“I have to say, you do answer the questions skillfully that I might even think that you are a real princess.” Taecyeon smirked at her.

They were at the small creek at the back of the palace. He had found a small pathway that lead to the forest behind. Yoona had not been to one before, not a real real one anyways. The lush green of the forest was painted throughout the place. The air was fresher than it was in the palace. Not that there was air pollution there but the pressure of being inside was just…suffocating.

The brunette stepped on the stones on top of the shallow river. So shallow that seeing the bottom was not even hard at all. Guess living in the city does have its disadvantages. The waterfall was nearby and she could feel the small splash of water onto her face although it was quite far away. What she would do to go wild right now but apparently, there was a Prince watching on her.

“What can I say? I’m a natural.” Or maybe too much Korean dramas but let’s just keep that a secret. She stepped over to the other side of the river and continued observing the beautiful place around her. The sunlight was creeping through the spaces between the tree branches. It was spring around here. Suddenly, she could hear something rustling nearby. It happened again not long after that.

A white thing appeared from behind the bushes. It was a rabbit! It was just so adorable that Yoona wanted to go pet it. It had blood red eyes that seemed to staring into her soul. It ran away as she reached out her hand to touch it. Yoona lifted her dress and ran with it. Running was her best hobby, or rather her favourite sport.

To her surprise, she failed to outrun the rabbit. Guess living in the wild does give you enough training for a runner. It took her a full minute to realize that she was lost. It was almost sundown and she’s not back at the palace. What will she do? People will come and search for her and she’ll get a huge scolding from everyone. Natural instinct number one, panic.

“Yoona! Where are you?”

She whipped her head to her back and saw no one. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Taecyeon.” And with that said, he appeared from a nearby tree.

“Oh my god. I thought…I thought I was lost forever.” She went forward and gave him a long hug. She didn’t care if she hated him for getting her into this mess in the first place. No not this lost in the forest mess, but the fact that she was lying to live.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe.” Startled, he hugged her back anyways and placed his hand on her hair to assure her. It felt like hours before she let go of him. The sun was already down and the crickets were sounding clearly in her ears. She placed a strand of her hair into the back of her ear and stepped back.

“We should go back now…you do know your way back, don’t you?” She cleaned off the dust on her clothes and looked around. Taecyeon ruffled his hair with his hand and looked at her.

“No way. You have got to be joking! You don’t know?”

“It isn’t my fault this happened. You just had to run away and do what, chase a bunny? What kind of adult does that?”

“Fine, I admit that it’s my fault. Happy now? Can we just, try to look around? Maybe we can catch a glimpse of the palace.”

 “There’s no point! It’s too dark to see anything! We’ll just have to…stay here.” He looked around the place before concluding on that decision. The ground was dry, thank god. He started taking a few pieces of wood together and rubbing them in a way that looked familiar to Yoona’s eyes.

“You’re starting a fire with that? Does it even work? I mean-“ The fire ignited before her eyes in bright orange flames.

“You were saying?” He smirked at her for the thousandth time that day and sat at the side of the fire. He rubbed his hands on top of it to keep himself warm.

Yoona sat down and did the same thing he did. Who knew that a Prince could do that? She always thought that royalty was fed with a silver spoon in their mouth, no heck, they were fed with a golden spoon in their mouths.

“It’s just kinda unexpected.”

“That’s what everyone says. Sometimes I just wish that I wasn’t born as a Crown Prince, you know? I wish it was my brother instead.”

“Tell me about your brother. You sound like you’re not in favor of him very much.”

“He’s not bad. I guess I’m just jealous that he can relax and have all the fun he likes without getting called off to diplomatic matters. He doesn’t even need to go to meetings to marry because if I’m not married, he can’t be too.”

“So you’re torturing him.”

“No, not exactly. But now that you said it, it does seem kind of like it. It’s not like he likes anyone anyways, he’s usually cold and not friendly. He just sits in his study all day long. He is the most boring person I have ever met in my life. No wait, second boring. Everyone around here is boring. The only thing I’ve ever heard that was friendly was, ‘How do you want your tea, Your Highness?’” He started mimicking one of the servants in the palace that made Yoona laugh out loud.

They stopped for a while and Yoona had to break out the silence. “Well I think that you’re the person with the least worries out here. Imagine all these people out there in poverty. I’m gonna go to sleep now while you wallow in your worries. Good night, Taecyeon.” She leaned back onto the tree bark behind her and slept.

This was the first time a servant has ever called him by his name. But she isn’t a servant anymore. She’s a princess now and she was going to continue being one until he says not to. She really looks like one with her perfect features and the way she talks. She is a mystery even to him and he was going to find out more about her soon.