Daehyun’s POV

It took a little while, but finally, Sophie shows signs of life. “Sophie,” I say immediately going over to her. The viewing has been taking place ever since she came up here. There are a lot of people downstairs that are paying their respects to her parents. I don’t know when it will end.

“Daehyun?” Sophie asks attempting to sit up but immediately grabbing her head.

“Just…stay put, don’t move,” I say making her lay back down.

“What happened?”

“You fainted,” I tell her. “I guess everything just piled up and went kablam,” I say with flailing hand gestures to go along with it, but Sophie doesn’t smile, she just stares at me.

“I have to go downstairs, I have to be there,” Sophie says.

“No you don’t, just let it be,” I firmly say. “You’re too weak to go out there right now, just stay here.”

“But they’re my parents.”

“You’ve told your parents words and you will tomorrow,” I try to reason with her, “do you want to faint again? Tomorrow will be even more stressful than today.”

Does she not get what I’m saying? I’m trying to protect her from fainting again and she doesn’t understand. I get that she wants to see her parents, I do, but I think that it’ll be too much for her again. Tomorrow will be too much for her, too.

“But they’re my parents,” Sophie says. “I have to do it. What if your parents passed away? You never talk about them; I don’t even know who they are. We’re here in Korea and I haven’t seen them once. You would think that the first thing you would do when you get back home is see them.”

I stare at Sophie as she says that. I can tell how hurt she is about it and I understand. I’ve never said anything about my parents, none at all. She probably wants to know who they are, what they look like, but I can’t do it.

“You’re right,” I tell her, “you haven’t seen them. I can’t bring myself to show them yet, okay?” I plead with her. “You’ll know who they are soon enough, okay?” I can’t guarantee that she’ll actually see them; I just hope that this holds her over long enough. “Just rest for today. You can say goodbye to your parents again tomorrow, you can take as much time as you want. I just want you to take care of your health so you don’t have anything happen to you tomorrow.”

She must see how desperate I am. She must see that look on my face as I talk with her and see her in this state. Sophie reluctantly agrees and lies back down on her back. “I guess,” she mumbles.

“Good,” I say with a half smile as I tuck her back into bed. It gives the feeling like I’m her father. “I’ll go back downstairs and speak on your behalf for the rest of them if they ask where you are. Youngjae will keep you company, right?” I ask looking at the kid who has stayed in the corner this whole time.

“Yup,” he says immediately standing up.

“I’ll be back later,” I tell to Sophie before I walk out of the room to go back downstairs.

Sophie’s POV

I understand Daehyun’s worry for me, but I’m a grown person and this is my parents’ viewing we’re talking about. I should be there for it. Why must he insist on keeping me up here when I don’t want to be? Why does he never talk about his parents and why have I never seen them? Is he afraid to admit that his parents are no longer in his life? Is that why he became extra nice to me when he discovered that my parents passed away?

“Youngjae…oppa,” I say hesitantly looking at me.

“Hmm?” he asks looking at me.

“What do Daehyun’s parents do for a living?"

“Um,” he says thinking. “They do what my parents do, just things here and there. They have stable jobs and quite some things saved in the bank, it’s just that they like the variety of working around and traveling,” he says.

“Is that why neither of your parents are here?” I ask.

“You could say,” he says nodding his head. “Why are you so interested?”

“In America, Daehyun would never talk about his family at all. I didn’t know you guys lived in a palace.”

“He’s not the very open spoken person,” Youngjae says. “He doesn’t like talking about his personal life that much.”

I nod my head. “I see.”

I can’t help but think that it’s still strange since we’re best friends. Why would he still keep it from me? I’ve known him for six years and yet he still decides to keep things from me. My head is already spinning and now it’s just spinning even more.

“Look, you shouldn’t think too much about it,” Youngjae says attempting to ease the situation. “Just…let him tell you in his own time.”

“Did they do something bad? Are they criminals? Does he not even have parents?” I start ranting off.

“No, no, and yes,” Youngjae says answering all of the questions. “He’s just not ready yet. It’s…it’s a long story.”

I nod in defeat. There’s nothing else that I can do, I’m simply just going to have to deal with the fact that I don’t know who Daehyun’s parents are or what they do. Maybe I should worry about what my parents do first before I think about others.

“Youngjae,” I say turning my head to look at him. He’s leaning back in the chair that Daehyun was sitting in when he was by me playing on one of his games.

“Yeah?” he asks as he looks up from his game.

“My parents weren’t bad people, right?”

“I’m positive that they aren’t bad people,” Youngjae says giving me a gentle smile.

“Are you sure?” I hesitantly ask.

“Why do you think that they’re bad people?” he asks putting his game on the floor next to him and leaning forward a bit.

“It’s just that…” I begin as I try to form the words together in my head. “Why did they keep what they do from me? Why are there a hundred people that I don’t know paying their respects to my parents? Why?”

“I’m pretty sure that they didn’t tell you for a reason,” Youngjae says. “And I’m sure it’s nothing bad; just continue to get your rest, okay?”

“Fine,” I say as I get myself comfy and slowly let my eyelids fall.

Daehyun’s POV

For the remainder of the viewing, I stay downstairs where everyone is. On behalf of Sophie, I stay down there and tell everyone that she’s currently not feeling well and that she’s resting. They all nod their heads and say that they understand. Thankfully, none of them really notice me as the prince. They only notice me as the boy that is with Sohpie.

Although, throughout the viewing, I see a strange man that keeps looking at me. I don’t know who he is or anything, but he’s dressed in a suit, like everyone else here, and he keeps looking in my direction. I hadn’t noticed him before, but I’m noticing him now. I can’t go up to him and ask him what he’s doing here unless I want to give away my identity. I guess I’ll just have to keep looking on from afar.

After a long time, the viewing finally ends. I quickly make my escape before anyone can notice me, especially my mother. I spot Hyosung with Himchan over in the corner and I approach them.

“Is Sophie alright?” Hyosung immediately asks.

“Yeah,” I say nodding my head. “She’s just resting. I don’t want the same thing to happen tomorrow.”

“None of us do,” Hyosung says.

“It’s good to hear that she’s alright,” Himchan chimes in with a smile.

“Yeah, it seems like everything just caught up with her at the moment,” I explain.

“Hey, Hyosung, where’s your brother?” Himchan asks looking at her. Hyosung and I both attempt to stifle our laughs. “What?” he aks.

“Um…I’m her brother,” I say.

“Really?” he asks attempting to take a closer look at my face.

“Really,” I say.

“Ah,” he says pointing at me after he’s just centimeters away from me, “you really are. What happened to your hair?”

“I dyed it. Youngjae dyed his, too,” I explain. Himchan simply nods his head.

“We were going to go to the kitchen to get something to eat, do you want to come with us?” Hyosung offers.

“No thanks, noona,” I say. “I’m going to go check up on Sophie. I saw Youngjae come down a little bit ago so I bet she already fell asleep.”

“Why don’t you take some food up to her?” she asks. “She’s probably hungry.”

“Good thinking, noona,” I say as I quickly go to the kitchen leaving the two of them behind.

After going to the kitchen and putting some light food together that would be good, I make my way up to Sophie’s room carrying a tray. I guess it’s a good thing that no one has noticed me as the prince. Maybe this whole dying my hair thing is going to be good so people don’t recognize me. I just hope that nothing goes wrong with it.

“Hello?” I ask knocking at the door. “Sophie, are you awake?”

“Yeah,” I hear Sophie’s voice inside.

I open the door to see Sophie sitting on her bed reading a book. I’m not sure what book it is, but she quickly puts it down once I enter. “Here, I brought some food for you. I thought you would be hungry,” I say as I put the tray down.

“Thank you,” she says as she looks over it.

“Yeah, no problem,” I say smiling at her as I sit down. “Are you alright?”

“I guess,” she says taking a bite of the toast.

“So…that means that tomorrow is going to be alright?”

“I guess it has to be, doesn’t it? It’s not like I necessarily have a choice.”

“I guess not,” I say looking down at the ground. “I didn’t mean to be so strict with you earlier. I just wanted you to rest. I didn’t want you to faint again.”

“No, it’s alright,” Sophie says. “I understand where you were coming from.”

“Oh, so I think the school thing is being sorted out, okay?”

“Already?”

“I know, it’s fast,” I say. “But it’s better for us if we’re enrolled as quickly as possible.”

“But I don’t know any of the language,” Sophie says hesitantly.

“That’s alright. I’ll make sure that I’m in the same class as you as your translator. Plus, there are other people that can speak manageable English, so don’t worry too much.”

“Okay,” Sophie says as she nods her head while eating some more food.

“Just finish your food now and rest until tomorrow, okay?” I ask as I stand up from my seat and ruffle her hair a little bit.

“I guess,” she says slightly pouting.

“Sophie,” I say looking at her before I leave the room. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Daehyun…oppa,” Sophie says slightly laughing at her use of Korean.

I close the door and lean against the wall that’s between her bedroom and mine. Her smile, I hope it stays there for a long time.

Sophie’s POV

Tomorrow comes too fast. I opened my eyes faster than I had hoped. The funeral is starting at ten today and right now it’s nine-thirty. I’m already ready for the funeral and am just sitting on my bed waiting for the time to go to the church. It’s a semi-private funeral today meaning that some of my family is flying in to attend it and some outsiders are, like all of the important people.

“Sophie, are you ready?” Daehyun asks as he knocks on my door.

“I’m ready,” I respond as I get up and let Daehyun in. He looks slick in his black suit.

“You know that you can lean on me for whatever, right?” he asks.

I nod my head. “I’ll lean on you a lot today,” I say in an attempt to smile, but it ends up failing miserably.

Before I realize it, I’m in Daehyun’s embrace. Slowly, I wrap my arms back around him as I lean my head on his shoulder. “Lean on me all you want,” Daehyun whispers. “We’re best friends and as your best friend I will stand by your side.”

“Thank you,” I manage to mutter.

“You don’t need to thank me for anything,” he says pulling away from the hug. “I did nothing to deserve your thanks.”

“You’re here for me,” I say.

“But that goes without saying,” he quickly adds. “Standing by your side is something that I want to do and something that I should do as your best friend. Thanks is not needed. Let’s go to the car, okay?”

I nod my head and follow Daehyun to the limo that’s waiting out front. He said that he was going to help me through all of these funeral things that they do and traditions that they uphold. As soon as we enter the car, I see Hyosung, Youngjae, and a boy that I don’t think I’ve ever met before. At least, I don’t remember him.

“Hello,” I say greeting them all as I get in.

“Hey,” they all greet back.

“I hope you don’t mind us riding with you,” Hyosung says.

“Oh, no, it’s no problem,” I say attempting to smile at them again.

“I don’t believe I’ve introduced you guys yet,” Hyosung says pointing to the guy next to her and to me. “Sophie, this is my boyfriend, Himchan. Himchan, this is Daehyun’s best friend Sophie.”

“Nice to meet you, Sophie,” Himchan says in broken English as he extends his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” I say shaking it.

Silently, we all travel to the ceremony. We arrive there early, but that doesn’t matter since there are already people coming in, even if the ceremony itself starts at ten fifteen and the doors open at ten to let the people in. It’s like some concert, but I don’t want to compare a concert to the funeral of my parents.

“Now,” the man who is proctoring over the funeral says as the ceremony inside nears an end, “we will have their daughter say some words.”

Slowly, I stand up and make my way towards the podium. I’ll do my best today like I tried my best yesterday. Today I’ll be able to stand before everyone.

This isn’t going to be a goodbye to my parents; this is going to be a see you later. I’m not saying goodbye to them, there’s no absolute way that I’m able to do that because they’re still living inside of me and nothing can stop that.

Daehyun’s POV

Sophie walks up to the podium and I feel nervous enough for her. I hope she stays strong, even if this is a tough time for her. I don’t want her to faint again; I don’t want her to worry me again.

“Thank you for attending the funeral,” Sophie quietly says as she begins speaking. Everyone in the room quiets down. It becomes so quiet that a pin drop is able to be heard. The only thing that can be heard is the slight echo from Sophie’s speech.

“My parents were and always will be wonderful people,” she begins. “They gave me a home when no one else wanted me. Even if I don’t remember that time, I know that they have showered me with warmth and love whenever they saw me. I know that they will always be watching over me, they will be keeping an eye on me no matter what I do. Like parents they will watch over me intently making sure that I make all of the right decisions and I know that I will have my friends besides me.”

At the mention of friends, I can’t help but slightly smile to myself on the inside. I will watch over her. I know that he parents trusted me and loved me as much as their own child. That makes me think, did they know who I really am?

“Today is a farewell to my family’s bodies, but it is not farewell to their spirits. Their spirits will always be with me for as long as I live,” Sophie says. I can see the tears start rolling down her eyes and unknowingly, tears start rolling down mine. “I can’t say the word goodbye to them, it’s just not possible. I will continue to live out their memory and be a good daughter and live everyday with my parents beside me. Thank you once again for coming,” Sophie says slightly bowing before she steps down.

I know that a little of the people that are there did not understand what Sophie said since she said it in English, but I think the feeling was conveyed well. As she sits down next to me, I grab for her hand. Sophie doesn’t push it away like she normally does, instead she continues holding onto it and our fingers intertwine with each other. Without words, she knows that I’ll always be here to support her, no matter what it is.

The ceremony finally gets to the place for when it’s outside, like a traditional funeral in America. We all stand by as the caskets are transported into their final resting place. I recognize this place as being the place where many people who have helped the country lie. Many important people are here, so that must mean that Sophie’s parents were important people. I don’t understand how important they were yet.

While we’re outside, Sophie grabs onto my hands again as she watches the caskets being lowered. I feel her turn into me as she starts crying, her tears having an endless flow out of her eyes. I gently turn my body so that she’s crying into my chest and wrap my arms around her, gently her hair to let he feel comfort at least a little bit.

“These people,” a man says in Korean, which means that Sophie can’t understand him, “they will always be remembered. The things that they have done for this country will never be forgotten. The deeds that they have completed will always be important to our country and have helped us shape the way that we live today. Forever they shall be remembered for their deeds and their death shall be etched into the hearts of the Korean people. There will not be a day that goes by without us thinking about them.”

I think about the words that the man is saying. That means that her parents are important, but this is just all confusing to me. Just who in the world are Sophie’s parents?

As everyone starts filing out after the outside ceremony, there is still the small reception inside afterwards for when people can speak with Sophie that we have to go to, but the strange man that I was observing before comes up to me.

“Hello,” he says bowing.

“Hello,” I say bowing back.

“Give this to Sophie when you get the chance,” he says handing me an envelope.

“What is this?” I ask.

“Just…something,” he says as he walks away leaving me standing there staring at him.

Sophie’s POV

I don’t feel like talking to anyone as I sit at the table. I see people walking all around expressing their concerns with each other about my parents. Even though some of my family is here, I don’t feel like talking to them. I don’t feel like talking to anyone.

“Do you want something to eat?” Daehyun asks sitting down next to me and offering me a plate.

“No thanks,” I say pushing it away.

“Okay,” Daehyun says as he begins eating the food for himself. “Shouldn’t you talk to some of your family? They came all the way over here. You should at least spend a little time with them.”

“But they’ll start talking about things that I don’t necessarily want to hear,” I complain. “I don’t want to know how great my parents were, I want them back here next to me. I want them to be here.”

“But they’re your family. It’s good to be close to them in a time like this,” Daehyun urges.

“Fine,” I say rolling my eyes as I get up from my seat to go talk with some of my family members. I’m not in the best mood now, though.

“Wait,” Daehyun quickly says.

“You told me to go and now you’re stopping me?” I ask.

“I was told to give this to you,” he says handing me an envelope.

“What is this?” I ask.

“I’m not sure, some guy said to give it to you, but I don’t know who he is,” he confesses.

I stare at the envelope. What could possibly be inside?

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What is inside of the envelope? How is school going to go for Daeyun, Youngjae, and Sophie? Will anyone realize that Daehyun is the prince?

Here is Chapter 8. Hope you enjoyed :D