Marcus

                “Marcus-ssi!” I heard someone calling me. I turned around and saw Aiden approaching. He placed a hand on my shoulder. “How’s it going so far?”

                I frowned at him. “What do you think? We’ve not even started yet,” I said, looking at the other arts and photography students whom I convinced to join the event. They were all busy doing their stuffs while I was busy studying their submitted works.

                Aiden was still clinging onto me so I shrugged his hand off of me. “I have some bad news.”

                I turned to him. “If it’s about Kate then don’t tell me,” I said to him.

                “Oh okay. I’d just go then,” he said.

                I pulled his arm. “Ya! Marebwa (Tell me).”

                “She said she can’t come today because she has to go somewhere,” he explained.

                “What???” I exclaimed. She told me she’d come and now she has to go somewhere else. Why did she have to ditch this?

                “It’s family stuff Marcus so don’t be mad at her,” he said.

                “Oh yeah? And how would you know that Aiden?” I asked him sarcastically.

                “Because Andrew hyung fetched her in the gate,” he said.

                I just looked at him not knowing what to say. “Who’s Andrew?” I finally asked.

                “Dr. Choi’s son. Alex hyung and I used to play with him. And you also met him before. The one who defeated you in horseback riding, remember?”

                That’s when I realized who he was. Andrew. The only one who has ever managed to defeat me in horseback riding. That was way back when I was ten years old. I guess his dad was also a member of the horseback riding club. “How come you never told me that he was Dr. Choi’s son?” I asked him.

                “Because you were too busy hating him. You didn’t even know her last name was Choi,” Aiden said, almost laughing. “Wait, why are you suddenly starting to get furious again? Don’t tell me you still have grudges on him?”

                “Anieyo. It’s just that… I never thought I’d ever come across his name again,” I said, focusing on my work again.

                I felt Aiden tapping my shoulder. “So… should I go ahead or what?” he asked me.

                I nodded. “I still have to finalize all these.”

                “But you’ve got lots of time. You can do it tomorrow and the day after… and the next day after that,” he went on and on.

                “Jincha! Just go ahead now Aiden. You’re bothering me,” I said, gesturing him to go out.

                “Arasso. Arasso.”

Kate

                Andrew walked ahead of me as soon as she saw the woman who is like an epitome of a goddess or something. I saw him kissing her cheek. I looked down and continued to walk to reach their table. Then, Andrew spoke, “Kate, I want you to meet Stephanie. Steph, this is Kate.”

                She smiled at me. “Annyeonghaseyo Kate-ssi! Nice meeting you,” she spoke in fluent English.

                I bowed my head and forced a smile.

                “Let’s all sit,” Andrew said, pulling a chair for Steph. I slowly pulled my chair and sat across them. “So what are we gonna eat?” he asked.

                I didn’t answer.

                I heard Steph saying, “Why don’t we ask Kate?” I looked up and she was smiling at me. Andrew handed me the menu.

                “What do you want Kate?” he asked.

                I looked at the menu and I had no idea what kinds of food were those. “Whatever you order is fine with me,” I just said.

                Andrew nodded. Then, he turned to Steph. “Guess I’ll just have to order our favorite,” he said to her. Steph nodded.

                “So Kate, you’re studying at Kyunghee?” Steph asked me.

                I nodded sheepishly.

                “I heard the Crown Prince is studying there. Have you met him yet?”

                I paused and nodded. “Ne unnie. We’re in the same class in one subject.”

                She nodded. “That must be fun. I want to meet him too.”

                “Ya! Why do you wanna meet him?” Andrew hollered beside her.

                Steph laughed. “Why? Is it wrong for me to meet the future King of the country?”

                “Aish! It’s not that. And besides, he’s probably not interested in meeting you as well,” Andrew said.

                “And how would you know that?” Steph asked.

                “I know him. He’s not really that friendly,” he said. “I already told you that many times.”

                “Yeah. But he probably changed by now. I bet he’s even better-looking than you,” Steph teased Andrew who was flaring up.

                I looked at Andrew. Did he really know Marcus? But how? Was it possible that he was also friends with him just like Aiden and Alex oppa? I shook my head.

                Andrew noticed it. “Kate, kwaenchana?”

                “Uh… I was just wondering… were you friends with Marcus?” I asked him.

                “Marcus? You mean, Prince Marcus?” he repeated.

                I nodded.

                “We’re not really friends actually. More like competitors. I always defeated him in horseback riding when we were kids. Aiden told me how pissed he was everytime I defeated him,” he explained.

                I nodded again. So that’s how they knew each other.

                Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted when Steph asked me, “Wait, are you friends with him? I noticed you called him by his first name. Everyone calls him Prince.”

                I was stunned. She was right. I never called him Prince except when I was teasing him ‘cause he really didn’t like being called one. “A-anieyo. We’re not friends. I just call him that because he always annoys me.”

                “Jincha?” Andrew asked.

                “Ne. But I can handle him,” I said.

“Omo! So you really are close,” Steph commented beside Andrew.

Minutes later, our food came up. They were strange-looking foods to me. I didn’t even know what to eat first. They all looked so appetizing. I started to eat the first dish that was offered to me by Steph. It was really tasty even though I wasn’t a fan of spicy foods. I tried out almost three dishes in a row. Steph and Andrew had already stopped eating.

“I see you really enjoy the food Kate,” Steph said.

I looked at her then to Andrew. He was smiling. “Just eat slowly Kate. And… you don’t have to worry about us,” he said to me.

“Arasso. Just talk with each other. I really won’t mind at all sitting here for hours. I’ll just eat all these food,” I thought to myself.

I managed to smile at them when suddenly, I felt something strange. I started to choke and cough. I couldn’t seem to breathe properly.

“Kate, kwaenchana?” Andrew asked me. “Here drink some water.”

I tried to drink but it was no use so I decided to stand up from my seat. “I’ll just go get some air. Excuse me,” I said to them as I walked away.

I heard Andrew saying, “Kate, are you sure you’re okay? I’ll take you home now.”

I turned around and shook my head. As soon as I reached outside, I struggled to walk properly.  My chest seemed to tighten and my vision was getting hazy. I coughed repeatedly hoping this would help me restore my breathing but it was no good. Despite this, I still continued to walk and find a cab.

Marcus

                My guards showed up as soon as I called Secretary Ho. There were still lots of preparations to be done. But I couldn’t do anything about it since I have yet another appointment in the Palace. I was looking out the car window when suddenly, I saw a familiar face walking on the sidewalk. “Chagamman. Slow down the car,” I ordered the driver which he did.

                I looked closely and recognized that it was Kate. I noticed that she was having a hard time steadying her gait. What was her problem now? And why was she walking alone? At this point, I ordered them to stop the car. I walked out and approached her. She didn’t seem to notice me at first.

“Ya! Kate-ssi, kwaenchana?” I asked her. But she was coughing that she couldn’t formulate a sentence. Then, I realized that she couldn’t breathe. I quickly carried her inside the car and placed the oxygen face mask on her. Fortunately, there was always an emergency oxygen kit here.

After a few minutes, she was slowly relieving. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

“M…Marcus?” she asked in confusion.

“Ne. It’s me. Are you feeling better now? Or do you wanna go to the hospital?”

She shook her head.

“What do you mean by that? You’re still not feeling better or you don’t wanna go to the hospital?” I clarified.

“I don’t wanna go,” she said under the face mask.

I sighed. “You’re really stubborn.” I turned to the driver on the screen and ordered him to take us to the clinic of our family doctor.

I saw Kate frowning but I ignored her.

“Ya! Don’t even think of escaping. We need to see if you’re really okay now,” I told her. “Why were you on the streets? What really happened?” I asked.

She slowly regained back her state as she straightened her back on the seat. “I… actually don’t know.”

We finally reached the clinic. I told Kate to go in first. I was about to follow when suddenly, one of the guards stopped me, “Prince Marcus, if you’re going in, you’ll not be able to catch up with your appointment. Mr. Ho is already calling.”

“I’ll handle the King and Queen. Just please don’t tell them about this,” I begged him.

“But your Highness…” he insisted.

“Please,” I repeated.

He finally nodded.

                I entered the clinic and saw Kate being examined by Dr. Han. “You said this is your first time to experience this right?” he asked her.

                Kate nodded.

                “Next time you eat make sure that there are no anchovies on the dish. You have an allergy on them,” Dr. Han instructed.

                “Dr. Han, is this why she was almost running out of oxygen earlier?” I asked.

                “Ne, your Highness. Is she a chingu?”

                I paused then nodded.

                “Always remind her Prince Marcus alright?”

                “Aguissemida,” I answered.

                “Alright then. Take this when you go home and take a rest for a while,” he ordered Kate.

                “Komawayo Dr. Han,” she said.

                “We’ll go ahead. Komawayo,” I bowed, then I led Kate out of the clinic.

                As soon as we reached outside, my guards started to grab me. Then, I noticed Secretary Ho was already there. He must’ve been informed that I was here. I turned to Kate who was starting to get confused. “Kate-ssi, can you just take a cab home?” I asked, as I tried to free myself from the grip of one of the guards.

                She nodded, still looking at me strangely.

                “Prince Marcus, let’s go now,” Secretary Ho said.

                I followed the guards and went inside the car. As the car moved, I looked outside and stared at Kate who was still standing in front of the clinic. After that, I rested my head on the car seat.

Kate

                The sky was already dark when I arrived at the Choi’s house. Mrs. Choi invited me to have a dinner with her and asked me if I knew where Andrew was because he wasn’t returning any of his mom’s calls. She also said that Andrew hasn’t been coming home the past days. He just shows up for a few minutes then leaves in an instant. This was the first time that I heard her say that. Andrew always tells his mom his whereabouts.

                “I wonder what’s keeping my son busy. He must be very tired from work. Have you seen him already Kate-ssi, since you came back from your trip?”

I could see how upset Mrs. Choi was as we were eating so I said, “Ahjumma, I was with Andrew earlier.”

                She looked at me. “Jincha? Where did you go? Why didn’t he go home with you?”

                “I… I don’t know ahjumma. I left them and went home ahead,” I said.

                “Them?”

                “Ne. He was with Steph unnie.”

                Suddenly, she stood up from her seat. I started to get anxious. Did I just say something that I wasn’t supposed to? “Stephanie??” she exclaimed.

                I didn’t respond.

                “Was he seeing her again? Aye. He’s starting to do things his way again everytime that girl shows up,” she said uneasily.

                “Ah…ahjumma, please calm down,” I said anxiously.

                “Anie Kate. I can’t calm down. I need to find Andrew right now,” she said.

                “I’ll… try to call him ahjumma,” I said standing up.

                But then, I suddenly heard someone from the front door. Aunt Ivy called Mrs. Choi saying that Andrew was home. “Eomma I’m here,” I heard him say.

                Mrs. Choi went out the dining area as I trailed behind her. We saw Andrew in the living room. He moved in closer to his mom to hug her but Mrs. Choi stopped him. “Where have you been?” she asked in a serious tone.

                Andrew looked at her confused. “Eomma, I just went out,” he said trying to calm her down.

                “You’re lying Andrew. You were seeing Steph again, weren’t you?” she asked him straightforward.

                Andrew stopped. Then, he looked at me with a fuming face. “Eomma, are we still gonna argue about this again?”

Oh no! Why do I get the feeling that this was my fault? I shouldn’t have just said anything. But… I couldn’t stand seeing Mrs. Choi upset as well. Aaahhh! I felt like I would explode now.

                “So it was true? You were with her the whole time that you’re not going home,” she said. “Andrew, how many times do we have to tell you not to see her again?”

                “And how many times do I have to tell you that I love her eomma?”

                “So you have to disrespect us now because you love her more than your parents?”

                “Aish! Eomma, that’s not what I meant. I’m not dealing with this right now. You would never understand me anyway,” he said, walking out of the house.

                “Andrew-ssi! Jincha! That kid!” Mrs. Choi mumbled.

                I ran towards the door to follow Andrew outside. “Andrew!” I called out.

                He turned around. “What??” he yelled.

                “Your mom is really worried about you,” I said.

                “Aish! This was all your fault. If you didn’t tell her anything, none of these could’ve happened,” he said furiously.

                He stepped inside his car and started the engine. I was unable to speak at his last statement. He was absolutely right.

∞∞∞

A/N: Omo! Andrew’s mad at Kate again. What can she do?

ThanKYU once again for your undying support. Can’t thank you all enough for making me smile every single day (I try, jeongmal geoui da wasseo) ahaha XD who else thought of that part? Anyways, I’ll try to update as soon as I can. Our intern days are coming again so I hope I can still update as much as I do. For those who are experiencing the same sitch as mine, let’s all work hard. Fighting! :)

*And also let’s pray that SS5 will visit our countries (when Siwon shisus attacks…)

-theLEXical-