Without thinking, Yunho started walking downstairs to go to Jaejoong’s room. His feet carried him to the older boy’s door without faltering. His arm, on the other hand, hesitated to lift and knock on the door. Yunho took a deep breath and willed his arm up, placing three gentle knocks on the door.

“Jaejoong-ah.” Yunho called gently, his voice shaking ever so slightly. He listened for any kind of movement, but he didn’t hear anything. Yunho dropped his hand to his side and sighed as he just stood there.

“Your Highness?” A voice said out of nowhere. Yunho jumped and turned around to face a towel-clad Jaejoong. Yunho’s eyes searched for somewhere to look that wasn’t Jaejoong’s bare chest or the towel around his waist. He figured his face was the safest place. Yunho studied the other boy carefully, checking to see if he looked okay. He noticed his raven locks were dripping with water from his shower and his lips were back to their usual pink colour. Yunho smiled in relief at how much better he looked.

“Did you finish dinner already?” He asked as he used a towel to dry his hair. Yunho’s expression dropped. He looked down at his feet, trying to avoid Jaejoong’s eyes, hoping he didn’t notice how upset he was, but he had. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Jaejoong said, his voice slightly panicked. Yunho looked back up and shook his head.

“You don’t need to be sorry.” Yunho told him, forcing a sliver of a smile to spread across his sullen face. Jaejoong slung the towel in his hand over his shoulder and walked over to Yunho. He grabbed the prince and pulled him into a hug. Surprised by the gesture, Yunho stood there unresponsively. He felt a little guilty for not returning the hug, but his body just didn’t want to move. Jaejoong moved slowly away from Yunho and offered him a kind smile. Yunho felt warmth spread in his chest and his sour mood was immediately alleviated. He smiled back at his friend.

“Do you wanna sit hangout for a while?” He asked politely. Yunho nodded with his smile still on his face.

“I’d like that.” Yunho answered quietly, making Jaejoong smile. Jaejoong reached past his friend and grasped the doorknob, opening the door to reveal his bedroom. Jaejoong looked back at Yunho and grabbed his wrist before gently pulling him into the room, closing the door behind them. Jaejoong released his grip on Yunho’s wrist as he walked over to his closet, the door still open from earlier. The fair skinned boy turned to face Yunho who was still standing at the door.

“You can sit down you know.” Jaejoong said, trying his best to keep the atmosphere relaxed. Yunho snapped out of his daze and looked at the other boy.

“Sorry, I just-“ Yunho tried to find the words, but he couldn’t. Jaejoong chuckled as he went into his closet to find something to wear.

“Don’t worry about it. You can sit on my bed if you want. It’s more comfortable than standing there.” He poked his head out of the door after dropping his towel. Yunho just stared at the black pile. He could feel his breathing waver as his heart began to beat faster. Once he finally realized what he was doing, he went over to Jaejoong’s bed and sat down, his legs crossed. Jaejoong emerged from his closet dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a red hoodie.

“I’ll be right back, you stay here.” He told the taller male as he walked over to the door to open it.

“Where are you going?” Yunho asked, his voice panicked – he didn’t want Jaejoong to leave. The other boy looked at him and smiled.

“I’m going to the kitchen and see if my dad has anything I can bring down for you to eat.” Yunho held a hand up and shook it in front of him.

“You don’t need to do that, I’ll be fine.” Yunho frantically told him just before his stomach growled loudly. Jaejoong started to laugh a little bit, coving his mouth with his hand as he usually did.

“Your stomach begs to differ.” He said. Yunho started to chuckle as he placed a hand to his stomach.

“Thanks Jae.” He said, offering his friend a gentle smile. Jaejoong returned the smile.

“Don’t mention it.” He said as he looked at and gripped the doorknob. He chuckled to himself before looking at Yunho again. “Aren’t you glad you’re friends with the chef’s son?” Jaejoong asked jokingly. Yunho laughed before he looked at the raven-haired beauty.

“Sometimes.” He said in a similar tone to Jaejoong’s. Jaejoong chuckled before turning the knob and leaving the room in search for food. Once he was gone, Yunho felt the urge to snoop around Jaejoong’s room. He got up from the bed and walked over to the desk. There were an assortment of papers and textbooks strewn across it. The young prince figured that moving any of that wouldn’t be the greatest idea. Instead, he opened the drawer of the desk and looked inside.

There were many items one would expect to find in a desk – pencils, pens, a ruler, and some lined paper. As Yunho carefully lifted things, not sure what he was looking for, he found an old picture. He gently grabbed the picture and pulled it out of the drawer. He used both hands to hold it and he just stared at it. He didn’t expect to see this picture again.
The picture was older, probably taken during their last year of middle school. In it, Jaejoong was facing Yunho and had planted a kiss on his cheek. The picture was taken as soon as Yunho reacted to what was going on - his jaw hanging open in shock. The young prince smiled as he remembered that day fondly.

“Find anything interesting?” Jaejoong asked quietly. The crown prince jumped at the sound of his friend’s voice before he spun around to look at him, the picture still in hand. Jaejoong covered his mouth and laughed.

“Aish~ Hey!” Yunho cursed just before looking at his friend. Jaejoong laughed for a little bit, his hand still covering his mouth. Once he had calmed down, he lowered it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but that’s what you get for looking through my stuff.” Yunho just stood there, looking at Jaejoong as he breathed deeply and tried to return his heartbeat to its normal rhythm. Once he was calm, he looked into Jaejoong’s eyes and smiled a half smile.

“I couldn’t help myself, I’m sorry.” Jaejoong shook his head as he walked over to Yunho. He stood beside him but faced the desk so he could put down the plate he had been carrying. Yunho turned around to see what was happening. He focused on the plate and saw the piece of steak he had started to eat at dinner. He turned his head and looked at Jaejoong who looked back at him with a careful expression.

“My father kept this just in case you wanted it. He told me that you didn’t eat much.” Jaejoong explained, his voice extremely soothing and yet very timid. Yunho smiled in appreciation at the other boy. The chef’s son put some cutlery beside the plate and walked over to his bed to sit on it. Yunho watched Jaejoong as he walked away; staring at his face in a daze once he was seated. Just as Jaejoong looked at the young prince, Yunho looked at the plate and smiled. He turned his head back to focus on where his friend sat on the bed and walked over, taking a seat beside him.

“We had a fight at dinner.” The young prince told Jaejoong without being asked. He looked at his hands as he fiddled with the picture he still held. He took a deep breath and let it out before continuing. “It was just like the others – my father praised Taeho and reprimanded me.” Jaejoong looked at Yunho with sympathetic eyes as he reached out and gently held the tan boy’s wrist in comfort. Yunho looked back at him and smiled weakly, trying to show his friend his appreciation. Jaejoong let go of his wrist as he smiled back.

“Which picture is that?” Jaejoong asked, hoping to change the subject to something safe. Yunho looked down at the picture and smiled before holding it out for Jaejoong to take. The smaller boy grabbed it and looked at it. He started to laugh as he smiled adoringly at the picture.

“Do you remember when that picture was taken?” Yunho asked, causing Jaejoong to nod in response with a slight smile on his face.

“Yeah. Yoochun dared me to kiss you on the cheek. I really didn’t want to but when I saw Yoochun take his camera out, I figured it would make a memory worth remembering.” He told Yunho. Even though he had figured that Jaejoong only did it because of the camera, he was surprised by what he said last.

“A memory worth remembering?” Yunho asked, intrigued by what the other boy meant by that. Jaejoong nodded before retuning to the picture in his hands.

“I figured that some day, the three of us would look at this picture and reminisce about that day. I guess it worked, even though it’s just you and me looking at it right now.” He said as he smiled, almost to himself. Even though he wanted to smile, the young monarch wasn’t sure if he should feel happy or something else. He tried to study Jaejoong’s face for an answer, but there was nothing there. Feeling Yunho’s stare on him, Jaejoong looked back at him and held the picture out to him. Yunho held his hand out with the palm facing Jaejoong and shook it from side to side.

“It’s yours, keep it.” He told him. Jaejoong nodded and reached out to place it on his bedside table. He looked back at Yunho and studied his face. Starting to feel nervous, the hockey player silently hoped Jaejoong would say something.

“Well, what do you want to do now?” He asked. Relieved, Yunho shrugged his shoulders as he looked around Jaejoong’s room.

“We could just watch TV or something.” Yunho suggested. Jaejoong nodded.

“That’s fine with me.” He told him. The two climbed into the center of the bed and adjusted to face the television. Jaejoong reached for the bedside table again and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on.

The two sat in silence as they flipped through the channels and settled on one of the many music programs that aired throughout the week. They talked to each other for a while, discussing unimportant things. Yunho asked Jaejoong if he was feeling better, to which Jaejoong replied that he was. After that, the two grew silent and watched the show together for a while. As Yunho began to feel himself growing tired, he stretched where he sat, getting ready to get off of the bed.

“jaejoo-“ He started to say as he turned to look at the other boy but stopped when he saw that Jaejoong had fallen asleep. Yunho smiled at how peaceful he looked. He got up from where he had been laying and kindly pulled the blanket up to cover the other boy. He smiled at him even though he knew that he couldn’t see the gesture. He then walked over to the TV to shut it off before walking over to Jaejoong’s desk and picking up the plate with his now cold steak with him as he walked to the door. He looked back at the sleeping beauty once more before turning off the light and leaving, closing the door quietly behind him.