Eunsun carried her bag to the gates of the palace, relieved that she was close to getting home. She signaled for a taxi which pulled up to the side.

“Where to?” He asked as Eunsun opened to the door, she was about to give him the address when a hand took a hold of her arm.

“Not so fast,” she looked up and saw Donggun holding her. Without saying a word he closed the taxi door. “You’re coming with me.” She was taken back inside the palace, down the hall to his office where he closed the door and locked it.

“Take a seat,” he said and she sat down. He stood by her, “what were you trying to pull?”

“I wanted to go home.”

“Really? Well did it ever occur to you that might not be an option.” She shook her head.

“No, well then now you know,” he leaned close to her his mouth by her ear, “try that again and I may not be as kind.” Eunsun jumped while he moved back.

“However there will be consequences still,” he took out his phone, “your uncle is in the catering business right? Let’s see if we can make things a bit interesting.” He dialed a number and let it ring.

“Hello? Ah yes this is Donggun-sshi. I was wondering if you might be able to put a particular business on your black list,” Eunsun shook her head to try and persuade him but this was ignored, “it’s called Kang’s Catering. Yes that is correct. Why? Oh let’s just say we found that the owner may have been dealing with the black market once or twice.”

“No…” Eunsun whimpered as he hung up, “why did you do that?”

“Because when a child makes a mistake it is customary for the parents to take the consequences if the child is not of the age to be responsible.” He put his phone in his pocket, “trying to run away shows that you are not capable to carry the consequences for yourself which is why your Uncle is now on the Government’s Blacklist for services.”

“But that’s not fair!”

“Oh he is still in business, but he can’t work for any government organizations even if they requested him, this is a mark that will affect his profits for a long time to come.” She hung her head in shame.

“Don’t worry I can change this once I feel you’ve learnt your lesson… Provided that you don’t pull that stunt again,” Eunsun nodded deflated from the blow he gave her only family.

“You are excused, you will be excluded from all special services for the next three days as your punishment alone.”

“Fine by me,” she muttered as she closed the door, “I never use them anyway.”

***

When she walked back into the dorm she was greeted by two warm hugs.

“We were so worried,” Nicole and Jiyoung said in unison, “why did you leave like that?”

“Yeah why exactly?” Eunsun looked to the other three who had held back, Gyuri was frowning while Hara and Seungyeon seemed disappointed.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Eunsun admitted.

“Damn straight you weren’t,” Gyuri snapped, her friends gaped, “don’t you realize what would have happened to us if you had gone for good?” Eunsun’s gaze went downcast.

“I didn’t particularly think that through.”

“We would be back where we started, working towards something only to have it taken away without warning!” Her eyes glinted with angry tears, “is that even fair?!” Eunsun shook her head.

“No? I thought so,” Gyuri stormed past Eunsun with Seungyeon following. The door slammed echoing the tension in the air. Eunsun lifted her head to Hara.

“I am so sorry,” she said but Hara just followed the other two out the door. Eunsun looked at the other two who were with her, “why are you still here?”

“We feel that we should be,” Jiyoung shifted her weight to the other side, “yes we came close to losing our jobs but we didn’t.”

“And your safety is more important than having to find a job,” Nicole added, “I’m sure his majesty would have made sure nothing would have happened to us.”

“Yeah,” Eunsun was reminded of how things had been left between the two of them, “why don’t you all take a break today? The place is pretty much spotless and I would rather Gyuri-ah was in better spirits to work.” The girls seemed fine with this.

“Ok we will let them know,” Nicole told her.

“Thank you,” Eunsun could finally smile for the first time since the madness.

***

“Eunsun-sshi there is someone here to see you,” she looked up from her book as the door opened. Her uncle stood there with his arms open.

“HoDong-ee,” she went over to him and naturally came into his hug.

“Oh my dear Eunsun-ee,” he said ruffling her hair, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Come let’s take a walk around the gardens.” Eunsun looked at the clock, she only had half an hour until dinner but she would make the most of it.

“Sure thing Uncle.”

“So how is life here at the moment?” Hodong asked as they walked side by side.

“Umm alright,” she didn’t want to tell him about the dreadful day she had, “how has business been?”

“Oh busy these days except,” he glanced over to the flowers, “one of my bookings ended up cancelling.”  Guilt struck Eunsun square on but she couldn’t be sure, “who was it going to be for?”

“Umm it was for the department for the military, a government run agency.” Eunsun swallowed hard.

“HoDong-ee…. It’s my fault,” HoDong shook his head patting Eunsun on the back.

“Don’t be silly Eunsun-ee these things happen, God is watching over me when it comes to my business—“

“No it is my fault, really.” Her uncle stopped, he saw she was dead serious.

“I-I tried to run away,” she couldn’t face him, “—so as part of the punishment…He put your company on the government’s black list.” She finally faced him but the look he had was one she didn’t like. He turned away.

“I-I-I don’t know what…” He sighed.

“I’m so sorry…” She tried to hug him but he held her off.

Wow that probably caught you guys unaware, seeing as they are close like family. Thanks for reading but I warn you, the next chapter won’t be as happy either.