*** Chapter 6: Decision ***

Andy stood still. Crossing his arms on his chest and leaning against the door. The Prince and Princess who were around the sandsack were aware enough to stop whatever it was that they were doing before they're hunted by the zomby. They tidied up their disheveled uniform after such physical activity. Fortunate enough that it was one of their brothers who found them, if other students found them in such mess, they might spread gossips that they were doing something else.

"I'm sorry, Andy oppa," Changjo hurriedly stood before her youngest older brother who was very strict about school's discipline. "I'm just losing some tensions."

"I'm the one dragging her here, Andy-ya," Junjin added quickly. "You must know what just happened to our dear sister."

Junjin told him briefly about the incident, based on their sister's story, and the girl nodded confirming it's true.

Andy looked like he understood the situation, but he firmly reminding them, that final exams were near, and class attendance was influencing the final grading. Andy believed Changjo wouldn't have much problem. But he had to make sure that Junjin will stay his classmate for another year.

"Oppa, can't you tell none of this to the other brothers?" Changjo asked.

Andy sighed, "You know them very well, if we keep silent about this but eventually they find it out, we'll become like the sandsack you're just hitting...."

Junjin nodded agreeing. "I don't wanna be a prey of those hyungs.. They're scary.."

"We promise to prevent them doing anything stupid to Kang Sunghoon, Changjo-ya," the youngest prince ensured.

The older princes, as expected, were mad to know that the PM's son was harrasing their precious little sister. But in the end, they couldn't do anything threatening to the suspect, since the boy had been skipping school.

Sunghoon didn't have the so-called bestfriend in school, so no one knew why he went missing. They didn't want to anything to deal with the Prime Minister so the didn't ask him either.

Changjo thought that Sunghoon's disappearance must had something connected with his verbal fight against Jiwon back then. Therefore, in their next practice session, she couldn't hold her curiousity to ask her senior.

"Do we really need to talk about him, Princess?" Jiwon replied lazily.

"I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me the details. General idea is enough.."

"Well, to put it simple," Jiwon still spoke on lazy tone, "He might have it enough with his family. He'd gone to Hawaii to settle things with that bestfriend of him."

"He really is dating Ko Jiyong?" The girl widened her eyes.

"I said 'bestfriend', Your Highness," he looked at her gently. "You said you just need to know the general idea. But don't jump into conclusions on your own." He softly patted her shoulders. "Just let him be. He won't disturb you again."

"How could you be so sure?" She placed her hands on her waist. "How could you be able to know any of this?"

Jiwon chuckled, "My family is an international merchant. Let's just say that we heard things."

Changho squinted her eyes, "You're very suspicious, sunbaenim.." she observed the boy who gave her a lazy look like he didn't care too much about it. Suddenly she realized something, "Wait... You...came to save me right after my argument with Kang Sunghoon. Don't tell me... You heard what we argued about?"

Jiwon drew a faint smile, "About the issue that should have stayed within palace's wall?"

The girl jolted, "You even heard me and Hyemi?"

"Ummm.. Yes, Your Highness," he admitted. "But don't worry, I'm pretty good at keeping secrets.. I promise..."

"How could you..."

"I was taking a nap there. Up on the biggest tree," Jiwon quickly explained as he saw the Princess was not interested in him promising to keep the secret save.

"Up on the tree? You mean you climbed it?" She was amazed.

"Yeah.. Back home I love to play around in the woods, so, climbing and naping on it, were things I do like everyday..."

She nodded, but she's realizing something else. "Everyday.. Everyday? You mean you've been there the whole time? Like everyday?!"

"Yeah.."

She put her hands to close her gaped mouth.

Don't tell me he always heard my rambling with Hyemi.. Don't tell me.. It can't be... That's where I've been chattering with Hyemi about my interest in him.. Omoo.. No way... He shouldn't...

"But believe me, Your Highness," he cut her thoughts of worries, "I spent more time sleeping there. I know you too and your friend, love to be somewhere near the pond, but trust me when I say I never listen to what you girls was talking about."

"No way! Sometimes we stated things loudly, you must've heard them."

"No! I swear to you I didn't!" he spoke firmly.

She didn't respond for some moment. Trying to judge him.

"You're not lying?" she asked in the end.

"No, I'm not lying," he out a V sign with his finger.

Well, sorry, Princess, I'm lying. Most of the time I truly ignored your girls' talk. But.. I did hear it,, when you're talking about me. You just don't have to know that...

"Somehow my heart is telling me not to trust you, sunbaenim," she squinted her eyes again, "Somehow... You're suspicious..."

"What's suspicious about me?" Jiwon chuckled playfully, trying to ease the tension.

The girl was still observing him for some more moments, before she decided to give up.

"Whatever.. But sunbaenim, please, I will really appreciate it, if you heard anything I say there, just keep it for you only. There are things that shouldn't be known by others," she asked seriously.

"You can trust me, Princess. I heard nothing from you because I was sleeping. That day with Kang Sunghoon, was just because I'm not asleep yet. And I can't let any boy harm any girl, so I climbed down," he explained seriously too.

Her worries weren't disappearing simply just like that. But truly, other than her feelings for him, the talks about anything else wasn't pretty important.

But he looked like he knows nothing about my feeling for him.. He couldn't be this calm if he'd known...

"Now let's get back to our practice, shall we?" The boy averted their talk and start to focus on the music and dance they should be working on.

******

The Princes' Palace was closed. All doors and windows were shut. No one was allowed to enter, even their security details. The boys were having a meeting on their own. A serious discussion, about their father's ultimatum.

"Eric-a..."

"No!" The oldest prince rejected even before Minwoo finished his sentence.

"But..."

"The only reason I have to ascend to the throne was just because I'm the oldest," he cut again. "I'm not that smart. My body is big but I'm lacking strength. I don't have enough dicipline, wisdom, and patience. I'm 4-dimentional.."

"But you do pretty well under-pressure," Minwoo's turn to intercept.

"Also I'm not even pure Korean," Eric continued as if Minwoo didn't say a thing. "You know my mom is half Korean-half American. Do you think our people can accept that?"

"People now are pretty moderated, actually. It won't cause a big problem," Andy spoke lowly.

"Then you should take the Crown, Andy," Eric retorted, "You're the Genius anyway."

"No way!" The youngest reject. "I will never rule over my older brothers!"

Junjin quickly added, "That goes for me too. You can exclude us.." and he received a death glares from his hyungs.

"You know age won't be the problem if in the end our father will make our Changjo to be the one who rules the nation," Hyesung remarked.

Junjin raised his hand as if he's surrendering, "But really, I can't be the one. My brain doesn't have enough capacity. And I'm very temperamental too. The people won't want to have a King who is easily pissed off."

Dongwan was facing Andy but the youngest raised his hand too, "I'm always the weakling among you, guys."

"That's not true, Andy.." Dongwan sighed.

Andy replied, "Hyung, why don't you..."

"No," Dongwan quickly cut.

"But you're always the one who is able to stay calm and think straight, most of the time."

"But it requires me to go into hiding and shut myself out from anybody after the ruckus is gone," he reasoned, "We can't have a King who suddenly gone missing on his own."

"Aisshh..." Minwoo was messing his own hair in frustation. "This is why we're never able to settle this matter. Everyone is having their reasons!"

"What about you?" Eric asked.

"I can't be. You know I'm easily cracked under pressure. I'm not smart enough. And I'm too small! Even when I hate to admit it, I don't have the supremacy to be one. They always belittle me!"

"But that's not a valid reason, Minwoo-ya. That's not even true," Hyesung was comforting him. "Don't underestimate yourself."

"Okay, even if I have the confidence, you know my mother's family," Minwoo quickly countered. "You all know very well what would likely to happen if I'm crowned."

"Then it goes for me too.." Hyesung sighed. Junjin's nodding his head. The older boy continued, "Our mother's family would likely do the same thing."

They agreed in silence. The main Royal Family might live peacefully and full of love for each other, but not the families of the Concubines. Lady Mun's and Lady Kim's family didn't seem to have much interest in politic since they're from educational background. But Lady Shin's and Lady Lee's family were always trying to find a way to gain more power from political relations.

They had made some issues when the Queen were unable to produce male heir.

If Hyesung, Junjin, or Minwoo was to be crowned, they might begin an uproar to change the Queen. While changing the Queen, a.k.a. dethronement, would only mean exile, or worst, death sentence. And none of the concubines were going to do that to their own friend. None of the Princes too, because they love her like their own mother.

The Queen indeed was a bit weak physically. She was even considered super lucky to survive giving birth to Changjo. At the moment they already prepared for the worst since it took her days to regain consciousness. Therefore, no one dared to force her to bear again another heir in hope for a male one.

"What do we do now?" Minwoo broke the silence.

No one answered. They fell into another short silence before Dongwan broke it.

"Do you think father is really going to crown Changjo?"

Hyesung thought deeply, "He looked dead serious when he threatened us."

"If it's the case, why don't we ask for Changjo's opinion?" Dongwan asked again.

"You mean you'll ask her to choose one of us?" Eric countered.

"Well...if that's where we have to be in the end..." Dongwan shrugged.

"She'll never choose anyone of us," Andy reckoned.

"True.." Junjin's agreeing.

"Then we have to come with back up plan," Hyesung decided.

******

The year was nearly ending. December meant Final Exams. Every 1st and 2nd Year student must prepared their best because obviously, everything happened this month would decide their fate for the following year.

School officially paused all club activities for students to have better concentration on studying. Even if there were stubborn students who wants to play around in their club, they wouldn't be able to do that, because all clubs headquarters were locked.

"We don't really have to do this, Princess," Jiwon stated to the girl beside him, "We progress pretty well, and I think we can wait until your exams are finished to continue our practice."

"I know," the girl agreed, "but my study won't be disturbed by our practice. In fact, I need some variations so I won't be too stressed to read those books."

Jiwon chuckled. "You just love dancing too much, don't you?"

The girl strongly nodded her head repeatedly.

"But is it really okay for me to come practice with you to the palace?" He showed his worry, "I'm just nobody."

"What's nobody?" Changjo countered. "You are my brothers' classmate. Although you don't talk too much in class, they're still your friends."

Jiwon seemed to argue but the Princess added quickly, "And you are my performance partner. Rather than we're going somewhere to practice with the consequences of my brothers go hunting the whole city for us, we better stay save inside the palace. Let them see what we actually do."

Jiwon couldn't help to laugh at the remark. "Can I bring my friends too? Well, it's nothing but..."

"Of course you can. Come with Lee Jaejin and Kim Jaeduck sunbae. I know it must be a rare opportunity for common people to see what's inside the palace."

The boy smiled genuinely, "Yeah, I just want to share this opportunity with them. But on second thought, they might interfere our practice. So..."

"There shouldn't be a problem. I can ask Minwoo oppa and Junjin oppa to host them. They are their club-mates, and I guess my brother pretty much like your friends. They told me Jaeduck sunbae is a great dancer, and Jaejin sunbae is a great fighter."

"Indeed they are," the boy was pleased to hear the compliments of his friend.

"Then," the Princess, "It's settled. I'll be waiting for you in the palace tomorrow, sunbaenim."

"Sure," he gladly nodded, "Ah, yes. I know you might have Prince Hyesung and Prince Andy to help you study. But if you ever need help on Chemistry, well I'm not bluffing, but I beat them on this one specific lesson."

"That'll be great, sunbaenim," the girl grinned widely. "Andy oppa might be busy with Junjin oppa, and Hyesung oppa even admits his defeat on that field. I'll be glad if you can help me."

Jiwon smiled back, "See you tomorrow then."

******

Changjo and Jiwon were having their practice session in the Pearl Pavilion. It's their second time already to practice in the palace, because the first time Jiwon came, he ended up helping the girl with Chemistry as he promised.

Since their first visit, The Princess didn't have any problem to ask her brothers to keep Jiwon's friend company. Junjin was gladly dragging them around a bit before keeping them busy in the palace's martial arts dojo.

Now the exams have ended, and finally the artists could continue their practice.

They were taking a break when Eric slowly approached them.

"Oppa, I told you not to come here," Changjo pouted at her brother.

"I will not disturb you, Changjo-ya.. Do you hate to see me that much?" Eric pouted too.

The girl sighed. "No, I don't hate you, oppa." She knew sometimes Eric was sensitive about the word 'hate', and 'love'. "But I believe you will just disturb me, like you always did when you come near me while I'm dancing," she put her hands on her hips.

"Okay then, I'll see you after you finish," Eric shrugged. He nodded a little greeting Jiwon, and his classmate replied him just the same. Then he walked away from the pavilion.

Instead of happy that her disturbance was gone, Changjo was astounded that Eric went away just like that. Usually it took her several efforts to make her oldest brother stop annoying her. She couldn't help to keep her round mouth opened.

"Something is wrong, Princess?" Jiwon quietly asked.

She nodded once, but forget to shut .

"Er.. So..." Jiwon didn't know what to do.

"Something is definitely wrong with Eric oppa..." she finally spoke after a while.

"Then perhaps to should go after him?" Jiwon suggested. "It started to getting late anyway. And we just got a little more things to fix."

Changjo was facing her senior. "Well, actually I want to finish that, sunbaenim"

Jiwon smiled softly and rose from his seat, "But I don't think you'll be able to focus. I can see from both of your expressions just now. I never saw that Prince looked like that in school. He must be troubled by something. And you definitely notice that."

"Well..."

"It's alright, Princess," he gently patted her shoulder. "We still have time. I'll go get my friends now, and surely your guards will show me the way out. You can go get your brother."

The girl gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, sunbaenim. But thanks..."

Jiwon drew a faint smile on his face, and the Princess ran away to go after her brother.

Eric was walking slowly, so it didn't take long for Changjo to catch up with him.

"Eric oppa, wait.."

The Prince turned his body, surprised to see that his sister was just a few steps behind him.

"Changjo-ya.. I thought you're still practising."

"We're done.. Can continue later.." she's panting a bit.

He tenderly grabbed the girl's shoulders, "You don't have to run, dear baby.."

"Oppa.. I know you have something to tell me..." she went straight to the point.

He said nothing. He was looking intensely at his lovely sister, but then he dropped his head. Changjo became nervous. If something could silent her most unpredictable brother like this, it's definitely a super serious problem.

"Well,, Changjo-ya.." finally he spoke after a moment. "I've tried to speak with father... I.. actually.. we've decide that.. That I'll become the Crown Prince..."

Changjo felt that her heart start beating uncontrollably.

"I told father about it.. And actually I've tried to reason that.. that you...didn't have to be the Crown Princess.. B..but..." he gulped. "Father.. said.. No.."

She unknowingly started to tremble.

"Even the Queen... I can't believe to hear her said..that.. she'll be glad...to have me..officially...as son-in-law... So.."

The girl could feel the horror.

"We can't avoid it," he gulped again, "We'll going to get married.. Changjo-ya.."

And her heart sank, "b..but... Oppa...."

"I'm sorry..." he shook his head. "I did what I could... But the King..."

"Oppa... Then what about Hyemi? I know you like her... She likes you too..."

Eric swept the tears that start to form on the corners of his sister's eyes. "I can't do anything about that too..."

"No...." Changjo shook his head. She couldn't imagine how she would tell her bestfriend that she's the one who is going to marry her favorite Prince.

"What about you, my dear?" Eric delicately raised her face. "I know you have someone in your heart.."

Changjo widened her eyes, "How could you..."

Eric forced a smile on his face, "You can't fool me, little girl. Ever since you were born, I've been keeping my eyes on you. You could never hide anything from me. I even have a faint idea who that boy is.."

"Oppa..."

"But you really seem to keep it a secret from us, so I did nothing. I wish to wait for you to reveal him... But things turn out this way..."

Changjo closed her eyes and tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't hide her sobbing.

"I'm really sorry, my sweet orange.." He pulled and hold her tight in his embrace.

"I'm sorry too, oppa..."

Eric gently caressing his sister's back. "I won't give up, I will try to persuade our father once again," She can't stop crying. "Please believe me, dear, no matter what I do, I just want you to be happy..."

"I too want you to be happy, oppa..."

"Even if... Even if in the end.. We can not change things... I promise you.. We'll be happy in our own way..."

Eric actually didn't have the heart to tell her those words, he's trembling inside. Not because he was insincere, but because he didn't want any of it to happen.

She couldn't reply with any words as all she could do was crying louder.

*** to be continued ***

a/n. To any of you who follow this story, I'm sorry if starting from this chapter, it will be a little weird. Something come up in my real life, and I must likely finish this story soon coz I don't wanna left it unfinished. So I might speed it up a bit (or even much), and left some details. Please bear with me. I'll try my best to tell the story nicely. Thanks.

Next chapters hopefully soon :)