Chapter 1 - Happy or Sad? Choose

Good Morning SMTOWN citizens. Today is a special day. The King's sons, the SHINee Princes are searching for their princesses.

Today all in between ages thirteen and twenty must be ready for the choosing. Good luck to all!

That's all from the royal court. You may continue on as you usually would.

I sigh as I walk down the sidewalk from work. Another stupid inspection to find the perfect princesses. Oddly enough this is the first choosing in a few years. I guess they finally realized that they aren't growing any younger. 

Oh! I forgot to introducer myself. I'm Astrid Fairway, citizen of SMTOWN, one of the three kingdoms in the country of Entertainment Land. I'm eighteen and live with my parents. Just so you know, we don't live in the 12th century. No horse drawn carriages and dirt roads. More like high rise buildings and fancy limousines. The only thing that makes it look medieval is the gigantic castle that you can see from everywhere and we're are pretty magical if I say so myself. Also punishments are quite medieval or just old tradition. Public executions, hangings, whippings upgraded with new technology. Yeah, little much. 

The ruler here is King Soo Man. Not exactly the greatest ruler but what can you do when your seen and treated like a piece of trash. My life is pretty normal for someone like me. I live in Locomotive, SMTOWN, one of the poor cities in our kingdom. Everyone who lives here likes to call it Loco City. I go to work to get money for my parents. Their both sick. Starvation is the main reason why. Maybe I should have stopped eating the extra food they gave me before. They're suppose to do no work and rest each day but my parents are both very stubborn. They could never sit around when other people were in worse situations. We lived in a somewhat house while many others didn't. We often go around town helping all those who can't afford for basic living necessities. I hope to grow up like them, caring and kind. For now I'm just their daughter who worries for their health. 

I used to have a sister. She ran away from the kingdom which is an act of treason and punished with death. We don't know where she is but we trust she's okay. We've hide a lot of secrets and things to keep her and us alive and away from harms grasp. That's one of the reasons I hate Choosings. If I get chosen they could figure out everything and my whole family would be sentenced to death which is not something I would like happening. Therefore Choosings are stupid and dumb in my eyes. Plus, who would want to marry a stuck up, good for noting prince? Certainly not me. 

^^^

I had been walking for so long I didn't even realize I reached the entrance to the Dark Lakes. I take my phone out of my pocket and check the time. 3:00PM. I've still got time before I need to get back home. I head through the odd shaped passageway and walk into the darkness. After a few minutes of walking I finally reach the centre of the realm. Like I said, magical land! If you didn't know my best friend lives down here. I quickly walk towards the way his house is, hoping he's home. I arrive and knock on his door. The door swings open.

"Hello. Oh! Hey Astrid." He greets.

"Hey Jungsoo! Can I come in?"

"Sure." And with that we enter the house, the door shutting behind us.

Once all settled he starts talking. "What bring you here my dear friend?"

I sigh. "Choosing for the SHINee Princes is today."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I answer.

"What are you gonna do?" He asks.

"Hope that they don't chose me which will be a little hard since I'm to die for." I say, partly muttering to myself. He laughs.

"You think to highly of yourself. You look like a demented worm to me." He smirks. I scoff and playfully hit him.

"But seriously. Have you thought of running away?" I quickly shake my head no.

"No, I couldn't. My parents already are going through enough. I don't need them to worry even more." I explain.

He nods in understanding.

"How are you?" I ask him.

"I'