Baekhyun promises Lei that he won’t tell anyone that she came home with a hangover. He also advises her to spend the day in her room to relax and do some self-reflection. All the while, he’ll keep everyone out of her hair—including Lucas. On normal occasion, Lei would have ignored Baekhyun and continued on doing whatever stupid thing she wanted to do, but this morning… She never expected such great words to emerge from his Yosulian mouth.

So, she does what she’s told.

The first order of business she has to wash Jaehyun off her body. This takes the longest because each time she rinses the soap off her body, she’s reminded of his ghost hands. It seems like she can’t get that feeling out of her system. His hands on her hips, holding her in place. His hands on her face, her cheeks. His hands, period, moving so fast that she needed a third lung. His— Lei takes one, two, three showers. She would have stayed in for a fourth, bur her stomach doesn’t allow her.

The second order of business is throwing up in the toilet.

It’s much too disgusting for Lei to think about, so she pops a few pills into a bottled water, waits for it to fizz, and drinks.

Baekhyun told her to close the terrace doors and curtains so Lucas gets the message, so that’s Lei’s third order of business. She locks the doors and windows, puts on a pair of headphones, and turns the music up.

The fourth order of business is to just rest and reflect—with an emphasis of not checking any form of media.

Baekhyun is the first thing Lei reflects about.

She has to admit that she was wrong—terribly, ridiculously, incompetently wrong—about him. When she saw him by the dock, she honestly expected him to scold her and do everything her brother would have done: lectured and shook his head in disappointment. But he didn’t. Baekhyun came and sat down by her and held her as she cried. Sure, it was embarrassing, but nothing in the world ever felt better than crying and pushing out a dam of emotions.

Never would have she thought she would have cried in the arms of her so-called enemy, and never would have she thought that he would allow her that luxury.

But Baekhyun seems to have plenty of surprises up at his sleeves. She didn’t expect him to talk about that tale regarding the transition to manhood in Yosul, for starters. It still eludes her how someone like him could have endured all of that pain and strangeness. The constant look of stoicism on his face suggests that no, he wasn’t forced into getting half-drunk. No, he wasn’t whipped. And most definitely, no, he wasn’t forced into committing a heinous act. But yes, he was. To top it off, Baekhyun learned something off of it.

What makes you an adult is not the number you turn on a certain date. It’s not ion. It’s not getting drunk. It’s what you do after. What you do when presented with a challenge.

Lei can’t believe that she didn’t know about this before. That’s why her brother is so highly lauded in the country. That’s why her mother always comes off as “graceful.” That’s why Wendy is her advisor. All three of them have controlled responses—at least in public. Her brother doesn’t yell when he’s angry; he sighs and talks despite his emotions. Her mother narrows her eyes, but she never lets anyone best her. And Wendy—Wendy smiles when she’s annoyed, and that speaks for itself.

Perhaps this method of having a fair reaction whatever comes her way is the best way to prove to her brother that she is mature force that doesn’t need any babysitting (to a certain extent).

Lei smiles to herself. The music in her ears sing about satellites in the sky, and she begins to think about a new plan.

The prince of Yosul is an interesting person. While she does admit that she wasn’t the most graceful and kind hostess to him, she still wants to hope for the best. Maybe he’ll give her another chance to prove herself. Maybe he’ll accept her apology. Perhaps they can be friends too. After all, he’s the only one who hasn’t curled his lip up or shook his head with disappointment upon hearing about her recklessness.

- - - - -

Lei has to tell Wendy about everything. She doesn’t want to, but Baekhyun pushes her, insisting that advisors are sworn to secrecy anyways and that Wendy is her closest friend. When this fails to move her, Baekhyun threatens her with the truth. If she doesn’t tell Wendy, Wendy won’t know how to advise her public actions and maybe set up more meetings than needed with Lucas. Of course, this is more than enough for Lei to get going.

“You wanted to talk?” Wendy asks once they’ve seated themselves on a couch in Lei’s room.

“Yeah—about what happened two nights ago.” Lei curls herself up into a ball and stares at the carpet in front of her. She can’t bring herself to see that sure disappointment in Wendy’s eyes when she finds out. “You know how I went to Lucas’s house? Because I just wanted to get out?”

“Of course. What happened? You didn’t come home until this morning.”

The truth is stuck in Lei’s throat. “Well, for starters, I never met up with Lucas.” The silence screams under the cover of awkward. “Uh, yeah. He was busy with a business proposal or something.”

“So,” Wendy stammers, “I don’t get it. You never found Lucas. You’re not particularly close with any of friends either. Then what did you do? Did you go somewhere else?”

Lei shakes her head. “I, um, sort of did some stuff.”

“Stuff?” Wendy’s voice takes on a noticeably aggressive tone. “Okay, while I’m glad that I now know you didn’t sleep with Lucas, I’m now very worried. What did you do?” She shakes Lei by the shoulder, but Lei keeps her eyes anchored to the ground. “Did you combust?”

“No!” Lei hates the idea of combustion, and the very suggestion embarrasses her more than it offends her. “I didn’t combust, but I did, um, maybe—you know, drink something, um, alcoholic.”

“Lei, you did not.” Wendy is surprisingly calm about it. “Ugh.” She sighs, and in the corner of her eye, Lei can see her shake her head. “That makes more sense, though, doesn’t it? You didn’t want your brother to see you drunk, r