six

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Usually, Soojung would watch her movies attentively on its premieres. She liked sharing the same reactions as the audience, despite knowing what was going to happen, having memorized the script in her mind. However, that night was an exception. How could she concentrate on her own movie when the prince is always sneaking glances at her, thinking she doesn’t know? She had no idea that her face could go red for so long, but it was what happening. Her face was still blushing in embarrassment after Jongin’s revelation about his true identity no matter how she tries to forget about it while watching the movie. Thankfully for her, everybody seemed to be so into the movie that nobody notices that she’s still dying.

Then there’s the prince who is very oblivious about the fact that she’s so embarrassed by what she has done the night before. As she was apprehended earlier for what happened, and he was as well – except in a different way as nobody dared to touch him nor tell him off. It was just his confused cousins and siblings who had asked why the hell he did that.

“Isn’t she such a good actress? I think she improved a lot since her last movie.” Jongin gushes over to his cousin Junmyeon on his right hand side. The latter just smiles at him, knowing that his cousin has a huge crush on the actress. Jongdae could only roll his eyes in disgust whenever Jongin would compliment her.

“Ah, this is my favourite part!” Soojung hears Jongsuk say but she couldn’t even look at the screen.

“I think Miss Soojung outdid herself. She did a marvellous job on the movie. It’s definitely the best performance tonight.” Jongin answers the journalist’s question, while she and the cameraman just exchanged puzzled expressions. They didn’t ask who had the best performance, but which movie was the best for him that night. Either way, they offer the prince a smile as a sign of thank you for his time.

Hearing the screams getting louder behind him, Jongin knew before he turned around that he would see Soojung. It was the perfect time to walk over to where she was and congratulate her on the movie. He would have done it earlier, but he was suddenly surrounded by people who wanted to welcome him back home, and Jongin, being the Crown Prince, greeted them one by one. Unfortunately, one of the organizers of the festival suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Sir, you’re on.”

“Alright, I’m coming. Thank you.” He was about to head to the stage, when he remembered something he forgot to tell the organizer.

“Yes, sir. It will be done immediately.”

While greeting her fans, Soojung had felt a tap on her shoulder. Usually it’s a sign from her manager telling her to hurry up and stop signing autographs as she is not allowed to do it in the first place. But she would always do in events like that. She would always think about how long these people have stayed in that place for so long when the only thing they would ask from her is a glance.

“Miss Jung.” She turns after realizing it wasn’t Qian, but a woman whom she thinks is one of the crew of the event. She notices that she had been holding a small bouquet of daffodils which she later hands to the actress. It must have been obvious that she was confused as the woman explains in a whisper, “The Crown Prince would like to congratulate you in your performance in your latest movie.”

Soojung feels her cheeks becoming red, again. This prince, despite being the most watched person in Korea currently, is really something else. But then again maybe this was his own way of punishing her of how she acted towards him last night.

“Yeah, that must be it.” She had thought to herself. She then promises to watch news more often in fear that She might unknowingly offend someone important again.

Her thoughts were suddenly ruined when Jongin’s voice echoed at the venue. She looks around and sees him at the stage, giving a speech.

“As you know, tonight is a very important night for me. Not only is it my first time being with my people, but it is also the very first time we get to attend Jeju’s Film Festival.” He starts off. “As a film enthusiast myself, I am touched that this kind of event was made to welcome me. I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who participated tonight – our crew, our stars and of course, the fans.” The prince flashes a smile which caused the people to scream louder. “This won’t be the last of our city’s festival. This is only the beginning. We will see each other again next year.”

Apparently, the reason why the official residence of the royal family was called The Nexus Palace is because they wanted to show how the House of Yi and House of Kim are two different families but are connect through the same ancestors and are united in the same dream of serving the Korean people. That’s just one of the very few things Soojung knows about the current royal family.

Don’t get her wrong, it’s not that she doesn’t like them. It’s just she simply doesn’t have the time to know more about them.

After the festival, the family had invited everyone who worked that night to their palace for an after party, an extension of Prince Jongin’s gratitude. But Sunyoung kept on teasing her that it’s just the prince’s excuse to see her longer and she just keeps quiet. She still cannot get over the fact that the prince just kissed her hand like that, knowing who she was and especially knowing who he was. This is why she sneaked out of the ballroom to one of the palaces outdoor corridor in hopes that she doesn’t see him that night. She doesn’t know what to say, or how to act. She needed time.

“There you are.” Soojung jumps a little bit after hearing someone’s voice. “Everybody’s looking for you.”

“Amber, you scared me.” She sighs, but follows a quick apology for being dramatic and for worrying everyone. “I just wanted some air.”

“You always say that when something’s bugging you.” Her friend points out and she pretends like she doesn’t hear. “You know, I haven’t seen you eat all day.”

“I have eaten, Amber.”

“Oh yeah? When?”

“Just before the festival. I’m sorry I was too busy to have dinner.” Soojung frowns. She knows exactly what she was implying despite her not mentioning the word but she and Amber don’t dare to say it. “Don’t worry. I have been eating these days.”

Still, Amber doesn’t believe her. She must have forgotten that she was with her all afternoon and not once did she see her eat or hear her complain of hunger. There was a short silence that surrounded them before Amber finally suggested for them to go back to the party.

Soojung stares at the buffet table in front of her. Sure there are some canapés in one table, and some desserts on the other and they all look appetizing, but her hands were not moving to reach them. Instead, her eyes land on a tray full of goblets filled with rosé – her favourite type of wine. Naturally, she picks that one.

“San Leo Rosato. Venoto, Italy. A young wine.” Soojung wonders who this person was, suddenly and randomly saying the information of the wine to her. She didn’t mind where the wine was from. A rosé is a rosé and that’s all that matters to her. She would turn around, but not before sipping the wine a bit. “It has a fresh fruity flavour with an aromatic taste. It’s perfect with the aperitif.”

The actress almost chokes after seeing Jongin casually standing beside her. “Oh my gosh, your royal highness.” She immediately bows, though it might be a little late for her to show courtesy. “I-I have no words.”

“I know right? Isn’t this rosé so nice? I insist you try it with the prawn.” He smiles, grabbing a glass for himself.

“T-That’s not what I meant.”

“Ah, allow me to apologize for the misunderstanding last night. If I had just introduced myself, you wouldn’t have been told off, am I right?”

Soojung blinks in confusion at the man in front of him. He didn't show any signs of being mad at her.

“I intended to apologize earlier, but I didn’t have any luck on finding you.”

“I… I was… out.” She forces a smile. She’s been just looking at him that she was starting to feel like she was being rude. “I need some air, so yeah.”

“I understand. It gets stuffy when you’re in a huge crowd.”

It was weird how comfortable he was acting towards her. Not that she was offended or anything. She was just puzzled by how he was acting, talking to her as if they’ve been friends for so long. “I’m afraid I do not understand what’s happening. I acted horribly the first time we met, and yet here you are acting normal.” She looks up to him, “Why?”

“I’d rather discuss this in a more private area, if you don’t mind.” She blinks nervously at the thought of her alone with the prince, but who was she to refuse? She finds herself nodding, though she doesn’t want to. “Great! Please do follow me.”

“Okay, this is it. I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me. After all the I told him yesterday, I’m surprised he had kept his feelings all day. Maybe he’ll just tell me off. I know he wouldn’t be stupid enough to take me off this planet when I’m one of the most familiar faces in this country-”

“Miss Jung, are you alright?”

Hearing his voice suddenly ruined her insane thoughts. This has made Soojung, a few steps ahead, realize that Jongin had stopped in the middle of the bridge just right next to the garden’s man made lake. Seeing how the prince seemed like he wanted to stop right there, she walks back to where he stopped to stand right next to him.

On the contrary to Soojung who is thinking that the reason why the prince had brought her out to the garden was to embarrass her for the way she acted towards him last night, Jongin had actually brought her to the garden for a romantic atmosphere. The palace is surrounded by guards and guests, and it was the only place where they could be secluded and relaxed.

Jongin bites his lower lip to prevent himself from smiling. He has been doing that a lot that he’s afraid that she’d think he’s weird or something. He just couldn’t believe he was alone in the palace with her that he feels like his heart could burst in any minute now. Not even the flowing of the stream of the water from the lake could calm him.

“Are you nervous, Miss Jung?”

“No! Not at all!” She immediately denies though it was the truth. “W-Why would your royal highness think of that? I am very, very calm right now.”

“Great, because I am. Haha.” He whispers quietly but it was loud enough for her to hear. When she did, she looks at him and he looks at her too. Realizing that she had heard him, he immediately changes the topic. “You know, my father used to come here to relax.”

“Did he?” As she never really knew much about the late king, she was suddenly interested and curious to hear more. Who’s better to tell her more about him than his son? “I don’t remember much when I was young, so if I may ask… how was your father like when he was king?”

“He was very serious when it comes to our people and the kingdom. He wanted equality and justice. He was strict, but not too much.” He stops as he reminisces of the past with a smile. “But when it comes to us, his family, he becomes like a normal man to the point that our servants would forget that he’s king, even I would forget that he holds such power. He’s humorous, cheeky – very cheeky. He used to secretly eat our Swiss chocolate and then blame it to me when mother asks and gets angry.”

Amused by the story, Soojung finally cracks a smile followed by a chuckle. “He sounds very kind.”

“He was. And he was a handsome man to boot. Much like his first born.” He winks at her, causing her to shake her head and chuckle even more.

“He does look like Won Bin.”

“Who? The father or the son?”

“The father, I’m afraid.” Because of her answer, Jongin laughs but does not say anything else. Soojung was glad that the atmosphere was much more comfortable but she waited until he stopped laughing until she spoke up again.

“Prince Jongin, I am very sorry for asking but I must really get this off my chest.” She pauses, thinking of the right words to say. “I acted horribly to you the first time we met, but trust me it wasn’t my intention of doing so. I am very sorry about that. However, I’ve noticed that all this time you’ve showed me nothing but kindness, which I do not deserve. And I've been wondering why?”

Jongin looks at the woman in front of him. He was suddenly confused because of her seriousness.

“Am I going to get killed by your men when I fly back to Seoul?”

“Goodness, no! That wound never happen!” He exclaims. He then realizes that she might be thinking about that for so long, hence her silence when they were on their way to the garden. “I know it must not be the best behaviour one can show to a royal, but trust me Miss Jung, I was glad that you were like that. You were who you were without any filter, and I appreciate that. It was nice because I felt like you trusted me… in a way.”

Soojung turns her face in embarrassment. That drunk Soojung from last night was not the real Soojung. Maybe a part of it was.

“But there is also another reason why I’m not… trying to scare you or hurt you after last night’s events. Apart from the fact that I'm a prince, there is reason why I'm like this.” He explains, trying his best to make her look at him again which she does after he asked. When she did, he has this shy smile on his face again and she wondered why. “You see, when I first left Jeju for Europe, I wasn’t in the best state. I was depressed and homesick. I didn’t like where I was. To cheer me up, my bestfriend would send me stuff from Korea.”

When he says this, his smile becomes bigger and her expression gets more puzzled. She didn't understand why he's telling her his past.

“One of those things is a DVD of ‘1920’, which is my favourite movie.” Soojung’s eyebrow arches. That movie is where she played a fictional princess, the movie that made her a star that she is today. “When I watched it, I realized that I was attracted to the actress playing a princess. After seeing her again, in real life this time, I was reminded of these feelings.”

Soojung gulps nervously. She often received confessions but it’s not like she would normally receive a confession from the Prince of Jeju.

“The reason why is because I like you, Jung Soojung. I enjoyed your company as who you really are. I was in no way offended or anything, so please don’t worry. I like you for who you are.”

Doomed. Tha's how Soojung thought of her position. She was doomed as she is never really like the girl from last night, especially not like the princess she acted as before. And yet here she is, recieving a confession from the bloody Prince of Jeju, no less. While Soojung was obviously surprised by the words she was hearing, Jongin was so happy with himself that he does a fist pump secretly behind his back. He never thought that he would actually do it, but he did. Eunuch Byun would be so proud of him.

“I-I do not know what to say.” Soojung looks away, her face flushing red once again. It pisses her that she’s acting that way, when just twenty-four hours ago she was very confident around him.

“It’s okay. I don’t expect any answers. I just wanted you to know.” Jongin says with such joy. “Aren’t you going out with Lee Jongsuk anyways?”

“Oh no! I am not!” She turns to him to explain, the expression of disgust all over her face. “Please do not believe anything the media says about me. It is not true at all.”

For some reason, hearing that makes the prince happy though he doesn’t want to admit it. He confessed because he thought she had the right to know why he was acting that way and not because he wanted to be with her, though he would like that in the future. But just because he’s a prince doesn’t mean he has to get what he wants. That was his mindset.

“Your highness, I am very sorry but your presence is highly needed in the ballroom.” A servant comes with his head bow down and though Jongin visibly didn’t want to go, he knows that he must really go back inside. After all, he is the host of the party.

“I must excuse myself, Miss Jung. I’ll see you… soon, I hope.”

He wishes that she would ask him to stay a little longer, but she just bowed to bid goodbye. He figured that she might need a time alone after all that so with an awkward wave, he leaves with his servant. Once alone, the actress takes a deep breath and looks at her reflection on the lake.

“Well that was awkward.” She suddenly hears an unfamiliar voice. She doesn’t understand why everybody’s just suddenly coming out of nowhere that day. She didn’t want to know who it was because frankly she just wanted a time alone, but her conscience was telling her to turn for whatever reason, and thank God she did. “Believe me eavesdropping on my cousin’s business is the last thing that I want to do.”

It was Prince Jongdae, the second son of the King.

Now, while the royal family tend to stay out of the headlines, it was quite the opposite with this prince. Nicknamed ‘The Black Sheep’ and ‘The Forgotten Prince’ by the media, though harsh and cruel, it is quite true what they say. Despite her busy schedules, Soojung probably knows most about Jongdae through all the gossips her hairstylists and actors friends tell her about.

Out of all the royals, it was Prince Jongdae’s name she hears often but due to the wrong reasons. A playboy, a douche, a wild man – these are just some of the adjectives she has heard from the people around her, which seemed impossible. The prince, apart from having royal blood, had a face of an angel. But Soojung had also experienced the prince’s bad side.

Much like his brother, she has met him before in a summer charity event to represent the king. He was all smiles in front of the cameras, but backstage he swore like a sailor due to the heat while his older brother just ignored him and socialized with people. But then who was she to judge him back then? She also had a façade, except she doesn’t dare show it on public.

“Prince Jongdae.” She immediately bowed, feeling embarrass for the nth time that night as she realized that he has heard Jongin’s confession. “Good evening.”

“Good evening.” He says quietly as he stood at the same spot where Jongin had stood. “What a night, right?”

Soojung has no idea what to say so she just agrees.

“That was quite a performance, by the way. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you, but my co-stars were as good as I was.”

Jongdae chuckles after hearing her answer. He looks at her amused. “Very humble, Soojung. But I wasn’t talking about your latest movie. It was nice, but not as memorable as your little act with my cousin.” In confusion, she looks at him with a worried expression. His words sounded so strong that she felt anxious.

“I-I didn’t know who he was.” She tried explaining but the prince just looked at her in disbelief.

“Come on, darling. I know you’re a good actress so quit acting. Do you live under a rock or something? Are you that ignorant not to know my cousin?”

The scariest part is about him confronting her about it is he’s smiling while saying all these things. Yes, Jongdae might not have the greatest liking to his younger cousin, but at the same time he was deeply offended when she said that she had no idea who his cousin was. How dare her not know her country’s royals? Oh, the disrespect!

“I’m very sorry.” Is all that she could say.

“You better be. Kids these days just don’t care about their country, do they?” He shook his head while she just looked at him. She was pretty sure he wasn’t much older than she was. “Now that my cousin has confessed his feelings to you, I bet you’ll start studying more of who we are.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Jongdae shivers, remembering his cousin’s confession. “I can’t believe I just heard that. I’m disgusted.” He mumbles to himself. Soojung didn’t even bother to ask what he just said as she has given up on trying to understand him. He then takes out a pack of cigarette to smoke. “I must warn you however. My cousin might start flirting with you and I know you’re at the top of your league but we’re not too keen with commoners. It might be a good PR stunt though.”

This is exactly what Soojung was thinking. She must admit that she was hoping to be with the guy she had spent time with last night. She’d call it ‘love at first night’, if that’s even a thing. He was intelligent, charming, a gentleman… The chance of meeting a man like that again is like winning the lottery. And now, finding out that he’s the prince makes it more impossible.

“I should have known. How stupid of me.” She mumbles to herself.

“Do you smoke?” Jongdae asks which ruined her thoughts. For once she was actually glad he’s talking to her.

“Sometimes, yeah.”

It has been a while since she last smoke as the company has prohibited her to, but when she does it’s because she’s really stressed which was what she was feeling currently. So when the prince offered her his cigarettes, she just couldn’t resist. Plus it was Sobranie. She just couldn’t say no. Having no way to relief her stress, it felt good when she had her first puff in a while.

It was strange how Soojung hasn’t returned to the ballroom after thirty minutes, not that Jongin was looking for her. It’s just, as the host of the party, he thought that he makes sure that everybody is having a great time and as he is the last person the actress was with, he could help but to feel nervous.

“Maybe she’s gone back to the hotel. I mean, she’s probably tired after all that?” He thought to himself. He was thinking so hard that he didn’t feel his eunuch tapping on his shoulder.

“Your royal highness?” The servant asks, a little louder than usual due to the loud noise around them.

“Oh, Eunuch Byun. What’s the matter?” He finally looks up.

“It’s just… Your highness seems like he’s not feeling well. Shall I send the guests off?” At first, Jongin didn’t understand what he meant, but then he realizes that he might have been unintentionally frowning as he worried about the actress.

“No, no. Let them have fun. It’s just…” The Prince says quietly, “I’m worried about Miss Jung. Have you seen her around?”

“The last time I saw her was with you, sir.”

Jongin felt uneasy. He finally stood up from his seat, telling Eunuch Byun to help him search for the actress. Though he wanted to go together with the prince, Jongin was a fast walker, even dodging the guests’ greetings by just simply smiling at them and excusing himself. As he tried to catch up with Jongin, Baekhyun noticed that Soojung’s entourage was still there, which makes it impossible for her to have gone back to her hotel.

If she wasn’t in the ballroom, she must have stayed in the garden. Jongin was about to head back to the garden, when he sees her figure in the corridor, walking slowly to God knows where. Relived, Jongin tries to walks towards her and calls her name, however this doesn’t stop her. In fact, it seemed like she was trying to go further from him.

He was about to ask her if she was okay, when in a blink of an eye, Soojung falls in the palace’s cold marbled floor, and in shock, Jongin runs towards where she was to check her out.

“Soojung! Soojung, are you alright?!” He had hope for her to be fine, but Soojung was unresponsive.

By this time, Baekhyun has finally catched up on Jongin. Upon seeing the prince slowly and carefully carrying the actress, he panicked as he immediately runs towards where they were. “Your highness, let me-”

“Hush, Eunuch Byun! Call the doctor immediately and make sure nobody hears of this incident!”

Tonight, the first ever Jeju Film Festival was held in the newly opened Cinema Center in the heart of the city in honour of the Crown Prince Jongin who is of course in attendance in the event together with his siblings, Prince Mingyu and Princess Doyeon, and cousins Princes Junmyeon and Jongdae, all of whom are from the House of Kim.

Apart from the royals, there were around seven hundred fans who attended the festival in glimpse of their favourite Asian celebrities such as Yang Yang, Angela Baby, Dilraba Dilmurat, Hu Yitian, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Shun Oguri, Erika Sawajiri, Nana Komatsu and our very own stars like Moon Geunyoung, Park Haeil, Lee Jongsuk and of course, Jung Soojung, who tops our best dressed list. Not that it’s surprising.

The 23-year old actress was the star of the night in her golden off-shoulder Valentino dress paired with vintage pearl and crystal earrings from Tiffany’s. But it wasn’t just her fashion choice that gained attention as she was highly praised in her latest movie. Paired with actor Lee Jongsuk, their movie ‘Eleven Wishes’ is about a woman who travels back in time to be with his boyfriend before his cancer takes him away from her.

It is said to be the actress’ best performance in her career yet, and we’re not the only ones who agree. Prince Jongin has expressed his admiration towards the actress, saying that she did a marvellous performance in the movie. The Prince was not aftraid to further show his admiration, even kissing her hand in front of hundreds of people.

The TV screen then flashes the now in-famous scene. This will surely not be easy to bury. King Junyoung sighs.

“That’s enough, Eunuch Park.” He utters, and the sixty something year old servant immediately switches off the television. While doing so, The King stood up from his seat to gaze outside the window. Though he was on the other side of the palace, he could still hear the music from the party, not that he minds. He just didn’t want to be in the festival, and thankfully his nephew believed him when he was informed that he wasn’t feeling well.

“Oh Jongin. What shall I do with you?” Junyoung thought to himself, reflecting on the news report that he had watched. “Eunuch Park, I want full information on Jung Soojung early in the morning tomorrow.”

“As you wish, your majesty.”