Chapter Text
Walking inside Hyunjin's home Felix has a wide smile plastered on his face, he is so happy he was able to be free early today and now he can be with Hyunjin for as long as they desire. The sun was still shining in the sky and Felix had decided he'd surprise the man by visiting him at a time he hadn't expected Felix to be present. When he walks inside the forest and looks around, searching for Hyunjin he doesn't find anyone. His eyebrows knit together in confusion as he looks around once again, twirling this time and making sure he also calls out the man's name but no one responds and Felix is perplexed.
He walks over to the trees and calls out Hyunjin's name but nothing comes back, he stands still waiting for either the butterflies or the owner himself to materialize but none do and he's quickly disappointed when he makes his way back to the middle of the place, standing near the lake and placing his hands on his hips the blond thinks on what to do. Is that why Hyunjin had asked him not to meet in the daytime because he was busy?
A pout forms on Felix's lips as he kicks the rock near his foot, upset that he wanted to spend time with Hyunjin and he had specifically cleared his schedule so he wouldn't be late and wouldn't have to return home too quickly. He huffs in frustration, where could Hyunjin be? The blond wonders as he sighs and decides to wait for him. He looks around the place and finds it so utterly gorgeous, not more than it looks at night but even this sight is so much more beautiful than any other place Felix had ever seen
The colors are so vivid when the very mere beams of the sun hit them, due to the cold weather the sun isn't shining all too bright but it's enough even through the clouds to spill over the place. He sighs and drinks in the beautiful scenery before he decides to watch it up close, walking over to every little small thing. The wide tree wall, the flowers that wrap around it, standing underneath it and looking up at how massive these trees are before he crouches down and smiles at the cute little flower field that is so very puny that it could be a country for a fly
He takes one of the purple petals in his fingers and caresses the smoothness of it, fiddling it in between his fingers before he inhales the sweet scent. Minutes pass and Felix is back near the lake again because he's watched and inspected every little thing but Hyunjin isn't here yet, Felix doesn't know what else to do so he begins collecting small pebbles in his palm and throwing them in the lake, the circles they emit as they collide over the water and the splashes they create aren't large because Felix is too polite to throw these pebbles harshly at the kind lake
By the time he was done with that, the sun had begun sinking as he bored-ly sighed and plopped down on the ground, deciding to watch the sunset before he left this place because it didn't seem like Hyunjin would be coming back anytime soon. Felix places his arms underneath his head and watches the splendid colors in the sky, the deep purple, orange, pink, and blue merging together and flawlessly blending as though they weren't all entirely different. It's such a beautiful sight but what occupies Felix's mind spreads red over his cheeks
His mind takes him back to what he did earlier lying in this very same spot as he is lying in right now. His stomach flutters are the thought of Hyunjin kissing him as he runs his tongue over his lips and thinks how Hyunjin had done it. The blond doesn't know what he feels for Hyunjin but he knows that he is very fond of him, highly attracted to him and that he loves spending time with the taller, a sigh withers from his lips because he realizes how much he misses the man as he looks around again
trying to spot him somewhere but he doesn't find him anywhere however what he does find is much more exciting. The void. That's where Hyunjin must be. Felix thinks to himself as he springs to his feet and curiosity rises in his chest at the sight of the shadows, even in the daytime they have been dark. The blond licks his lips, pondering his thoughts before he throws all of his sensible thinking and walks toward the darkness, not thinking twice about whether he should do this or not. There's no fear in him about committing something so idiotic that will indefinitely land him in trouble
With each step toward the void Felix feels his heartbeat growing louder even if he's not scared or nervous, Hyunjin goes in here all the time, and so it mustn't be that bad. The blond thinks to himself as he pushes the idea of the fact that he is not sure of what lies before him at all, he doesn't know what is lurking in these shadows but he isn't really paying too much attention right now. As he inches closer into the void, Felix finds his sights being overtaken by the shadows but even then he doesn't stop and continues walking
not really sure where he's stepping but It feels like steady ground. Soon enough, the shadows swallow Felix whole and now he can't see anything, nothing at all. He turns his head around to see if the light behind him is still there. When he finds it gone and all that meets his eye is darkness and darkness only Felix slowly begins to freak out, his heart that was already drumming as if it could foretell the future has grown faster and goosebumps have risen on his skin
his lungs are tightening on themselves and Felix feels like he can't breathe any longer. He's surrounded by darkness and it's almost like his feet refuse to move but he does his best, showcases his best strength, and continues to walk forward even though he doesn't know where he's going at all. The haunting thoughts soon dawn on him what if he never makes it out of here? What if he's stuck in this complete darkness for eternity? What if he can never see light again---before his thoughts can continue he sees a small beacon of light coming from the far corner and he lunches toward it
Running in its direction uncaring of what awaited him because he just wants to be able to see again and not be devoured by black. As he continues to run Felix soon makes it out of the void and he sighs heavily In relief though what is on the other side of the void rises surprise in him, complete and utter surprise. It's another forest, vast and so large, so much more than the one on the other side. Felix looks around in bemusem*nt, in front of the vast and vividly green forest is a magnificent castle that makes Felix's mouth widen, had he entered a fantasy land yet again?
His lips are apart and his eyes are widened, he can't believe what he sees. The castle in front of his eyes is so majestically gorgeous that it's hard to understand if it even exists or not, is this one of Felix's dreams again? Or is this real? Perhaps he fell asleep on the grass waiting for Hyunjin and now he's imagining silly things because of all the up-close beauty he's looked at back in the paradisical place.
The blond feels glued to his feet as he looks around, trying to take a better grasp of whatever place this is as he finally unfreezes from his spot and turns to look behind him, the void is wide open and as dark as it has been and Felix shudders at the sight of it before he steps away from it and walks a few feet, roaming around aimlessly just trying to understand this entire fiasco.
He spins around, once, twice, and thrice while watching the wonderful place and now he feels dizzy but he's also sure it's just because of all of these bizarre states of affairs. The grass beneath his feet is darker than the grass outside and Felix decides to walk closer to the castle and go inside it, is this where Hyunjin lives?
The idea excites Felix as he quickens his steps, it's a bit of a hill to climb when he finally reaches the castle's entrance. A large metal gate guards the castle with a similar fence all around it, it's rusted and covered in deep-green vines, the weather here is chilly, even colder than back home and there is some ice that has frozen on the pricks of the fence and around the vines that are hanging by the metal door. Felix contemplates for a second before pushing open the gate and it makes a loud creaking noise
Felix hisses at it, slowing his movements and feeling the cold beneath his palms before he finally makes enough of a space that he can slide inside. Walking over the rocks, Felix is careful not to twist his ankle as he looks down and watches his steps, counting them even because it's a long way before he will finally reach the castle's actual gate, and when he does he sighs in relief. Smiling as he raises his hand to knock but decides against it, he wishes to surprise Hyunjin if he truly is in there.
There is no sense of fear or surprise about this unnatural place in him because his thoughts are filled with excitement about exploring this place and zeal to meet Hyunjin even if he isn't sure if the man is there or not. When Felix walks inside the castle the first thing he notices is how warm it is and then notices the candles that are lit in nearly every corner of the castle and them all combined illuminate an incandescent glow that is warm and cozy
There's a maroon carpet spread everywhere on the ground and it's spotless like it had never been used. Right in front of the gate is a large set of stairs that lead to the upstairs of the castle and it's regally intricate, made of gold, and incredibly detailed with patterns on every end of it. Looking around the inside of the castle Felix realizes it's so large that he has never seen a housing as large as this. From one end to the other it just never seems to end
On every wall is the taint of maroon, painted flawlessly like every other thing in this place. Candelabras stuck to the maroon walls and they're lit, they're golden hue casting over themselves and the walls and creating a beautiful chiaroscuro over the small parts of the castle. Below the staircase and behind it are encircled pathways Felix can't decipher because of the dark. The blond walks inside and lets the gate close on its own behind his back as he watches how the castle is almost empty with only a few decorations here and there as if to fill its loneliness
The blond watches the left wall with interest because against it is set a table on which are numerous decor pieces all made of gold. He takes his time admiring everything on the left before he walks further into the castle and turns to his right, finding this wall to be so much more interesting, there are paintings hung everywhere on this wall, portraits of families who look to be wearing clothes from the olden times and they look like royalty too
the portraits of men and women with their names and ages written below the gold frames and Felix walks closer to the wall, gliding his hand on the bottom of the paintings as he continues to walk and walk, making sure to grab a candle before he strays too far into the darkness, Felix doesn't realize how much he's walked as he has now reached very far into the place that the glow of the candles has ended and he's standing where he couldn't see earlier
his eyes land on a portrait hung in the dark and even in the dimness he can see the bottom of an eye and a mole on it, Felix squints his eyes and furrows his brows, raising his candle to take a better look at the painting and what he sees shakes his world and turns it upside down. A gasp slips past his lips as he watches the face of the man he's kissed last night painted with such delicacy and detail onto the canvas, standing proudly, a crown on his head and a staff in his hand, he looks royal in all his glory and Felix feels his entire self sink deep into the ground
Why is there hung a painting of Hyunjin alongside these royal people, why is he wearing a crown? who exactly is Hyunjin? the blond feels his heart crawl to his throat and he doesn't know what is the meaning of this. His eyes immediately fall down to where the names and ages have been written and if his world couldn't have shaken worse, it did now. Written there were words of cursive, embedded in gold, glinting in the light of the candle
'𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐇𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐧
𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧;𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝟏𝟖𝟓𝟕 — 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝;𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝟏𝟖𝟕𝟖'
Felix gasps again, feels the ground beneath him open wide and the sky above him bursts. his eyes are wide as saucers and he feels dizzy with this information he's received, Crown prince? Felix gulps, or at least wants to but he can't close his mouth and his head is too heavy. Is Hyunjin dead? Is Hyunjin a prince? is he a ruler of some fantasy kingdom Felix isn't aware of? what even is this place? is this his home or is this a lie? the blond stumbles back, fear that has never settled in his chest rises like the calamitous waves of the tide
He doesn't know what to feel anymore and he's not sure if he wants to stay here any longer, he takes another step back, hand still in the air and the light of the candle makes Hyunjin's ice-cold expression so vivid that it makes a whimper slip past Felix's lips, the man Felix sees in the painting is not the man he had been spending all of these nights with, laughing and chatting away. the eyes he saw in the forest back there were so warm that Felix didn't mind sinking in them but the eyes that are in this painting, they're cruel, piercing through Felix's soul and he shudders under the heavy gaze of it
Felix doesn't want to look at this face any longer, this painting that is so eerily unsettling that all of the things he had once thought to be true are crashing down at him as a storm of trickery and lies. when he takes hasty steps back with his body shaking like a leaf his eyes are glued to the painting, staring into the prince's eyes and he doesn't realize he's stumbled into something-- or someone. the buff chest pressed against his back makes him gasp loudly, the small sound echoes in the quiet of the sinister castle as Felix turns around quickly and his already wide eyes widen further
the gasp that left his mouth before is stuck in his throat now, his hand is lingering in the air and the glow of the candle reveals a brooding Hyunjin standing before him, his black hair falling across his face and his clothes are the shade of them, unwrinkled and smooth with something wet splattered across them but Felix is yet to notice it because he's too dreaded with the eyes that are shrouding him to his place, his heart stops beating because whatever stood in front of him was not the Hyunjin he knew but the man from the painting
his eyes as cold as a frozen dagger and the look on his face isn't a clement stoic expression but something unreadable but also undeniably ferocious. Felix wants to let out a scream but nothing makes it past his lips as Hyunjin turns his head, slowly and softly, gazing at the painting of himself before he turns to look at Felix, his expression twisting back into the man Felix knows but it's still not enough because Felix is biting down sobs, tears have dampened his eyelashes and his bottom lip is quivering, Hyunjin can see his crying face in the warm hue of the fire lit in between them and he sighs lightly
"I can explain"
is all he says, his voice spectral and Felix feels shivers run all over his soul and body. though he's demented, too far out of his mind to grasp the situation he still managed to shake his head, face as still and horrified as if he had seen something entirely out of this world. all colors flushed from his face as if he had seen something truly otherwordly and he may just have. although his lips are red they're quivering to hold back the tsunami his heart is brewing, his grey eyes are glistening with unshed tears that sting and beg to fall, his freckles as prominent as ever because of the candle's gleam
He looks shattered, completely terrorized and Hyunjin wants nothing but to rush to his aid, hold him and put him together, ease his fears but he holds back and stays situated in the place Felix had stepped away from. "Felix, let me--" his soft and gentle voice is of no use, his words are left as a dwindling echo in the eldritch and spacious castle because before he can complete his sentence and plead his innocence Felix had dropped the lit candle on the carpeted ground and turned around, running as fast and as far as he can from Hyunjin.
