On the ride home Eunsu was alone as her friend’s mother needed him to stay back to take care of something. But when she said goodbye they hugged and she felt a bit of something flutter in her. She did her best to shake it off and give a proper goodbye and not make things weird. Honestly, now that she was by herself again, and reflecting on the day’s events, it all seemed a bit...much. Eunsu just couldn’t wait to get home and ask her father to make sense of it.

Once they pulled up to her house, the driver waited a moment before unlocking the doors, taking the time to make eye contact with the girl using the rear-view mirror.

“Excuse me miss, but there is something I must tell you.” The heavy-set man said from under his long wiry mustache that ran into a well trimmed yet lengthy beard. The girl just looked forward to meet his eyes and nodded.

“The young sir is very, sensitive. I’ve seen the way you two interact this afternoon and I’m very pleased, yes. But I feel I must let you know. This family is at a level of importance and luckily the public in this country doesn’t know much about them. But, given from how involved you are with the young sir, you must be prepared for people to learn who you are.” He said, his pale face just seeming to add a bit of stress to his words.

“Uhm, okay? I don’t really understand.” Eunsu said honestly. She knew that they were apparently Thai royalty but, well, actually yeah, that kind of does seem like a big deal huh.

“Just know, that I’ve been working for this family for quite some time. And I know that stress level the young sir has been put under and-” he cut himself off with a sigh. “So long as he hasn’t introduced you to his mother I guess you still have some time. But really young lady, once you get involved with this family, you are in it, know what I mean,” he said, not doing the best job of maintaining eye contact through the mirror.

“Um, no I don’t. And what does it mean to meet his mother? Because, I did and it seemed fine?” Eunsu said, growing a bit nervous. She thought she was just going to go over a new friend’s house. She had no idea what she might have gotten herself into. But as soon as she mentioned having met the mother, the driver’s eyes went wide.

“Oh goodness then. Well, uh. You know, don’t mind me then. Just-just have a good night young lady, okay? I hope things between you and young sir go well. I wish you luck.” he said and unlocked the doors, even pressing to open the side door of the van for her. Eunsu took a minute to let all of this sink in and decided enough was enough. She may be a bit socially inept, but if that was going to cause her to get into an unfavorable situation, she needed to know about it from the start.

Not knowing where she got the nerve, Eunsu grabbed the inner handle of the van door and pulled it closed.

“Sir, please look at me.”

The driver’s eyes bulged out even more than earlier as he looked in the mirror yet again. The girl huffed and scooted towards the center of the van.

“No sir, look me in my face, like a human being. I understand you deal with these royal” she said the last word with air quotes “people or whatever, but I’m not that and I don’t want to be treated like an air-head. I’m not and I won’t let anyone think so. I may not be the best at dealing with people, but I’m very logical and precise and what you are telling me matched with what happened today has not made any sense. So, if you are offering to give me information, I would like all of it.” she said, causing the man to slowly shift in his seat and turn to face her. A silent moment passed, creating unfavorable tension.

“Please,” she added, letting out a final silent sigh.

“Alright, alright,” he started with a gulp. “The mas-the king you see, is very ill. He has been for quite some time. And so the queen has been very direct in dealing with things. She has also been direct in telling young sir what to do and figuring out the best course of action for him so the transition of power will be easy once the young sir is of age.” he paused to take a breath and collect himself. He som