Minho casually walked across the beach, hand-in-hand with a stuffed teddy bear. Why? you might ask, because the Kwon's four-year old cousin, Haru, caused much destruction wherever she stomped and was currently running through the shallow water with muddy wet sand flying up at the backs of her legs, claiming, "I don't wanna have Mithter Bear dirty."

He looked out to the sparkling sea, not by the least amused, and then as his eyes searched upon land, he spotted a small bench beside an apple tree. Come to think of it, wasn't this where I met her? Ah, yes. Indeed. He drifted towards the wooden bench as his memories flooded back to him, while Haru happily skipped behind.

Now seated on that very spot, Minho placed his feisty little cousin onto his lap where he began to sink deeper into his thoughts, unaware that he was actually speaking out loud for all to hear. Haru, who was simply listening, assumed it was story time. She gazed at the ground where an ant crawled but she still took in every word that her older cousin was saying. Eventually, her mind went blank and she began to imagine everthing that he spoke of.

~~~

The day I met her...

"Look at him.. that young conceited prince with all those ladies fawning over him again. Hasn't this been the third time this week, darling?" The Queen is always right- which is me- so I'm smart. My husband nodded in response since he doesn't talk much. The princesses surrounding the tall and dark haired flower boy began to move closer and closer, which by the looks of it, he didn't mind that at all! He smiled his princely grin and made all those around him blush, and carried on with the idle chit-chat.

"Must a prince be so... playful? He must be courting all those women as well! What a...!?- Oh your Highness! Such foul words that escaped my mouth just now" The girl cursteyed as she covered , she was a servant and had four other maids behind her. 

"Yep. But I agree, how could my child end up that way? It must be his father's fault, he has never had any faith in the boy! Now Minyoung, stand up and be on your way, aren't you preparing for the ball?" I asked and thought what's courting? Courting.. hmm, I looked to the King for guidance, but my husband sat motionless as he always does. He is absolutely useless.

"Ah, you are indeed correct, we were assigned to help set up," motioning to the others she said, "and I was hoping that I would be able to pay a visit to the rose garden before hand, but the sun dial says it is nearly time to go to the dining hall so we will take our leave now, Farewell your Highness." With that, the joyful maid gracefully glided towards the hall, her long black hair swaying as she walked. She's really nice and something about her.. is oddly wonderful! I like her already! I wonder if she'll have tea parties with me. My eyes tracked down the delinquent child to find him playfully ruffling his younger siblings' hair on the way to his own chamber. They glared in return, whereas he bypassed and ignored me on purpose. Am I that unnoticeable because of my shortness? Is that what he thinks?! Hmpf.

~~~

"Minho, you're still going to the ball with me, right?" I looked at the princess, her blue eyes and blond hair shimmered. Foreigner- you are not addressing me correctly. Sigh.

"No. Leave me, I have to be properly clothed to attend." After she scurried down the corridor, I let my servants in and they did everything I sure as hell did not want to do. Ten minutes later I had on the most uncomfortable, itchy, freakin' suit in the world. And I am the unlucky bastard it was made for. I know my father is dissappointed in me for not settling down and getting a woman (could this outfit be a revenge tactic?), but what does it matter? I'm rich so nobody even looks at who I am but who I will definitely be. The King. But my old man better not die anytime soon because I happen to like freedom.

Sheesh. Why did I have to be the eldest? Everything lies on my shoulders. I don't have time for such petty things as commoners. They beg, they don't dress well and they say they work hard but how come there is still dust on my dresser?! I picked up a dusty figurine that I was positive belonged to my one and only sister.

I glanced in the mirror, I was now fit to go. These balls are a pain, I hate dancing. Now if it was a party with my friends then thats another story.

"Hyung! Come on! Everyone is waiting for your arrival!" My seventeen year old brother, Jiyong, called to me from the top of the steps. I called back angrily, "I know!" . Can't they carry on without me?

~~~

I am surrounded by these, these!.. sigh. It's no use, they will maul me one way or another. I danced with most of those girls until more began to swarm around me. I frantically searched for someone to atleast acknowledge that I didn't want to dance anymore but that did not happen. I released myself from the grip of one of the princesses that had yet to realize that I was heading to the restrooms. She blushed then went back to the mob. I straightened out my suit because it was in a disarray from being grabbed at every which way, and continued to walk. I opened the door and made my way to the mirror. I cannot catch a break. My hair is disleveled! After fixing up my look, I headed out, only to find myself trapped inside the restroom for those same princesses had literally stalked me to where every man- and woman- should have their privacy!

 Aisshhh. I glanced behind me, trying to figure out the only plan that was available to me, I have to climb out the damn window. Struggling, I managed to launch myself into a rose bush below, thorns and all. . That hurts.

"Oh my! Prince Minho!" I glared at the person who had just spoke, making her shut up.

"Speak of this to no one." I demanded, but somehow she laughed. I gave off a confused vibe, until she explained.

"Prince, you are quite the pitiful site right now," she giggled covering up , "oh, very much so indeed."

I clenched my jaw, How dare she? Who is this foul- she met my eyes and my heart thumped. Aish. I began to glare at the rose dangling in front of my face.

"So why are you out here?" I snapped at her. She doesn't look like someone of much importance. I start to get to my feet, wiping off any petals and thorns that had attached themselves to me, then I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

She breathed in the fresh summer air that had a flowery rose essence intertwining with the wind, "I wanted to see where my mother had met her 'prince.'" She smilled softly. "I...She died a year ago due to an illness." She twirled, stopping to face me, "So I work here- to pay off debt."

I have everything, and yet, she's around the same age, and she's left with nothing? All those self centered princesses that care about no one, how do I know if she's not the same? I glared at her again, causing her to step back. She trembled as I brought my outstretched hand closer to her.

"Who are you really?"

~~~

"That stupid Prince..." I sighed.

I, the Queen, was spying.

I had just watched him fall out of a window, how does that happen? I was about to shout if everything was alright when I saw that he was with yet another girl! He sure does like girls.. But this time he wasn't being nice, he was glaring at her. She has long dark hair that came to about the same length of that maids' dress- Oh. I remember, Minyoung was her name and she said that she likes roses. Uh-huh, that's what she said. I kept on nodding my head, crossing my arms.

"Oh look at that, he backed away!" I say to my husband that doesn't ever talk.  The Prince seems uneasy, like a monster just jumped out of his closet! "What a baby." I giggled. I looked at the two of them again, they seemed to have calmed down until the Prince grabbed  a hold of her wrist and pulled her towards his body. I can't really see right because it is quite hard to see through these tree leaves. I wobbled from where I sat on the branch. I didn't fall! I would have needed a band-aid if I did.

Shoving the leaves out of my line of vision, I watched  them go their separate ways, the Prince going back to the ball, and the maid to her quarters. How unexciting.

~~~

I see her everywhere I go now.

I feel like I want to see her, is that odd? When I spoke to her that night in the garden last week, it felt as if she was actually seeing me and not my status. No, No. I can't like her, she's too nice for me.

I have spoken to her more than once, we had conversed about other subjects only yesterday. She was funny and kind-hearted, refreshing even. It makes me want to see her again. But I can't, my father would never allow it.

"YOO! Minho hyung!! Dad wants to see you." Jiyong interrupted my thoughts, what could it be? I shake my head. I walked into his study, he was sitting, unmoving from his stiff position. I keep my eyes focussed on the ground as he spoke in an odd voice, "Son, I know you have been seeing that maid." I cough. What? Seeing her!?

He continued, "Well, even if you haven't you can, you see, I made a promise a while back to a friend of mine that your younger brother will marry my friend's daughter- and by any means they are not of our status but that is just how it is." My father made eye contact, wait, where is this coming from? Him. Of all people, you might not understand, but he does not make promises easily! He... must really treasure his friend, "You are free to be with Minyoung. Her status does not change anything."

I smirk, and continue to dwell in my thoughts, Minyoung is so nice and kind, how did I come to love her so quickly? Well I guess her could say that she is the light of my once dark world..

A few years later...

I  glanced at her for the fifth time, she is smiling again. We ended up picnicing in the rose garden today. Rose petals blew, and swirled around us calmly. The sun shined brightly behind her, making her hair shimmer and making her smile become even more beautiful.

It had taken awhile for us to become like this, she had never once agreed to such a thing, until now.

She is a shy person, kind and gives advice to everyone, I had learned this from the many times I had walked around with her, attempting to help out with her job. She would scold me then laugh at how surprised I was. Minyoung has taught me that caring for those around you will result in those same people caring about you. I was childish and cold-hearted then, but don't get me wrong, I am just as I was, cold-hearted and ruthless. But now only to those that harm Minyoung.

"Minho, do you think my mother would be happy right now if she were to spot me?" She asked shyly, a strand of her hair fell in front of her face. I look to her eyes that searched mine.

"Yeah," I reached for the hair that had fallen, slowly tucking it behind her ear, then cupped her face, " I do." I smiled and gently brought my lips closer to hers.

~~~

"So does the Prince love the Princess?" Haru asked impatiently, making her older cousin realize that he should probably not say anymore. He gave a confused look, Wait. Where did that come from?... I guess this is what I get for telling a four- year old my life story. He shook his head.

"Sure Haru. Hold your 'husband' now, I don't want to any more." he smirked, looking at the teddy bear. Sheesh. What a weird brat.

~~~

Sunday, April 26, 2015

I decided I would leave this chatper in the story. Just a pointer, this has nothing to do with the actual storyline or anything but my co-author mycatWalter wrote this just for fun, you know? I hope you enjoyed it still =D

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Mar5122: Hey! This was a bit of a turn around, huh? You were expecting an update of the story, right? Welllllll...Heehee. Did you notice a change in the writing style? Yes? No? That's okay, but this chapter wasn't actually written by me but was actually by mycatWalter. I was really really busy with school and didn't have much time to write the next chapter so I thought, "Why not write a side story to not leave the readers hanging?" And the job was appointed to mycatWalter. I hope you liked it and please support mycatWalter as she will be writing all the side stories that are to come! They wont all be like this, but will provide a lighthearted view on the background stories of the other characters that aren't really described much in the story.

mycatWalter: Hiya! I began to write this at the request of my partner in crime, and thought, "Hey, why not make this part of a little girl's imagination?" I'm not sure why, but it somehow worked out in a way! teehee! Some how it ended up like this but the whole time I was writing I thought that it had to be long or else SOMEONE (aka Mar5122) would seriously harm me... lol.  I hope that you've enjoyed reading it and please comment! We would like to know what you, as our readers, think! We hope to get the next chapter out after exams! (Good luck, to those taking exams next week or if you have already taken them... Hope you passed!) :3