❝chapter four;
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                                   I'M NOT YOUR PRINCE; I'M HUMAN

The woman placed a palm on her forehead to calm herself down, before crouching down to the boy’s eye level, taking both of his hands in hers. Hesitating at his words, the woman rubbed small circles on the back of his palms with her thumb. Was he seeing things? How could.. how could..

“Son.. are you very, very, very sure?”

The boy with the bowl shaped hair nodded vigorously, lips pressed together in some sort of determination.

“I’m sure I saw her, mum, I’m very, very, VERY sure! She takes the school bus to Busan Elementary School! I’m one hundred percent sure that I saw Su-”

As quickly as possible, the woman clasped her hand over the boy’s mouth, hushing him while diverting her attention around the huge house to make sure nobody’s around that could have heard them. Especially not his uncle. Heaving a heavy sigh, the woman looked at her boy seriously.

“Son.. Do you want her to be safe..?”

His mother’s question was silly, how could he not want her to be safe? However, his eyes widened at the intensity of his mother’s stare, and nodded quietly, sensing how serious this topic is getting.

“Then you have to protect her.. you must make sure that nobody knows who she is.. at least not now..” And with a small, hopeful smile, the lady continued, “I’m sending you on a mission now okay, listen carefully to what I have to say..”

The boy’s eyes shone at the mention of his mission, leaning his head to his mother as she whispered his mission into his ear. He is going to be a guardian.

He will lead her home.

“Park Jimin!”

Jiyeon and the said boy turned around to see a fuming girl with two pigtails stomping her way over to them. Her small arms were crossed in front of her chest and two other girls of similar height were tailing after her, with the same frown and same posture. Jiyeon found it pretty interesting how small they looked in contrast to the huge building behind them, but still felt a little intimidated by their presence.

“I saw you holding her hand! Why did you hold her hand!”

Lips pursed into a line, Jimin instinctively stood in front of Jiyeon when the girls got nearer to them with looks that could kill. Jiyeon was squashed against his bag when he held both her arms, her right arm in his right hand and her left in his left, not wanting the girls to get close to her. This action made the little girl bit her lips in slight embarrassment as her heart thumped against his light blue bag.

He’s protecting me..

Like how Jungkook had protected me..

“I told you that you can only hold my hand because I’m the princess! Who is she?! Isn’t she the new girl that never talks?”

“Joohyun, don’t be mean! She can talk! She can join your princess club as Aurora, because she sleeps alot. I’m just helping her to get off the bus!”

The taller girl huffed angrily before removing her pink Frozen’s Elsa backpack and shoved it into Jimin’s arms, forcing him to let go of Jiyeon. Her eyes narrowed at Jiyeon before locking her gaze back onto Jimin’s.

“I told you I’m Elsa! You must carry my bag up to the hall for me because I’m the coolest princess! And she cannot join our princess club! She cannot play with us! HMPH!”

“HMPH!” the two other girls huffed in unison at the pair with their tongue stuck out before storming back towards the direction of the hall behind the taller girl.

Turning around to face Jiyeon, Jimin pursed his lips before asking, “sorry, did they scare you? They are actually nice when we play together at the playground, maybe you need to talk to them more to be their friend.”

Shaking her head lightly, Jiyeon gave the boy a weak smile before answering, “it’s okay.. I have to do homework after school anyway, it’s okay if they don’t play with me..”

Gently setting Joohyun’s bag on the ground, Jimin reached out his hand to pat her head lightly. “You don’t have to be shy, I can let you be my friend, they will be your friend soon if I’m your friend, okay?”

Like how children’s logic always made sense no matter what was said, Jiyeon hesitated before nodding. The very moment was disrupted when a tough-looking lady in training suit shouted across the walkway from the entrance of the hall for them.

“Park Jimin! And that new girl! Faster get to the hall! Assembly is starting!!”

The boy pouted before slinging Joohyun’s bag through his arms from the front, taking her small hand into his similiar sized ones again before making a dash for the hall.

Unfortunately, rumors spreaded quickly at the speed of light, even in elementary school..

“JIMIN AND JIYEON SITTING ON A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!” The group of kids surrounding the pair was pointing their fingers at them, laughing and teasing them. Jiyeon had her eyes closed in fear. She did not understand, especially at her age, why was it that people are mean to her wherever she goes? Why is she always the chosen victim? Why would the people she’s close with always get into trouble, because of her?

Just like how Jimin was being targeted now, because of her.

And Jimin was furious at their taunting, screaming back at them. “I TOLD YOU WE ARE NOT TOGETHER!”

“FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES A BABY IN THE CARRIAGE! HAHAHHAHAHA!!!”

“I TOLD YOU WE ARE NOT! LEAVE ME ALONE!!”

Pushing the kids aside, Jimin left Jiyeon behind and ran away from the group, both embarrassed and angry. How can they assume that they are together when they were not? This was so unfair! How could they stop playing with him just because he stood up for Jiyeon?

“Ohhhh~ Your husband left you behind!”

“Hahahaha, does he not love you anymore?”

With her hands behind her back and her head hung low, Jiyeon could only shuffle backwards when they kept moving towards her. She was never someone who was good with confrontation, plus it was her fault. If she did not hang out with Jimin, Jimin would not have been one of the victims to their teasing. It was her fault. It was her fault for being quiet.

With a shove on the shoulder, Jiyeon collapsed onto the ground, dirtying her uniform in the process with soil. Joohyun, the perpetrator, towered over her with her arms crossed.

“Don’t go near Jimin anymore! If you go near him we won’t play with him as well! Go away! Don’t ever appear in front of us again! You’re not our friend!”

Sticking out her tongue at her, she turned and walked away, the group of laughing onlookers following her.

Sniffling, Jiyeon tried her best not to cry, while slowly huddling her legs to herself. What had she done that was so wrong? Why can’t her classmates just be nice to her? Was it because of something that she had done? Something that she said? But she barely even talked.. why do they hate her so much?

“Say ‘no’ when the kids are bullying you.. don’t just stay there and do nothing..”

Jungkook’s words kept ringing in her head. All she had needed to do was to stand up for herself, to say no, but here she is, huddled under a tree. Was she like this since the very beginning..? Before she lost her memories? Had she always been a coward..?

She needs Jungkook.. She needs Jungkook to make them all go away.. To tell her that it’s not her fault, that she would be alright..

But the very boy that she needs was all the way in America.. now she’s left with no one.. not even Jimin.. Jimin couldn’t protect her.. Jimin didn’t want to protect her.. no one..

Zooommm~

Snapping her head up, her eyes widened in shock when her school bus just zoomed away without her. How did they bus driver not know that she’s not on the bus yet? Oh no, how do she get home now?

Scrambling to her feet albeit the pain from her bruises, Jiyeon tried to chase after the bus to no avail, and this was when all came crumbling down. Bursting out in frantic tears, the girl panicked at the fact that she might be stuck here tonight. She’s all left alone in school. All alone. Like how she was first found. All alone.

All alone.

“WAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

“Hey! Hey you! Hey.. hey.. shush.. hey..”

A voice called for the crying girl which made her clamp shut momentarily, looking up to see the old security guard jogging towards her. After seeing who he was, the girl cried even louder, not because she’s scared of him, but because she simply felt really sad for herself. She was just so insignificant that nobody would know that she’s missing.

Was that why her biological parents chose not to search for her?

“Hey hey hey.. don’t cry.. come.. let me call your parents for you.. stop crying.. shush.. it’s okay.. it’s okay..”

The first thing that Jiyeon did after she got out of the bath, was to collapsed on her bed to sleep. Sleep was the best escape she could ask for. Utterly worn out from all the crying, her parents left her to be. The security guard had explained to Woobin that the bus driver was sick and a new replacement was made temporary just for today, and hence overlooked the fact that a student had yet to board. Woobin had to take an urgent leave from office and drive to pick up the crying girl who was in a mess. Tattered uniform, bruises and wounds, messy hair with leaves stuck in between, it was definitely not a pretty sight. Engulfing the girl into a tight hug, it broke his heart- being called her father yet failing to protect her. He loved her with all his might, yet his love didn’t seem to be enough.

With a mug of steaming coffee each in both of their hands, Hyori chewed on her lips as she sat down with Woobin. The couple was silent as they sipped on their coffee, gently intertwining their legs under the table as they sat across each other.

“Do you think we should change a school for her?” The lady asked, which earned a pained sigh from Woobin.

“I don’t know, honey.. the rest of the schools are even further than her current one..”

“But look at the state that she’s in.. she could have been bulli-”

“Maybe she just fell,” Woobin ran his fingers through his dark hair tiredly, “We could ask her when she wakes up.. but I believe she’s stronger than that..”

“She used to have Jungkook with her, he was the one that approached her first. She had been really reserved since the boy left, I’m sure a part of her left with him.. I wonder if she has trouble making friends now..”

“And again, I believe that she’s stronger than that. She has the survival instinct, if not she would not have been able to make it through the accident.” The two of them took small sips of their coffee, dwelling in the short lived silence.

“About that.. have you tried to track her history? It wouldn’t be fair for her if her real parents are actually waiting for her return.”

Woobin nodded, fishing out his phone from his pocket. “I’ve contacted my detective friend to help me out, I’ve also posted our picture on social medi-”

His brows furrowed when an unknown number flashed on his screen, his ringtone filling the silence. Raising a brow at his wife, who gave him a shrug in return, the man picked up the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello,” said a woman’s voice, soft but firm, “is this Mr Kim Woo Bin?”

“Yes, may I know who is this?”

“Just to clarify, the girl on your facebook page, she’s adopted, right?”

Blinking blanky at her blunt statement, the man replied, “..yes..? But wait, who is this speaking..?”

“My technician had already removed those pictures that could have been found via most of your social media sites and forums. If you want her to be safe, you have to remove all other pictures of her immediately. Not just on facebook, but simply everywhere. She must not be found anywhere on the net, if you want her to be safe. That is.”

Utterly confused, Woobin straightened up his back while giving his wife a bewildered look. His thick brows creased in slight annoyance, what is this woman blabbering on about?

“I’m sorry, miss, but I don’t understand.. what do you mea-”

“I’m Kim Min Jung, daughter of Kim Kwang Kyu, the owner of Kim Financials, currently Korea’s strongest investment and finance company. I’m not one to brag about power but being the third biggest shareholder, I believe you wouldn’t want to hang up on me knowing that we had been financing your company’s recent shopping mall project. If you may, I would like to meet you and your wife to talk about your daughter..” Unlike her straightforwardness, a soft sigh was heard, and the woman continued with a more passive tone.

“Please, it’s really important.”

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✉(A/N).

30 | AUGUST | 2015 } AN UPDATE IN LESS THAN A MONTH! IT'S IMPROVEMENT ; u ; BUT YES, CHAPTER 5 IS DONE AND I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO INTRODUCE ALL THE CHARACTERS PROPERLY SO THE MAIN STORY CAN FINALLY BEGIN *COUGHSALLTHESEAREFLASHBACKSCOUGH* JIYEON'S CHARACTER WILL TAKE HER TIME TO DEVELOP. SHE'S ALL WEAK AND QUIET NOW, BUT LET'S KEEP THE FAITH AND GROW UP WITH HER(: 

JIMIN WAS HER "PUPPY LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT", BUT HE RAN AWAY WHEN SHE NEEDED HIM): POOR JIYEON3

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, UPVOTE AND COMMENT ; u ; EVERYONE OF YOU IS LOVED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART<3

+ preview for chapter 5 would be posted on the foreword ^^
 

( h a r l e q u i n. )