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Sunshine lifts an eyebrow when a flashy spacecar comes screeching to a halt three feet in front of him.
The door opens and Raon steps out. He jerks his head to a lump in the back seat. “There. I found a replacement.”
Sunshine nudges Raon aside and peers into the back seat. There’s a body slumped sideways on the seat. Sunshine looks first at the chest covered in a loose white shirt. Satisfied that the being is still breathing, his eyes travel up to wavy locks and sun kissed cheeks.
Cute, he thinks.
Out loud, he says, “Who is he and where is he from? I’m surprised you found someone who looks so similar to you.”
“Some Earthling,” Raon shrugs. “I don’t really care. All that matters is that I’m not getting married.”
“The King won’t approve of him.”
“I don’t care what my dad thinks. Besides, are you going to volunteer to take my place?” At Sunshine’s grimace, Raon continues on, “I thought not. To make it up to me, you can make sure this Earthling is fit for court.”
Sunshine rolls his eyes and begrudgingly opens the passenger door. He manhandles the warm human until he’s able to hook an arm under the man’s legs and pull him out of the spacecar in a bridal carry.
He barely has time to take three steps back from the spacecar before Raon slams the back passenger door shut, hops into the driver seat, and flies off with a cheery, “See you in the next galaxy!”
“Not unless your driving kills you first,” mutters Sunshine.
–
When Ghost wakes up, he thinks he’s still dreaming.
The bed he’s lying in is soft and lavish and large — nothing like his own humble double-size bed.
There is also another man lounging in the bed next to him.
Ghost blinks blearily up at the man sitting beside him on top of the covers. He’s leaning back on a plush pillow propped up against a large wooden headboard, engraved with an elaborate pictorial scene.
The bed shifts as the man leans over Ghost’s head, and Ghosts lets out a small gasp.
Yes, this is definitely a dream, he thinks to himself.
The silver-haired man with his face smiles, showing too much teeth, “Good morning, Your Highness.”
Unthinkingly, Ghost’s right hand floats up to the other’s cheek. “...Did I collapse out in the field from heat exhaustion again?” he asks the universe.
The man’s grin spreads impossibly wider, “You can call me Sunshine.”
–
Ghost isn’t entirely convinced that he isn’t dreaming, but everything around him feels real.
The coolness of the water Sunshine had urged him to drink.
The softness of the velvet garments Sunshine had insisted he wear.
The warmth of Sunshine’s hand around his wrist whenever he lags behind, distracted by yet another sight in this strange place…
The situation, however, feels very unreal.
“Where are we going?” he doesn’t bother asking Sunshine where they currently are. The three moons — or planets? — in the purple-green sky he spotted through a window was enough to tell Ghost that they were no longer on Earth.
“To see the King.”
“I’m not in trouble, am I?” Ghost asks warily.
Sunshine’s shrug is not comforting at all.
As they approach a wide circular entrance, two guards stationed outside greet them with a formal bow. A buzzing noise fills the air and the door disappears in a cascade of refracted light.
The first word that comes to Ghost’s mind when they enter the room is cold. The room is wide and open and filled with a mix of metal and glass. At the far end of the room, a couple sit, conversing quietly.
They must be the king and queen.
To Ghost’s surprise, Sunshine doesn’t bother with a greeting. He simply nudges Ghost in front of him and says, “Raon ran away and left this.”
The king and queen gasp.
“Gaon?!”
“Oh, you have got to be joking.” sighs Sunshine.
–
“This is a really weird dream,” Ghost tells Sunshine. He ignores the muttered “I wish this was a dream” and continues, “There’s no way I could be their long lost son. I’m a human! From Earth! I’m not an alien! And I’m certainly not royalty!” Ghost chuckles awkwardly.
Sunshine grunts.
“So this Raon… why did he run away? Was he unhappy here?”
“He wasn’t unhappy,” Sunshine tilts his head to the side, trying to find the right words. “He ran away so he wouldn’t became unhappy.”
The corners of Ghost’s lips dip into a frown. “What do you mean?”
“There were talks of a marriage treaty.”
“Oh.” Ghost wonders if he should be running away too. He pinches himself to see if he’ll wake up.
Nope. Still here.
“Nothing’s been confirmed, though.” Sunshine gives Ghost a sardonic smile. “Raon overreacted and acted impulsively, as usual. But at least two good things will come out of this.”
“Oh?” asks Ghost.
Sunshine hums an affirmative. “Perhaps after this the king and queen will finally talk to Raon about his plans for the future.”
“And the second thing?”
Sunshine’s eyes look impossibly blue under his dark lashes. “You,” he croons.
“Oh,” says Ghost.
–
“Ugh,” groans Sunshine.
“You don’t have to babysit me, you know.” Ghost glances over his shoulder at Sunshine, who is in the middle of swatting some sort of insect away from his face.
“And have the kingdom risk losing you again? I think not.”
Ghost snorts and turns back to inspect the flowerbed in front of him.
A moment later his back warms under the weight of Sunshine’s chest as he leans forward and hooks his chin over Ghost’s left shoulder.
“Why are you so interested in our flora and fauna?” Sunshine’s breath feels hot where it puffs against Ghost’s jawline.
“I’m – I’m a farmer.” Ghost tries to clear his throat quietly.
Ghost startles when he feels Sunshine’s left hand catch his. He brings their hands up in front of them and makes a show of turning Ghost’s hand this way and that. He rubs his thumbs against the calluses on Ghost’s fingers and palm, and once again, Ghosts tries to clear his throat quietly.
Sunshine hums.
–
The king and queen announce that the palace will hold a grand feast in the evening to honour the return of their long lost Prince Gaon.
“Please, uh, Your Majesties, just call me Ghost.”
What they don’t announce, unfortunately, is that they have also invited ambassadors from several neighbouring planets.
Sunshine glowers unobtrusively as the fourth ambassador, like the others before him, holds onto Ghost’s hand for a little too long to be deemed a proper greeting. When his hand is freed, Ghost casually wipes his hand against his leg and gives Sunshine a sheepish shrug.
Ghost still isn’t quite sure what Sunshine’s position is and what sort of power he has, but he’s glad for the servants’ acquiescence to Sunshine’s wordless demands despite the pointed stares coming from the king and queen. If it wasn’t for Sunshine, he’d be sitting right in the middle of the handsy ambassadors.
He thinks he understands why Raon ran away.
He feels like a prized cow about to be sold to the highest bidder.
Ghost would rather be buried alive in horse shit.
He misses Spicy.
“I need to go home,” he murmurs.
Beside him, Sunshine tenses.
Ghost slides his hand into Sunshine’s. “Will you come with me?” he asks.
The hand around his tightens.
–
When they reach Earth, Ghost is starving and stubbornly refusing to take another bite out of Sunshine’s chalky ration bars. He pouts until Sunshine agrees to find a place to eat in the nearest town.
It’s quiet and quaint, and the lush greenery around the town makes Ghost feel at ease. As he inhales the fresh air, he catches a whiff of freshly baked goods in the wind.
Ghost follows his nose while Sunshine trails behind him with an easy smile.
Not a moment too soon, they enter a small shop and Ghost presses his face up against a glass display of cakes and tarts and other assorted buns.
Ghost wants to shove them all into his mouth.
There’s a loud clatter and Ghost nearly chokes on his own drool in surprise. He looks up to see a man — with his face — in a chef jacket, standing behind the counter.
“Sunshine?!”
“Raon?!”