Your POV

Woah. She's wasted. She can barely walk in a straight line! HAH! 

"Welcome back!" Ahh, she's going to regret this in the morning.

"What...? Oh, you! Hi darling! Did you go get your dress made? It's pretty bad, right? I'm pretty proud of it...whoops~!" She stumbled and I hesitantly caught her. I should've let her drop. "Anyways! Did you know your father died a year ago exaclty, today?! It's been a long time! I miss him, but mostly his money. If only you were half as useful. Maybe I'll sell your brother to some rich lady with too much time on her hands..."

What. The. Hell.

"Uhh, I'm aware that you're drunk and all...but you're crossing the line. You should go to bed."

"HAH! Why should I listen to you?! You remind me of him whenever I see you! Your stupid eyes and face...they're all so..." Is she crying? Omo, she is. She's balling. What's wrong with this woman?

"I lied! I don't miss his money! I really loved him, you know? I never thought I would ever love anyone like I loved him! Screw the money! If only he was here; I wouldn't mind being poorer than we are now! _____! Don't ever leave me!"

Ok, that's it. I grabbed her arms and practically dragged her to her room. How could she be talking like this? And how could she claim actually loving my father? I know how she manipulated him, making him think that he needed another woman. How Taemin and I needed a mother. We didn't. We were fine, and we always will be. 

I guess you could say I reached an epiphany that night. After pushing her into her bed and locking the door behind me as I left, my instinct kicked in. We really didn't need her anymore. She never really did anything for us. 

"Taemin! Wake up! We're leaving!" I shook my brother; his legs hung off the edge of the tiny bed and he had managed to cover the rest of his body completely with the pillows and blanket. When he didn't budge, I ripped the covers off of him. My adrenaline was going crazy and I couldn't risk us getting caught. 

"What're you doing?! I wanna sleep!" He rolled over and attempted to find something to keep him warm.

"No! Not allowed! Pack your things!" I threw a pillow at him and went to my room, stuffing some clothes and necessities into a bag. I glanced at my wall and saw the last family picture taken before my mom died. I pulled that off the wall and removed the picture, sticking it inside my journal and putting it in my bag as well. I slung the bag over my shoulder and went back to Taemin's room; of course he went back to bed.

"Taemin! I'm serious! Hurry before she wakes up!" I rummaged through his drawers and pulled out a backpack, filling it with his stuff. He finally got up and looked at me strangely. "Anything else you need?"

"I...one sec!" He crouched under his bed and pulled out a plain wooden box. I'd never seen it before, but now wasn't the time to ask questions. "Ok!...Where are we going, exactly?"

"Just follow me. I'll tell you everything later." I grabbed his arm and pulled him out, only stopping to grab food from the kitchen and open the loose floorboard that hid all my savings. 

I knocked at the door as loudly as I could without disturbing the neighbors. He better wake up. 

"Aigoo. What is this? _____?" Key carefully opened the door, revealing pajamas that were rather plain for him. "And Taemin? What time is it?"

"Sorry, Key...we, uhh, ran away...Anyways, can we stay here? Just for tonight?"

"Hon, you can stay as long as you need to! As long as you're not with that wretched woman!" Taemin and I followed him in. The front of his house was the tailor shop while the back contained two small rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. I heard his dad snoring quietly behind a closed door.

"Is your dad, you know, getting better...?" I didn't want to push, since Key was kind of sensitive about this part of his life, but it seemed like the polite thing to do.

"I...don't know. Uhh. Well, this is my room. You can stay in here; sorry for the mess..."

"Thanks, Key. Really. It means a lot."

"It's not a problem. Sleep well!" He smiled and slipped into his father's room, leaving Taemin and I. His room was very...Key. Sketches were pinned to the wall near a desk, while more were scattered on the wooden surface. The bed was plain, but a small collection of teddy bears lined the pink wall that the bed was against. 

"So, are you going to tell me why we're at this crazy guy's house?" Taemin sat on the bed, eyeing the bears. "Not that I'm disappointed about leaving, you know."

"I think it's about time we left. I'm planning to leave after the ball tomorrow..."

"Ooh, where are we going? We should go to that one jungle kingdom! I hear there are bananas EVERYWHERE! And I heard the king is part monkey! How cool would it be to meet a monkey king?!"

"Taemin! We should sleep. Goodnight!" I hopped onto the bed next to him, curling up on my side and closed my eyes. I felt him lie down and he pulled the blanket over us.

"Night, sis'."

Jonghyun POV

Tomorrow's the ball! Can you believe that? I don't know if I should rebel against my mom and not fall in love, risking silence forever, or give in and get my voice back. Decisions, decisions! I should be going to get my suit from Key, but I don't know how to call the carriage. I probably have to walk all the way to the stables and wait for them to set one up, get horses, and blah blah blah. I think I'll just walk into town myself.

Has it always been this far? Maybe I'm getting old...or fat. Omo, I can't get fat! Must. Exercise. Hmm. 

I hungrily turned to corner to the hole-in-the-wall deli that belonged to Onew. The smell of roasted chicken filled the air. That was his specialty: chicken. Even though delis usually serve red meat, Onew loved his fine feathered friends. 

The bell jingled as I pushed the door open. I heard an "ouch" from behind the counter and saw Onew bounce up, rubbing his head.

"Your highness! Uhh...uhh...would you like some chicken? _{...But I was saving this for my lunch...}"

If I could laugh, I would. I waved my hands in front of me, gesturing an "it's ok" and pointed to the menu behind him. I put two fingers up and he grinned. Probably because he could eat his chicken after all. After paying and getting my food, I waved good-bye. I wanted to scarf down my food, but that wouldn't be very prince-like. Sigh.

Oh, there's Key's house! I hope no one's here this time...