Decision

The palace that day could be compared to a beehive. There were more maids and butlers than ever and even positions like security guards were doing odd jobs unusually. At first Luhan had been taken aback when he entered the potential disaster zone but then remembered that today was a very special day indeed. Today was the Queen’s death anniversary. This brought up the question: how was Yoona doing?

Luhan was initially going to go straight to Yoona but after seeing Hwayoung who was the princess’ personal attendant work her socks off for something she probably wasn’t obliged to do, he felt the need to stay and help. He would check up on Yoona quickly and then come back to help.

Luhan smiled to himself as he made his way to the Princess’ bedroom, satisfied with his plan. He had to knock a couple of times for Yoona to open the door. But when she did, Luhan wondered whether his plan was such a great idea.

Yoona looked perfectly fine. She stood in all her glory smiling widely at Luhan. Luhan was expecting a rather moody Yoona but this…this wasn’t even the normal Yoona! Her smile was so well executed that Luhan couldn’t even tell whether it was real or fake. He had been able to tell on other occasions but this time round Luhan seriously had no idea. He knew it was strange that Yoona would be so smiley on such a day…but her smile was so convincing that somewhere along the way Luhan found himself burying the thought.

“Luhan!” Yoona beamed.

“No honorifics?” Luhan blurted out loud.

“Why? We’re going to get super close from now on anyway so there’s no point!” she winked. Luhan felt that line was eerily familiar.

“A…are you okay?” Luhan gulped.

“Huh? Of course I am.” Again. There was that smile again. It gave Luhan a sinister reassurance that Yoona was completely okay. She was fine. Why would she be troubled anyway?

“Would it be okay if I help everyone then?” Luhan asked. Yoona seemed over enthusiastic at the idea.

“Totally! You need to be a good citizen and help the others. Off you go~” she pushed Luhan towards the stairs and waved to him. Luhan sighed with relief. Yoona was perfectly fine. Luhan shrugged and went off to help the others.

“This is so nice of you.” Hwayoung said when Luhan had filled her in.

“Not really…” Luhan shrugged. “Besides you’re doing the same thing!”

“I guess I am…” Hwayoung laughed. “But when you see everyone work so hard for this…you just can’t not help them.” Luhan nodded in agreement.

“By the way shouldn’t you be helping the princess get ready for the ceremony?” Luhan asked as he picked up a pile of boxes.

“Ahh…I keep forgetting you’ve only recently joined. You get along with everyone so well I keep thinking you’ve been here for years!”

“That’s slightly off topic…” Luhan scratched his head meekly.

“She never attends the ceremony.” Hwayoung sighed.

“Why…?” Luhan trailed. Hwayoung stared hard at the boxes in front of her before picking them up.

“Honestly…I don’t know.” She chuckled weakly. “…Did you know I used to be really close with her?”

“Really?!” Luhan’s eyes doubled in width. He had never expected that.

“Yeah…we used to be really close. We attended the same high school and were always together. I’m from a poor family and my grades were horrible so I couldn’t get a job no matter how hard I tried. That’s why the princess’ offered me this job. She saved my life.”

“Wooow…” Luhan never thought that was anything more than what you could see on the outside. It was times like these that he really questioned his thinking.

“You’re probably wondering how we turned out like this.” Luhan nodded eagerly, wanting to know more about this totally unexpected relationship. “Well to be honest…I don’t really know either.” Hwayoung laughed. “One day we were as close as ever and the next day, the princess wouldn’t talk to me like she would usually. She gave me the cold shoulder all of a sudden and you know how the princess is when you she gives you a cold shoulder. I was too scared to ask her what was wrong…so I never did. You know I was slightly jealous when I saw you acting normally with the princess again. Because you had the courage to confront the problem…you managed to solve it. I never did…and now it’s too late. She hates me and I have to hate her too.” Hwayoung blew a raspberry.

“I don’t think she hates you.” Luhan murmured.

“What?” Hwayoung blinked a couple of times. “What do you mean?”

“Well if she hated you…then she would surely fire you from your job especially after knowing your circumstances. But she didn’t.” Luhan explained.

“…that’s true…” Hwayoung tilted her head. She had never thought of it that way. “But then…it might just be out of pity…” She trailed dejectedly.

“Yoona isn’t one to do things out of pity. You know her well enough. Whether your circumstances were pitiful or not…she wouldn’t have cared unless you were someone she cared about. I know it’s not exactly a good trait…but it means that she doesn’t hate you.” 

“Luhan…” Hwayoung stared hard at Luhan for a couple of seconds. “You really know the princess well…even though you only just met her what like two three weeks agoago.”

“Really?” Luhan chuckled. “I don’t think I do…I definitely don’t know her well enough unfortunately.” Luhan thought about how Yoona’s expression would grow dark when he spoke of her mother. He definitely didn’t know her well enough. He didn’t know what would cause her to make an expression like that.

“Then you’re like me.” Hwayoung stated. “I want to know her…but I just can’t.” There was a slight pause before Luhan spoke.

“Doesn’t that mean we just have to try to know her then?” he smiled eagerly with newfound determination.

“Huh…?”

“If she blocks us out…then we just have to try again. If we keep trying then surely one day she’ll let us into her world. At the end of the day…Yoona also wants someone to be there for her as well. We need to keep trying for her.”

“Luhan…” Hwayoung gulped. Hwayoung felt a growing admiration for Luhan.. He hadn’t just slumped and given up when things weren’t going well. He stood up again and fixed his wrongdoings. Unlike her he hadn’t just accepted what had happened. A wide smile played on her lips as she found herself sharing the same determination as Luhan. “You know you’re totally right!”

“I know.” Luhan chuckled. “Listen I have to go to the princess…there were some things I left unanswered.”

“Go!” Hwayoung cheered. “I’ll handle these boxes.” Luhan thanked her and made his way back but stopped when Hwayoung called for him again.

“Luhan! I’m going to try to fix things with her!” Hwayoung called out to him.

“Yoona.” Luhan knocked on the door. “Yoona can you let me in for a minute.” He added. He had been knocking for a whole minute but Yoona still hadn’t opened the door. Was she sleeping?

“Luhan ssi, are you looking for the Princess?” a butler asked when he noticed Luhan persistently knocking.

“Yes…is she even in there?” Luhan finally questioned.

“Well I saw someone who looked like the Princess climbing over the garden walls. I’m not sure though…” the butler trailed uncertainly. “I thought it was nothing if it had been her because naturally…you should be with her…” The butler was going to continue but was interrupted with thunderous sound of the door opening.

“Yoona….!” Luhan called as he barged into the room. It was empty. She wasn’t here. “Damn…why did I think she would have been fine?!” He growled.

“Luhan ssi…should I tell the guards?” the butler asked. At first Luhan was going to agree with that idea but then he wondered if Yoona would have liked that. She must have run off because she wanted to be alone. He should at least respect that much.

“No…it’s okay.” Luhan stated firmly. “I will find her.”

Though Luhan had said he would find her with much confidence…he actually had no idea where to start looking for her. She had long gone out of the palace because she was nowhere to be found. But outside the palace…where would she go?

It was now that Luhan began to realise he didn’t really know the princess at all. He didn’t know where she would go when she felt down. Heck he didn’t even know what had made her down. He thought not questioning her was respectable and the right thing to do since she wasn’t going to tell him herself. But then maybe he had gotten it wrong this time. Yoona really did need someone to confide with. She just wasn’t the type of person that would realise she needed to open up.

Luhan mentally cursed himself as he ran around Seoul. He had been to many places but couldn’t find Yoona at all. He had tried to put himself in her shoes and searched where he would go if he felt down but she wasn’t there either. It was now getting dark and had started pouring down. Luhan didn’t have an umbrella or his car with him and was running around with just a blazer on. But he didn’t think about those things which he would usually make a fuss over. He had only one thought in his head.

Luhan collapsed onto a bench. He felt extremely dizzy and tired. He had been searching formost of the day but all of his efforts had been futile. If something happened to Yoona whilst she was missing Luhan wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

With that scary thought, Luhan pushed himself again and began searching fruitlessly in random places. It was only when he had gotten a call from Hwayoung had he realised what time it was.

“Luhan it’s eleven! You’ve been out for fourteen hours! Where are you?!” The panic in Hwayoung’s voice was evident.

“H..Hwayoung…the Princess…” Luhan shuddered. He felt super nauseous and couldn’t even hear Hwayoung properly.

“The Princess?” Hwayoung piqued.

“Y..Yoona…is missing…” Luhan managed. He had been silly to think he would be able to find her on his own.

“Luhan what are you talking about? Yoona came home three hours ago! It’s more like you’re the one missing!”

“What?!” Luhan coughed. “She did?” A wave of relief washed over him. She was safe. She wasn’t hurt.

“Luhan are you okay? You don’t sound so good! Where are you?”

“Where…?” Luhan looked around. Where was he? Oh yes…he was at the Han River. “H..Han river...”

Luhan didn’t hear the next words Hwayoung said because the next thing he knew, he had out. 

A/N: Super sorry for the late update! My final year of school has started so I've been ultra busy. Thank you for all your wonderful comments btw. They really put a smile on my face :D