Baekhyun let out a loud and long sigh, slumping on his chair. He looked extremely gloomy and bored, as if he was a child whose gummy bears were taken away from him forcefully.
 
It wasn't long before another long sigh erupted from his lips again.
 
Chanyeol chuckled softly as he looked over at his older cousin. "Hyung, can you stop making that noise every few seconds?"
 
Baekhyun looked over at Chanyeol boredly and huffed. "What noise?" He sighed again.
 
"That." Chanyeol grinned. Baekhyun made a face and hugged his knees to his chest. "Why, Yeol, why?" He whined. "They're taking her away from me! It's not fair!"
 
Sora bit back a smile and shook her head in amusement at the crown prince's childish behavior. She never met someone so childish before, much less a royal prince.
 
"They're not taking her away from you, hyung." Chanyeol rolled his eyes. "Byul's still in the palace but she's just not allowed to return until her princess lessons are done."
 
"Have you even seen a queen busier than the king?" Baekhyun retorted with a frown. "Are there that many things to learn for a princess anyway? How annoying! I want my Eunbyul back. I don't want to share." He huffed.
 
"You can try to sneak over there and see her." Sora suggested helpfully.
 
Baekhyun's eyes lit up and he immediately grinned. "What a great idea!" He beamed. "Let's do that. Now." He got up from his chair and quickly darted out of his quarters.
 
Chanyeol and Sora met eyes and the former gave a grin. "You totally shouldn't have said that."
 
"I shouldn't?" Sora looked alarmed. "I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't know-"
 
"Hey hey." Chanyeol raised his hand to stop the beginnings of her rant. "I was joking. It's called being sarcastic." He blinked at her, surprised that her panic was genuine.
 
Sora faltered and looked like she didn't understand what on earth he was on about, and why he might be joking with her. She looked stunned in fact.
 
Chanyeol squirmed, suddenly regretting his casual attitude. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. They weren't that close right?
 
"I understand." Sora finally replied with a curt nod. "I'm just not used to jokes being said to me, I'm sorry for not getting it." She bowed.
 
Chanyeol wanted to smile. Why was she acting so...stiff and unnatural? The way she acted almost made him think that no one ever joked around her before.
 
Which was impossible to him, because there would definitely be guys pursuing her with that smile of hers.
 
Chanyeol backtracked and quickly shook his head. Dude, what wee you thinking of? You only just recently established how you weren't in love with Byul anymore and now you were on about how another girl was attractive. Dude.
 
"Stop apologizing." Chanyeol finally said. "You're Baekhyun hyung's bodyguard but Byul treats you like her unnie. So you should treat us close as well, no need to be formal." He waved the matter off.
 
He looked over to where Baekhyun had went and realized that his hyung had completely disappeared from sight. "I think we better hurry up before we miss any comical sight of Baekhyun interrupting Byul's princess lessons." He grinned jokingly.
 
Sora bowed immediately. "I'm sorry for causing delay-"
 
"There you go again." Chanyeol chuckled, amused. "Your name is Sora, not Sorry right?" He shook his head. "Stop saying it. Come on, lets go."
 
He led the way as Sora followed behind him. Sora watched Chanyeol's back and bit her lip softy, blinking a little more than usual.
 
*Today, someone said a joke to me. And someone actually told me not to say sorry for everything I've done.* Sora smiled softly as she looked at Chanyeol. *This feels...nice.*
 
-----
 
"Stop fidgeting!" Attendant Kim barked. "Will you continue to fidget while you dine with the great ministers and emperors from other countries? Will you embarrass our country like that?"
 
Byul swallowed but she couldn't help but tremble.
 
She had been in that same position at the corner of the room for a good three hours and she could feel her entire body going numb. Attendant Kim had said that it was to train her patience and tolerance but really, were Queens expected to stand around with large porcelain bowls on their heads for hours at a go?
 
She didn't think so.
 
"Attendant Kim." Byul whispered weakly. "I don't think I can feel my legs-"
 
"Good!" Attendant Kim smirked. "That's the way it's supposed to be!"
 
Sadist, was the only word Byul could think of at the moment. And maybe "hot-pink-flying-rice-cakes" because she was also a little cranky and hungry.
 
She saw Baekhyun's head poking into the room and quickly closed her eyes.
 
Damn, she was hallucinating as well. If that Byun Baekhyun ever got to know that she actually hallucinated about him while she was going through her princess lessons, she would never have it easy ever again.
 
And then she heard a soft clearing of throat and she immediately looked towards Attendant Kim. The lady was eating buns and the sound didn't seem to originate from her. In fact, the lady didn't even seem to notice the sound at all.
 
Byul was about to close her eyes again when she heard the clearing of throat again. Her eyes opened wide when she saw Baekhyun head really poking through the door while grinning at her. "Hi Eunbyul!!" He mouthed and waved.
 
Byul rubbed her eyes in surprise and blinked. Ddong-ha?
 
"STOP FIDGETING!" Attendant Kim barked. "What did I tell you about fidgeting?"
 
Byul blinked while Baekhyun shot an unhappy look at Attendant Kim. Byul gaped at him. What did he think he was doing? If he dared show up here, he should be prepared that Attendant Kim might actually make him do the standing-with-bowl-on-the-head thing with her.
 
"What are you doing here?" Byul mouthed back while glancing cautiously at Attendant Kim. "Go!"
 
Baekhyun sulked and made a heart with his fingers. "But I miss you~" he mouthed, winking.
 
Byul rolled her eyes. Oh boy. Her heart shouldn't be pumping so hard in this weird manner when her entire body felt sore. It was strange.
 
"What do you think you're looking at?" Attendant Kim scowled at Byul when she noticed that the latter's attention was drifting away. Attendant Kim turned in the direction where Byul was looking and Baekhyun quickly ducked his head.
 
Attendant Kim rolled her eyes ad scoffed at Byul. "Silly things can distract you huh? I think you have to practice your concentration more." She clicked her tongue.
 
Byul's jaw dropped and she shot an accusing glance at Baekhyun, whose head promptly appeared again when attendant Kim wasn't looking.
 
He grinned at her cheekily and sent her a flying kiss which Byul refused to look at.
 
Byul scowled at Baekhyun from the corner of her eye while trying not to drop the porcelain bowl on her head.
 
That guy would be dead that night.
 
-----
 
"That was soooo funny!" Baekhyun guffawed. "She kept trying to scowl at me when Attendant Kim wasn't looking and it was absolutely hilarious to see her face change drastically the moment Attendant Kim turned around.
 
Chanyeol shook his head. "And to think I thought you were a loyal and faithful lover before this when you were whining about her not spending time with you."
 
"I am a loyal and faithful lover okay." Baekhyun reasoned. "But that doesn't mean I have to be nice all the time." He grinned.
 
Chanyeol shook his head in amusement and he heard soft chuckling from his side. He turned to look at Sora and she promptly wiped away her smile as if it was forbidden to even do that.
 
She ducked her gaze to the ground and swallowed hard.
 
"Anyway enough of you, hyung." Chanyeol changed topics. "Sora, where did you come from before you became a bodyguard?"
 
Sora stilled and refused to make any eye contact with him. She bit her lip and was positively squirming.
 
"I Uhm." She croaked. "I was just a usual village girl."
 
"Where did you get those fighting skills then?" Chanyeol probed further. "You didn't even enroll in the military academy. I saw you practice sword yesterday and I have to say, you looked trained."
 
Sora's eyes widened at his confession of secretly watching her and Chanyeol's cheeks too pinked at his admission.
 
"I wasn't trained." Sora swallowed and fidgeted on the spot. "I Uhm, climb trees and fool around and became like this?"
 
"But-" Chanyeol frowned.
 
"Oh let it go. She climbs trees? Eunbyul climbs them too." Baekhyun commented. "Climbing trees may be the key to superb kungfu stills."
 
He grinned to himself. "Maybe I should start too?" He murmured thoughtfully.

Chanyeol shook his head at Baekhyun's childishness and glanced at Sora. That girl was definitely hiding something.

But what?