The earth orbited at a pace that its inhabitants could not feel.

 

But why was Wendy’s world spinning so badly? She could not fathom.

 

Lalisa Manoban was a princess. 

Sana was trapped in her castle for 13 years.

 

Not just trapped even, she was abused, tortured and to the point where she lost her mind. It seemed as if being shoved into this new environment in the apartment made her crazily excited and hyper- because she was free.

 

The nightmares, the forums, the fears- it was all making sense, but also made the whole story a whole new mess.

 

With the presence of the army, it made not just Sana, but everyone involved with her at risk of legal action. What they were doing right now was a heist- a kidnapping. Not just a regular kidnapping- but they were taking something royal- something of utmost importance and a figure of hope to many. So right now, Irene was going back and forth with Joy and Yeri about whether to keep the shiba or not. Seulgi was inside their room with Sana, telling her to put on headphones and recommending the most upbeat songs at full volume so that she wouldn’t hear the screaming and yelling of profanities that came out from the two youngest ones of the household.

 

“ARE YOU TWO TRYING TO GET US KILLED?! ALREADY WITH THE DEATH CONTRACT AND NOW LEGAL ACTION AGAINST US?” Irene argued with the most rationale possible. But right now was a battle of rationale against morality- and when it comes down to the two- which one was the one were we supposed to choose?

 

It was a never ending battle really- whether you choose to save someone's life- or save yours. Sure, saving another would make you a hero, someone known forever. But saving yourself allows you to survive- it allows you to have the chance to live again one more time. Saving another would give chances to other people- the broad possibilities that would be unachievable without Sana. Sana was a princess- the influence she could have if we kept her long enough to regain her complete sanity was a myriad. But what if they couldn’t keep her? Images of fires and death flashed through Wendy’s mind as she pondered on the capabilities of the king himself.

 

Images of Sana being tossed into a dungeon— her innocence and happiness taken away from her once again— Seungwan could feel the tears threatening to fall at the nightmarish thoughts of what would happen to Sana if they let her go.

 

It was insane- capturing of princesses rarely ever happened in the modern world. But now it was happening- and it was up to them what to do with it. They could just do it, they could hand over Sana to Sungjae and it would be over- it was a private mission- even the entire population of Japan had no clue their princess was on the loose.

 

But could anyone live with the guilt? The forever question about how things would’ve been different if you risked it all?

 

Give Sana back- or live risking it all. This small house they nurtured, the relationships they’ve built- was it worth the risk? Was an annoyingly cute shiba- all worth the risk?

 

F l a s h b a c k

 

“Please keep her. I’m begging you to. I’ll even increase the pay- god just- make sure they don’t find her. Please. She’s suffered too long. Please. I don’t know where else to hide her. Just for awhile. I swear I'll take her back once I successfully fake her death. Then you can say you never saw her- never saw me ever again. Just take care of her so she can breathe again- s-so she can live again,” Mina begged with tears in her eyes- her words being directed towards the head of the household, who refused to make eye contact with her.

 

“Get out Myoui,” Irene said with a bitter tone.

 

“I’ll give you an answer once we’ve discussed it. Just go home Myoui. Actually- it’s all of you. All of you need to get out of my house- now,” Irene said, stern as everyone gave her one last pleading look.

 

As if on cue, Chaeng brought Sana into the house, a solemn look on Sana’s face as she saw everyone leave, one by one.

 

“What were you guys fighting about?” Joy asked before Chaeyoung closed the door.

 

“Uhh- I wanted to go paragliding- but Mina hates it,” Chaeyoung said with a sheepish smile.

 

The tenants of the home all let out a light chuckle, except for the eldest- who gave no reaction as her eyes remained cold.

 

Chaeyoung left a moment after, the door locking shut as soon as she closed it.

 

“Now,”

 

“About Minatozaki,”

 

F l a s h b a c k  e n d

 

“WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN OF WE KEEP HER?!” Yeri screamed, Irene not even flinching at her tone.

 

“The worst?! So many things! They could revoke us from University! Take all our assests, kill us, torture us! Their rich enough to do anything! People around us could die Yerim- my mom- Kim Saeron- Rosanne- everyone around us could just be taken away! Can’t you see that this isn’t your common school bully?! This is royalty! People with authority!” Irene retaliated with immense logic- the name Kim Saeron silencing Yeri immediately.

 

Rosanne.

 

Could die.

 

Wendy truly felt like dissolving the more she heard this conversation.

 

She wanted to tune everything out- change the channel to a different station, a better one for her.

 

She wanted the space to think. But now it was just static.

 

Wendy stood up abruptly, the three too engaged in their fight to care about her. She went towards her and Seulgi’s room, opening the door to reveal Ariana Grande blasting through the headphones Sana was wearing.

 

The two in the room looked at her as if she had grown a second head- even more so once Wendy gave a smile in Sana’s direction.

 

“Come on Sana- wanna go out?” Wendy asked- and Sana only understood go out- but hell yeah did Sana want to go out- the last time she did was to see Seokjin and he had given her a bunch of squish bears, so going out was always a good thing to Sana.

 

Plus, she hadn’t gone out for 13 years.

 

“You sure Wen?” Seulgi asked, concern written all over her face.

 

“Yeah- I need a breather from that fight over there,” Wendy explained, motioning towards the faint yelling coming from the kitchen, and Seulgi nodded in understanding.

 

“Okay- i’ll stay behind to make sure they don’t notice anything,” Seulgi said with a look of determination and soft smile.

 

“Yeah yeah!” Sana chirped, but pouted when Wendy clamped shut to avoid getting the attention of the other three tenants. With Wendy’s hand still over Sana’s mouth, they made their way outside.

 

The shiba followed behind Wendy, the sound of Seulgi’s music still blasting through her ears.

 

They somehow snuck out of the house without a soul noticing their movements. When they were a few steps away from the house- Seulgi’s bluetooth headphones could no longer detect the rhythm which caused Sana to pout a bit, but she also began to speak.

 

“Why fight?” Sana asked with a deep curiosity.

 

“About dinner tonight,” Wendy easily lied, and Sana just nodded.

 

“Sushi good,” Sana said, trying to solve the problem Wendy presented her.

 

“You want sushi?” Seungwan smiled as they arrived at the basement, Sana skipping next to Wendy as they made their way to Seungwan’s car.

 

“Wait wait!” Wendy told Sana, an idea popping in her head. She hastily pulled out her camera, switching the function to video. She filmed Sana, who was surprised by the device. There was some fear in her eyes as she approached it- but Wendy’s smile caused the younger girl to come closer, touching the lense of the machine- which took Wendy aback at first- because even Rosie knew to never touch Wendy’s lenses, but she decided to let the shiba get comfortable with the device first.

 

Seungwan clicked the shutter while it was still recording, the sound surprising Sana- but she laughed at it, making faces at the camera as Wendy joined in on the laughter, taking more pictures.

 

“Come come!” Sana invited the older girl, skipping away from the older girl, searching for Seungwan’s car- which she managed to recall due to its bright blue colour. 

 

Seungwan followed, still recording as she followed the happy Sana to the car, the shiba trying to find the opening, but ended up knocking her head on the window instead.

 

“AAAAA!” Sana hissed at the window, pouting in Wendy’s direction.

 

“Is the window bad Satang?” Wendy asked behind the camera, the shiba nodding as she rubbed her head softly. And Wendy chuckled, knowing she’d keep the recording for a long time.

 

She didn’t want to lose Sana.

 

But if she had to- she wouldn’t want her gone completely.

 

——————-

 

There was a clear silence in the car as Mina and Chaeyoung drove back home. The awkward silence resulting from the fact  that they never properly resolved their fight earlier. Their friends all laughed it off, saying it was silly to get into such a serious fight when all Chaeyoung wanted was to go paragliding. But some real emotions came out of Mina and Chaeyoung didn’t get the chance to properly apologise.

 

“I’m sorry Mina,” Chaeyoung said, taking brief glances at Mina while most of her vision was focused on the road.

 

“Did you mean it?” 

 

“Mean what? The sorry? Of course I do babe. I can’t imagine my life without you and I seriously didn’t want to hurt you- like- at all. I was too blinded by excitement and the idea of having an adrenaline rush until it came to the point where I forgot I can get all that just by being with you,” Chaeyoung paused for a moment, giving Mina a soft and genuine look as she spoke.

 

“I’m in love with you, Myoui Mina- whether we go paragliding or not,” Chaeyoung said with a loopy smile, gripping the steering wheel in anticipation of Mina’s answer.

 

“Well- actually, I meant about Akira. You remembered him?” Mina returned the smile, though she let out a slight chuckle before she did.

 

“Of course I'd remember Akira! How could I forget my son?” Chaeyoung laughed a little- playfully taken aback by her girlfriend.

 

F l a s h b a c k

 

“I say this date is a huge success- possibly the best one i’ve ever been on,”  Chaeyoung boasted proudly to her girlfriend of almost 4 years.

 

“I can’t believe we’ve been dating for 3 years but neither of us ever came up with the idea to come here,” Mina stated, Chaeyoung nodding in agreement.

 

“I think that’s because a certain someone prefers staying at home twenty four seven,” Chaeyoung said, nudging the older girl slightly with a smirk on her face.

 

“Excuse me? I go out plenty. All you need to do is ask,” Mina retaliated, arriving at the spot on the riverbank they had been eyeing a few minutes prior.

 

“Sure babe- what happened to ‘if I could, I would want to stay in bed until the world ends’,” Chaeyoung imitated Mina’s soft way of speech, adding a dreamy look for amusement.

 

“I don’t talk like that!” Mina said with a chuckle, hitting Chaeyoung playfully as she spread the mat on the green of the grass.

 

The both of them plopped onto the rough mat, Mina purposely twisting her legs to  lose her balance so she’d slip into the safety of Chaeyoung’s arms- who caught her swiftly with a smirk on her face.

 

“You know, if you wanted me to cuddle you- you could just ask,” Chaeyoung’s smirk grew wider, revealing her dimple as Mina blushed a furious red, her body moving deeper into Chaeyoung’s embrace.

 

“S- shut up,” Mina said with a chuckle, both of them huddled on mat together.

 

They remained silent for awhile, just enjoying the feeling of each other as bypassers ran around the park- the friday evening inviting a whole lot of children and their parents to play around to pass time. Mina stared at the families for a long while, her hold on Chaeyoung getting tighter as each moment passed.

 

“I want one,” Mina suddenly spoke, interrupting the comfortable silence.

 

“One what?” Chaeyoung was taken aback, the lack of context surprising her.

 

“A baby,” Mina replied shyly.

 

Chaeyoung’s mouth went open and closed like a fish- shocked at Mina’s aggressive and sudden request.

 

“Okay,” Chaeyoung replied bluntly.

 

“R- really?” Mina chirped, excited that Chaeyoung would respond like that. Chaeyoung smiled at Mina’s excitement, pulling her closer than before.

 

“Any names?” Chaeyoung asked casually, as if they were planning for something they were going to do tomorrow.

 

“Well- I was thinking it would be cool if we got a boy- since boys are energetic- I feel like he’d keep me young,” Mina explained, the two laughing at the reasoning behind why Mina wanted a son.

 

“And Akira? You like that? My mom always said if she had another son- she’d totally name him that- and like- I guess it kinda stuck on me. Oh! And it means bright. I always imagine that if I ever had a kid- i’d want them to be the brightest lil’ rascal- I just thought it’d be cute- though i’d probably be super tired- I don’t think I would mind it that much if it was for him. I- well- do you like it Chaeyoung?” Mina ended her babbling, Chaeyoung staring at her with such awe in her eyes you thought she was staring at one of the artworks in her favourite gallery.

 

“I love it. I love Akira already. For real. I love it,” Chaeyoung said with a broad smile on her face, nodding in agreement at everything Mina just said.

 

“The question is though- would we teach him Japanese first or Korean?” Chaeyoung asked with curiosity written all over her face.

 

“Japanese is harder so japanese,” Mina argued, but Chaeyoung squinted at the suggestion.

 

“Okay but shouldn’t we teach him the easier things first? I wouldn’t want to burden little Aki,” Chaeyoung pouted, secretly wanting korean so that she wouldn’t have to speak Japanese because newsflash- she at it.

 

“Already giving him a nickname huh? And anyways- i’m already taking your last name so you better give in to the language,” Mina pointed a daring finger at Chaeyoung, whose mouth went agape.

 

“Excuse me! I’m letting you name him!” Chaeyoung retaliated, the both of them erupting in laughter at Chaeyoung’s attempt to be offended.

 

“Still! I’m going to carry him for sure,” Mina replied in a chic tone, crossing her arms as she tried to suppress a smile, scooting away from Chaeyoung on the mat.

 

“For sure huh?” Chaeyoung said, honestly not knowing what the reply- thus she resorted to the most evil form of punishment-

 

Tickles.

 

“SON CHAEYOUNG I SWEAR TO- ” Mina couldn’t finish her sentence as Chaeyoung attacked her with tickles and kisses, the older girl howling in laughter- not caring of anyone stared at them- they were in their own universe anyways.

 

Once Chaeyoung decided to give Mina a break, ending on top of the older girl somehow (ticklish Mina is aggressive), the two of them breathless with smiles on their faces.

 

“You know- we should probably get married before doing all that,” Chaeyoung stated, catching her breath.

 

“Propose to me first Son,” Mina dared.

 

“Let me finish college first will ya Myoui?” Chaeyoung replied, worried about what kind of income she’d use to even buy a ring. And the ring had to be perfect- it was for Mina anyways.

 

“Kiss me first then- as a promise,” Mina requested, and Chaeyoung nodded, swooping downwards to capture the taller girl on soft kiss.

 

“I promise,” Chaeyoung said as soon as she pulled away.

 

There was a brief silence before Mina spoke again, words she’d been holding in since just now.

 

“I’m in love with you Son Chaeyoung,”

 

“I’m in love with you too- Myoui Mina,”

 

There was more silence, and Mina was about to connect their lips again- but two words leaving Chaeyoung’s lips stopped her.

 

“Marry me?”

 

E n d f l a s h b a c k

(A/n look at me im single)

 

“D- do you want him?” 

 

“Do I want him? Of course I do! I didn’t propose to you that day for no reason Minari. I can’t wait for it honestly. Though we’ve gone through this and we both agreed that we should wait until we're both out of college first. I mean obviously right?” Chaeyoung replied smoothly to her girlfriend slash fiancée.

 

It was strange but normal between them- they figured they were too young to be engaged but Chaeyoung was relentless, telling her they could be whatever they wanted so they settled for the engaged-but-not-because-were-still-kinda-not-ready-even-though-we-both-totally-want-to-marry-each-other kinda relationship.

 

Yeah they were them like that.

 

They never even told anyone that they were engaged- since there was no ring and no extravagant setting- just a promise they both knew they’d keep forever.

 

“I’m sorry I overreacted about the paragliding thing. I’ll gladly watch- I’m sure Yeri or Lisa would totally wanna go with you- though I can’t say the same about Dahyun though,” Mina said with a light chuckle, sliding her right hand towards Chaeyoung’s left and clasped the two together, even if it took one of Chaeng’s hands off the wheel. (A/n do not try this at home drive safe folks) 

 

“I’m in love with you too- Son Chaeyoung,” Mina said, kissing Chaeyoung’s hand and gripping it even tighter.

 

“I really want to kiss you right now,” Chaeyoung said, sounding desperate as ever.

 

“Then what are you waiting for?” Mina teased.

 

(A/n someone needs to seriously teach Mina about road safety)

 

Chaeyoung, somewhat threatened by the offer, immediately drove the car onto the side, putting it on park almost immediately after that. The cub pounced on Mina, giving her a passionate turned heated kiss on the lips, causing the girl to jump in surprise.

 

“Chaeng!” Mina chuckled at how sudden Chaeyoung was being once their lips parted- blushing a fluorescent red as they caught their breaths. 

 

“Oh my god I miss your lips already,” Chaeyoung said, breathless as Mina wrapped her arms around Chaeyoung’s neck, pulling her close so that their foreheads would touch.

 

Chaeyoung lurched forward, placing her lips back on Mina’s, the situation suddenly turning into a sensual make out session, their tongues dancing at an uneven pace, the warmth engulfing them both. 

 

“Mmm- Y’know- if we had the right umm- ‘equipment’- i’m sure Akira would’ve been born years ago- might have even had a sister,” Mina said in between the sloppy