Baekhyun blew a raspberry as he walked around his quarters. He could feel Byul's bored gaze on him and it irritated him so.

She was always watching him, making sure he doesn't do anything silly. If he had known better, he thought his mother didn't send him a bodyguard. She sent him a nanny.

Byul was no fun at all, at least in Baekhyun's point of view. She was pretty alright, but Baekhyun soon forgot about that fact because his negative feelings towards her overwhelmed everything else. And he even started calling him names just like she did to him.

"What's your problem, Ddong-ha?" Byul retorted as she caught Baekhyun glaring at her for the fifth time in the past ten minutes.

Baekhyun made a face at her. "Nothing. Can't I just dislike you, Puppy?" he snorted.

Byul raised her brows in confusion. "Puppy?"

"Yes you." Baekhyun huffed. "You're rigid and can't think out of the box, following the rules like a dog. Just because my mother says I can't sneak out of the Palace or I can't go around flirting with the court attendants and you follow her words like a dog. You're a freaking puppy!" he insulted.

Byul flinched. "If you use your head to think, Ddong-ha, you'd never even want to do those things you mentioned." she rolled her eyes. "You're the Crown Prince and you should be doing meaningful things instead of having fun all the time. You're seriously a Ddong-ha."

"Yah!" Baekhyun frowned. "I'm the Crown Prince no matter what and I won't tolerate you calling me names!" he huffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Byul looked at him challengingly, with a slight smirk on her face. "And what would you do if I continue to do so?" she taunted.

Her eyes fell innocently on the hand which she twisted. The bruise on his arm was already faded and almost not visible unless you knew there had been a bruise at it's spot. However, the pain still made Baekhyun flinch when he thought about it.

"You're a freaking puppy!" Baekhyun growled, stalking away and huffing. Byul shook her head and went back to her corner to sit. *And you're a freaking child.* she thought.

Baekhyun joined his parents for lunch everyday. When he did so, Byul was free to have lunch herself and be free of Baekhyun for some precious moments. She got her bowl of plain rice and kimchi from the kitchen and wandered around the Palace to look for a place to eat.

She stumbled upon a pretty garden that had a small pond in it. It's beauty was nothing compared to the pavillion and the large lake in the centre of the Palace, but she couldn't possibly eat there since it was for the royalty and all.

This little pond would serve very well as her own little piece of paradise.

Smiling, Byul found a large rock and she sat down on it. Her eyes skimmed through the plants and flowers, taking in their beauty. Because it was the Palace, the types of plants and flowers grown were too planted in a certain artistic manner that wasn't seen outside.

Byul had never seen flowers with more colours than she had right then. Every color in the rainbow was present, and she was fascinated by the way the bees went from one flower to the other, collecting nectar.

"This place is nice." Byul commented to herself as she chewed on a large mouth of rice. It was plain, but with Kimchi, it's bearable. "I don't mind coming here everyday. If only that Ddong-ha could have lunch for five hours straight." she thought wistfully.

"I don't think there's anyone who would eat lunch for five hours straight."

Byul's head whipped around in surprise. Chanyeol was standing behind her with an amused expression, his eyes skimming through her face. "Hi." he pinked slightly, seeming like he regretted his spontaneous comment.

Byul smiled and stood up to bow. "Annyeonghaseyo Chanyeol-gun."

"You don't need to bow around me." Chanyeol told her as he walked over. "I don't really see myself as a prince." he shrugged. He looked at the empty space beside her on the rock. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure." Byul moved over to give him more space.

Chanyeol peered over at her lunch and frowned. "The kitchen only gives you plain rice and kimchi?" he looked definitely enraged. "Not even fresh vegetables or some meat? At least an egg, right?"

Byul shrugged. "It's okay." she assured. "I'm used to this. At least there's kimchi, right?" she said cheerfully.

Chanyeol frowned and bit his lip. He didn't like it. Someone like Byul who worked out and practiced martial arts should be supplying her body with the right amounts of nutrients and vitamins. Plain rice and kimchi would never do the trick.

"I think I'll talk to the head chef about his treatment of the bodyguards." Chanyeol muttered under his breath.

Byul caught it and turned to him. "There's no need to, Chanyeol-gun. It's really fine." she repeated. "And they can't possibly give us egg or meat or good food because we aren't royalty." she shrugged. "I'm fine with this, so you should be too." she smiled.

Chanyeol nodded. He glanced over at her and for the umpteenth time, he was captivated by her beauty. It seemed really corny to say this, but everytime he looked at her, there seemed to be something that drew him to her, that got stronger with every meet.

He had never seen eyes as large as hers, or ones that shimmer and shine with intelligence and alertness like hers did either. Her skin was smooth and silky even though she practiced martial arts in the sun all day back in the Military Academy, though a tad tanner.

"Is there something on my face?" Byul blurted, a little conscious that this prince was looking at her so intently.

Chanyeol pinked and flustered immediately. "Nothing!" he blurted. He cleared his throat awkwardly and hurriedly diverted his gaze, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. Damn, didn't he know any discretion?

"So....how do you find working for Baekhyun hyung?" Chanyeol asked, wanting to start any topic that would take his mind off his attraction for her.

Byul kicked her legs in the air and swung it as she ate. "Horrible." she told him blantly. "I'm sorry if he's your cousin, but he's horrible. Completely insufferable and it's killing me."

Chanyeol couldn't help but chuckle at her honesty. "Come on." he looked at her. "Baekhyun hyung is popular amongst girls. He has a lot of charm and you can't deny he's really good-looking either. You can't hate him that much."

"In fact I can." Byul told him seriously. "I really hate how he plays around with the maids and court attendants and how they let themselves be played. I hate how this guy doesn't have a sense of urgency for the future when he has such a big role on his shoulders. He's so naive, so childish! It's insufferable!"

Chanyeol did agree a little, but Baekhyun was his cousin no matter what. And he knew Baekhyun more than Byul did, so he knew things about Baekhyun no one else did either.

"Hyung isn't that bad, really." Chanyeol told her. "He's a born leader, he's just too lazy to show it." he shrugged. "I'm sure if you stay long enough, you'll be able to find some good points in him."

"And by then I might be able to fly." Byul said sarcastically, hinting at how impossible the task was. She sighed and plopped another mouthful of rice into . "I'm just disappointed, you know?" she mumbled. "I trained so hard at the military academy and now I'm supposed to protect this airhead prince. It's a little...regretful."

Chanyeol turned to look at her. "Was training in the military academy hard?" he probed. "I mean, you're a girl and all. I saw you fight that bigger guy the other day. You were great with your sword." he praised honestly.

Byul pinked at the compliments. She wasn't really used to receiving them. "Thanks." she muttered. "I'm just doing what I like so it's not hard. Not as hard as being a bodyguard for Ddong-ha." she groaned.

She looked at him and gave him a smile. "You know, you're really nice." she said thoughtfully. I mean, talking to me like that like I'm an equal and all, even though you're a prince. I think I wouldn't really mind working for you, compared to Ddong-ha."

Chanyeol felt his heart skip a beat. Did she just say she preferred him over his cousin?

This was totally rare since girls usually picked his cousin over him. But now this goddess like beauty in front of him had told him she chose him instead of Baekhyun!

Was he supposed to feel this happy or was there something wrong with him?

"But then again," Byul continued, biting on a piece of kimchi cabbage. "I'd choose anyone over Ddong-ha."