, in Goryeo, but I will not have any recollection of this time. But I will always be there for Beomgyu even when you think I won’t be.”

“So I’m alone?” 

“I wouldn’t say that.” Soobin offers him a smile and then sighs softly. “We’re running out of time,” he tells him. “I think it’s time we left this place.”

Before Yeonjun can even protest, (because what the fuck, he’s expecting him to just go in blind? Even though Yeonjun has been researching the Goryeo period he’s not well versed enough to actually live as a Goryeo person. And what the hell is he going to do with his hair?) his vision fades around him. 

He sees a flash of green in his eyes as the memories flicker through his mind, vivid as if he was still living them. Beomgyu flickers through his mind, his smile, the aching sadness in his eyes, him in a field of flowers, his face flushed as he stares at him.

All he sees is Beomgyu. Over and over again he appears in his mind, fresh and crisp around the edges. 

He sees him limp on the ground, his robes soaked in his own blood. It feels hot on his hands, like it’s only just escaped his veins as he takes him into his arms. His chest shakes with the vibrations of his growl and his hands shake as he holds him close to his body, trying to soak his own warmth into his cooling body.

❀

Yeonjun gasps. 

He stumbles on his feet and barely manages to keep himself upright as the feeling of being in control of a body suddenly sends shocks through him. He heaves out a grunt as he manages to get his balance back. 

With a soft groan, he rubs at his temples, his fingers sliding over smooth silk as he does. He arches an eyebrow as he suddenly takes in his surroundings. Yeonjun knows he’s no longer in Seoul. He knows he had tripped in a stupidly tiny ditch and got himself killed in that time and had met Wang Soobin in the plane of blackness before he slipped through time. Though, looking around and seeing the architecture of the palace still shocks him. 

His fingers trail across the band of silk wrapped around his forehead and his fingers brush by his hair, alerting him at the sudden change. His hands pat around his head, feeling the top half of his hair pulled up into a topknot. He arches a brow and lets his hands glide down his shoulders and feels his hair tricking past his collarbones and over his pectoral muscles. 

Yeonjun hums out, glad that he at least has the hair to fit in. If he had come to Goryeo wearing his clothes he had before and his hair cropped short he probably would’ve either been killed on the spot or taken in and interrogated as a suspected spy. Not a very nice sounding fate. 

He’s wearing a dark coloured hanbok with a blue sash tied around his waist to keep it all together. He tests out his mobility in the new garments by stretching out his legs, raising his arms in the air and then dramatically bending to the sides. There’s no unpleasant tug or sudden tightening and he stands back on his black booted feet and shakes out his shoulders. 

Yeonjun then feels the delayed shock creep up on him. 

He’s in Goryeo.

Somehow tasked to save a prince he had thought he had made up only mere hours ago. However, said prince is no where to seen and Yeonjun doesn’t really know what the fuck to do. Creeping around the palace in hopes to find him doesn’t sound the right cause of action and he’s lost at what the hell he’s supposed to do right now. 

He gazes at the garden beds, trying to formulate a plan but his mind is blank. 

Yeonjun decides Soobin has done him very dirty.

Dropping him head first in Goryeo was one thing, but dropping him without an explanation of what to do when he did eventually regain his consciousness. But even if he sees Soobin now he can’t exactly drop kick him because this Soobin is innocent in his arrival in Goryeo. And well, he probably shouldn’t drop kick a prince if he values his life at all. 

He also can’t just hope he’ll see the Jade Prince sooner than later and begin to stalk him because he’s pretty sure that could get him killed as being an unmated alpha trailing after the unmated omega prince. 

Really, this is fucking stupid. 

This whole situation feels like a dream and Yeonjun jumps once to prove that yes; he can control his body now. He’s not that weird dream state Yeonjun that holds back too much and is too slow and incompetent in protecting Beomgyu. 

Soobin had said they were technically the same person but Yeonjun isn’t so certain. In his dreams he itched to move, to react differently like hug the prince when he so clearly needed it. Past Yeonjun maybe knew much more about proper Goryeo etiquette though. Yeonjun should’ve asked for lessons.

“Oh, there he is!” A voice alerts him out of his thoughts and Yeonjun turns on his heels, the sword at his hip knocking against him as he moves. He places a hand on the hilt, stabilising it as he faces the newcomers. 

It’s a group of beta attendants rushing towards him. Their scents are muted, nothing more than a faint whiff of something subtle. 

They’re coming straight for him, however. Yeonjun looks back to make sure he hadn’t missed someone in front of him before and frowns when he realises there isn’t and when they are a few steps away, Yeonjun steps back in shock. 

“Young Master!” One of the attendants greets with a deep bow. Yeonjun stupidly bows his head back at them before realising his mistake and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, looking past them to hide his embarrassment. 

“What are you doing in the gardens? You are late! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She scolds lightly, her features twisted into a frown as she addresses him. 

“I wanted to go for a stroll?” He tries the old tongue and squints at the way it comes out as a question. “You do not have time for a stroll,” she scolds again. “The king is waiting for you, we mustn’t keep him waiting any longer if you value your life!”

Yeonjun’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head. 

Who said anything about meeting the king? Yeonjun is here on strict business orders to protect the Jade Prince, not to have an attendance with the king of all people. His mind flickers through all the historical dramas he’s ever watched, trying to list off all the behaviours he should present when in front of the king. 

God, he thinks he might throw up. 

She clicks her tongue and gestures for him to follow her. He complies quickly because god he’s about to surely embarrass himself in front of the king which might humiliate the king himself and could very potentially be his demise in Goryeo. The headlines would be laughable. ‘Man is so stupid he practically begs to be killed for his foolery.’ Maybe it’s not so humorous to what he originally thought. 

Yeonjun follows the attendants blindly. He would take in the scenery if his brain currently wasn’t conjuring up every possible outcome of his death at this meeting. Why the hell does the king want to see him anyways? He doesn’t even know who he is in this time period. All he knows is that his name is still Yeonjun. Choi Yeonjun hopefully. What did his lame Goryeo self achieve in his life to afford a private meeting with the king? 

It’s ridiculous and Yeonjun wants to throttle Soobin even more. He had so much information that could help him out but hadn’t had the courtesy to help his poor twenty-first century brain. He’s hopeless. A lost cause. Just kill him now!

He’s led up a staircase and up to intricately decorated doors with golden trim. 

“Remember,” the head attendant whispers as her hand grips the door handle. “Head down and only look at him once he tells you do, good luck, Young Master,” she opens the doors quickly and shoves him inside. 

He almost trips over his own feet (almost, there’s no ditch endangering his life this time.) and he almost squawks out until he realises that it is in fact not good etiquette to squawk at attendants. Perhaps it would warrant a funny reaction but he doesn’t need to paint himself a bigger fool when he knows it’s inevitably coming. 

He straightens his spine, fixes his posture to appear confident as if he’s about to dance on a stage in front of thousands but expect this time he’s centuries away from the concerts he used to attend and instead of a crowd of thousands it is just one man who holds the power of thousands. 

But you know what they say, fake it ‘til you make it. 

Yeonjun has always had good control over his scent but he makes sure it’s stable before he finally walks out into the room, his head tilted to the ground watching his steps. 

He stops at what he hopes is a good distance away and gives a deep bow, sinking to his knees. He breathes in a steady amount of air, hoping to calm his racing heart. But it’s all for nothing when a voice suddenly sounds throughout the room. 

“Choi Yeonjun,” the voice calls. Strong and loud, confident and there’s a upbeat to it as if he finds this funny. Maybe Yeonjun has pissed his pants, it’s very plausible. 

Slowly, Yeonjun begins to lift his head only to freeze when he members that he’s not supposed to do that and he meant to wait for the kings command to look at him. 

“Lift your head, it has been years since I have last seen your face,” the king says again, the lift in his voice clearly recognisable as affectionate. Yeonjun bites down on nothing, hoping that’ll be enough to stop his inner turmoil from escaping. What the hell had past—this—Yeonjun done to gain favours with the king? 

Yeonjun does as he’s been asked and looks straight ahead at the throne. 

It stretches far across the back wall with intricate etchings of golden dragons holding onto their pearls that are depicted to represent the heavens and the land. The king sits between the dancing dragons, dressed in robes the colour of freshly spilled blood with golden thread painting scenes of dragons along the fabric. His face is strong with fine lines indicating his age. He looks powerful sitting up there, staring down at Yeonjun. Even with the soft smile that tugs on his lips, he’s intimidating. 

The scent of a strong alpha emits from him, the scent of something woody and fresh with the slightest metallic tang. 

“You are a man now,” he says as he looks over Yeonjun. “Stand. I wish to see how you’ve grown.” 

Yeonjun blinks once before his mind registers the words and he practically jumps to his feet, his hands tucked by his sides. The king hums contently as he gazes at him. “A strong alpha.” he muses with a twinkle of amusement in his eye. Yeonjun gulps and inwardly perks up at the compliment. 

 “You have grown up well. Your father is quite proud of you to even suggest to give you this opportunity. And what an opportunity this is, indeed.” 

Yeonjun tries to act like he knows what the king is talking about but he’s got no fucking idea. His brain is empty. 

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” his voice is stronger than he had expected it to be. The king raises a brow at him. “But I have not yet been informed of what this opportunity may be.” 

The king hums a low vibration that makes Yeonjun grit his teeth. He hopes he spoke politely enough and he used the old tongue instead.

“Why of course. It would come too much as a surprise if this position was entrusted to you without you even knowing what you are do,” he looks at him as if awaiting an answer and Yeonjun panics. 

“Yes, Your Majesty…” 

The king shifts in his throne, straightening up and leaning forwards slightly. Yeonjun hopes whatever his task if has something to do with the Jade Prince because if not, how the hell is he supposed to protect him? 

Damn Soobin and his lack of information. 

“I have been looking out for a trustworthy alpha to guard my most precious jewel,” he speaks, a certain glint in his eyes that hints at playfulness. Though it disappears the moments he mentions the jewel and suddenly appears much more serious and hard to read. 

“I believe you to be a trustworthy alpha, yes, Choi Yeonjun?” He peers down at him expectantly. 

“Of course, Your Majesty.” he confirms without his voice shaking. Yeonjun is proud of himself that he’s kept it together for this long so far. 

“I would like you to guard my precious jewel.” he says and Yeonjun blinks a few times. 

Is that it? What he is going to be doing all day is standing still and guarding a glorified rock? Yeonjun has his quarrels with rocks at the moment and this feels like another personal slap to the face. This is certainly not a good outcome. Now how is he going to find a way to protect Beomgyu while being tasked to watch a shiny rock?

“You seem to be the kind that will not get involved… personally,” the king continues but Yeonjun is still caught up over babysitting rocks. He forces himself to listen in case the king decides to quiz him at the end and will only let him go alive if he aces the test. And he’s overthinking again. 

“As you know, my son has been kept away from most affairs in the public but he is ready to come forth now as the omega prince of this nation.” 

Yeonjun perks up at that because he knows omegas are rare in the royal family and it would be a bit of a leap to assume that he had several omega sons but Yeonjun could also be wrong. “And with that comes the potential of unmated alpha’s attempting to… ruin his chastity,” Yeonjun suddenly feels his stomach flip and he bites down on his tongue as the king continues to speak. 

“You are tasked to make sure this stays intact as I deem him ready to be courted,” Yeonjun blinks partly in shock and in disgust. 

It’s a culture shock (or a time shock? Yeonjun doesn’t fucking know) to hear that an omega cannot even choose when they’re ready to be courted. In his time omegas didn’t wait for alphas to declare them ready to be courted. Yeonjun tries to understand that he’s just going to have to go on with it because this is Goryeo now and if he fights it it’ll probably not work out the way he wants it to. 

“If any harm comes to him, it will be personal between us, Choi Yeonjun.” the king warns and Yeonjun’s palms go sweaty. 

Yeonjun knows the prince dies. He knows he’ll somehow come into harms way and now he knows that even if he succeeds in keeping him alive the king might behead him for getting him hurt. 

“I understand,” he answers and the king relaxes back into his chair. 

“You may let him in now,” the king calls out in his booming voice and Yeonjun suddenly stiffens when the doors opposite to the ones he entered through are opened and a single figure walks in.

Yeonjun feels like he can’t breathe. 

He walks with his head held high, his eyes never once glancing his way as he makes his way to stand by the side of his father. 

Yeonjun stares and feels fingers tremble. 

He’s seen Beomgyu for fourteen years in his dream and he looks the same. He’s the same visage of perfection. 

His hair is dark and spills down his shoulders and halfway down his back, half of it pulled up to rest below the crown of his head in a lose bun. Yeonjun’s throat feels tight when he spots the jade hair pin in the back of his hair. It looks more vibrant, polished to the point it could probably show his reflection if he got too close. The carved flowers are still there but unlike the one he saw at the museum, they’re gilded with gold, standing out against the rest of the jade pin.

Yeonjun feels like he’s sinking when he softly sniffs at the air. His hands ball up by his sides as he takes another whiff. 

For the fourteen years Yeonjun had seen Beomgyu in his dreams he had never once been able to breathe in his scent. But now, god, now he can. 

The freshness of oranges hits him first and it washes over him like a soothing wave before the intoxicating hints of blooming jasmine hits his nose. He wants to tuck his head in his neck and breathe it in until it fills his lungs and— Yeonjun blinks when he realises it’s probably not a good place to fantasise about scenting him while the king is still paying such close attention to him. 

Beomgyu wears robes coloured in pale green and white. The neckline is higher than he remembers him usually wearing, hiding his neck from his view which really is probably a good thing because Yeonjun is frazzled right now. The sash around his waist is tightly tied behind him in a soft drooping bow and it highlights the curve of his waist and Yeonjun’s fingers twitch at the remembrance of how it felt to hold him there.   

Maybe it would be better if he got to stand around and do absolutely nothing as he guarded a few rocks because Beomgyu’s got him in a damn chokehold and he isn’t even acknowledging his existence right now. 

“Introduce yourself,” the kings voice is light, soft as he speaks to Beomgyu. It’s almost as if he’s talking to a child. Yeonjun can see from here that the king genuinely does think Beomgyu is precious. The king looks at him with a certain fondness and he fights his smile as Beomgyu hesitates the slightest bit before turning to Yeonjun and bowing his head. 

Yeonjun pretty much folds himself in half in return. 

“Aegis, I am the twelfth prince. I am pleased to met your acquaintance. I hope you will be a filial aegis.”

Yeonjun bows once more and the king cracks out a laugh. “You are to follow him everywhere he goes, is this understood?” The king regards him much colder than before and Yeonjun straightens up and breathes in before nodding. 

“I understand.” he responds and he watches as Beomgyu quietly shuffles in his place. His fingers poke out of his long sleeves and Yeonjun looks away. Goryeo sweater paws? It’s still cute here in this time. 

“You are to move into your new residence today. I have already alerted the attendants to be ready for your arrival. But now, you are already on duty.” The king then turns his attention to Beomgyu. “I heard you had a robe fitting today?” 

“Yes, Father,” Beomgyu says, his head bowed. 

“I must take my leave,” the king stands from his throne and walks down the few steps that lead up to the chair. “Do take care.” he tells Beomgyu and then he’s walking past Yeonjun and through the doors Beomgyu entered through. 

Yeonjun goes to open his mouth, say something about he’s looking forward to being his aegis as Beomgyu had called him, but Beomgyu is sauntering past him without even sparing him a look. Yeonjun blinks a few times before his body catches up and he hurries to his side. 

Yeonjun isn’t sure if he’s supposed to do anything. Does Beomgyu expect him to just live in his shadow and only come out when danger was present? Because Yeonjun genuinely doesn’t think he can do that. He’s standing right by him, his scent of freshly cut oranges bursting in his nose followed by the softness of jasmine. He had thought about what his scent was like for years, especially after his own alpha had awoken when he was fifteen, but he had never expected it to be this good. Yeonjun feels like he’s freshly awoken again and his instincts are bustling underneath his skin. 

But Yeonjun can control himself. He thinks he has pretty good control over his alpha and he can’t just let a pretty omega prince from Goryeo shatter that. 

He looks over at him and finds his jaw clenched, his eyes hard as he stares ahead at him. His scent doesn’t give anything away and Yeonjun is a little bit more than confused because he seems so different. The Beomgyu in his dreams didn’t ignore him then. In fact, he’s had many dreams where he was the centre of his attention. 

“I must ask you to keep some distance, Aegis,” Beomgyu says. His tone is gruff, his voice not as smooth and soft like it usually was in the dreams.

Yeonjun blinks and stops. The prince continues to walk ahead without him and Yeonjun stares at his figure before he trails behind him with a sigh. 

He stays a few steps behind him as he follows him to his destination. He can still smell his scent clearly and he allows himself to wallow in the scent he has imagined for so long. 

Beomgyu walks with purpose as he winds through gardens and courtyards, past brightly painted buildings. He ignores every single palace attendant that passes them. His own attendants are scurrying behind Yeonjun, all shuffling behind him with practice.

He eventually comes to a slower pace once they pass through a gateway painted red and a large cluster of traditional buildings stretch before him. The largest building is tucked in the middle, surrounded by smaller replicas of itself. The wood lining the walls and reaching up and curving with the roof is painted a bright teal, the pillars and architraves decorated with intricate paintings. The plaque on the doors in the middle of the building is written in Chinese characters and Yeonjun is so fucking glad that his parents made him take classes in high school. It had sucked back then but now living and breathing in the Goryeo period it’s quite convenient. Though he’s nowhere fluent he still reads what it says with not much hassle. 

“The Jade Palace,” he reads quietly. 

They’re really doing a hell of a lot to pass this Jade Prince agenda. Yeonjun follows the prince up the stairs of the large building and without warning Beomgyu turns and faces him. There’s a frown on his face, his lips pulled into a small grimace. 

The attendants hurry up the stairs and open the doors, most of them spilling inside to sort things out for him. 

Yeonjun stares at the prince, speechless. 

“Let’s state some rules,” the prince says. “Five steps away at all times. Do not meddle with my affairs. Just stand back and do your job,” it’s not friendly but it’s not entirely hostile either. But it still makes Yeonjun’s gut twist because this is not the Beomgyu he knows. 

He had thought he had an understanding of him through his dreams but these past few minutes he’s spent in his company are leaving him jarred. He’s still in shock from landing his ass in Goryeo and for seeing him in the flesh for real this time. 

The prince saunters through the open doors and Yeonjun wordlessly follows him. 

Yeonjun had expected their first meeting to go differently. He’s not exactly sure what he thought it would look like but maybe the prince would acknowledge his existence before turning to him and spitting out rules. He had hoped that the prince would’ve been a bit more welcoming to him becoming his guard. And maybe it hurts just that bit more because of how he’s viewed him all this time? 

The prince stops in an open room where several people are waiting, their heads bowed a fraction as he walks in. He watches as Beomgyu stops in the entryway of the room, gazing around before he fists his hands into the silk that flows down his legs and goes to the middle of the room. 

“My prince, we’ve been asked to make your robes for the banquet the king is to hold soon,” an older beta woman speaks slowly as she looks at the omega prince. Yeonjun slips into the room and stays close to the doors and hopes it’s far enough for Beomgyu. 

“Yes, I’ve heard,” Beomgyu replies and carefully extends his arms either side of him. “You may take my measurements,” he says, his eyes staring ahead at the doors. 

Yeonjun can’t help it but stare at him. His eyes are large and dark, his lashes long enough to brush the tops of his cheekbones when he blinks. His lips are still pulled in a grimace but they look so soft… Yeonjun gulps and tears his eyes away. It’s different now to gaze at him and take in his beauty. In his dreams Yeonjun was nothing but a host of his past selfs mind. His inward actions weren’t visible through his physical self but now it’s not the case. Now he controls his body and his mind at the same time. 

Those moments where he had wished to reach out and bring him into his arms, feel his warmth against him as he held him are possible now. He’s so close to him. He’s closer than he’s ever been to the Jade Prince but he’s still so far away. He’s transcended time to be here and he’s merely half a room away from him but he seems untouchable. 

The prince tenses each time the seamstress touches him and wraps her measuring tape around his body to gather his measurements. His mouth finally releases the grimace to bite down softly on his bottom lip. 

“Court Lady Lee,” the prince speaks as the seamstress measures the length of his outstretched arm. An older beta woman that is standing beside the prince perks up, bowing to say she's listening. “Please, will you show the Aegis to his room?” the woman’s eyes widen the slightest bit and Yeonjun stands up straighter, a furrow appearing between his brows. 

“Of course, my prince,” Court Lady Lee bows once more to the prince and then walks over to Yeonjun, standing in front of him and cocking an eyebrow at him when he doesn’t move. 

Yeonjun wants to open his mouth and protest because the king has given him orders to guard his son. He made it quite clear he was to stay with him wherever he went. 

The prince notices the lack of movement and sighs. “Aegis, go,” There’s no explanation and Yeonjun is torn between listening to him or doing what the king has asked him. He really doesn’t know who he’s supposed to listen to over the other. Probably the king but he sees how Beomgyu is frowning and he catches the slightest change in his scent, nothing notable but Yeonjun smells it anyway. 

Yeonjun knows there are other guards stationed at various points within the palace and around the princes abode, he had learnt things from all the research he had done when he wasn’t dreaming of him. He decides that it’s probably better for him to do what Beomgyu has asked of him because he’d hate to get on his nerves on his first day. 

So he follows Court Lady Lee out of the room Beomgyu is in and through the halls of the prince's home. It’s spacious and it contains the lingering scent of oranges. 

“You look to be a strong alpha,” Court Lady Lee says as they exit the Jade Palace. Yeonjun purses his lips. “The prince is… a difficult one.” 

Yeonjun arches an eyebrow. “I do not think it is proper to speak about him like that,” Yeonjun comments and the beta gives him a look. 

“I was not speaking to insult the Jade Prince,” she says. “I must merely give you a warning.” 

Yeonjun had a picture of what the Jade Prince was like. In his dreams he spoke in a softer tone, he held a certain melancholy aura around him. This Beomgyu hasn’t spoken much but when he has it’s been harsh, impatient. He seems proud by the way he walked with purpose and with his head held high. He doesn’t remind Yeonjun of the omega he dreamt of. 

Maybe Soobin has thrown him into the wrong timeline?

“Wait,” Yeonjun almost reaches for her shoulder as she walks towards one of the smaller replicas of Beomgyu’s estate. “Maybe… would it possible if you told me a little bit more about the prince?” The beta purses her lips in thought before she opens the doors to what Yeonjun assumes is to be his home now. It’s barely ten meters away from the building Beomgyu is in, which means it’s close enough for him to hurry back over if anything was to happen while he was here. 

“I suppose it may help you to know more about the prince,” she nods as she gestures for him to enter. It’s not small but it’s not an overly big space. There’s enough room for him to roll out a sleeping mat and stretch out comfortably enough for his height. There’s only one room but it’s rather nice. 

“The prince is the twelfth son of our king and the only omega that has been born into the royal family in decades,” Yeonjun had expected him to have omega sisters or something. He hadn’t realised how rare omegas were to find in royal families. “His mother, the Queen Consort, was an alpha,” Yeonjun blinks at the news. Female alphas were rarely queens, it was typically a title held for betas and omegas with strong family lines behind them. Pregnancies were rare in female alphas and the fact Beomgyu had been born as an omega from two alphas? It’s impossibly rare. 

“The Queen Consort unfortunately did not survive the birth,” she seems forlorn as she speaks. “He was raised by several court ladies that have swapped since he was young since the other queens didn’t wish to raise an omega prince. He did not present in the typical way, however. His heats were late and until they came he was unable to attend to the omega duties,” Yeonjun feels like that's a whole lot of information he does not need to know. His feels his cheeks heat but the court lady doesn’t even bat an eyelid. “He grew up with most of his brothers, a bad influence for a young omega,” Yeonjun frowns at that. Because his others were betas and alphas and he an unawakened omega it was suddenly looked down upon for him to spend time with his brothers?

Yeonjun definitely isn’t suited to this time period.

“But now he is learning the arts of omegas and will soon be ready for mating,” she bows her head before gesturing to the room. “I shall take my leave. If the prince wishes to go somewhere I shall send an attendant over to fetch you. We all understand how important your job is even if the prince doesn’t understand it. An unmated omega is tempting to most,” she says before leaving him alone. 

❀

A younger attendant calls out to him around an hour later. Her eyes are wide when he opens the door and she blinks up at him before shuffling and pointing to the Jade Palace. “The prince wishes to go on a walk,” she tells him quietly. 

Yeonjun blinks at her a few times before he realises he’s meant to follow her to the prince. He hums in response and wipes his suddenly sweaty palms down the dark fabric running down his sides. “Of course,” he gives her a light smile and her cheeks flush before she scurries away to the Jade Palace. He follows after her and looks out for the prince so he can stop a reasonable distance away. As much as it makes him feel better to be closer to Beomgyu, the prince has made it quite clear he doesn’t want him close and if it makes him that little bit more open to Yeonjun’s continuous company, so be it. Yeonjun can stay five steps behind him if that’s what it takes.

The seamstress is still there when he arrives. She’s still showing Beomgyu different fabrics, all in an array of colours and different hand painted patterns on the silk. Yeonjun waits outside of the open door, listening as the seamstress and Beomgyu talk quietly over the fabrics. 

It reminds him of all the times he ever saw Beomgyu in his dreams. He was always dressed in different colours, but he always ended up draped in jade coloured silk more often than not. The sight of him in pale green and white is ingrained in his brain, just like the colours he wears now. His title is befitting of him. 

Yeonjun is brought out of his mind when he suddenly sees the prince standing before him, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looks at him. 

He looks at him up and down and sneers lightly. Yeonjun feels small beneath his gaze and his palms grow even more sweaty with the way he’s so clearly judging him. His distaste is so obvious and Yeonjun would say he’s a rather confident person usually, but right now he feels all types of insecure as the omega gazes at him. 

The prince walks past him, his scent wafting through Yeonjun’s nose as he breezes past. There’s a subtle tang to it, a twinge of annoyance and Yeonjun fists at the sides of his robes. He falls into step behind him and he then realises that the group of attendants that were following behind him before are nowhere to be seen. 

Yeonjun doesn’t have time to question it because Beomgyu is storming out of the gateway that leads into his estate and through a garden. The bitterness in the prince's scent doesn’t disappear as they go further into the gardens. It stays and tugs at something in Yeonjun. 

The prince suddenly stops, his fingers grazing over the soft petals of the plum blossoms that hang low. He watches from five steps away as he reaches up and cups the blossom between his hands and takes a whiff at the scent. The prince's scent smoothes out and the itch in Yeonjun’s hands eases at the way his scent relaxes. 

There’s a muffled mix of voices coming from the wall behind them and Beomgyu tears his eyes from the flower, gently releases it and looks down at the ground, biting onto his bottom lip in what appears to be apprehension. He then holds his head high once more, his face going blank and he begins to walk towards the noise. 

Yeonjun follows and as they pass through an archway he sees several men sparring with wooden swords. The clang of the wood echoes in his ears and the laughter and grunts from the men mix in with the air. 

This courtyard smells strongly with the deep underlying tone of alphas. The group of men are all dressed in an array of brightly coloured silks. Some wear their hair in topknots on the crown of their skull, others have their hair like Yeonjun, half up and half down. They don’t notice them at the entrance of the courtyard, too busy trying to beat their opponents. 

Beomgyu stands still and from where Yeonjun is standing off to his side, he gets a clear view of his face. 

His eyes have softened but he doesn’t smile. He looks kind of sad actually. 

One of the alphas must catch a whiff of his scent that stands out from all the other alpha scents clogging the courtyard. He turns on his heels, searching for the omega that suddenly stiffens and that blank look masks over his face again. Yeonjun frowns. 

The alpha turns to them, the wooden sword limp at his side. The scent of green tea bursts with happiness and Yeonjun stares at Soobin who smiles broadly as he finally looks at his brother. 

“Beomgyu!” He waves and comes sprinting up to him. His shout of his name alerts the others and a shorter alpha lights up as well and hurries over to the omega prince. 

Yeonjun sees a light smile tug up on his lips as they bound over. 

“Hyungnim!” The shorter one exclaims as he stops beside Soobin who settles in front of his brother. “Taehyun, Soobin hyungnim,” Beomgyu greets quietly. “What brings you here?” Soobin then asks. None of them have yet to gaze over at Yeonjun. 

Soobin had told him he wouldn’t remember him but that hadn’t really clicked with him until now. Seeing him standing in front of him as he only acknowledges Beomgyu, he’s hit with the realisation that he really is alone here. 

Maybe he’s just being dramatic and his inner alpha is wounded by the way Beomgyu had looked at him before but he suddenly feels a little bit dizzy. 

“I was out on a walk,” Beomgyu replies and he then frowns as several of the others begin to walk over. 

Soobin gives him a soft smile that looks like it’s supposed to be reassuring but Beomgyu’s shoulders stiffen as the older men walk over. Yeonjun shuffles closer to him the slightest bit. 

“Dearest Jade Prince,” one of them says in a mocking tone. Beomgyu doesn’t give him a reaction but Soobin gives him a glare in return. He ignores Soobin and crosses his arms as he looks at his younger brother. “Out for a stroll? I thought you were busy with lessons at the moment?”

“My lessons were in the morning today,” Beomgyu tells him. 

His older brother's eyes flicker to Yeonjun standing behind him and a scoff passes through the alphas lips. Yeonjun looks back at him before turning his gaze back to Beomgyu. 

“Look here,” he coos at the omega. “You’ve got yourself a guard? To come here with you? Do you even not trust your own brothers?” Beomgyu doesn’t answer him. His brows furrow and his lips press together as if he’s trying to bite down on his tongue. 

“I’ve always thought how pathetic you are,” Soobin’s glare hardens and there’s a burst of unpleasant pheromones. He recognises Soobin’s bitter tea scent and the hint of cinnamon that was coming from Taehyun smells burnt. 

“Hyungnim!” Soobin grits out but the older alpha continues to stare at his younger omega brother. “And you continue to disappoint our family each passing day. You couldn’t even go into heat properly,” he sneers and Yeonjun sees how the Jade Prince’s ears redden and he looks down, finally breaking his stare off with his older brother as he brings up his heat. 

It’s a low blow and Yeonjun can only imagine how uncomfortable he is to be here talking about this right now. 

“Leave him alone, Hyungnim,” Soobin grits out, nudging at him. 

Yeonjun’s eyes dart between all of the princes. Most of them are quiet as they peer at Beomgyu but most of them seem to share the same mindset as the older alpha by the way they’re looking at Beomgyu. 

Soobin and Taehyun are both obviously upset and they don’t even try to hide their scents to let their brothers know they’re not happy. 

Beomgyu’s scent, however, stays the same. He must have good control over his pheromones because Yeonjun knows he can’t be comfortable with what’s going on right now. Or maybe he doesn’t want to give his brothers the satisfaction of smelling the distress on him?

“Look at this alpha,” his words are directed to Yeonjun and he clenches his jaw as the alpha sneers at him. “An unmated alpha is your guard? I could guess all the things—”

“That is enough, Hyungnim,” Beomgyu finally says. He looks up at him, his brows furrowed. 

He looks over at Soobin and Taehyun and his nose twitches at the their angry scents. He gives them a soft smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes. The younger alphas relax slightly at the smile given to them but their scents are still pungent. 

Beomgyu turns around and heads for the archway they entered through. Yeonjun follows after him and just as they’re passing through, the alpha calls out to the prince. 

“You cannot keep running away from everything, Beomgyu!” he calls and Beomgyu stops for a few seconds, his hands pulling at the skirts of his robes before he walks away. 

And as soon as they’re far enough away from the courtyard his scent suddenly explodes. The oranges have gone all acidic and it burns at Yeonjun’s nose. He has to fight every muscle in his body responding to the omegas distressed pheromones to make himself stay away from him. 

Yeonjun hadn’t expected this when he met Soobin in the plane of darkness. He supposes he doesn’t know what he had thought was waiting for him, but it was something closer to the dreams. With a Beomgyu that could look at him without sneering. A prince that called him by his name instead of pretending he wasn’t there. With a prince that looked at him and asked for his protection. 

But Yeonjun is here to protect him whether he likes it or not because Yeonjun knows how things turn out and he will not relive the moment he comes across his limp body bleeding out into the wet earth. 

Chapter Text

The first night he spends in Goryeo he sits awake, his mind not allowing him to shut it off as he thinks of everything that has happened in the last twenty four hours. God, it hasn’t even been twenty four hours since he somehow descended space and time. In the early afternoon Yeonjun had been living in the twenty-first century as a successful dancer until he had gone deranged over the prince that is probably asleep in the building that’s ten meters from his own residence. He’d been beaten by a stupid ditch and a rock . The memory of his body tumbling down the side of the mountain sends a shiver down his spine and his head pulses where his skull had collided with the rock. 

His hair is unbound and spills all over his shoulders and down his back. He’s tucked in the silky blankets and staring at the paper lantern that's flickering with soft orange light. 

Everything is so different. 

Yeonjun had truly realised how major the differences in life are in the two time periods that he’s lived in. 

His dinner was brought to his room after Beomgyu had retired to his room after he escorted him back after his run in with his brothers. There was a good amount of food and it sits comfortably in his stomach now but the various side dishes of vegetables and the little serving of chicken sitting in flavourful broth had reminded him that he didn’t have a say in what he wanted to eat. Food was harder to come by in this era and what he got was what he got. 

The realisation that he’s never going to have ramen again had maybe left him with teary eyes. Maybe . And coffee, god, Yeonjun practically survived off of coffee. Coffee wouldn’t be introduced to the peninsula until the late Joseon period—which is several hundred years away—and he mourns that realisation. He just hopes he won’t go through the withdrawals of not having coffee, but Yeonjun suspects this isn’t the same body he used in his last life (past life? Future life?) because how the hell can he explain the hair any other way?

And now he can’t sleep because he knows that he’s left everything behind him. He tries to not ponder on it because he knows if he had chosen to not come here he would’ve died anyway but it’s just so… odd to be here in the place he dreamt of for so long. 

He had felt so lost in Seoul. He lived each day with an ache in his chest that never disappeared once it appeared fourteen years ago. But that tiny pang of pain disappeared the moment he had fallen through worlds to get to Beomgyu. But it’s been replaced with something else. He wished he had said goodbye to his parents and called his cousin one last time. 

Maybe they simply don’t exist just yet. It’s plausible he supposes. He is living in what he knows as the past so maybe it’s not so much of a jump to assume that it’s just not their time to live yet.

Yeonjun sighs softly, his fingers dragging over the soft fabric that covers his body. He lays down, his head pressing down onto the stiff pillow and tries to shut his eyes. 

He has a purpose here now. He’s been tasked to save Beomgyu by Soobin, who had been so distraught over the thought of him. Seeing him today, Yeonjun knows he can trust the prince like Soobin in the void plane had said. And it’s not just the Soobin in the darkness that had given him something to do. The king of this nation has entrusted him to protect his son. From what, Yeonjun isn’t so certain yet but he has some knowledge on what happens. 

It could be all wrong, though. Because the prince is certainly not the prince he had dreamt about. Maybe this is a whole new alternate reality and Soobin really has thrown him down into the wrong universe? 

Yeonjun rolls onto his side and clutches the blankets close to his chest. His eyelids are heavy though his mind weighs heavier, so he sinks into sleep, exhausted from both the day's events and the mental exhaustion he’s put himself through. 

❀

He rises with the sun the next morning. There’s no black out blinds in these days and the sunlight pours through the paper that's slotted between the gaps in the patterns of the wooden walls. There’s also no clocks so Yeonjun has no idea what time he had gone to bed but he supposes it had been rather early because all he had done was eat dinner after it was brought to him and think until his brain felt ready to burst. 

His breakfast is brought to him after he packs up his bedding and Yeonjun tries to smooth down his hair and fails because when he opens his door and a young beta attendant is waiting for him with his breakfast tray, she giggles at the sight of him. 

He already knows it’s going to be a menace. 

“Your breakfast, Aegis,” she says, still eyeing the bird’s nest on his head. Yeonjun feels his own face flush and he takes the tray, taking her with a short bow but she doesn’t leave. 

“My name is Miyoung,” she introduces herself and Yeonjun blinks before bowing once more at her. “I have been tasked to assist you.” 

Yeonjun blinks at her again and she smiles softly. “I am your attendant, Aegis,” she tells him. “Excuse me?” He mutters. Did he hear her right? An attendant for himself? Yeonjun isn’t so certain about that. 

“I’m your attendant, Aegis,” she repeats and points to him. “I am to look after you so you can focus on the Jade Prince.” 

“Attendant?” He repeats and steps aside when Miyoung shuffles to move inside his room. He’s sure he seems like an idiot right now with his hair and how he’s been stuck in a loop since he’s opened the door. 

“Yes,” she replies patiently. “I will bring you your meals and help you with things so you do not take any time off from the Jade Prince.” She picks up the bundle of bedding and refolds it until she deems it suitable and Yeonjun isn’t sure if he should be offended. 

“Aegis,” She sighs looking over at him. “Is it so hard to understand? You are an alpha with a very important job now. You shall receive my help.” 

Maybe Yeonjun is too modern for all this. He’s used to taking care of himself; he can fold his own bedding and put it away. Sure he doesn’t have a kitchen but he thought the delivery service was kind of nice to be honest but he doesn’t need his own attendant to take care of him. 

“Now, sit down and eat your breakfast and I shall sort out that hair of yours,” Yeonjun frowns at her and goes to fight her but she gives him a glare. “I will not go away, Aegis. Sit.” 

Yeonjun slowly places the tray down and sits before it. His scent spikes in the air, a warning when her hands pull his dark hair to his back. She doesn’t flinch at the release of his pheromones and grabs a comb from out of absolutely fucking nowhere and begins to brush through his hair. 

“I can tell you’ve had a good sleep, Aegis,” she says as he picks up a clump of rice with the metal chopsticks and plops it into his mouth. He picks up the shallow bowl filled with tea and takes a long gulp. His eyes almost bulge out of his head at the bitterness that coats his tongue and he barely keeps it inside his mouth. 

“Hmm. One can tell that you’ve never taken that before,” she chuckles as she forces a particularly painful knot from his long hair. “What?” Yeonjun tries to look back at her but her hands force his head straight. “It is to help keep your… alpha urges down.” 

“What the fuck?” He mumbles as he gazes down at the liquid. He places it back down and eats the braised spinach in a white dish instead. He knew that there were a few plants that naturally acted as suppressants, though they were nowhere near as powerful as the ones available in the market in the future. It’s kind of insulting that they’ve given him the suppressant tea because he is not about to jump Beomgyu like some crazed alpha. He knows control and simple respect . Sure, Beomgyu smells good and his inner alpha might find him attractive but Yeonjun knows what boundaries are and he also knows not to fucking cross them. And where is the consent in this time? 

He eats the rest of his breakfast and leaves the stupid tea alone. Number one because he doesn’t need a tea to calm his inner alpha. He is quite capable of doing that himself because unlike most people in this time, Yeonjun understands consent. And two, it tastes like fucking mud, so, no he’s not about to down it. He takes a sip of water instead of the stupid tea.

Instead of putting his hair into the style he had yesterday when he not so gracefully plummeted into Goryeo, Miyoung secures the thick mess of his hair into a ponytail at the back of his head with a dark blue ribbon. The front of his hair is a little shorter and slips out of the ponytail and frames his face but Miyoung deems it acceptable and disappears in the room only to come back with a set of robes. 

Yeonjun hurries to his feet, finishing off the rest of his rice with haste. His cheeks are still full with the remainder of his breakfast when he reaches for the robes. 

“I can do it myself,” he tells her because there are limitations he’s going to put on this attendant business because it’s weird for him, a twenty-first century man to have an attendant. 

She gives in to his demand and steps outside with the now empty tray while Yeonjun fights with all the fucking layers. The only time he wore hanboks was on special events with his family like their chuseok celebrations and then those were Joseon styled hanboks so naturally he struggles a bit. 

Eventually it all comes together and after Miyoung asks for the fourth time if he needs help, she comes back in, deems him presentable and then passes him a bowl filled with water and a gloop of some nasty looking dark paste on what looks like… a toothbrush? Yeonjun inwardly squeals at the sight of it and takes it from her and sticks it into his mouth with little hesitation. 

He knows it’s charcoal mixed with something but it doesn’t taste that bad and Yeonjun is just glad he doesn’t have to give up on his oral hygiene in this period. Once he’s done he swirls the water in his mouth for a while, hoping to get rid of all the blackness coating his teeth and spits it back into the bowl when Miyoung gives him a pointed look and gestures back to the bowl. 

“Wonderful,” she concludes. “Now you can head over to the prince. I will be back when the prince's lunch is to be served.” 

And with that she walks away, leaving Yeonjun standing in the doorway of his room. 

Yeonjun gets himself together and steps out into the cool morning. There’s a basin of water left on his step so he crouches and cups his hands together before splashing his face, rubbing the crust of sleep out of the corners of his eyes and soothes his heated cheeks that are still warm from his previous annoyance.

Water drips down his chin as he stands and he wipes it off with his navy coloured sleeve. The morning has barely settled in and Yeonjun wonders if Beomgyu is even awake yet but his feet are taking him to his residence before he can even think about it. 

One of the prince's attendants answers his knock on the door. She peers through the crack in the door and her eyes widen. “Aegis!” She’s clearly flustered as she bows deeply before she steps aside so Yeonjun can walk in. 

“The prince is just finishing getting dressed,” she tells him and Yeonjun nods once and settles beside the door waiting for him. The attendant scurries back and not even a minute later Beomgyu emerges. The left side of his hair is swept out of his face behind a hair pin made of silver and sparkling blue gems. His silk robes are pale blue with a deep indigo, the neckline still covering his neck like yesterday. He’s just as pretty as he was yesterday and Yeonjun thinks there will never be a day where he’s rendered speechless when he first sees him. 

Beomgyu sees him but quickly averts his eyes, pretending he hadn’t even seen him. And not to be a stupid prideful alpha, but it hurts Yeonjun a bit. 

He storms out of the Jade Palace with a huff and Yeonjun follows behind him quickly, the attendants scurrying to keep a reasonable pace behind Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu walks fast through the main palace and doesn’t even spare a glance at the blossom trees he had seemed to like from what Yeonjun had witnessed yesterday. 

He only slows once they reach a set of stone stairs that lead up into a set of buildings. Even from the lower level Yeonjun can see the scholars bustling in the courtyard. They bow their heads at the prince when he steps up to the level and Yeonjun frowns because even he had been given a better bow than that by Beomgyu’s attendants.

He follows the prince who enters the first building on their left with confidence and is met with the scent of freshly ground ink and parchment hanging in the air. 

“Ah!” An older man's voice sounds out and this time he gives Beomgyu a proper bow, bent at the waist as he enters. “My prince, you have arrived early,” the old man is clearly a beta by his scent that hangs thinly around him. He smiles a genuine smile at Beomgyu who only bows his head slightly in return. 

“I was in a hurry for our lesson this morning,” Beomgyu replies, his voice smooth and low. 

The old beta chuckles softly. “Yes. You indeed have a talent for what you do.” He praises the prince earnestly but there is no reaction from Beomgyu. Not even a note of happiness twinges from his scent. 

“Shall we sit outside today, Jade Prince? The weather is quite nice this morning,” he watches the prince carefully who nods in response. 

“It is quite a fine morning,” he agrees. The old beta rushes across the room and opens a set of doors that lead to a balcony. 

“I have already set up, my prince, if you would follow me,” he gestures for him to walk out to the balcony and Yeonjun watches him as he walks with smaller steps and out into the morning air. There are two low seats set up, both cushioned and with several sheets of parchment and bowls of coloured inks and paper weights. 

The prince sits down quietly and Yeonjun settles of to his side while the rest of his attendants pile in and line up near the balconies doors. 

“Today, I thought reading poetry while you paint shall be a good practice. What do you think, My prince?” The beta is attentive to Beomgyu but the prince is cold when he answers back; “That is fine.” 

He is curt and quick with his answers but the prince’s teacher must be well accustomed to Beomgyu’s acts because he simply continues on without seeming to take offence to his bluntness. 

The prince picks up a brush with a delicate hand and with his other hand, he gently rolls up his sleeve before he tips it into a bowl of water and then into the black ink. His teacher begins to recite poetry but Yeonjun doesn’t pay attention to what the beta is saying. He watches the prince instead as he paints a soft stroke extending from the side of the paper to the middle.

Yeonjun is mesmerised as he watches Beomgyu work. His strokes change and soon a painting begins to bloom across the paper. He paints each plum blossom in great detail, paying attention to the delicate touch of the petals. He paints a single butterfly hovering above a plum blossom and once he makes one last stoke on the butterfly’s wings, he places the brush down and leans back, looking up at his teacher expectantly. 

If it’s praise he’s looking for, he gets it. 

His teacher gasps out as he wanders over and picks up the sheet of paper, admiring the painting. It is pretty and captures the scene beautifully in black and white and even Yeonjun admires it. Beomgyu doesn’t flinch at the praise. He sits perfectly still, his face blank and void of any emotion. 

It’s obvious the beta’s praise is not empty but truly genuine by the way his eyes shine has he takes in the ink painting in his hands. It is a painting worth the applause that his teacher gives him and if Yeonjun was in his place he would sink into the compliments. He had back in the twenty-first century when he had painted Beomgyu’s eyes and the blur of colours he saw as he ran through hallways. He had beamed as his own teacher had patted his head and gushed about the colours he had used. But Beomgyu does not preen or even bat an eyelid.

It becomes a common theme throughout the day. 

Yeonjun escorts the prince to his lessons and watches him from the side. 

The princes gayaguem teacher is a prickly old woman who sneers at the prince most of the time. Her lips are kept in an unamused snarl most of the time but Beomgyu doesn’t react at all. His fingers glide over the twelve strings, plucking them gently and coaxing a melody from the instrument that lays across his lap. 

He creates a melody that sounds sorrowful, the echoing notes of the gayaguem vibrating through the air hauntingly. Yeonjun watches his fingers as they dance across strings, pulling softly and shaking his fingers to stretch out the notes. When his fingers finally lift from the instrument, Beomgyu’s hands shake softly but he stops it quickly, but Yeonjun notices it.

His teacher regards him with an arched brow, her lips pursed before she begins to nod, a smile finally appearing over her face.

“I knew you had it in you, my prince,” she tells him, her voice lifting from its scratchy tone. “Your hands are perfect to play to gayaguem, so thin and delicate.” The prince pushes the instrument away and stands to his feet. 

His face doesn’t give away anything at all. There’s a perpetual look of tiredness over him that cloaks his face from emotion, that hides his body language. He’s impossibly hard to read which frustrates Yeonjun even though it’s been a day since he’s landed here.

Beomgyu regards his teacher with a small bow of his head before he’s walking away, soft blue silk fluttering behind him. 

There’s a hardened edge to him, a cold rigid feeling that encases him and keeps everything inside him. He had barely broken out of the icy shell when he bumped into his brothers. Only the slight furrow in his brows had shown Yeonjun that he wasn’t impressed at the time but he had only realised how upset he was about it all when he had allowed his scent to sour. Maybe he genuinely forgot Yeonjun was there or perhaps he simply doesn’t care about his existence. Yeonjun is leaning towards the latter. 

But maybe there’s something deeper about it all? Because he refuses to believe the Beomgyu in his dreams isn’t this Beomgyu or maybe he really is just too caught up over him to truly see the difference between them? 

There has to be something else. The prince's title fits him all too well or maybe it’s simply ironic? Because the prince is lacklustre to the prince he thought he knew. He’s unenthusiastic in the way he responds., apathetic in the way he regards people, indifferent to the way he has ignored every compliment and Yeonjun’s existence. 

And maybe it’s some sick and twisted joke by calling him the Jade Prince. Maybe it’s not just because he looks stunning in the pale green and white, when the precious mineral adorns his thin fingers, sitting in the hollow of his throat, pinned in his hair and hanging from his earlobes? Was being called a precious gem by the king—his own father— a jest? A poke at him?

 Because the Jade Prince is jaded.

He may be beautiful like raw jade but he’s crystallised at the edges like an unpolished piece. Not yet tumbled and refined. But that makes him all the more radiant. 

And Yeonjun wants to know why. Why he is so aloof and far away? He seems untouchable in so many ways to Yeonjun. First there’s the barrier of time, his title as a prince, his desire to wish Yeonjun simply wasn’t there. It’s also the fact that Yeonjun has dreamt about him. 

He was so stupid for looking too far into it. Yeonjun had seen the omega in his dreams and ran with it, psychoanalyse every little detail he had taken in and conjured up an alternate reality. He had missed the important things like why he was seeing these memories and if they meant something to what will eventually happen— Beomgyu’s death. 

Right . He’s here to protect him not to try to wrap his mind around the enigma that the Jade Prince is. 

His feet stop when the flurry of layered blue silk suddenly stops and floats down to rest like soft waves around the Jade Prince. Beomgyu has stopped in the middle of a path lined with trees and a large pond off to the side. 

But he hasn’t stopped to admire flowers to paint next or to gaze out at the water that ripples in the soft breeze. His scent travels in the wind and right into Yeonjun’s lungs. For the briefest second the bitterness of anxiety pierces his nose and his muscles twitch in response but the next time he breathes in, it’s gone, buried beneath layers of sweet orange and fresh jasmine. 

Several of the other princes are ahead in the path, walking together to Beomgyu who has stopped at the sight of them. 

Yeonjun has half the mind to suddenly appear in front of Beomgyu and led him down another path because the conversation they had yesterday still weighs heavily in his own mind. And as much as Beomgyu might act so cold, it has to affect him. But Yeonjun stays where he is because he knows Beomgyu won’t listen to him and maybe he intimidates him a little bit. Maybe a bit more than a little bit. 

The difference from their last meeting makes Yeonjun even more apprehensive about Beomgyu sticking around and talking to his brothers. Both Soobin and Taehyun aren’t there but the older alpha that had mocked Beomgyu more than anything is there. Smirking at his younger omega brother as he saunters towards him at the front of the group of princes. 

“Have you finished lessons for today, little brother?” He calls out as he nears him. His scent is strong and he exudes more pheromones than he needs to, a sign of dominance and blank arrogance from Yeonjun’s point of view. 

Beomgyu’s fingers softly intertwine with his long sleeves, tugging at it as he looks at his elder brother. “Third brother,” he bows at him, this time at the waist and not the half-assed bows he’s been giving to his tutors all day. Yeonjun notices the difference. His teachers were not alphas. His brother, however, is. 

The third prince gives him a lazy smile. He oozes confidence and his scent is overwhelming to the point where it’s beginning to grate at Yeonjun’s nerves. Beomgyu continues to fiddle with his sleeves discreetly. 

“We were just about to go to the archery field,” he tells him with a glint in his eye. It’s nothing short of mocking. 

Beomgyu looks at him and gives him a nod. “I hope it is an enjoyable time,” he tells him and the alpha cocks a brow at him. 

“I suppose it will. Say, little brother, will you accompany us? It would be my pleasure to shoot for you.” 

Beomgyu’s shoulders tense the slightest bit and he finally lets go of his sleeves. 

“If you insist,” he says coolly. 

The third prince smiles and he begins to walk forwards. Beomgyu takes a step back too quickly for Yeonjun to move out of the way and instead of Beomgyu turning to him for bumping into him in a fury, his third brother reaches out and catches him by his shoulder, pulling the omega closer to his side. 

Beomgyu’s eyes are wider when Yeonjun gets a look at his face than they usually are and he watches uneasily as the alphas fingers dip in the crook of his neck, his wrist smoothly gliding over the silk a he wears and drops it back to his shoulder as he laughs. 

“You must be careful, brother,” he looks right into Yeonjun’s eyes at that moment, smirking as if it was a personal threat to Yeonjun that he had just scented his brother. He walks forwards and Yeonjun and the line of attendants behind him turn to the side to give them room on the path. Beomgyu walks next to his brother who keeps a firm hand on his shoulder as they walk. 

Yeonjun is forced to walk behind the group of princes with Beomgyu’s attendants. It makes him uneasy being so far from him and he feels antsy when he realises he can’t even hear what they’re talking about. 

But by the way Beomgyu settles on one of the chairs his fifth brother drags over for him off to the side of the archery podium where the group of his brothers stand, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. His eyes are harder than they usually are and there’s the faintest hint of acid in his scent that to anyone that didn’t know his resting scent would think it was normal. It doesn’t help that the deep tone of amber clings to him as well, disguising his own scent in the strong alpha scent. But Yeonjun picks it up.

Beomgyu watches as his brothers talk together up on the podium before they take their shots. They all make bullseyes most times and laugh with each other at something someone has said.

It’s sad, Yeonjun thinks. Beomgyu is forced to sit here and watch them laugh and play around together without being able to join in. 

And each time his third brother goes to shoot, he peers over at Beomgyu and gives him that taunting smile before he lets the arrow go. 

It’s meant to be tantalising Yeonjun realises with a bit of shock. The way he had scented him and made him sit and watch them as they shot together—there is nothing wholesome about Beomgyu being invited to watch his brothers participate in activities he is refrained from. It’s almost like it’s a reminder to put him in his place as an omega. The scent that clings to him is overbearing, not done to be soothing but to purposefully taunt him for this very moment. 

It’s to torment him and show him everything that he doesn’t have. That he can’t laugh and play with his brothers just because of his sub gender. It’s unfair and cruel, but Beomgyu continues to sit there, clapping each time his brothers hit a bullseye because that’s what a good omega would do. It makes Yeonjun feel sick and without even noticing, his own scent flares up. Beomgyu’s nose twitches at it when he catches a hint of the rising storm brewing in his scent and Yeonjun quickly pulls it together because he doesn’t want to add to the problem. 

Yeonjun knows from Court Lady Lee that Beomgyu is not just the only omega prince but the only omega to be born into the royal family for decades. That means he doesn’t even have a sister to confide in and be friendly with. There is no one for him and this is meant to be a personal reminder of that fact. 

He had understood from the history books he had read and the brief history lessons in school that royal omegas were rare and uncommon and had been thought to be treated unfairly, but this is something else entirely. 

“See, Jade Prince,” His third brother smiles as he steps down from the podium. “We all shoot much better when there is an omega cheering for us,” and Yeonjun wants to throttle him. He’d like to pound his face into his skull and wipe that smugness from him. And his fucking scent, god it sits heavily in the air and it’s meant to be overpowering and when Beomgyu’s shoulders start to cave in, he finally pulls it back in like that’s all he had wanted in the first place. A sign of submission. Even as small as it was, it was enough for the cocky alpha prince. 

“It is nice to see you finally act like a proper omega,” his brother coos just as his fifth and seventh brother go to their elder brother’s side. His fourth and sixth brother hang behind them a few steps, watching. 

He doesn’t hide the annoyance in his voice and his scent expresses his disappointment. 

“Thank you, Hyungnim,” is what Beomgyu replies and Yeonjun’s fists shake. His jaw is clenched tightly as he tries to calm himself down. 

The prince doesn’t deserve this at all. Even with as much as he’s expressed he’s not fond of Yeonjun, he wants so badly to speak up and get in there and yell at how he deserves so much more. But he can’t. Because this is Goryeo and these are princes and he is nothing but a man from a different time where omegas are not viewed like this and the monarchy no longer exists. But here the royals reign, viewed as beings closer to the heavens and above others. And omegas are treated as the lesser sub gender. 

Beomgyu rises from the chair and smoothes out his robes and tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear where it’s fallen from his hair pin.

He looks at them all and bends at his waist as he bows to them. They only bob their heads in response. Yeonjun’s fingernails begin to dig into his palms. “I must go. I have other duties to attend to,” he turns on his heels and Yeonjun gets a look at his face. His ears are flushed red, his teeth nibbling on his bottom lip. 

He takes a step towards Yeonjun and looks at him. Yeonjun stares back at him and Beomgyu quickly looks away but he doesn’t glare at him like he had before. 

The prince’s hands fist at the front of his robes and he walks out, slow and his head still held high, his guise of elegance and strength not crumpling in the face of his brothers. This time his brothers let him leave without another word. 

His pace quickens as soon as they’ve passed through the gateway to the archery fields. 

Something burns in Yeonjun to get closer. And that chanting of protect, protect, protect echoes in his mind. His fingers burn to reach for him, to release a breeze of calming pheromones to soothe him. The effort it takes to fight the urge is almost worrying. 

He sees Beomgyu reach a hand up to his neck, his wrist rubbing against the silk that sits above his skin. His scent is still stable, calm but Yeonjun knows there’s a storm inside him. He can just feel it. And by the way his rubbing his wrist against his neck trying to rid of the scent of his brother confirms Yeonjun’s suspicion. 

Without a thought, Yeonjun crosses the line. The line of five steps behind him. He edges four steps behind him and Beomgyu continues walking, oblivious. 

Yeonjun wants to get closer not just in a physical sense. Beomgyu is lonely and it hurts him so deeply to have just stood there and watched. His stomach is queasy when he thinks of it again. Beomgyu needs someone. He needs someone that isn’t going to force him to sit and watch as they poke fun at him. He needs someone that will listen and Yeonjun can be that person. Alpha or not. 

But he still is an alpha and Beomgyu is an omega. Beomgyu could perceive it as him courting him which is not what he’s trying to do but this is Goryeo and it’s been made pretty clear that there’s expectations for omegas and alphas to not be friends. Yeonjun doesn’t believe in that. He’s had plenty of omega friends before and Beomgyu is alone in this palace, in this world. 

How long has he suffered the sneers of his brothers all by himself? 

Yeonjun stands at the base of the stairs leading up to the Jade Palace, watching Beomgyu’s retreating figure as he steps inside and disappears into his home. 

❀

The following day Miyoung barges into his room without warning and Yeonjun almost fumes when he spots that fucking tea again. He doesn’t touch it. 

When he arrives at the Jade Palace and waits for Beomgyu he filters through his ideas of how he can get closer to the prince and eventually gain his trust. 

He emerges minutes later, fussing with the hem of his sleeves again as he walks by Yeonjun. He keeps up his four steps behind him and pushes it to three. The prince is too busy fiddling with his sleeves to either notice that the sound of his footsteps are closer and that his scent is that bit stronger. 

His robes are yellow and pink today with paintings of budding and blooming flowers at the hem and small embroidered flowers along the sash around his waist. His hair is unbound again, this time covering both sides of his neck. 

Suddenly, he stops and Yeonjun, too lost in staring at the prince forgets to stop and barges right into him, his chest against his back. The prince recoils violently, turning and scurrying back at the same time from Yeonjun who’s eyes go wide and he yells out an apology, bowing deeply at him. He bends at his waist, unlike everyone else but Yeonjun doesn’t care because he deserves some respect around here and if it can only come from him, so be it. 

When he rises from his bow, Beomgyu is staring at him before it quickly settles into a frown. “I’m sorry, my prince, I wasn’t looking where I was going, my mind was elsewhere,” he bows again and when he stands up straight Beomgyu has turned his back to him. 

Yeonjun purses his lips and settles back behind him at three steps behind him as soon as he begins to walk again. 

“Aegis,” his voice is quieter than he’s heard it be before. “You are too close,” 

“My apologies,” he says and takes a single step backwards. Beomgyu seems to settle with that and he continues on. 

The scholars greet him the same as they did yesterday and his beta teacher is in high spirits when he sees Beomgyu enter. 

“Jade Prince!” He bows once more and satisfaction burns through Yeonjun as he folds in half to greet the prince. Beomgyu hums softly and bows his head. 

“I have a great exercise in mind today.” He smiles wide and claps his hands together. “Where would you like to sit today, my prince?”

“The breeze is soft today,” he replies in that same tone as before. “And it carries a pleasant scent,” he adds on. “Outside will be best today,” it’s the most words the prince has spoken since Yeonjun’s met him and even his teacher looks a little stunned at the prince's answer. 

“Why of course, my prince!” He beams and leads the prince outside to the balcony again. 

“Now, now have a seat, my prince and I shall tell you of your exercise today.” Beomgyu takes the same seat and spreads the paper weights over a large sheet of paper positioned in portrait format. He shuffles softly on the cushion beneath him and peers up at his teacher through his eyelashes as he fiddles with his sleeves, pulling them away from the colourful inks. 

“Today we shall work on portraitures. It has been some time since we have touched upon this.”

“Indeed,” Beomgyu replies. His teacher then narrows his eyes around the balcony and begins to examine every attendant that are lined up by the doors of the balcony. Yeonjun stays behind Beomgyu, watching his teacher with a hint of amusement as he looks closely at them all. 

He clicks his tongue in disappointment as he turns away from them and he locks eyes with Yeonjun. 

“You are quite handsome,” he comments and Yeonjun’s shoulders straighten, looking at him wearily. “You will be a fine model, Aegis,” he points to the floor in front of Beomgyu and when the prince doesn’t make any comment on how he’d rather not look at him he listens and comes forth to sit in front of the prince. 

He looks at him, blinking before picking up his brush. 

“Should I smile, my prince?” Yeonjun gives him a bright smile at Beomgyu gives him that same cloaked look, not a hint of amusement in his eyes. 

“Or shall I pose? Like this?” He puts up the peace sign and raises it to his eye, winking. Beomgyu continues to stare at him, his brush dipping in the water. To him he probably looks stupid with his fingers pressed up to his face and with one eye shut and when Beomgyu makes no move to dip the brush into his array of inks, Yeonjun’s hand falls and his eye opens. 

“You may sit still, Aegis,” comes the delayed reply from the prince.

It’s not so bad sitting in front of him. He gets to watch him as he paints quietly and he meets his eyes several times and each time Yeonjun smiles like a fool because the prince is so effortlessly pretty it makes his palms sweaty and a swarm of butterflies erupt in his stomach. 

“You have to keep your face still,” Beomgyu grunts out once Yeonjun smiles at him as soon as he looks up from the painting that is beginning to resemble him. Yeonjun barks out a laugh that makes Beomgyu leans backwards in surprise. 

“My apologies,” he whispers but he’s still smiling. And quietly Yeonjun hears Beomgyu mutter out, “ fool ,”underneath his breath.

It only makes him smile even harder and he watches as Beomgyu paints his face with his lips pulled into a large grin. 

When he finishes off the painting with the final details in his eyes, Yeonjun beats the teacher to all the praise. 

“My prince!” He exclaims dramatically as his gaze flickers between the painting that has captured his likeness so well it’s almost like staring into a mirror and the prince who is blinking at his guard, surprised by his reaction. Though he retreats into himself quickly and settles on looking at him with a frown. 

“It is like looking into a mirror!” 

“Why certainly it is magnificent!” His teacher adds as he peers over Yeonjun’s shoulder. “You have done a fine job, Jade Prince.”

And like yesterday, Beomgyu says nothing and simply hands the painting over to one of his attendants and turns to bow his head to his teacher. 

Yeonjun hurries after him after bowing to the beta who splutters at the deep bow but Yeonjun is gone before he can bow back. 

“My prince!” Yeonjun calls after him as he exits the building, heading down the stone stairs. “It really is such an amazing painting. I’ve seen lots of portraits in my days but yours was one of the best.” 

Beomgyu turns to him with a frown masking his features. Yeonjun has the urge to smooth it down with his thumb. 

“Aegis, I thought we went over the rules?” He says and his hands fists at the insides of his long sleeves. His voice is hard and sounds angry but the way he is fiddling with his clothing is sending mixed signals. 

“I… I just wanted to compliment you,” he tells him honestly. 

Beomgyu’s frown only deepens as he speaks and his scent suddenly sours. “I do not need compliments,” He spits out and turns around on his heels and storms down the stairs. 

Yeonjun stands there for a few seconds staring at his back as he tries to understand why Beomgyu had taken the defensive route right away. 

There’s pain inside of him that runs deep. Deep enough that it forces him to hide inside himself and the instant defence as Yeonjun had complimented him—what compliments had he revived before that warranted such a response? 

And like everything else in this fucking time, Yeonjun is left alone to figure things out. Because Soobin is not the same Soobin he met before and the people around him also have no clue because of how alone the prince truly is. But Yeonjun is persistent and he likes to think he’s patient so he can hold on and try to unravel the prince himself. 

So he keeps trying. 

He doesn’t stay five steps behind and eventually creeps right beside him, looking ahead and keeping up with his pace when Beomgyu begins to walk faster in an attempt to get him to go back behind him. But Yeonjun is also stubborn and so it seems the prince is too because soon enough they’re both one pace behind running. 

The attendants are squabbling behind them, racing to keep up at a much more acceptable pace while they cry for the prince to slow down. 

“Aegis,” Beomgyu spits out and Yeonjun cocks a brow at him when they lock eyes. “Beomgyu,” He says before his brain can even comprehend what the fuck he’s just done. Beomgyu freezes as he comes to a sudden halt. He stares up at Yeonjun, his brows knitted tightly together. 

“What?” His voice is cool, calm but it’s that much more intimidating than him scolding him outright. Yeonjun’s mouth is suddenly dry and oh course, trust him to fuck things up and twist it to go in the opposite direction of what he’s hoping for. He wants Beomgyu to at least tolerate him and like him but the way he looks at him tells him he’s really run in the wrong direction. 

“My prince,” he somehow gets out. His face is heated under the scrutiny of Beomgyu’s gaze. “I… I’m sorry.” 

He realises with a shock when Beomgyu turns his face away from him that his slip of the tongue could be interpreted every differently than him just being an idiot. 

Yeonjun has been there to see his brothers put him in his place and see how everyone but one other refuses to bow to him. He’s been there when he let his scent out, pungent and distressed. A moment that he could view as a vulnerable time. And by calling him his birth name and not by any of his titles like he should’ve, he’s disrespected him. 

Just like his brothers that had tormented him yesterday Yeonjun has accidentally done the same. 

“No, no, my prince, I swear I didn’t mean it like that—it was a slip of my tongue. You know, I’m a fool! I don’t mean to disrespect you, My prince! You have my respect, I just forgot my place for a moment. I truly am sorry—”

“In what way?” Beomgyu cuts him off, glaring at him. “In what way do you mean?” Yeonjun’s mouth opens but he closes it again, thinking because is Beomgyu asking him if he had understood the ploy of his brothers yesterday?  Yeonjun’s hands are sweating and he tucks his fingers into his palms, breathing heavily as he tries to figure out what the hell he can say to him. 

“I do not mean to disrespect you or…” Beomgyu’s nose scrunches up as he snarls faintly. His scent is acidic and every time Yeonjun breathes in it gets caught at the back of his throat and it burns . 

“Or what? Say it, Aegis,” Beomgyu challenges him. 

Yeonjun has to take a step backwards because his scent is beginning to go to his head and the way it’s gathering in his throat is physically hurting. He releases a flood of calming pheromones in hopes to soothe out the absolute pain that is coming through in Beomgyu’s scent. 

“I am not here to cause you harm, my prince. My job is to protect you,” he can’t tell if his pheromones helped or if his step back was that helpful but the acid that burns in his throat and nose is not as painful anymore. 

“To protect me?” Beomgyu steps closer to him, his chest heaving as he sucks in air deep into his lungs. His nose twitches when Yeonjun’s scent overwhelms him and even in this moment his alpha preens when he notices the way his shoulders relax. 

“I do not know why the king employed an useless alpha like you,” he spits and Yeonjun teeth clench and his hands begin to shake. It’s stupid how quickly his alpha reacts at that. His mind chants over and over again protect, worthy, show him and he lets out a strong burst of his scent. It hangs thickly in the air as if there is a thunderstorm brewing just around them. And perhaps there is.

“If you are meant to protect me, then do your job,” he hisses. “But abide by my rules,”

But then Beomgyu takes one whiff of the air and veers backwards, his eyes wide as he looks at Yeonjun. It’s not dominating like what his brother had done all day yesterday but it’s meant to be comforting and by the way his hands let go of the silk that has been in his grasp since yesterday, it’s working.

“Do you really want me to do that?” Yeonjun forces out. His mouth still feels like it’s on fire and though the acid is dying down in his scent, the roar in his chest to reach out and bury his nose against his scent gland is overwhelming. “My prince, is that what you truly want?”

“What do you mean ‘is that what I want’ ?” Beomgyu frowns and he heaves in a deep breath. “If you so wish for me to do my job then I should do it properly,” he replies and Beomgyu’s frown deepens again. 

“Fine,” he spits out. “As if I couldn’t protect myself.” 

Yeonjun believes him. Beomgyu is more than capable of protecting himself. But he is a prince and an omega at that and if he ever had to fight back—the mere thought makes Yeonjun’s head spin and his stomach queasy—the backlash he would receive would be horrific. His brothers could take it further in their taunts and his dignity would be thrown to the wind. 

Yeonjun decides it’s better to not reply to him. They’re both heated from the conversation and Yeonjun’s head is still spinning from all the acidic pheromones he’s breathed in. 

Beomgyu understands the conversation is over and storms ahead and this time, Yeonjun does not keep up with him. 

❀

Yeonjun might be a fool and have met his end by a fucking rock but he’s a determined fool. 

Nonetheless, he’s still a fool.

Because after Beomgyu calls him an useless alpha it awakens something in him. He’s not one to usually take offence easily to things said about him being an alpha because really he couldn’t care less about what others thought because he was confident in himself and if they didn’t like him, that’s their problem not his. But Beomgyu? 

Beomgyu’s got him wrapped up around him and the string of words turns him into an even bigger fool. He doesn’t know how that's possible, but it is. 

“There is a loose rock, my prince,” Yeonjun calls out and is by Beomgyu’s side in an instant, kicking the stone out of the way. The prince gives him the side eye but other than that he continues to ignore Yeonjun. But it’s something and Yeonjun grins, pleased with himself. 

If the prince had implied that Yeonjun had yet to protect him from things he had expected him to (was he supposed to jump between his brothers and drag him out of there? It’s so complicated that it makes his head spin whenever he thinks if he should’ve acted differently in those situations. Maybe he should’ve but maybe he’d would’ve ended up in front of the king with the alpha princes asking for his demise?) then Yeonjun will take it upon himself to show him he is reliable. He realises he sounds like a delusional alpha but he’s beginning to accept this is the effect Beomgyu has on him. 

He kicks another rock out of the way and the prince turns to him, frowning. “I am not going to trip over a rock,” he tells him and Yeonjun just smiles and kicks another one. The corner of the prince's mouth twitches into a snarl before he turns away. 

“You told me to do my job,” Yeonjun says. “So I will.”

Yeonjun continues to fuss over little things the next few days. 

When he goes to his gayaguem lesson there is a fallen branch blocking the path and Beomgyu could very easily just walk around it but Yeonjun picks it up and dumps it down off the path and smiles at the prince who watches him carefully. His lips are pursed together and he looks unimpressed but at least he hadn’t ignored him this time. 

Yeonjun speaks to him more. He tells him about how he enjoyed the music he had played and compliments the colours he uses in his next paintings. Beomgyu never answers him but he at least looks at him. 

“My prince, I wonder what your favourite colour is?” He says after his painting lesson. He knows Beomgyu probably won’t answer him but he talks anyway because who knows if Beomgyu decides to answer him just to shut him up. “You seem to like green a lot.” 

He is half expecting an answer when Beomgyu turns to face him. 

The prince takes several steps backwards, putting distance between them that Yeonjun is beginning to cross. He’s frowning, his eyes piercing as he stares at Yeonjun. His scent is bitter but not acidic like it was days ago. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Aegis?” He hisses at him. Yeonjun gapes at him. “I am trying to strike conversation,” he answers honestly and Beomgyu’s lips lift into a snarl. 

“Who are you working for?” He asks out and his tone is venomous and Yeonjun recoils at the anger evident in it. 

Yeonjun stares at him as he tries to understand the prince's question. The king had employed him to protect him but he doesn’t work for the king. He wakes up with the sun and barely has time for himself before he’s by Beomgyu’s side, watching his every movement in case there’s danger lurking around every corner. His first thought is Beomgyu and his last thought is him.

“Who are you in cohorts with? My brothers? My father?” He peers at him with fiery eyes, frustration evident and his patience thin as the melting ice that covers the rivers in the early spring. Yeonjun blinks. The prince thinks he’s double timing and is spying on him? His earlier suspicion that there is something deeper that the prince is hiding comes up again because why else would that be what he thinks of when Yeonjun is just trying to be friendly? How long has it been since someone has been nice to him that the moment someone is he feels the need to protect himself? 

Yeonjun looks at him, keeping his distance like the prince has so clearly demonstrated that he wants. That he demands to have. “You’re loyal to the king since he’s given you this post to begin with, right? Or is it my third brother?”

Yeonjun purses his lips softly. He had willingly taken this post, not only as the prince's guard, but in this life. Yeonjun has crossed time to be here, to protect the omega in front of him that is seething. His scent is bitter in his nose, his relaxed scent of oranges and blooming jasmine flowers is slowly turning acidic and it burns Yeonjun’s nose again. 

“No,” he tells him honestly. “I belong to you.”

Beomgyu’s snarl softens but his frown stays. His scent stays acidic and defensive but the tips of his ears are red and the faintest blush is blooming across his cheeks. The fire in his eyes dim the slightest bit and his fingers reach out for his sleeves again. 

“I promise you, My prince, that I am not in cohorts with anyone else… I just… I want to…” he’s not sure if telling Beomgyu he wants to be his friend is the right plan of action. “Be someone you can trust,” he decides it’s better than outright telling him about wanting to be his friend or a confidant. 

The prince stares at him and Yeonjun doesn’t understand the look swimming in his eyes. He looks confused and then there’s a sudden pang of sadness releasing in his scent. 

Yeonjun doesn’t understand why he tries so hard to keep it together around everyone else but the moment Yeonjun stands in front of him, Beomgyu lets himself go. Yeonjun sends out a small burst of calming pheromones instinctively and his chest itches. 

Yeonjun shifts to stand in front of him, blocking the path that Beomgyu is about to take because they are not done yet. The sadness lingering around the omega bothers him and stirs something within him. 

“I am here for you,” he says with a soft smile. Beomgyu takes a step forwards, beginning to close the gap between them and Yeonjun folds his hands behind his back, his sword knocking against his hip as he walks backwards. 

Beomgyu frowns at him. “You will fall, Aegis,” he tells him. “Walk properly,” Yeonjun’s chest blossoms with warmth at the prince's words because was that a hint of concern he heard?

“Do not worry, My prince,” Yeonjun chirps back. “I’m quite stable on my feet,” not quite a lie but Yeonjun makes an absolute fool out of himself within the next few seconds. He puts his heel down onto one of the rocks he had kicked minutes prior and his ankle rolls, slipping on the rock and he stumbles, his feet falling from beneath him. 

His eyes go wide as he tries to catch himself, but then there’s a warm hand gripping onto his bicep, steadying him. Beomgyu’s hand on him makes his blood sing beneath his skin and his skin prickles at the feeling of his hand around his arm. The princes eyes have widened too, his mouth parted as he grips onto him. His eyes have lifted from all the fire and now he looks soft as he gazes at Yeonjun in shock. 

Beomgyu’s hand shakes as he pulls it away and Yeonjun instantly misses the warmth it had pressed against him and he wants to reach out and put it back. But he doesn’t. 

The sadness dissipates from Beomgyu’s scent and Yeonjun smiles widely at him and it only grows bigger when he notices the prince's cheeks are redder than they were before. 

“Thank you, my prince,” he says and Beomgyu turns his head away, refusing to meet his gaze. 

“You should be more careful, Aegis,” the prince whispers and he clears his throat. He smooths his hands down the front of his robes, his fingers lingering at the sash on his waist before he starts walking again. 

Yeonjun bites down on his lip to keep his chuckles in.

 ❀

Yeonjun totally had forgotten that a banquet was even mentioned. 

But when he’s dragged to the Jade Palace as the sky is beginning to fade from its bright blue hue it had taken during the day, he gets the feeling that this is achingly familiar. 

Unlike every other day he has come in to fetch the prince to escort him around the palace as he attends his daily duties, Yeonjun is taken to a room he’s never been in before—he thinks before the doors open and he steps in. 

His eyes widen and his pulse quickens beneath his skin as he takes in just where he is. He’s been in this room many times in his dreams. And just like a certain dream, Beomgyu is here in the room that is decorated with golden trinkets on polished wooden shelves. Painted lacquered boxes filled with various jewellery pieces are scattered around. Paintings so obviously done by Beomgyu on folding screens are pushed at one end of the room and in the very middle of the room Beomgyu is standing there, facing Yeonjun but his eyes casted away from him. 

The attendant in the room pulls a jade coloured robe over his shoulders and Yeonjun’s head spins. The golden butterflies painted across the fabric glitter in the warm light and if Yeonjun thought he had been enthralled in his dream, he’s hovering somewhere between heaven and earth now. 

The neckline is lower than the robes he’s worn since Yeonjun’s arrival and today the bare skin of his throat is exposed and the scent of oranges and jasmine is so heavy in the air it feels almost like he’s bitten into an orange warmed by the sun. The neckline of the outer jade coloured robe plunges and is left open all the way down to his waist where the pink sash is tied around his small waist. His inner robes peek out from the green fabric, white and pearlescent as it hits the light. The golden details around the hem shine and the honey tone of Beomgyu’s skin stands out against it. 

He lifts his head and his hair spills over his shoulders, dark and glossy. There’s a pin of flowers carved out of jade, gilded with gold and pink quartz butterflies extending from golden wires that pull the right side of his hair away from his throat, leaving his scent gland exposed. Yeonjun forces himself to breathe even though his scent is so strong. It’s like a mouthful of fresh orange juice as bursted across his tongue and drips down his throat.

His lips are stained with a soft pink and he bites down onto his lower lip before he breathes out softly.

“My prince,” Yeonjun says just like he had in his dream and just like Beomgyu had done in his dream—his memory—he slowly lifts his head, meeting his gaze. Earrings made of gold holding carvings of jade butterflies hang from his earlobes and his hand reaches up and softly tugs at the jade butterfly necklace sitting in the hollow of his throat.

 “Do I look presentable?” His voice is quiet, unsure and this time unlike his dream Yeonjun has a different reaction. 

His voice is so unsure and in his dream Yeonjun had simply thought the prince was shy. But there’s layers of insecurity that he can’t hide in his voice and Yeonjun sees it so clearly in the way he begins to fidget with his sleeves. He thinks back to the time where his third brother had sneered down at him that he was glad he was acting like a ‘proper omega’ and Yeonjun’s heart hurts. 

What had Beomgyu done to deserve this? Just because he was born as an omega in these times and because he had ended up being born a prince, why did that warrant him to be treated the way he is?

Yeonjun knows there’s more to it, there has to be but what it is he doesn’t know and maybe he’ll never know because the palace is a mysterious place and danger lurks in unexpected places. There is more to Beomgyu than just his beauty but Yeonjun hasn’t uncovered that yet. 

Maybe Yeonjun has taken too long to respond because Beomgyu’s eyebrows are furrowed, but not into a frown. He looks scared and apprehensive like he’s readying himself to be told that he is anything but beautiful. It strikes something in Yeonjun because he is ethereal too the point Yeonjun didn’t think he could be real, but here he is standing before him with his eyes looking away from him.

And like he had in his dream, Yeonjun replies in earnest, “Stunning, my prince.” 

It comes out breathy and quiet but Beomgyu looks up at him with big eyes suddenly full with relief and his shoulders slump gently. Yeonjun reaches out a hand even when he knows Beomgyu won’t take it. The omega prince looks at the outreached hand for a few seconds before he looks back up at Yeonjun, his brows gently knitted together as if he’s caught between his thoughts. 

Yeonjun slowly tucks his hand back by his side and offers a smile to the prince. He doesn’t return it but he doesn’t frown at him or sneer at him. His face remains passive, soft and not hardened like it typically is. 

Beomgyu walks quietly out of the room and Yeonjun follows after him.

Yeonjun blends beside him like a shadow and in many ways, he supposes he is. His hair is pulled into the same half-up half-down ordeal and he’s dressed head to toe in black and if it weren’t for the simple embroidery details along the hems he might be mistaken for a fucking spy. 

But this time Yeonjun stands next to the prince, close enough to feel his body heat radiating around him in the nights cool air. 

And the moment Beomgyu steps outside, his facade is back up and his face instantly hardens, all previous softness gone and replaced with a chilling coldness. 

The palace is bustling with people and Yeonjun looks out closely for anything remotely suspicious. But Yeonjun also still isn’t used to this time so he’s not sure what would be out of the ordinary. 

When people spot Beomgyu they bow their heads and mutter about how beautiful he looks tonight. Beomgyu doesn’t regard them with anything more than a mere nod of his head. Most of the attendees seem fine with the way he ignores them but Yeonjun has to stare at a few that grimace at the prince. 

The courtyard is heavily decorated. Paper lanterns in all different colours are hung above their heads and lighting up the inside of the courtyard. There are several podiums erected, the lower level with the most tables and chairs for the guests to sit at. On the ground there is a small stage where several dancers are prancing around in layers of silk. 

Yeonjun follows Beomgyu up the wooden stairs to the middle podium and to the table sat in the direct centre. On the podium above them, Yeonjun spots the king and the queen, both gazing at Beomgyu who bows deeply to them both before moving to sit at the table. 

It’s when Beomgyu sits down that Yeonjun feels it thrum through him. 

He’s seen this before. He’s seen this exact set up and the look of horror that etched over Beomgyu’s face—it makes his throat feel dry because it finally hits him that he’s living through the dreams. 

And if Yeonjun fails to change anything he knows how it ends. In the rain, blood soaking his hands and his chest aching as he roars. 

He looks down at Beomgyu who’s moving to settle down onto the seat. 

Yeonjun can’t let him die. Something twists in his chest and Yeonjun has to suck in a greedy amount of air to ease the sudden pain. If Yeonjun fails to change everything and decides to live in the moment and not push things to be different he knows he’ll end up in the unknown courtyard with Beomgyu’s lifeless body in his arms. 

He sucks in more air and Beomgyu’s scent makes him plummet back down, the sudden soothing tone in his scent disappears as soon as the fog in his head clears.

Beomgyu is still standing when Yeonjun breaks out of his haze and Yeonjun briefly wonders why the prince has yet to take his seat yet, but then he sees them. 

Stalking up the stairs of the podium are the group of his alpha and beta brothers. His third brother is not in the front this time. Instead an older alpha is standing at the front of the group, his stance strong and confident but not cocky in the way Beomgyu’s third brother holds himself. 

At the back of the group Yeonjun sees Soobin with Taehyun who is on his tiptoes, smiling as he stares at Beomgyu who is concentrating on his brothers that are now level with him. 

“Dearest brother,” Says the eldest alpha at the front and he dips his head lower than Yeonjun has witnessed anyone else do so far without bending into a full bow. Beomgyu greets him with a low bow before he locks eyes with his eldest brother. He smiles at Beomgyu and looks over at him but his gaze isn’t mocking like his third brother’s had been all the times he’s addressed him. 

His eyes are full of affection for the young omega and Yeonjun’s heart thumps happily. The tiniest smile appears on Beomgyu’s face though he bites onto his lip and quickly forces it down. Yeonjun has to fight his own smile. “Happy birthday, baby brother,” he pats his younger brother on his shoulder and Beomgyu bows again. “Thank you, Hyungnim.” 

“You look beautiful tonight. You are all grown up now. I remember when you were just a little pup.”

“Oh, yes, yes,” comes a voice from his side and Yeonjun sees a beta who is rolling his eyes at their eldest brother. “Hyungnim, we know how much you adore our sweet brother, but we have heard this all too much, Crown Prince.”

The crown prince huffs and gives Beomgyu one last smile before he stands back. The beta that spoke gives him a little bow of his head. “But Hyungnim is right, you have grown to be a very beautiful omega.”

“Hasn’t he?” His third brother speaks this time and Yeonjun grits his teeth. “It is about time, too.”

“Hyungnim,” Soobin spits. Sometime during the crown princes greeting he had wormed his way closer. Taehyun is following right behind him, a frown on his face as he looks up at their third brother. 

“Do not start now,” Soobin grits out and surprisingly the alpha backs off after he gazes over Beomgyu’s figure once more and retreats to a table far away from Beomgyu. Yeonjun is glad because he doesn’t think he’d be able to tolerate his presence for long periods of time. Just one look at him and he wants to punch him. 

Soobin pushes his way through his other brothers who merely shrug and follow their older brothers to their seats. 

“Hyungnim,” Taehyun gives him a smile. Beomgyu goes to bow but Soobin catches him by his shoulders. “It is your birthday celebration,” he clicks his tongue. “Sit down and enjoy the evening.” 

Beomgyu frowns lightly at him but Soobin coaxes him to take a seat and before he knows it, he’s sitting on the cushioned chair and looking up at both his brothers. “Our first brother is right, you do look beautiful tonight.”

“As do you both,” Beomgyu tells them quietly and Taehyun smiles wide while Soobin chuckles. The older alpha is dressed in tones of pink, his hair tied like Yeonjun’s. Taehyun has the same hairstyle but is dressed in  yellows and soft blues. 

“Well, we must get to our seats. Soon the guests will be coming up to greet you. It is best if we do not stick around,” Soobin’s eyes flicker to Yeonjun and he gives him a knowing look. Yeonjun understands it perfectly. It’s an order to keep his eye sharp and to do his job properly. Yeonjun nods his head and Soobin smiles once more at his younger brother before he trails away. Taehyun bows at the waist as he mutters his goodbyes before he hurries after Soobin. 

Yeonjun really isn’t sure how these events work in Goryeo but soon theres an overwhelming amount of people lining up to visit the omega princes table and every single one of them has a gift of some type. 

Most of them are respectful and are quick with their greetings but Yeonjun then witnesses first hand what it is like to be an omega in Goryeo. 

Some alphas reach for his hand and Beomgyu recoils before they can touch him and before Yeonjun can spring to action. Some of them breathe too heavily in his direction, their eyes lingering at his exposed neck. They call him beautiful and stunning, and comment on the sweetness of his scent. 

One particular man who is beginning to bald settles in front of the Jade Prince and instantly Yeonjun is on edge. He grips onto Beomgyu’s wrist as he slides a lacquered box across the table. Yeonjun’s eyes widen and he steps forwards and gains the old beta’s attention and he recoils as soon as he realises that he is there. 

He doesn’t stop there. He leans closer, sniffs at the air and licks at his lips before whispering, “How beautiful you look now… I can imagine the way you look with you on your back and your legs spread—”

The spike in Beomgyu’s scent is subtle but Yeonjun smells it. He grips at his sword and the moment he moves forwards the man leaves. 

The prince lets out a shaky breath before the next person wanders close to the table. His scent is bitter at the edge and Yeonjun knows he’s trying hard to keep it together. So without a second thought, Yeonjun wraps his hand gently around the prince's wrist and leads him up from his chair. 

Beomgyu stares up at him, his eyes widening the slightest bit. 

Yeonjun looks at the long line of people on the stairs in the middle of the podium and takes another look around the courtyard and sees a smaller staircase off to the side, closest to where Taehyun and Soobin are sitting. 

He leads him over that way and keeps his touch feather light so Beomgyu can remove his grip from him if he chooses and to Yeonjun’s surprise, he doesn’t. His wrist hangs limp in his hand and carefully he tightens his hold as they begin to descend the stairs. 

Beomgyu is quiet the whole time but as he leads him away from the courtyard Beomgyu’s distress grows and instead of the orange in his scent turning to pure acid, it smells like stale jasmine. 

And the moment they step out of one of the archways that acts as an exit and entry point, Beomgyu lets out a shaky breath and finally tug on his wrist. Yeonjun lets go of him quickly and steps away, giving him space. 

Beomgyu looks around the dark area and breathes again, his hands fisting at his middle. He looks anxious and the way his scent is smelling, Yeonjun knows he is. 

There are too many people getting close to him. Yeonjun could tell it was becoming too much ten minutes ago but that stupid old beta had pushed things too far. If Yeonjun saw him again, he wouldn’t be spared and he wouldn’t be merciful—

“Aegis,” Beomgyu whispers out and his ears prick at the sound of his title escaping the prince's mouth. 

“Yes, my prince?” Beomgyu’s eyes are flickering around, landing anywhere but on Yeonjun. He watches him take a shaky breath before he finally looks at him. He gulps and he looks so distraught. His lip is caught between his bottom lip and his eyes look a little glassy to Yeonjun. All he wants to do right now is give him a hug. 

“I… you…” Yeonjun waits patiently for the prince to sort his words out. The prince's cheeks are tinged pink and he shuffles closer to Yeonjun. 

“You are my aegis,” he whispers and he looks up at him. Yeonjun’s lips are parted as he listens to him and he nods, pursing his lips as he tries to guess what he’s about to say. He’s half expecting to be scolded. 

“So… so you must do what I say, right?” His voice is small but he tries to project it out, to sound bigger than what Yeonjun knows he’s feeling right now. 

“I suppose so,” Yeonjun responds quietly. Beomgyu nods and he reaches out a hand that's trembling as if a fever is burning through his body. “You must keep them away, then,” he concludes and Yeonjun stares at him, confused as to what the prince means. 

Apprehensively, Yeonjun grasps onto his hand. His fingers are cold beneath Yeonjun’s hot palm and the difference in temperature causes Yeonjun to grit his teeth in surprise. 

Beomgyu blinks at him and he pushes out more of his scent and there’s a sudden flash of heat through Yeonjun’s body when he realises what the prince is asking for. 

He’s asking for him to scent him. 

Oh god. 

Yeonjun looks at him and the prince nods quickly, thrusting his wrist to Yeonjun’s chest and he looks away, his cheeks red. 

He fills up with pride and his alpha screams to scent him, bury his nose against his scent gland and lap up his pheromones. His muscles twitch when he fights it and he decides he has to do it quickly before his stupid instinctual side gets anymore stupid ideas. He gently grips onto the prince's hand with both of his own hands and pulls it up higher and he leans in, his nose brushing gently over the skin above his pulse. 

His scent of petrichor washes over Beomgyu and almost instantly the wilted jasmine disappears. It smells natural against his own scent, mixed in with the oranges to make him smell like an orchard during the monsoon season. It’s still distinctly Beomgyu but when Yeonjun smells himself on him, his heart jumps. 

Beomgyu refuses to meet his gaze again and he cradles his scented wrist to his chest as if to protect Yeonjun’s gentle claim he put on him. 

Yeonjun doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t trust himself to say something stupid and mess this all up and they walk back in silence. Beomgyu stays closer to Yeonjun than he ever has before and with his scent softly clinging to him, Yeonjun could howl in happiness. 

The guests have all disappeared from the stairs and the front of his table by the time they’re back and Beomgyu slips back into his chair, his face cold once more like nothing had happened. 

Yeonjun stays close behind him for the rest of the night. 

When the food is served Yeonjun watches the prince pick at the various foods along his table and his stomach grumbles, aching with his own hunger. He had eaten before they came as ordered by Miyoung but now Yeonjun feels ravenous again. 

While the guests are still being served food the courtyard goes quiet and everyone turns their gaze to up on the podium. Yeonjun himself turns to see the kin standing up and sipping at the tea an attendant had poured for him. 

“Thank you all for coming to celebrate the Twelfth Prince's twentieth year,” Yeonjun blinks. He had been twenty-two when he took off up the mountain and he supposes he still is. He knew Beomgyu was young but he had thought he was maybe the same age as him, not a full two years younger than him. 

“It is with great pleasure that I introduce the Jade Prince to my people. The omega prince of this nation is quite the beauty, no? A rare omega, indeed,” Yeonjun sees his shoulders stiffen at the kings words. 

“The Jade Prince is my most precious gem,” he continues and suddenly the acid is back making an appearance. Yeonjun sends out a gust of rain and it washes it out softly but it lingers. “And as my only omega child I have kept him well protected. Now the Jade Prince has bloomed into a beautiful omega, I believe it is time for him to involve himself in royal duties.” 

Beomgyu’s hands fist in his lap and Yeonjun takes a single step forwards. He can see the princes face from here and how he looks down at his lap before forcing his gaze back up. 

“I announce with great pleasure that starting next week I will be allowing eligible alphas into the palace for a chance to court the Jade Prince.” 

Yeonjun watches as the princes eyes widen and his hand clutches at the necklace around his throat, his 

horror open and clear to Yeonjun. 

And the acid burns at his nose.

Chapter Text

As soon as the king takes his seat, the room erupts. 

The noise fills Yeonjun’s ears like a jumbled mess. He can’t make anything out in the loud mix of voices talking over one another, but he stills hears the catch of breath from the prince. 

His scent flickers between that acidic orange and his resting scent as he tries to control himself, but each time Yeonjun picks up his every obvious distress, it is stronger than it was last time. His own scent still clings to him but it is drowned out, covered in burning acid. 

It grips Yeonjun’s attention and within a few breaths, he’s drowned out the chatter that blurs all around him and all he can hear is the shakiness of the prince's breathing. 

Yeonjun should’ve known. He’s had dreams where he’s seen the prince in front of others competing to earn the right to court the omega prince. He’s seen him recoil from the suitors. He should’ve known this was coming, but it’s almost like he’s forgotten every single dream he’s ever had of the prince since he’s crashed through time. 

The prince reaches for the small celadon teacup with shaking hands. He tries to take a sip of the now cold liquid, but his hands tremble so violently that it falls from his grip, clanging down to the table. It cracks through the middle, shattering onto the wooden surface. 

That’s when Yeonjun decides enough is enough. He steps in front of the table, shielding the prince's slighter frame from the guests below with his broader body. The prince's breaths are short and rapid and Yeonjun knows well enough that if he doesn’t get him out of here, the prince will go into a panic attack with all these people watching. And from the way Beomgyu tries so hard to keep his shield up, he knows he wouldn’t want that. 

“My prince,” he calls quietly. Beomgyu’s eyes flicker up to him, wide and filled with horror. His lips are quivering and he tries to stop it but he’s shaking too much. “It’s okay,” he whispers softly. He gazes at him with soft eyes and tries so hard to not show his own worry for him as he regards him. Beomgyu fists at the sash around his waist and his eyes drop, his chest heaving. “Look at me,” Yeonjun tells him. “Look at me, my prince.” 

Beomgyu does, and he lets out a tiny choked out breath that tugs at Yeonjun. He slowly offers his hand out, the soft smile still playing on his lips as he continues to look into his eyes. 

“Let’s go,” he whispers to him. Beomgyu’s eyes quiver and slowly his fingers dip down onto Yeonjun’s open palm and, ever so gently, Yeonjun encases his hand around his fingers and gives it a soft squeeze. 

When they pass by Soobin and Taehyun, they both jump up and try to see what’s going on with their brother, but Beomgyu barely registers them in his haze. Yeonjun bows to them both quickly and hurries down the stairs with the prince, who has given up on trying to conceal his scent. 

He seems to calm down when they get far enough away so that they can’t even hear the booming voices that are still erupting in the courtyard. His scent begins to mellow, and he grips hard onto Yeonjun’s hand. He mustn’t realise he is still holding onto his hand as he tries to calm himself down because Yeonjun is pretty sure he wouldn’t be holding his hand still if he knew. 

Yeonjun doesn’t know what to do. He’s not sure if he should release his pheromones and hopes it’ll calm him and not surge his panic. After all, Yeonjun is an alpha. 

He stands next to him as the prince tries to even out his breathing and keeps his hand still where it’s grasped around Beomgyu’s fingers. 

It takes a few minutes for his breathing to even out. Once it does, he rips his hand away, his face hardening as he plummets back to reality. He steps back from Yeonjun and glares at him as if he had declared to the whole banquet that he was ready to be courted himself. 

Beomgyu turns his back to him and Yeonjun bites on his bottom lip, ready to be ignored once more. But, to his surprise, Beomgyu spins back around and the sight of him makes his heart clench. 

There are tears streaming down his cheeks that are flushed a bright red. The tip of his nose is pink and his lips quiver as he cries. But his eyes are hard, still narrowed as he faces Yeonjun.

“My prince,” he whispers out, his own eyes widening as he takes in the sight of him. 

“Go away,” he rushes out through a ragged breath. Yeonjun frowns at him. “I cannot.” He responds. “There are too many people around. I am your guard.”

“I can protect myself!” Beomgyu spits out at him. Another wave of tears flows down his face and with a shuddering cry, he lets out an angry grunt when Yeonjun refuses to move. “I don’t want you to be here!” 

“You know I can’t do that, my prince,” Yeonjun speaks softly, trying to not get on his nerves anymore than what he already has; but Beomgyu is too upset, and he lets out a cry of anguish in response. 

“Why is it always you?” He grits out. His hands fist at his eyes, wiping the tears away furiously. Yeonjun frowns, but doesn’t dare ask for an explanation of what the prince means by that. “If you really want to be alone, I’ll take you back to the Jade Palace, but I can’t just disappear while you’re alone.”

“Because of what the king said?” Beomgyu fires at him. “You truly do believe everything he said?” The prince speaks in disbelief. Yeonjun frowns as he says that. Just what is he missing? What part of this puzzle is hidden from him? 

“No.” Yeonjun narrows his eyes at the prince. “I already told you that I only belong to you—“

“Do not say such things,” he spits out, and his anger flares in his scent. He’s still crying, tears rolling down the column of his throat and dampening the white under robe he wears beneath the green silk. “Do not even think about saying such lies to me.”

“I am not lying,” Yeonjun insists, and Beomgyu gives him another angry grunt.

“Then what is all of this? Why do you not leave me alone like everyone else? Who wants to know about me?” 

“ I do,” Yeonjun drawls out, suddenly exasperated by the prince's apparent distrust. The prince stares at him and he clenches his jaw, trying to stop the angry tears that flow down his face. “ I care about you,” he adds in earnest. Because it’s true. He cares so much and he has for years and years. He’s the person he had lost his sanity over, the same person who had made him second guess everything. And now he’s the person he has to protect. He doesn’t care about the King's order to keep him safe. He isn’t protecting him because he’s been tasked to but because he needs to. 

It feels so natural to protect him. He’s never had such powerful feelings before, but here he is in front of the prince of his dreams. His skin itches to feel his warmth against him. He wants to breathe in his scent that's exploding with happiness instead of the burning acid that fills his mouth. 

Yeonjun wants to protect him from not only his death that he has seen too many times, but from all this pain that he knows he’ll suffer. He’s seen him distraught so often in his dreams. He wants to whisk him away and hide him from all the pain. He doesn’t know when it’s coming and it sends waves of frustration through him because he both knows nothing and everything.

He doesn’t know how to change anything, he doesn’t know how to fix anything. 

And it’s a bit more explosive because it’s Beomgyu. 

“I don’t want you to be alone,” Yeonjun tells him and the prince's mouth twitches in anger. 

“Why do you care about me? You don’t know me, Aegis.” 

It might be somewhat true. The prince he thought he knew is not him. But he cares about him because he is still Beomgyu. And from what he had seen this afternoon in his room, he is the prince in his dreams.

He had simply not seen enough of the prince to begin to even fathom understanding him. He still cares so much, though.

So much, and Beomgyu will never know how much he means to him. 

He knows he sounds ridiculous because how can you explain what has happened? There’s no logical explanation for what has happened to him.

He may never know that Yeonjun had crossed time for him. He will probably never know Yeonjun has been haunted by him for fourteen years of his life. But maybe it is better that way?

“Because I do,” he says. “I know you might not trust me yet, but I am here only for you, my prince. I am not loyal to the king, I’m loyal to you .” 

Beomgyu gives him a pointed look and he bristles. “You should never say that, Aegis.” He scolds him. “If anyone else had heard that, you would be suspected of treason.”

“Well, I don’t plan on committing treason,” Yeonjun scoffs out and the prince sniffles, wiping more of his tears away. “So don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried about you,” Beomgyu snaps at him. “I am telling you to watch your mouth,” 

“Thank you then.” Yeonjun mutters out with a sigh.

“But if you dislike me so much, why did you want me to scent you?” The prince's cheeks flush a deeper red. 

“I never said I dislike you,” Beomgyu counters, trying to dodge the question. Yeonjun raises a brow and folds his arms across his chest. 

“Oh, you’ve been every apparent, my prince,” he tells him. “But you did not answer my question.” 

Beomgyu turns his head away and closes his mouth. 

“My prince, you can talk to me, I’m not going to judge you. Maybe I could even help?” he tells him quietly, softly, as to try to not flare his anger even more. He knows he won’t confide in him, but he wants Beomgyu to at least know he’s not a threat. He needs to show him somehow that he can be trusted and though he knows it’ll take time, Yeonjun doesn’t know how much time he has before he needs to change things. He needs to make it clear for him to understand.

“What do you know?” the prince grits out. His hands are shaking again, the tremor travelling throughout his body and he sees how he balls his hands into fists, his fingers turn white where the rings dig into his flesh as he squeezes his hands. “You know absolutely nothing.” 

It’s another comment that hurts him. He wants to tell him that he can trust him, but he can’t, because then he would seem like some deranged alpha. And that’s far from what Yeonjun wants Beomgyu to perceive him as. 

“Maybe that’s right,” Yeonjun tells him, looking into his eyes. Beomgyu breaks it off quickly and his fingers lift to his face, brushing over his cheeks to rid of the tears that are still rolling down his face despite his best efforts. “But maybe you’d also be surprised. I’m a good listener.” 

“You overstep, Aegis,” the prince grits out. His hands drop back down to his sides and Yeonjun watches as he brushes the pad of his thumb against the skin of his wrist where he had scented him not even two hours prior. “I think you should remember where your place is.” 

“And where is that?” Yeonjun raises his brows and he gives him an expecting look. The prince glares back at him. “You are my aegis,” he says. “Your job is to protect me. You have done that tonight, so let's be done with this.”

“Do you think I’m not protecting you right now?” Yeonjun shoots back quickly. 

Because he is. He’s stayed out here while he cries not just because he doesn’t trust the bad natured people that could be hanging around and waiting for a chance to hurt the prince; but also to try to protect him from all this emotional pain he’s going through. He’s here because he wants to support Beomgyu, to try to get him to understand that he is not a threat and that he can trust him. 

Beomgyu frowns at him. “You are just standing here. Do not let your pride play into this,”

“This has nothing to do with my pride,” Yeonjun knows he’s not being as respectful as he probably should. He’s not doing it out of spite, but because he’s just not used to having conversations like this. He’s not from Goryeo, he’s from Seoul in the twenty-first-fucking-century. The mannerisms of this century are not engraved into him the same way they are for everyone else. He is a modern alpha. An alpha that believes in equality that no one else can seem to see here. It’s endlessly frustrating. 

“I am standing with you,” he tries to emphasise and Beomgyu narrows his eyes in response. “You might think I’m not actively protecting you right now, my prince, but there is much more to protecting you than just the physical elements.” 

Perhaps it’s fickle to them both right now in two totally different ways. Beomgyu probably thinks Yeonjun is delusional by how he continues to stand his ground and maybe he thinks he’s just a typical stereotyped alpha. He’s not, but Beomgyu doesn’t know him enough to realise that yet. 

And to Yeonjun, Beomgyu is mercurial. He hides so far behind his exterior, sinks right into himself and refuses to let anyone in. But when he’s faced in front of Yeonjun something shatters in his resolve and Yeonjun watches as he struggles, fighting with himself to get it back up. But it’s nothing like his facade he has perfected around his brothers. Yeonjun lacks an understanding of why the prince acts the way he does, but he tries to be understanding because Beomgyu has made it quite clear that he’s struggling, even if he finds that hard to admit to himself. 

“I never asked for that, Aegis,” the prince replies with a sneer. His scent is angry and bitter, the smell of wilted jasmine and acidic oranges makes Yeonjun’s nostrils flare. “I never asked for you.” 

Yeonjun tries to not take it to heart. He tries to remind himself that Beomgyu is upset right now and by the way he is fidgeting and refuses to look at him he realises the prince is also humiliated. 

It shows itself across his cheeks and by the heavy dusting of red that paints the tips of his ears. Yeonjun bites down on his bottom lip when he takes a closer look at him. 

His defences are high, his body stiff and trembling. His lip quivers, his jaw shaking as he tries to regain control over himself. Yeonjun sees a prince that has gone far too long without comfort to the point he doesn’t know what to do for himself. 

And suddenly Yeonjun is furious. Not at the prince, he’s done nothing wrong—even though the words he speaks do hurt—but at everyone who has participated in adding to his pain. 

Yeonjun doesn’t care that Beomgyu is an omega. That isn’t a good enough excuse for all the shit he’s seen thrown on him in his short time arriving in Goryeo. 

“I wasn’t really given a choice, either,” he tells him and it’s true to some degree. When he was stuck in the plane of nothingness he was given a choice and if he had to go back and choose again, Yeonjun would still pick Beomgyu. And then when he had fallen into Goryeo, he wasn’t given an option in becoming the Jade Prince’s guard. It was thrusted upon him with nothing more than a mere conversation. But still, Yeonjun would choose Beomgyu. 

He would choose him over and over again.

So, he tells him that. 

“But if I had the chance, I would’ve chosen you.” 

Beomgyu looks down at the ground, his eyes not visible to Yeonjun anymore, but he can still see how his lips wobble before his teeth catch his full bottom lip. 

The prince is quiet for the next few seconds and Yeonjun stands still, waiting for him to make the next move. He wants him to say something, anything to let him know he’s okay but he doesn’t. 

He doesn’t make a move for over a minute. He stays there, staring at the hem of his green robes, his hands fisted in the fabric as he breathes in shuddering breaths. 

Yeonjun is just about to offer to take him back to his residence over back to the banquet that is nothing more than the faintest blurring of muffled noise in his ears, when there’s suddenly footfall coming towards them.

“Beomgyu!” 

The smell of green tea pierces his nose before he sees Soobin searching in the dark for his younger brother. “Beomgyu, where are you? Is the aegis with you? Please, please—” 

The Jade Prince flinches as his brother's voice seems to knock him back into reality. He wipes his hands across his cheeks and blinks several times as he looks up. He smooths his hands down the front of his hanbok and tries his best to plaster that blank look across his face, but his lips are downturned at the corners and his eyes are red and puffy. 

Soobin flies through the entry gate, his eyes wide in alarm when he finally spots his brother. His eyes quickly dart to find Yeonjun before he gives his attention to Beomgyu. 

“Oh, Beomgyu,” he whispers, his eyes softening as he takes in his brother's appearance. 

“I’m sorry,” his older brother apologise quickly. “Beomgyu… I truly am sorry for everything.”

Beomgyu raises his chin with mock confidence. “There is nothing to be sorry for.” He tells him in a much softer tone than what he was using with Yeonjun. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“But I should’ve at least—”

“Soobin hyungnim,” Beomgyu shakes his head softly. “You cannot do anything about this either.” Soobin shoots a look at Yeonjun who bows his head at the older prince when he looks his way. The older prince narrows his eyes slightly at him but Yeonjun can’t really blame him. He had come out and found his younger brother looking quite dishevelled with his guard all alone. Yeonjun would be suspicious if he was him too.

“And this is my duty,” Beomgyu says quietly. “This is what my fate was meant to be all along.” 

Yeonjun balls up his fists. 

Beomgyu’s fate is broken and fraying at the ends, ripping apart at the seams. Yeonjun has seen what happens when the thread holding it together snaps in half. He ends up with Beomgyu in his arms, limp and drenched with rain. 

Yeonjun has to change things. 

Soobin frowns at him and there's a spike of bitterness in his scent. “Beomgyu…” he whispers and he reaches out a hand that lands softly on the younger princes shoulder. “I wish I could do more for you.”

“You are a good brother,” Beomgyu gives him a weak smile. “I don’t need anything more.” 

But Yeonjun thinks Beomgyu should want more. It is obvious that in this timeline Soobin would fail Beomgyu just like Yeonjun’s past self did. 

Yeonjun wants him to want more, to be selfish and fight for what he believes in. He wants Beomgyu to be happy and not hide behind his jaded exterior. He wants to find a way to get Beomgyu out of this hell he’s living in.

Beomgyu steps away from Soobin’s hold and sniffles softly. 

Soobin turns his attention to Yeonjun who he glares at. Yeonjun sees Beomgyu out of the corner of his eye turn around, his shoulder hunching. It hurts to see him so distraught but forcing himself to keep his stony exterior up whenever others are around. 

“You are his aegis,” Soobin says with narrowed eyes. Yeonjun can’t help but feel weirded out at the alpha prince. The last conversation he had with him was not entirely him and Yeonjun is unsure how to approach him. 

“I am,” he answers back and Soobin’s lips press into a thin line. “You brought him out.” It’s not a question but a statement. Yeonjun wonders if he has already fucked things up by removing Beomgyu from the banquet and his blood heats with anxiety. 

Yeonjun wordlessly nods at him. Soobin’s frown softens as he breathes out. He looks relieved now and Yeonjun relaxes at the sight of the prince. 

“I cannot always be there for him,” Soobin says quietly. Yeonjun looks at Beomgyu’s figure, now a few steps away from where he was before, his hands reaching out to cup a plum blossom. “I have my own duties to do. I wish I could help him more but… he’s an omega and I’m an alpha…” 

Yeonjun wishes that it wasn’t such a detrimental difference between the princes, but the era is rough and deeply engraved into them. He realises just how far the world does go, but he can’t help but feel upset with the realisation. Why couldn’t it have come earlier? There is so much pain that Beomgyu is hiding and it’s even clear in Soobin’s eyes. Just because he’s an omega. Yeonjun wants to scream that omegas aren’t just an object they can monopolised for the sake of gaining power. 

“But you can be there for him,” Soobin adds and Yeonjun swallows thickly. He had planned on it but with Soobin’s hidden plea, Yeonjun knows it’s up to him and him alone. “Please… protect him well,” Soobin whispers and Yeonjun bites down on his lip. 

“I will, Your Highness.”He bows his head. “I will be there for him.” 

It’s not an empty promise and Soobin senses that clearly. Maybe it’s the look in Yeonjun’s eyes that tells him he’s being genuine, or maybe it’s the fact that Yeonjun reacts faster than Soobin himself when there’s a sudden spike of acidic orange penetrating the air. 

It burns his nostrils and clogs his throat and Yeonjun’s eyes dart to where he last saw the omega prince as soon as he catches it. 

He’s still by the tree, illuminated dimly by the singular paper lantern that’s made from purple hued paper. It casts a soft lilac light down upon him but even in the limited light, Yeonjun sees him clearly. His back is turned to him so he can’t see his face, but Yeonjun doesn’t need to because he knows he’s dropped his facade in his distress from the way his shoulders are tensed and raised. 

There’s another alpha, a stray wanderer from the banquet and he has gripped the omega prince around his waist and pinned him against the trunk of the plum tree. 

Beomgyu is fighting in his grip, his arms trying to rip out of the alpha’s hold. His face is buried in the crook of his bare neck and Yeonjun seethes. 

He collides with the alpha without a second thought and he tumbles away from the prince, cradling his face from where Yeonjun’s fist comes down against his cheekbone. Beomgyu stays frozen against the tree as Yeonjun rushes after the alpha that seethes with rage. 

Soobin is by Beomgyu’s side just as he gets to his feet, and the man lashes out towards Yeonjun. 

But Yeonjun’s body seems to move on its own. His feet dig into the earth and he sets a wide stance, ready to steady himself when he throws himself at him in attempts to attack him. He does just that and stays put. He growls loudly in his chest and Yeonjun smells the pre-rut on him as plain as day. Whoever had let him in had made a grave mistake to allow him access into the palace in such a state. 

Yeonjun twists his arm and forces him away. With a knee to the alpha’s back, the man tumbles to the ground and groans as Yeonjun pins him down by his arms. 

“You bastard!” the contained alpha growls out, thrashing in Yeonjun’s grip. 

Yeonjun is seething. His rage is seeping out into his scent and the moment the alpha picks it up he only grows more violent. He digs his nails into Yeonjun’s skin, deep enough to cause his skin to break and blood beads at his fingernails, a deep red. The metallic scent wafts through the air, and then there's a weak whimper. 

Yeonjun grits his teeth and lets out a low growl, a rumble coming from deep in his chest and with one last big heave of air his fist collides with the alphas temple and knocks him unconscious. 

The moment his eyes roll back into his skull and he goes limp, Yeonjun jumps up, his eyes wide as he looks at Beomgyu. Yeonjun’s scent changes rapidly from angry to concerned within an instant when he sees the trembling omega. 

Soobin is holding him by the shoulders, his back to his wider chest. The look on Beomgyu’s face is much different to the angry tears he had minutes before. 

His lips are curved downwards and his brows are furrowed tightly as tears fill his eyes. He doesn’t let them out, though. But his scent hasn’t calmed down and Soobin looks positively frantic at the acidic smell of oranges that hangs thickly in the air. 

Beomgyu is frozen in his brother's hold and Soobin isn’t so far from it too. He’s blinking rapidly at Yeonjun with wide eyes and his hold around his brother is protective as he looks between Yeonjun and the knocked out alpha on the ground. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun calls out gently and Beomgyu’s eyes dart to him, wide and as soon as he looks at Yeonjun he bursts into tears.

Soobin panics behind him and flinches when his brother lets out a sob. Yeonjun’s own eyes go wide at the younger prince’s reaction and he takes a single step towards the prince. 

“I should take him back,” He says to Soobin, reaching out a hand to coax Beomgyu towards him. “Would you go get guards to escort him away? He’s in pre-rut.” 

Soobin stares at him with wide eyes. His grip tightens around Beomgyu’s thin shoulder in apprehension, but Beomgyu suddenly lurches in his hold and staggers towards Yeonjun, his eyes wild. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun utters out. The prince's legs are weak beneath him and his steps are wobbly as he nears Yeonjun. 

He falls to his knees and he cries out as he hits the ground. Yeonjun crouches beside him, staring at him as he cries, his hands clawing out to him. 

He doesn’t know what to do. Just minutes ago Beomgyu had been very clearly angry with him but now he’s sobbing and pulling his body closer and closer to Yeonjun until he’s suddenly gripping onto his shoulders and throwing himself against him. 

Yeonjun doesn’t know if he should touch him back or even gently nudge him away but the distress in his scent is mellowing out as the seconds pass as he buries himself against Yeonjun. His alpha inwardly preens at the act of an omega feeling safe in his arms. 

Soobin locks eyes with him and gives him a curt nod before turning away and hurrying back to the courtyard in a flurry of silk.  

Beomgyu is trying to get his face into the crook of Yeonjun’s neck when he finally decides to put his hands around his shoulders, to move him away. The prince lets out another sob and forces his head next to his scent gland. Yeonjun’s breath hitches in his throat when his lips press against his skin and he laps at his pheromones.

“My prince,” his voice is shaky when he speaks (there is a pretty omega scenting him, Yeonjun thinks it’s warranted.) But Beomgyu continues to scent him, crying against his skin. 

Yeonjun lets him because only god knows how long he’s kept this all in. 

He stays in Yeonjun’s hold for ten more minutes before he collapses from his exhaustion. Yeonjun awkwardly gets to his feet and gingerly picks up the barely conscious prince. He only lets out a quiet whimper in return to his movements. 

Beomgyu’s scent clings to his skin so thickly he barely smells like himself anymore, but Yeonjun can’t find it within himself to care.

The silk of his robes slides up his legs when he shifts him in his arms to a more comfortable position for Yeonjun and the prince lets out a weak sob at the chill that brushes over his skin. Yeonjun hurries to smooth the fabric back over him and Beomgyu clings to him, his face still in the crook of his neck. 

The paths are empty as he hurries through the dimly lit pathways to the Jade Palace. The festivities are still going strong at the banquet despite Beomgyu’s attendance and Yeonjun can faintly hear the drumming of music in the night air. 

When he arrives at the steps leading up to the prince's estate, one of Beomgyu’s omega attendants pokes her head out, alerted by Yeonjun’s heavy steps. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the scene and she scrambles to open the doors for him. 

“Aegis!” she shouts as her eyes dart between them. Her own nose turns up at the scent that lingers around Beomgyu. Heavy with distress and with a lingering bite of acid. It’s strong in Yeonjun’s nose but he keeps his breathing stable so as to not stress out the barely conscious omega in his arms. 

“Come in, quickly!'' She almost hisses and he follows her as she hurries down the wooden halls and throws open doors that eventually lead into the room Yeonjun had been thrown into while Beomgyu was finishing up getting ready. 

“What happened, Aegis?” The young attendant pulls back the silk comforter that lies across the thin mattress at the end of the room and Yeonjun hurries to place him down. But as soon as Beomgyu’s back hits the mattress and Yeonjun tries to pull away, the prince is tugging him down with a sudden burst of strength and Yeonjun tumbles down onto the prince's bed. 

He looks up at the attendant with wide eyes and she responds with a sorrowful look but she doesn’t seem to be surprised or shocked by the prince's sudden behaviour. Rather, she looks slightly relieved, but Yeonjun is horrified. 

Beomgyu had been close to screaming at him before and he has been very clear that he doesn’t like him but knows he’s wrapped around him, his face still hidden in his neck. Yeonjun feels faint. 

“An alpha in pre-rut,” Yeonjun mutters. “He tried to scent him,” And Yeonjun realises that’s probably why Beomgyu is currently obsessed with scenting him instead. A way to stake his own claim on something—someone—after being objected to a forced scenting. Yeonjun’s own scent hangs thinly around him, overpowered by the oranges that seeps out from Beomgyu. 

The attendant gives the prince a worried look and she frowns down at Yeonjun. 

“Aegis, what happened to that alpha? We have to make sure they do not get away with attacking the prince like that.” 

“He’s unconscious,” Yeonjun grits out and his scent slightly spikes with anger at the mere thought of the alpha. The way he held Beomgyu against the tree flashes in his mind and the omega lets out a low growl at the scent of his anger. 

Yeonjun freezes, and so does the attendant. 

“Aegis,” She whispers, taking a single step backwards. 

Yeonjun has read things before about the space an omega can sink into if they’ve been exposed to high amounts of stress. Omega space isn’t rare from the time Yeonjun comes from, but this is not the time he comes from and he knows there’s little understanding about the biology which forces omegas into this space in this time. 

Beomgyu had slipped in the moment he locked eyes with Yeonjun as soon as he had knocked out the other alpha. It didn’t help that Yeonjun had scented him before and had in a way marked a claim on him that Beomgyu’s inner omega is now reacting to. 

Yeonjun has no fucking idea what to do. Staying in here with Beomgyu would lead to not only the omega being furious and humiliated—(Again. Yeonjun could see how humiliated he was after dragging him out of the banquet. He can’t blame him. His own father hadn’t even told him about his plans to announce that he was going to allow potential courting alphas into the palace and he had accepted them to come up and dare to even touch him. Yeonjun had seen it all and he knows Beomgyu despises that)—when he eventually slips back out which could be any time from a few minutes to overnight. 

And it would cause strife because it is improper in this time as well. Because Yeonjun is an unmated alpha allowing an unmated omega to rub his own claim onto him. 

The omega attendant seems to understand the extent of the problem at hand and winces. 

Yeonjun’s mind is running through all the things he could do right now. He can’t stay and he knows it, but when he tries to move, Beomgyu grips harder on him in protest for him to not move a muscle. 

He locks eyes with the attendant and grimaces. There’s only one thing he can think that will work, so he tries it. 

“You must fetch the eleventh prince,” he tells her and she nods her head rapidly before running out, and closing the doors behind her. 

Soobin had touched him and Beomgyu hadn’t shown a reaction of stress at his brother's touch. It’s the only thing Yeonjun can do because he can’t just leave him without any comfort at all. Yeonjun knows if an omega in omega space only gets more agitated it could very well lead to a stress heat. 

Soobin had told Yeonjun that he can trust him in that void so he holds onto it and just hopes he can offer Beomgyu at least a little bit of comfort. And because he’s not Yeonjun, he hopes it will spare Beomgyu some humiliation when he finally slips back. 

Beomgyu is still shaking in his hold and he takes deep breaths at Yeonjun’s neck but he stops actively scenting him. His cries have stopped but he sniffles every so often and his eyelashes flutter, tickling the skin on Yeonjun’s neck. 

The footsteps seem to alert Beomgyu when they begin to reverberate through the wooden floors. He lets out a little growl and Yeonjun has to bite his lip at it. Omegas can growl, especially when agitated enough and angry (Yeonjun once heard an omega mother growl at a bunch of drunk alphas on the street once and they had all shit their pants and ran the opposite direction) but Beomgyu’s growl sounds like a little rumble, a noise of protest rather than an genuine angry sound. 

The doors to his room crack open and the attendant bows, pink-faced and out of breath with Soobin who is also heaving in deep breaths and looking dishevelled. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Soobin says and he takes a step forward. Yeonjun gestures quietly to the omega clinging onto him. 

“What is going on?” He whispers and he takes a seat right near Beomgyu’s bed. 

“He…” Yeonjun is unsure to tell Soobin about the omega space because it is quite unlikely that he’s going to have no idea what he’s talking about. So, he takes a  slightly different approach. 

“It has distressed him quite a lot… he needs someone to comfort him, otherwise he’ll go through a stress heat.” Soobin’s eyes go wide and Yeonjun winces softly when Beomgyu nips at his neck with his teeth. 

“I cannot stay,” Yeonjun whispers and Soobin frowns but nods his head in agreement. “I am sorry for calling you, but you were the only one I thought that could help him right now,” 

“Of course I will help him,” Soobin mutters, his eyes sorrowful as he looks down at the omega curled around Yeonjun. “He is my little brother.” 

Yeonjun doesn’t doubt his affection for Beomgyu for a number of reasons, and he seems genuine right now. It’s good enough for him.

Yeonjun gulps and begins to slide away from Beomgyu. The omega cries out in response and digs his fingers into Yeonjun as he tries to pull him away but Soobin reaches out and pries his hands away so Yeonjun can scurry away. Beomgyu launches himself off the bed and Yeonjun pivots away just as Soobin encloses him in his arms. 

The younger prince cries out and when Yeonjun and the attendant hurry out of the room, the attendant shutting the doors behind them, he sobs. 

Yeonjun guards the prince's door for the whole night and hears him sob throughout the night all while Soobin tries to comfort him.

Eventually, it goes quiet. 

But Yeonjun’s heart is heavy in his chest and the scent of oranges clings onto him so strongly that he knows not even a bath is going to wash it all away. 

❀

Yeonjun tries not to act like anything out of the ordinary happened last night. 

He only got a few hours of sleep after he stopped hearing the prince's cries for a while but he still wakes up on time and deals with Miyoung who worms her way into his room with that tea again. Yeonjun still doesn’t drink it. 

When he arrives at the Jade Palace, Soobin has already left. The Jade Prince emerges with his eyes slightly puffy still, but the redness in his eyes has gone. His face is stony like it typically is but there’s a tiny hint of a frown plastering across his face. 

He’s dressed in lilac today and to Yeonjun’s horror, the collar of his robes have been altered. 

Before the banquet and the announcement that he was to be courted, his collars were high and covered his neck, but now they are much shorter and leave his whole neck exposed and even his collarbones are peeking out from the fabric. 

In most of his dreams Beomgyu had worn robes like this and it freaks him out. It’s just another reminder that the fate of his life is in his hands and he is the only one that can change it. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun greets him with a bow. For the past few days, Beomgyu hasn’t ignored him as much. He was beginning to pay Yeonjun more attention, and they’ve had conversations

But today, Beomgyu walks right past him, as if he isn’t even there. 

Yeonjun bites down on his bottom lip but accepts it. Beomgyu had a hard night and there must be some lingering feelings that are still running through him. Yeonjun wonders if maybe it’s because Beomgyu remembers how possessive he was over him last night. 

The Jade Prince is quiet in all of his morning classes and Yeonjun tries to not get in his hair like he has been at the moment. He’s been through enough these past days and he doesn’t want him to have any more reason to hate him. 

But the world seems to be taunting him. 

On the way back from his painting lesson, where he had painted a singular lotus in the middle of a pond filled with fish, Yeonjun spots his brothers walking towards their direction.

He wants to steer Beomgyu away and take him in the other direction, but his brothers are fast to come towards him. Yeonjun takes a step closer to him and wants so badly to pull him away, but his brothers then begin to talk. 

“Brother, are you not happy?” His third brother coos at him, that mocking smile plastered across his lips. “Father has finally deemed you a good enough omega to be courted.” 

Beomgyu frowns at him. “You can finally be of use. I had always wondered why our father kept you unmated for so long. You are an omega, you should’ve already given an alpha a son by now.” He spits the words out and gazes over him like he’s something appalling. Yeonjun’s hands are balled into fists and Beomgyu shifts in his place. 

“I can do other things,” he says strongly and his brothers laugh. 

“Do not lie, pretty little brother,” he shakes his head at him. “Omegas are made for one thing and one thing only,” 

“I think we’ve had enough,” Yeonjun finally speaks up. The older prince's eyes dart towards him, and the third prince frowns before barking out a laugh. 

“I think your aegis knows it quite well, Beomgyu…” he sniffs at the air and he must pick up on the way Beomgyu’s scent still clings to him. That taunting smile widens and the glint in his eyes is dangerous. Yeonjun doesn't like it one bit.

“He is my guard,” Beomgyu says calmly. “It makes sense that he carries some of my scent,” he says it through his teeth and his own fists are balled up tightly. 

“You left early last night,” He continues. “And now he smells like you,” he leans in closer to Beomgyu. “Father has asked for your chastity to be intact. No alpha will want a soiled omega to take as their mate.” 

Yeonjun’s hands shake. 

“I do not smell like him,” Beomgyu grits out and the tips of his ears tinge with pink.

Yeonjun can’t believe the third prince is even implying that they had gone back early to have sex . He doesn’t even know the start of the whole mess and his blood goes hot when he speaks to Beomgyu. 

“I think you have had quite enough,” Yeonjun grits out, his voice gruff as he steps closer to Beomgyu. “Goodbye.” He holds out a hand for Beomgyu and to his surprise, Beomgyu slides his palm into his open hand. Yeonjun begins to lead him away when he hears his third brother call out behind them. 

“The neckline of your robes suits you, Beomgyu,” his voice sings out and Yeonjun grips down hard on the prince's hand. 

Beomgyu doesn’t say a word as they walk away and it’s only until they come into the courtyard out the front of his estate that he’s overpowered by the wilted jasmine and acidic orange. 

Beomgyu snatches his hand back from Yeonjun’s grip and turns to him, his chest heaving with angry breaths and when he looks at his eyes, he holds his breath. 

It’s like looking into a thousand burning fires and he shivers at the clear anger in his eyes. 

Yeonjun had thought he had done the right thing, because hadn’t Beomgyu implied he thought he was supposed to protect him from his brothers? 

But he looks furious. 

“You are insufferable,” Beomgyu spits at him and Yeonjun blinks at him in shock. “How dare you!” 

“My prince, I do not understand what you mean?” He tries softly and he keeps his tone light and his scent controlled to not show his confusion. But Beomgyu seethes. 

“You made me look weak!” He cries out and Yeonjun looks at him with wide eyes. “You should’ve just let him speak, you don’t know what you’ve done!”

Yeonjun frowns back at him. 

“You have only given him more power over me,” Beomgyu grits out. 

His head spins because that was not his intention. He wanted to help, not turn Beomgyu on him. 

But Yeonjun also understands where he’s coming from. 

He’s seen the way his brothers treat him first hand. They are ruthless and unrelenting and Yeonjun understands his worry. 

“That wasn’t my intention,” he tells him honestly. “I was just trying to help you.”

“I never asked for your help!” Beomgyu cries out and his scent flares with anger so thickly that Yeonjun coughs. 

Yeonjun huffs out, “You told me that I was supposed to do my job properly, so forgive me, my prince if I misunderstood your commands and thought you meant I was supposed to keep you safe from your brothers too!”

His words seem to snap something in the prince because before he can even think Beomgyu is lurching in his spot and his hand wraps around the hilt of Yeonjun’s sword and he pulls it out of the sheath on his hip. 

Yeonjun’s eyes widen as the tip of the blade nicks the skin at his throat. 

His vision blurs at the edges when the déjà vu smacks him hard across the face. He’s seen this moment in his dreams. 

With his eyes narrowed and his posture strong, he holds the sword out like it's an extension of his arm and just like in his dream, Yeonjun can feel the cool metal against his skin.

“You do not understand, Aegis,” he spits out and his hands begin to shake. He drops the sword and it clangs loudly down onto the ground, singing as it collides with the hardened earth. “You have no idea what my life is like here.” 

“Then tell me,” Yeonjun practically begs him. “I am not here to hurt you, my prince. I’m here to protect you. From anything and everything you want.” 

“You are an alpha,” Beomgyu tells him. His scent has soothed a bit but his anger is still evident. At least, though, Yeonjun feels like he can breathe again. 

Yeonjun blinks at him softly. “My prince, I am not going to hurt you. I won’t ever dare to even think about it.” 

Beomgyu turns his head away and purses his lips. “I am to be mated soon,” his voice cracks as he speaks. “I cannot allow you to get close… my brother is right it does not matter that you have not… taken me but if rumours spread it is as good as you having your way with me.” 

Yeonjun’s face falls, and his heart drops to his stomach. 

“I wanted to be your friend,” Yeonjun whispers. “I don’t want to have sex with you.” 

Beomgyu glares at him, but his cheeks flush. “Do not be so vulgar.” 

“I am speaking the truth,” Yeonjun replies. “I’m going to be forward with you because we’ve already had too much miscommunication between us, my prince. I know you are going to say you don’t need or want a friend but I am not blind, my prince. You do not always have to hide from at least me.” 

Beomgyu is quiet for a few seconds before he shakes his head softly. 

“This is the palace, Aegis,” he says as he turns back to him. “You have not lived long enough here to know the truth behind these walls. You do not know half of it.” 

Yeonjun knows that it’s true and Beomgyu doesn’t know how right he truly is. Yeonjun had come in pretty much clueless to not only palace life but the day to day activities that came from stumbling into Goryeo. Yeonjun doesn’t understand palace life like Beomgyu does and maybe he never will,  because he’s not a prince, but he has empathy. And he knows it’s not easy by the way Beomgyu is so jaded. 

He wants to crack him open from his rocky exterior and find the real prince who has only dared to come out when he was alone with Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu carries around burdens too heavy for him to even begin to fathom, but Yeonjun is strong and he wants Beomgyu to share them with him. 

Yeonjun is here for him in ways Beomgyu will never comprehend. 

“I told you yesterday that I would listen,” Yeonjun whispers. “I know you are weary of me, my prince and I’m trying so hard to show you I’m not a bad person, but you’re making things so difficult.” 

Beomgyu’s frown softens the tiniest bit. 

“I told you I could protect myself,” is what he answers and Yeonjun’s heart shakes in his chest. It’s a subtle way of him admitting that his jaded exterior is a facade, a defence mechanism that he uses whenever he is around people to protect himself. 

He’s dropped it several times around Yeonjun, however and he’s not sure if that means he just really doesn’t give a shit about Yeonjun or whether he is more trusting of him than Yeonjun originally thought. 

His mind flashes back to last night where he had crawled his way into his arms and had scented him so heavily that it still clings to his skin even now. He had curled up against him when his omega was in control to protect him and made it very clear he was not happy for him to leave.

“But now I am here, my prince,” Yeonjun tells him. 

Beomgyu gazes at him and ever so slightly, his eyes soften. 

Chapter Text

Yeonjun stares down at the markings of ink stark against the white paper in front of him. Dark ink is splotched on his hands, the smeared ink on his fingers showing the struggle he had to grind the ink to its correct consistency. 

It’s a jumbled mess of dot points and characters sprawled across the page. There are full lines with crosses through the middle and aggressive splatters of ink from where he had been unable to hide his frustration through his writing. 

The writing is jumbled, a good reflection on how messed up his mind is at the moment. 

Yeonjun lets out a sigh as he reads over it again.

It’s a messy list that's filled with all the dreams he can recall and his little thoughts that come to him from each one. Some of the memories are so vague that he just has to but a big fucking question mark next to it. Because, what the hell, Beomgyu bathing shouldn’t be significant to this mystery he’s trying so hard to solve. Seriously. 

There’s the little things like the many scenes he’s seen him crying. In courtyards and on the floor of his room, surrounded by broken celadon pots and looking as if someone had snatched his world away from him. 

Most of them seem trivial and they seem so normal, but Yeonjun just knows he has to look deeper. 

There is a reason for his tears every time he has cried in his dreams, but Yeonjun can’t pinpoint what it is. He might be a time traveller of some degree, but he doesn’t understand how it fucking works. He’s stuck in the present, trying to solve things that will happen in the future. 

It hurts his brain even thinking about it. 

The scenes have to hold importance in the mystery that is Beomgyu’s demise and each line that he has written in have paragraphs of varying lengths that support his thoughts and potential importance of each dream. 

The gazebo on the pond where Beomgyu flinches away from a suitor who says he likes jade—Yeonjun knows he likes jade (or is it another thing forced upon him and he’s just rolling with it at this point? Yeonjun is struggling to figure him out) but his reaction had been less than pleasant in the dream. It could have just been the suitor, Yeonjun also thinks, but it is so unlike the Beomgyu he is beginning to know to recoil physically from words. 

Maybe he would expect it if it was just him and Beomgyu alone, but in front of several other suitors as well? And to not mention the crowd of attendants around them. 

Then there's the dream where Yeonjun was being physically restrained, and now with knowledge on who Soobin is; he now recognises the prince being held with him as the alpha prince. 

And the man they’re being held back from is clearly the third prince. It’s not clear to him if Beomgyu is present in that moment, but Soobin’s roar of, “Do not talk to him like that! He is our brother!” clears it up that the omega prince is somewhere out of Yeonjun’s eyesight. 

The scene where he is storming down the halls of the palace with a furious gait, he seems more like the prince Yeonjun is becoming used to. The prince with the hard edges and the stony exterior, the frosted edges of unpolished jade. And how he says that he is not like his brothers is strong and full of bitter anger. Yeonjun swears he can already smell the bitterness of the oranges, acidic and burnt in his nose as he sprints beside him.

The dreams he remembers seem to contradict his theories—or lack thereof—and it’s jarring . 

One moment he seems so strong and jaded—a facade and Yeonjun knows this well— but then he seems so fragile and so small and makes Yeonjun want to bring him into his arms and breathe in his scent and rub his own calming pheromones against him and shield him from the world that is so against his existence.

He has had many moments in his dreams where he had shown a certain vulnerability. The tears that ran down his cheeks were sad, angry and full of pain. 

The dreams didn’t come to him in chronological order. Yeonjun knows this after experiencing the mess of the previous few days. He had seen the banquet first in his dreams, but that had come after he had been thrown into Beomgyu’s room and seen him put the outer robe on. 

There isn’t any order to the dreams and they dart all over the place, changing so rapidly that Yeonjun feels like he has mental whiplash from how fast the mood changes in each scene he had witnessed. 

And there’s something horrifying about that, too. Not just because any one of the memories can jump out at him at any time of the day (he’s already experienced this several times already) but because he has recognised each dream with perfect clarity. 

They are crystal clear. A replica of the memories he once dreamt. The only difference was now he could move freely and smell. Beomgyu’s scent made everything harder to smell him in his times of distress. 

But it’s not any of those reasons that makes Yeonjun so scared. 

It’s the knowledge that if he recognises the dreams with the same intensity of déjà vu, it means he has failed to change anything. 

And that means he is failing Beomgyu. 

If nothing changes he will end up in the scene that has haunted him for a decade and a half. In the mud, the hem of his hanbok wet as he races towards the blooms of red painting the earth. 

Yeonjun cannot let that happen. He will not allow it to be conjured into reality in this timeline. 

❀

Yeonjun truly doesn’t know if Beomgyu recalls the night of the banquet. 

He is as quiet as ever when he escorts him to his lessons. He paints in silence as his teacher reads poetry of a forlorn lover and tragic love stories that Yeonjun has to drown out because he’s got enough on his mind. Adding failed love stories in his mess of thoughts will not be good for his mental health. 

He tries to strike up conversation again because Yeonjun is determined to get Beomgyu to trust him with a newfound courage. 

Beomgyu barely responds to his questions that range from, “What’s your favourite flower?”

 “Jasmine,” he answers in little over a whisper.

It’s fitting since his scent carries the lingering essence of the blooming vine and it makes Yeonjun smile fondly at the discovery. 

“What about a favourite painting you have done? You are very talented, my prince.” He looks at him with a certain softness in his eyes and the corners of his lips twitch up the tiniest bit before he bites down on them and turns his gaze away from Yeonjun. “The lotus flowers.” 

Yeonjun stays closer, too. Not five steps behind like he had enforced before. He seems to have given up trying to remind Yeonjun to go back because he no longer scolds him when he falls in step beside him. 

Really, he hasn’t looked at him since their talk outside his residence.

Yeonjun isn’t sure if it’s because he is just in a mood or if he does remember that night and he’s embarrassed. But either way, Yeonjun is not about to mention it to him. That would be a mistake on his part and he’s made plenty of them already. 

He wants to save Beomgyu from some of his humiliation too. He’s been through enough of that lately as well. Yeonjun doesn’t need to know if he remembers that night or not. Maybe it would calm his mind and give him some closure so he can stop thinking about how his orange scent had mixed into his scent of rain—a blooming orchard in the monsoon season. 

Yeonjun doesn’t mind that he had scented him—rather, he was glad it had calmed him down enough to not slip into a stress heat, but his alpha is itching at him to know why he had felt safe enough around him to do that. 

He takes a peek at the prince and smiles softly. His eyes are soft, a small smile playing across his lips as he watches tiny sparrows dance from branch to branch, filling the air with a twinkling of birdsong. His robes of yellow and soft petal pink stand out against the backdrop of greenery—he looks like a flower in bloom, Yeonjun decides. 

“Would you like to continue the walk, my prince?” Yeonjun questions quietly. It gets Beomgyu’s attention and he turns to face Yeonjun, his smile still present however small it is. It’s a pleasant change from his cold exterior.

“Spring is blooming,” Beomgyu comments quietly with a nod of his head. “Perhaps I will ask for jasmine tea this afternoon.”

Yeonjun smiles at him and hums and Beomgyu sucks gently on his bottom lip before he tilts his head up to meet Yeonjun’s eyes again. From further away, Beomgyu doesn’t need to lift his head to meet his gaze, but when the proximity between them is close, he cranes his neck the slightest bit to look at him in the eyes. 

Yeonjun thinks it’s cute.

“Maybe you will join me, Aegis?” He whispers and Yeonjun blinks before he regains his composure and nods, probably a bit too enthusiastically after being invited to tea, but Beomgyu gives him another smile in return and his pulse sings. 

“I would love to,” Beomgyu nods, his gaze dropping from Yeonjun’s face before he begins to walk away.

But, of course, just as the world would have it—in its spiteful way of constantly reminding Beomgyu of his inadequacy in this time—his brothers appear again. 

Yeonjun should go and find a different path for them to take back to the Jade Palace because there is no way this is a coincidence anymore. And by the way the third and seventh prince smirk at them, it confirms his suspicion that they are not surprised to see them. 

“Little brother,” his third brother calls out, his eyebrows raising as he looks up and down at his lemon yellow and pink robes. His hair is half up in a bun that sits at the back of his head and the rest of his dark hair cascades over his shoulders. Yeonjun sees Beomgyu raise a hand and gently brush his hair to cover his bare neck as his brothers begin to make their way over. 

The scent of orange is suddenly muted in the air hanging around them.

“We can leave now.” Yeonjun whispers to him, but Beomgyu’s jaw tenses and he lets out a huff of resistance. “I must not,” he grits out. “I have to stand my ground.” 

Yeonjun wants to tell him that he doesn’t have to do such a thing and that they can go back together and be free of whatever shit he’s about to speil on him this time. 

Godforbid if he suspects them of sleeping together again, Yeonjun might lose his shit and punch the dickhead in the face. 

The mental imagery burns satisfaction through him and his hands ball up in fists. 

“Jung hyungnim,” Beomgyu bows deeply at his third brother that he finally calls by name. It sounds a little bit disrespectful to Yeonjun, a taunt back at him. He fights his little smile that wants to appear on his face.

Beomgyu’s third brother—Jung—frowns, but it is gone by the time Yeonjun blinks. Jung’s face contorts into that sly grin and his eyes are dark and swim with malicious intent. Yeonjun wants to reach out to Beomgyu and drag him out of here before the situation can spiral out of control. 

“You look lovely in your new robes. I must say your tailors have done a fine job at enhancing your beauty…” Jung gestures to his collarbones that are peeking out from under the neckline of his robe. 

Beomgyu keeps his face passive and Yeonjun struggles to do the same. He shifts closer to Beomgyu, a hand hovering behind the small of his back. 

Jung cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Now you truly do act like a proper omega, brother. You will be popular with all the alphas that wish to come take your hand… maybe you will be finally of use to this family.” 

Beomgyu frowns softly and his fingers grip onto his yellow sleeves. 

“See, baby brother, we are going to practice a sword dance we have requested to learn for fathers birthday. His sons, that is.” 

“I am also his son,” Beomgyu speaks up. His voice is stable and his face is void of any emotion again. Jung smirks at him. “You are an omega,”

Beomgyu’s frown makes a reappearance, but this time it is deeper and he clutches tightly at his sleeves between his fingers. 

“Omega’s do not hold swords, Beomgyu.” Jung chides like he’s speaking to a child. Beomgyu opens his mouth but quickly shuts it again. 

Yeonjun wants to scoff because Beomgyu definitely can hold swords. He had been at the end of his sword yesterday and the small scratch at the base of his throat proves that Beomgyu also knows how to use them. 

“And you have your aegis you go everywhere with. How would you perform without him, hmm?” He jeers with a slight snarl in Yeonjun’s general direction. “We cannot possibly allow him to do the dance with us, right?” He turns to the seventh prince who nods along and clicks his tongue. 

“You are not one of us, Beomgyu. Your title of prince is overshadowed by the fact you are a little omega, Jade Prince.” 

“I am still a prince,” Beomgyu says with a grit in his voice. “I may be an omega, but I am still a prince. That is a ridiculous notion, hyungnim.”

Jung shoots him a glare. “I do not think you understand what I am saying, Beomgyu. Dearest brother, Jade Prince, you are not on our level. You are useless. Do you understand that? You will never be able to sit upon the throne of this nation and rule. You are meant to be used—“

“He is not useless,” Yeonjun snaps. 

Jung’s eyes land on him and he sends out a warning growl for cutting him off. “Be quiet, Aegis. You are meant to be his shadow… unless you really do have a different relationship?” He looks amusedly at Beomgyu before he laughs. 

“No, I don’t think so. His talents as an omega are weak,” he snarls out. “An alpha wouldn’t want an omega that couldn’t go into heat.”

“You seem to care an awful lot about my heats, brother.” Beomgyu chides back and satisfaction burns through Yeonjun at the younger prince's words. Jung’s lips lift into a snarl. 

“I am stating the point that you are a broken omega—“

“I am not a broken omega,” Beomgyu hisses out. Jung’s eyes light up with surprise before his own satisfaction plasters across his face. 

Yeonjun really wants to punch his lights out.

“No?” Jung coos at him and Beomgyu’s lip lifts in a snarl. Yeonjun’s hand grips at his sleeve and he shakes his head softly at Beomgyu when he looks at him. 

It’s not worth it, because Jung is eating up their reactions and having a field day with the both of them.

“Maybe to yourself you are not, but to alphas we see the imperfections in you. You are too cold and you are not nurturing. You had trouble with your heats so who is to say you will carry a pup fine?” 

Beomgyu’s nose twitches and his jaw quivers in his anger. His scent is turning sour and Yeonjun just wants to pull him away to save him from his brother's taunting. He tugs on his hand, but Beomgyu doesn’t budge. 

“You are a disappointment, Jade Prince,” Jung spits. “You were born to two powerful alphas. Your mother was a strong alpha and was lucky she even conceived you. Everyone thought you to be an alpha, a strong one at that, but you slithered out of your mothers womb smelling like honey and milk—an omega babe. But you had to kill her on your way out, too, didn’t you? The disappointment we feel for you is immeasurable, Jade Prince. Then you grew up without heats and father took pity on you so much that he decided to let you live as a beta—a foolish move because now you do not know your place as an omega. You are supposed to listen and be quiet and if an alpha tells you do to something, you should do it.”

Beomgyu is frozen as he stares at his brother and his scent is thickening with distress. Yeonjun’s hand around his wrist tightens and he tugs him closer to him ever so slightly. Beomgyu takes a step backwards and his shoulder bumps against Yeonjun’s. 

“You should do your duties as an omega. Accept that you will be sent off in a mating bond to monopolise more power for the throne. You will open your legs for the goodness of this kingdom, do you understand that, dearest Jade Prince?” 

Beomgyu’s eyes are narrowed as he looks at his third brother. 

“I think I understand perfectly well.” Beomgyu hisses out and turns on his heels. The yellow silk of his skirts flies around him as he twirls and flutters when he walks away from his brothers. 

“You are wrong,” Yeonjun spits at Jung before Beomgyu tugs on his hand and pulls him along with him. 

“He is a dickhead!” Yeonjun spits out as soon as they’ve made distance from Beomgyu’s older brothers. Beomgyu frowns at him when he looks at him. 

“A dickhead?” He asks and the brunt note to his scent softens as he ponders what Yeonjun had just said. Yeonjun’s eyes widen at him. “Don’t say that,” he hurries out. “My prince, that’s not a very…” Yeonjun struggles to find the right word. “Princely word.”

“Well you heard him, did you not? Apparently I am not a prince,” Yeonjun’s face falls when Beomgyu’s gaze falls to the ground. 

“I don’t think you should listen to anything he says,” Yeonjun mutters quietly. He gulps thickly and clears his throat when Beomgyu looks up at him. He releases his grip from his wrist and a tiny frown appears between Beomgyu’s brows. 

“I don’t think you’re a… broken omega… or that you’re not as much as a prince as they are.” Beomgyu looks at him with the same softness he had yesterday, but the corners of his mouth aren’t lifting up, but down. 

“They treat you so… wrongly… you do not deserve to be spoken to like that, my prince.” He says with a huff and then the corners of Beomgyu’s lips do turn upwards. A tiny gesture, but it is a win in Yeonjun’s book. 

“You have lots of good qualities, but they are blind to them, my prince. But I see it! I won’t be fooled by it! I see that you are a prince worthy of lots of things underneath the mask you prefer to hide under.”

Beomgyu blinks up at him and there's a soft burst of bright orange tingling Yeonjun’s nose.

“I do not care that you are an omega,” Yeonjun continues. “You are much more than that to me.” 

Beomgyu is so worthy of everything to Yeonjun, but he only has feeble offerings. He doesn’t have anything to give Beomgyu that reflects on how much Yeonjun thinks he is worthy of. He only has words and Yeonjun isn’t quite sure that he’ll ever be able to put words into a string of sentences about how he truly thinks of him. 

Beomgyu is much more to him than a prince struggling to live his life in a treacherous palace filled with people constantly reminding him that he had disappointed them for even being born. 

Yeonjun wants Beomgyu to know so badly that he doesn’t think of him as some broken omega—whatever that meant anyway—and that he respects him. His respect runs deep for him. Like a raging river carving the landscape around it; each passing day his respect claws at the land around him and digs deeper and deeper.

But it hurts, too. Because he hides so well behind his jaded exterior that it is so rare to get hints of who he truly is—but Yeonjun has seen more than enough to understand the complexity of the situation. 

Yeonjun understands it now, after Jung had spit out his title, a heavy emphasis on the words Jade Prince. 

It is not a title taken from an innocent notion of the prince's favourite gem or colour—but it is a taunt. A mockery of the fortress he has built up around himself to protect himself from the constant hurt that is thrown his way. 

“I do not hate being an omega.” Beomgyu speaks up. His eyes are deepened with a sense of sadness that then makes itself noticeable in his scent; a hint of wilting jasmine after the blooming season in spring has passed. 

“I do not hate being who I am… but I cannot be myself because I am an omega,” Beomgyu’s fingers twitch as if they’re reaching out for Yeonjun’s hand, but they fall back to his side quickly. 

“But they will not look past that. I understand the differences between us… I understand that as an omega I have my duties and my alpha and beta brothers have their duties as well… but I do wish they would not taunt me so much.” His voice is weak, a whisper that holds an undertone of sadness. 

Yeonjun’s heart sinks into his chest. 

He reaches out and takes Beomgyu’s hand into his own hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. His skin is soft and warm underneath the pads of his fingers. Beomgyu doesn’t snatch his hand back. 

Instead, daintily, and ever so carefully, his fingers curl around Yeonjun’s palm, his fingertips resting on the side of his hand. Yeonjun blinks at their intertwined hands and lets out a soft hum. 

Falling face-fucking-first into the Patriarchy was not ever on Yeonjun’s to-do list, but here he is in front of an omega that is being suffocated underneath the social hierarchy of this time.

It hurts because to know that Beomgyu believes he has duties he must do because he is an omega. It hurts because Yeonjun knows it doesn’t have to be like this. In the future, centuries away from the reign of Goryeo kings and Joseon kings, society will change. For the better. To allow omegas to live like they should be able to and not be asphyxiated by the societal standards of this time. 

“I want them to look past the fact I am an omega… like they used to when I did not yet have my heats.” Beomgyu’s face flushes, a dusting of pink appearing over the apples of his cheeks and the round tip of his nose. Yeonjun’s heart stutters in his chest. 

“I miss those days.” Beomgyu sighs. 

“When you were treated as a beta?” Yeonjun questions softly and the omega heaves out a breath as he nods. “Things were… simpler. I have never had any greed for the throne… I have simply wanted to,” he frowns and his grip on Yeonjun’s hand tightens slightly. His scent thickens in sadness and Yeonjun lets out some of his pheromones in response. Beomgyu’s scent calms.

“Belong somewhere.” 

It feels like someone has stomped all over Yeonjun’s heart. It’s battered with bruises and wounds from the prince's words. And with a sudden flare of heat in his core, Yeonjun realises the prince is opening up to him. 

Underneath the curved archway, a plum blossom in bloom hangs to the right of Beomgyu’s head and with the faint symphonies of bird song filling the gaps of silence between their conversation; Beomgyu has finally understood that Yeonjun is not a threat to his livelihood. 

And they’re holding hands. 

What the fuck?

This is what he has been striving for after all, but it feels so… natural and normal to have Beomgyu talk to him with his defences down and with his hand in his. 

“I used to hold swords, Aegis.” Beomgyu mutters. “But the moment I awoke feverish and with… with my court ladies peering over at me, I have never been able to hold one since.”

“You held one yesterday,” Yeonjun comments and Beomgyu lets out a tiny laugh, a twinkling sound that the birds reply with in their own language. 

“I suppose I did,” Beomgyu’s eyes narrow at the small cut that is already healing at his throat and the prince bites down onto his lip. “I am sorry.” He whispers. “I do not know what came over me.” 

Yeonjun knows this. He had been in a frenzy of emotions after suppressing them for so long. He doesn’t care that he had lashed out, rather, Yeonjun is grateful he had shown emotion. Because if he keeps it in for too long, bottling up everything inside of him Yeonjun is afraid he will choke on them later. 

“It’s okay,” Yeonjun shrugs indifferently to show that he really isn’t bothered by it. “I am just glad you are okay, my prince.” 

Beomgyu blinks at him before he nods quietly. His hand slips out of Yeonjun’s and instantly grips at yellow silk, his fingers sinking into the soft fabric. 

“I think I will go ask for the tea to be brewed,” Beomgyu whispers, his gaze breaking away from Yeonjun’s face. He turns and pauses before he turns back and looks at Yeonjun. 

“Thank you, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

Yeonjun beams at the prince, but his heart weighs heavy in his chest. 

❀

Beomgyu doesn’t invite Yeonjun for tea later in the afternoon. 

Yeonjun doesn’t take it to heart. They’ve already had a long and deep conversation, and Yeonjun understands that Beomgyu probably needs some time to organise his thoughts together. 

Yeonjun also needs time, as well. 

The way Jung had spoken was an atrocity. Other times he had spoken in less direct ways, preferring to hide his true intentions and meaning underneath the layers of his words, but today he didn’t bother hiding it at all. His words were shot to hurt, poison on the tip of his tongue, and Beomgyu is his target. 

Yeonjun can’t understand Jung. He seems to hate Beomgyu one moment, spitting at him that he is worthless. Other times he mocks him, torments him and on rare occasions; Jung looks at him with a flash of envy. 

There is something that Yeonjun is still missing from this puzzle, but the pieces are scattered far and wide, out of his reach and beyond his grip. 

Yeonjun’s stomach churns. 

Distantly, Yeonjun is aware that things will get worse for Beomgyu. Yeonjun has the end of the puzzle, a messy distortion of crimson and rain. Sodden earth and a bolt of thunder echoing through his chest. 

And with the knowledge that he has, Yeonjun knows things will get tougher and harder for Beomgyu. He’s seen it. 

Yeonjun has seen the tears in his eyes, the way his lips quivered, the overwhelming trench of sorrow in his eyes; Yeonjun has seen it all. 

And Yeonjun wants so badly to help shield him from that pain. To ease his pain by filling the gapping voids inside the prince's heart. Yeonjun wants Beomgyu to feel like he belongs.

He knows the prince feels out of place, out of reach from even his own brothers. Yeonjun knows Soobin and Taehyun are fond of Beomgyu, but there is something keeping Beomgyu away from allowing himself to sink into their affections. 

Yeonjun wishes he would let himself have that comfort, at least. But Beomgyu is right. 

Yeonjun doesn’t truly know how the palace works. Yeonjun has never really paid much attention to politics even from his own time—the future—and the extensive list of politics and the standards that royals must confirm to do are lost to Yeonjun. He understands the basics, but he doesn’t understand the technicalities and the reasoning behind them. 

The way omegas are treated is nothing more than inhumane in Yeonjun’s opinion. But Yeonjun is unsure that even Beomgyu would agree with him if he ever told him that. Because, after all, this is what is considered normal, and Yeonjun supposes that they just don’t know any better. They can’t comprehend the possibilities and what will eventually happen in the future. 

That hurts. 

Beomgyu deserves better. He deserves so much more. Yeonjun wants to give him that. He wants to give him what he deserves. Respect, peace, a sense of belonging, the bare minimum of feeling safe around an alpha that he has learnt to be intimidated by from his own brothers and father. 

Yeonjun wants Beomgyu to feel safe and like he belongs somewhere. He wants Beomgyu to feel like he has someone to lean on, someone that understands him. And Yeonjun wants to be that person to him. 

Yeonjun stands from the cushion underneath him and stares at the doors that lead out into the courtyard separating his small villa and Beomgyu’s estate far too large for a single person. 

The sun is peeking behind the horizon, slowly falling and making way for the moon to take its place high in the prussian blue sky. 

His feet take him up the stairs leading up to the entry of the Jade Palace. He knocks quietly and theres a shuffle of feet pattering down on the wooden flooring before the doors are pulled open and the omega attendant that had gotten Soobin those nights ago greets Yeonjun with a deep bow. 

“Aegis!” She bows again. “The prince hasn’t requested your company…”

“I know,” Yeonjun flashes her a smile. He fiddles with his thumbs and searches through his mind to figure out why the hell he is here. 

“Oh… um… I was wondering if I could accompany the prince on a walk? I’d like to take him somewhere if he is not busy, of course.” 

The attendant cocks her head at him and then nods slowly. “I will go inform him, Aegis.” She hurries off and Yeonjun gulps, shuffling in his spot. 

He knows why he is here and what his intentions are, but the thought of Beomgyu being hesitant and unresponsive to his attempts to bring a least a little happiness into his day is daunting. Yeonjun has to play his cards carefully when it’s about Beomgyu, a careful game of finding the right words and a push at the boundaries of his control. 

But it’s for Beomgyu, so Yeonjun has to be brave. 

For Beomgyu’s sake. 

The prince appears in front of Yeonjun, still dressed in the soft hue of yellow and pink—a child of spring. Yeonjun smiles as soon as he lays his eyes upon him. 

And instead of that indifferent, hard look that Yeonjun has grown so used to Beomgyu giving him, Beomgyu looks up at him with a soft look on his face. It’s not necessarily an expressive look, but his eyes don’t hold the lingering coldness in them and the lines of his mouth are parted gently. 

Beomgyu looks content. 

Something inside of Yeonjun flourishes at the realisation. 

Beomgyu is dropping his defence around Yeonjun. A sign of trust, a way to tell Yeonjun that he has accepted his presence and feels somewhat positive over it now. 

Yeonjun clears his throat and speaks through his smile. “My prince… would you care to join me for a walk?”

Beomgyu cocks his head at him and his brows furrow softly as he thinks. It smoothes back out and the corners of the prince’s mouth twitch upwards. “Where will you take me, Aegis Yeonjun?” 

Yeonjun doesn’t miss the way Beomgyu has been calling him the past few times. Before, Yeonjun was nothing but just ‘Aegis’ to Beomgyu, but somehow, somewhere, something has changed to give him the promotion in Beomgyu’s mind. 

His heart flourishes at the thought and he hesitatingly begins to hold out a hand for Beomgyu to take, but he gets cold feet and quickly brushes it by his side. 

Beomgyu steps down out of the doorway and settles close to Yeonjun. 

“Maybe it will be better kept as a surprise, my prince?” 

Beomgyu gives him a look but then hums and nods his head. “I suppose so.” The prince says and looks at Yeonjun expectantly. “Will you lead the way then, Aegis Yeonjun?”

Yeonjun sends him a small smile and steps down, looking back at the prince and watching him as he follows him without a hint of hesitation. It’s an overwhelming amount of progress to Yeonjun. From a prince that could barely stand even the sight of him, to now trust him so openly and not even ask him where they are going—Yeonjun bites down on his lip at the clear development in Beomgyu’s trust for him. 

Beomgyu steps next to him and looks at Yeonjun when their shoulders brush against each other’s. Yeonjun gives him another grin and the prince's eyes hold a certain twinkle, and there's a subtle burst of bright orange suddenly penetrating Yeonjun’s nose. 

Beomgyu doesn’t fiddle with his sleeves as they walk. Instead, he looks around with a soft smile as Yeonjun leads him through the dimming light and the prince’s scent is light, free of the acidic tone that Yeonjun was beginning to grow used to with how frequent Beomgyu has been distressed at the moment. 

The walk is quiet, peaceful, but Yeonjun is still on edge that his brothers are going to pop out and ruin everything. But they don’t. 

Yeonjun has thought long and hard about the things that Beomgyu had told him earlier today. The way he missed accompanying his brothers to different activities and even join in, how he wishes that his brothers could treat him like they had before he had been thrown into the life of being the perfect omega. 

Yeonjun realises that it must be that much harder for Beomgyu because he’s already had a taste of what he could have. He’s lived as a beta before, been treated as more than an omega that had been born into the royal family. 

Beomgyu’s whole life had changed the moment his heat had come. 

The privileges—that shouldn’t even be a privilege because it’s a basic right to Yeonjun, but again, his twenty-first-century-isms are showing—that Beomgyu had been given as a young omega that had yet to mature—Yeonjun also knows that Beomgyu is not defective , but simply a late bloomer, but again, things like this are not well known in this time period—had been snatched away the moment his body had awoken and with that, the young prince’s life as he had known it had been snatched away from him, from right underneath his nose and locked up in front of him. 

Beomgyu said that he doesn’t hate being an omega, and Yeonjun thinks it shows his character. Beomgyu is trying to be true to himself and even if he can only truly be himself when no one else is alone; Beomgyu is always alone in his mind.

The prince is strong. Stronger than what he probably gives himself credit for. 

His mask—the facade of coldness, the wall of clouded jade shows this too. As upsetting as the reasoning of its origin is, Yeonjun thinks it takes a lot of willpower and control to be able to act as strong as what Beomgyu does. 

Yeonjun knows it's not truly him when Beomgyu is around others, but there's courage in the way Beomgyu has taken it upon himself to protect himself, no matter how heartbreaking it is. 

Yeonjun wants to comfort Beomgyu. He wants to tell him everything will be okay, but Yeonjun doesn’t want to lie and give him false hope. Unless he can definitely change things, things will only get worse. 

Yeonjun is not prepared for that.

Beomgyu frowns at Yeonjun when he brings them to the field where the archery targets are set up. 

“Aegis Yeonjun? What are we doing here of all places?” 

Yeonjun turns to the prince and gives him a sheepish smile, suddenly afraid that Beomgyu is going to reject his idea and he’ll somehow reset the trust Beomgyu has put in him and fuck things up. 

Yeonjun is anxious .

He thinks it is warranted in the situation he is in and he also knows if he somehow ended up here without the knowledge of what was going to happen in the end, he wouldn’t be so anxious and dumb when it comes to the pretty omega prince. 

Yeonjun is also desperate to fix things, to make things right and to save Beomgyu from the hell that Yeonjun has lived through his dreams. 

“I thought… I thought you might like it if…”

Yeonjun suddenly feels heat flush at his cheeks and he turns away, clearing his throat. 

He feels like an idiot right now, stumbling over his words and struggling to show his true intentions to the prince looking at him with a soft frown. 

Yeonjun knows it’s not an angry frown, but an inquisitive one by the way the prince’s head is cocked. 

Yeonjun should be careful how he words things, because the last thing he wants is to scare Beomgyu off and have his chance shattered. 

“When you said you missed doing the things with your brothers I… I thought that maybe you could still maybe do them? Not with them, of course,” Yeonjun winces. “But maybe with me…? I know it won’t be the same, but I…” 

When you had been dragged here by your third brother and taunted and mocked, forced to sit and watch the things you had once done with them, I wanted nothing more than to be able for you to show them that things can be different. That’s what Yeonjun wants to say. But he chooses to keep that part to himself. For now. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu says slowly. 

“I… I don’t think I should. I don’t think we should even be here…” The apprehension in Beomgyu’s voice is clear and Yeonjun’s breath hitches in his throat. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun breathes out. “It’s just us here. I won’t say anything.” Yeonjun tries to reassure the prince. 

“It’s just us,” Yeonjun says again, reaching out a hand. 

Beomgyu’s eyes flicker over at the fields with the targets lined up. The bows and quivers filled with arrows are leaning against the podium that Beomgyu’s brothers had mocked him from. Yeonjun takes a step closer to the podium, his foot landing on the first step when Beomgyu’s breath hitches. 

Yeonjun turns back to Beomgyu and finds him frowning, his fingers pulling at his yellow sleeves and his scent is spiking with anxiety. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun calls out quietly and outstretches his hand. Beomgyu stares at him. “If you really don’t want to, we can go back?” Yeonjun suggests, but his stomach sinks. 

Beomgyu bites down onto his bottom lip and lets out a shaky breath. 

“Why… why are you doing this, Aegis Yeonjun?” 

Yeonjun smiles and keeps his hand outreached. Just in case. 

“I want to show you that I care.” Yeonjun says. “I want you to feel like you do not have to hide at all with me. We can do the things you want to do, but can’t with anyone else now. I’m here now, my prince. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it many times. Until you believe me.” 

Beomgyu stares at him and his scent shakes, wavering between anxiety to the flourishing scent of ripe oranges—happiness. 

The prince takes a step forward.

Yeonjun smiles broadly and goes up the stairs, keeping his hand out and when Beomgyu stops at the first step, his hand slowly glides into Yeonjun’s, his fingers gripping gently around Yeonjun’s palm. 

Beomgyu stares into Yeonjun’s eyes as he steps up to the podium and gently slips his hand back by his side. 

“There is not much light left, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu mutters has he picks up a bow and several arrows in his other hand. Yeonjun hums. “It will be enough time, won’t it?” Yeonjun asks. “I didn’t want to risk running into your brothers.”

“That’s thoughtful of you.” Beomgyu comments as his fingers pull at the bowstring. He lets it go and it vibrates, the sound reverberating through the air and travelling through Yeonjun’s body. 

Yeonjun picks up his own bow and watches Beomgyu carefully. The prince holds it with trained confidence, a type of comfort that only comes from being exposed to the weapon. Yeonjun, on the other hand, does not have the same exposure. 

It feels odd in his fingers, unlike the metal and plastic bows he held in his youth at summer camps, but his body remembers. His body remembers his past life—this life—and he moves with precession. 

The arrow is light in his hand and when he cocks it in his bow and stretches his fingers back, the string held in his grip, Yeonjun suddenly swallows. 

Yeonjun is glad his body knows what to do. Some sort of muscle memory, he supposes. He had done sword dancing for a singular stage back in Seoul, learnt how some sword fighting techniques had been choreographed into moves that were no longer deadly, but just pleasing to the eye. 

If Yeonjun had plummeted into Goryeo in his old body (Yeonjun knows it is still his body. Everything feels the same and he looks the exact same, save a few differences. Exhibit a; the hair) he would be ten times more frantic about this whole ordeal. If he had arrived here without even the basic knowledge on how to hold a sword and how to use one—Yeonjun would be shitting his pants to put it nicely. 

Yeonjun lets out a breath and looks over at Beomgyu. 

The prince's eyes are hardened with concentration and his teeth are softly digging into the plushness of his bottom lip. He raises his bow, the arrow nestled within it and the feather brushes by Beomgyu’s cheek, but the prince doesn’t flinch. He lines his elbow up with his shoulder and with a soft puff of air, he releases his fingers from the bow string. 

The light is limited, but even in the breaking of dusk, Yeonjun sees the light-bodied arrow whizz through the air and land dead centre in the middle of the target. 

Yeonjun’s eyes widen and he quickly turns his gaze onto Beomgyu. 

The prince is smiling, a soft one, nothing large, but it’s something. And his scent is happy, a certain lightness to it that makes Yeonjun’s knees feel weak. 

Yeonjun releases his own arrow and it knocks into the target, several inches away from Beomgyu’s one. 

Beomgyu sends him a glance. 

“Aegis Yeonjun, I think it would be best if you took up some archery practice?”

Yeonjun cracks a smile at the prince and laughs. “And who will I ever find to learn such a skill from?” He says dramatically and Beomgyu lets out a twinkling laugh. 

Yeonjun feels his heart stutter and his brain screeches to a halt, shortcutting at the fact that he made the Jade Prince laugh. 

“I don’t know.” Beomgyu replies. “Perhaps there is a certain prince willing to meet you in the dark?” 

Yeonjun bites down on his lip and smiles. 

Beomgyu’s scent is bright and fresh. Like sweet, seeped jasmine tea with slices of sun-ripened oranges on the side.

Yeonjun’s breath shudders out of him. 

❀

When Yeonjun is called to escort Beomgyu later the next day after his lessons, Yeonjun doesn’t know what to expect. 

Beomgyu doesn’t say much to him except for a greeting before he’s off and Yeonjun is hurrying to stay by his side. 

His scent isn’t like it was last night. Gone is the sweet scent of happiness. It feels stormy even though Beomgyu’s scent is far from the scent of fresh rain and the electric charge of thunder like Yeonjun’s own scent. 

Yeonjun briefly wonders what has made the prince so upset, but his question is answered when Beomgyu stands out the front of the king’s residence and an attendant announces Beomgyu’s presence to his father. 

Beomgyu has put back up his shield of jade and his robes the same colour of his facade are a testament to this. His frosted edges are back, a layer of protection to keep his inner self safe from what Beomgyu is perceiving as danger. 

And the things he thinks are dangerous and a threat to his well-being are none other than his family. 

Yeonjun hates it. 

If Yeonjun knew, or simply had the option to pull Beomgyu through time and emerge in Seoul, he would do it without much thought. 

Sure, Beomgyu might have the shock of his life being pulled into modern day society and he might fear all the technology that is emerging, but Yeonjun thinks he’ll have a better time there than stuck in the fucking Patriarchy that is swallowing him whole. 

It’s his own family that Beomgyu has to be wary around. The people he should feel loved and protected by are the very people that have forced him to adopt his opaque wall of jade that's built up like a fortress around him. 

Every time Yeonjun thinks about it, it makes him more and more furious. 

An attendant scurries out and gestures for Beomgyu to enter. The prince spares Yeonjun a glance, a certain hint of pain in his eyes, almost a pleading look. But Yeonjun doesn’t quite understand it. 

Yeonjun follows just behind the prince as he walks into the king's chambers where the king himself is sat on a thick silk cushion with a spread of various treats in front of him. He’s dressed in his blood red robe and he looks up at Beomgyu as he enters. 

“You have seemed to adapt well to the change of your robes, Beomgyu.” His father says. Beomgyu stands still, his fingers gently grasping at the jade coloured silk that he wears. 

Half of his hair is pinned back in a loose bun decorated with several ornament pins that keep his hair away from his throat. His scent is potent from where Yeonjun stands, but he has gained control of it again. 

It’s still in comparison to what Yeonjun had smelt last night. Yeonjun had first thought his scent, the one that he’s emitting now was intoxicating, but after last night this is mediocre to what it can truly be like. Yeonjun digs his nails into his palms to calm himself down. 

“They have been crafted well.” Is what Beomgyu chooses to answer his father with. 

“What is it that you have come to visit me, dear Jade Prince? It is unlike my omega son to come visit his father.” 

Beomgyu’s mouth purses and his fingers clutch tighter at the silk in his grip. 

“I want you to call off the courting.” Beomgyu says in one breath. 

Yeonjun swallows thickly and then, suddenly, the dark scent from the king thickens in the air. Like fresh blood, Yeonjun thinks. It’s strong and intimidating. Beomgyu takes a step back, his eyes suddenly bigger. 

Without thinking, Yeonjun presses his palm to the prince's back and watches him melt in his touch. Sparks light at the tips of Yeonjun’s fingers where his touch lingers on the prince. 

“You must jest, Jade Prince.” The king says over the top of his tea cup. His eyes are narrowed at his son, a silent order for the prince to drop it and pretend that he hadn’t said what he just did. 

Beomgyu, however, stands his ground. 

“I do not, father. I am not ready to be court—”

“When will you be ready, Beomgyu?” His father suddenly hisses out. He slams the tea cup to the table and snarls at his son. Beomgyu blinks at him. “I have given you plenty of time to develop your skills as an omega and for you to accept this change of your fate. You knew all along that I intended to mate you off even if you had stayed a dysfunctional omega like you used to be.” 

A shudder runs through Beomgyu and Yeonjun decides to press his hand back to his back. He feels the heat of his body seeping through the silk, warming his palm and Beomgyu seems to be comforted by the touch. 

“What do you think your mother would say if she was here?” The king spits out at him. 

Yeonjun’s brows knit together. 

So is that what this is all about? The king holds some grudge against Beomgyu for being born, too? The king had expected too much from his mating with the alpha queen? They had thought themselves too high and powerful to give birth to an omega child, but here, Beomgyu stands before him—proof that it doesn’t matter how powerful the line of alphas might be, because in the end, recessive genes exist. And again, knowledge only Yeonjun has because of the time period. 

Yeonjun really is going to lose his mind. 

“I never got to meet mother.” Beomgyu replies quietly. “So, I would not know the start of what she would have said.” The king's lips twitch at him. 

“You are an omega prince,” the king says in a gritty tone. Beomgyu frowns at him. “You have duties to do for the sake of this nation. You will do as I say and that is final, Beomgyu. Even though you are an omega, you still must be useful to this country.” 

“I can do other things, too.” Beomgyu tries to fight. “I don’t just have to be something that can be tossed around like a prize.” He speaks calmly, but Yeonjun knows better than to trust the steadiness of his voice. He knows Beomgyu is upset and once they’re alone, Yeonjun suspects he’ll choke on the bitterness of oranges. 

The king’s mouth twitches and his eyes narrow at his son. “This is your fate.” His father slams a hand down onto the lacquered surface of the table. “And I will not discuss this any further with you. You will be mated by the end of the year and you will be a good omega to your alpha. Your grandfather is looking forward to the arrival of his great-grandchildren.” The king huffs at him and Beomgyu’s shoulders sink inwards. “Now go back and ready yourself for the opening session in two days time.” He orders with a grunt and a flick of his hand. 

“Father…” he tries weakly. 

“If you did not wish for this to be your fate, you should have been born an alpha like we hoped. Or even a beta. But you are an omega, and it is time you act like one, Jade prince.” 

Beomgyu gives him a tight-lipped look before he turns and storms out of the room, his robes fluttering in the gust of wind he creates. 

The king gives a look to Yeonjun. “You must watch him well, Yeonjun. He must realise that his duties are important for the crown and for his own sake.” 

Yeonjun struggles to keep his face passive as he nods to the king. 

“Go.” The king waves a hand at him and Yeonjun turns on his heels and follows the scent of orange until he finds Beomgyu storming down the stairs and holding fistfuls of his jade coloured robes in his hands. 

Beomgyu heaves out a deep breath and forces his scent to stay passive around the group of attendants following him and the guards standing at their posts around the king's residence. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu whispers out quietly. Yeonjun is by his side in an instant, peering down at him, ready to do whatever it is that Beomgyu wishes him to do. 

“Will you take me back, please?” His voice is small and shaky, a testimony of the inner turmoil that the omega prince is feeling but isn’t allowing himself to show. At least not yet. 

“Of course, my prince.” Yeonjun extends a hand as nothing more than a gesture to show Beomgyu which way he intends to take them back, but Beomgyu reaches out on what seems to be instinct and wraps his fingers around Yeonjun’s thumb. 

Yeonjun blinks at him, but Beomgyu looks at him with wide eyes and Yeonjun is a weak man in response to Beomgyu.

Yeonjun lets him hold onto his thumb the whole walk back. 

And the moment Beomgyu takes the lead, instead and drags Yeonjun into his chambers, the scent of bitter, acidic orange burns in Yeonjun’s throat. 

Beomgyu lets go of his thumb then as the door shuts and his shoulders shake. 

The prince turns back to Yeonjun and he feels like all the wind is knocked out of his lungs. 

Beomgyu’s eyes are glazed over, filled with brimming tears and his lips are pressed together with his effort to not cry. 

Yeonjun feels like he might cry himself and he lets out a small noise that Beomgyu then responds with a choked sob that gets caught in his throat as he tries to suppress it. 

“I am sorry, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu whispers out. His voice trembles and his chest heaves with quiet sobs he refuses to let out. “I am so sorry for all the things I have put you through.” 

“What?” Yeonjun frowns softly and without thinking, he reaches out and takes the prince's shoulders between his hands. “No, no, my prince, please don’t be sorry… You don’t need to be sorry at all.” 

Beomgyu turns his head to the side and sniffs. 

“You have seen many moments where I was in the wrong… like just now.” 

Yeonjun’s urge to cry disappears in an instant and is replaced by a hot simmer of anger. 

“No.” Yeonjun shakes his head and his grip tightens around the prince’s shoulders. “You are never wrong to fight for what you want. You are not wrong for the words thrown at you that you don’t deserve. You are brave, my prince. So very brave.” 

Beomgyu’s brows knit together in his effort to not cry. 

Yeonjun’s wants to smooth them out, tuck the stray strand of hair behind his ear that has escaped his bun, but he doesn’t. It’s too intimate and Yeonjun is not about to make Beomgyu uncomfortable. 

Beomgyu has come to him today and that’s a success in itself for Yeonjun, but he is not about to let it go to his head and overtake his consciousness. 

“But you don’t need to keep it in all the time… being brave means many things, and crying is not a sign of weakness, my prince. At least not to me.” 

Beomgyu’s bottom lip wobbles. “I told you that you do not have to hide around me, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers and it’s as if he’s broken through the jade walls of Beomgyu’s fortress; Beomgyu shatters into tears. 

Beomgyu holds his face in his hands as he sobs. The scent of bitter orange and wilted jasmine is strong and it grates at Yeonjun. 

He knows Beomgyu responds well to his scent and when he pushes out a gust of calming petrichor, Beomgyu falls into his arms, his head resting on Yeonjun’s shoulder as he cries. 

And the room smells like an orange orchard in the monsoon season once more. 

Chapter Text

It’s as if they’ve taken three steps forwards and two backwards. 

Beomgyu retreats back into himself. 

Yeonjun doesn’t know if it’s because of the opening of the courting season he’s about to go through, or if Yeonjun genuinely scared him away two nights ago.

But, either way, Beomgyu shrinks back and covers himself with jade again when Yeonjun ends up at the front of his door in the early morning. 

He greets Yeonjun wordlessly, a mere bob of his head in his direction as he steps out of his residence, his mouth pressed in a thin line to show his disdain for the day's upcoming events. Yeonjun can’t blame him. He tries to be empathic about this whole situation, and really, it’s a little bit hard for Yeonjun to understand the depth of how Beomgyu feels about this. 

He knows the prince doesn’t feel positive about this, but Yeonjun isn’t sure of the underlying feelings that he knows are there. Because Beomgyu isn’t a simple person. He’s a puzzle, a mirror that's been shattered into pieces and concealed from everyone. But Yeonjun sees the reflecting lights that beams off the fractured pieces and he just knows. 

Yeonjun knows Beomgyu is a whirlwind of emotions. 

The prince is living up to his title again today. His hair is unbound, which sends a wave of relief through Yeonjun when he sees it covering both sides of his throat. His scent is muted like this, but still obvious. The silk he wears is a pale jade colour that's accented with the soft hue of naple yellow. A strip of yellow silk is tied around his waist, accentuating his figure. 

Yeonjun thinks he looks beautiful, but he also thinks it’s fucking unnecessary. Yeonjun knows Beomgyu doesn’t have much say in anything. That most of his decisions are made for him, by the king or from the older attendants whose loyalty is no towards Beomgyu. 

The prince looks uncomfortable in the way he’s dressed. His eyebrows are furrowed slightly and he brushes his hair over his shoulders, trying to cover up his throat and conceal his scent. 

Really, Yeonjun thinks it’s a little bit inappropriate for a first meeting with the alpha and betas that are some type of old-fashioned (well, it makes sense… Yeonjun has gone back a thousand years…) show down and out-doing each other in winning the omega like he’s some sort of prize. Something to win. 

Something churns inside Yeonjun’s gut at that thought. 

Beomgyu’s lips are stained with a faint pink, his cheekbones dusted in a subtle lustre that is also smeared over his eyelids. Yeonjun gulps and fists his hands by his sides as Beomgyu begins to walk down the stairs from his residence. 

“I…” Beomgyu starts to speak, but then he furrows his brows and closes his mouth. Yeonjun peers at him and the prince sighs. “I would appreciate it if…” Beomgyu clears his throat and turns to face Yeonjun. “I would prefer it if we could keep them a distance away.” Beomgyu’s eyes dart around, hesitatingly landing on Yeonjun’s face. 

“My prince?” Yeonjun cocks his head slightly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t quite catch your meaning.” 

Beomgyu lets out a tiny huff and his brows furrow as he pulls up his sleeve and reveals his wrist shoving it to Yeonjun’s chest. 

Yeonjun blinks a few times before his fingers wrap around his thin wrist. Beomgyu’s skin is smooth beneath the pads of his fingers and the omega’s scent is suddenly thick in Yeonjun’s nose when the breeze blows the air towards him. 

Yeonjun flips his hand and carefully places his own wrist to Beomgyu’s. He makes it linger for longer than he probably needs to, but the tension in Beomgyu’s shoulders dissolves as he emits his pheromones and rubs his scent softly against the princes skin. 

“It might be easier for the both of us if you just tell me next time, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers as he lifts his wrist from where it was kissing the skin above Beomgyu’s pulse. 

Yeonjun swears the prince’s cheeks tinge with pink after he says that, but Beomgyu turns quickly, shielding his face from Yeonjun’s view. 

Yeonjun bites his lip to keep his chuckle down. The sinking pit in his stomach that has bothered him since the meeting with the king two days ago has subsided at the muted smell of his scent clinging to Beomgyu. It’s not a claiming scent, nothing like Jung had done, but it is more comforting, a way to say that Beomgyu has protection. Enough to keep unnecessary actions at bay. 

It’s another act of trust on Beomgyu’s part. A step in the right direction. 

The scent of rain clings gently to Beomgyu, mixing in with the orange and jasmine of his scent, the smell of a cool spring morning, the fragrant petals of the flowers misted in dew. 

Still so Beomgyu, but with the hint of his own scent. Beomgyu smells a little bit more untouchable. The lingering whiff of the scent of a protector—not a mate, not an alpha courting him, but someone who will protect him. It makes Yeonjun’s chest burst with warmth. 

Yeonjun had been given the schedule yesterday morning of where the courting sessions will take place and the lift of activities planned for the day. Yesterday, Yeonjun spent the whole day figuring out the best paths to each of the destinations from Beomgyus residence. He figured out back ways, just in case because the amount of times they’ve bumped into Beomgyu’s older brothers has been almost laughable if it wasn’t always so infuriating. 

Yeonjun gives Beomgyu a soft look before he lets out a quiet laugh and then walks ahead, leading the prince to where this first meeting is to take place. 

Beomgyu shuffles after him, his fingers already tangled in with his silk sleeves and his eyes downcast. 

Yeonjun wishes he could do something for him. To take him back and make up some excuse that will get him out of his all, but Yeonjun is powerless in this all. 

He is meant to be Beomgyu’s shadow. The guard that protects the precious gem that the king has ordered him to do. Yeonjun is not meant to get close to Beomgyu, at least that is what is expected of him through his job. No feelings involved, just loyalty to the king and his devotion to protecting the royal omega of Goryeo. 

But Yeonjun has felt so much even before he landed in this land of royalty and rules. Yeonjun knows his feelings for Beomgyu would not be accepted if the king finds out how he truly feels about him. Beomgyu is not only his job to Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun has seen him for over half of his life. Beomgyu is not just someone Yeonjun is protecting because he’s been told to. 

In a way—Yeonjun knows that this might be dramatic, a little deranged, even. But it is Beomgyu, and Yeonjun’s sense of coherency seems to dissipate whenever the sweet scent of ripe orange penetrates through his nose and when his eyes set sight on him— Beomgyu is his centre of gravity. 

He’s his anchor. The thing tethering him to not only this time, but to the determination and ever growing protectiveness that is building inside him. 

And when Yeonjun turns to look at him and his eyes meet the princes, round and so obviously distant—stuck in his head again, Yeonjun’s heart squeezes. 

Distantly, Yeonjun has been aware of the feelings he’s been harbouring for Beomgyu are not just the feelings of a guard protecting a prince. Not just an alpha protecting an omega from any danger that might come his way. 

Yeonjun knows what he feels is deeper. From the moment he awoke to dreams of him fluttering behind his eyelids, appearing before him as a mirage of sullen beauty; Yeonjun has been enthralled. 

When he was walking up the mountain in a flurry of distress with Beomgyu the only thing on his mind; Yeonjun had known then that he had feelings for the prince. Even when his existence wasn’t solidified and he was constantly fighting with himself because he didn’t even know if Beomgyu was real or just a fragment of his imagination. 

Yeonjun genuinely thought he was an omega his subconscious had dreamt up. Because he seemed too perfect. Too good to be true within the flashes of him he had during his sleep. 

But he’s not, and when Yeonjun stares at his profile, the prince’s eyes glazed over in that way that Yeonjun has learnt that means he is far away in his head. Stuck in his thoughts and struggling to breach the surface. 

Yeonjun’s feelings for the prince surrounded by jaded, suffocated by pale, frosted green linger on the thin borderline of love. 

And each moment he spends with the prince that gleams, unlike any other expensive, precious gem, Yeonjun shuffles closer to tipping over that border. 

Yeonjun would fall gladly. Breach the icy depths, face the tempest of jade that clouds the prince. He would do it. He would do it over and over again. 

For Beomgyu. 

It’s always been that way, and perhaps, with that thought, Yeonjun thinks maybe, just maybe, he has already dove head-first into the abyss that is the Jade Prince. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun calls out quietly. The prince flinches at the sudden noise in the otherwise empty air and his eyes flicker around, his shoulders tensing before his eyes land on Yeonjun’s face and his muscles relax, his face falling into a look of content. 

“Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu breathes out and Yeonjun doesn’t miss the way the prince runs his fingers over his wrist where Yeonjun’s scent lingers against his skin. 

“What is weighing on your mind so much?” Yeonjun questions quietly, in a soft tone that is light. A tone that doesn’t hold any sense of annoyance that Beomgyu typically receives from others. 

“It is not of importance.” Beomgyu replies curtly, but Yeonjun sees right through the attempt of defusing the sudden acknowledgment of Beomgyu’s discomfort. Yeonjun frowns gently, but he decides to drop it. If Beomgyu is not willing to let him in like that just yet, Yeonjun will wait. 

Yeonjun wants so badly to be different to him. He wants to be the good that Beomgyu can always rely on to be there when things get hard. 

Yeonjun is aware that it might be a hard task, especially with the glimpses that he has seen. This road is not an easy one, but Yeonjun has been subconsciously preparing himself for these moments ever since he woke up, sweat slicked and the sight of Beomgyu’s ashen face, splattered with blooms of deep, slick crimson. 

Yeonjun will do his best to be strong. He can build himself up, use the methods he learnt from years of therapy he had received after terrifying the lights out of his parents when he screamed for hours about someone haunting him. Yeonjun has the foresight of the future. The modern day knowledge and he can use some of those things to his advantage here in Goryeo, thousands of years away from the date he was used to living in. 

Yeonjun can be a guard that doesn’t just outwardly protect Beomgyu from danger. He will protect his heart, his innermost pieces that are yet to be tainted with the cold touch of jade. Yeonjun will keep him warm in his hands, cradled gently and as if the faintest vibration will cause his whole jaded exterior to shatter into pieces and crumble. 

Crumble and collapse into shards against the cold ground. Break into pieces that Yeonjun will still struggle to pick up, even if the pieces slice through his palms and spill his blood. Beomgyu is worth spilling some of his blood over, Yeonjun thinks. Beomgyu is worth a lot of things. 

If Beomgyu’s jade shatters around him and he falters to raise it back up by himself, Yeonjun will be his rock. An anchor. Someone to lean on, to offer warmth and comfort. Yeonjun will protect Beomgyu.

He will. 

But there are some things that even Yeonjun fails to protect him from. 

He wishes that he could just whisk him away, cup his cheeks between his two warm palms and tell him of a bigger world. One that is connected in ways this one is not, tell him of things that people in this time would deem impossible. 

If Yeonjun could, he would take Beomgyu back to the 21st century and take him back home. Protect him there, show him the world that respects his existence instead of constantly reprimanding him for nothing of his fault. 

But Yeonjun can’t do that. 

It’s not that easy, and he knows this. He also knows if he did just kidnap the prince and take him into the future that it would unleash a whole new set of problems. 

They have their own problems here they need to tackle. 

And currently, in the beginnings of the Goryeo dynasty, Yeonjun finds himself standing behind the prince sitting at a low table, seated on a silk pillow; on display for the tens and tens of alphas and betas sitting facing the young omega prince. 

The scent here is thick. 

Heavy with the dominating stench of alphas trying to overpower one another. The smell is getting to Yeonjun’s head—the primal part of him wants to respond, join the fight, and he knows if he does, he will come out victorious. Because it is his scent clinging onto the omega in front of them all. But Yeonjun doesn’t. 

He has self-control, a sense of dignity and some common fucking manners. And Yeonjun knows Beomgyu doesn’t particularly enjoy acts like that. 

These alphas sitting in front of the Jade Prince would have to find that out the hard way, Yeonjun supposes. 

And quietly, Yeonjun hopes Beomgyu shreds them all to pieces with his hollow stares and the 

sharpness of his tongue. 

Too many of the alphas and some betas are already being too cocky for their own good. Too dominant and overbearing. 

Yeonjun notices the way Beomgyu squirms silently, his hands gripping at silk as a soft frown etches its way across his features. Now, Yeonjun is regretting that he hadn’t scented him more thoroughly. Though, he supposes that would be a step too far on his part. 

Yeonjun understands the importance of going slow. But not slow enough for little progress to be made. After all, he’s on a time limit. An unknown one at that, too. 

Slowly and softly, Yeonjun lets out more of his pheromones. A soft sprinkling of rain, nothing more than the lightest scent of precipitation mixing in with the air around them. It’s too faint, too natural of a scent for the others to pick it up as alpha pheromones, but Yeonjun notices the way the Beomgyu’s shoulders drop, relaxed. 

“Jade Prince,” one alpha calls. He’s sitting at the very front and his eyes are pinned on the omega prince in front of them. Something twinges in Yeonjun’s gut with all the pairs of eyes on the prince. 

He bites the inside of his cheek and curses to himself. He doesn’t have any right to feel possessive over the omega prince, but here Yeonjun is, balling his hands into tight fists to keep himself together and fight the instincts clawing at his gut to take Beomgyu away and scent him stronger. 

Yeonjun grimaces at the thought. 

“It is an honour to make your acquaintance.” The alpha continues on, his lips stretching into a sly smile as his eyes slowly rake down the lines of Beomgyu’s body, lingering at his neck. 

The prince frowns gently in response and gives a mere bob of his head in return. The alpha looks unamused by Beomgyu’s apparent look of disinterest and in a sorry attempt to try to grip Beomgyu’s attention, the alpha sends a wave of his pheromones. A burst of spicy ginger and Yeonjun sees how Beomgyu flinches softly before the pavilion is suddenly bursting with overbearing alpha scents all trying to overpower one another. 

Yeonjun’s own head spins at this and before he can bark something out, tell them to stop what they are doing or their meeting with the omega will be cut short. But Beomgyu reacts faster than him in this situations. 

His palm slams down onto the table, the sound of his skin slapping against the lacquered surface echoes off the pillars holding the roof above their heads. Its a sharp sound, strong and unwilling. Yeonjun’s own palms tingle at the power hidden behind the slap. He sees Boemgyu’s fingers shake as he drags his hand back and cradles it in his lap. 

The prince's eyes are fiery, full of the blaze of disapproval and judgement. 

“It is not noble to sit in front of an omega you indeed to court and act like pups that haven’t had a single lesson of manners. What have your mothers taught you?” He barks out in a hiss. The pavilion is quiet and the overwhelming scent of alphas drags back, the alphas holding them back like they should’ve done in the first place.  

When Yeonjun peers around at the rows of seated alphas, he sees most of them glaring at the prince, faint snarls on their faces as the omega prince's words sink in. 

An insult to not just them, but their families. The source of pride in this age. Yeonjun bites down on his lip. 

“I shall expect alphas and betas of your ranking to have manners. If I am to choose one of you to be my mate, you will have to exclude much more than fowl alpha pheromones to woo me.” The prince’s voice is grating. Full of anger and impatience, but Yeonjun doesn’t blame him one bit. 

Sitting in front of them like some prize and subjected to the rush of pheromones—Yeonjun thinks he has every right to be furious. 

“My prince,” another alpha begins to speak and Yeonjun already dislikes him in some type of nonsensical way for even daring to speak after Beomgyu had spoken his mind. 

Yeonjun is slightly aware of the fact that if this was the 21st century he’d have ‘simp!’ written in bold, red text over his forehead. He doesn’t care, though. Yeonjun is an alpha that believes in omega rights and has fallen straight through time to where they are oppressed and suffering. Being called a simp in the far, far future is the least of his concerns now. 

“You must be tired on this fine day. There is no need to be so sensitive.”

Ah . Yeonjun thinks. There it is .

Beomgyu’s lips twitch, but he gains his control quickly. Yeonjun knows a group of overbearing alpha and beta’s are not enough to crush his jaded exterior. And sometimes, Yeonjun is glad that he can stand his ground like this. 

It’s an ode to his strength, his resilience. 

And Yeonjun thinks none of them here deserve to know the true prince hidden behind the layers of gleaming, opaque jade. That is not for them to see. 

“I am not sensitive ,” Beomgyu says in that bleak tone of his. “I am simply displeased with what I am sitting in front of.” 

The insult seems to smack several of them across the face. And at the very back, pushed the furthest away from Beomgyu at the opposite corner is a beta. A young man with long hair, a dark shade of brown and with a soft smile on his lips. It’s not mocking, nor is it sinister or sly… he looks amused and almost impressed by the display Beomgyu is presenting. 

Yeonjun can’t help but try to hide his own proud smile behind his pursed lips. 

“There are many of you,” Beomgyu continues on in a drawl. “And there is only one of me. As an omega, I can reject as many of you as I alike, so I implore that you all try your best to win my good graces. Though, as of now none of you look like you would make a good mate. Fighting each other like pups.” The prince shakes his head, clearly unimpressed with what he has seen so far. 

Deep in Yeonjun’s chest, he preens. Because he has had a very different experience with Beomgyu so far. Sure, the start wasn’t so smooth and they had a much more… rocky (Yeonjun is not getting over the fact that a rock took him out. A rock! Of all things…) beginning, but Yeonjun knows simple respect. Unlike fighting all the alphas and joining in on the act of dominance to try to overthrow everyone else and appeal to the omega sitting before everyone—Yeonjun is the one that has scented him and that the prince smells faintly of. 

And yes, Yeonjun can be a prideful alpha—because his chest is swelling with pride at this moment knowing that Beomgyu does not think of him as a stupid, mannerless pup. 

Even if he has ways to go to gain Beomgyu’s trust enough so he will let Yeonjun in fully, Yeonjun also recognises this to be a detrimental step in their path. Building trust is slow and Yeonjun can be patient. 

“Well,” Beomgyu brushes his hands down the green silk he wears and frowns as he slowly stands from his position on the floor. The teapot seated on the table is still steaming at the sprout, full an awaiting to be poured, but Beomgyu clearly has no intentions of staying and giving these suitors the time of day. Yeonjun supports this move entirely. 

“I shall hope you all take my words and reflect. Until next time, I suppose.” 

Beomgyu turns and gazes at Yeonjun. The prince looks at him with that certain expectation in his eyes and Yeonjun steps forwards and with that simmer of pride in his gut, he reaches his hand out to the prince as he stands by the stairs that act as the entry and exit of the pavilion. 

There’s a spark in Beomgyu’s eyes at this and quietly he slips his palm against Yeonjun’s larger one. Beomgyu’s fingers are a little thicker than Yeonjun’s own fingers, but his palm is much broader and the prince's hands almost seem dainty in his hold. 

Yeonjun knows it might seem like a challenge to the alphas sitting and up against each other for the every hand that Yeonjun is now cradling in his palm—and so be it. Make it seem like a challenge for all Yeonjun cares, because he knows he will be one person that will never let Beomgyu down. Yeonjun will try his absolute best to keep this promise to himself. 

When Yeonjun takes the first few steps down and leads Beomgyu down with his hand still cupped in his own, Yeonjun feels the sudden tension that overtakes Beomgyu’s body. 

The prince stares ahead and Yeonjun turns slowly, his gaze slipping from the hardened look upon the Jade Prince’s face to where his eyes linger. 

Yeonjun’s eyes land on the group of his brothers staring at their omega brother descending from the pavilions stairs, hand-in-hand with his guard and leaving the irritated suitors behind him. 

Soobin catches Yeonjun’s eyes and gives him a small frown as he looks at their connected hands. Taehyun waves to Beomgyu before Soobin tugs on his arm and leads him away, giving a harsh glare to Jung and their other brothers as they pass by. 

Jung has that look in his eye, the judging and mocking glare as he watches Beomgyu descend down the stairs. There’s ill intent swimming around him, thick and Yeonjun can practically smell it. 

“We should go.” Beomgyu mutters to Yeonjun. “And avoid them, too.” He adds quietly. “Of course,” Yeonjun replies in a whisper. “Let’s go. If they follow, should we feign ignorance?” 

“It seems to be in our favour.” Beomgyu agrees with a slight nod of his head. His hand is still in Yeonjun’s grip as they begin walking away in the direction of Beomgyu’s residence. 

Yeonjun isn’t sure if he should let go of Beomgyu’s hand, or if that will alert Beomgyu and make things awkward. 

But Beomgyu drags his other hand over to his wrist where Yeonjun had rubbed his scent upon half and hour ago. There’s a faint smile playing across the prince’s lips as his soft fingertips graze over the soft skin above his pulse. 

Yeonjun decides to keep his hand exactly where it is. 

And for once, the universe seems to be on there side. 

They arrive back to the Jade Palace without any interruptions from a certain gaggle of older alpha princes. 

Just as Yeonjun is about to turn away as he has slipped his hand from Beomgyu’s after delivering him safely inside the entrance of the Jade Palace, fingers catch around the dark blue silk at his elbow. 

Yeonjun looks at Beomgyu with wider eyes and the prince seems shy once more. Like the same prince that had stood before him dressed in immaculate robes and shining like the very embodiment of beauty, a hesitance in his posture and his eyes refusing to meet Yeonjun’s own. But instead of asking so shyly whether he looks presentable or not (Yeonjun thinks about this moment a lot. Beomgyu had shone so brightly. Like the purest, rarest piece of jade within the crust of the earth. And every time Yeonjun recalls this moment he feels the same rumble of awe shake through him.)

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu whispers out. His tone is soft, quiet and everything like Yeonjun recalls it had been in that moment and in his dreams. 

It is in moments like this when Yeonjun realises he has been so fucking dramatic this whole time he had a crisis over Beomgyu not seeming like the same person in his dreams. Beomgyu has proved him wrong after Yeonjun had realised that the prince he shows to others is not his true inner self. And really, Yeonjun may of jumped to conclusions thinking that he was a whole different person entirely. 

He had been different in his dreams too. From the sudden meek omega asking him how he looks, to an omega sobbing as if his heart had been ripped out, to a prince with fury burning in his eyes, a sword pressed to Yeonjun’s throat. 

“Would… would you like to come in now and join me for tea? I… I am sorry I did not invite you the other day.” 

Warmth bursts though Yeonjun again and he lets out a soft laugh. 

“Of course, my prince.” Yeonjun says softly. Beomgyu meets his eyes then and the prince gives him a tiny smile that has Yeonjun’s heart singing. 

Beomgyu steps aside and beckons him inside to follow him. “I did intend on inviting you that day… I just…”

“Don’t worry, my prince.” Yeonjun says after Beomgyu trails off. “I wasn’t offended. I know you had a big day and a rest was in both of our best interests.”

Beomgyu gives him a curious look as he stops and one of his attendants opens the doors to his room. 

“Courtlady Kim,” Beomgyu calls out as he steps into his room and makes his way over to the low table in the centre of the room. There are already two silk cushion around the surface as if Beomgyu had pre-planned this event from the moment he left his room this morning. Yeonjun finds that endlessly endearing. 

“What tea do you prefer, Aegis Yeonjun?” Beomgyu asks, cocking his head at him as he sinks softly down to the ground. His bare ankle pokes out of the hem of his silk robes and Yeonjun is aghast when he tears his gaze away. The times are beginning to get to him and he’s acting like a scandalised man of the times after seeing barely an inch of the prince's bare skin. 

Yeonjun thinks he would rather have a hard shot right now, not a pot of tea. Or maybe something soothing to save him from the onslaught of his jumbled feelings that come with plummeting through fucking time!

“Whatever you like the best is fine with me, my prince.” He answers has he takes a seat on the cushion opposite Beomgyu. 

Yeonjun watches as Beomgyu turns to Courtlady Kim and tells her he’d like a pot of jasmine tea and some snacks. And as he turns back to face Yeonjun, he slowly moves his hands to gather the hair that is covering his neck and pulls it away, brushing it behind his shoulders and leaving his bare skin for Yeonjun to see. 

The scent of oranges is bright, free from any acidity that it holds whenever the prince feels upset. Beomgyu smells happy for once. Bright and clear and Yeonjun has to suck in a deep breath as their eyes meet. 

“I think you handled those alphas well before.” Yeonjun comments and Beomgyu lets out a sigh, nodding his head. “If I do not stand my ground I will be walked all over. Just like Jung hyungnim said, most people do not see me as a prince as they see them. Being an omega is a good enough reason for them to treat me as less.” 

“I think they’re wrong to do that.” Yeonjun grumbles and Beomgyu lets out a soft smile. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu calls out softly. That meekness pokes through again. And the look Beomgyu gives the guard through his lashes is soft, apprehensive. 

“When… When I have to go and meet with them again… will you… can we make it a routine that you must scent me?” 

Yeonjun blinks at him and feels like he’s being thrown down the mountain all over again. But this time, there is no obnoxiously large rock in his way to smash his skull against, but the boulder is a prince. A prince made of jade that clutches his heart in his hands so tenderly and he doesn’t even know it.

Beomgyu must think he’s asked the wrong thing, because he’s refusing to meet his eyes again and his cheeks are flushed a bright red and a frown etches between his brows. 

Yes, it might be a rather… intimate ask on the princes part. But it isn’t anything… sexual or inappropriate. Beomgyu is asking because Yeonjun makes him feel some type of closure, protected. Everything Yeonjun has hoped to give him. 

Actually, the prince asking him to be scented regularly is quite an accomplishment on Yeonjun’s part, at least. It’s been his mission to get Beomgyu to trust him, and this; this is a clear act of trust. 

“I do not have any issues with that request.” Yeonjun replies just as Courtlady Kim comes with two other women, both omegas, and places the tea and two small teacups painted with plum blossoms. There’s a smile on Beomgyu’s face when he notices the set. 

“I painted the glaze on these teacups myself.” He announces, clearly proud of his fine work. “Just last winter the pottery master had allowed me to take lessons with him. I did not touch the fine porcelain, of course, but I had the honour of painting many sets that he went to sell.” 

“It is wonderful,” Yeonjun lifts the cup up and takes in the detail painted across the smooth surface. The brightness of the pink and purple hues feels like spring and with the scent of the steeping jasmine tea, Yeonjun almost feels like he's in a garden in full bloom. The scent of Beomgyu’s pheromones add to the sudden change of atmosphere. 

“Thank you Courtlady Kim,” Yeonjun bows his head to the older beta who bows back before scurrying out and shutting the paper doors behind her and the two younger omegas following her. 

“You aren’t a typical alpha, aren’t you Aegis Yeonjun?” Beomgyu then asks as he picks up the matching teapot and fills Yeonjun’s shallow tea cup with the aromatic liquid. Yeonjun’s jaw tenses, suddenly nervous to what Beomgyu means behind his words. 

“It is not a bad thing, Aegis Yeonjun, calm down.” Beomgyu gives him a gentle smile. “I meant it in a positive way.” Yeonjun watches with keen eyes as Beomgyu lifts the porcelain cup to his lips and sips at the warm liquid. 

“You do not act like a pup like those other alphas trying to overpower one another. I found solace in that you have much more control over yourself than they do.”

“I am a guard, my prince. I must have good control and reaction time if I am to protect you.” Beomgyu blinks at him and hums softly. 

“I think you are doing a good job, Aegis Yeonjun.” He whispers quietly, as if he’s embarrassed to say what he truly thinks. 

Yeonjun smiles like a fool (he knows he is a fool. He tripped over his own feet and landed himself here after all. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, but Yeonjun is still hung up over the rock…) at the princes words and laughs into his tea.  

Yeonjun is about to open his mouth to thank to prince for thinking he’s doing a good job. Because, a few days ago Beomgyu had been all types of hostile and insulting him for even breathing . 

The development makes Yeonjun proud and honestly a bit relieved that Beomgyu seems to be more reactive and trusting to him than Yeonjun had first thought he would be. 

But the peaceful moment they’re sharing shatters, hard and fast. Like a sheet of ice crumbling under the force of a heavy weight, the spring garden that was blooming in Beomgyu’s room turns sour quickly. 

An older man, one Yeonjun has yet to lay his eyes upon since he ended up in that garden after meeting Soobin in the plane of darkness slams the doors open. 

The man is an alpha. A proud one, even in his old age. His scent is thick and strong like smoke in Yeonjun’s nose and Beomgyu lets out a cough of surprise as he bursts inside his room without any warning from the prince’s attendants. 

Suddenly on alert, Yeonjun jumps to his feet, unsheathing his sword on instinct that burns through him at the thought of this old man harming Beomgyu. 

“Put the sword away, boy!” The man yells and Yeonjun refuses, instead coming to block Beomgyu from the mans sight. 

“Who are you?” Yeonjun hisses and slashes his sword through the air as the man lurches forwards. It crosses over Yeonjun’s chest like a shield and the blade catches in the light, glinting and reflecting off in the old alphas eyes. 

The man squints and takes a few steps back, and Yeonjun takes this moment as a vantage to point his sword's tip at the alphas throat. It presses against his skin, but doesn’t cut through like it had to himself when Beomgyu had done the very same thing to him.

“Who are you ?!” The man roars back at him and takes another step away from the blade. 

Behind him, Beomgyu stands and carefully places his hands on Yeonjun’s shoulder and his elbow stretched out and pulls his arm back, taking the sword with it. Yeonjuns breath hitches and he tries to fight out of Beomgyu’s grip until he speaks. 

“Grandfather, what brings you here unannounced? It has been quite some time since we have met… Would you care for some tea?” Beomgyu speaks quietly, but back to his hollow and bleak tone. 

Yeonjun takes a step backwards, his shoulder bumping against Beomgyu’s as he stares at the furious alpha before them. 

Beomgyu is also clearly aware that his grandfather is practically seething with waves of anger. It smells smoky and spicy, something wild and untamed in the air. The prince’s scent sours at the edges before stabilising as Beomgyu forces himself to be composed, though he has made Yeonjun aware that he is becoming distressed on the inside. 

Yeonjun already knows this visit has not come with good intentions. 

“I do not want your tea!” He hisses out and storms forwards, throwing Yeonjun out of the way. “Why are you sitting here with an unmated alpha after your spectacle this morning?” 

“Grandfather,” Beomgyu says with a frown, reaching out to stabilise Yeonjun who wobbles on his feet as the old alpha shoves him. “He is my Aegis. Did my father not inform you that I was receiving a guard to protect me during… this time?” 

Beomgyu’s grandfather—his maternal grandfather, Yeonjun realises with a sense of dread. Beomgyu’s paternal grandfather, the past king was already gone from the earth. Yeonjun just knows whatever is coming is definitely not going to be good. If Jung had strong feelings over Beomgyu’s mothers death, what does her father think of the omega standing before him? Truthfully, Yeonjun doesn’t want to find out. 

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. 

The man sends Yeonjun a glare and huffs at him in an oddly… accepting way. “You must answer my question, Beomgyu. Your brothers have told me that you had been nothing but rude and prideful in front of the alphas and betas fighting to become your mate! And I come and see you sharing tea with your aegis? You better explain yourself, boy!” 

“We were just having tea, Grandfather.” Beomgyu says calmly, trying his best to diffuse his grandfather’s boiling anger. But the man does not seem to think it was a meeting of pure intentions unlike what Beomgyu had been subjected to earlier this day. 

Yeonjun is not some alpha that views Beomgyu as a prize. Something to keep and objectify and use for his own greed. He’s different to the many suitors that had scowled at the prince’s display of creating clear boundaries. 

“You!” The man turns and points an accusing finger at Yeonjun’s chest. “What is your reasoning behind accepting tea with my grandson?”

“I am his aegis,” Yeonjun says with wide eyes as the old alpha jabs his finger at his chest.  “This was a friendly—”

“If you are to be his aegis, you are not to be friendly . Your job is to protect that omega, not to sway him from his duties!”

Yeonjun blinks, startled at the man's reaction and meaning behind his words. 

His own bubble of anger builds up inside of him. 

It’s like they all want Beomgyu to be isolated, alone and trudging through the thick mud that he’s being forced through. Beomgyu is not allowed to even be close to Yeonjun from an outsiders’  point of view. 

Yeonjun knew since the moment he took this job that people expected him to keep his distance. To only protect Beomgyu’s body and not his heart that he has vowed himself to. But Yeonjun won’t stop because some old men are too nosy for their own fucking good. 

“Grandfather—” Beomgyu tries to speak but the alpha is then marching over to him and with a sudden movement that makes anger burns bright through Yeonjun’s veins, incandescent and driven on instinct; Beomgyu’s grandfather grips the omega prince by his jaw, his fingers pressing into his cheeks as he forces him to his knees in front of him. 

Beomgyu tumbles down, almost weightless and stiffened by what Yeonjun realises is fear when the scent of burning jasmine and orange rind fills his nose. Beomgyu’s grandfather smiles wickedly at him. 

And without thinking about the repercussions of his actions, Yeonjun flies across the room, his hands tugging onto the older alphas shoulders and ripping him away. 

Beomgyu lurches from the sudden force when his grandfather yanks him along when he’s thrown away.

The prince slips on the wooden floors, the silk below his knees making it nearly impossible to stay steady. There’s a thud as Beomgyu falls, his shoulder crashing against the hard wooden floors. The scent of his fear is strong and he lets out a tiny pained whimper before Yeonjun scrambles over to him, helping him sit on the balls of his feet. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu mutters, his eyes wide as he gazes past Yeonjun’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He whispers, eyes blown with obvious fear. 

“What is your name?” Yeonjun turns, blocking Beomgyu from view when the older man roars out, pointing his finger back at him. “Tell me your name! I’m going to have you removed from this post at once!”

“No you will not!” Beomgyu suddenly yells back, and he scrambles to come in front of Yeonjun, blocking him with his body. Yeonjun is about to pull him back behind him when he realises that mightn’t be the right move in this situation. 

“He is my aegis and I will say whether he stays or not! He does a good job at protecting me!” 

Yeonjun would preen at the praise he is getting if the man in front of them didn't smell like burnt anger, filled with a tang of deviousness. 

Beomgyu’s grandfather glares at him and lets out a growl that has Beomgyu crashing against Yeonjun’s chest when he takes a few steps backwards. 

“You will not talk back to me, boy. Now do as I say and listen to me.” Beomgyu gulps and his fingers twist back into his sleeves, fidgeting with them nervously as his grandfather stalks towards him again. 

“If I hear about you being anything less than pillant to those who wish to court you, I will not stay quiet. If it comes to it, I will choose your mate myself and you will have no say.” 

Yeonjun has to bite down on his tongue. Beomgyu doesn't have any say whatsoever, but clearly to others, being forced to choose a mate for himself is apparently fair in their eyes. 

Beomgyu freezes against Yeonjun, his body rigid and his scent thick and burnt with fear. Yeonjun trembles persistently as he fights his own instincts to let out his pheromones to calm Beomgyu. Not know. Not when his grandfather picking them apart and suspecting their relationship is more than a guard and his protectee. 

“You must not forget who your family is, Beomgyu.” He continues to say in a hiss. This time, the old man keeps his distance. Whether it is that he fears Yeonjun will truly snap the next time he lays a hand upon Beomgyu, or that he recognises Beomgyu is still just as scared as he been on his knees before him. 

“Yes…” Beomgyu replies shakily. 

“You are born to the Choi clan. A long line of strong, powerful alphas. Your mother was a powerful alpha. A woman of strength and what a poor trade it was,” he spits and growls out at his grandson. “I gave my daughter for a mighty alpha grandson that could ascend the throne and instead I sacrificed my only daughter to receive an omega grandson that killed her as you slithered out of her. You must not forget that the damage you’ve made on our family started the moment the scent of honey surrounded you as a babe.” 

Yeonjun feels sick. Like his stomach is flipping and churning, threatening to empty at the poisonous words coming from Beomgyu’s own grandfather . His jaw shakes and quietly, he slips his hand up Beomgyu’s sleeve where his fingers are trembling violently and grips onto them, squeezing him to hope to give him some comfort as his grandfather tears into him. 

“If you cannot even be a proper omega that listens to alphas when he is told to, I will not stand by and watch you disrespect your mothers life like this. If you cannot be good for anyone, at least be good for your poor mother that you killed in return for your life!” 

With that, the man leaves, slamming the paper doors shut behind him as he storms out. 

And Beomgyu trembles, suddenly collapsing against Yeonjun and dropping to the ground once more. 

“My prince…” Yeonjun gently bends down to him, peeking around to peer at his face. 

Beomgyu’s eyebrows are knitted tightly together, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth and his eyes—glassy and far away. The prince is fighting his tears and with a startle, Yeonjun recognises this look. 

This very moment had come to him in a dream. The first of many scenes he had witnessed him crying in his dreamscape. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu croaks out and he looks up at him, his lip releasing from his teeth as they quiver and part as a soundless sob escapes him. “I’m sorry Aegis, I’m so sorry.” His hands reach out, shaking as his fingers search for nothing in the air around them. Yeonjun grips his wandering hands into his own, clutching them tightly, seeping his warmth into Beomgyu. 

With a burst, he lets out the scent of petrichor and the coolness of rain around them and instantly, Beomgyu is sucking deep breaths of air in. His scent has changed, too. From the burnt smell of fear to the acidic tones of his distress, it burns Yeonjun’s nose once more. 

“Why are you apologising?” Yeonjun croaks out and Beomgyu shakes his head before he leans forwards, his forehead resting above Yeonjun’s heart as he begins to sob. 

“I didn’t want you to see any of this… it’s humiliating isn’t it? They see me as such a useless omega… a poor trade off for my mother… there is no one, Aegis Yeonjun… there is no one here for me.” 

“Shh…” Yeonjun cups the back of his head as the prince chokes on his sobs as he tries to talk. It’s a jumbled mess, but Yeonjun somehow understands all the syllables escaping the prince’s mouth.  

And so Yeonjun holds him. 

The Jade Prince has shattered in his arms, so Yeonjun holds him tight until his tears dry up and the scent of acidic orange drowns him in the room. 

❀

Beomgyu sits quietly as he stares out at the glimmering lake in the darkness. 

Yeonjun is sitting right next to him, close enough to feel his body heat radiating off of him and dig into the silk of his robes. 

The prince’s eyes are red and puffy, the tip of his nose red and his cheeks flushed a bright red from the amount of tears he’s shed today. 

The cool air seems to do him some good. Almost like its sobering him up from his peril that’s got an iron grip on him. His scent still lingers on the bitter note of distress, but the painful acidity of it has subsided. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu calls out weakly. His voice is hoarse, small and apprehensive yet again. “I want to ask you this… not as my guard, but… as an alpha.” He locks eyes with him and Yeonjun’s gut churns when he sees the reddened whites of his eyes. The prince's voice is snuffy, all his crying blocking his airways. 

Yeonjun gulps and sits straighter and nods at him. 

Beomgyu bites down on his lower lip and sighs before his fingers tangle into silk again. His nervous habit that Yeonjun had picked up since he first saw him do it in front of Jung weeks ago. 

“Do you also think I’m not a good omega? From an alphas view… not as my aegis.” 

Yeonjun’s mouth goes dry and it feels like someone has kicked him in the chest, knocking all the air out of his lungs. 

If only Beomgyu knew half of his feelings. If he knew, he wouldn’t be even asking because it is so painfully obvious that Yeonjun is so devoted to him. Beomgyu thinks right now, at this current moment, that Yeonjun has only had the time of the past few weeks to begin to understand him—but Yeonjun has known him for fourteen years. 

And every time he had seen him die in his dreams, fear so thick and heavy would fill him and his instincts would burst as if he knew him. Those few months where he began to see more, Yeonjun had realised that part of the reasoning of his fear was because he saw Beomgyu as the perfect omega. 

Even now, Yeonjun doesn’t think he’s ever laid eyes upon any one more ethereal than the Jade Prince that is bare in front of him, defenceless and vulnerable out here in the cold of the spring night. 

An encapsulated vessel of beauty and vulnerability. Raw jade in its purest form; a mirage of grace and strength. 

Beomgyu is all those things. 

“I think…” Yeonjun gulps and takes a deep breath. He isn’t sure how he can word this without sounding like a total lunatic and scare Beomgyu away. 

“I think you deserve a lot more than what you receive now. I think that you are much stronger than what everyone gives you credit for, and… I think you are a wonderful omega. I think you are doing the best you can right now, my prince.” 

Beomgyu looks almost pained as Yeonjun’s words reach his ears, and tears well up in his eyes again. 

“I do not think I am doing enough…” Beomgyu replies quietly. “But I do not know what else I could do… I am never going to be good enough for them all no matter how hard I try, Aegis Yeonjun…” 

“You are enough for me.” Yeonjun responds before he can even think. 

Beomgyu gives him that look again, the tilt of his head, the small frown and his lips parted. He almost looks confused… bewildered at what Yeonjun has just said to him. Yeonjun fights his own grimace. 

“You are always saying things like that,” Beomgyu sniffs and Yeonjun chuckles quietly, trying to diffuse how awkward he suddenly feels. 

“You are very loyal to me, Aegis… I appreciate that.” Yeonjun smiles brightly at him. “I guess the feeling is mutual, then, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers back and then turns back to the lake.

The moon is high in the sky, full and round, shining with bright silver light that dances across the skin of the lake rippling with the force of the lunar waves. 

Quietly, Yeonjun hears Beomgyu fumble around with his jade coloured robes before he shuffles closer to him until their shoulders touch. Yeonjun smiles until he feels the shiver shudder through Beomgyu’s body and he turns to the prince in a hurry. 

“Perhaps we should go back. It’s getting late and you look cold, my prince.” 

Beomgyu opens his mouth and looks like he’s going to reject Yeonjun’s idea, but he shivers again and Yeonjun stands and gives him a look. 

“I will not have you catching a cold, my prince.” Yeonjun scolds gently and he gets a laugh out of Beomgyu at that. His eyes gleam as he laughs, looking up at his guard. 

“I suppose that’s something I should avoid… however, if it gets me away from those reeking alphas it might be worth it.” 

Yeonjun gives him a tight lipped smile. “I will always be there. I promise you I will step in if you give me the signal to.” 

Beomgyu cocks his head at Yeonjun as he pulls himself up from the bench. 

They’re so close again, and like this Beomgyu has to look up at him the slightest bit and Yeonjun wants to coo at him and just give him a big hug. 

“And what might the signal be?” Beomgyu asks and Yeonjun registers now that all the bitter notes of Beomgyu’s scent have disappeared and he smells like a ripe orchard once more. 

“Hmm… perhaps you should brush your hair behind your left ear,” Yeonjun muses out and Beomgyu smiles softly in response. “Okay.” He agrees. “My left ear.” 

When Yeonjun drops Beomgyu off outside his residence, he calls out to the prince. 

“My prince,” The omega turns back to him, hovering in the entrance to the Jade Palace. He blinks at Yeonjun, his head softly cocking to the side. 

“I just… I know that you must feel lonely.” Yeonjun begins and Beomgyu’s lips part, his eyebrows furrowing as Yeonjun speaks. “But I just wanted to remind you that it’s not just you in this world. The eleventh prince, the thirteenth prince—me. You have us all. So… next time when you feel lonely and that the world is against you, I hope you can remember my words.”

Then a faint smile appears across Beomgyu’s mouth. Soft and blooming like a wakening tulip in the early morning after its slumber. Yeonjun’s heart yearns to see it blossom, like a full spring garden and with the rebirth of light. 

Yeonjun wants to see the twinkle of life in Beomgyu’s usually hollow brown eyes. 

“You say such comforting words, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu mutters quietly.

The prince’s eyes linger on him as he steps into his residence and gives him a small nod of his head. 

“Thank you for what you did today…” Beomgyu whispers. “I am sorry for all the hurtful words I’ve ever said to you. I really…” the prince gulps, his gaze falling. “I really do appreciate you, Aegis.” 

Chapter Text

Beomgyu heeds his grandfather's warnings. 

Yeonjun watches him quietly as he sits in the gazebo, poised like everything he doesn’t want to be in front of all these suitors. He pours his tea from the spout with danity movements, hides his fake smile behind his silk sleeves and bites down on his tongue when each suitor comes up to his table and gives him a gift. 

Beomgyu doesn’t suddenly act like he’s interested either, and Yeonjun can tell that each gift that he accepts doesn’t mean anything to him. He doesn’t want this. Sitting in front of them all like he’s something to be won—faking that he’s okay with this when Yeonjun knows very well that he is not. 

His hair tumbles down his shoulders again, hiding his exposed throat and neck, trying to keep them all from taking greedy gulps of his scent. But Yeonjun sees them all as they sit before Beomgyu, nostrils sucking in the air that carries the lingering scent of oranges and jasmine. 

But what they don’t know is that the scent of rain clinging to Beomgyu is not from the drizzly weather around them, but from the alpha standing behind Beomgyu, his hand fisted around his sword at all times.  

The day is dismal around them. Cloudy and dark, the air cold and icy when the wind blows. 

Beomgyu wears pale lilac today, embroidered with silver and pink birds in mid-flight along the sleeves that he tries his best to not grip onto. His hands are tucked either in his lap or flush against his warm teapot, chasing the warmth to soak into his chill fingers. Yeonjun’s own fingers are so cold around the hilt of his sword that it’s beginning to ache, the chill seeping deep into his bones, paralysing them around his hilt. 

The boxes of gifts are piled up beside Beomgyu, rising higher and higher as each suitor comes forth and tries to outdo the last. Yeonjun thinks it’s almost childish the way they are silently fighting each other, but then feigns innocence once they’re in front of Beomgyu. Yeonjun thinks it’s rather cowardly, actually. 

Beomgyu lets out a sigh at the next hairpin he gets. It is pretty and it would look nice on Beomgyu, but Yeonjun knows that if Beomgyu were to wear it, that would be a sign to the giver that Beomgyu is interesting. Yeonjun has also seen far more pretty ones in Beomgyu’s collection. 

Beomgyu straightens up again as another person sits in front of him in the gazebo over the lake. The rain has ceased to a soft sprinkle, a mist that floats through the air, crisp and cold. 

Yeonjun watches closely as the beta in front of Beomgyu bows his head to the prince. There’s a certain air about him that makes him stand out against the others. A little bit of what Yeonjun is guessing is apprehension to this all. He smiles softly and keeps his scent to himself, not taking this as an opportunity to show off like all the others behind him. 

He slowly puts a small box on the table. Yeonjun watches closely as he opens it with a few movements of his fingers. The lock undoes and the lacquered wooden box tilts open, revealing his gift inside. 

It always seems to hit Yeonjun like this. An icy hand slapping over his cheek, a sting of remembrance in his brain, his heart thumping in his chest. 

A scene he’s seen in his dreams. Looking at Beomgyu as he is sitting in front of twenty odd suitors, one man opening a box containing a pair of earrings. Yeonjun knows what will happen next, he could act it out, he knows it this well. He’s seen this more than once, flashing past his eyelids in muted colours, dimmed by the grey skies and soft rain. 

“I believe you like jade, my prince?”

Beomgyu flinches just like he had in his dream. A small movement, nearly unnoticeable if Yeonjun hadn’t been waiting for it. 

Two droplets of carved jade sit in a bed of silk, so pale that it is almost entirely white. They are beautiful, but from the reaction Beomgyu has given, Yeonjun knows these will also end up in the pile of unworn gifts. 

Beomgyu regains his composure quickly, like nothing ever happened. He reaches out and picks up one earring with gentle fingers. He lets it sit in his palm, feeling the weight of the white jade. 

Yeonjun knows Beomgyu does like jade, but Yeonjun also knows things no one else does in this gazebo over the lake. 

Beomgyu has been mocked, disgraced and trapped within his title of the Jade Prince.  Yeonjun had at first thought it was an affectionate name, one made for the way he dresses and holds himself. 

Suddenly, he remembers what Beomgyu had told him after the banquet, when he had the sword pressed to his throat. 

“This is the palace, Aegis. You have not lived long enough in here to know the truth behind these walls. You do not know the half of it.”

And this still goes to some degree. Yeonjun still doesn’t know everything he needs to know, and he doubts he ever really will, but now, Yeonjun is aware that his title was not bestowed upon him with honour. 

To outsiders it might seem affectionate and lovely, but the way Jung had smirked as he spoke the words, the way Beomgyu’s own father looked at him—it’s a jest. A ridicule meant to remind him of not just his place, but that he isn’t respected by the people who gave him this title. 

The beta’s words had been close to calling him the Jade Prince, and his thought of the gift came from his title. Where the beta’s intentions do seem quite positive (even though he himself looks uncomfortable sitting before the prince. His fingers are in his lap, rubbing at his nails almost impatiently, like he just wants this to be over and to get out of Beomgyu’s hair. Yeonjun isn’t so sure of what the beta’s reasoning for this is, but he keeps a keen eye, standing up straighter) and with no way of knowing the true meaning behind the prince’s title—it is a thoughtful gift. 

Beomgyu purses his lips and forces a tight-lipped smile. “It is beautiful.” He comments before putting the earring back on its bed and shutting the delicate box. The beta smiles back, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“I am Huening Kai. Son of the foreign affairs minister, it is a great honour to finally meet you, my prince.” Beomgyu blinks softly and hums, giving him a nod. 

“It is a beautiful cut of jade.” Beomgyu says before silence thickens around them again. Honestly, it’s  quite an awkward exchange from Yeonjun’s point of view. 

Kai makes a soft noise in his throat before he bows and retreats back into the sea of suitors, buried in the more demanding and overbearing alphas he’s up against for Beomgyu’s hand. 

Beomgyu lets out a deep sigh as a maid comes and takes the box and adds it to the top of the gift pile. 

❀

It’s nearing sunset when Beomgyu is finally free from his gift receiving torture. 

Yeonjun opens up a paper umbrella for himself as Beomgyu’s maids and attendants fuss over opening the much larger umbrella to keep the prince dry in the rainfall. 

Beomgyu sighs as he looks at them from the gazebo, only him and Yeonjun perched in the shelter over the lake now. All the suitors had finally left after the rain began to pelt down harder, with large, fat drops. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun calls out. He sighs as he watches one attendant almost knock someone else out trying to carry the umbrella. It’s quite pitiful, actually. 

Beomgyu turns to Yeonjun, his eyes tired, but the small smile he gives Yeonjun does reach his eyes. Small but genuine and that’s all that matters to Yeonjun. 

“Should we just go together?” Yeonjun points to the paper umbrella in his hand and Beomgyu’s smile widens before he shuffles closer to Yeonjun, nodding in agreement. “They can figure their way back home.” Beomgyu concludes as he shifts against Yeonjun’s side. 

Their shoulders brush against each other’s from the close proximity, but the umbrella isn’t that big and to fit them both comfortably, a little touching is needed. Not that it’s really a problem anymore. Beomgyu has warmed up considerably since the first time Yeonjun met him in the throne room. 

And from days of quick scenting sessions, Beomgyu is relaxed by him, even though they are touching. Actually, it's rather comforting for Yeonjun and he wonders if there’s some type of biological reaction to the person you’ve been scenting for several weeks. 

They slip away together, past the squawking attendants still making a fuss over the giant umbrella that is heavy from all the rain soaked into the cloth. If only they made it from waxed paper like Yeonjun’s own—Yeonjun sighs again as they walk past them. 

Beomgyu suppresses a giggle as they go past the commotion caused by a single umbrella. Yeonjun smiles at the light sound and watches around carefully. He steers Beomgyu away from larger puddles, away from larger trees that overhang across the paths, dripping big droplets of rain off their hanging leaves. 

When they reach the pavilion that the Jade Palace is located, there is a massive puddle stretching over the entranceway, deep and murky with washed in dirt from the gardens. 

Beomgyu halts and looks at the puddle, grimacing at the way it continues to fill up. 

Yeonjun clears his throat. “Hold the umbrella, my prince.” He says and thrusts the pole into Beomgyu’s hand who makes a tiny noise of surprise at the sudden action. 

Yeonjun leaps over the wide puddle, braving the rain and getting drenched in the process. 

“What are you doing?” Beomgyu hisses at him. “You will get a cold and then who will protect me?” 

Yeonjun chuckles. “Don’t worry, my prince. I’m strong, a little bit of rain won’t hurt me… but you, my prince, do you want to face the rain?” 

“Not particularly.” Beomgyu answers with a slight frown. “No.” He then says, stronger. 

Yeonjun nods. “Exactly. And as your aegis, I must protect you from even the trivial things such as the rain and puddles that stand in your way.” 

Beomgyu bites on his lip to keep his laughter down. 

Yeonjun smiles back at him and leans in closer, reaches out and grasps Beomgyu by his waist. The prince lets out a surprised yelp when Yeonjun lifts him off the ground, and then he responds by placing his hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder, the other still keeping the umbrella over his head as Yeonjun swings him over the muddied puddle. 

“There,” Yeonjun says as he puts Beomgyu back down at the opposite side of the puddle. “Now the hem of your robes have been saved and your shoes are not wet.” 

Beomgyu’s cheeks are flushed pink as he hurriedly gives the umbrella back to Yeonjun and shuffles closer to him once more. “Thank you, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu mutters quietly. 

“Of course.” Yeonjun replies. “I couldn’t let you get covered in mud, could I? You said I must protect you, so protect you I will.” 

Beomgyu hums quietly as they walk up the stairs to the entrance to his home. “You are a good aegis.” 

Yeonjun beams at him and this does get a laugh from Beomgyu. 

“Well, I hope you keep warm tonight, my prince. The rain always makes things colder.” Beomgyu nods as Yeonjun drops the umbrella as they reach the uncovered area at the entrance to the Jade Palace. 

“I also… I also want to tell you that if you ever need a break during the… meetings… you can always signal me and I can help you take a breather.” 

“You do so much for me, Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu whispers, lingering in his doorway. “But you heard what grandfather said to me… I cannot dare to do anything but sit there… I am thankful, but…” 

It’s quiet for some time between them. 

“It must be lonely.” Yeonjun finally says and Beomgyu looks at him, a certain pang of sadness in his eyes. “All these things you have to do… and then just coming back here…” 

Yeonjun forces a smile. “If there is anything I can do for you, please tell me. I know you know that I do care about you… and if you ever feel alone or as if you need someone to give you company, know that you can trust me. I will always be here for you.” 

There’s a sudden sweetness to Beomgyu’s scent. A burst of bright, warm orange that floods Yeonjun’s senses. His heart leaps at the smell of the prince's uncovered happiness. And it’s all because of his words… Yeonjun feels lightheaded. 

“I think you are a good alpha, Aegis.” Beomgyu tells him gently as he steps inside. He accepts the offer of one of his omega attendants' hands and Yeonjun watches how he gives her a weak smile in return. 

“But what if I decided I was lonely during your meal time?” Beomgyu blinks at him and looks hesitant, as if he’s trying to convince himself to not take up Yeonjun’s offer as to not be a burden. 

But Beomgyu will never be a burden. Not for Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun hums. “Well… some things would have to wait. I wouldn’t mind eating a cold meal if it meant that my company would make you feel better.” 

“You could eat with me.” Beomgyu shoots out. Yeonjun looks at him and has to fight his smile. “So… Aegis Yeonjun… will you eat dinner with me tonight?” 

Yeonjun smiles at him, and the sweet smell of oranges reaches his nose once more. 

“Of course, my prince.” Yeonjun answers and he swears he can taste the orange on his tongue when he opens his mouth to talk. 

Beomgyu smiles again, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, stepping aside to let Yeonjun inside. 

The omega attendant behind Beomgyu peers up at Yeonjun. He recognises her to be the same attendant that had helped after the run in with the alpha at the banquet—the one that had run to get Soobin. Yeonjun supposes he should thank her for that somehow. 

Yeonjun also hasn’t seen Soobin around as often as he used to. He could just be trying to give Beomgyu some space after the incident, but Beomgyu hasn’t really shown much recognition of the events that had happened that night. 

But it is ingrained in Yeonjun’s memory, branded against his brain with the sound of Beomgyu crying out for him, uncontrolled and searching for the alpha that had provided him some sort of comfort that Yeonjun doubts he had ever received before Yeonjun fell down that mountain and woke up in Goryeo. 

Yeonjun thinks maybe it is time he brings it up. Not for his own sake, but because if Beomgyu is actually avoiding Soobin… Yeonjun doesn’t want him to give up on a person that actually does care about him. 

Beomgyu leads Yeonjun to the same room he is always led to and Beomgyu sits down, a faint smile on his lip as he smooths his clothes around him, shuffling on the pillow beneath him to get comfortable. 

Yeonjun finds it rather cute. 

He joins him at the same pillow he took last time he was here, sharing tea with Beomgyu before their peace shattered and turned sour. 

“Would you like tea again?” Beomgyu asks him, blinking softly at him. Yeonjun nods at him and watches him as Beomgyu asks his attendant quietly for a pot of tea. 

“I want to ask you something.” Beomgyu says suddenly. He’s playing with the hem of his robes, fingernails running along the seams that are barely visible. Yeonjun gives him a soft hum, nodding to tell him to continue with whatever it is that he wants to ask. 

“Because you’re an alpha,” Beomgyu starts and Yeonjun fiddles with his fingers underneath the table, out of Beomgyu’s line of sight. “I wanted to ask your opinion… on all the suitors.” 

Yeonjun blinks at him. Beomgyu looks genuinely curious, reaching out for advice from him. The 21st century alpha that shit talks the patriarchy and curses out everyone in this damn palace even in his sleep. 

But Yeonjun also knows Beomgyu wouldn’t ask him this if he didn’t value his opinion. 

“If I am going to be honest, my prince,” he looks at him and sees how Beomgyu seems suddenly nervous, his bright scent fading softly. 

“I do not think any of them deserve you from what I’ve seen. But the beta… Kai,” Beomgyu looks back at him, cocking his head gently. “He seems to have respect for you. But it is still too early for me to judge his character.” 

Beomgyu hums in response as his attendant calls out her presence before sliding the paper doors and delivering the floral scented tea to the low table. 

“I liked the rain today.” Beomgyu then says as he pours himself some tea with a delicately trained hand. His other hand keeps his long, draping sleeves out of the tea and steadies his wrist. Yeonjun heaves in a deeper breath. 

“Did you?” He replies quietly, his mind racing. Beomgyu looks up at him as he lifts the celadon cup to his lips, eyelids fluttering as he savours the scent of the tea wafting up from the liquid. 

“They didn’t try to touch me today.” Beomgyu finishes as he takes the turquoise coloured pottery from his lips. Yeonjun picks up his own cup and pours himself some tea with a clumsy, hazardous technique. He doesn’t miss the way Beomgyu’s lips flicker into a smile at his struggle at trying to pour tea like the proper etiquette of this time requires. 

Yeonjun internally blames it on Beomgyu’s words and what he suspects has a deeper hidden meaning… but Yeonjun will only admit this to himself if Beomgyu continues on. He can’t possibly put himself up for being deranged after his whole spectacle that ended him up here. Nothing will top his derailing of sanity in his entire life, Yeonjun is pretty fucking certain of this. 

“You scented me a lot.” Beomgyu does continue and Yeonjun feels like a weight has been lifted from his chest. At least today he doesn’t have to go into a self pity induced overthinking session. “Did you realise that?” 

Yeonjun can’t exactly tell if he’s being called out or not right now. He decides to proceed with caution. Even though Beomgyu is definitely much more trusting of him and even seems to enjoy his company, Yeonjun doesn’t want to stretch it thin.

“It was raining.” Yeonjun says softly. “I guess I just assumed…” 

“No one even knew, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu says this with a smile. One that causes the anxiety to melt from Yeonjun’s bones. “But I could tell the difference. You did not stop letting out your scent, it was rather bold of you.” Beomgyu smiles against his tea cup. 

“You put up a barrier around me, Aegis. One that they couldn’t even recognise.” Beomgyu is praising him right now. For something that Yeonjun hadn’t even realised he’d done because that raw primal instinct he has for Beomgyu had arisen in the gazebo over the water. Yeonjun isn’t sure if he should beam with pride or give himself a scolding for doing such a thing. 

“But I should ask that you do that with caution… I do not think the suitors will be particularly happy if they realised…” Beomgyu purses his mouth in thought, brows furrowing slightly. “I do not think they would understand our relationship.” He ends up saying. 

Yeonjun wants to press into that, find out what they truly are other than a prince and his guard. Because Yeonjun isn’t so certain that it was common practice to ever scent your protectee in any time period… 

But he leaves it. It’ll probably keep him up at night, but Yeonjun is not ready to ask things like that. 

“I will remember that, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers softly. Just as he goes to pour himself any more tea and potentially spill the whole pot—the attendant voice calls out again, announcing the arrival of their meal. 

Beomgyu calls back, allowing them in and gives Yeonjun a look, taking the teapot away from his outstretched hands as they hurry over with full trays. 

The scent of the food reaches Yeonjun’s nose and his stomach betrays him by growling loudly. Beomgyu covers his mouth with his hand as he tries to hide his soft laughter. Yeonjun feels his own mouth twitch in response. 

There’s bowls of rich looking soups, steaming and heaped with toppings that Yeonjun hasn’t consumed since he took that hike up the mountain. His stomach growls again at the sight of the food. 

A whole small chicken surrounded by boiled herbs that Yeonjun guesses it had been cooked with, bowls of rice and sides of various pickles vegetables and vegetable pancakes that Yeonjun also hasn’t had in some time. 

Yeonjun stares at the food, his hands practically shaking as he tries to contain his excitement for some variety in the food. He was growing sick and tired of the same things all over again. If he wakes to vegetable rice porridge in the morning again, he might just make Miyoung eat it instead. Yeonjun even has his limits. 

“Why are you waiting, Aegis Yeonjun? Go ahead. You have done a good job today.” Beomgyu gestures at the array of dishes spread over the table, his silver chopsticks already held between his fingers. 

Yeonjun does not need to be told twice. 

He digs in without another word, trying the chicken first that he thinks is the first time in almost a month it’s been served to him. Yeonjun had half the mind to actually go to the kitchens and charm some kitchen girls to give him more protein, but he has a moral compass and decided against it every time. 

Beomgyu gazes at him for a while before he begins to eat. He takes vegetable pancakes and the other dishes, but barely touches the chicken. 

Yeonjun pats his stomach when he’s done, savouring the taste of the rich broth of the heavily seasoned soup. 

Beomgyu sips at his tea again, smiling into his cup. 

“You are right, Aegis.” Beomgyu says, his eyes twinkling in the low light coming from the candles lit around the room. 

“It is rather lonely here…” the prince’s face falls gently and Yeonjun watches him wearily. “Day after day… but I am glad that I now have you, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

Yeonjun falls asleep that night, soundly and with the remembrance of the bright scent of orange hanging around him in the air. 

❀

Yeonjun asks about Soobin in the morning. 

Beomgyu is concentrating on painting the sparrows that landed behind Yeonjun with careful brush strokes. He had subtly threatened Yeonjun to not move so he doesn’t scare them away and Yeonjun is sitting as stiff as a board, not daring to take that threat lightly. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun calls out quietly. Beomgyu peeks up from his painting to look at him, that same curious glance in his eyes as he blinks at him. 

“Are you avoiding the eleventh prince?” 

Beomgyu blinks at him before he returns his focus to his painting, his brush held between the soft grip of his fingers. The tip of the brush bobs, a jerk that shows Beomgyu’s concealed anxiety from the question. 

Yeonjun has the suspicion that Beomgyu isn’t just avoiding Soobin, but that he has a perfect, clear remembrance of what went down that night. 

His hands clawing Yeonjun’s robes, drawing him in, pulling him to his bed—Yeonjun is wary himself of bringing this up.

But he doesn’t want Beomgyu to deprive himself of the people that do care about him. 

“I…” Beomgyu’s lips press together, his eyebrows knitting together as he thinks. Yeonjun can practically see the thoughts running across his face. 

He’s always that bit more expressive around Yeonjun. Wearing his heart on his sleeve and tempting Yeonjun to just reach out and cup it between two warm palms. Cradle it like the precious thing it is. 

“I have not seen him around.” Beomgyu concludes with a small nod, adding a curved line along one of the bird’s wings. Yeonjun finds the way the ink seeps in a little bit enchanting, but Yeonjun still feels that surge of panic in him when he witnesses something seep into a surface. 

Fourteen years of watching deep crimson blood seep into the wet earth like blooms of watercolour pigment might have everything to do with that. 

“I told you that you don’t have to hide anything from me, my prince.” 

Beomgyu turns his head back to Yeonjun. 

“And what will I say to him?” Beomgyu frowns, his gaze falling as he finally admits that he is trying to not interact with his older brother. 

Yeonjun tries to give him a comforting smile as he hums. “Anything.” Yeonjun says. “I’m sure whatever it is, the eleventh prince will enjoy seeing you again. The thirteenth prince, too.” 

Beomgyu gazes out at the garden, his frown deepening. 

“They are your brothers…” Yeonjun says after seeing the plain apprehension on Beomgyu’s face. The omega prince turns back to him, brows drawn in a sorrowful way. Yeonjun wants to reach out and smooth it away with his thumb. His hands twitch where they are in his lap, but Yeonjun keeps them there. To himself. 

“I was… I was,” Beomgyu swallows, his eyes shaking as he looks out at the swaying trees. “It is humiliating.” He finishes quietly, nothing over a mere whisper. Yeonjun almost doesn’t pick it up, but he was expecting this. Yeonjun feels a pang of sadness that he had predicted what Beomgyu feels about that night. 

But the tips of his ears are red again, burning with his embarrassment as he recalls the night. 

“My prince…” Yeonjun calls softly, carefully as to not jostle Beomgyu who looks lost within his own mind again. Yeonjun really doesn’t know if he should bite his tongue and refrain from asking the question that is sitting on the tip of his tongue, but… Yeonjun needs an answer. He needs to know. 

“Do you remember everything that happened after the banquet?” 

The prince looks back at Yeonjun, his eyes suddenly glassy and eyebrows tight with the effort he’s putting into not crying right now. 

Yeonjun hadn’t been expecting this. 

Beomgyu lets out a soft laugh and wipes away his tears, forcing his brows to smooth out. 

“I was waiting for you to ask that, Aegis Yeonjun… for quite some time.” Yeonjun is quiet. He’s not exactly sure what to say right now… offer some words of comfort? Tell him that it’s okay? 

“I didn’t remember until a few days after… it was a long night… And I suppose I should actually apologise now.” 

Beomgyu shifts his whole body, puts down his paintbrush and as he shuffles back, the birds behind Yeonjun take off with a loud flap of their wings. Yeonjun lets out a soft sigh. 

“I acted… imprudent and I was heedless of my actions that night… I do not know what came over me, Aegis… I truly am sorry if I displeased you.” 

The words ring around in Yeonjun’s head. Like icy water has been splashed over his face, shocking him out of his previous thoughts. 

Imprudent and heedless—Yeonjun has never thought of Beomgyu as those things. 

Beomgyu had been stressed, pushed thin on his limit as he sat up there and listened to his father declare his fate to the room full of people before he even knew it himself. Forced to act unaffected as people came up to him one after another, never ending, bold and some down right disrespectful. 

His fight with Yeonjun—bright with humiliation and fury. Then the alpha. 

Beomgyu was not imprudent and heedless . He was a prince that had tried his hardest for too long, pushed too far. 

Isolated on a frozen lake, watching the cracks slowly form and leaving him stranded all by himself. 

Beomgyu was an omega pushed into a corner, had his sense of safety and dignity ripped away. 

Yeonjun knows that Beomgyu probably doesn’t even know the response he had was biological, and something twists in his stomach at that. 

And Yeonjun had been safety to Beomgyu then. With his scent of petrichor stained across the thin skin of his wrist, right above his pulse, Yeonjun was his security blanket, a reliable alpha to an omega reaching new highs of distress; Yeonjun was safety to Beomgyu at that moment. 

“You weren’t imprudent or heedless.” Yeonjun states. There is no room in his statement for Beomgyu to but in. It’s a bold move on Yeonjun’s part, to tell something in a way so clearly that the prince is not meant to add his own comment. 

But Yeonjun needs to get this across to him. 

Yeonjun can see Beomgyu’s humiliation burning across his face. Hot and flushed with warm blood, his eyes pained. 

“None of it was your fault. You had a… a rough night and what happened was not your fault, my prince.”

Beomgyu’s mouth parts as if he wants to say something, but he stops himself and sucks in a deep breath instead. 

“I… I scented you that night, remember?” Beomgyu nods softly. 

“I’m going to try to explain something to you… so, if you need to stop me at any time to ask something, don’t hesitate.” It’s the least that Yeonjun can do. To offer some peace of mind that Beomgyu had not lost his mind and acted the way he had without a logical reason (though Yeonjun thinks his reasoning is logical) and that what had happened was… normal in some regard. Beomgyu deserves to know about his biology. 

Yeonjun isn’t so sure of the knowledge of the sub-genders they have in this time period, but Beomgyu’s omega attendant seemed to have some knowledge of what Beomgyu was going through. 

“As an omega, you have different… receptors, different instincts. I suppose part of this is my fault for scenting you—”

“But I asked you to scent me,” Beomgyu frowns. “I asked you to…” 

Yeonjun smiles softly and hopes it gets the message across that Yeonjun truly didn’t mind it at all. 

“If an omega’s stress levels rise extremely fast there is a chance for them to go into something called omega space… that’s what happened and because I had scented you earlier… you thought I was safe, my prince.” 

Beomgyu blinks at him and bites down on his lip. 

“You… you don’t think I was improper?” Beomgyu asks quietly and Yeonjun shakes his head, smiling softly. 

“Never did it once cross my mind.” Yeonjun whispers. 

“I was glad it was me.” Yeonjun says and he sees the way Beomgyu’s cheeks suddenly flush brighter. 

“Because you are my aegis?” Beomgyu asks quietly and Yeonjun hums. 

“Because I am your aegis.” He confirms. “Because I’m here to protect you, my prince.” 

❀

Beomgyu huffs as Yeonjun’s arrow knocks next to his own, just barely missing the bullseye. 

“I think that would hit someone if I really tried.” Yeonjun says. 

Beomgyu groans and shakes his head. “I cannot believe you, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

“Should I build straw dummies to prove my point, my prince? Would that satisfy you?” 

“If you can split my arrow, yes, I will be satisfied, but we have been here for two hours and you have yet to do it!” 

“All my attempts have been close.” Yeonjun fights back, pouting with his arms crossed over his chest. “And I am certain that my shots are close enough to accurate enough to hit a moving figure.” 

Beomgyu sighs and hangs his own bow back up on the rack behind them. 

“You shall train each night from now on.” Beomgyu declares. “And until I see you hit all the bullseyes, I will reward you…” 

“With what?” Yeonjun almost scoffs out. “I will think of something…” Beomgyu mumbles, turning his head away from his guard. 

“I am glad that you are well trained with a sword at least…” Beomgyu whispers. 

“Hey,” Yeonjun calls out, his formal language slipping. Beomgyu just turns and raises an eyebrow at him this time. Yeonjun is glad he can hold onto his dignity for another day. Beomgyu can be ruthless. 

“If I was not contempt I would not have been appointed your aegis. Have some faith in me, my prince. I am more than capable of protecting you.” 

“I never said that you were not.” Beomgyu grits out. “In fact, I recall myself praising you often?” 

“Come on,” Yeonjun whines. “You’ve said nothing of the sort since we started this!” He points to the targets all full of arrows. 

“And who’s fault is that, I wonder?” Beomgyu thinks aloud, teasing. Yeonjun can’t help but smile even though he is the one being teased. The prince that Yeonjun had seen after ending up here would never dare to play around with him like this. 

Yeonjun’s heart feels a little lighter than it had before, when he was stressing over how he was going to protect Beomgyu against danger if he didn’t even let him close. But times have changed. 

Almost drastically, if the scent of fresh rain emitting softly from Beomgyu is anything to go by. 

“Your Highness,” Yeonjun whines again. “It’s dark…” 

“You are the one that set this all up.” Beomgyu counters. 

“My prince!” Yeonjun runs up to him and smiles, blinking his eyes in a way that probably looks like he’s got an eyelash stuck in his eye, judging but the look Beomgyu gives him… 

“Are you really going to be so cold to me now?” 

Beomgyu sighs and reaches his hand out and gives Yeonjun a gentle pat on his back. “You have done well for tonight, Aegis. You are a hard worker… and I do know that you can protect me well…” 

Yeonjun beams at the prince and watches him softly smile away at Yeonjun’s obvious delight. 

“Would you… like to accompany me to dinner again?” Beomgyu asks quietly. 

And if this becomes a common occurrence, Yeonjun doesn’t think he’ll find himself ever minding. 

❀

It becomes routine, something wordless—expected with a single glance. 

When Beomgyu opens his doors for Yeonjun to enter in the mornings after he’s gotten ready for the day, he lifts his sleeve and holds his arm out, his fingers curled around nothing but empty air. 

Yeonjun understands this gesture well. It has become a part of his morning for weeks now, a routine that Beomgyu does not let him miss out on. 

He rubs their wrists together, a slower movement than it had been previously as he scents the prince. Beomgyu makes a pleased humming noise in the back of his throat and drops his long draping yellow sleeve back down, letting it cover his hands all the way to his fingertips. 

Yeonjun doesn’t mind this new task he’s wordlessly demanded to do. Truthfully, it helps his own nerves lessen to know that his scent lingers over Beomgyu. A wash of soft rain, an orange ripening in the rainy seasons. 

It brings him peace of some sort to know that his scent on him is acting as a barrier to the alphas and betas fighting to try to impress Beomgyu and land the position and honour of becoming his mate. So far, none of them have realised that Yeonjun has been scenting the prince. It really isn’t that noticeable to someone that doesn’t know about the intimacy they’ve been sharing with each other. 

Beomgyu has offered many times to scent him back—to make this certain bonding act even, but Yeonjun always refuses. 

If he smelt too strongly of Beomgyu, suspicion would arise. After Beomgyu had scented him after the banquet, the scent of oranges had clung to him for days. He soaked in long and hot baths, the water scented with oils to try to cover up the prince’s scent, but it had all been in vain. 

It was almost as if Beomgyu’s scent was embedded in him, so strong that it soaked up into his pores and clung to him, stubborn and strong. It took nearly a full week for it to fade back to his rainy scent. 

And Yeonjun also knows that if he allows Beomgyu to scent him back there is a chance of a biological reaction to happen. The chance of creating a bond on an intimate level with the prince is not within Yeonjun’s to-do list. 

Even if his heart yearns for the prince and he preens at his words, Yeonjun is still conscious of the fact that having such a relationship with the Jade Prince is not realistic. 

Beomgyu is bound by his duties as the omega prince of Goryeo. There are things he must do, things that Yeonjun is not allowed to get himself involved in. No matter his feelings. 

But Yeonjun has also known from the moment he recognised his blooming feelings for Beomgyu in his dreams that he would never have him. He was never supposed to be within reach… but now Yeonjun knows the feeling of his skin beneath the thin skin over his pulse, connecting their heartbeats for the briefest of moments. 

Yeonjun doesn’t let himself ponder on this any longer. 

Beomgyu is quiet as usual as they walk to the destination where the suitors are waiting for Beomgyu to arrive. The prince is never in a good mood on the way to these sessions. Yeonjun can’t blame him. It really is painful and draining. 

If Beomgyu’s grandfather hadn’t said words with Beomgyu, Yeonjun is certain that these meetings with the suitors would be going very differently. 

Yeonjun actually kind of misses the feisty spark Beomgyu had before. Seeing him put all these alphas and betas in their place—beneath him and making himself untouchable—had made pride bloom inside Yeonjun. 

For so long, Beomgyu has had to deal with keeping his mouth shut, hiding behind a wall of jade that conceals the true sentimental heart and demeanour. He had reached a moment of respect on the first day, demanding it and not accepting anything less. 

Beomgyu had fought for his worth and it has been ripped from him. And now he’s the one to listen again. To pretend like he isn’t ignoring the stories and things each suitor says to him as they come to give their greetings, one by one. Painfully. 

Beomgyu nods along with them, but doesn’t speak to a single one of them. He keeps his mouth shut, not a sign of submission, a sign of boredom, unsatisfied and plain ignorance. It’s the boldest move Beomgyu can make while his grandfather is waiting for him to slip and take all of his choice away from him. 

Yeonjun thinks Beomgyu has had too much taken from him already, and he truly does hope if this is what Beomgyu truly does have to do, that he can choose his own mate himself. 

Yeonjun thinks he understands Beomgyu a little more than what the prince realises. Yeonjun can recognise the tiny movements of his body language, barely noticeable, but Yeonjun sees it. 

So, he sees the exact moment Beomgyu stiffens, his spine straightening and his face completely hardening over. It’s a subtle difference to anyone that hasn’t seen the prince at his worst, but to Yeonjun, it’s detrimental. 

Because he knows exactly what it means. 

Yeonjun turns when he hears the new voice enter the pavilion where Beomgyu is sitting before all the suitors and he has to blink twice to try to compose himself. 

Jung stands in the entryway, Soobin and Taehyun by his side. The younger princes have a soft scowl, a clear look of unhappiness across their faces as they stand by their older brother’s side. That sly smirk is on the third prince’s face again and anger quickly in the depth of Yeonjun’s stomach, hot and uncomfortable. 

He looks like he’s here to torment again, to push Beomgyu into a corner he cannot escape from. Put him in a difficult position in front of all the suitors that he’s supposed to act a certain way around. It’s a cruel move on Jung’s part, but Yeonjun has learnt that this is what Jung does best for his younger brother. But bringing the two other princes with him? That isn’t typical. Not even for Jung’s scheming mind. 

“It’s a beautiful day,” Jung announces to the group, stretching out his arms and patting his younger brother’s shoulders. Soobin huffs at the touch and Taehyun sighs as he looks over at Beomgyu, his eyes searching and curious. 

“Quite a wonderful day to do some archery? What do you all think?” Jung smiles again, his dark eyes flickering over to see Beomgyu’s reaction to his words. 

And then Yeonjun realises. 

Jung was the one behind Beomgyu’s grandfather’s visit. He had seen it from across the courtyard, potentially heard their voices in the breeze and gone and snitched on him. And now, Jung has somehow gotten himself personally involved in overseeing his younger brothers courting process—Yeonjun keeps thinking it’s more of some glorified tournament more than some innocent meetings to choose a mate… it’s too competitive, full of overbearing and eager contestants to try to win Beomgyu. 

But that isn’t the thing that makes Yeonjun struggle to keep his anger down. He struggles to keep his scent neutral and not into a stormy mess of anger. 

Because Jung has come to take them to do archery and have some historical shoot-off. An archery contest that Beomgyu will be forced to watch again, sat in a chair reminded of what humiliation and torment Jung had put him through the last time he was forced to watch archery. 

“I suppose the weather is fine for archery.” Beomgyu forces out. His voice is cold again, so different to what it has been when he’s spoken with Yeonjun lately. Yeonjun hates it. It grates at him and sends his stomach flipping in anger. 

If Yeonjun ever makes it back to modern times he’s going to shit-talk Jung so hard. He might even tamper with the historians texts before he leaves to doom him to an afterlife of being hated on. Yeonjun thinks it’s what he deserves. There is no peace for the wicked. 

Beomgyu rises slowly and turns to Yeonjun. While his face is only shown to his aegis, Beomgyu shows him how much this has caused him distress by the way he knits his brows together and his bottom lip wobbles. His left hand raises slowly and Yeonjun holds his breath, his brain already ticking to think of some believable lie to tell if he brushes it by his hair—but his hand falls down and the prince turns back to the crowd, his face shielded once more. 

“Isn’t this great?” Jung says as the suitors all begin to stand. Yeonjun comes to stand beside Beomgyu, not daring to offer his hand or arm to link with while Jung is here… and the rest of the suitors he supposes. Yeonjun isn’t so sure when they’re going to catch on that Yeonjun is scenting the Jade Prince, but he genuinely hopes it doesn’t come soon. 

Yeonjun quite looks forward to those few minutes of peace in the morning. 

“Dearest brother, do you not think it is great that your older brothers will look over the candidates to be your mate? I’m sure you will enjoy our input and agree with our decision on the candidates that will be eliminated after this competition.” No one bristles at the third prince’s comment. It’s been common knowledge since the start for them that not all of them would stay. 

“Wonderful.” Beomgyu comments curtly. 

Soobin offers him a gentle smile but Beomgyu tears his gaze away, looking out at the garden again. Yeonjun has come to realise that Beomgyu looks away from people while he is trying his best to keep it all in. He avoids faces, preferring to not look at anyone as to put his effort into controlling his expression. 

The walk to the archery field is calm and Jung shuts his mouth for once. Taehyun and Soobin keep sparing glances at their brother. Beomgyu still refuses to look at them and Yeonjun wishes he wouldn’t be so stubborn and just let his brothers know how he’s feeling. But Beomgyu doesn’t talk about that easily. 

The same chair is set up, but instead of being on the grass it is on the platform where Yeonjun and Beomgyu had shot from the few times they’ve come out to practice Yeonjun’s archery. 

Yeonjun has made progress and he had gotten a bullseye in two of the targets, but Beomgyu is a tough one to please and has stood strong on his word of Yeonjun needing to hit them all. Yeonjun’s disappointment had been immeasurable . 

There are five targets set up and the suitors are ordered to get into five groups for the tournament. Yeonjun stands beside Beomgyu who sighs as he watches everyone on the flat grassy area, bows in their hands and quivers slung over their shoulders. 

The smell begins to thicken, poisoning the fresh air around them with the stench of alphas fighting for dominance and trying to show off. Beomgyu shuffles in his chair as the competition goes on, growing restless by the constant stench of deep musk. 

Silently and inconspicuously, Yeonjun slips his hand under the table, his fingertips grazing over Beomgyu’s palm. 

“What should I do, my prince?” Yeonjun asks quietly, still looking out at the field, feigning interest in the competition before them. 

Beomgyu lets out a soft gasp before his fingers tug onto Yeonjun’s hand, trailing up the length of his palm, up the hem of his sleeve and settling over his pulse. 

“Just… just stay with me.” Beomgyu whispers out, pulling his fingers back to his lap. “There isn’t anything else we could do with… third brother here.” 

Yeonjun does know that is a very fair point, but Beomgyu can barely hide his discomfort and his own scent is souring from his increasing stress levels from the constant influx of overpowering alpha pheromones. Yeonjun is itching to do something for him, anything. But Yeonjun has seen the looks Jung has given Beomgyu frequently, as if he’s trying to catch them doing something he can reprimand them for. 

Yeonjun keeps his own eyes on him, too. Jung hasn’t come here with the simple intention to oversee the candidates that are fighting for the position of his younger brother’s mate. Yeonjun knows he’s here for Beomgyu to also realise that he is the reason he has to bite his tongue, hold back and become jaded once more. 

Yeonjun decides to help by providing commentary to the prince. 

“That was a poor effort,” Yeonjun scoffs as one beta’s arrow lands on the ring outside the bullseye. Beomgyu gives him a look and Yeonjun shrugs in return. “My shots have been getting better! I got three out of five last night…” 

“Still two less than my requirements.” Beomgyu tuts back at him. Yeonjun genuinely has to hold back his laugh. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun gasps out. “Do not tempt me to march down there and join the competition.” 

Beomgyu freezes at that and turns to him, slowly blinking up at him from his chair. “The courting competition, Aegis…?” Beomgyu whispers and Yeonjun gulps, his ears burning. 

It hits Yeonjun suddenly that his attempt at humouring the prince and lightening the situation has taken a rather unexpected turn. 

Yeonjun decides to laugh it off, awkwardly chuckling while Beomgyu still stares up at him. 

And Yeonjun does not sleep a wink that night, his mind mulling over what would’ve happened if Yeonjun had gone down there and inadvertently made himself a candidate in winning Beomgyu’s hand as his mate.

He can’t stop thinking about the way Beomgyu gazed up at him, the look in his eyes indistinguishable, unreadable and nothing like Yeonjun has seen before. 

❀

Beomgyu’s days grow longer with less time to himself as the courting continues. 

This week, they’ve begun private walks around the palace gardens. Yeonjun is instructed by the king to stay several steps behind to give them privacy. He obeys but he clearly sees how uncomfortable Beomgyu is with this new activity and without his aegis right by his side, he’s constantly on edge. 

Some bring gifts during their one on one sessions and from that it turns into them all bringing gifts until the pile of unused and unopened gifts grows larger and larger, collecting dust in the Jade Palace. Yeonjun doesn’t actually know what Beomgyu has planned for all of them…

Beomgyu still has yet to even feign interest in any of the suitors and Yeonjun can tell it’s beginning to really bother a few of them. 

Not to mention, Yeonjun has noticed most of them scowling at his presence as if they’re offended by his position as Beomgyu’s aegis and being tasked to guard him at all times. It’s almost as they see him as a personal threat or something stupid like that. 

Yeonjun is tired of this courting business from just watching it. He knows Beomgyu is exhausted too. Just last night he had invited Yeonjun back for dinner and had almost dozed off in the middle of getting his spoon filled with soup to his mouth. Yeonjun left quickly after that, telling his attendants to be speedy in getting the prince ready for bed. 

Yeonjun tries to back off a bit for Beomgyu’s sake. He wants to give him space after his draining days and let him relax, but on the third night of returning Beomgyu back to his home and retreating to his little room, opening the book he’s deemed his ‘Yeonjun takes on the Patriarchy’ diary and writing down little things from his day and reading over the mess of pages that try to detail the dreams he had, there’s a knock. 

A soft sound followed by a gentle call of his name. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu calls again. “Are you still awake?” 

Yeonjun sits up, tugging his dark blue over robe that he had discarded hazardously over his floor as soon as he entered. His hair is unbound and there’s probably ink smeared somewhere across his face knowing himself. 

All in all, he’s a mess. But he still opens his door to the prince without a second thought of making himself more presentable. 

Beomgyu blinks, looking him over as soon as Yeonjun comes into his vision. “Aegis Yeonjun…” he clears his throat and in the faint light, Yeonjun notices the soft blush appearing over the prince’s cheeks as his gaze suddenly falls. 

“Do you not want to… accompany me anymore?” 

Yeonjun blinks himself and then holds out a hand, gripping the prince’s deep blue silk and tugs him into his much smaller abode than Beomgyu’s home. 

“I thought that you would be too tired,” Yeonjun tells him honestly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” 

“I’m not upset,” Beomgyu quickly denies. His lips press together and then he sighs. “But you’re my only friend now, Aegis… and I do enjoy your company, even if we do not have anything to say to each other.” Yeonjun smiles softly at him. 

Friend. That is what Yeonjun had been aiming for the moment he saw Beomgyu dressed in green and beside his fathers throne, and now he’s achieved it. He’s been in Goryeo for quite some time now and now that he is close to the prince standing right in front of him, Yeonjun does feel that he can protect him better. 

Yeonjun wonders if past Yeonjun had gotten to this point. Friendship and regular scenting sessions. He also is curious if this will do anything to change the dreams he’s had… but only time will tell. 

“And I’ll go insane if I have to be alone after spending my days listening to the ramblings of all the suitors… You are much more interesting.” 

Yeonjun feels his heart stutter and for a moment, he’s at a loss for words. Beomgyu’s praise, no matter how little, always makes him feel some type of way. 

“Okay.” Yeonjun agrees. “All you have to do is ask, my prince and I will be there.” 

❀

It rains again. 

With the rain, Yeonjun scents Beomgyu stronger than he usually does, and maybe it was just that bit too much today. 

The next few days are reserved for private tea sessions with each remaining candidate that has been cut down by ten. Huening Kai is still in the line up and Yeonjun actually likes him. He’s rather calm and doesn’t appear overly cocky or tries to out do the others. He’s unapologetically himself which Yeonjun admires and also finds a little bit… cute. 

But today, the problem persists from the very start of their morning. 

Yeonjun picks up a change in Beomgyu’s scent, so subtle that he thinks it’s his mind playing tricks on him at first until when he scents Beomgyu it fades softly, still there but hidden behind layers of orange and rain. He doesn’t think much of it. 

Then, when they arrive at the gazebo across the lake for this meeting, the alpha sitting at the low tea table is none other than the obnoxious son of the minister of finance. He’s one of the more overbearing alpha’s, one that lets his scent out proudly and not realising he’s making Beomgyu choke on it instead of finding it attractive or powerful. 

He’s one Yeonjun particularly wants to punch. 

And today, he lets his scent out stronger than he usually does. Beomgyu drinks a lot of tea, trying to breathe in the scent of the tea instead of his pheromones. He answers in curt short ways, skipping his way around questions that require longer questions. 

It doesn’t take long for the alpha’s patience to wear thin. 

He begins to frown when Beomgyu avoids his questions and when he doesn’t respond in the way he’s hoping he will. 

Then the rain clears, the sun peeking out through the clouds and shining brightly. 

Yeonjun is admiring a rainbow that’s appeared in the sky when Beomgyu suddenly shuffles, alerting his attention back to him. 

The scent of rain is much clearer on Beomgyu than it ever has and now, without the rain to ask Yeonjun’s scent on him, the alpha finally picks it up after nearly a full month of visiting Beomgyu while Yeonjun’s scent clung onto him. 

His nostrils flare and anger builds up in his scent, burning and unpleasant. He looks at Yeonjun, then back to Beomgyu. 

“Oh,” he says, his jaw clenching. “Is this why you’ve been so flat with me, Jade Prince?” He spits out. “You’ve been fooling around with another alpha this whole time?” His tone rises, his anger becoming evident in his body language. 

Yeonjun takes a small step towards Beomgyu, not liking the sudden heightening of emotions. 

“He is my aegis.” Beomgyu tells him. “It is only natural I carry some of his scent if I am constantly around him.” The prince is calm and collected as he tries to talk his way out of this problem, but Yeonjun isn’t so confident this is going to work out the way the prince is hoping it will. 

“Scenting you while you are in preheat?” The alpha hisses out and Yeonjun freezes. Beomgyu doesn’t seem surprised at this and Yeonjun feels like an idiot for not realising the change in his scent had been because his cycle is creeping up. 

It explains why the alpha had been so pushy with his scent… trying to get Beomgyu’s omega to find him as a suitable heat partner. 

Yeonjun really wants to knock him out now. 

“It keeps me safe.” Beomgyu tries to say, but as soon as the words leave his mouth, the alpha is throwing himself over the table, his hands gripping onto Beomgyu’s pink silk and exposing one of his shoulders. 

Yeonjun leaps into action, pushing the man off of Beomgyu. He gets to his feet quickly, bending down and picking up the teapot that still has hot tea sloshing around inside it. 

He throws it somewhere and Beomgyu scampers away on his knees, retreating to a corner as the alpha flips the table, screaming nonsense and throwing the shattered pieces of porcelain around. 

He tries to throw himself at Beomgyu again, screaming. He throws a shard of porcelain at the prince just as Yeonjun tackles him, pinning him to the ground and holding his arms behind his back. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Yeonjun hisses at him. He can smell Beomgyu’s distress, bitter orange and wilted jasmine and when he hears a hiccup from the prince, he looks up to see tears in his eyes as he watches them with wide eyes. 

Rage is burning through Yeonjun, his body acting by itself. And just like last time Yeonjun had to protect Beomgyu from harm, it’s like his body remembers how to fight, how to protect Beomgyu even though Yeonjun knows if he was back in Seoul he would not be capable of half the things he pulls off for Beomgyu. 

Yeonjun fists one hand in the alphas hair and lifts his head up, smashing his head against the ground and knocking him out cold just as several guards alerted by the noise arrive at the scene, the king between them to inspect what’s happened. 

“Father.” Beomgyu struggles to his feet, his body trembling. Yeonjun sniffs at the air and finds that the scent of his preheat is stronger already. At this rate, Beomgyu might go into heat by tonight. Panic soars through Yeonjun’s veins, uncomfortably warm. 

“What has happened here?” The king frowns as Yeonjun gets up from his position over the unconscious alpha and bows at him before speaking. 

“The Jade Prince has entered preheat and he was particularly violent. He’s destroyed the place…” the king frowns at the alpha laying on the ground and clicks his tongue. 

“Take him to his father.” The king demands and the guards around him jump into action, pulling him up and taking him away. 

Yeonjun takes a look at Beomgyu who is still shaking but trying his best to contain it in front of his fathers eyes. Yeonjun has to fight himself to not take him into his arms and try to calm him down by releasing his scent. Beomgyu always responds well to his scent. 

The king scowls at the alpha that is dragged away by the guards. His gaze turns to Beomgyu who lets out a shudder, holding onto himself to try to comfort himself. Yeonjun gulps. 

“Aegis, take him back to the Jade Palace.” The king orders as he watches his son and sniffs at the air, no doubt picking up on his distress but the preheat crawling up in his scent. “You have done well today. I will not tolerate any violence from the candidates of my son’s mate. You will be rewarded later.” 

Yeonjun is about to tell the king that he does not need a gift for just doing his job, but the king turns away and Beomgyu reaches out to grab at him as soon as his back is turned to them. 

Beomgyu’s fingers are warm and Yeonjun bites down on his lower lip as he looks at the prince. His eyes are wide with worry as he stares at his face. 

“Aegis Yeonjun… you’re hurt.” 

“Huh?” Yeonjun frowns, looking down at his body, trying to find any injuries that Beomgyu has seen. 

Then there’s fingers underneath his chin, lifting his head so Beomgyu can look at him. 

“There is a cut,” the prince whispers. “On your cheek.” 

Yeonjun bites down on his lip and he does feel the slight tug then. “It’s not an issue.” He says and then frowns at him. “Why did you not tell me you were in preheat?” 

“I thought you knew…” Beomgyu replies quietly and then looks around at the shattered porcelain around the place. “Can we just go back, please?” 

Yeonjun frowns but doesn’t say anything else as he leads Beomgyu back to the Jade Palace. 

And when they get back, Yeonjun tries to rush away to give Beomgyu some time alone before his heat hits to get himself prepared, but Beomgyu pulls him inside with him, fussing over the cut on his cheek. 

“Jinah,” Beomgyu calls out as they enter. The omega attendant appears seemingly out of nowhere. “Yes, my prince?” 

“Can you bring some medical supplies to my room?” Beomgyu asks as he pushes Yeonjun down the hall towards his room. 

“Of course!” She bows and then hurries away. 

“My prince, I’m really okay, you don’t have to do any—”

“Be quiet.” Beomgyu hisses at him. “You are hurt because of me.” 

“It wasn’t your fault.” Yeonjun turns on his heels, facing him. Beomgyu just huffs at him, his patience wearing thin from his oncoming heat. 

“Just let me do this.” Beomgyu says. “Then I will feel better.” 

“You don’t have to feel bad about this, either.” Yeonjun says. “I’m your aegis. These things will happen if I’m to protect you.” 

“Well I don’t want you getting hurt because of me!” Beomgyu suddenly cries out, slamming his doors shut as he basically throws Yeonjun in. He’s a little agitated and rougher than he usually is. 

Yeonjun blinks at him and sits down when Beomgyu gestures for him to. 

He stares at him with wide eyes when Beomgyu lets out a breath with puffed cheeks and undoes the tie keeping his outer robe in place and throws it on the floor, not careful and neat that Yeonjun knows he is usually like. 

Yeonjun thinks he really shouldn’t be here so close to his heat hitting. But Beomgyu has made it clear Yeonjun doesn’t have a choice but to get his wound treated by the prince himself. Yeonjun is touched but also nervous. 

Jinah comes in with a tray full of jars of salves and other medical supplies, hurrying to put them on the ground beside where Beomgyu has sat in front of Yeonjun, frowning at him. 

“You should’ve been more careful,” Beomgyu scolds gently as he picks up a cloth, dips it in the bowl of water and dabs at the cut across Yeonjun’s cheekbone. The alpha must’ve struck him with a piece of shattered porcelain, but in the moment Yeonjun hadn’t felt it slice his skin open. 

“This is my job, my prince. I have to protect you.” Beomgyu’s frown deepens as he pulls the cloth away and dips his fingers into the salve before carefully patting it against Yeonjun’s wound. “You have to be okay for that reason, then.” Beomgyu mutters. “If you get hurt, who is going to protect me?” 

Yeonjun smiles at him, his hand catching the prince’s wrist when his fingers linger against his face. His touch is too warm, his heat sinking in fast. 

“I suppose you are right.” Yeonjun hums. “Thank you, my prince.” 

Yeonjun rises and sees how Beomgyu looks around his room before sighing. “Perhaps it is best if you left now, Aegis… I can feel it coming.” 

Yeonjun smiles again and feels the tight tug from the cut on his cheek. 

“I will see you later, my prince.” 

❀

Yeonjun does not see Beomgyu again before his heat hits. 

But Jinah comes knocking on his door, her stance determined as she demands him to scent some of his robes heavily and to pass them over. 

Yeonjun only hesitates for a moment before he bundles three of his robes and drenches them with the scent of rain and follows her back to stand at his post inside the entrance of the Jade Palace for the next few days. 

And when Yeonjun is given that same brew of tea that comes on his tray every morning—the same one he’s refused to drink so far—Yeonjun drinks it.

Chapter Text

Yeonjun stands at his post inside the entrance of the Jade Palace for the entirety of Beomgyu’s heat. 

It’s not particularly the most riveting thing he’s ever done in his life—both in Seoul and in Goryeo—but it is not to say that it is easy. 

In fact, it is quite far from that.  

Every time an attendant goes in to tend to the prince when he’s more placid, Yeonjun stiffens and tries his absolute best to take his mind somewhere else; to the thought of coffee, to the mournful realisation that the introduction of coffee to the korean peninsula that will happen in hundreds of years, the time of the japanese colonial period and the beginning of the end of Joseon that will come to be hundreds of years from now. 

Yeonjun gets a little dizzy when he thinks about that too long. That he knows what will come of the land and the empires surrounding the peninsula he has always called home, split in the future in Seoul and full now in Goryeo after the merging of the three kingdoms. 

But these things can only distract him for so long.

Each time the doors open, the scent of orange escapes, so strong and potent it makes Yeonjun’s mind cloudy, a haze of pheromones washing over him. The instinctual side of his alpha is urged to seek him out, to follow the scent of oranges. But Yeonjun digs his nails into his palms, nearly hard enough to cut through his skin to distract himself. To tether him down and keep himself in place, keeping level headed even so close to Beomgyu. 

There’s warmth into his scent, the air twinged with the distinct smell of an omega in heat—a sweet lingering musk. It's so thick in here, and Yeonjun shakes each time he walks back to his residence after changing shifts with another guard hired for this particular reason. (Yeonjun thinks he’s trustworthy. He hasn’t shown any reaction to Beomgyu and Yeonjun knows that the man is mated. In all honesty, Yeonjun thinks he is the safest bet. Not that yeonjun would let himself even try anything…) 

Yeonjun has asked for that particular tea in bulk. It sits in a bag tucked away in a corner. Yeonjun has made it a routine to down a whole teapot in the evenings and at least two cups in the morning. 

It is better than going in without any type of suppressants as weak as it is. Yeonjun is tempted to just take a handful of the dried leaves and munch it down hoping it’ll be stronger. Yeonjun was expecting to miss surpressants so much, but here he is; guarding a prince in heat as an unmated alpha who also has dreamt of this omega for fourteen years.

The tea tastes bitter and it leaves a dry, scratchy feeling in his mouth and lingering down his throat when he drinks it. and the aftertaste tastes like someone has thrown a handful of dirt down his throat.

But it’s for Beomgyu. Yeonjun has done a lot for him already and he knows this will not be the last thing he does for the omega prince. 

Through time, a new identity to protect him. Yeonjun is aware that he is rather devoted to Beomgyu, but there’s something so deep inside him, so primal and brought on every time he lays eyes upon him, or when his scent hits his nose. Something so intricate has tied their fate stings together. 

Red twine pulled tightly together, threads intertwining, tangling together, bringing both their strands of fate together. 

That’s the only way Yeonjun can formulate this. Otherwise, how can he explain the dreams and then finding himself here, in front of him and to save him from the fate that Yeonjun has seen, repeated over and over again? 

The doors to Beomgyu’s room burst open again and an attendant comes out, her eyes wide. Yeonjun gets flooded with the thickness of the warm orange air and then he hears it, the soft call of Beomgyu, a plea trying to reach his ears. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” he hears it, his name a muffled whisper, followed by a painful cry and then a whimper. 

Yeonjun’s head spins, his hands shaking and he takes a single step forward, every inch of his body wanting to run to his prince’s call. Yeonjun has to close his eyes, bite down on his tongue until the metallic tang of blood washes over his taste buds as he tries to ground himself—fight the call of his omega. 

Yeonjun turns to the door, his hand covering his nose and mouth, trying to block Beomgyu’s scent as he tries his best to keep his instincts down, even if every fibre of his being wants to retaliate, fight back and take him to Beomgyu. 

But Yeonjun has always had good control over his instincts (he hasn’t ever had this much trouble, but Yeonjun just thinks it’s because it’s Beomgyu. The prince he obsessed over, lost his sanity over and eventually scummed to that took him centuries away.) Yeonjun feels the burn of guilt build up in him. He doesn’t want to add to Beomgyu’s list of problems and things he has to deal with. 

Beomgyu isn’t his omega.

To him, Yeonjun doesn’t even have a chance with Beomgyu. He could speak of the fact he’s dreamed of him for so long, seen his future written out in blood before him in his dreams. Beomgyu has been his dreamscape, but that doesn’t change the fact that Yeonjun is his aegis. A man specifically hired to protect him everywhere he goes. His shadow. 

Yeonjun is not in the running with all the other alpha and beta’s from prestigious families—Yeonjun knows his family here in Goryeo that he has yet to come face-to-face with would fit into the criteria from what he’s heard from the king, but he isn’t. 

There’s a gap, an invisible bridge dividing them and forcing Yeonjun to accept that he will never be able to speak his heart to Beomgyu. He can’t get between him and his potential mates, no matter how much they both don’t like it. 

Yeonjun digs his nails harder into his hand, keeping one by his mouth until the doors shut again, masking Beomgyu’s whines and trapping the scent of orange away again. 

But Yeonjun still cannot breathe.

❀

Beomgyu’s heat lasts for four long days. It breaks in the middle of the night and the next morning Yeonjun goes to stand at his post, he’s greeted by Beomgyu stepping out of his room. 

Beomgyu spots him and smiles softly, gazing down at his feet before he begins to shuffle forwards. 

The scent of heat is gone, and Yeonjun knows that Beomgyu’s maids have probably worked hard all night to clean up after the past few days. 

The neckline of Beomgyu’s robes are low like they have been for the past few months after the king declared Beomgyu ready to be mated, but unlike the usual way the prince hides his neck and scent gland behind his thick hair, he wears it up. In a bun at the back of his skull, secured with that pin Yeonjun has seen behind a glass case, the same one he saw in Beomgyu’s hair the first time he saw the prince in the flesh. 

“Hello Aegis,” Beomgyu greets quietly. Yeonjun gives him a smile. “It is nice to see you again.” Yeonjun tells him which gains him a brighter smile from the prince. 

His scent is happier today, much more relaxed than it usually is. Yeonjun has an inkling that it might have something to do with the cancellation of the suitors' visits for the rest of the week. Yeonjun would also celebrate…

“Do you have lessons today, my prince?” Yeonjun asks him curiously. The prince shakes his head. “I have been called in the morning to visit my father. He called for me during pre-heat but my heat hit too quickly…” 

Yeonjun nods his head at the prince. He can’t help his suspicion at the king calling Beomgyu for whatever reason. Last time they had met, Beomgyu had begged to let him choose his own mate and that hadn’t gone particularly well. It’s clear the king has expectations for Beomgyu that conflict with Beomgyu’s own wants and desires. 

Beomgyu slides his hands down the pale blue silk he wears and then holds out his wrist after looking around and seeing none of his attendants. 

Yeonjun fights back his laugh at the prince trying to be inconspicuous about their little scenting sessions, but Yeonjun knows for a fact that all the attendants know. 

Not just because Beomgyu does carry some of his scent and they’re all accustomed to Yeonjun’s scent because he’s around so much, but because as soon as Beomgyu’s heat had hit, they came to him, ordered for him to give over his scent to soothe an edge of pain away from Beomgyu’s heat. 

Yeonjun supposes they’ve bonded a little bit from all the scenting. 

Beomgyu smiles happily at his wrist after Yeonjun pulls back after scenting him, and with a pleased hum, Beomgyu steps out of the Jade Palace. 

“Don’t you think it’s a beautiful day?” 

The sky is a bright blue, no cloud in sight and there’s a faint breeze that carries the smell of spring along in the air. 

“It is.” Yeonjun says with a hum. 

“The palace feels like winter,” Beomgyu says suddenly. There’s a soft frown between his brows and Yeonjun lifts a hand, wanting to smooth his thumb over his forehead and melt the frown away, but he catches himself and drops his arm back to his side. 

Yeonjun watches him carefully as they walk through the palace to get to the King’s residence where he is waiting for his omega son. 

“Cold and dreary,” Beomgyu sighs softly. “Bitter and dangerous.” He turns to look at Yeonjun. “Don’t you think so?” 

Yeonjun hasn’t really been here for long enough to truly know the depth of Beomgyu’s words, but he understands it. 

Like the cloak of winter, the palace is unforgiving, a tempest in its own might. It lacks the warmth that Yeonjun had grown up with. A blanket of security and love and affection. 

“I don’t like winter.” Beomgyu says quietly. “But I like spring. Summer and the beginning of autumn.” 

Beomgyu falls quiet again after that, sinking into his own thoughts as they walk together. It's a comfortable silence and the air isn’t thick with distress or uncertainty that Yeonjun feels from Beomgyu more often than not. That alone makes his heart clench in his chest. 

The king's residence is much larger than the Jade Palace. Easily thrice the size, but Beomgyu doesn’t bat an eyelid at it. Instead, Beomgyu turns and smiles at Yeonjun. 

“I don’t know what he is going to say,” Beomgyu says. “But you cannot react in front of him. You shouldn’t have done that in front of my grandfather… but even more so to my father.” 

Yeonjun’s lips tug into a grimace and the prince sighs, shaking his head. “You must promise me, Aegis Yeonjun.”

“Okay.” Yeonjun grumbles out. He knows he acted rash when Beomgyu’s grandfather had threatened Beomgyu, but Yeonjun just can’t help it… that instinctual burn to protect, protect, protect.

The same one that had filed him in Seoul, in his dreams when images and flashes of the Jade Prince painted across his eyelids—Yeonjun is still, in one way or another, pulled and controlled by this overwhelming desire to keep Beomgyu safe. 

Yeonjun thinks the king has chosen the right alpha to be his sons aegis. Yeonjun has been loyal to Beomgyu and Beomgyu alone from the very beginning. 

Beomgyu gives him a pointed look, one that holds the intent of a firm scolding later if Yeonjun does not live up to his promise. 

Yeonjun can hold himself back. These past few days have been a testimony to his self-control. 

Beomgyu turns back to the king's residence and heaves in a deep breath. He grabs onto his sleeves again, his fingers rubbing between the soft and smooth silk he wears. 

The prince takes a tentative step forwards, hesitant. And Yeonjun doesn’t really have to guess why. Yeonjun knows Beomgyu doesn’t get good news often and he knows that Beomgyu expects to be walking into something that might just shatter his jade walls again. 

But Yeonjun will be right behind him, ready to catch the pieces and build him back up. Meticulously, each piece and glued back together with molten gold. 

“I am here with you, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers out to him. And with his words, Beomgyu picks up his feet and walks right up to the door, his face calm and posture strong. The picture of royalty and grace.

Beomgyu steps into the palace, led by an attendant to a grand paper door. 

“Your Majesty,” the attendant calls out. His voice reverberates around in the hall and Yeonjun stands straighter, keeping his eye on Beomgyu. “The Jade Prince has arrived.” 

“Let him in.” A powerful voice responds. Strong and clear, someone that knows he is regarded as the most powerful man in the peninsula. Yeonjun sees how Beomgyu’s fingers curl tighter around his sleeves. 

Yeonjun wants to hold his hand, led him in and tell him that hell be around every step of the way. 

If this wasn’t Goryeo and if Yeonjun wasn’t his aegis, paid to protect the prince at all costs, maybe Yeonjun would do it. 

The doors open and Yeonjun sees the king sitting at a low table, two celadon tea cups set out before him. A side of rice cakes sits in a neat formation of a golden dish. 

“Beomgyu,” the king gestures with his hand for the prince to sit with him at the low table. Beomgyu walks in, his face bland as he strides in. 

Yeonjun settles to the side, standing and watching over both the royals. 

Beomgyu reaches for the tea pot and pours the fragrant liquid into the turquoise glazed pottery, silently offering it to his father. The king takes it, his eyes looking over Beomgyu with clear affection. 

The king does love his son. No one can really say that he doesn’t. He looks at him with clear fondness, but there’s something else fogged up in his eyes. A glint of pain, one of regret. 

The king’s judgement is clouded, Yeonjun thinks. Because Beomgyu is an omega. A prince that no one believes to be a true prince. It’s a backwards thought in Yeonjun’s opinion, but the times' attitudes are strong and unmoving. 

Beomgyu has his own list of duties, much different from all of his brothers. His brothers are alphas and betas, Beomgyu is not. The king had hoped for a strong alpha from his union with Beomgyu’s alpha mother. A son that could topple his older brothers in terms of power. And considering the maternal side of Beomgyu’s family, he would have made a wonderful crown prince. But only if he hadn’t been born an omega. 

The king cannot hide his feelings for his only omega child. 

The alpha takes a sip of the tea Beomgyu has poured for him and smiles softly at his son. 

“My dear Jade Prince,” he puts down the celadon tea cup that has been made by masters of the craft. Beomgyu smiles softly, the corners of his lips tugging up, but it doesn’t look quite genuine to Yeonjun. He’s seen him smile many times now, and right now, the prince looks nervous. 

“How do you like the suitors I have chosen for you? Do you find one particularly interesting?” The king asks, genuinely interested. 

Yeonjun could say he finds a number of them interesting. Not in a good way, however. 

“You have a keen eye, Father.” Beomgyu says and then closes his mouth, looking back at the lacquered table in front of them. “Beomgyu,” his father speaks out. “You must look at your father, don’t you think so?” 

“If you so wish.” Beomgyu replies and tilts his head up, looking right into his father’s eyes. Yeonjun sees how the king shifts backwards underneath the prince’s gaze. Something in Yeonjun hums with pride how Beomgyu can get such a reaction with just his eyes. 

These people do not realise Beomgyu’s true self. They do not know the power that simmers beneath his skin. Their eyes are clouded, refusing to see what’s in front of them and creating a false truth. Beomgyu is more than what they know. Stronger than what he pretends to be. But Yeonjun is not so ignorant and he sees Beomgyu for what he is. Bright and brave. Strong and much more capable than they’ll ever know. 

“I have a proposition for you, Jade Prince.” Yeonjun sees how Beomgyu’s mouth presses at the mention of his title. The king does not seem to notice, or pay attention. 

Beomgyu offers his father more tea, who accepts the offer with a nod of his head. 

“There are envoys from Yuan to arrive within the next two weeks.” He speaks as he lifts the cup to his mouth, savouring the scent before he takes a sip. 

Beomgyu puts the teapot down, not pouring himself a cup. Yeonjun stares ahead, like the shadow he is meant to be. Blind and deaf to everything but Beomgyu. 

“I would like you to be in charge of the greeting party.” Beomgyu blinks serval times, his brows furrowing together gently before he gives his father a look. One of surprise and disbelief that his father is offering him such a role. 

“But that is usually the Crown Prince’s task, is it not?” Beomgyu asks, fingers still curled around the teapot.

The king hums. “I have already talked to Yoon,” he says, taking another sip of the tea. “He had requested you take over for him instead.” 

Beomgyu’s frown deepens at that. “The Crown Prince… he asked for me?” Beomgyu seems baffled that his first brother would choose him over the rest of his brothers. The king hums, nodding. 

“You will represent us well, will you not? You are a good omega that knows how to charm and please.” Yeonjun’s skin crawls at the words the king speaks. Beomgyu frowns and nods his head softly. “Yes, Father.” He agrees in a quiet voice. 

“You will say good things about us and please the envoy party. I do not doubt that they will find you particularly lovely.” 

Beomgyu finally tears his grip away from the teapot and gives his father a nod of his head. 

“Then,” the king gives Beomgyu a smile, but his eyes are still twinged with pain, with longing. “I will leave it in your hands. I hope this will not prove too difficult for you. Make the Royal Family of Goryeo proud, dearest son. Do not let us down.” 

❀

Beomgyu lets out a shaky breath as he pours himself a cup of tea. His fingers shake as he picks up his teacup and the liquid inside it spills over the rim, dripping between the prince’s fingers, running over his knuckles. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun says, jostling Beomgyu out of his thoughts. The prince clutches the teacup tighter, suddenly with much more steady hands. 

“Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu looks at him. He sips at his tea and then places it back on his table, brows furrowed as he looks at him intensely. 

“Why would my first brother choose me? Over Jung hyungnim? Even Soobin hyungnim or Taehyun?” Beomgyu’s lips purse, his eyes turning sad all of a sudden. “I am an omega… do you think that the envoys will be happy to be greeted by an omega? To be put in my hands during their stay? Don’t you feel that it would seem… insulting?” 

“I don’t think so.” Yeonjun shakes his head. He puts his sword down on the ground next to him where he goes to sit in front of the prince. “I think you’ve been presented with a rather important job. Do you not think it is an honour that your brother has chosen you?” 

Beomgyu sips at his tea again, his frown smoothing out. “Perhaps this is a test, Aegis Yeonjun.” The prince says with suspicion. “It feels quite sudden. I have never been asked to do anything like this before.” 

Yeonjun does see his point. It does feel sudden and Yeonjun does see how this seems like a test… like a challenge. But it is also a chance. A chance for Beomgyu to take to prove himself to his family. 

“I think it is a good opportunity, my prince.” Yeonjun tells him. “It is a chance to prove how capable you are.” 

“You think so?” Beomgyu folds his hands over his lap, sighing softly. “I suppose it might prove that I’m not so useless.” Yeonjun’s stomach flips at his statement. 

Beomgyu looks at Yeonjun, determination burning across his face. “I shall begin planning for the perpetrations right away. Would you care to stay and share your opinions?” 

Yeonjun smiles at the prince, his pulse quickening at the sudden bright and sweet orange that fills his nose. “Of course, my prince. I will be with you every step of the way.” 

❀

Yeonjun watches Beomgyu descend down the steps of the Jade Palace, his hands moving through his hair, sweeping it over his shoulders and tugging on the blue silk jeogori before his hands smooth over the white chima he is wearing today. 

Beomgyu seems happy today. He emerges with a bright smile and his eyes are bright as his gaze lands on Yeonjun, dressed in navy blue and a tie of bright blue around his waist, a similar colour to Beomgyu’s jeogori. 

“Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu greets him with a smile, eyes shining in the sunlight. 

“You’re excited today, my prince.” Yeonjun comments with a laugh. The prince agrees with a nod of his head, still smiling and smelling like bright, fresh oranges. 

“I have not been outside of the palace walls for quite some time, Aegis Yeonjun. It is not often I have the opportunity to see the kingdom.” Yeonjun smiles back at him, but he feels a pang in his heart. 

The palace sounds more and more like a prison each passing day. Locked inside, danger lurking and dormant, cold and dreary; like winter. It’s just as Beomgyu has said. 

Yeonjun himself has never been outside of the palace since he arrived several months ago. The palace is extensive, large and Yeonjun has barely explored it all yet. There are many routes he has yet to take. 

And Yeonjun is supposed to be Beomgyu’s guard out in the capital, supposed to help him around, but Yeonjun is much, much, much more clueless than what Beomgyu is. 

This is not Seoul, after all. 

“It will be a long day.” Yeonjun tells him. He’s aware of this much. They need to survey the main streets to make sure it is presentable to the Yuan envoy party. 

Yeonjun pats the bag that dangles from the sash around his waist. The clunk of coins sounds out, muffled by the fabric it’s carried around in. “I have brought the essentials for our visit.” Yeonjun tells him with a smile. “Should we go now, my prince?” 

“I think so.” Beomgyu hums and steps right beside Yeonjun, close enough so their shoulders brush by each other’s. 

Several of Beomgyu’s attendants stand at the entrance of the Jade Palace, watching as their prince and his protector walk away, alone. 

Beomgyu slides his wrist next to Yeonjun’s as they walk, hidden by the long draping sleeves the prince wears, Yeonjun brushes his bare wrist against Beomgyu’s, scenting him quickly. 

Beomgyu lets out a sudden laugh, a happy sound that makes Yeonjun’s stomach flip and his heart flutter inside his chest. “You are good to me, Aegis Yeonjun.” The prince says, looking up into his eyes and giving him a smile. Just for him. 

Yeonjun likes Beomgyu like this. So different from his dreams and free from the cloud that perpetually hung over him, drowning him in sorrow. 

The guards bow to them as they exit the palace and Yeonjun blinks around at the bustling streets ahead. Beomgyu’s fingers grip onto Yeonjun’s sleeve as he goes to grip at his own sleeves, his nervous habit that Yeonjun has long since picked up on. But Beomgyu doesn’t let go of Yeonjun’s sleeve. Instead, he slips his hand up Yeonjun’s sleeve further, thin fingers wrapping around Yeonjun’s wrist. 

Yeonjun looks down at him, blinking softly. 

Beomgyu stares ahead, takes a heavy breath and then steps out of the passageway, into the sunlight and escaping the lingering winter that he was born into. 

Yeonjun walks alongside him, his eyes flickering all around them, on high alert. His hand stays on the hilt of his sword at all times as they walk closer to the bustling markets. 

Whereas the palace is quiet on most days—the type of quiet that gnaws and bites deep, drives one to paranoia and suffocation; the worst type of quiet there is—outside the guarded walls of the palace it is everything but. 

There are children chasing each other in the streets, squeals erupting from their throats, calls of parents and the mantra of stall owners drawing in customers, promoting their wares. 

The streets are colourful. People walking along the well-trodden dirt paths are dressed in an array of colours. Not as vibrant as the silk he and Beomgyu wear, but Yeonjun finds himself rather mesmerised from the look of everything. 

He hears the odd clucking of chickens, the barks of dogs and yells from people arguing nearby. It is bustling with life. 

Yeonjun peeks at Beomgyu’s face, finding him looking around with wide eyes, a faint smile on his face. 

“I think we shall hang more lanterns around the main path they will travel along. To light the streets up more. Colourful ones to fit with the people, what do you think, Aegis Yeonjun?” Yeonjun gives him a nod of his head, his lips pursing as he feels Beomgyu’s fingers drop from around his wrist. “I think that is a good idea, my prince.” 

Beomgyu looks up at Yeonjun then, a glint in his eye. He goes quiet for a moment as he stares at Yeonjun, blinking and frowning softly as if he is in deep thought. 

Yeonjun is suddenly nervous at the way the prince is staring at him. Unabashed and strong. “My prince…” Yeonjun calls out quietly, gulping. 

Beomgyu breathes in, his eyebrows softening. “We are outside of the palace today, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu says around a sudden smile. One that rivals the freshly bloomed flowers at the beginning of the springtime. 

“Yes…” Yeonjun agrees looking around. He peers back at Beomgyu who seems to be thinking again. The prince goes to open his mouth, but he then frowns, his smile falling as he tears his gaze away from Yeonjun’s face. 

“Never mind.” He says before he turns, the embroidered white silk of his skirt swishing as he moves. Yeonjun frowns at the figure of the prince, wondering what Beomgyu was going to say. 

He catches up with him quickly, a hand hovering at the small of the prince’s back, hesitating and burning to touch him. Beomgyu then takes a sudden step back as a child runs by with another close behind. Yeonjun’s hand meets his back and the prince looks up, head tilted and eyes blinking slowly as Yeonjun’s hand lingers, warmth seeping against his skin. 

The prince’s cheeks tinge with pink, the tips of his ears lighting up with heat. Yeonjun stares down at him, unsure if he should pull away like his mind is screaming at him. But another part of him refuses, wanting to stay like this. Then the prince smiles, a soft laugh escaping him. 

That makes Yeonjun pull away, his eyes wider than they typically are as he watches closely for the prince’s reaction. 

“You are a good aegis,” he tells him with a nod of his head. Yeonjun blinks at him as Beomgyu turns back and wanders over to a stall. Yeonjun shakes his head, breaking himself out of his stupor before following him again, settling right behind him, peering over his shoulder at the display Beomgyu is intently looking at. 

The prince is looking over a collection of norigae. He reaches out to touch one with a pink tassel and a knot shaped as a butterfly securing a bead of lacquered wood. “Beautiful work,” Beomgyu mutters and the woman behind the stall thanks him. “The craftsman does quite a good job, don’t you think so?” Beomgyu says to Yeonjun, peering over his shoulder to face Yeonjun. 

And they’re so close. 

Close enough so Yeonjun feels the soft puffs of air Beomgyu breathes out through his nose brush against his cheek, and so close the only thing he can smell is orange. 

“Yes, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers out, staring into Beomgyu’s eyes that have been hit with the sunshine. They shine bright like molten amber, and Yeonjun barely feels like he can breathe as Beomgyu stays so close. So within reach with those pretty petal lips. 

Beomgyu hums, nodding softly before he walks away again. 

“Hey,” Yeonjun grips onto Beomgyu’s azure sleeve as he walks away from him. “You shouldn’t be walking away from me.” 

Beomgyu arches a brow at him, a smirk appearing across his lips. He looks confident. 

“You have proved more than enough that you can protect me, Aegis. I trust you, did you not know that?” 

Yeonjun’s fingers slip from the grip he has on the blue silk. “You will protect me. You have vowed that much.” Beomgyu smiles again. 

“I must not fear as long as I have you around, right?” Beomgyu gives him a look, one that shows the raw trust he has for Yeonjun, and when he turns to continue looking at another stall, Yeonjun has to brace himself on the display table for the norigae. 

His breath feels like it has left him entirely. Left breathless and with his heart stammering in his chest, his eyes glued on Beomgyu’s figure. The prince is right. As long as Yeonjun is around, he will make sure Beomgyu does not know fear. 

Yeonjun gazes down at the norigae Beomgyu had touched and then looks at the woman behind the stall who is smiling, her eyebrows raised at him. 

“Do you do custom requests?” Yeonjun asks after he breathes in a long intake of air. The woman beams. 

“What would you like, Aegis?” Yeonjun clears his throat and points to the pink norigae. “This colour.” He says. “The same butterfly design, but something more… graceful and delicate. Plum blossoms.” Yeonjun looks at her. 

“Carved jade?” He asks quietly. Her eyes widen. “My, that would be expensive…” 

“I don’t mind the price,” Yeonjun says hurriedly. “I will pay whatever is asked. Is it able to be made?” 

“Of course it is,” the woman scoffs at him. “The wooden bead,” Yeonjun points at the same norigae. “If that could be a jade plum blossom.” 

“And I suppose you would like an empty scent satchel to fill yourself?” She gives him a look and Yeonjun feels his mouth go dry. His eyes flicker around to look at Beomgyu, finding him looking at a stall filled with different snacks. 

“Yes.” Yeonjun replies, his voice strong. “I would.” 

“Come back next week.” She tells him. “I will have it for you by then. Good luck.” She gives him a nod and Yeonjun walks away, puffing out air as he beelines right by Beomgyu’s side. 

“Oh, Aegis. Have you tried any of these snacks before?” Beomgyu asks him as he eyes the assortment. Yeonjun peers at all the treats. He has had some before, rice cakes and the honey biscuits, but never ones made in Goryeo. 

“Should we get some rice cakes?” Yeonjun asks him. Beomgyu nods, and shuffles over to the front of the stall. 

“Excuse me,” Beomgyu says to the beta who is staring at him. Yeonjun appears right beside him, several coins in the palm of his hand, eyes narrowed at the beta whose eyes are still fixed upon the prince. 

“A bag of rice cakes, please,” Yeonjun grunts out, putting his hand out with the coins in his palm. The beta blinks and something scratches in Yeonjun’s chest, something screams at him to pull Beomgyu away, cover him in more of his scent, put a claim on him so no one will dare to ogle at him as long as he’s around. Which is the majority of their days, really. 

The beta hurries to package a large amount of rice cakes into the paper bag before placing it in Yeonjun’s hand, taking the coins offered to him. 

Beomgyu whispers out his thanks and shuffles after Yeonjun, reaching into the bag as they walk, gripping a cake and taking a tiny nibble from the rounded edge. 

Yeonjun watches as his eyes light up and he smiles, taking another bite. “It’s sweet.” Beomgyu says to him. “I should ask my maids to ask the kitchen staff to make these. It would be nice with tea, don’t you think, Aegis?” 

“My prince,” Yeonjun gulps out. He’s suddenly aware of how strong Beomgyu’s scent is. An unmated omega of noble birth walking around with many other unmated people. Yeonjun now sees all the eyes on Beomgyu, how some people are sniffing at the air, intrigued and interested in Beomgyu’s scent. And Yeonjun doesn’t like it. It makes his stomach curdle, makes him uncomfortable for Beomgyu who seems to be oblivious to the amount of attention he really is receiving. 

“There are lots of people watching you.” Yeonjun tells him and Beomgyu arches a brow. “Oh?” 

“Your scent,” Yeonjun breathes in more air and feels like he can almost taste the orange. “It’s strong and people are aware you are an unmated omega right now.” 

“Oh,” Beomgyu says again. He then clears his throat and nods at Yeonjun. “Well then, I suppose we should do something about that, shouldn’t we, Aegis Yeonjun?” Beomgyu gives him a certain look, a tilt of his head, as if he’s waiting for Yeonjun to act when he hasn’t been exactly clear. 

He wants Yeonjun to read between the lines. He’s giving Yeonjun an indirect challenge of his own. Another step to being closer. Nonverbal communication, to tell what he is asking for by just the look he gives. It feels almost intimate… 

But Yeonjun understands what Beomgyu is asking of him. He understands it quite well, actually. 

It’s that same look Beomgyu gives him in the morning. When he thrusts out his bare wrist to Yeonjun to cover with the scent of rain. A silent plea, an invitation to scent him. 

Yeonjun feels something swirl in his stomach. It feels like that same instinctual desire that had started after he visited that mountain with his parents. The same mountain where he had died in Seoul, thousands of years from now. It still messes with his head a little. 

“Okay.” Yeonjun breathes out, nodding at the prince. “Come with me,” Yeonjun hold his free hand out for Beomgyu to take. The prince blinks and then slowly puts his hand into Yeonjun’s own. 

Yeonjun gives him a soft smile before he walks away, leading Beomgyu away from the busy streets and down an empty gap between a tavern and a paper shop. Colourful paper is on display outside and Yeonjun sees how Beomgyu looks at it with a certain gleam in his eyes. 

Yeonjun lets go of his hand and with a gulp, he hesitantly opens his arms. Beomgyu looks at him for a few seconds before he takes a step forwards, closer to being between Yeonjun’s arms. 

Another and then he is there, encased in Yeonjun’s warmth, chest against chest. Beomgyu’s hands slide slowly across the span of Yeonjun’s back. It sends tingles down Yeonjun’s spine, like a bolt of electricity zapping throughout his nervous system. 

Beomgyu rests his head on Yeonjun’s shoulder. It’s not just a hug and they both know that. When the scent of rain begins to hang around thickly, Beomgyu relaxes further in Yeonjun’s hold. And slowly, Yeonjun pulls away from the hug and gently moves Beomgyu’s silky hair out of the way and then swipes his wrist past Beomgyu’s scent gland, drenching him in the scent of rain. Putting a claim on him. 

It is not the first time they’ve put a claim one another. Beomgyu had done it months ago, in his haze of distress he had claimed Yeonjun over and over again, trying to make him his safe haven.

But Yeonjun had held himself back then, keep everything in and fought his inner self that wanted to soothe Beomgyu, bring him out of his omega space. But Yeonjun didn’t want to make a bond. Not then. 

Now? Yeonjun still knows he can’t. 

He is not meant to feel this way about Beomgyu. He was meant to be nothing more than a shadow. 

Yeonjun drops his hand and sniffs at the air. He smells rain. Rain and the faint scent of sweet orange. Not yet an omega with a claim from a alpha, but a protected one. The difference isn’t really that much, but it is enough for Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu gives him a smile and hums in content. “Is it up to your standards of protection now, Aegis Yeonjun?” His voice is almost teasing and Yeonjun feels a rush of heat to his cheeks. 

Yeonjun clears his throat and passes the paper bag filled with honey biscuits to Beomgyu. “We should continue on.” He says and Beomgyu laughs quietly before he agrees. 

People do leave Beomgyu alone after that. They stop staring and watching him, but Yeonjun still doesn’t leave his side. 

Beomgyu deems everything well a few hours later, exploring the main streets that the party will take. He decides the only thing it really needs are a few more decorations and more lanterns to light the streets up better. 

It’s well past lunchtime and Yeonjun is starving . 

Beomgyu stops in front of a busy tavern and then gives Yeonjun a look. “What is it, my prince?” Yeonjun asks him. Really, he just wants to get back and get something to eat. He should’ve had more breakfast…

“I have heard your stomach for the past two hours.” Beomgyu states and Yeonjun grimaces. “What do you think about eating here? Or shall we make the walk back to the Jade Palace?”

“A gukbap tavern?” Yeonjun asks. Yeonjun has not had gukbap since he’s ended up here and the thought of the warming bowl of soup and rice is quite tempting. But Yeonjun is also aware that gukbap was once considered peasant food. 

“My prince, have you ever had gukbap?” Yeonjun asks him, cocking his head at him. 

“Of course not.” Beomgyu answers. “I am a prince. I’ve never had this meal that the common folk enjoy.” Beomgyu gestures to a group of what look to Yeonjun like a gang of thugs loudly eating their bowls of gukbap. 

“I’m also quite hungry.” Beomgyu says. “No one here knows who I am. No one will try to poison me if you are worried, Aegis.” Yeonjun frowns. He had forgotten about that fact… poison was a common occurrence in these times. 

“Stop thinking so hard.” Beomgyu scolds him with a sigh. “Should we just go back…” 

“Do you really want to try it?” Yeonjun asks him. The prince responds with a soft shrug. “I am hungry.” He admits. “And it smells quite good.” 

“Okay.” Yeonjun agrees and then gestures for Beomgyu to walk through the open gate. 

There’s a free spot beside the group of thugs and Yeonjun is hesitant to go over. But Beomgyu walks right over and sits in front of the low table. Much less expensive looking than the one he and Yeonjun sit at in the Jade Palace. 

“Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu calls over. “Come sit.” Yeonjun trudges over, one hand on the hilt of his sword again. It stays there even when he sits, when he orders for the both of them and when it comes out to them. 

Beomgyu arches a brow at him, but he doesn’t say anything. 

The prince takes the wooden spoon and brings it up to his mouth. He takes a tiny sip of the broth and makes a soft, satisfied noise. 

“Good?” Yeonjun asks him before he takes a sip of the broth. It’s not as rich as what he’s had back in Seoul, but it is still good. The flavour is well balanced and there’s a sizeable amount of rice. 

“I like it.” Beomgyu responds with a nod, and this time, he takes a bigger bite. 

Yeonjun stares down at the bowl of steaming soup and memories of his life, his old life, come flooding back over him. 

Ramen at the convenience store, sat around the table in his home. His mothers kimchi jjigae. There’s a sudden pang in his heart and he feels his throat tighten. 

Yeonjun usually ponders at night, when he’s alone and tucked under his blankets. He thinks about his parents and all the things he misses in his time. He misses a lot of things. 

He thinks and he thinks. Wondering what will happen if—when—he saves Beomgyu. Would he go back? Would this all become one of his dreams? Would his memory of Beomgyu fade?

But Yeonjun also knows that he can’t go back. The Choi Yeonjun that lived in Seoul is dead. 

Yeonjun tears his gaze away from the steaming bowl and looks at the passing people in the street, carrying on with their lives. 

“Aegis?” Beomgyu’s voice is gentle. Yeonjun turns to look at him and blinks away the wetness in his eyes. 

“Are you okay?” The prince asks and Yeonjun then sees the concern swimming in Beomgyu’s eyes. “I’m fine.” Yeonjun nods and then smiles to try to make it more believable. “I was just thinking, that’s all.” 

“Oh.” Beomgyu says quietly. 

Yeonjun knows that he should let go. That it might make it easier when he’s alone at night and that heavy silence of the palace hangs over him. But it’s a process like a lot of other things in life. Some nights are better than others, and naturally, some nights are worse. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu says quietly after they’ve finished their meal together and are walking back to the palace. The sun is beginning to set, the sky a vibrant orange and a dusky pink. 

Yeonjun looks at him and gives him a gentle smile to show he’s listening. “I haven’t given you the robes my attendants…” Beomgyu pauses and in the soft light, Yeonjun sees the blood rushing to Beomgyu’s cheeks. “I should give them back, shouldn’t I?” 

“If you want, my prince.” Yeonjun tells him, fighting his smile down. Beomgyu can be so cute. “But don’t you like my scent, my prince?” It is a bold move on Yeonjun’s part and the prince’s cheeks burn brighter. 

Beomgyu puts his hands over his cheeks, giving Yeonjun a wide eyed look as he tries to cool down his burning cheeks. 

“Well…” Beomgyu clears his throat as they stop at the gates of the palace. Yeonjun shows them the tablet that he received this morning from Beomgyu’s attendants and they’re let back inside. 

“They don’t really smell like you again…” Beomgyu admits quietly. Yeonjun arches a brow at him and Beomgyu splutters. “They’ve been washed, Aegis Yeonjun!” 

“I wasn’t thinking anything!” Yeonjun defends and Beomgyu lets out a nearly pitiful sound of embarrassment. 

“Good!” Beomgyu huffs back and clears his throat, speeding up and making a beeline back to the Jade Palace. 

Beomgyu does give him back the robes Yeonjun gave up to Beomgyu’s omega attendant. 

They smell like orange. As if Beomgyu has scented them over and over again, and Yeonjun knows from experience that Beomgyu’s scent does not wash out so easily. 

And tonight Yeonjun sleeps soundly. Surrounded by the scent of orange. 

❀

Yeonjun returns to the shop exactly a week later. 

The woman recognises him walking up, and her eyes light up as he reaches for a silk pouch. She clutches it in here hand, a wide smile across her face as Yeonjun approaches. 

“You are a punctual alpha, Aegis.” She comments as Yeonjun arrives. His coin pouch is heavy today, filled with a hefty sum of coins. The woman had said it would be expensive after all. 

Not that Yeonjun really minds. He gets most things he needs from his position as the Jade Prince’s Aegis. And it’s for Beomgyu. That’s enough reasoning for Yeonjun. 

Beomgyu is currently in his chambers with his attendants picking outfits to wear for the time the Yuan envoys are staying. Beomgyu is doing everything he can to gain the approval of not just his father, but his brothers and everyone else that has sneered upon him. 

Yeonjun is proud of him. 

“You had said a week.” Yeonjun shrugs. “And here I am.” 

The woman clicks her tongue and lets out a short laugh. 

“It is a thoughtful gift.” She says as she opens the silk pouch and pulls the norigae out. Yeonjun blinks at it, his eyes scanning over the delicately carved jade, shaped as a blooming plum blossom. 

“The scent pouch carries a scent for quite some time.” She says, tapping the middle of the butterfly knot. “You will not have to scent it for a while after you do. It can hold quite a thick scent, too.” She gently puts it back into its silk pouch and gives him a smile. 

“I think your omega will be quite thrilled with his gift. You have a keen eye, Aegis.” Yeonjun gives her a tight-lipped smile in return. 

Yeonjun feels that tight feeling in his chest again. The beating of his heart, loud and faster. Yeonjun knows that this gift is rather… well, Beomgyu could take it in a numerous amount of ways. Each with its own meaning, its own intent. Yeonjun understands this well. 

He knows that this is overstepping that fine line of just being the prince’s Aegis to, well, something more. What exactly, Yeonjun isn’t sure. 

The king had once said to his face that he didn’t seem like the type to get involved personally, but the king had been wrong since the very words came out of his mouth. 

Fourteen years. That is how long Yeonjun has been involved personally, unknown to everyone but himself. 

Maybe past Yeonjun, the man who he used to be in this time, maybe he was like that. A man that could stop feelings from growing. But Yeonjun’s feelings had already been growing ever since he began to dream of Beomgyu. 

Yeonjun hands over the money and clutches the silk pouch close to his chest, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he peers into the bag, staring at the empty scent pouch. 

He reaches one hand in, takes the norigae out and tucks it in his robes, sheltered by his heart, surrounded by the scent of rain. 

❀

Jinah, Beomgyu’s young omega attendant, comes knocking and calling out his name in the early morning a few days later. 

Yeonjun’s jeogri is still untied, leaving his chest bare when he hurries to open his door, eyes wide. 

“Is the prince okay?” He hurries out and a squeak comes out Jinah. She closes her eyes, turning away from him. 

“Aegis! You are improper!” 

“Is the prince okay?” Yeonjun asks again as his fingers tug at the strings of his jeogori. Yeonjun doesn’t really care that she is scandalised over seeing his chest after she’s come at daybreak in an obvious hurry. 

She nods her head and Yeonjun feels the fizzle of panic die out in his gut. 

“We have received word that the party is to arrive before noon today! The prince has asked for you, he is rather frantic, Aegis.” 

Yeonjun quickly ties up his underclothes and then throws on his outer robe, already walking out of the door, his sword in his hand as he ties up his outer black silk robe. 

“Aegis!” She calls after him, probably to complain that he hasn’t tied his hair up for the day. 

Yeonjun couldn’t care less about such trivial things at the moment, really. 

He storms up the steps to the Jade Palace and walks right in, taking himself to Beomgyu’s room, not waiting for the prince’s attendants to lead him in. 

“My prince.” Yeonjun calls out through the paper door. Behind it, he can hear people shuffling around and Beomgyu’s scent of orange and jasmine is twinged with nervousness.  

He hears footsteps and then suddenly the doors are slid open and a rather frantic looking Beomgyu is staring at him. 

His hair is unbound, free from any hair pins and he is only dressed in his under shift. The attendants around him all simultaneously freak out that the aegis is seeing the Jade Prince in such a state of undress. Yeonjun finds it rather humorous as a man from the 21st century… Yeonjun has seen much worse in his day-to-day life in the modern times. 

“Aegis!” One of them squawks out, but then Beomgyu frowns and turns to all his attendants. 

“Leave us.” He speaks out and Yeonjun feels a jolt of surprise through him. The attendants mirror his reaction, looking at the omega prince like he’s gone mad. 

Beomgyu gives them a look and the attendants all look between each other before hurrying out of the prince’s room. Beomgyu pulls Yeonjun inside and slams the doors shut behind him. 

“The envoy party is predicted to arrive in the late morning.” Beomgyu tells him as he walks further into his room. “They have moved quickly, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

“And you’re nervous.” Yeonjun says as he finally gets his sword by his hip after his hurry of arriving here. 

Beomgyu peers over his shoulder at him, tight-lipped. “Is it so obvious?” He asks quietly. 

Yeonjun gives him a small smile. “You have never been quite good at hiding your feelings from me, my prince.” Beomgyu blinks at him before his face softens. 

“Then it is a good thing,” the prince says. “That you are my aegis, isn’t it?” Yeonjun laughs  softly, nodding his head with a hum. 

Beomgyu turns to a wooden rack where several outer robes are hung up. Different colour tops and skirts all with different embroidery are on display. Yeonjun sees Beomgyu eyeing them all, a soft frown between his brows. 

“You’re thinking quite hard about this all, aren’t you, my prince?” Yeonjun comes closer, standing next to Beomgyu to inspect the line up of robes. 

“It is an important occasion. It’s not everyday my father and my first brother decide I should be in charge of something.” Beomgyu turns to look at him with bright eyes. Full of mirth and hope; determined to show them that he can do this, and that he can do it well. 

“I want to do my best, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu tells him quietly. “I want to be more than just the Omega Prince of Goryeo. The prince that has been hidden for so long.” 

“You want to be the Jade Prince.” Yeonjun states and Beomgyu turns his gaze to him, his lips stretching in a smile. “It is not everyday that I wish to wield that title I was given,” Beomgyu admits. “But I think this is a time where it would be in my best interest to embrace it, don’t you think so, Aegis Yeonjun?” 

Yeonjun smiles broadly. Beomgyu has been asking an awful a lot about his opinion on many topics over the past few weeks. It still touches him to know that he cares and wants Yeonjun’s input. His praise. 

“You will be a wonderful host.” Yeonjun tells him wholeheartedly. “And as the Jade Prince, you are strong and graceful, my prince. Someone to be respected… right?” 

Beomgyu smiles up at him, his eyes full of mirth. “Should I wear the jade coloured robes, perhaps? Does that send a small message?” 

“I think it definitely would, my prince.” 

Yeonjun reaches out for the jade green chima and takes it from the rack, holding it out to Beomgyu. Golden butterflies are embroidered at the bottom of the skirt, looking like they are flying up the fabric until they disappear completely. 

“Oh?” Beomgyu says as he takes the chima in his hands. “I wasn’t aware you had an eye for fashion, Aegis Yeonjun.” He teases lightly and Yeonjun scoffs quietly. “I am dressed to always be your shadow, my prince.” He reminds softly. “But that does not mean I cannot appreciate the beauty of your hanboks.”

Beomgyu’s ears turn pink, but he agrees with a nod. 

“Right…” 

Yeonjun pulls out a top with long white sleeves. 

He stares at it for some time before he puts it back, tearing his gaze away from the transparent sleeves and top half of the jeogori. 

Beomgyu reaches out this time, pulling out a soft pink coloured piece. Gold butterflies around the hems of the sleeves and the tie made from white silk. 

Beomgyu looks up at Yeonjun, seeking input from him no doubt. “It is a good choice.” Yeonjun tells him and Beomgyu smiles. “I have a hair pin that will match well. Do you think it would be too much?”

“Of course not.” Yeonjun shakes his head. “You’ll look beautiful, my prince.” Beomgyu’s mouth parts and his cheeks sprinkle with pink once more. Yeonjun feels his heart tense in his chest, his blood singing beneath his skin at the prince’s reaction. 

“Should I call the attendants back in?” Yeonjun asks him after a few moments of just staring at each other. The air is beginning to feel slightly thicker around them. Yeonjun gulps and his hands feel hot suddenly at the way Beomgyu is looking at him. 

As if he’s trying to read him, but can’t quite work out the swirls of ink that Yeonjun is written in. 

“No.” Beomgyu tells him. Strong and sturdy, clear that he really doesn’t want them to come back in. 

Yeonjun knows they’ve gotten quite close. He would even go as far to say that they’re friends, and that they have been for quite some time. 

Beomgyu has allowed him in, kicked all of his attendants out all while being in a state of undress. And making it clear he doesn’t want them back in. Yeonjun is not so sure what Beomgyu’s intentions are… and what he really wants right now. 

Beomgyu thrusts his hand out, the one holding onto the pink jeogori. Yeonjun takes it into his hands, still watching him as Beomgyu slips into the green skirt and ties it around his waist, securing it around his body. 

He looks up at Yeonjun, his hands sliding over the thin cotton shift he’s wearing. The weather is still mild, not too warm to the point the shifts become uncomfortable and pointless. 

“Aegis.” Beomgyu calls out and Yeonjun blinks at the prince, seeing how his arms are outstretched as if he’s waiting for Yeonjun to slide his jeogori on for him. 

Yeonjun feels his blood sing again. His stomach fills with the fluttering of butterflies and his inner alpha preens at the blatant domestic nature of this all. It feels intimate, a new opening of trust. 

Yeonjun gulps and steps forwards and slips one sleeve up Beomgyu’s arm. Beomgyu stares up at him, and Yeonjun can feel his breath again. Warm and sweet like he’s just drank a bowl of warm honey water. Beomgyu’s gaze makes Yeonjun feel warm and hyper aware of just how close they are. 

If anyone were to walk in now, they would definitely think there is something going on between them. But Yeonjun isn’t so sure if there is. He doesn’t really know what their relationship is. Where it’s lingering on. 

It’s complicated. 

Beomgyu slips his other arm through the sleeve, still looking at Yeonjun. But he’s trying to focus on making the jeogori sit neatly. 

Yeonjun takes a step back as soon as it’s sat upon Beomgyu’s shoulders and only then does he reach out and tie it up into a delicate bow. 

Beomgyu catches his wrist as Yeonjun goes to pull away, and as he stares up into Yeonjun’s eyes, he smiles so brightly as he presses their wrists together, waiting for the scent of rain to wash over him. 

And Yeonjun does just that. 

❀

Beomgyu stands tall outside of the palace. 

Yeonjun is standing right behind him, his hand on the hilt of his sword. 

Beomgyu turns to the second prince who is standing next to him. 

“Hwi hyungnim, I apologise if you expected Yoon hyungnim to choose you to be the host of the envoy party…”

The second prince looks at his younger brother and flashes him a fond smile, one that shows no ill intent, but rather warmth and what Yeonjun believes to be pride. Hwi pats his younger brother on his shoulder, shaking his head. 

“Yoon hyungnim had talked to me before he went to father, Beomgyu.” He tells the omega prince. “We both thought you deserved to have an opportunity. Father listened to the both of us.” 

Beomgyu smiles back at him, something Yeonjun does not see him do often around his brothers. Then again, Yoon and Hwi sound like very different to Jung and their brothers that follow him around. Yeonjun remembers how fond the crown prince seemed of Beomgyu at the omega’s birthday banquet. 

Of course, he also has Soobin and Taehyun, both very much fond of their brother. Yeonjun is just glad that Beomgyu seems to have two more allies in this cold palace. 

“Thank you, Hwi hyungnim…” Beomgyu tells him softly. “I am glad you are here.” 

Hwi lets out a laugh and pats his brother's shoulder once more. “As am I, baby brother.” Yeonjun fights his own smile from behind both the princes. 

Then the comfortable silence that falls around then disappears as the envoy party appears in the horizon, coming through the main street that leads directly to the fortified palace. 

Yeonjun sees how Beomgyu grips at his sleeves again and this time, Yeonjun reaches out. Slowly and quietly, unseen by the other guards around them and the rest of the greeting party. 

Yeonjun taps at his fingers softly and from his position, he sees the prince blink before a certain tension in his shoulders ease. Yeonjun hopes Beomgyu understands the meaning behind the touch. 

I am here. 

Yeonjun retracts his hand as the envoy party draws closer. 

He sees how Beomgyu stands strong and regal, ready to do his duties he has been given by his oldest brothers. 

The party is large, but Yeonjun didn’t expect it to be small. He knows the Yuan empire was strong in its prime, although the exact dates for the empire's strongest points are lost on him. 

There are several people on horseback riding at the very front. Guards flank them and in the middle rows and rows of attendants carry the Yuan empire’s flag as they parade through the street. At the very back, Yeonjun spots more horses, this time without riders but they are pulling along trunks and trunks. Gifts for the king, no doubt. 

Beomgyu and Hwi take a step forwards together, and instinctively, Yeonjun steps forwards as well. No one tells him to stand down, so he stays where he is. Close to Beomgyu. 

“Welcome,” Beomgyu calls out in a strong voice. It’s clear and loud, but it is hollow once more. His facade is back up, Yeonjun realises. 

The Jade Prince has returned. 

Hwi speaks out in the Yuan tongue, presumably translating what Beomgyu has said. 

The horses stop a few meters in front of the princes. The man at the very front is an alpha, his scent is strong and he’s letting it out without a tether. Yeonjun watches Beomgyu, but the prince doesn’t react. He’s sunk right back into that casing that protects him, the prince that barely shows a reaction. That is until he’s left alone with Yeonjun or by himself. 

The alpha is much younger than Yeonjun was expecting the foreign affairs minister to be. He looks barely older than himself. And what comes with a young man in a powerful seat comes the disease of narcissism. Yeonjun can see it from here. He’s already on alert. 

“I hope your journey was smooth.” Beomgyu says. “I am sure you would like to rest after your travels?” 

Hwi translates back to them and he gets a gruff answer from the minister dressed in deep red silk. 

Hwi gives Beomgyu a nod just as the party on horseback dismount. Some attendants hurry forth to take the reins and hold onto the horses while the officials of the envoy party step closer to the princes. 

“The Jade Prince is greeting us himself.” The alpha speaks as he saunters up to the omega prince. Beomgyu looks at him. He’s just taller than Beomgyu, a similar height to Yeonjun. 

“You can speak our language.” Beomgyu gives him a quick smile, but Yeonjun notices it to be a forced one. “Of course, dear Jade Prince.” The alpha steps closer to Beomgyu, into his personal space and Yeonjun shuffles forwards, but Hwi puts a discrete arm out to stop him. Yeonjun takes the beta’s advice and keeps where he is. 

“The rumours of your beauty have even reached our lands. The King of Goryeo calls you his most precious jewel.” A fire burns deep in Yeonjun’s stomach when the alpha reaches out and brushes Beomgyu’s cheek with his thumb. He tightens his grip around the hilt of his sword, his jaw clenching. 

There’s a glint in the alpha’s eye that twists Yeonjun’s stomach. Beomgyu gently leans away from his touch and gives him a fake, sweet smile. The alpha puts his hand back by his side and hums. 

“I must say,” he gazes over Beomgyu, from the hem of his skirt to his eyes. “You are quite the jewel, aren’t you?” 

“Thank you.” Beomgyu gives him another soft smile. “Shall I lead you to your quarters? I suppose you would like to rest.” 

The alpha looks around the crowd, finally taking his eyes off Beomgyu. He spots Yeonjun and he quirks an eyebrow before looking away, uninterested. 

Hwi gestures for the alpha to follow. Beomgyu settles beside his brother, Yeonjun right behind him as the minister gestures for the rest of his important party members to follow him. 

Yeonjun looks at Beomgyu’s hands and sees his hands clasped at his middle as he walks, fingers still and not fidgeting like he expected to see. 

When they arrive, the attendants hurry to open the doors and Beomgyu stops at the door, gesturing for the young minister to enter first. 

“We hope everything is comfortable and enjoyable.” The omega prince says, following the alpha inside. Yeonjun sticks right behind him. “I hope everything is up to par for you during your stay.” Beomgyu gives him a small bow and looks at the minister. 

He looks around the decorated room and makes a mere shrug of his shoulders. 

The alpha turns back to them, his eyes lingering on Beomgyu again. “You are to be the host of our visit, are you not, Jade Prince?” 

Beomgyu smiles once more and nods his head. “I hope you find my company suitable.” 

“Oh, you must not worry if I will find you enjoyable. I think we all think that the Jade Prince’s company is well sought after. I am sure I will enjoy myself.” Yeonjun doesn’t like the tone of his voice or the implication of his words. 

His eyes then turn to Yeonjun, still right behind Beomgyu—his shadow. 

“And who are you?” He grimaces at Yeonjun, his eyes flicking between him and Beomgyu. 

“He is my aegis.” Beomgyu answers for him. “He will be accompanying us as well.” 

The minister frowns and doesn’t seem to like the sound of Yeonjun lingering around. Too bad for him. His whole existence here in Goryeo is to protect Beomgyu. 

He turns and takes a seat at the table in the middle of the room. 

“Leave me.” He then says, not even looking at either of the princes, a bold and unmannerly move. 

“I must rest before the banquet tonight.” 

Beomgyu blinks but hums in agreement. “I am looking forward to it.” He says before he walks out of the door. 

Yeonjun gives Beomgyu a look when the prince turns to face him. “I think you deserve a rest.” Yeonjun grunts out and Beomgyu sighs. “I think a rest would be in both our best interests…” he turns his gaze to Hwi. 

“Hwi hyungnim, I am returning to the Jade Palace with Aegis Yeonjun. Thank you for everything.” Beomgyu bows at him and Hwi laughs at him. “You do not need to bow, dearest brother.” He shakes his head softly, that fond smile back on his face. “You have done well today. I will be sure to tell father about all your efforts.” 

Hwi then looks over at Yeonjun. He gives him a smile. “And you too, Aegis. You did well protecting my baby brother. Father was right to employ you.” Yeonjun bows at the second prince. 

“Go rest up. I will see you at the banquet.” Hwi tells them. 

“I don’t like the minister.” Yeonjun says as they’re alone and walking back to the Jade Palace together. “No.” Beomgyu agrees, his brows knitting together. “He seems like a man set in his ways.” 

“He looks at you weird.” Yeonjun mutters and Beomgyu looks at him and then sighs. “Aegis Yeonjun… I know that I am a prince and you think people should treat me differently, but I am still an omega.” 

“It is improper and disgraceful to touch an omega without their consent.” Yeonjun tells him. “Don’t stand there and take it, my prince. You deserve better than that.” 

“You keep saying that, Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu frowns softly. “But sometimes I think you are the only one that believes that.” 

“And do you, my prince?” Yeonjun says. He stops and looks at the omega prince. Beomgyu peers up at him, that same look he gave him in his chambers burning in his eyes again. 

“You make me want to.” He answers softly, his eyes staring right into Yeonjun’s. His cheeks are pink as he lets the words out. 

Yeonjun stands there, still as he watches Beomgyu turn and take the steps up to the Jade Palace. 

Yeonjun is about to turn back to his own residence, pick up the silk pouch that he left neatly by his folded bedding, but then he sees Soobin and Taehyun both trailing up the stairs. 

Yeonjun frowns as he watches the two princes enter the Jade Palace. 

He returns to his room instead and picks up the norigae, and this time, he picks it up and lets out his pheromones, soaking the scent pouch with his scent of petrichor. 

❀

Yeonjun is called back to the Jade Palace later that day. The sun has set in the sky now and the weather is much cooler than it had been when the sun was hanging in the sky. 

This time Beomgyu greets him in nothing but his thin, white shift. His attendants open the door this time and Yeonjun walks in to see Jinah tugging a carved jade hair pin into Beomgyu’s hair, keeping the long locks out of his face. 

He’s dressed in a pale white skirt, gold trimming the hems and plum blossoms painted onto the silk. His top is a plum pink, the tie at his chest a soft purple. 

“Aegis Yeonjun.” Beomgyu says with a smile. 

“You may leave us.” He tells his attendants. They don’t try to protest this time and leave quickly, closing the doors shut behind him. 

“Pink suits you, my prince.” 

“You are full of compliments.” Beomgyu tells him. “Aren’t you?”

“Why would I not be?” Yeonjun muses and Beomgyu smiles at him, his eyes shining. Yeonjun’s heart is happy to see him so free spirited lately. Yeonjun wants to give him more happiness. 

“Banquets are always a long night.” Beomgyu says as fiddles with the the placement of his hair over his shoulders. “Have you eaten well, Aegis Yeonjun?” 

“I have.” Yeonjun nods and Beomgyu sighs in response. “I feel like it is not fair that I eat all the dishes served at the banquet and you stand without trying any.” 

“You could always stuff some in a bag for later.” Yeonjun jokes with him and Beomgyu sighs, giving him a look. “It is okay, my prince. I don’t care if you eat and I don’t. I’m there to protect you. I can’t be distracted by all the dishes, can’t I?” 

“I suppose…” Beomgyu whispers. 

“I hope I can please father tonight. I am… apprehensive about the foreign affairs minister. He does not seem so well behaved.” 

“I think your suspicions would be correct.” Yeonjun says with a sigh. “But his behaviour is not your responsibility, my prince. Don’t worry so much over it.” 

Beomgyu offers Yeonjun a small smile and then, wordlessly, just like he typically does, he pulls up his sleeve and holds his bare wrist out in front of Yeonjun. The prince looks into Yeonjun’s eyes as he rubs their bare wrists together, transferring his scent onto Beomgyu’s skin. 

“My prince,” Yeonjun says quietly as he tugs his hand back. The prince looks at him, head tilted to the side and his lips curved in a gentle smile. 

“I… I have something to give you.” Beomgyu suddenly perks up a bit. He blinks before peering at Yeonjun with slightly narrowed eyes. “A… gift?” He asks quietly and Yeonjun hums, nodding. 

“Oh…” the prince says and he gulps. 

Yeonjun takes the slip pouch from the inside of his inner robe and holds it out for Beomgyu to take. 

Beomgyu looks at him curiously before he gently tugs open the silk pouch with delicate fingers. 

When he pulls out the norigae, his eyes flash to Yeonjun’s face, his eyes wide and a soft smile on his face. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” he says. “Is this not the work of the lady in the town we stopped at…?”

“You seemed to like them.” Yeonjun tells him. “I asked her… to make one that I thought you would like.” 

“Oh, Aegis,” Beomgyu breathes out. He hangs the norigae from two fingers and watches as it sways gently. Yeonjun notices the moment Beomgyu catches the scent of his pheromones emitting from the scent pouch. His eyes dilate slightly and his gaze darts back to the alpha that smells like summer rain. 

“I love it.” Beomgyu replies before he ties it onto his jeogori, smiling at his gift. “It is a very thoughtful gift, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

“I’m glad you like it, my prince.” 

And Yeonjun does not brush over the fact that every other gift Beomgyu has ever received lately he has disregarded without a second glance. But here he is, beaming and wearing the gift Yeonjun got him. And unlike any of the other suitors gifts, this time it carries a scent. 

❀

The banquet is loud and full of life. 

With endless wine to be poured from large clay pots, most of the guests are red-faced and louder than usual.

Beomgyu is seated below his brothers, his table perched higher than the stuck-up foreign affairs minister. Yeonjun is quite pleased that his table is lower than Beomgyu’s and not in the lines that the princes sit in, showing the difference in their rank. It’s not much higher, but it is and that is what matters. Details like this are important in this time Yeonjun has come to realise. 

Yeonjun has seen first hand how the other princes and even palace staff look at Beomgyu. With scrutiny and as if he’s less than his other brothers. But now, Yeonjun has noticed that no one has questioned Beomgyu hosting the envoys. 

Beomgyu turns to him, eyes sparkling as he looks up at him. The warm light from the colourful lanterns hung around the pavilion casts a faint glow around him and Yeonjun stares back down at him, enthralled. 

Beomgyu turns back after he smiles and Yeonjun keeps his eyes on him, his stomach twisting and his pulse thumping in his veins. 

The prince picks up his teacup and takes a sip as his eyes linger on the group of omegas dancing in the middle of the pavilion to a delicate strum of music. 

“Isn’t it beautiful, Aegis Yeonjun?” Beomgyu asks quietly and Yeonjun smiles softly. “Yes.” He replies. “It really is, my prince.” 

“I would think tonight has gone well so far.” Beomgyu takes another sip of his tea, eyes still on the omegas dancing with swirling skirts and veils covering the lower halves of their faces. “It’s a pleasant night.” 

Beomgyu claps his hands when the dance ends. Yeonjun watches as he drops his hands back down, one hand grasping at the norigae, a pleasant smile across his face as he breathes in. 

Yeonjun’s lips twitch into a grin. The tension in his body soothes out at seeing Beomgyu so relaxed and looking as if he’s genuinely enjoying the banquet. Yeonjun can smell his scent, orange and blooming jasmine bright and happy, not the subdued scent he usually has around others. Yeonjun likes it. 

But Yeonjun takes his job of protecting Beomgyu seriously and when he sees movement in front of Beomgyu’s table. 

With the group of attendants serving more wine and food to the guests of the banquet, Yeonjun sees an offical moving over to the envoys tables, stopping beside the minister of foreign affairs. The young alpha looks at him, that sly grin plastered on his face that Yeonjun has seen serval times tonight already. 

One that means trouble. 

Yeonjun hears them speaking over the bustling crowd and the faint music filling the square. 

“My Lord,” the man dressed in a blue silk robe, some lower ranking man in the king’s court of officials. Yeonjun frowns as Beomgyu turns to give him a look, also noticing the interaction in front of them. It’s clear to Yeonjun that Beomgyu also doesn’t quite trust the young minister. But after this morning’s clear spectacle of his behaviour—or rather, lack thereof, Yeonjun thinks it is warranted to have some suspicions about the alpha. 

Yeonjun gives him a nod, signalling that he’ll be on the lookout and keep an eye and an ear open on them both. Beomgyu hums back, a nod of his head as he turns back, watching them too. 

Yeonjun moves closer to Beomgyu, to his side rather than behind him. Yeonjun has a clearer look of the prince’s face and both men off to the side. Beomgyu flashes him another look and Yeonjun tries to offer him a smile. Beomgyu takes another sip of his tea, the celadon clinking against the jade rings he wears on his fingers. 

“These omegas have been trained in one of the best gisaeng houses in the kingdom.” Yeonjun’s eyebrows knit together slightly at the man's words. He can only guess where this is going. 

“Go ahead,” the man urges, gesturing out at the omegas bowing after their performance. “Choose your favourite one and I will be sure to deliver them to you tonight.” Yeonjun takes a step forward, but Beomgyu stops him with a hand on his chest. 

He looks up into his eyes, eyebrows knitted together and his lips parted. The prince gives a soft shake of his head. “Stand down, Aegis Yeonjun…” Beomgyu whispers. 

“I hear that the omegas sent as offerings are quite adorned. I hear they are good at what they do! The omega that will serve you tonight will be quite lucky, do you not think so?” The man dressed in blue laughs, gazing over at the group of omegas leaving the stage in the centre of the pavilion. 

Yeonjun still doesn’t understand the inside of the palace politics. The time is still unknown and even though each passing day in Goryeo Yeonjun learns more about the power dynamics and things he should and shouldn’t do, sometimes it is hard to ignore the things he is supposed to not get involved in. 

He knows that as much as he wants to get involved, this man is important to the relationship between the Yuan Empire and Goryeo. 

He looks into Beomgyu’s eyes, finds them still wide and pleading for him to stay put. He nods his head once. “Yes,” he answers. “Okay, my prince.” 

Beomgyu’s hand slowly falls from his chest and then grips at his norigae, his thumb pressing hard against the jade blossom. His other hand is fisted on his lap, rings digging into his fingers and turning his skin white from his tight grip. Yeonjun knows its bothering Beomgyu just as much. 

“I see.” The minister says slowly. “So I can have my pick, I suppose?”

“Of course!” The offical answers him. 

And then the minister peers over at Beomgyu and something boils inside Yeonjun at the glint in his eyes. Dangerous and full of want. He doesn’t even try to hide it. Yeonjun clutches his sword in his hand tighter. 

The alpha turns his gaze away and Yeonjun lets out a breath. 

Beomgyu’s scent is muted now, the happy and bright tones gone. 

“I have heard you have an omega daughter,” the alpha says, smirking at the offical. “What if I requested her instead?” A taunt and a mockery is what it is. Yeonjun watches them both carefully. 

Beomgyu frowns at the interaction as the offical splutters, obviously not having expected that answer from the young minister. 

“My! You certainly do have a good sense of humour!” The man cries out, laughing. A mistake. Yeonjun knows that much. 

Because it wasn’t a joke. Not to the minister. 

The minister joins him with his laughter, but he stops suddenly, his face turning to stone and a wicked glint in his eyes. “You must think I’m stupid,” the minister grits out and Beomgyu sucks in a deep breath of air when he hears the rumble of anger building up in his voice. Yeonjun does not like where this conversation is heading. 

“I was not joking.” He tells him outright and the offical freezes, blinking at the younger man. “My Lord… she is not here tonight.” 

“Then drag her here yourself. You did say that you’d deliver them yourself, didn’t you?” He spits out. He grabs the jug of wine and takes a long sip of it, before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. 

“Or was this a taunt all along? What are you trying to do?” 

“Of course not!” The man cries out. 

“Aegis…” Beomgyu whispers quietly. “I do not think this is going to go well.” 

“No.” Yeonjun agrees. “It won’t.”

And just after Yeonjun closes his mouth, the alpha stands and flips his table. The wine jug and collection of metal tableware crash to the ground, a symphony of metal clanging and pottery shattering. 

Yeonjun grips onto Beomgyu’s bicep and pulls him up from his seat as soon as the table falls. 

The prince lets out a gasp and the rest of the banquet reacts from the sudden crash. 

“You dare to make a mockery of me!” The minister screams, taking a step towards the offical and without warning, he grabs him by the shoulders and pushes him, sending him flying. 

Yeonjun sees it and grabs Beomgyu around his waist, jumping out of the way just in time as the man crashes into Beomgyu’s table. The dishes of food and tea set is sent flying, smashing to pieces on the ground. 

Beomgyu lets out a panicked yelp and moves closer to Yeonjun, tucked right by his side. 

The king stands from his seat, his guards surrounding him. The princes all stand next and Yeonjun spots Taehyun and Soobin watching Beomgyu before turning their attention back to the fuming minister and the offical struggling to get back to his feet. 

“What is the meaning of this?” He asks in a booming voice that echoes around the pavilion. 

“This man!” The minister points an accusing finger to the king’s offical. “Has made a mockery of me!” The king frowns at the minister. His eyes flicker over to Beomgyu still held in Yeonjun’s arms. He looks back to the minister. 

“Making promises he doesn’t want to keep, I am giving him punishment for his ways.” The minister glares at the man. 

“I will punish him accordingly once an investigation is launched.” The king replies. Yeonjun knows that he’s dancing around him carefully, trying to both keep the peace but establish that this is his territory and his rules. “I will hope that you can look past this tonight and put your anger to the side.” 

“I was promised someone to keep me warm for the night,” the alpha speaks up. “I would hope that you, Your Majesty, would be so kind as to keep the promises your men cannot seem to keep?” 

Beomgyu takes a step away from Yeonjun, but he keeps one hand around Yeonjun’s sleeve, keeping him close still. The other hand is holding the scent pouch again. 

The king frowns, but he nods his head. “It seems justified.” He answers. “There is a good array of gisaengs here tonight. I will order the most talented and beautiful to visit you if it would please you.” 

“Oh, that would please me greatly, indeed.” 

Beomgyu lets out a shaky breath as the commotion seems to ease out, but his grip on Yeonjun’s sleeve remains. 

“But I do not think we need to look far to find the most beautiful omega? Isn’t that right?” The minister turns as if he’s speaking to the whole banquet. Beomgyu stiffens next to Yeonjun, shuffling closer to him once more. 

And then the minister turns to face him, his eyes burning as he looks at Beomgyu. 

“How about the dear Jade Prince? He is called the most precious jewel of Goryeo after all.” 

An older man shoots up from his table and Yeonjun recognises him as Beomgyu’s grandfather. And the man is clearly fuming at the minister's words. 

Yeonjun unsheathes his sword. The blade glints in the moonlight as he holds it out in front of Beomgyu, a shield of protection. It says all Yeonjun needs to say to the minister. 

Don’t you dare. 

“My grandson is not a common whore!” The old man yells out. Beomgyu flinches and this time, he reaches out for Yeonjun’s hand to grasp at. Yeonjun squeezes his hand when he feels the prince trembling. 

“Yes,” the king responds. “The Jade Prince is not available for such things. I suggest you look elsewhere for an omega.” Beomgyu lets out a shuddering breath, one that tells Yeonjun that he had expected a different outcome. 

The minister sneers and just as he goes to open his mouth, a tall figure saunters down the steps, a jug of wine in one hand and two cups in the other. 

Beomgyu stares at Soobin as he stops in front of the minister. 

“I believe this is a time to celebrate, is it not?” Soobin shows the minister the jug of wine he’s carrying. “So I propose a toast to our two kingdoms, what do you say, Minister?” 

The older alpha accepts the cup given to him by the prince. He stares at Soobin, his eyes flickering back up to Beomgyu before he sneers and returns his attention to the older prince. 

“Yes.” He replies. “A time of change.” Soobin smiles and nods as he pours the porcelain cup with wine. He lifts his own full cup and the minister follows, gulping down the wine. 

He stares at Soobin once he’s done drinking and smirks at him before he loosens his grip around the cup and it falls to the ground, shattering at their feet. 

❀

Beomgyu holds onto Yeonjun’s hand the whole walk back to the Jade Palace. 

“Aegis Yeonjun…” he whispers as he steps foot into the entrance. His eyes are glassy as he looks up at Yeonjun. 

Yeonjun wants to gather him into his arms and tell him everything is fine and that nothing was his fault. 

“Thank you.” Beomgyu whispers. “I said I didn’t have to know fear as long as you are with me… thank you for keeping me safe.” 

Yeonjun smiles at him and when a lone tear falls down Beomgyu’s cheek, he reaches out. His thumb catches it and he wipes it away. 

“I said I would protect you, my prince.” Yeonjun whispers back. “And that means both your body and your heart.” 

The scent of orange returns then and Yeonjun gives him another smile. “You have done well, my prince. Now rest.” 

Beomgyu looks as if he’s fighting himself from saying something. Yeonjun wants to urge him to let it out, but Beomgyu then nods and turns away, walking to his room. 

There’s a tugging feeling in Yeonjun’s gut. One that is telling him to go to Beomgyu, to stay with him. 

Yeonjun decides to listen to it. 

He sits out the front of Beomgyu’s room that night, his sword next to him on the wooden floor and waking to every single noise. 

Chapter Text

The floor of the Jade Palace is not so comfortable sitting all night without a pillow, but Yeonjun does it. 

His legs are numb by the time dawn hits. He can’t feel his ass and he feels like he’s slept on a rock. Yeonjun thinks it’s still quite ironic. He is not getting over rocks so easily. Some grudges are truly for life. That in itself is ironic. 

When he stands—using his sword to press his weight down to get him on his feet— he feels tingles in his feet. It’s borderline painful, and it quickly travels up his legs, his feet nearly numb. 

Yeonjun has slept on the floor for months at this point, but not like this. His little villa is comfortable with soft blankets and a good pillow to support his neck. Sleeping upright outside of Beomgyu’s room has proved to be the least comfortable sleep he’s ever had in his entire life. Yeonjun thinks that's a rather bold statement. 

“Oh?” Yeonjun turns to see Jinah standing in the hallway, her head cocked at him, brows furrowed. “You are still here, Aegis? Did you sleep at all last night?” 

“I slept,” Yeonjun replies. “Lightly,” he adds and she gives him a disapproving look. “You are a devoted aegis,” she tells him. “It does not go unnoticed by us, Aegis.”

“It’s my job,” Yeonjun answers back curtly. Jinah raises a brow at him. “Is that it?” She asks, an edge to her voice.  Yeonjun frowns at her, lips pursing as she shrugs. 

“I am going to retrieve the prince’s breakfast,” she says. “I shall bring yours here, too. I am sure the Jade Prince will appreciate the company of you in the morning.” 

And then she leaves without another word, with Yeonjun’s mind racing once more. 

There’s a soft shuffle not long after and Yeonjun turns quickly as the door to Beomgyu’s room opens and he sees a sleepy looking prince squinting at him. 

There’s sleep around his eyes still, and his cheek is pink from where he’s been laying on it throughout the night. His hair is unbound, but silky and smooth. Yeonjun wishes he could wake up without the bed hair he’s usually cursed with. 

Especially with this longer hair. Yeonjun is still trying to get used to this all. Minyoung scolds him most mornings when he lets her in and she spies the absolute birds nest he has in the morning. 

“Oh, Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu says before hiding a little yawn behind his hand. Yeonjun bites down on his lower lip and gives him a bow in greeting. 

“You’re here early…” Beomgyu comments quietly. 

“Should I leave, my prince?” Yeonjun asks in a hurry. But then Beomgyu blinks, his face smoothing out as he shakes his head at him, smiling softly. “No, Aegis…” He whispers. “Stay.” 

And so Yeonjun does. 

“Come in?” Beomgyu stretches an arm out, an invitation for Yeonjun to step into his room.  Yeonjun blinks a few times before he gulps (and god, his mouth feels so dry… he really needs a long drink of cold water to wake himself up after last night) and steps into the prince’s room, a soft smile on his face as Beomgyu rubs at his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair. 

“Did you sleep well, my prince?” Yeonjun asks quietly and Beomgyu blinks at him, a colouring of pink blooming across his face. Yeonjun watches him carefully, his heart leaping at the sudden blush on the prince’s cheeks.

Did he know that Yeonjun spent the whole night guarding the front of his door, on alert for that absolute slug of a minister? 

But Beomgyu smiles then, tucking his hair behind his ears and humming as he nods. “I slept soundly, Aegis Yeonjun. What about you?” 

“I slept well.” Yeonjun replies quickly. No room for Beomgyu to think otherwise… or suspect that he spent the night out the front of his door. But Beomgyu seems to believe him. 

“What brings you over so early? It’s not like you to come until after breakfast and after I am dressed…” Beomgyu looks down at himself, looking at the white silk he’s wearing. It’s crumbled around his body, messy and Yeonjun follows his eyes, seeing a slither of skin of his abdomen. 

Carefully, Beomgyu tugs on his sleeping attire and pulls it back down, covering himself back up. 

“Would you like to have breakfast here?” Beomgyu asks, returning his face to Yeonjun’s face quickly. There’s no hint of embarrassment on his face. 

“I think Jinah had plans to bring my breakfast here, my prince.” 

“She is clever,” Beomgyu says with a smile and then gestures for Yeonjun to follow him further into his room. 

Beomgyu turns the corner that separates the rest of his room and his bedding. 

Yeonjun finds himself grinning fondly at the neatly folded blanket at the end of his pink silk blanket. Yeonjun finds a lot of things cute about the prince, and apparently, this is another thing he’s endeared over. Yeonjun could write an extensive list about the prince and his cute little habits. 

The way he holds onto his sleeves when he’s nervous, the way his lips jut out as he thinks, his eyes glazed and bright, a stark comparison to the stormy darkness that Yeonjun has seen so much—

“Aegis, I was thinking last night that it would be best to continue on with the minister like nothing has happened… this is an important opportunity for myself and Goryeo. Yuan is a large empire.” 

“Right…” Yeonjun agrees quietly after he’s knocked out of thoughts. “But if he makes you uncomfortable you must tell me, my prince,” Yeonjun tells him firmly. Beomgyu gives him a soft laugh as he gazes over at the selection of fabrics on display. 

“Of course,” Beomgyu agrees and turns to him, looks right into Yeonjun’s eyes to see he has his attention and then tucks his hair behind his left ear. 

“I’ll be a quick thinker today, my prince,” Yeonjun smiles at him. Beomgyu using the little signal they made up weeks ago sends a wave of emotion through him. They really have come so far with their relationship. 

From a prince who would barely glance his way, rather ignore his existence to now standing here in his sleeping attire—another state of undress in this time period… Yeonjun is very much aware of this fact, but he’s trying to not think too hard about it—smiling at him and inviting him for breakfast. 

Yeonjun thinks things are going rather well… he hasn’t seen anything from a dream in a while now, and he hopes, he really, really hopes that this means that he’s changed at least something… but Yeonjun isn’t so quick to decide this. 

The moments he’s dreamt of before jump out, unexpected and undeterred; nothing seems to be able to stop them once they start. 

It’s only slightly comforting that Yeonjun has never seen this minister in his dreams before.

There’s a call then and the doors to Beomgyu’s room open, showing Jinah and an older beta attendant that Yeonjun has seen a lot in the Jade Palace. 

“My prince, I hope you slept well. Aegis,” Jinah bows the best she can while balancing a tray full of food. 

Yeonjun rushes over, his sword propped up on Beomgyu’s bookshelf and goes and takes the tray from Jinah who stares at him with big eyes. 

“Aegis!” She gasps as he plops it down in front of Beomgyu who lets out a soft laugh before sitting down on his plush, silk pillow and waits patiently for his aegis to return with his own tray of breakfast. 

“Thank you, ladies!” Yeonjun bows at them, taking his own tray and scurrying over to join the prince. 

“You are impatient this morning, Aegis Yeonjun,” Beomgyu chirps as he takes his silver spoon and digs it into the bowl of fluffy rice on his circular wooden tray. 

“I’m a hungry man.” Yeonjun replies. That is no lie, he hadn’t realised until they opened the doors that his stomach feels like a blackhole inside of him. “I need to eat well if I’m to protect you well, my prince.” 

“Ah,” Beomgyu hums and his eyes then flicker to his tray and Yeonjun’s. “Is that so?”

Yeonjun takes big mouthfuls of the vegetable rice porridge he is accustomed to getting every day at breakfast. He quite enjoys it now, actually. 

He looks up from his bowl of porridge and bowl of water, blinking when he sees the prince frowning at him. 

“You only eat porridge for breakfast?” He asks softly, looking at his own tray of rice and various side dishes and a steaming bowl of chicken soup. 

“It’s a big bowl,” Yeonjun says with a smile. “It’s good. The kitchen workers do a good job over there.” 

“Perhaps we should visit one day,” Beomgyu’s says, still frowning. 

“If you want to.” Yeonjun smiles at him. “Don’t worry, my prince. My lunches and dinners are quite sufficient.”

“You should eat more,” Beomgyu argues and without letting Yeonjun reply, he pushes his bowl of chicken soup over to Yeonjun’s tray. 

“My prince… this is yours…” 

“Eat it, Aegis,” Beomgyu says firmly. There is no room for argument. He gives him a pointed look, one that he’s given Yeonjun many times before. That same one he gave Yeonjun when they went to the king’s residence to find out about the envoy party. 

Yeonjun blinks and understands that Beomgyu is not going to budge from his decision and that he probably won’t let him leave until he’s seen him eat what Beomgyu thinks is a sufficient amount. 

And Yeonjun can’t help it but add this to the list of things he finds cute about the prince. Showing that he cares in ways like this. 

Yeonjun smiles and takes a sip of the broth. 

“You are too good to me, my prince.” 

“Nonsense,” Beomgyu huffs out, looking away for a moment.

Behind him, sitting on the white edge of Beomgyu silk blanket is the norigae Yeonjun gave him. Yeonjun blinks at the sight of it on the prince’s bedding, but he doesn’t say anything, but he can’t help his mind racing. 

Yeonjun can’t help but think if he sleeps with it… a gift Yeonjun gave him thats drenched in his scent of petrichor. 

Yeonjun takes another spoonful of the soup, tearing his eyes back to the prince in front of him, his blood warming in his veins at the thoughts running through his mind. 

“You take care of me,” Beomgyu mutters. “So it is only fair I make sure you are well taken care of, Aegis Yeonjun.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, my prince,” Yeonjun tells him. 

Beomgyu hums softly before he looks up at Yeonjun, a soft frown between his brows. 

“Do you think the minister will be tolerant this morning… I…” Beomgyu bites down on his tongue. 

“Are you worried, my prince?” Yeonjun mutters, looking at him intently and waiting for his reaction. Beomgyu squirms gently, eyebrows knitting together. 

“No…” 

“I told you before you are not good at hiding things from me,” Yeonjun smiles at him. The prince wears his heart on his sleeve around Yeonjun, lets his walls down and struggles to keep to himself.

Beomgyu frowns and picks at his breakfast. “I… I thought he would expect me to not want to be the host after last night… After what he said, Aegis, I really,” Beomgyu pauses and looks up at him. He bites down on his lower lip and sniffs. 

“I didn’t think my father, nor my grandfather were going to get involved with the ministers… wish.”

Yeonjun had seen this in Beomgyu’s eyes. Dark and full of fear, uncertainty and that burn of humiliation Yeonjun has seen far too many times. 

He’s seen how Beomgyu’s treated by his family, his expectations and the behaviour of the people in his family haven’t been what Yeonjun would consider supportive or loving, so really, Yeonjun isn’t surprised that Beomgyu had thought that he was just going to be used for the sake of his family’s gain. Yet again. 

There’s a sudden burn in his chest, hot and angry. Yeonjun takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. 

“I wouldn’t have let him even if they hadn’t gotten involved,” Yeonjun tells him, his voice strong and unwavering. 

Beomgyu looks at him, his eyes glazed as if he’s about to cry, but he blinks it away and breathes in heavily, tearing his gaze away from his aegis. 

“There are things that even you cannot protect me from, Aegis Yeonjun.” 

Beomgyu’s voice is quiet, a certain sadness in it that makes Yeonjun’s stomach curdle. He blinks at the prince, his spoon suddenly heavy in his hand as he stares at Beomgyu. 

Yeonjun knows this is true. And maybe he’s tried to ignore it. Throw it away to the wind and forget that it was even a possibility, because Yeonjun so badly doesn’t want it to be. 

He has seen too much, knows too much and has felt so much for the prince sitting in front of him. 

Yeonjun has seen him so strong one moment, seemingly peaceful the next, and then sobbing, agonising tears streaming down his face like his heart has been torn from the cavity of his chest. 

And then—Yeonjun takes a deep breath as it flashes through his mind, just as vivid as he remembers it to be. 

Then, Yeonjun sees him dead. 

Lifeless and sullied by mud, surrounded by blooms of crimson painting the sodden earth. 

Yeonjun blinks as his throat tightens. 

But there are also other things that Yeonjun can’t protect him from. 

All the scrutiny from being born an omega prince in a time where they were mistreated, the way some of his brothers treat him, his father’s expectations of him, Beomgyu’s grandfather's demands, and then there is the whole situation with the suitors. Men that Beomgyu has never met before now and having to choose one to give himself away to. 

Yeonjun can’t protect him from that and it twists at his gut and feels like someone has dug their nails into his heart, shredding it to bloody pieces. 

And what Beomgyu means by his words now… Yeonjun would be powerless if the king didn’t interrupt and save Beomgyu from the clutches of the minister. He could fight, but ultimately, he would be punished and probably taken away from Beomgyu, and Yeonjun can’t risk that. 

He’s pretty certain that there’s no one else in modern day Seoul who’s dreamt of Beomgyu for fourteen years, lost their mind and died on a rock that would be transported to a plane of darkness to accept a deal with one of Beomgyu’s brothers if he fails. Yeah. He’s pretty confident that he’s a special case in that regard. 

“I told you I was loyal to you, my prince. No one else.”

Beomgyu looks at him and closes his eyes as he sighs. “You can’t say such things like that, Aegis,” the prince scolds gently. “Things like that are considered treason within the palace.”

“Everything is treason in this fucking place,” Yeonjun grumbles. Beomgyu blinks at him, titling his head. 

“Yes,” Beomgyu agrees with a nod of his head. Then, he softly arches a brow at Yeonjun. 

“Sometimes you speak in a peculiar way, Aegis Yeonjun,” he muses softly. “Sometimes I cannot understand what you are saying.”

Yeonjun’s lips twitch at this. He tries to fit into the way they speak these days, but Yeonjun is a man from Seoul. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the old speak in Goryeo. 

“But, really, Aegis, you must be vigilant here. I have told you the palace is like winter,” Beomgyu pushes his tray away from himself as he speaks, beginning to stand. 

When he is on his feet, he looks down at Yeonjun, his eyes lingering with that look of sorrow and hollowness that makes Yeonjun shiver. 

“And it is just so, Aegis Yeonjun. Icy and bitterly cold here.” 

❀

Yeonjun watches as Beomgyu takes a deep breath before he places his hands over his abdomen and walks up the stairs leading to the pavilion where the minister is sitting at a table, waiting for him to arrive. 

Yeonjun follows him suit, sticking right by his side. The group of attendants stay below the raised area, on stand by while the meeting goes on. 

“Ah, Jade Prince, you have arrived,” the minister greets him with a sly smile, one that makes Yeonjun grip tighter at his sword. The little patience he had for him yesterday has disappeared. Nowhere to be seen. 

Beomgyu nods his head and gives him a pleasant smile as he sits down on the chair Yeonjun pulls out for him. 

“I hope your night was well,” Beomgyu says, his voice not quavering or showing that he is nervous to be in front of the alpha that had humiliated him last night. Yeonjun has to give him credit for that. Yeonjun is not as resilient as the prince is in this regard. 

“It was well,” the alpha huffs, shuffling in his seat. He lets out his scent freely and its so strong it is clogging up Beomgyu’s scent that Yeonjun has grown used to scenting in the air every time he is near the omega. It makes him a little bit anxious that he can’t smell him, actually. 

“The omega was good,” he comments as he sips at his tea. Yeonjun’s lips lift into a quick snarl before he remembers his place and forces it away. “But I was rather disappointed your father was not willing to give you up, my prince…” the minister gives him a look, his eyes deepening and Beomgyu lets out a quiet laugh, but Yeonjun knows how uncomfortable the prince is. His hands are fisted at his sleeves again. “I was no aware they valued you so high.” 

Beomgyu blinks at him, but doesn’t comment. Yeonjun wants to knock his lights out. 

“I heard there is a battle going on for your hand,” the minister sits back in his chair, arching a brow and giving Beomgyu a slimy smile. Yeonjun fucking hates this man. 

“I would hardly call it a battle,” Beomgyu says as he pours himself some tea. The sound of the liquid streaming down into the porcelain teacup fills the air around them. “It is not so violent.” 

“Ah,” the minister looks at him through half-lidded eyes as he takes a long sip of his tea. He slams the teacup down to the table and the assortment of snacks and tableware trembles and shudders. “I suppose it’s not so entertaining, then… wouldn’t you rather see a display of strength? I would say let them fight if I would have a say I would much rather fight for the hand of a beautiful omega. Wouldn’t you like that, my prince,” there’s a glint in his eyes again and Yeonjun pulls his sword a centimetre out of its sheath, not liking where he’s going with this. 

“Spill some blood, take you in an honourable way.” 

The minister leans back in his chair, a sly grin stretched over his face. “What would you say to that?” 

Beomgyu smiles at him and raises his eyebrows before humming. “I suppose we have many different preferences,” the prince takes a sip of his tea, seemingly unfazed by the alpha’s attempts to rile him up. 

“But I shall extend my offer,” the minister then says and Yeonjun takes a subtle step closer to Beomgyu. “If you become my mate then it would strengthen the bond between this kingdom and my empire, isn’t that what we’ve both wanted.”

“There are ties to Goryeo and Yuan already,” Beomgyu smiles at him. “You jest too much, Minister.”

The minister glares at the prince. “You would reject me?” 

“My father or grandfather have chosen the suitors themselves. I would not be the right person to ask about such matters.” 

“What a shame…” the minister grits out. “I think you would look absolutely ravishing in robes of red.” 

Beomgyu stiffens at this and Yeonjun’s mind races to find the meaning. Ceremonial wedding robes. 

“Perhaps I would,” Beomgyu agrees, looking the minister in the eye. “But we are here to discuss other matters, are we not? The matters of the relationship between our kingdoms.” 

“I thought I have made myself clear, Jade Prince. There are wishes for your hand.” 

Beomgyu frowns softly and takes another sip of his cooling tea. 

“The trade routes have been reported to be filled with the occasional group of bandits,” Beomgyu says. “Goryeo has enlisted a group to guard the roads for some time and clear them from the area.” 

“My prince,” the minister huffs out. 

Beomgyu ignores him and continues on with what they’re supposed to be doing, not sitting here and amusing him with stupid taunts and belittling him. 

“I don’t suppose you witnessed anything on your journey to Goryeo?” The minister blinks at him, a faint snarl on his face as Beomgyu continues to dance around his words. 

“No. The trip was clear.” 

“Good,” Beomgyu nods. “Shall we discuss the agriculture? The season has been fruitful here, but I have heard that some parts of Yuan have been struck by famine.”

“What would an omega know about agriculture?” The minister hisses. “Or taxes or the way an empire is run!” He slams a fist on the table, his teeth bared at the prince. 

Yeonjun unsheathes his sword this time, a clear warning to the violent natured man. 

“An empire nor a kingdom are not run by omegas. There are no omegas in power, and I would hope I will not have to explain myself why this is so… so outrageous! An omega telling me these things, talking back. It is a mockery of my time here.” The minister stands up and glares down at the prince. 

“An omega is good for few things,” he hisses out. 

“Minister, I—” Beomgyu tries to speak, but he’s cut off. The princes eyes are wide, his lips parted as he stares up at the alpha in apparent shock. Yeonjun feels his blood raging in his veins, bubbling and hot. 

“To warm a bed, spread your legs and be knotted and filled with pups. This,” he slams a hand down onto the table. “Is humiliating!” The minister cries out. “Humiliating to my honour as an alpha and a member of this envoy party! I will not accept such treatment!”

“Humiliating?” Beomgyu questions. There’s a rise in his pitch, a note of anger that Yeonjun spots. 

“I am still a prince, Minister. It would be in your be interest to have some respect,” Beomgyu warns him. “I do not care of your prejudice, I have been chosen for a reason and I cannot—I will not, tolerate this any longer. I will take this up with my father, or you will gain some manners. It is not a difficult decision to make.”

“Is it?” The alpha huffs out, sitting back down. His eyes are still smouldering, his lips plastered in a snarl. “A prince.” He looks at Yeonjun and huffs, seemingly annoyed that Yeonjun is sticking around. 

But Yeonjun isn’t going to leave. Not after everything he has witnessed. He has slept out the front of Beomgyu’s room for the very reason of his lack of trust for the alpha sitting across from them. Yeonjun is taking absolutely no chances with him. 

“You say that like you are as equal as the rest of your brothers. All those powerful alphas and intelligent betas…. But you cannot hide it from me, my prince. You are an omega. An omega prince and, my prince, I think it would be in your best interest to act like one. Submissive, pliant, quiet.” 

Beomgyu blinks at him, his fingers shaking as he reaches for his teacup. He grips it so hard that his fingers turn white, the pottery trembling in his grip. 

“Isn’t it a shame?” The minister leans back in his chair, relaxed. Yeonjun clenches his jaw when he realises the minister is enjoying this. 

“That you were born of such a powerful lineage… the disappointment, the fury of your birth reached far and wide. And even if you had been born a beta, you would have had all the power of both your families. The most powerful prince in this kingdom. But because you are an omega,” the minister smiles at him. It’s meant to be mocking, a jab. “You are just a stepping stone.”

Beomgyu stares at him for a few seconds before he breathes and lets go of his teacup, and with a trembling hand, he reaches up and tucks his hair behind his left ear. 

Yeonjun sees it. He’s been waiting for it. 

“I think that is quite enough.” Yeonjun says and the minister looks over at him. 

“You should mind your tongue, Aegis,” he warns, eyes narrowing and his voice deepening as he acknowledges Yeonjun. 

“The prince has an appointment with his brother. We thank you for your time, Minister.” Yeonjun says, trying to keep his tone neutral, though inside he feels like a torment of rage. He wants to knock his lights out, throw him into the fucking pond and take a gamble to see if he can swim. 

Yeonjun hopes he can’t. 

Yeonjun puts his sword back by his hip and gives the minister a look as Beomgyu stands and walks away from the table. “Have a good day, Minister.” 

Yeonjun walks at Beomgyu side and ushers him gently to go down the stairs and get the fuck out of here. Yeonjun’s temper is simmering, close to erupting. He doesn’t trust himself to not explode if the minister says another word. 

Beomgyu’s legs are shaking as he stands, subtly, but Yeonjun sees the way he grasps onto the railing for support. Yeonjun catches his eyes and offers him a smile before he steps down the stairs and nods at him, a silent promise that he’ll help him down. 

Beomgyu lets out a breath and blinks before he carefully goes down the first step, his hands gripping tightly onto the rail. 

Yeonjun meets his eyes again, finds them dark and full of that same sorrow he saw this morning over their breakfast. Beomgyu’s hand lets go of the railing as he gets down a few steps and grows more confident on his legs. With his free hand, he clutches onto the norigae at his hip, giving a soft smile to Yeonjun. 

Then, there’s a sudden crash and Yeonjun’s eyes flicker to the minister that has swiped the tea set off the table, smashed to pieces on the ground. The minister is fuming as he looks at Yeonjun staring him down. 

His gaze moves to Beomgyu who has frozen on the steps, staring at Yeonjun with large eyes. 

“Aegis…” he whispers, reaching out with his hand to grab onto Yeonjun’s. 

It happens fast. 

The minister sees their hands clasp and he moves quickly to the stairs. 

“You think I am a fool, Jade Prince,” he grits out. “An unmated alpha as your aegis? The king seemed rather concerned over me taking you last night, but perhaps he is not looking for the real threat to his precious son's virtue!”