D O N G H A E

I didn’t know what took hold of me that night. I didn’t know what made me do it. But the moment I saw her, I felt drawn to her – like she was the sun and I was a planet. Everything around me dissolved into blurred shapes.

Impulsively, I took a step forward and my arms instantly wrapped themselves around her frail figure. My heart began to pound a thousand beats at once and my breathing suddenly became intricate. I felt a surge of joy, of longing, of sadness – I was a fountain of emotions.

I’m sorry. Did you forgive me? Did you know that I couldn’t stop thinking about you ever since the day we met? Did you know how much I missed you?

The moment was so unreal, beautiful, magical. I felt like I was part of a fairy tale, a legend, a classic story…

Suddenly, Yoona hissed into my ear. “Hey! You better get off me or I’m going to start a scene.”

I felt her fist dig into my stomach. At once, I let her go and staggered back. That was when her father, the King, suddenly stepped in between. He stared at me with the sharpest, fiercest glare I’ve ever seen (now I know where Yoona inherited her eyes).

“You,” he pointed at me. And right when I thought he was going to beat the crap out of me, he hugged me.

You heard me.

The King hugged me.

“This must be the way how you greet people,” he said out loud. “Hello.”

But then, he pressed his face closer to my ear and whispered harshly. “But don’t you ever dare embrace my daughter like that. Again. Ever.”

Damn. I let my emotions take control of me. I acted without thinking. I felt like punching myself in the face. I bowed once he let go of me. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

Now, he’ll never allow Super Junior M in Dokbayo.

“Alright,” our manager was looking me as if maggots suddenly started sprouting from my arms. He turned swiftly towards the Dokbayonese king and smiled apologetically. “Your Highness, we are truly sorry for that kind of behavior.  We will bother you no more. We wish you good health.”

With that, Manager Kim led the group away from the table. However, I couldn’t make myself move. There were so many questions I wanted to ask Yoona – so many things I wanted to know.

How long are you going to stay in Taiwan?

Where are you staying?

Since when did you become a princess?

Why didn’t you tell me?

Did you miss me too?

Do you think me about me sometimes – no, do you think about me all the time?

“Hae,” Eunhyuk was tugging on my arm. He tilted his head sideways. “Let’s go!”

I gave Yoona one last look and mouthed, “Call me.”

Her father was still giving me that crazy look so I bowed at him repeatedly before finally following the rest of Super Junior out of there.

~~~

Later that night, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Henry and I were at the lounge at the dorm. We were in our pajamas and we were gulping down the last drops of orange juice spiked with soju.

“I can’t believe you knew the princess, Hae,” Ryeowook took a final sip from his shot glass. 

Kyuhyun looked up from his laptop. “So that’s what you’ve been doing? Flirting with royalty overseas?”

Everyone laughed.

“Aissh. It’s not like that,” I groaned and leaned back. I think I drank too much alcohol because I felt the urge to use the bathroom right there and then. I got up without a word.

I wonder how Yoona is. Was she surprised to see me? I still can’t believe she’s a princess. She didn’t look the part. And is the King angry with me for my impulsive actions?

Argh!

I swear, tomorrow, I’m going to find the hotel where they are staying and I’m going to get answers.

I hurriedly flushed and left the comfort room.  When I came back to the lounge, everyone was talking in hushed tones. I stopped to listen.

“Who would do such a thing?” Siwon was speaking.

“Maybe a fan got into the Global Friendship Day Concert and took pictures,” Kyuhyun remarked.

“You mean they actually stalked her afterwards?” Ryeowook sounded astonished.

“Oh men, Hae’s going to be upset,” Henry added.

What’s going on?

When I finally walked into the lounge, they were all staring at me. I looked around, expecting an answer.

After a second or so of cold, deadly silence, Kyuhyun finally spoke up. “Hyung, I think you need to see this.”

He turned his laptop around so I could see the screen. He was on a Super Junior Fansite. Even from afar, I could see the headline clearly:

“Donghae Fans Send Death Threats to Dokbayonese Princess Over Scandalous Photos”

And underneath was a picture of me embracing Yoona.