“Jaejoong Oppa!” Jihye screamed as Jaejoong’s body hit the water. Yoochun and Yunho rushed closer to where he had fallen as the boy thrashed around in the pool, trying to pull his body above the water. Yoochun could only stare in horror once Jaejoong had stopped splashing and drifted toward the bottom of the pool. Out of nowhere, Yunho ran past Yoochun and dove into the pool to rescue Jaejoong. Jihye had stood up, standing beside Yoochun with one arm wrapped around Yoochun’s and the other covering her mouth.

Once Yunho was in the water, he searched frantically for Jaejoong’s body. Once he spotted the boy, the young prince widened his almond shaped eyes and kicked frantically. Once within reach, Yunho grabbed Jaejoong and swam back up to the surface. The first thing he did was make sure Jaejoong had his head above the water. As he swam to the edge of the pool, he tried to hear if the boy was breathing - but he couldn’t hear anything. He quickly looked at his chest and saw it wasn’t rising. Luckily, he was at the edge of the pool where Yoochun was holding his arms out to help get Jaejoong out of the water. Jihye, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

“Yoochun, he’s not breathing.” Yunho gasped as he pulled himself out of the water. Yoochun stared at Yunho, panic written across his face, before he focusing his attention on Jaejoong. He carefully laid him on his back as Yunho quickly moved to Jaejoong’s side.

“Jaejoong-ah.” Yunho called as he began to tap the ground beneath Jaejoong’s ear. “Jaejoong-ah!” He yelled before hovering his cheek over the unconscious boy’s mouth – he didn’t feel anything. He snapped his head up and looked at Yoochun, who looked back at the young prince, shaking off his panic the best he could.

“What do you need me to do?” He asked, trying to compose himself.

“Get my brother.” Yunho ordered. Yoochun turned and ran for the house as Yunho returned his attention to Jaejoong. The other boy was completely devoid of colour. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Yunho placed one hand on Jaejoong’s forehead and used two fingers on the other to tilt the boy’s head back and open his airway. Without hesitation, he opened Jaejoong’s mouth and put his mouth over it. Keeping a watchful eye on his chest, Yunho delivered two deep breaths before he started to push against his body.

“Damn it Jaejoong, breathe.” Yunho begged as he did everything he could to try and get the boy breathe again. After thirty compressions, he checked again to see if Jaejoong had started breathing again. There was nothing. Becoming more panicked, Yunho breathed into his mouth two more times and applied the same pressure as before to the boy’s body, pumping with trepidation. After another set, Yunho breathed into his mouth again, this time without checking to see if he was breathing. Before he adjusted to push against Jaejoong’s body again, he heard the sound of people running. Yunho paid them no mind and began to press against Jaejoong’s pale skin yet again. After another failed set of compressions, Yunho looked at the inert boy’s face and noticed Yoochun and his brother standing nearby. As he slowly began to lose hope, Yunho breathed twice more into Jaejoong’s mouth. He closed his eyes as he went to begin more compressions to the boy’s reddening skin, but his eyes soon shot open when he heard the sound of coughing. He looked at Jaejoong and saw water come spurting out of his mouth as he tried breathing again. Yunho moved to grab the boy and held him close to his chest. He felt Jaejoong shiver as he wrapped his arms around Yunho’s waist.

“Jaejoong-ah.” Taeho said gently as he draped a blanket over the quivering boy’s body. “Are you okay?” He asked as he gently tightened his grip on Jaejoong’s shoulders. All the boy could do was nod into Yunho’s chest. Yunho looked up at his brother from where his head rested on Jaejoong’s temple. Taeho offered the younger prince a comforting smile and nodded before turning around and heading inside. Yoochun then came over and sat beside Jaejoong.

“Man, you’re still as clumsy as ever.” Yoochun joked, trying to lighten the mood. Yunho chuckled as Jaejoong laughed weakly. Yunho and Yoochun looked at each other and held each other’s stare. “Are you going to be okay?” Yoochun asked. Yunho nodded.

“You should get going. I’m sure your mom will be calling anytime now.” Without protest, Yoochun nodded and patted Yunho on the shoulder.

“Let me know if anything happens.” He said softly. Yunho nodded as Yoochun said goodbye to Jaejoong before gathering his things and heading back into the house. Yunho buried his face into the crook of Jaejoong’s neck, his breathing deep and his heart beating heavily in his chest.

“Yunho.” Jaejoong said breathily. Yunho lifted his head and rested his cheek on the shorter boy’s temple just as he had before.

“Jaejoongie, you scared me.” Yunho barely whispered into Jaejoong’s ear, smiling because he called him by name. Jaejoong grew quiet again as Yunho pulled away from him in order to properly wrap the blanket around the shaking boy. “Let’s get you inside and warm you up.” Jaejoong looked at Yunho from under his fringe and nodded. The young prince grabbed onto Jaejoong’s arms and helped him stand up before wrapping one arm around his shoulder and helping him walk inside.

Once they were inside, Yunho looked at Jaejoong and studied his face again. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that some of Jaejoong’s colour had returned.

“Your Highness, you don’t need to help me.” Jaejoong said softly, his eyes gleaming with appreciation as the two walked further into the hallway. Yunho smiled and rubbed one of his arms.

“It’s okay Jaejoong-ah. I’ll feel better if I help you.” Jaejoong smiled with an appreciative twinkle in his eyes. Yunho gently held onto the other boy and walked with him in the direction of his room, located one floor down.

~~~

Once they were in Jaejoong’s room, the boy turned on the lights before he quietly and slowly walked to his closet. He opened the door and grabbed a black towel from one of the shelves. He turned around and walked toward Yunho with the towel held firmly in both of his hands.

“I should be okay from here. You should get ready for dinner.” Jaejoong said to Yunho. Yunho froze for a moment; he had totally forgotten that he was to have dinner with his father tonight. Yunho shook off his expression and nodded.

“I’ll come back down after dinner to check on you.” Yunho told him, making Jaejoong smile.

“Okay.” He said, his voice breathy. Yunho smiled at the boy one last time before turning around to walk back upstairs. Just before he stepped out of Jaejoong’s room, the boy spoke up again.

“Your Highness.” Yunho turned around and saw Jaejoong looking at the towel he was now hugging against his chest, avoiding his gaze. “Thank you.” He whispered.

“You don’t need to thank me.” He said gently, causing Jaejoong to look up at him. Yunho smiled quickly before he left the room, leaving a very bewildered Jaejoong behind.

While he travelled to his room, Yunho found his mind to be a mess of thoughts – each one about Jaejoong. Images of Jaejoong’s smile while they splashed around in the pool and the sound of his laughter played over and over again until the image of his unconscious and cold body on the pool deck crept in. Yunho shook his head in frustration as he ran his fingers though his hair, tugging at it. When he looked up, he found himself standing in front of his bedroom door. He took a deep breath before dropping his arms and entering.

~~~

Once dressed in warmer clothes, Yunho made his way to the grandiose dining room. Upon walking in, he saw his father sitting at the head of the table. Taeho was sitting to his father’s left with a sizeable gap separating them. There was an empty seat to the king’s right, across from Taeho. Jihye sat in the chair next to that one. Yunho made his way to the empty seat and sat down. He looked at his brother whose face showed no emotion whatsoever. Yunho swallowed as he looked down at the empty plate in front of him.

“Are you feeling okay little brother?” Taeho asked tenderly. Yunho looked back up to his brother and nodded, the ponytail he had tied his hair into sliding down and up his neck.

“I’m fine, but I’m a little worried about Jaejoong. He still looks pretty pale.” He said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Taeho noticed and offered his brother a comforting smile.

“I’m sure he’s fine, a little shaken up, but fine.” Yunho smiled ever so slightly just as the serving staff made their way into the dining room. The two women who had walked into the room each pushed a cart. They picked up the plates and put them in front of each person. Yunho looked down at the salad he had been given. As the servers left the room, everyone silently picked up a fork. While his father and siblings began to eat, Yunho found himself poking at the leaves of lettuce. His stomach was tightly tied into worried knots. He couldn’t help thinking about Jaejoong.

“Oppa, are you sure you’re okay?” Jihye asked him quietly as she leaned closer to him. Yunho looked back at her and nodded, just as he had when he answered his brother. Jihye contorted her face into a worried look before she resumed eating.

“Taeho, how are your preparations for enlistment going?” Yunho’s father asked. His brother looked to the king and smiled in satisfaction.

“So far there have been no problems. I should be more than ready by time Yunho graduates.” The king smiled back at his eldest son and nodded before he put the last bit of his salad into his mouth. Yunho, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised by what his brother said. He smiled as his brother looked at him.

Really? He mouthed to his brother. Taeho nodded twice.

Really. He mouthed back. Yunho felt so happy at that moment. He had expected his brother to enlist as soon as possible in order to get it out of the way.

For the second time that evening, the serving staff came back out with their carts and came to collect their plates. When one of the women came to Yunho, she looked at his plate and then at him.

“Your Highness, did you want to finish your salad?” She asked politely. Yunho looked down at his barely touched food. He sighed deeply, his interest in eating fading quickly.

“No, thank you.” He answered politely, prompting the server to bow and take his plate from in front of him. Seconds later, she returned and placed a steak with a few different sides in front of him. He just stared at it as he tried to will himself to eat. He picked up a fork and knife and cut a piece of the meat. He put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly. He smiled when he felt his appetite return to him and wasted no time cutting himself another piece.

“When are you going to cut your hair Yunho? How many times have I told you that it’s unbecoming for a prince to look like that?” Yunho’s father suddenly asked him with a stern tone as he cut his own steak. Yunho stopped cutting his steak and turned his head, narrowing his eyes at his father who stared at him blankly as he chewed on a piece of meat.

“I’ll cut it when I feel like it.” He told his father. Yunho felt Jihye put her hand on his thigh as if to tell him to back off, but Yunho ignored it.

“That is no way to speak to your father.” The king replied, his voice growing louder than it had been before. Yunho scoffed and smirked.

“You’re not much of a father so I thought it would be fitting.” Yunho answered nonchalantly.

“Oppa!” Jihye called out only to have Yunho ignore her again. The infuriated king stood up and slammed his hands on the table, plates and cutlery clattering.

“You insolent child! How dare you say such things to me?” Yunho kept his fiery gaze fixed on his father’s face. He stood up calmly and stepped away from the table.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty.” Yunho said as he bowed. He took one last look at his father before leaving the dining room. Little did he know, Taeho and Jihye were exchanging glances as he walked away.