The King's Pet

Hyunjin's P.O.V I expected the day to be as uneventful and tedious as most of my days had been so far in the new year. Some people would think being a king would be amazing. You could do whatever you want when you want to, you'd have unspeakable riches and access to the top luxuries of life. In reality, being a king is boring. You have to play diplomat at every corner, deal with the tedium of politics and worry about thousands of lives. And these problems are made worse when you're not a tyrant and actually want to do right by your title and people. As boring as it was when I was in power, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Being the only king on the Continent that ruled justly was a good feeling. Of all the areas on the Continent only mine had happy people who could afford to live well. My way of ruling was so advantageous that there were talks of "Just Rule" around the other regions of the Continent. My ultimate goal was to shift the way monarchies worked and with the intrigue in other kingdoms, it was looking like I'd meet my goal. But, again, it was boring. Having to explain the way I ruled to monarchs so used to their unruly ways was a process. But if it was for the betterment of everyone on the Continent, it was work I had to do. Anyway, back to that day, I received a gift from the Queen of the North-West Kingdom after telling her about "minimum wage". I could only assume it meant she liked the concept. Well, I'm pretty sure she liked the concept, seeing as she gifted me a jester or what they called in other kingdoms—a "pet". He was shorter and smaller than me with slightly tanned skin and a cute face freckled with pale brown specks. His facial features were  Asian, similar to my own. While we both had mono-lid eyes, his had quaint, puffy bags directly underneath them. The bridge of his nose was concave and curved into an adorable button nose and the bridge of mine was straight all the way to the tip of my more narrow nose. His lips were flushed pink and plump, mine were a tone darker than my fair skin and thinner. Also, and quite interestingly, his dark medium length hair was very loosely curled unlike my short pin-straight hair. It framed his face very nicely. He was and still is a breath of fresh air, refreshingly different from the average person in the North-East Kingdom. Though, in my opinion, his voice was the best part about him. I can still hear it in my mind as clear and sweet as when I first heard it... "What's your name?" I asked him, completely enthralled by his presence. "Makita Takahashi, your highness." He responded, bowing. His voice was smooth and young, soft but not a whisper, silvery with a gentle tone. Just...wonderful. "Makita...mmm...it's a pleasure to meet you Kita, is it okay if I call you that?" I requested, unable to stop myself from giving him the nickname. His name suited him, adorable like him and the nickname just made him even more adorable. "You can call me whatever you like your highness." He responded very passively. It was unpleasant to experience but I let it slide considering he wasn't from my kingdom. He probably couldn't imagine there were monarchs without expectations of complacency and blind subservience from their people. I knew I'd have to teach him to have more agency. "Please, you don't have to call me that. I'm King Kim Hyunjin, you can call me Hyunjin, Hyun or Jin." I introduced, hoping he'd use my name and not "your highness". Now, it wasn't atypical for me to be addressed by that title and various other honorifics, matter of fact most people did, but I just didn't want Makita to do so. I wanted him to use my name, like a friend, or perhaps a lover, would. Though, I didn't end up getting to hear it because I was whisked away by my advisor. I reluctantly said goodbye to Makita but not without promising to give him a tour of the castle and the town closest to it once I returned. Before I left, I made sure to let some servants know he was to be given a nice room in the castle and one near my own. If I wasn't so enthralled and enamoured by him, I would've given him a home outside of the castle. But I seemed to fancy him too much, and differently, to do that. Despite just meeting him I already felt a strong pull to him, like I'd known him forever. So much so that I spent the rest of my morning thinking about him. I was so eager to get back to him and when I finally did the joy inside of me was barely containable. So uncontainable in fact that my advisor and friend, Sara, could see it on me and commented. "Have you never seen a jester before?" She asked teasingly making me chuckle softly as we entered my study. "It's just nice to see a new kind of person..." I responded. "Really, we've had plenty of outsiders come here and none of them have ever made you blush the way you did when you saw him." She countered. "You think I like him?" I questioned, sitting down at my desk to sign some papers. "Don't you?" She returned the question as she sat down across from me. "I'm intrigued by him, let's say that. Speaking of, I believe I promised to show him around." I mentioned, quickly finishing the signing so I could go. "Please don't let me keep you then, I'll take these papers to the courier." She replied, getting up and taking the papers I signed before leaving. I got up and stretched before going off to find him. I asked a servant which room he was given and once I knew, I was on my merry way to him—basically skipping. I got to his door and knocked gently before waiting patiently but nervously for him to answer. Despite the power dynamic between the two of us and the fact he was born into a society of subservience, I was still nervous as I waited. If I was going to be with him, I had to and wanted to make sure our social standings didn't play a role. I didn't want him to say yes to me just because I was a king, and technically his king, and he was, also technically, my jester. I wanted him to say yes because he liked me and wanted. ----