Chapter 2

Author

The thief dragged you with him; you weren't even given the chance to stop him. He ran and you did too, two men were running after the two of you. The thief tried to distract them by throwing stones at them every minute.

Finally, he stopped by a e motel. You knew that place was for es.  You gave a disgusting 'no-no' face at him but he still pushed you inside and when you two were inside, he quickly closed the door and went inside an empty room.

When everything turned quiet, he spun around to face you. You just glared at him.

"I got to go now," he said and turned around.

"Wait!" You shouted. He looked at you over his shoulder.

"What? Are you worried about this card? It's not like it's expensive so I'm not returning it to those people." He clicked his tongue and started walking away again.

"I need it!" You blurted out, making him stop and face you.

"No." He said simply.

"I'm homeless!" You lied, but you pretended to sound real. He just stared at you, looking at you from head to toe and shaking his head in disagreement.

"A noble girl like you...Homeless?" He let out a laugh, "So you think a thief like me is not homeless?"

"Please help me," you begged, trying to cry or at least look pitiful in front of him. Omo! What do I do? You thought and panicked.

"My father..." You went on, "He's very abusive!" The thief blinked his eyes, waiting for you to confirm what you just said. That was a good lie. "I ran away from home because of him! See this?" You showed him a bruise on your arm. It was actually because of an accident that caused you hitting your arm by something hard, it wasn't really because of your father. I mean, he would never do that to you. "My father did this to me!" 

"Oh my god," the thief said and hurriedly ran to you, he checked your arm. His face and your face so near that it made you blushed in pink. "Oh my god, your father did this to you?" He looked closer to your bruised arm. You nodded.

"That's why... Please let me have somewhere to live...and hide. Please help me." You said.

He looked up at you, giving you a worried look and then suddenly he put your arm down and turned around. "Let's go."

"Huh? Where?"

"Do you need somewhere to stay at or not?" he asked insolently.

* * *

Is this a motel?" you asked as you looked around in an old brick house where the thief brought you. He just smirked and walked around, looking for a place to hide the card he was still holding.

Since he ignored you, you changed the topic by introducing yourself.

"I'm Baek Misun, by the way." You said, pouting.

"I'm Kim Myungsoo," he said and finally found an empty drawer and hid the card in there. He turned to look at you again. "And this is not a motel," he went on, "this is my friend's home. Me, my friend and his uncle lives here. There's an extra room upstairs, but it's not as beautiful and as clean like a noble's home." 

"Your friend's home...But..."

"He wouldn't mind."

"I want to stay in a motel." 

"Don't be choosy if you don’t want me to tell your abusive father you're here." He said and went upstairs, "Come here!" He shouted and you quickly went after him. He led you to a small room, leaving you and closing the door.

You didn't have anything with you since it would be too obvious if you brought them... You just sighed and laid down the plain bed at the side of the wall. It took a long time before you fell asleep.

* * *

MISUN-AHHH!"

You woke up panting and sweating after having a dream that your parents found you and called out your name. You looked out at the window, showing the bright and sunny day.

Only two more days to go and it would be birthday. You were getting bored in this boring normal life, it was just the same with being in the palace so you decided to go out while everyone's also out somewhere. 

On your way searching for Seo Woo, you decided to leave a note and give it to one of the Royal Guard in the palace in a disguise. After handing a note to a royal guard, you ran away without turning back.

Meanwhile, Seo Woo was in her carriage and she was going to look for you as she had brought with her your flute. Just in case you were bored. As a best friend, of course, she knows you would get bored after a day out of the palace.

The King and Queen haven't searched for you yet, that's a relief. They all think you're just being stubborn and locking yourself in your room and at times like that, they would let you off.

Just then, a bunch of ninjas came jumping and rushing and attacking the men who were carrying Woo's carriage. Everyone who were around, nobles or average people gasped and ran to avoid trouble. Woo also heard what was happening outside so she slowly opened her carriage to see what was happening.

She screamed when a ninja appeared right in front of her, she fell back to her seat and shouted as loud as she can when suddenly a young man that looked really cool in her eyes came to the rescue.

It was Myungsoo.

"Oh my!" Woo exclaimed and came out of her carriage to watch Myungsoo fighting the ninjas but he wasn't alone. Along with him was his best friend, Jung Yunho, fighting against the ninjas. They looked so amazing and cool with those fighting skills. She was amazed and from far away, you also saw what was happening.

Your mouth dropped when you watched Myungsoo fighting and then Woo caught your attention.

"Woo-ah!" You called her and waved your hand at her, smiling widely, not even realizing that a ninja was about to attack you from the back. Luckily, Myungsoo threw a dagger at him and BAM! Target hit. The ninja behind you stumbled down bleeding.

"Hey you!" Myungsoo shouted, pointing angrily at you. "Get back!"

"What the hell is happening here?!" The King, who had just arrived in his carriage with guards carrying it, stepped out and shouted. The ninjas were now gone and only one injured was left unconscious.

Seo Woo and you gasped in surprise. 

"Oh no." You muttered under your breath. You only wished that your father, King Jeongmyong, wouldn't notice your presence but then you were too late to run away again. He set his big round eyes at you.

"Misun-ah, what are you doing here?!" King Jeongmyong questioned as he glared at you in disbelief.

"Father..." You whispered and at that time Myungsoo was already behind you, checking if the ninja was dead. He stood up beside you, exchanging glances with the King. He didn't even have any idea that the man in front of him is a King.

"That's your father?" he asked you, but he was staring at King Jeongmyong. "He doesn't look abusive at all." 

That was straight-forward. Yunho and Woo heard everything, and they wanted to stop Myungsoo from saying anymore because he was insulting the King. How stupid of him not to know what a King looks like.

"My hero, what are you talking about?" Woo asked, it made Yunho, Myungsoo and you looked at her.

"Woo-ah, what hero?" You asked. Yunho, who was beside her all the time, just sighed and looked away. 

"Eh?" Woo asked, blushing. "Nothing."

Myungsoo turned to King Jeongmyong again. This time, he could see that the King's nose was flaring and he looked like a pissed train.

"Get her," King Jeongmyong told the royal guards. They grabbed you and you shouted, begging for them to let you go. The King was still glaring at Myungsoo, giving him a who-do-you-think-you-are look.

When King Jeongmyong turned around to get back to his carriage, Myungsoo kicked the royal guards to get you away from them.

People started shouting and murmuring, knowing that he was against the King, they started talking about how someone like him have the guts to attack the royal guards and insult the King.

"Let's get away from here," he whispered to you when he grabbed a grip on your wrist. "Before your father gets violent over you!" He added loudly before running away with you.

"GET THEM!" The pissed King shouted to his royal guards.

"OMO!"

"Stupid Kim Myungsoo, what is he up to?!" Yunho said.

* * *

Back in the Palace, your mother, Queen JinHye, was waiting for you in the Royal Kitchen. She was with the noble Prince, Lee Sungyeol, along with Sungyeol's parents. Today was the day the whole family is supposed to discuss about the marriage the moment the King arrives but then... Two people are missing.

"If she's still not coming out, then don't. I don't want to marry her anyway, let's just forget about this marriage." Sungyeol said, slamming his hand on the table.

"No. You will marry her. It's a must." His mother said.

"Didn't you say I should marry Baek Miri? Then why Baek Misun now?" Sungyeol complained.

"What I told you was that 'If only Baek Miri is present, then you marry her' don’t you understand?"

Queen JinHye just listened to the two arguing.

"Why not Lee Byunghun then?!" Sungyeol asked, rolling his eyes.

"Ya!" His mother pinched him in the shoulder, making Sungyeol moan. "Don’t forget that we are in the Royal Palace!" 

"Aish!" Sungyeol said, "Whatever, whatever. I just want to stay single if it's not Baek Miri."

"Miri is M.I.A.," Queen JinHye finally talked. Sungyeol met her gaze.

Suddenly, one of the servants came inside and bowed to them. She was holding with her the note that you gave earlier.

"Someone handed a note," the servant said and handed it to the Queen first. When Queen JinHye opened it, her eyes widened as she read it.

Dear Omma,

         Prince Lee Sungyeol is an ugly duckling. I don't want to get married with someone like him. Just go search for Unnie and let him marry her instead because I AM NOT COMING BACK HOME just to marry an UGLY DUCKLING.

      Love and hate,

Baek Misun