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Alberu Crossman found himself in a bit of a predicament.
He had, unfortunately, against his better judgment, agreed to join Cale Henituse and the others for some apple picking.
That in an on itself wasn't a bad thing.
These days his schedule consisted of constant political meetings and dealing with towers of paperwork that tended to appear on his desk out of nowhere. Since his coronation was getting near, there was always something to attend to.
Getting away from his duties, even if for half a day, had made his body rid itself from the numbness that had followed him everywhere after dealing with endless trouble.
Alberu also had the opportunity to spend more time with people he wouldn't usually have the luxury to engage with this way. From the ancient Golden Dragon-nim, to his Instructor-nim and the kids and quite the number of others, it was nice to see them outside of just his dongsaeng stirring up trouble.
So yeah, accepting the gracious offer to participate in manual labor overall wasn't disadvantageous to Alberu.
Although the only real pay for the hard work that they were offering were the apples themselves and the promise of fresh apple pies, it was still worth it to come here.
Alberu prided himself with being resourceful and an arrangement like this ultimately benefited him more than burdened him, so it was good for him that he had come.
Or that is what he had thought.
No, that is what he was trying to convince himself of, that it'd be a shame to try leaving so early after getting here…
…but a growing headache wouldn't let him rest even as he reached out for another apple to pick and put in the basket. It was starting to make Alberu reconsider whether exiting the scene might be gentler on his nerves.
His current headache, as usual, was connected to none other than the number one trouble magnet in Alberu's life, his beloved dongsaeng, Cale Henituse.
Cale, as expected, had not bothered with taking part in most of the physical activity required for fruit picking. He had instead opted to just collecting some of the fallen apples here and there or those that were low enough for him to reach.
After getting caught with using his wind attribute ancient power to gather them more easily, everyone had vehemently insisted he shouldn't exert himself too much for this.
Alberu had also very much agreed.
If Cale ended up hurt even in such a relatively peaceful setting, then Alberu's blood sugar might really not be able to handle it. Perhaps he'd even agree with the little black Dragon-nim's shouts about destroying things.
Well, Alberu wasn't one to act rashly and there was no point to senseless destruction either but his sanity was wearing thin with every second passing.
It wasn't because Cale had ended up hurting himself but it was still pretty much connected to the redhead.
Alberu had realized something recently, or perhaps he had come to admit to it finally.
Alberu had come to the realization that his feelings towards Cale Henituse might be more intimate than he had initially realized or intended for them to be.
…and although he had tried pushing that aside, coming here had made this problem resurface.
Alberu Crossman was in a little predicament, a predicament of the heart.
For all the troubles the redhead caused him, he had also given Alberu the type of support the prince had never got to experience before.
Cale had not only helped him out politically but every time Alberu started to have doubts about his purpose or existence- Cale had come through and brought back his confidence.
Alberu didn't have many people to rely on in his life before meeting Cale. It was hard for him to trust others and not to expect a hidden blade in any goodwill coming his way. It had taken a long time for him to unlearn that and it was thanks his dongsaeng that he now had a support system to get him though things.
It was thanks to Cale that he had managed to move forward more properly.
Cale was many things, his dongsaeng, his right hand man, his trusted ally, his business partner and friend.
Alberu knew Cale had come from a different world and he couldn't find it in himself to mind it.
Alberu wanted to hold onto him and keep Cale in his life in any way he could manage to. That was also partially why he had originally proposed becoming sworn brothers with each other.
Alberu sighed as he picked another apple. It was the same shade of red as Cale's hair. He put it in the basket next to the rest.
Alberu was a selfish man but even he knew he couldn't tell Cale about his newly discovered feelings. It would only lead to unresolved tension and put a strain on their relationship.
Cale Henituse was someone similar to himself. That was what made conversing with him so easy. That was also why Cale was willing to do everything to get the life he wished for himself.
Alberu was acutely aware of his own status as the Crown Prince of one of the strongest kingdoms on the Continent. Being too involved with him would only hinder Cale.
Now that Cale had finally reached his goal and gotten the slacker life he had wanted, Alberu would be worse than trash to take it away from him.
Cale had often been referred to as 'the Roan Crown Prince's cherished person' but most people didn't fully grasp that Alberu had honestly meant that sentiment.
Alberu was selfish, but he wouldn't take away Cale's happiness to try to fit his.
Alberu had promised Cale once before that he would make sure his dongsaeng could live the life of a slacker. Alberu planned to carry out that promise and grant it no matter what, even if it made his heart a little heavy having to keep a distance for it.
After the wars had finally come to an end, Cale picked back up the habit of showing up unannounced in Alberu's personal quarters.
More often than not, he'd walk in as if he owned the place and either eat from the cookies Alberu kept around or go claim one of the couches as the perfect place to nap for the day.
Whenever that happened, Cale would just sleep there while Alberu toiled away at his desk.
Even if they wouldn't speak much during those times, Alberu was glad for the silent company.
A small, selfish part of Alberu yearned to be as important part of Cale's life as Cale had become to his. Alberu wanted to have a place in the future Cale had envisioned for himself and be a part of his present.
Alberu wanted to hold him close, to exist with him in silence, to chat with him about the unusual and the mundane, to hug him purely because he could.
He wanted to wake up to the sight of Cale being there with him.
Although all of that had technically been done before, Alberu wanted it to mean something more.
Perhaps that's the true reason he had accepted coming here.
Alberu wanted to bask in the comfort Cale's presence provided him and to bring Cale comfort in return. He wanted to offer to Cale everything that made him himself and for him to return the gesture.
But he couldn't.
That is why, Alberu will take what he can get. He'll continue to gather these fruits one after another and to treasure their late night calls more than he would ever admit to that punk.
Alberu wanted to be closer to Cale, because Alberu was greedy, because he had finally found something he wanted to pursue other than his position as future ruler.
For all his greediness though, if they could just hold onto what they have now… Alberu will come to accept it.
Because Cale Henituse deserved to have the comfortable life he had fought so hard for.
If that meant holding back on his own desires, Alberu will do his best to stand by and grant this to his dongsaeng.
However…
It would certainly be easier if said dongsaeng would stop staring holes at the back of his head while Alberu was just trying to collect these apples!!
Alberu could pretend all he wants that the rapid beating to his heart was due to climbing trees but he knew very well that was not the case.
Be it with disdain or admiration, Alberu was used to having eyes directed at his every movement. Being this openly stared at by the person of his affections was another thing in its entirety.
Actually, why was his precious dongsaeng staring at him so intently in the first place? Does he want to drive Alberu crazy?? It certainly started to feel like it.
Alberu turned to Cale who was shamelessly standing around while gawking at him with an apple in hand and couldn't stop his eyebrows from twitching.
His dongsaeng made it extremely hard to put his feelings to rest.
Alberu let down a basket full of the fruit he collected and then jumped down from the tree himself.
Cale watched all of this happen with the same nonchalant gaze that he didn't bother turning away. Alberu decided he couldn't take in any longer and commented on it.
"My dear dongsaeng sure has been staring at me for a while now. Is the view you see that much to your liking?" Alberu smiled while asking.
"My Hyung-nim is pretty agile, I was admiring his nimbleness." Cale replied readily.
Alberu picked up the basket to set it aside and brought out a new, empty one to fill.
"Is that so? And here I was thinking that my face just happens to be charming enough to captivate your fancy."
Alberu was just joking of course but he was well aware of his own good looks.
He had forgone his usual elegant attires and came dressed in something that allowed for more movement. Alberu was also in his true appearance per Cale's request since he had been very adamant that this task required his Hyung Alberu more than Crown Prince Alberu Crossman.
It would be a lie to say Alberu didn't feel secretly moved that his dongsaeng had such a blatant preference for his natural appearance and true form.
Some years ago Alberu would have thought it impossible to find someone sharing that opinion.
Now the person he wanted the most to see him for himself did so.
"Anyone with working eyes would be a liar to deny Hyung's beauty." Cale said and took a bite out of the apple he had been casually holding.
Alberu tried to focus on his task at hand and not at the way Cale's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the bite or how he could feel his own face slightly heating up over such a simple compliment.
Cale had said it with the same air as telling someone the sky is blue and grass is green. He had said it like it was evident and perhaps that's the part that got to Alberu.
Alberu turned away and was ready to climb back up a tree to stop any dangerous thoughts from forming but Cale stopped him in his tracks.
"Hyung, take a break. The others are heading back to start peeling the apples for the pies."
Now that Alberu looked around, it was indeed pretty barren around him.
He sighed. Maybe he had been too caught up in his thinking to notice it.
"So you came all this way just to warn your Hyung or-"
"Here, catch." Cale suddenly interrupted him and perhaps it was because of the distance between them being short but Cale managed to toss something all the way to Alberu's waiting hands that had shot up on reflex.
Alberu looked at what had been thrown to him, only to see it's the very apple Cale had started eating.
"…why did you throw this to me? Is there something wrong with the taste?"
It would be one thing if Cale felt generous enough to give him an apple but he had already bitten into it…
Alberu didn't understand why Cale had thrown it to him, as he observed the apple he couldn't find any faulty parts either.
It appeared to be ripe and delicious overall.
"There's nothing wrong with it." Cale said, then after a pause added with a suspiciously quieter voice. "It's rather sweet."
Cale was still staring at Alberu, even as the prince inspected the plump fruit. There really wasn't anything wrong with it.
Cale just wanted to share it with his Hyung, if he was willing to accept it.
Alberu however was unamused with that answer.
"So you wanted your reliable Hyung to deal with it, huh."
Alberu was looking at the fruit. There really didn't seem to be anything wrong with it but he couldn't trust Cale's words.
The Cale Henituse who'd eat as much of the cookies Alberu would offer the kids as the children themselves, the Cale Henituse who drank tea with an insane amount of sugar, wouldn't give up eating a fruit just because of its sweetness.
It was more likely that the taste simply wasn't to his liking or the texture of it threw him off but didn't want the apple to go to waste.
In Alberu's opinion, even where Cale had bitten into it, the apple seemed to be fine.
'…'
Though… this did remind him of something.
Alberu sometimes indulged himself with reading about matters unrelated to his position as Crown Prince.
One time he had read a book about olden times.
It was an old volume of past traditions around the kingdom. Most of them were ones that were no longer practiced but for the Alberu of the past, it seemed interesting to see how some had changed over the years and learn about those forgotten.
He currently got reminded of one of the traditions he had read about back then.
It was referred to as the 'silent proposal'.
It went as follows…
When a person got interested in another but their families or circumstances didn't allow for them to openly meet, one of them would pick out a delicious fruit.
They would bring it to the other's house, standing behind the fence but not entering. Once the one inside had noticed their presence, the one outside would take a bite from the fruit and throw it across the fence for the other to catch.
It was an unspoken question and request.
It was asking for reassurance whether their feelings were reciprocated.
The person on the other side of the fence would then take a bite of the fruit themselves and throw it back to the other.
If the bite was around the same place as the first person's, then their feelings were mutual and accepted.
If it was on the opposite side of the fruit, then their feelings were not the same and it was a form of rejection.
It had been often used by couples to see if their feelings still aligned and in some cases, as a quiet proposal to marry despite circumstances.
That's where the name 'silent proposal' had come from too.
It wasn't the most sanitary way of confirming someone's feelings but Alberu could still understand some resorting to this.
It was a silly thing to be reminded of now.
Alberu looked at the apple in his hold.
The side Cale had taken a bite out of was quietly taunting him.
Silent proposals was an old tradition, one that people didn't practice in anymore.
Besides that, their circumstances weren't the same. There wasn't a fence separating them nor were they not allowed to speak to one another and Alberu doubted Cale would have looked into something like this in the first place.
Taking a bite from a fruit and throwing it to him… It was just a coincidentally similar gesture to that tradition.
Alberu was just reading into it because of his repressed emotions towards Cale.
That must be it.
…but it did seem a little too much of a coincidence, didn't it?
Was there really no other intent behind Cale's actions? Just tossing him a fruit really?
All these thoughts… they passed by in Alberu's mind in quick succession, however, Cale has been quiet for a little while now. He didn't move from his spot and Alberu still felt Cale's eyes on him.
It seemed like Cale was waiting for Alberu to... to do what exactly? Throw the apple in the batch he had collected? Take a bite himself just to confirm the sweetness?
Were there more implications behind this than it seemed?
Alberu thought of the way lovers would do this in the past to confirm feelings…
He felt his cheeks slightly heat from thinking about it.
It didn't matter whether Cale had done it intentionally or not, and it could very well be a silly coincidence,
But since Cale had oh so graciously offered the fruit, it was only right for Alberu to give a proper reply, right?
So even if he'd be the only one to know about this and think of things that way…
Alberu bit into the apple.
'Cale was right, it tastes extremely sweet.'
Alberu smiled at that internally.
Cale watched as Alberu finally took a bite out of the fruit.
The quarter dark elf had resembled a squirrel with the way he had kept turning the apple around in his hands to inspect it before.
That same squirrel like man now smiled in an almost mischievous way after taking just one bite and came up to Cale. Alberu took one of Cale's hands in his own and Cale let him.
He then placed the apple back into Cale's palm with the other before letting go.
"I like it, the sweetness. It will be great for the pies."
With that, Alberu stepped back to gather his basket. "Let's get to the others."
Cale watched him retreat, then turned his attention to the apple in his hand.
Cale had specifically chosen this one because it had looked delicious. It was a deep red apple with a yellowish white peeking through from where they had taken a bite out of it each.
One bite by him and the other by Alberu.
They were taken from right next to each other.
The redhead smiled discreetly.
Alberu rejoined Cale, this time with a filled up basket in hand and ready to go.
"..."
Cale Henituse found himself in a bit of a predicament.
'Taking a bite from the fruit from near the same place symbolized accepting the feelings or proposal.'
Cale had been looking for a confirmation from Alberu and now that he has found it, he had a wedding to start planning.