Chapter 3
Every month, the Kingdom of Sedocia held medical missions to cater to the refugees they rescued from all over the country. From here, they could be registered, given medical attention and then be assigned to different sectors of the kingdom where they would be part of a community that would help them adapt to their new surroundings.
Before they established this system, Sedocia held them at local hospitals whenever they could to help omegas that were severely injured or harmed when they ran away from alpha and beta breeders. When the kingdom realized more than just medical attention was needed to help the victims, they began this system and eventually built a separate place so they could hold such an event. Even though it wasn't all medical, they still called it medical missions.
The building which held the missions eventually became the Public Function Hall, where events ranging from charity drives to concerts could be carried out. Today, it served its original purpose as volunteers and ERU members gathered around the large hall, divided into three different sections.
On a bright and early Saturday, this was where Joonmyun found himself, nursing a warm mug of green tea while he tried to pay attention to Seohyun's instructions. When she finished, she ushered all the members of the union to their respective groups so their leaders could properly guide them. Joonmyun made his way to the Registration sector but Heechul caught him by the arm and gave him a stern look.
"Your Highness," he said in a low voice, lips barely moving. "The rest is up to you."
Joonmyun tried not to grimace as he nodded. As if catching the incident, Yixing came up to him then, patted him on the shoulder and wished him luck before he went with the group assigned to Medical. Joonmyun thanked him, appreciating the moral support. He took a gulp of his green tea and let it do its wonders.
"Good morning, everyone," a voice called out. Joonmyun took it as his cue to group with the other volunteers, standing side by side Minseok and Siwon. "I'm Kwon Boa and I'm going to be the Registration's Team Leader. Today, we're very fortunate to have with us His Highness, Alpha King Joonmyun, Royal Advisor Minsok and ERU Vice President Siwon." The group applauded the members while they waved at everyone. "However, we must remember that just like the rest of us, they are also volunteers. Do not hesitate to ask for their help, direct them in their tasks, and if you must, correct their mistakes. Is that understood?"
At the affirmative reply, Boa then proceeded to separate the volunteers into different groups that would comprise of the Registration sector. Joonmyun tried not to frown when he found himself at the documentation tables. He listened as Boa instructed them carefully at what to do, what not to do before leading them to three long tables filled with pens and paper.
Joonmyun took one look at the stack in front of him and downed the rest of his tea. Documentation meant he'd be doing a lot of the talking, and more often than not, a lot of comforting and coaxing. He tried to give himself a small and internal pep talk before he took the pen in his hands.
"Okay, everyone!" Seohyun's voice echoed around the hall. "Let's begin!"
They opened the doors and a flood of people made their way to the registration tables. A few of the volunteers from the Registration group manned the crowd, guiding the refugees so they could easily navigate through the hall. Joonmyun found himself relying on memories of past missions to remember how they talked and greeted those that needed help. He made sure his voice was gentle and that his smile never faltered.
He started out a little shaky but took comfort in the fact that none of the refugees knew who he really was.
“Oh,” a frail young woman—an omega, if the faint sweet scent was anything to go by—whispered as she took the seat before him.
Joonmyun greeted her with his best comforting smile. "Hi, I'm Joonmyun. I'm here to help you fill out your forms. Can I have your name please?"
“I—I’m—oh no, I can’t remember my name. I’m sorry, it’s just you were so handsome and you looked a little like the king and just—wow, you’re even better looking than him?”
Joonmyun held back his chuckle and tried to assist the lady as much as he could. After thanking her for her compliment and assuring her that she could take her time, the young woman eventually remembered her name and began filling up the form. She smiled at him when she finished, thanked him in her weak but joyful voice and then went on her way.
So maybe a few refugees do have an idea of who I am, he thought.
The encounter made it easier to adapt to his job, helping him establish a rhythm. As more people began to line up, more volunteers took up the chairs beside his, helping him cater to more refugees. Even when he had to write for the weaker or more injured ones, Joonmyun found that his fingers no longer shook or mishandled the pen.
Joonmyun gave the children extra special treatment, voice gentle as he complimented them or the stuffed toys in their hands. He tried not to think about whatever they'd been through in case it brought him to tears.
“Aren’t you the king?” most of the children asked.
“No, I’m not. But people do say we look alike.” Joonmyun would smile and chuckle then, allowing the conversation to melt the air between them. Most of them had older companions who would apologize to Joonmyun for their frankness.
“Please don’t worry about it. I take it as a compliment,” Joonmyun would say, but in all honesty, the turn of conversation helped him forget about the horrors these kids had gone through.
Some of them didn’t always have older companions or anyone at all. He would do his best to cheer them up and was glad when free volunteers would accompany them, guiding them from each sector before they got dropped off to their community.
When he caught sight of the next duo, Joonmyun didn't think they'd be any different. Although the older one of the two still looked young, he looked capable enough in the way he held the young boy in his arms.
"Hi, I'm Joonmyun. I'm here to help you out fill out your forms. Can I have your names please?" He asked, keeping his tone extra soft because from up close, he could tell that the older of the two had gone through a lot. Bruises and scars marred the boy's arms, and his eyes were harder than most kids his age.
The young man quickly looked from side to side before fixing the boy in his arms. "I'm Sehun and this is Jisung."
Joonmyun nodded, quickly writing down their names before passing Sehun both papers. When Sehun reached his arm out, Joonmyun caught a quick whiff of his citrus beta scent. He swallowed thickly when he realized it was the small boy in Sehun’s arms that gave off the saccharine omega aroma. "Are you all right to write down both of your information?"
Sehun stiffened in his seat and the boy in his arms caught on as he buried his head in Sehun's chest. "Uhm—I, I can write my info down, but I don't really know much about Jisung. I just—We just escaped together."
Joonmyun reached out and stroked Sehun's arms, hoping the gesture would calm the boy down. "That's fine. You can go ahead and fill out whatever you can. Can Jisung speak?"
At the mention of his name, Jisung took one quick glance at Joonmyun before going back to his position. Despite the obvious snub, Joonmyun kept his smile gentle and calm.
"How about I fill out Jisung's form and Sehun, you can tell me what you know?"
"Okay, I think that works." Sehun fixed Jisung in his arms, one hand holding the boy while his other took hold of a pen.
"Do you know his last name?" Sehun shook his head. "Do you know how old he is or when he was born?"
Sehun bit his lip and whispered. "I think he's five but I don't really know when he was born."
"Alright. What kingdom is he from?"
"We're both from Donocia, that I'm sure of," Sehun said, with a bit of a sigh of relief.
Joonmyun wrote down all the information that Sehun could give him and frowned when he realized the most of the important ones were still blank. He turned to look at Jisung in Sehun's arms, head buried even deeper into Sehun's chest. He looked at his companions beside him, but they were all occupied. He bit his lip and took a deep breath.
"Jisung-ah," he called, voice low and soft. He pushed himself further on the table so Jisung could hear him. "I'm Joonmyun hyung and I'm here to help you, okay?"
Jisung turned his head slightly and glared at Joonmyun, lips downturned and almost seething. Joonmyun was taken aback at the anger. He'd never seen a boy so young look so angry. He almost forgot what he needed to do.
"Jisung," Sehun scolded lightly, causing the boy to bury his head back into Sehun's chest. Sehun sent Joonmyun an apologetic look but the young king just waved it away.
Joonmyun, with no other choice, moved away from his seat and bent down in front of Sehun and Jisung. "Jisung," Joonmyun said softly, careful not to touch the young boy. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you a couple of questions, is that alright?"
Jisung turned to look at Joonmyun and his frown deepened. Joonmyun saw the exact moment the boy started to cry. His eyes crinkled and his lips fell open to release the most heartbreaking sob he'd ever heard.
Sehun panicked first, looking at Joonmyun with wide eyes, like he would strike him the moment Joonmyun got the chance. Joonmyun tried not to focus on that as he turned his attention on Jisung who was slowly causing a ruckus among the crowd.
"I'm sorry," Sehun said before he tried to comfort Jisung, whispering in his ear things Joonmyun couldn't properly hear. Joonmyun gave Sehun a quick smile.
"Jisung, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you here," Joonmyun tried to reassure. He kept saying things he recalled other volunteers used but none of them seemed to work. Jisung cried and cried, his voice seemingly growing louder and louder as he did.
Before Joonmyun could even think about panicking, someone brushed past him, kneeling down in front of Jisung.
"Hey there," a soft unfamiliar voice greeted. “What’s your name?”
Jisung continued to cry and shook his head.
“Oh dear,” the volunteer whispered. He reached around behind him and pulled out a treat from his pocket. He waved the lollipop in front of him. “Hey, it’s okay. If you tell me your name, all I’m going to do is give you this candy. Do you want a lollipop?" the soft voice asked. Joonmyun glanced at the man quickly, catching just his profile before returning his attention to a slowly calming Jisung.
Jisung hiccuped, stared at the man and then at the candy. He bit his lip, but nodded hesitantly. “Jisung,” he whispered, hand reaching out for the treat.
"Now that's a good boy," the man said, handing Jisung the lollipop.
Sehun nudged Jisung lightly and Jisung frowned but faced the volunteer. In the softest voice that Joonmyun could've missed, Jisung said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" the cheery voice rung in Joonmyun's ears, like the soft trills of a bell. "You're very polite aren't you. That's very good. I'm Jongdae." Joonmyun had to take a step back to see if he was hearing things right. “And I just have to say this, but you have a really pretty name! I think it really suits you."
"Not pretty," Jisung mumbled.
"Ah, you're right. It's a very handsome name, of course. My apologies," Jongdae said, lowering his head and then smiling at the toddler, the kind that made the corner of his lips curl that just bit more. "As an apology, I would like to be your friend, is that okay?"
Jisung looked scared for a moment, eyes going back and forth the people around him. His eyes lingered on Sehun's and Sehun nodded enthusiastically. Jisung didn't look at Jongdae but he nodded his assent.
"Wow! Thank you, Jisung-ah. I'm so glad to be your friend. How about we celebrate this friendship with chocolate?" Jongdae offered. Jisung's eyes sparkled at the mentioned treat. He didn't even hesitate to nod his head, smiling at Jongdae. Jongdae sighed in relief, a short and brief movement that Joonmyun only noticed because he'd been watching Jongdae handle the whole thing.
Jongdae turned to him then; his bright and relaxed smile quickly faltered at the sight of Joonmyun. He looked more surprised than anything, before he schooled it back into his smile. "Hey, I'll take care of this if you don't mind?"
Joonmyun, too shocked at being addressed, nodded. "I'll be right back, then," Jongdae said to the three of them. "You guys just wait here while I get some chocolates."
Joonmyun watched Jongdae walk back behind the tables, talking to someone and pointing back at them. With nothing else to do, Joonmyun got up and went back to his chair. He smiled at both Sehun and Jisung, "I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm going to assist other people now."
"Ah, no it's fine, we're sorry about earlier," Sehun said, voice low.
Before Joonmyun could say anything else, Jisung turned to him then, mouth in a small frown. "I'm sorry, too," Jisung mumbled.
Joonmyun smiled, heart light and warm. "Don't worry about it, you two. Are you guys all right for now?"
Sehun looked at Jisung, and when the child nodded, Sehun said, "Yeah, we are. We'll just wait for Jongdae hyung."
"Sounds good."
Someone soon came over and placed a chair beside Joonmyun's, before he could ask, an adult omega appeared and Joonmyun busied himself with helping her. Jongdae came by not too long after, occupying the seat beside Joonmyun's and ushering Jisung and Sehun to take the seat in front of him.
From the corner of his eye, Joonmyun watched as Jongdae engaged both Sehun and Jisung into a conversation, occasionally filling up the form as he went. By the time Jongdae finished Jisung's form, it was time for a shift change. Joonmyun ushered the couple in front of him to the medical sector before turning back to Jongdae who waved at Sehun and Jisung.
Joonmyun took a deep breath. "Excuse me, Jongdae, right?" Joonmyun could barely hear his own words with the thundering of his heart. Jongdae stiffened in front of him before turning to him with an apologetic smile.
"Your Highness," Jongdae bowed. "I'm sorry if I acted out of line."
"It's quite all right, you don't have to bow." Joonmyun, despite being flustered, smiled kindly at Jongdae. "I really appreciate what you did back there. Thank you for helping me out. I hope you wouldn't mind if I asked for your help every now and then?"
"Yes, of course, Your Highness," Jongdae said, his tone bright and excited. And then he flushed as he added, "it would be my pleasure."
Joonmyun could literally feel his cheeks burn, but he kept his smile cool. "Actually, would you mind joining me for lunch so I can ask you how you did that?"
"Oh, ah, sure, yeah, I mean yes, that would be great. Let me just, get my food." Jongdae disappeared in the crowd of volunteers before appearing right back, hair mussed and panting slightly. Joonmyun had to resist the urge to chuckle at the sight of him.
"Hope you don't mind, but I'll be eating with my advisor because he brought my lunch."
"That's fine. In fact, I'm incredibly honored that His Highness would even seek my advice," Jongdae said, voice filled with wonder. He seemed a little fidgety with his movements, but he sounded sincere and that amused Joonmyun.
"Please, just call me Joonmyun. I'd rather appreciate it if the refugees didn't find out I was king until much later."
Jongdae chuckled but nodded in understanding. "I could definitely see why you would do that."
Before Joonmyun could ask him to elaborate, Minseok appeared by his side, a knowing smile playing at his lips. "Your Highness, your lunch."
Joonmyun wondered if his flush was as prominent as he felt it to be. He thanked Minseok for lunch and invited him to sit down with them on a table provided for people on their breaks.
"Going back to Jisung, how were you able to know what would calm him down?"
"Children like Jisung, who've been through some kind of trauma can be triggered with words. I guessed that the kind of promises you made him may have triggered some of his experiences which caused him to react negatively, so I purposely did something that was the complete opposite of his experience. Most—" Jongdae paused, swallowing down his words before taking a deep breath, "—handlers like to take everything they can from these children, verbally abusing them while they’re at it because as they are, they're of no use."
"That's why you gave him the candy, and the chocolate."
"Exactly. It's alright. There was no way you could've known what you were saying was possibly harming in any way," Jongdae said.
"What about you? How did you know?"
Jongdae's smile faltered for a split second before it came back. He took a deep breath and said, "I've volunteered quite a lot and I also studied it."
"That sounds amazing," Joonmyun said, truly awed by Jongdae's experience.
Jongdae laughed it off. "Well, I'm no king, but I try."
"I'm not that amazing, I promise," Joonmyun said, looking away and taking a bite of his meal.
"I wouldn’t say that," Jongdae drawled. Joonmyun looked up and caught Jongdae wink at him. "I mean, I’m no expert but I think you're a pretty amazing king, Joonmyun."
For some reason, Jongdae's words affected him much more than he thought it would. The flush on his cheeks felt very real and very hot. He tried to laugh it off, drinking some water in the hopes of cooling himself off.
"Why don't I help you out on our next shift?" Jongdae offered once they were almost finished eating.
"That would be great. I'd be very honored to have you help me. Thank you."
"You're honored? Your Highness, I'm the one who's honored to have the pleasure of working with you," Jongdae said sincerely, giving Joonmyun this smile where his lips curled and his eyes crinkled just the slightest. If Joonmyun were honest with himself, Jongdae looked absolutely adorable and it was setting his cheeks on fire.
"You're welcome then?" Joonmyun found himself asking instead of saying. He wasn't exactly sure what else to say to Jongdae's comments.
Jongdae laughed, shaking his head as he calmed down. "Is it just you or are all kings this polite?"
"It's definitely all kings," Minseok said then, voice low but clear enough that both Jongdae and Joonmyun heard it.
Joonmyun turned to give Minseok a look, but Jongdae just stared at Minseok, wide-eyed and confused, before holding back a snort behind his hand and then bursting out laughing once more.
"Not to sound rude or anything, but is your royal advisor always like that? Is that even allowed?" Jongdae whispered to Joonmyun once he'd calmed down.
Joonmyun sighed. "Technically, no, he's not allowed, but Minseok and I are more friends than employee-employer so I let him do as he likes when we're alone."
Minseok rolled his eyes. "I just felt the need to remind you guys that you weren't alone. In case you've forgotten."
"I'm definitely sorry for forgetting you," Jongdae apologized, bowing slightly. "I'm Jongdae by the way. I don't think we've been properly introduced."
"Royal Advisor Minseok," Minseok said, reaching out a hand to shake Jongdae's. "It's alright. My job calls for me to disappear in the background most times, but today, I'm not an advisor. I'm just a volunteer, just like Joonmyun." Minseok winked at Joonmyun and then threw a sneaky smile Jongdae's way.
They spent the rest of their lunch exchanging small talk. Jongdae talked about going to college and taking up psychology. Although it wasn't new information, the way Jongdae talked about his major, with his eyes bright and his body animated, made it that much more interesting. They talked until they had to go back to the tables where Jongdae and Joonmyun both focused on helping more people out.
Joonmyun found that he had a lot more to learn when he watched Jongdae handle some of the refugees, doing more than just talk to them in low tones. He conversed with some of them, sympathized when he could, and sometimes, he just held their hands and wished them well. Joonmyun took notes whenever he could, trying to copy some of the easier tricks that Jongdae used on some of the victims.
They barely had enough time to really talk about each other, but Joonmyun spent the rest of the day observing and learning so much from Jongdae that it felt like he properly knew this person before him.
"Jongdae." Joonmyun caught Jongdae by the arm. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me out. I learned so much from you today."
"You're welcome, Joonmyun," Jongdae said with a smile, his eyes crinkling and his chest puffed out. Joonmyun wanted to chuckle at how proud Jongdae looked but kept it in. He didn't think it would be appropriate.
From somewhere around them, Joonmyun heard someone clear their throat and it hit Joonmyun then that this was Jongdae, the Jongdae who was going to be his husband, the Jongdae who, if he recalled correctly, he needed to be forming some kind of relationship with. He knew there was something he was supposed to do but he couldn't remember. The panic in his eyes must have been clear because Jongdae leaned in and muttered with his lips barely opening, "Ask for my number."
For a moment, Joonmyun was afraid his jaw would drop, but years of training and etiquette took their effect when he slipped on a quick and easy smile.
"I hope it wouldn't be too forward of me to ask for your number? I'd really like to talk with you more if possible." Joonmyun really wanted to ask if Jongdae was as flustered as he was, if the pink in his cheeks meant what Joonmyun was thinking it meant.
"No, uh, that would be fine. Let me just get my phone." Jongdae cleared his throat and fumbled for his phone. Joonmyun was glad his body knew it had to get his phone out of his pocket too, handing it to Jongdae the same exact moment when Jongdae handed him his phone. They quickly typed their numbers, Joonmyun leaving his name blank for Jongdae to save.
Joonmyun glanced at the short and simple Jongdae Kim on his and smiled.
"I look forward to hearing from you." Joonmyun offered his hand for Jongdae and Jongdae chuckled, taking it in his own.
"Likewise."
Jongdae bit his lip as he let go, eyes locking with Joonmyun's until he eventually turned away.
"Smooth, Your Highness, very smooth," Minseok whispered beside him.
"Shut up, Minseok." |
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wheredreamslast2017-02-03 11:22 pm
