On the day of the wake, I took my mom and sister to buy some new funeral clothes. It was the first time this year that we got to go shopping for new clothes and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to give back to my mom. After buying the 3 of us outfits for tonight and tomorrow, I treated them to some of the delicious cookies that Kai had bought me.

As soon as the baker saw me, he smiled. “Oh! You’re back! It’s so good to see you!” The baker said.

My mom and sister gave me a questioningly look, but I just smiled. “Good to see you as well. I’d love to have some more of those delicious cookies.”

Happily, the baker handed me a whole dozen and only took half of the money for it. “Your friend came by the other day with some other girl. You better make the move on him quick!” The baker said.

Quickly I nodded and left. As soon as we were out of the market, my mom had a question. “What friend Melody?” She asked inquisitively.

“Oh. I met someone a while back ago. They were nice. We barely spoke, but the baker seems to think we were a couple. Silly really.” I said trying to cover up my story. My mom and my sister stayed silent the rest of the way and after we got home we got dressed for the wake. We arrived at the funeral parlor and began greeting those who came. It was hard seeing my grandfather’s body lying there. Knowing I’d never hear his laugh or see him again tore me apart. After half of it was over, I took my sister to look at all the flower arrangements. We walked up beside some of the members of my mom’s side of the family talking.

“It’s just so sad that his side of the family didn’t come.” One of my cousins said.

“That’s royals for you. Too uppity to come mourn their own dead.” The other said before they both left. Royals? Family? Whose family? Certainly not our family. Dad always told us that his side of the family died out a long time ago and that he was the only one left. After we looked at the flowers, my sister and I saw our father talking with some visitors. He was being stoic and showing no emotion. He did his best not to look at his father’s coffin while conversing and I didn’t blame him.

On our way home that night, he didn’t say much and I knew that this was how things would be probably until I left. That night, I went to sleep just praying for tomorrow to be over quickly.

When we woke up, we put on our new dresses and I made sure that my sister was dressed properly. She looked so cute with her new little purse that I bought her to go along with her dress.

“Melly, what do I put in my purse for a funeral?” She asked before we left.

“Oh honey. Um…. Probably some tissues just in case.” I said handing her some tissues for her purse. “Um… And well you don’t have any small stuffed animals…. A pen.” I said grabbing a pen from the table. “You never know when you might need to write something.” I said giving her a smile. She nodded and walked out to the car. I took one last look in the mirror before leaving. My hair was down the way my grandfather liked it and the dress hit me perfectly below the knee. “Let’s get this over with.” I whispered to my reflection before going out to the car.

Arriving at the funeral home this time was a bit easier. I knew that only a few hours separated me from no longer having to see his corpse, see my dad act so out of conduct, and I wouldn’t have to be so strong for my sister. As we were going into the funeral home, a blue mercedes pulled into the parking lot. I knew only one person who drove a blue mercedes but I decided to just go on in. The possibility of them being here was abysmal. I never told them where I would be. Our family was to be gathered in the waiting room half an hour before the funeral and I had at least 15 minutes to spare. I took my sister to the bathroom and checked my appearance. My sister ran out towards the waiting room and I hurried to catch up to her. As I came out I bumped into someone. “Oh, excuse me.” I said to the lady.

“Hi Mel. Nice to see you too.” The figure said in a tone I knew all too well.

“Catherine??!!” I asked turning around facing my best friend. Tears immediately came to my eyes. “What are you doing here?” I asked trying not to cry.

“We came to see you. No way we were going to let you go through today alone.” She said smiling.

“We?” I managed to squeak out.

“We.” I heard a deep voice say behind me. I stopped in my tracks. I took in a sharp breath and bit my lip. I turned around slowly and came face to face with the person behind the voice. “Your highness.” I said with a wavering voice. I curtsied and he took a step closer. “I can explain. I can…” My voice trailed off as he took another step closer. A few more steps and he’d be within touching distance.

“Melody.” He said staring at me intently. He closed the distance between us in two quick long strides. “I’m just happy to see that you’re okay.” He whispered.

Quickly, I bowed my head. “I... I’m sorry I left so quickly. It’s just that I…” I stopped when I saw him extend his arms. I bit my lip afraid to even touch him. “I…” I tried to speak, but couldn’t make any more sounds. The minute I looked into his eyes I collapsed into his arms. He wrapped his arms around me and for some reason I began to cry. I’m not sure if it was because I thought he’d be mad, because I missed him, or because I was upset but I let it all out. I started crying so hard that I began shaking, which caused him to hold onto me tighter.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here now.” He said trying to comfort me. I started to settle down when he whispered, “I’ve got you.” Then I started to cry again, but this time it was because I missed him so badly. I didn’t care if he was upset with me leaving or if he had changed his feelings towards me. All that mattered was that for this moment, I was in his arms once more.

Finally, I looked up at him to try to speak. I looked into his eyes not knowing what to expect, but all I saw was concern. I opened my mouth to speak when one of my cousins called from down the hall. “Mel, it’s time.” They said before disappearing into the waiting room.

Catherine handed me a tissue and I quickly dried my eyes. “Thank you.” I said with a nod. I was going to leave when I realized he still had his tight hold on me. I looked up at him and gave him a small nod. “I have to go.” I said.

He let go and then pulled me back in for one last hug. “We’ll talk later.” He whispered before we parted. I nodded and then hurried up to where my family was. Before entering the room, I decided to turn around to see if this had been a figment of my imagination. He couldn’t have been there. There’s no way for him to have known. When I turned around, there he was with Catherine. And Sehun. And Taemin.

The funeral was sweet. A couple of people took turns talking about my grandfather and it was hard not to laugh when they told funny stories. My sister was being so strong and occasionally I'd see her pull out a little tissue from her purse to wipe her eyes. It was probably one of the most adorable things I'd ever seen. As we walked out of the funeral to go to the burial, I passed by my friends. I smiled at them and four wonderful faces smiled back. Having them here was honestly everything I had needed. On our way to the burial, my sister asked me a question. "Who were those 4 people you smiled at?" She asked.

"Friends from the castle." I said squeezing her hand. 

"Oh! Melody you have to introduce us!" Moon said.

"That was nice of them to come." Dad said coldly.

He's right it was very nice of them to come. I still don't know how they found out, but I was more than grateful. We got out of the car to walk to the grave site and Kai appeared beside me. He extended his arm and I gladly took it. "You can't walk in the grass in heels." He said with a small smile. I nodded and he escorted me up the hill to the chairs for the family to sit in.

After we got up there, he returned to Catherine, Sehun, and Taemin and we continued on with the process. After we said our final goodbyes to grandfather, we stood up from our chairs and thanked everyone for coming. People began leaving and I immediately went over to my friends.

"Thank you. All of you for coming." I said giving each of them a hug.

"We're just glad we could be here for you." Taemin said.

"You had us worried sick." Sehun said.

"Us? You mean she had Kai worried sick!" Catherine interjected. 

Kai blushed and said, "The main thing is that she's okay." 

"I didn't mean to make you all worried." I said sadly.

Suddenly, a tiny figure popped up beside me and I thought some introductions should be made.

"Everyone, this is my little sister Layla. Layla, this is Kai, Catherine, Sehun, and Taemin. They're from the castle." I said. She extended her hand and shook all of their hands like a little adult. 

"Kai, Catherine, Sehun, and Taemoon." She said smiling. Upon hearing her mess up Tae's name, we all died laughing but we stopped when we heard her ask something else. "Is one of you a prince?" She asked.

Kai got down to her level and spoke first. "Prince Kim Jongin at your service." He said kissing her hand. She blushed big time and looked absolutely shocked. 

Sehun got down beside of him and kissed her other hand. "Prince Oh Sehun. Lovely to meet you." 

She started giggling and then smiled. "Which one?" She asked turning to look back at me.

Immediately I blushed knowing exactly what she wanted to know. I bit my lip and pointed over at Kai. She looked at him and then back at me a couple of times. “You were right. He is cute.” She said giggling. I blushed once more and looked down.

“Something tells me you know a secret.” Kai said winking at her. She giggled and nodded her head. 

“Oh wait! I’m supposed to curtsey!” She said. She crossed her legs but stumbled as she attempted to curtsey. Taemin caught her before she fell on the ground. She sighed and looked up at Taemin. “Thank you, Taemoon.” She said staring up at him. 

“You’re very welcome.” He said smiling at her. She looked absolutely star-struck and she didn’t move from his arms until my parents appeared.

“Melody would you like to introduce us to your friends?” My mom asked.

"Oh! Mom. Dad. May I present their royal highnesses: Prince Kim Jongin, Prince Oh Sehun, and Princess Kim Catherine. And this is a friend of my mind from the castle, Lee Taemin." I said with a nod. 

"Taemoon!" Layla said with a giggle.

Kai bowed and said, "I'm sorry for your loss Mr. And Mrs..."

"Zhang." My father said bowing in return. 

Catherine, Sehun, and Taemin also responded similarly and my mother thanked them. "Well you are all welcome to come back to our house for dinner. We have many things that people have brought over. I understand it would be nothing like you're used to at the castle but we would be delighted. A lot of people are coming." My mom said smiling. 

"Please, there's no need for formalities. Especially not today. I for one would love to come." Kai said smiling and the others shook their head. My parents nodded and then began walking to the car. 

"Are you sure?" I asked them.

"I'd love to see your house Mel!" Catherine said. 

"It seems like fun," said Sehun. 

"And I really want Taemoon to come over!" Layla said with a giggle.

"I guess it's decided then." I said with a smile. Taemin walked Layla down to my parents and Sehun and Catherine went to the car. 

"Kai... Before we go." I said not moving from my spot. 

"Yes?" He asked. 

"Thank you. I don't know how you got here but thank you." I said as tears started to form. 

He came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "I'll always find you. I promise." He said holding me tightly. 

I looked up into his eyes and just smiled. He moved a strand of hair out of my eyes and leaned down like he was going to kiss me.

"Melly! It's time to go!" I heard Layla call from somewhere. 

"Time to go." I said looking down at the ground. Kai nodded and escorted me down the hill. I almost fell but he caught me. I smiled at him graciously and he walked me to my car. "Just follow us." I said as I got in. I watched him walk back to his car and he got in the back next to Taemin. Layla began playing with her purse and I leaned over to her and whispered, "I was going to kiss him until someone yelled for me." I said poking her in the side.