Scattered papers, drawings, and pencils were all over the desk. A sewing machine sat in one corner of the room with heaps of colorful fabrics next to it. In the middle of the room was a canvas dress form. Pattern paper draped over it, and silver pins kept the paper in place. Hana was standing next to the dress form, with her lips clamped tightly around a handful pins. Her hands were busy arranging, undoing, and rearranging the pattern paper. Occassionally, she would pick up a pen and deftly marked up the paper. Hana kept at this for hours, until it was quite late. After pinning the last bit of paper, Hana stepped back to admire her handiwork. 

Small sigh of relief escaped her lips. "Finally," she whispered. This was the design she was going for. Designing clothing was most certainly difficult-- selecting the right fabric, customizing the fit, creating a fashion forward pieces to pique the interests of the consumer-- and sometimes, Hana herself did not even know how she managed all of this. Inspiration was hard to come by and when it did, she somehow had to make it into a reality. 

Satisfied that she had gotten the first steps done, Hana flopped down into a chair and took a sip of coffee that had already gone cold from a mug sitting on her desk. As she sipped on the cool, bitter liquid, her mind wandered to the conversation that she had with Sehun yesterday. She hated that her relationship with him was so ambiguous. Were they just friends or going to be something more? Although it was never openly discussed between the two of them, it seemed clear to Hana that they both wanted more than a platonic relationship. But with Sehun's position as South Korea's Crown Prince, how likely was that? That was one of the reasons why Sehun never bothered to clarify their relationship. An aching feeling filled Hana's chest as she thought about how difficult it would be for her and Sehun to be together. 

With the Crown Prince's birthday approaching, there were bound to be discussions about the Prince's marriage. According to longstanding traditions, Sehun was supposed to get married after reaching twenty. It was never clear how the Crown Princess would be chosen this time around-- after all, a good quarter century had passed since the last Crown Prince, the current king, had gotten married. Hana played with her hands, considering if it were possible that Sehun's parents would allow him to marry for love.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Aren't we living in the twenty-first century? Why can't we move on from these stupid, pointless traditions?" She grabbed her head in irritation. Would Sehun want to marry her and allow her to be his wife? In all honesty, Hana had never considered it until Sehun had mentioned the marriage tradition yesterday. Did he have some purpose behind it? Would the King and Queen approve? Hundreds of questions raced through Hana's mind, but she failed to find an adequate answer for any of them. She bit her lip in frustration, and her heart was heavy. There was such a great possibility, even with her excellent reputation as a dedicated, budding fashion designer and good social standing, that Sehun's