Chapter 7:

“G-Girlfriend?”

Jaehyun glared at the shocked Jisoo with a face that signalled “play along.”

Johnny glanced over at Jisoo, then back to Jaehyun, who was waiting for an apology. “I apologize, sir. I didn’t know.”

Jaehyun nodded and nonchalantly dismissed the embarrassed waiter. When he disappeared from their sight, Jisoo leaned towards her dinner partner and panicked, “What was that?”

Jaehyun split his wooden chopsticks as he grinned about his accomplishment, “That’s just my way of chasing guys away from you.”

Jisoo sat back up and reached for her pair of chopsticks, “So you do that kind of thing a lot?” She asked, slightly disappointed.

“Do what kind of thing?”

“Saying that other girls are your girlfriend even when they’re not.” Jisoo stared down at her noodles and started picking at the vegetables while she waited for an answer.

Jaehyun took a couple seconds to process the question and recall if he’s ever done that before, then answered her straight, “No, actually.”

She looked up at him and listened to his explanation.

“I think you’re the first girl that I’ve ever done that for.” Jaehyun grinned before digging into his Spicy Beef Ramen.

Jisoo grinned back, being satisfied with his simple answer, then began munching on her ramen.

~

The two of them returned to the apartment with full, content stomachs. After placing their shoes by the door and proceeding through the mini hallway, Jaehyun checked the time on the wall clock above the TV. 8:40 p.m. He turned to Jisoo, who stood neatly with her hands in her pockets.

“Thank you for dinner.” She politely said to him.

“No problem.” Jaehyun pulled his jean jacket off, and folded it onto his forearm. “I’ll walk you over to the pawn shop tomorrow and maybe also shop for some of your clothes. It’s Sunday tomorrow, so I’ll have plenty of time.”

She nodded in understanding.

“For now, just rest in your room and somehow try to get a few more hours of sleep. I’ll be leaving around 9 in the morning tomorrow to meet with a friend. If you want, you can tag along. If not, you can stay here and I’ll come back to get you around noon.”

Excited about seeing more parts of the city, Jisoo immediately took the offer, “I’d love to come.”

Jaehyun showed a warm smile and greeted her a goodnight before disappearing into his bedroom.

~

It was 1pm on Sunday in Korea as it was 9pm in California. The King has summoned the Korean President to the palace to talk privately, regarding the missing Princess. The two of them sat across from each other in the grand dining room as the kitchen staff served them black tea and toast. After the staff had set the table, the King requested for them to leave the two alone to talk until the President leaves. The staff did just that and shut the doors of the grand dining room.

Aggravatedly initiating the conversation, the President started, “THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!” He flailed his arms out in from in anger. “That is extremely irresponsible of the Princess!”

The King sighed and nodded at his head in disappointment. “I apologize on the Princess’s behalf.”

“What are we supposed to do now? What are we going to do with Taeyong?”

“Have you told the media anything about their engagement?”

“No.” The President responded, “Thankfully, we didn’t because that would’ve been a way messier problem.”

The two of them took a moment to sip their scalding hot tea.

“I don’t think we should rush this exchange of power yet.” The King tried to discuss peacefully, “I’m still alive and well. The media and the people aren’t very concerned about the next King yet.”

“I didn’t set up this engagement to kick you off the throne, your Majesty. We planned this in order to prepare for the worst.”

The king took a deep breath and bit off a piece of his toast. “We can settle this peacefully without marriage, without the Princess.”

The President paused and glanced suspiciously at the King, “Your majesty, by any chance… Do you know where the Princess is?”

Her shook his head, “I have no clue, but I’m sure she would not return to the palace, knowing that she would still have to fulfill the arranged marriage is she were to return.”

“So what do we do?”

After the king took a big gulp of his burning hot tea, he summoned, “Bring me Taeyong.”

~

Morning had crept slowly onto the two roommates in Los Angeles, California. Jet lag caused both of the two to get fall asleep somewhere around 2am. As they dreamed on, the sun gradually climbed up to its rightful place in Sunny California and soon it was 7am.

Jaehyun’s cell phone alarm rudely woke him from his dream with the ringtone “Simon Says” by NCT127. He groggily wiped his eyes and climbed out of his sheets. After a few seconds of stretching and being annoyed about being awake, he made the bed and walked out to the bathroom. The sounds of doors shutting from outside of Jisoo’s room were enough to bring her back to reality. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her body under the covers. And as a good Princess should, she neatly made her new bed and brushed her hair before leaving the room. Jisoo shuffled through her makeup/hair essentials bag and struggled to find a toothbrush, in which she forgot to pack. Ahh crap! I forgot my toothbrush!

She scurried out of the room, with her little bag in hand, only to find that the apartment was mostly quiet. Jaehyun must still be asleep. She walked over to the bathroom, which was unlocked, and opened the door. Finding that the lights were on, although nobody was in sight, except for a pile of Jaehyun’s clothes by the shower, she scratched her head in confusion. Was that pile of clothes there before? She pondered to herself but shrugged it off. She continued to spread out all of the makeup she brought until she suddenly, out of nowhere, heard a deep voice, “H-hello?”

She screamed, realizing there was a man inside the shower. And followed by her scream was his scream, realizing there was a woman in the bathroom as he stood inside the shower.

“AHHHHHH!!!” Jisoo attempted to cover both her eyes and her ears, but somehow only succeeded at covering her ears.

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!” Jaehyun screamed, before peeking out of the curtain to see who it was. And obviously it was his only roommate, Jisoo. “H-How did you get in here?!”

Jisoo turned from facing the door to look at Jaehyun’s sleepy head sticking out of one side of the shower curtain. “T-The door was unlocked! I thought no one was in here!”

Crap, did I not lock the door?! Oh hell, Jaehyun, you’re so stupid. The man thought to himself in embarrassment.

“O-Oh… Uhhh, sorry. I must’ve forgotten to lock it.”

Jisoo slapped her hands over her eyes to prevent herself from seeing much more than his head. “Okay, okay, I-I’ll just get out…” She told him, gathering all of her makeup items back into the bag and stumbling out of the bathroom.

~

15 minutes has passed and Jaehyun awkwardly staggered out of the bathroom with a