As June turned into July, the Kingdom of Knowledge was blessed with light showers frequently.

Surprisingly, the talk that Beomgyu and Taehyun had had marked a very important and pivotal point in their relationship. The younger prince lowered his guards and walls for Beomgyu and let him into his friendship with Kai. It left Beomgyu dazed with just how seamlessly he fell into place into their three-man group.

Just as Taehyun had promised, he took efforts to communicate and talk about things to Beomgyu. The two young princes started being more open in their room when the sun dipped below the horizon, talking about things as they would to a friend. Their topics were mostly light and about each other's families or kingdoms, trying to learn about the habits and quirks the other had.

"... thankfully, Su-won hyung was part of one of the biggest noble houses so the marriage was approved without a hitch," Taehyun paused in explaining his sister's marriage to glance at Beomgyu. The older prince hummed from where was lying on his bed on his stomach, feet swinging around behind him. His hands were folded and his cheek pressed against it, eyes softly lingering on Taehyun.

"That's so romantic," Beomgyu gushed, cheeks flushed by just hearing their story. "If Tae-ha noona had actually eloped with him, what would you have done?"

"I don't know," Taehyun said honestly, looking back up at the ceiling. "I never thought about it. Maybe because I knew how much she fit for the role of the kingdom's ruler, I never doubted her loyalty to the throne. She would have found a way to make it work without giving up either. And, I think my parents would have eventually given in after seeing how strong her love for Su-won hyung is."

"You didn't think that you would have to be king then?" Beomgyu's question was curious but Taehyun noted that it was also innocent. He wasn't trying to gauze out if Taehyun secretly craved to be the heir, he just wanted to know what Taehyun's thoughts on being King were. "I would be so lost if that had happened to me. Beom-su hyung is very reliable and just like Tae-ha noona, he suits the throne much better than I do. It feels unnatural to even imagine myself there instead of him."

"I get that," Taehyun nodded, lips curling into a smile again. There was warm contentment in his chest at how natural their conversation was. It was almost like he couldn't remember when they had that weird tension between them because Beomgyu was really really good at forgetting everything and acting like they had always been on a good page with each other.

The doorbell rang and Beomgyu got up to get their dinner. As Taehyun set the plates up on both their tables, he kept glancing at Beomgyu, who was humming to himself as he poured them some water. The soft smile on the older's face was proof that Beomgyu was happier too.

The two of them sat down at their desk chairs to have dinner, chairs twisted to face each other as they continued talking.

"Beomgyu-hyung," Taehyun hesitated, unsure if this question was too personal. Beomgyu raised an eyebrow but didn't look at him otherwise, too focused on his food. "I have been curious about this for some time now but… You're a year older than me and Kai, right? Then how is it that you are in the same grade as us?"

Beomgyu slowed down his chewing at Taehyun's question, eyes flickering to the brown haired boy's face in search of something before he gave the him a small smile.

"When I was 10 years old," Beomgyu explained, "my mother fell really sick. The Royal Academy normally starts for us from the age of 11 but when I turned 11, my mom's condition did not get better. All the doctors couldn't treat whatever was wrong with her and they basically asked us to get ready for her death. I decided to start school a year late so that I can spend whatever time we have left together."

Taehyun didn't say anything for a few seconds and just watched Beomgyu chew through his rice slowly.

"How did they cure her then?" He finally asked, curiousity winning over his hesitancy.

"Magic," Beomgyu said simply, his smile turning warm. "Back then, Beom-su hyung was already enrolled here. Instead of taking a gap year, he came here to study while my mother was dying. At that time, I really resented him for that. How could he value education over our mother? But now, I'm glad he was here. On this land that is so potent with magic, he spent every day searching for a cure. And when it all came to naught, he begged the land for the cure. And you know what the land did?"

"What?" Taehyun's eyes were shining, his body stilled to absorb the story Beomgyu was recalling.

"The land gave him a flower," Beomgyu said quietly. "It looked like it was made of gold and it didn't look like anything natural but that's because it had bloomed for my mother. Beom-su hyung came back during his term-end winter break and boiled that flower in water to make tea. That tea cured my mom wholly and she is still healthy and doing well thanks to it."

Taehyun just stared in awe, never having truly met someone who had experienced magic in reality. It was rare but it was beautiful. He silently thought that Beomgyu's mother must have been an especially wonderful woman if the land moved to help her live.

"Ever since then, I have believed in the magic we all live upon," Beomgyu paused to take a sip from his glass before flashing Taehyun a grin. "Don't tell me you don't believe in magic?"

"I do," Taehyun's simple answer was all that Beomgyu needed to know that the younger did truly believe him.

❀

Ballroom dancing was one of their classes that Beomgyu particularly enjoyed. Hailing from a land where art thrived, dancing was one of his favourite forms of expression. Even if it was in a ballroom, it was something special for the black-haired prince.

On the contrary, Taehyun seemed really disgruntled when the classes started again. Ballroom dancing lessons were only held once every two weeks since they had all learnt it in their early teens and now it was just a class so that they don't forget or lose the habit.

"How is this fun in any sense?" Taehyun frowned as the three of them waited for the rest of the students to join before class actually started.

"It's an intimate act of bodily expression, Taehyun-ah," Beomgyu's answer was met with a visible eye roll from the younger boy.

"It's pointless, that's what it is," Taehyun sighed.

"Art isn't supposed to prove a point," Beomgyu said, arms folded across his chest. "It's supposed to be a medium to express yourself."

"Still pretty useless, if you ask me," Taehyun murmured, eyes trained more on the slow trickle of students coming in than on the boy he was talking to. They were supposed to wear their dress shirts for the dancing and Beomgyu looked incredibly beautiful in his. Taehyun had to look away so that he wouldn't accidentally say it out loud.

"Well, good thing no one asked you then," Beomgyu said dryly. They weren't really fighting, at least not like before. It was just their usual banter that felt more natural to them than constantly being in each other's throats. It was harmless and light-hearted.

"You know, Taehyun," the smile on Kai's face made the said boy shudder. "Why don't you pair up with Beomgyu-hyung for the rest of this year? After all, we have danced together for 9 years now and this is our last year. You should spend it with Beomgyu-hyung. Very in-line with trying to convince the others that you're both so madly in love with each other."

Kai had to hold in his laughs at the last line but he didn't miss the excited look on Beomgyu's face at his suggestion. Neither did Taehyun, who had turned to face them both in shock and instead quietened down upon seeing how much Beomgyu liked the idea.

"Oh, that would be amazing!" The older prince giggled, hands clasping together. "I have never danced in this class with a friend!"

Taehyun refrained from jabbing at the fact that that's because Beomgyu didn't have any close friends before him and Kai. He knew that Beomgyu felt like an outsider amongst their class because he was older than them all; even as a joke, that would hurt Beomgyu to some extent and Taehyun didn't want that.

"Well now you can!" Kai said brightly, clapping them both on the shoulders with a devious smile. "Beomgyu-hyung?"

"Yeah?" Beomgyu's blinding smile didn't waver. Taehyun closed his eyes to curse internally.

"I am sorry for your toes."

Beomgyu learnt the exact meaning of Kai's words five minutes later when their teacher played the music and they started to waltz. Taehyun had already stepped on him twice and the song hadn't even been going on for three minutes.

"You're really bad at this, aren't you?" Beomgyu said, keeping in his laugh.

"I guess," Taehyun huffed, blush on his cheeks at the embarrassment of stepping on his fiance's toes twice already.

"Don't you get any practice done back home?" Beomgyu asked curiously, not noticing the way Taehyun flushed when he tightened his grip on the younger's waist.

"Uh, no, we don't really d-dance back home," Taehyun mumbled, feeling suddenly dizzy at how close the two of them were. Why was he even getting so panicked about this? He had held Kai like this for 9 years and not blushed once but there was something so different about holding Beomgyu so close to him, whispering his deep voice in Taehyun's ears while their hands were joined. It made something flutter in Taehyun's stomach and he accidentally blurted out, "You look really pretty today."

Beomgyu's face freezed up at that, though they kept moving in their dance. Before Taehyun could fully digest the horror of what he had accidentally said, the older prince accidentally stepped on his toes and Taehyun, unused to ever having his own steps trodden on, yelped loudly enough to make everyone stop and stare at them. Beomgyu jumped and stepped back at the sound, eyes wide in horror as he started stammering apologies to Taehyun.

"Mr. Kang, Mr. Choi," their dance teacher sighed. "Mayhaps you two need to take some time out and drink some water before you join the rest again."

Beomgyu just nodded for Taehyun's sake, apologetic eyes glancing towards Taehyun frequently as they sat down in the corner of the room and watched the rest of their classmates dance. Taehyun removed his shoe to stroke his foot where Beomgyu had accidentally stepped.

"I'm really sorry," Beomgyu mumbled, eyeing his foot in guilt.

"It's okay, just consider it payback for the two times I stepped on your toes before this," Taehyun winced. "How did you not scream when I did that? This hurts so much."

"Well," Beomgyu held in a smile. "Princes are supposed to be poised. Not supposed to scream so loudly just because someone stepped on our toes."

Taehyun just made a face at that, feeling even more embarrassed at the scene he had caused.

"But it's okay," Beomgyu nudged him with his shoulder, eyes still trained on their classmates instead of Taehyun himself. "If it's you stepping on my toes, I can hold my complaints in. It's not that big of a deal. It could have been much worse."

Taehyun just smiled at his words, heart thudding unnaturally at the way Beomgyu's side profile looked.

"I don't think I like dancing much," he huffed, looking away. Beomgyu snorted at that.

"I don't think dancing likes you much either," he joked.

✿

There was something incredibly domestic about having long conversations regarding anything and everything under the sun for Beomgyu. Constantly being around Taehyun all day, in classes, when they were in bed, it all became so natural that by the time August rolled around, Beomgyu couldn't remember not having the younger in his life.

It was just a few weeks but the way Taehyun had already taken over his mind from dawn to dusk was admittedly a little scary and yet thrilling. After all, Taehyun was the one he was going to be married to. Thinking about the marriage now made Beomgyu flush, the mere idea of continuing this routine the two of them had fallen into being invigorating for his heart. It was easy, it was warm, it was familiar.

And it also contrasted their initial fight so much that Beomgyu couldn't help but laugh at the past him, who had been afraid and couldn't see a future with Taehyun at all.

Now, as he spent his mornings waking up to Taehyun's alarm, he couldn't think of anything else that he would rather wake up to. It was a bit funny but also something that shook him from the insides.

"Taehyunnie," Beomgyu groaned, sitting up in his sleep-adled state. The younger boy just hummed from where he was lying asleep. Beomgyu didn't understand why he set an alarm for 4 in the morning if he wasn't going to wake up but it was on him to wake the younger up so that the alarm would stop ringing. The older prince stumbled out of his bed, nearly falling because his foot got tangled in the blankets.

Beomgyu huffed and untangled his feet and dropped the blanket back on his own bed before sitting down on Taehyun's bed so he could nudge the younger awake. The shrill tone of the alarm really irritated him though and Beomgyu first shut it off. Taehyun sighed in relief, eyes still shut as he snuggled deeper under his covers. Beomgyu shivered at the slightly low temperature and instead of waking up Taehyun, his hands found purchase in the warm blanket that wrapped the brown haired prince.

Tucking himself under the sheets, Beomgyu snuggled around Taehyun's back and they both fell asleep like that, until two hours later when Beomgyu's alarm woke Taehyun up. The youngest Kang tried to sit up only to realize that someone had him in a death grip around his waist and arms.

He stilled when he heard Beomgyu's familiar voice right next to his ears, the warm breath ghosting over it not helping him at all.

"Shut it off, Tyun," Beomgyu sighed, hands tightening for a second before going slack. Taehyun just stayed still, waiting for the older to realize what position they were in. "Oh."

Beomgyu didn't say anything else and just sat up, letting Taehyun go whilst doing that. The younger couldn't explain the relief and disappointment that simultaneously flooded him at that. He peeked behind his shoulder to see Beomgyu's reaction but the older didn't seem to be panicked at all. The youngest Choi simply shut off his alarm and yawned before dragging himself out of Taehyun's bed and over his own to reach the bathroom at the other end of the room.

Taehyun only let go of the breath he had held when Beomgyu shut the door behind him and just stared at the ceiling miserably. Beomgyu was either incredibly dense or he was doing this on purpose. Taehyun wasn't sure which option was better but he was sure that this was his karma coming to torture him sweetly.

He could still feel the curve of Beomgyu's torso on his back.

✿

The two of them fell into a routine of classes, library and free time, with Kai next to them for most of the time too. Taehyun got used to waking up on half the days with Beomgyu under his blankets and he learnt to just not mention it since the other wasn't considering it a big deal.

They had started spending most of their afternoons in the library, a large maze-like building behind their main building. It was vast and had too many floors and shelves upon shelves full of books about every topic under the sun. That wasn't surprising, considering there were on the land of knowledge but it was Taehyun's favourite place in the whole Kingdom.

He could spend hours browsing the books there, learning about all the various topics they had to offer, facts that he won't need anywhere really but were interesting to read. Kai was used to it and always accompanied him to do his studying there but Beomgyu looked like he has never stepped in this building ever before.

The youngest Choi just gawked at the filled shelves in awe and spent the first day just staring at Taehyun reading and Kai doing his work. From the next day, he started to do a bit of his own studies on some days and borrowed books to read on others. Unbeknownst to Taehyun, Beomgyu just took the chance to glance every so often at his handsome visage while reading, grateful for the book distracting the younger so much that he never noticed Beomgyu staring.

Those were the only hours the three of them didn't talk and were silent. It was a comfortable silence accompanied by light chatter in the background from where other students or civilians were talking to one of the many librarians at work. It was a familiar tranquility that Taehyun enjoyed.

He never knew about Beomgyu's staring nor did he know that the older sometimes fell asleep while reading because too many words made him sleep. He didn't even realize it until one day when Kai had to leave early due to something he and his roommate were doing.

Taehyun got too engrossed in reading that he didn't realize how late it was until he finished the book and saw the dark sky outside the windows. It was nearly 8 in the night and the brown haired boy just turned to Beomgyu to ask him why he hadn't told him only for his words to die on his lips.

The older prince had fallen asleep atop the book he was reading, face relaxed in a peaceful sleep. The sight made Taehyun smile before he realized it himself and wiped it off his face. What was up with him lately? He found himself smiling around Beomgyu way too much for it to be normal.

And his mind kept feeding him commentary on how beautiful Beomgyu looked all the time, whether it be when he had done his make-up just for fun or whether it was when Beomgyu had just woken up in Taehyun's bed with his hair all mussed up. Shaking the unnecessary thoughts out of his head, Taehyun glanced at the sleeping figure across from him and decided to just remove the book beneath him and keep it back in place.

It was tricky to remove it without waking up the black haired boy but Taehyun grinned triumphantly when he succeeded in doing so. He shut it close and looked at the cover so that he could keep it back in the shelf according to its initial but the title made him pause.

Flowers: The Language, Uncoded. It was a book about flower language, one of the books that Taehyun used to peruse as a child of six or seven. He had read it because he was expected to, because every citizen of the Earth knew flower language. It was a bit insane that he could name every single flower to exist along with how long it lived and what it meant but Taehyun didn't expect Beomgyu to try learning it.

But he was. For Taehyun.

A warm feeling rushed inside of Taehyun as he stared at the boy sleeping across him on the wooden library chairs. This wasn't the first time Beomgyu had gone out of his way for Taehyun and it only reassured Taehyun of one thing.

"Hyung?" He said softly, shaking the older awake. Beomgyu shook awake a little, looking around in confusion until he was awake enough to remember where he was. "It's getting late. We should go back to the dorms."

Beomgyu nodded and blearily looked at the book in Taehyun's hand. The younger handed it to him and just silently watched as Beomgyu checked it out to take back to the dorm.

When the two stepped out of the large brick building with ivy vibes running up its sides, Taehyun wrapped his coat around himself tighter. It had rained a bit in the evening and the atmosphere was chilly as he looked over to Beomgyu, who was hugging the book he had just checked out.

"Hey hyung?"

The older looked back at him in question.

"Remember when I said you were a mistake?"

Beomgyu opened his mouth to say something but Taehyun didn't let him.

"I was wrong," he smiled. He shuffled closer to the citizen of Air, hands easily coming up to make sure Beomgyu's scarf was placed neatly. The older prince just stared at him, wide eyes running over Taehyun's face in search of an explanation. "You are the best choice I have ever made."

The smile that broke out on Beomgyu's face was worth it.

°•❀•°