“I can’t sleep, Myungsoo.”

“Why not, baby?”

I snuggled closer to Myungsoo’s side as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He was still up reading a book for he barely had time to during the day. He was propped up against the headboard with the book open in one hand, the other on my shoulder. He gave it a squeeze.

I frowned, “I don’t know.” I looked up at him. Myungsoo wore a slight frown as well.

“But you need to sleep, sweetie,” he cooed, my hair gently. He smiled weakly at me, hoping that I would listen and close my eyes.

Some nights were like this. The lamp would still be on as Myungsoo read, or did something else beside me as I fell asleep. I needed his company, and he needed mine. And even though Myungsoo needed rest more than I did, he always made sure I was asleep.

I whispered, "But I can't, Myungsoo." I didn’t know why though. When I closed my eyes, I just wasn’t tired, nor did sleep feel like taking me away.

Myungsoo put down the book onto his lap and slid his bookmark into it. The smile on his face became wider. “Should I tell you a story then?” he asked with bright eyes.

I exclaimed, “Oh, that’s perfect!” I grinned as well. Myungsoo’s voice is very soothing.

“Okay,” Myungsoo replied. “Close your eyes,” he added, covering my face with a hand. I let out a laugh as I obeyed his order. My eyelids shut, and I wriggled around to get even closer to Myungsoo. He still sat up.

“This is fun,” I giggled. I heard Myungsoo laugh as well. He continued to play with my hair and twirl it around playfully with his fingers.

Myungsoo shushed me, patting my head. He instructed with a quiet voice, “You have to stay quiet and listen.” I could just imagine the amused expression Myungsoo had on his face.

“Okay,” I mumbled. I pressed my lips together and they formed a straight line.

Myungsoo said with a stern voice, “Okay,” signifying that he was going to tell his story now. “Once upon a time, in a country called Ggoom Nara, there lived a young prince.”

I laughed quietly. “Well, what kind of prince is old?”

“Yah! Let me tell the story!” Myungsoo flicked my ear lightly as he chuckled. I my lips and shut them once again. It was quiet for a few moments, and I knew Myungsoo was just making sure that I wouldn’t say anything else. Then, he continued on with his story.

“His name was Prince Joo. Now, Prince Joo was a kind prince, but he knew that he was famous. Many women who lived in his country of Ggoom Nara were in love with him. They would always try to sneak into the kingdom, or find a way to get in just to see him.”

It took me a whole lot to keep my mouth shut. I found it funny that Myungsoo sounded so serious yet happy to be telling me this story. I appreciated it though, and it was very cute.

“Prince Joo’s father, the King obviously, was not amused by all of this. He would threaten to banish them from the country if they didn’t stop, but Prince Joo, having a warm heart, told his father to lighten up and that these women were not harming anyone.”

I cracked one eye open just to see Myungsoo’s face. His eyes were on me the whole time, and he had caught me. I closed my eye in surprise. He was smiling.

“Eventually, Prince Joo turned eighteen, the age he had to marry someone. Now, Prince Joo was against this idea at first. He didn’t want to break the hearts of all the women in his country, but they were supportive. So, the King and Queen invited princesses and their families from different countries to meet their son. The princesses who came were very beautiful. They were rich, but they were only interested in Prince Joo for the wealth and the recognition.”

I still wasn’t tired, but I could already feel the effects of Myungsoo’s voice taking place. His story was interesting to listen to though, and I forced myself to stay awake just to hear the rest.

Myungsoo’s fingers were lingering on my cheeks. They traced the apples of my cheeks. They traced the bridge of my nose and continued on.

“However,” he spoke, tapping the tip of my nose, “there was one person who caught Prince Joo’s eye. That was the servant of Princess Yeoshin. Prince Joo did not know her name, and he wanted desperately to. So, he had to get closer to Princess Yeoshin in order to know. The servant was very quiet, but she knew who Prince Joo was. The servant was beautiful as well. She was poor, but she was very kind. Prince Joo became very attached to the servant and talked to her whenever Princess Yeoshin wasn’t there.”

There were tingly feelings that filled my body as Myungsoo’s voice became the only thing I could hear. I didn’t want to open my eyes now. His hand rubbed my shoulder soothingly.

“The servant slowly started to fall in love with Prince Joo as well, but it turned out that she was in love with him ever since she heard his name. They couldn’t deny the love they had for each other now.” Myungsoo sniffled. “The servant thought their relationship wouldn’t be able to grow because he could only marry a princess. Prince Joo didn’t care. He loved the servant more than anything.” Aw, Myungsoo, this is a sad story. Why are you telling me? I imitated Myungsoo’s action as well by sniffling.

“Princess Yeoshin found out of their love. She wasn’t against it, but decided she would help them. They had to convince their parents that the servant and Prince Joo’s love was allowed for they knew their parents were against it.”

Myungsoo stopped talking for a bit.

“Myungsoo? Aren’t you going to continue?” I peeked at him through one eye.

Myungsoo looked back at me with a blank expression, and for a second, I thought he was sad because of his own story. Instead, he laughed. “That was a test! You talked! And because you talked, I’m not going to continue.” Myungsoo turned the lamp on the bedside table off and lied down. He faced me, but he closed his eyes.

“You can’t stop there!” I shouted, shaking him with all my might. “No! I want to know what happens with Prince Joo and the servant!” I cried. I pouted and lied on my back as I kicked my feet into the air despite the blanket on top of us. “Thanks, Myungsoo! I’m not getting any sleep at all now!”

Myungsoo put his arm over my stomach to stop me from squirming. I turned my head on my pillow to face him. There was a smirk on his face. “Be quiet, and I’ll tell you the rest,” he sighed.

“Ah, okay! Good, continue!”

“Okay, shush.” Myungsoo didn’t open his eyes, and now, it was Myungsoo with his eyes closed and me staring at him. He pulled me closer to him, and I rolled onto my side. His arm slid off me, but he quickly placed it back over my waist.

I took a deep breath as his mouth opened.

“Their parents were against it. Princess Yeoshin’s servant was banished from her own country and Ggoom Nara. Prince Joo spent the rest of his life married to Princess Yeoshin, but his heart only belonged to the servant girl. They never saw each other again.”

Silence filled the room. The smirk on Myungsoo’s face disappeared, and it looked as if he was asleep now.

I frowned. There were tears pricking at the rims of my eyes. “B-but…th-that…no, Myungsoo, it c-can’t end like that,” I uttered. The tears of sadness began to spill. That’s sad! “What kind of story was that?” I whimpered.

Myungsoo’s eyes shot open suddenly. “Do you think I would actually end the story like that?”

I wiped my eyes as I shook my head. “You can’t end it like that!”

Myungsoo laughed and put his hand on my cheek reassuringly. It was warm. “That’s not the real ending.” With his thumb, he wiped my tears away.

“Then, how does it end?”

“Their parents were against it…at first. Prince Joo and Princess Yeoshin convinced everyone that the servant and Prince Joo’s love should be allowed. Slowly, everyone accepted it, including their parents. Prince Joo and the servant married. The servant who was once poor became a loved princess. They lived a wonderful life of love.”

I blinked slowly.

“The end.”

Myungsoo closed his eyes. “Well, good ni-”

“What was her name?”

“What?”

“What was the servant girl’s name?”

All Myungsoo said was, “Go to sleep.”

A frown formed on my face, but I decided that I would ask him again tomorrow. I sighed, feeling defeated. I shut my eyes tightly and hugged Myungsoo. The story he just told sounded very familiar.

Slowly, the feeling of sleep invaded my senses. I was half-awake and half-asleep when I heard Myungsoo say my name very faintly.

“That was her name.” Myungsoo kissed my cheek, and even now, I didn’t know if I was dreaming or not at that time. “My bedtime story sounds familiar, right? It was inspired by us.” He kissed me softly on the lips. “Good night. I love you, my princess.”

A/N: Hi. I'm tired, but I don't want to sleep. I need Myungsoo to come tell me a bedtime story. /sigh/ I hope you liked it. Subscribe and comment below if you'd like :) Thanks for reading! Have a nice day! :3 By the way, I was trying to think of names for the country, the prince, and the princess. The country, Ggoom Nara, means dreamland (ggoomnara=꿈나라). Prince Joo's name came from master because I translated Myungsoo to English, which meant master, and then an alternative for master was joo=주. And lastly, I couldn't think of a nice name for the princess, and I was just translating random words like pretty, beautiful, and then, I translated goddess which is yeoshin=여신. Yup, so I hope you liked it ^^