Chapter 1

Walking up to stand in front of a tall building, a girl could be seen looking into it in nervousness as she gets ready to start her first assignment at work.

“This is it Minjoo. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Today is the day you’re going to be assigned a unit.” she says as she tries to give herself some encouragement.

Continuing into the building, she walks up to stand in front of a room that reads Commanding Chief Officer Lee Chaeyeon. Taking in a deep breath, she proceeds to knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, Minjoo was met with a warm smile from her captain and senior.

“Oh…Minjoo-yah. I’ve been waiting for you. Are you ready to meet your team?”

“Yes sunbaenim.”

“Hey, I told you many times already, you don’t have to call me sunbae. Just call me by my name casually. Especially since we will be working on the same team for our next mission.”

“Working on the same team? Wait, am I going to be on the same team as you sunbaenim?”

Giving the younger girl a small glare for continuing to address her formally, Chaeyeon answers

“Yes. The next mission will be quite an important task, so I will also be a part of your team to make sure things run out smoothly.”

Hearing that her first mission is going to be big, Minjoo perks up even more as the thought of her finally starting her dream job slowly becomes true.

“Now let’s go meet your team.” Chaeyeon says.

Leading the younger girl out of the room and into a small conference room nearby, Chaeyeon immediately introduces the three people waiting in the room the minute they walked in.

“Minjoo-yah. This is Yena, Hyewon, and Sakura. You will be a part of their team from today onwards.”

Bowing to the seniors in front of her, Minjoo proceeds to formally introduce herself to her team.

“Nice to meet you sunbaenims. My name is Kim Minjoo. Please take care of me well.”

“Hey, just talk casually. We’re all around the same age here. It’s okay.” Yena mentioned as she walked up to stand next to the girl.

Seeing everyone giving her warm smiles, Minjoo slightly nods her head as they all took their seats.

Starting up the meeting for their new mission. Everyone could be seen staring at a screen with what looks to be like a PowerPoint presentation of a country.

Standing up to explain everything, Chaeyeon walks over to the screen that is projecting pictures of a certain place, and proceeds with her instructions.

“This is the country of Eito. It’s a small country bordering Korea and Japan in the East China Sea. It’s been about a year since the former King passed now, and now it’s time for them to appoint a successor to his throne, and that happens to be his only daughter. We are tasked to protect the princess of the country who has been living in Korea with her mother. The royal family will be sending people to come pick the princess up in two weeks and we need to make sure she stays safe until then.”

“Question, Captain.” a hand raises up drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“Go ahead, Yena.”

“Why haven’t we heard of this country before? I mean, we live so close to it, but all my life this is the first time I’ve ever heard of such place.”

“The country of Eito has been closed off to the public since the beginning. Even though the King has managed to grow the country into a beautiful place to live in, they believed that having tourism would destroy the country’s environment, so they chose to close off the country. Only the citizens of the country or people authorized are allowed in and out of the place resulting in many people not knowing about it.”

“Hmm…then I wonder why the princess is living here in Korea then.” Yena continues to ask.

“Her mother is Korean. She’s just a normal person that has no royal blood in her. The King came to visit Korea when he was a prince many years back in order to learn about our technological advancements and he fell in love with her here. He originally wanted to give up the right to the throne to settle down in Korea when he first started his family but through political issues, he couldn’t. This resulted in him having to leave his family and head back to his country when the princess was twelve.”

“Wow…why does this story sound like a freaking movie. I mean if the princess runs away and falls in love with a commoner, then that’s like, the plot of every princess movie out there.” Hyewon said as she munched on a cookie she had with her.

“Hyewon-ah…” Chaeyeon called out as she sent the other girl a slight glare.

“Okay…okay…I’m sorry. Just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.”

“Are there any more questions then? Can I continue?” Chaeyeon asked.

With everyone shaking their heads, Chaeyeon proceeds to change the picture being projected to a girl with black hair and mochi cheeks.

“This is Honda Hitomi, the princess of the country, Eito. She’s currently twenty-three years old and lives in Seoul. We are going to be protecting her.”

“Honda? That’s not a Korean last name.” Sakura suddenly uttered.

“No, it’s not. It’s Japanese. The ancestors of Eito are of Korean and Japanese descent resulting in them having similar names to us and normal Japanese citizens.” Chaeyeon answered.

“Hmm…I wonder why she’s not using a Korean last name then, considering she’s living in Korea. I mean her mother’s Korean after all.” Sakura continued to question.

“Her mother is also using the last name Honda as well and if you’re going to ask why, then I don’t know. That’s something that’s not our business. Remember, our only goal is to protect the princess until she returns back to her country. There will be important information regarding this country, the royal family, and our mission in the packets right in front of you. Anything outside of these three things, we will not be meddling with, understand you four.”

“Understood!” all four team members answered their captain.

However, as Chaeyeon was about to continue on with her orders, Minjoo suddenly notices something on the photo. Raising her hand to gain the attention of everyone, she continues to ask

“Captain, the date on that picture. It was taken five years ago. Is there no current photo of her?”

“No. There isn’t, unfortunately. This was the only photo we were able to find of her as the people of her country also have no clue what she looks like.”

“They don’t?” Yena suddenly asks.

“No. They don’t. I guess the King never showed pictures of the princess to the people of his country in fear of her safety. The only reason why we were able to get this picture was through her high school yearbook. We tried to find out if she attended college as well, but no luck on that.”

“How did you guys know which high school she went to then?”

“After we found out where she lives, we managed to locate a high school nearby her house. So, we went in to ask and this was the only picture we got.”

Seeing as there were no other questions, Chaeyeon decides to continue explaining the mission.

“Alright, since we don’t want the princess to get into any type of danger while still in our country, I will assign one of you to live in with her at her house. I have already talked to Mrs. Honda about the issue so the person who is assigned to this, may move in with them tomorrow.”

“Whose getting chosen, Captain?” Yena asks.

“I have decided to assign this to…Minjoo.”

“Me?” Minjoo uttered as her eyes grow wide in shock.

“Yes. You are the only one that’s fit for this job as the others are probably going to destroy the house before anything.”

“Hey Captain, what’s that supposed to mean?” Yena whined with a pout.

“Exactly what I said, you three are going to be on standby and secure the perimeter of their house for the time being. Honestly, if you guys didn’t work so well as a team, I would have probably sent you guys to work in the office filing paperwork instead. Considering you guys almost ruined our last mission.”

“I…I’m sorry, but can I ask what happened in your last mission?” Minjoo hesitantly questioned.

“Well these three idiots right here captured the wrong person and almost thought the victim was the criminal.”

“Hey! Who told you to give us an assignment where both the criminal and victim only knew English? For your information captain, none of us speak English! Of course, we were going to get confused when they started spitting out words we don’t understand. The only phrase Hyewon could say was something about ‘restarting a generator’ and she most likely got that off a stupid game she played. I mean, how are you going to throw us under the bus like that.” Yena argued back.

“Yah! You were the one that suggested we play that stupid game. At least I manage to remember something from it.” Hyewon retorted.

“Wait. What do you guys mean you can’t speak English? Sakura can speak English. I made sure she could before I assigned you guys the mission.” Chaeyeon asked a little bit confused.

As everyone turns their focus to Sakura, the girl lets out a guilty smile as she continuously blinks her eyes in a way of showing she’s sorry.

“Haha…you see…about that. Umm…I guess I kind of overestimated myself just a tiny bit.” Sakura guiltily confessed.

“Just a tiny bit?! The minute the victim started speaking English to us, you pushed me out to go talk to them.” Yena angrily exclaimed.

“Well I didn’t think the person was going to be that fluent in English. Plus, when I went to vacation in LA, I was able to get by just fine. So, I thought I would be able to communicate with them.” Sakura replied.

“How did you converse with people in LA then?” Hyewon suddenly asked.

“Oh…easy. Every time someone asked me a question, I just answered, ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Okay’, and ‘Let’s get it.’.”

As everyone in the room facepalmed themselves, only Minjoo looked at the four of them with a slightly puzzling expression.

‘How did these three get paired up together?’ she wondered.

Sensing Minjoo was starting to show signs of panic as her team was acting like a bunch of kids, Chaeyeon quickly steps in to say

“It’s okay Minjoo. Even though they act like this sometimes, I can guarantee you they are our best team. Aside from the last case that had some minor communication issues…”

Before continuing her statement, Chaeyeon quickly gave a death stare to Sakura who quickly drops her head down to avoid eye contact with her captain.

“…we were still able to finish the mission successfully. As much as these kids can cause problems at times, they are also the best at solving them as well.”

“Don’t worry Minjoo-yah. The captain put you in great hands.” Yena uttered as Sakura and Hyewon also gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring nod.

“Sigh…okay, you three. Take good care of your new teammate. And as for you Minjoo. Don’t make me regret putting you in my best team.” Chaeyeon declared as she’s back to her cool and charismatic stance.

“Yes, Captain!”

 

 

Leaving the adjourned meeting, Minjoo followed Chaeyeon back to her room as the both of them had to talk about meeting the princess and her mother the next day. Seated across from each other, Chaeyeon starts the conversation.

“I have arranged for us to meet Mrs. Honda at 9AM tomorrow morning, so meet me five minutes before at their house. I have already sent you their address. While you’re living there, stay with the princess at all times and don’t let her out of your sight unless it’s safe. Even though everything should playout smoothly, we don’t know if there are people that are out to get her. Especially since there have been recent announcements of a new person taking over the throne in her country.”

“Yes, sunbaenim.”

“You may leave early today to go pack your bags. Also, be sure to study up on the information I provided you. If you have any other questions, you may give me or anyone in your team a call at any time.”

“Yes, sunbaenim. I’ll get going now then.”

As Minjoo got up from her seat to exit the room, she was suddenly stopped when Chaeyeon called out to her.

“Oh. Minjoo-yah…”

“Yes?”

“Congratulations on joining the force.”

“Thank you sunbaenim.”

“And also, please drop the formalities. I’m only two years older than you. You may address me as captain when we are working but you can just think of me as an unnie outside of that.”

“Yes sunbae–…I mean Chaeyeon unnie.” Minjoo responded back with a smile.

 

 

Standing in front of a door at a condo complex, a small lady could be seen constantly ringing the doorbell to the place. Trying to also call the owner of the condo unit, she starts to show signs of frustration as there was no answer at all from the other end.

Finally getting through to the other line, the minute the person picked up the phone, a series of complaints came flowing out.

“Yah! Ahn Yujin! Where the hell are you right now? Do you know how long I’ve been waiting in front of your unit? Come open the door for me this instant!”

“Sigh…I’m at the gym downstairs right now, Eunbi unnie. I’ll be right up. What are you even doing here so early in the morning?”

“I have to talk to you about something important.”

“Something important? What is it?”

“We’ll talk when you get here.”

 

 

Finally reaching her complex unit, Yujin was quickly met with the older and shorter girl rushing to get them into her condo.

“So…you wanted to talk?” Yujin asked as they both took a seat on the couch.

“What were you doing at the gym so early in the morning?” Eunbi asked as she remembers Yujin hated waking up early.

“Is this really the reason why you came here?”

“No, but I just think that it’s out of the ordinary for you to wake up this early. I thought you hated getting up in the morning.”

“I still do.”

“Then how did you get up today?”

“It’s because I didn’t even go to sleep. I was at the gym the entire night.”

Taken aback by what the younger girl just said, Eunbi quickly moved herself to sit right next to Yujin as she brought one arm around the girl’s shoulder and pulled her in close.

“Hey, are you still thinking about that? It’s been a year already.”

“I know unnie. But every time I close my eyes, I could still see it. Every memory, every picture, it’s still playing in my head. I just can’t seem to get the images of it out of my head. I can’t believe I –”

“Stop. You don’t have to say it. The more you think about this, the more you’re going to stress out about it.”

“How can I not when that was the reason why I quit my job as a bodyguard in the police force.”

“Sigh…Yujin-ah. I think it’s time for you to move past that now. Tell you what, what if you had another opportunity to redeem yourself again?”

“What? What are you talking about unnie?”

Smirking at the younger girl, Eunbi quickly jumped right into the topic of why she came to meet Yujin.

“I have a mission for you.”

“No.”

Not even getting a chance to explain anything, Eunbi’s eyes grows wide at the sudden rejection of the other girl.

“But I didn’t even get to say anything yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. I know what you want me to do and my answer is no.”

“Then tell me. What do you think I want you to do?” Eunbi asked with confidence as she thought Yujin would have no idea what the mission was.

“You want me to be someone’s bodyguard, right?”

“How did you…”

“Sigh…unnie. You’re my only family left, we hang out with each other almost every week. You think I wouldn’t know if my only cousin were to suddenly rush up to me with a mission? Especially when you know all of my background with this job.”

“Okay fine. I want you to protect someone for me.”

“No.”

“Come on Yujin. Just give it one last try. This person is a really important person too.”

“Look unnie. If it’s someone that’s really important, why don’t you have the police handle this. I’m pretty sure they would be able to take care of this easy.”

“Wait, just hear me out here. The only reason why I’m asking you is because the person that requested this from me is a close friend whose part of a royal family. She wants me to find a personal bodyguard for the princess of her country and the only person I could think of is you. There’s been talks of an assassination happening here in Korea and she doesn’t trust anyone but us. She wants to make sure the princess will be safe when she returns to her country.”

“Sigh…unnie. Considering something this big, I’m pretty sure the police are probably already on it.”

“Then let them protect the princess their way, and we’ll protect her in ours. Isn’t it good that she’s getting double the protection?”

“I don’t think it works like that unnie?”

“Just listen to me Yujin. My friend has personally requested us to take care of the princess. This should be an honor to us. Plus, maybe this can help you get out of the slump you’ve been in since the case that happened last year. So please, help me with this favor.” Eunbi pleaded as she brought both hands up to beg to the younger girl.

Looking at the older girl pleading next to her, Yujin shook her head and let out a sigh as she said in a slightly annoyed tone

“Okay…what do I need to know?”

 

 

Deciding to grab food on the way home, Minjoo stops by a convenience store to grab some ramen. While she was enjoying her meal out in front, she suddenly notices a cute peach like girl with blonde hair walk pass her.

‘Hmm…why does she look so familiar?’ she wondered as her eyes continued to follow the girl into the store.

Not putting much thought into it, she decides to focus back on her meal and continues to finish it. Throwing away the trash, Minjoo proceeds to head home when a scream could be heard inside the convenience store.

“Help! That guys just stole my purse!”

Hearing the word ‘help’, Minjoo immediately perked up and turned around to see a guy dashing towards her with a small purse in his hands. Thinking fast, she quickly stuck one foot out for the guy to trip on and watches as the robber tumbles forward. As the guy landed on his stomach, Minjoo swiftly approaches him and with one foot stomped onto the guys back, he immediately stops resisting. With a few officers nearby, they quickly stepped in and took the guy in for questioning.

Picking up the purse to return to its owner, Minjoo was met with the same girl she saw earlier rushing up to thank her.

“Here.” Minjoo says handing it back to the girl.

“Thank you so much.” the girl replies as she bows to Minjoo, showing a sign of gratitude.

“Your welcome. Just be careful next time. Always keep lookout and be sure to always have your purse close to you. It seems like the robber was just a young teenager, so you got lucky this time. If it were to be someone with a weapon, who knows what could have happened.”

“I promise, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you so much again. Is there any way I can repay you?”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

“But –”

“I’ll get going now. Have a nice day.” Minjoo suddenly interrupted as she didn’t want this to drag out any longer so after saying those words she quickly turned around and headed home.

Waiting for the bus at the stop, a thought comes into her mind as the picture of the girl she just helped kept playing in her head.

‘Why does she look so familiar?’ she kept pondering.

As she kept thinking, a sudden flashback pops into her mind.

(Flashback)

“This is Honda Hitomi, the princess of the country, Eito.”

“We are going to be protecting her.”

(End of flashback)

“That’s the princess!” Minjoo shouted

Eyes widening from the realization of who the person she just helped was, Minjoo came back to her senses as she noticed people started to look at her weird. Bringing her hand up to try to hide her embarrassed face, she quickly sprinted back to the convenience store only to realize the girl had already left.

“Dang it.” Minjoo uttered as she lets out a pout for not remembering who she was tasked to protect.

Letting out a sigh, Minjoo proceeds to walk back to the stop in hopes that everyone who saw her shouting earlier would have already left.

 

 

As the next morning approaches, Minjoo arrives at the Honda resident bright and early and as ordered five minutes before 9AM.

“Minjoo-yah…right on time.” Chaeyeon greeted the minute she saw the younger girl.

Letting out a smile, Minjoo also returns her greetings.

“Good morning Captain.”

“Did you get a chance to look over the information I gave you yesterday?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good. Do you have any other questions then?”

“I actually do.”

“Okay, go for it.”

“How do we address the princess’s mother? I’m sorry, but I never really grew up learning phrases or words we used for people of royalty.”

“Haha…it’s okay. Many people have not either. I believe she requested us to address her normally as Mrs. Honda. You don’t need to use special vocabularies with her as she’s just a normal Korean citizen. Even if she’s married to the King.”

“Understood.”

“Okay. So, are you ready to officially start your first mission, Minjoo?”

Taking in a deep breath, Minjoo answers

“Yes I am, Captain.”

“Alright, Let’s get it.”

 

 

Entering the front gate of the house, Minjoo noticed how warm the atmosphere was. There were many trees and plants out in the front and the place reminded her of a small garden she would usually like spending time reading books in. Walking through the front area to reach the front door, they both took a minute to straighten up and soon enough, Chaeyeon presses the doorbell.

Ding Dong.

“Coming.”

 Opening the door for the two officers by her doorstep, Mrs. Honda greets both of them with a warm smile, and as the both of them bow to her, she proceeds to tell them to come in.

“Have a seat. Let me go grab you guys some water.”

Trying to act in their best behavior, both Chaeyeon and Minjoo sat next to each other on the couch as the observed the interior of the place.

As the two-story house gives off a nice and comfortable vibe that is perfect for a home setting, Minjoo unknowingly lets out a smile as she thinks she would most likely enjoy living in this place for the next two weeks.

With Mrs. Honda returning back to the both of them with their waters, all three start their conversation.

“Mrs. Honda. My name is Lee Chaeyeon, I am the leader of the police unit tasked to protect the princess until her return to the country of Eito. This is Officer Kim Minjoo, she will be your daughter’s personal bodyguard up until then as well.” Chaeyeon said.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Honda.” Minjoo greeted.

“Nice to meet you both too, but you guys really don’t have to do this for us.”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Honda. Considering this is something that is dealing with multiple countries, our higher ups just wants to make sure everything will run smoothly.” Chaeyeon responded back.

“Yes, I understand but my husband and I never planned to have our daughter rule his country. We wanted her to live a normal life here in Korea.”

“I understand Mrs. Honda but we are just following orders. Plus, if your daughter refuses the throne and chooses to stay here in Korea, we’re scared our relationship between countries might not turn out so well.”

“Sigh…but Hiichan loves it here. I don’t think she’ll be happy knowing she has to return to a country she’s not familiar with, on top of having to rule over it as well.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Honda, but does the princess know who she really is?” Minjoo suddenly asks worriedly.

“No. She doesn’t. Both my husband and I chose not to reveal her true identity to her as we felt like it would put an unnecessary burden on her.” Mrs. Honda answers.

“So, that means, she doesn’t know there are people about to come pick her up in two weeks.” Chaeyeon reiterated.

Hearing this, Mrs. Honda nodded her head to which Chaeyeon let out a deep breath, as she realizes this mission might be harder than she’s imagined.

“Hmm…okay. We still have a little bit of time left, so I suggest you be the one to inform her yourself, Mrs. Honda. For the time being, I will have Minjoo stay here with you guys as a way to protect and take care of the both of you until the day the princess has to return back to her country.”

Nodding her head in response, Mrs. Honda replies

“Okay, I understand. I will try my best to get this situated as fast as possible.”

 

 

With Chaeyeon headed back to work, Mrs. Honda tours Minjoo around the house as well as show her the room she will be staying in for the time being.

“And this will be the room you will be staying in. I’m sorry it’s kind of small, but this is the only private room we have left.” Mrs. Honda said walking into the room.

“No. This is perfect Mrs. Honda.” Minjoo replied.

“Then make yourself comfortable Minjoo-sshi. I’ll go prepare breakfast.”

“Oh Mrs. Honda. You don’t have to address me formally. Just call me Minjoo is fine.”

“Then if I were to do that, you can call my ‘Mom’ as well then. All of Hiichan’s friends call me by that anyways.”

“But…”

“Please, I insist. You will be staying with us for two whole weeks. It’s best to make yourself comfortable.”

Hearing the older lady say this, Minjoo took a minute to contemplate as she feels like this is a little weird for her considering the person in front of her right now is married to the King of a foreign country.

Looking back at the older lady, Minjoo replies

“Please give me some time on that then, I don’t know if I feel comfortable saying that yet considering we just met today and your technically still married to the King.”

“Okay. Whenever you’re ready then.” Mrs. Honda responds with a smile.

 

 

Returning home from her usual morning walks, Hitomi enters in and notices someone that’s not her mother sitting on the couch. Getting closer to the person, an unexpected flashback plays in her head as she realizes the person in front of her was the same person that helped her get her purse back the day before.

“It’s you!” Hitomi shouted startling the girl sitting on the couch.

Turning to face the owner of the voice, Minjoo quickly stands up and bows to the princess as she started showing signs of panic.

“P-princess…I-I-I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you yesterday.” Minjoo accidentally blurted out as she completely forgot Hitomi doesn’t know her true identity yet.

“Princess? What are you talking about? Do you remember me? You helped me get my purse back yesterday.” Hitomi asks slightly confused.

Trying to find a way out of this, Minjoo could only utter

“Uh…umm…”

Luckily at that moment, Mrs. Honda came in just in time to save the stuttering girl.

“Hiichan…Minjoo…”

“Mom! You know her?” Hitomi excitedly asks.

Looking at a panicked Minjoo, Mrs. Honda thinks fast as she feels it might be too sudden to reveal everything now.

“Uh…yea…this is Minjoo. She’s uh…she’s a distant relative of ours.”

“I am?” Minjoo says feeling a little dazed.

“She is!” Hitomi exclaims in shock.

“Uh…yea…she is. She’s going to be in town for the next two weeks, so she’ll be staying with us for the time being.”

Turning to face her mother the excited girl replies

“Oh my gosh, that’s great. Mom. Do you remember when I told you someone tried to steal my purse yesterday? Well Minjoo right here was the one that helped me get it back.”

“Really, Hiichan?”

“Yep. Who would have thought that we would actually be related?” Hiichan said as she turned back to face Minjoo who still had the same puzzling look on her.

Sensing that Minjoo was still shocked at what she blurted out, Mrs. Honda quickly tried to get Hitomi away from the situation for the time being.

“Hiichan, why don’t you go upstairs and wash up so we can get ready for breakfast.”

Following her mother’s order, Hitomi proceeds to head upstairs leaving the other two by themselves.

“Sigh…that was a close one.” Mrs. Honda exclaimed.

“Mrs. Honda, why did you tell the princess that we were related?” Minjoo suddenly asked.

“I…I don’t think I’m ready yet. I’m sorry for having to do this, but I remembered that your family name was Kim and it also happened to be mine as well, so that was the only thing I could think of.”

“Sigh…but you’re going to have to tell her sooner or later. The longer you drag this out, the harder she’s going to take this.”

“I know Minjoo-yah. I plan to tell her during dinner tonight, so please for the time being, play along with this for now.”

Looking at the older lady in a bit of distress, Minjoo could only nod her head in response.

 

 

As the day continues to play out, Minjoo and Hitomi pretty much talked all day long. Getting to know each other more, they both talked about their family backgrounds and their interests in life. Minjoo found out Hitomi loved to write, as Hitomi found out Minjoo was actually a police officer. With their friendly conversation continuing, this caused Minjoo to completely forget what she was actually there for. Finding out the were both the same age, Hitomi immediately made Minjoo call her by ‘Hiichan’ and the two quickly became close through their welcoming nature.

“So…Minjoo. Which side of my family are you related to? Mom or Dad?”

“Uh…” Minjoo uttered as she was starting to panic again.

“But seeing that your family name is Kim, you must be related to my mom, right?”

“Uh…yea…I’m like…uh…very distantly related to your mother.” Minjoo stutters.

“That’s nice to hear. Ever since I was young, I always wondered who my relatives were.”

“You’ve never met your relatives before?”

“No…I’ve met my grandfather and grandmother on my mom’s side a couple of times before they passed as a kid, but any other relatives from my mom, I’ve never seen. Since my mom was an only child, I’m actually surprised she had other relatives as she never spoke about them. As for Dad…”

Hearing the other girl speak about her father, Minjoo immediately perked up as she remembers what she was tasked to do there.

“Have you ever met your father’s relatives?” Minjoo asked trying to keep the conversation going as the girl next to her had an abnormally long pause.

“No. I haven’t. He never really told me anything about his side of the family.” the girl answered with a sulking tone.

“I’m pretty sure he has his reasons.”

“What reasons then? When he passed, Mom and I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to him. As great of a person he seemed to be, I’m starting to think he might have had another family or something.”

“I don’t think that’s the case Hiichan.” Minjoo responded firmly as she knew the real reason behind all of this.

“You might not know Minjoo, but Dad had to return back to his hometown for business when I was twelve and after that he hardly visited me and Mom. He kept saying that he was busy and that he had no time, but every time I called it seemed like he was really enjoying himself there.”

Trying her best to stay composed as she actually knew the real reason behind his huge absence in Hitomi’s life, Minjoo put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile before saying

“I’m pretty sure he has a valid reason Hiichan. I might not know him personally, but hearing your stories about him, I can tell he is a great person. He might have actually had great responsibilities for him to not be able to return home for so long. As for not being able to say goodbye to him, I’m pretty sure you’ll find out why sooner or later.”

Hearing the girl sound like she knows something, Hitomi immediately tries to ask

“Minjoo…do you happen to know something about this?”

“Uh…no. What are you talking about Hiichan? I only heard stories about you and your father today.” Minjoo replied in a slightly suspicious tone.

“But you sound like –”

“Dinners ready!” a voice interrupted the pair as Hiichan was about to question on.

“Sigh…Hiichan. I promise I don’t know anything.”

Nodding her head in response, Hitomi decides to let it go as she figured the other girl was probably only saying this to cheer her up.

 

 

As all three sat down for dinner, Mrs. Honda continues to show signs of worry as she fears her daughter might not take the news of who her husband really was well. Seeing this, Minjoo quickly tries to find a way to help her.

“Uh…Mrs. Honda. Hiichan has been telling me about stories of her father. It seems like she really admires him a lot.”

“Yes…Hiichan has always admired her father ever since she was a kid. Since he was always full of mannerisms and charm, Hiichan always said he looked like a prince.” Mrs. Honda replied back as she looks over to see her daughter’s reaction.

Remembering the small moments, she had with her father, Hitomi lets out a smile as she says

“Well, he always seemed like a person with prim and proper manners. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually was a prince.”

Seeing that this might be the best opportunity to reveal everything, Mrs. Honda utters

“You see…Hiichan…I actually have something to tell you.”

“What is it Mom?”

However, as Mrs. Honda was just about to reveal everything to her daughter, the lights of the house go out making the whole house pitch black.

Sensing that this was unusual, Minjoo quickly pulled out a gun she had with her and opened her flashlight app on her phone.

As the others started to use their phone for light, Hitomi suddenly notices the gun in Minjoo’s hand.

“Minjoo…what are you doing with a gun?”

“I’m a police officer Hiichan. I’m licensed to have this, and this is just for your protection.”

“My protection? Protection from what?”

Bang.

As a shot was suddenly heard the moment Hitomi finished her question, Minjoo pulled both the Hondas in close as she tries her best to observe the area. Figuring out that someone was out to get them, she tries to find a way to get them all out of the house.

Looking at the back entrance, Minjoo leads them both out as she continues to scan the area to see if anyone’s there. With all of them making out to the side of the house and with the coast all clear for them to run, Minjoo instructs

“We have to get out of here now. Try to go hide in your neighbor’s house if you can or if you find a taxi, tell them to take you someplace where there’s a lot of people.”

“What about you?” Hitomi asks.

“I’m going to stay back and lure them another way.”

“What? No. We have to go together.”

“It’s okay Hiichan. They’re not after me.”

“Then who are they after?”

“You.”

Bang.

Not being able to ask anymore questions, Hitomi suddenly feels a slight jerk to her arms as she looks to her left shoulder and sees blood starting to come out. Noticing that a bullet has slightly grazed over the princess’s shoulder, Minjoo pushes both of them down and drags them to hide behind a tree, while firing random bullets out in the direction she thought the shooter was in.

Seeing blood start to bleed through Hitomi’s shirt, Mrs. Honda and Hitomi faints out of shock.

Looking down to see the mother and daughter passed out, Minjoo looks around to see a small truck parked right next to them on the neighbor’s driveway. Thinking this might be their neighbor’s car, Minjoo tries her best to get Hitomi onto the open trunk of the truck. Covering the girl up with the tarp that was in there, Minjoo proceeds to say

“Sorry princess…looks like you have to hide here for now.”

Heading back to where Mrs. Honda was resting, Minjoo starts to look around for the shooter who seemed to have stopped firing awhile back.

Walking out with her gun still up, Minjoo suddenly ducks herself down to hide behind a small fountain outside the house when she sees a person in a black ski mask shooting from a far distance. With the shooter constantly firing rounds at her, Minjoo starts to panic as she fears she might not have enough bullets to fire back.

With continuous bullets being fired out, she senses that the shooter is walking up closer to her. Closing her eyes to calm herself down, Minjoo tries her best to stay composed and think of a way out. However, as she was about pop out to shoot back at the shooter, she notices the person on the floor with a bullet to their shoulder.

Looking back to see someone try to wake Mrs. Honda up, Minjoo rushes back and points a gun to the person. Noticing a gun placed on the floor by the person’s side, Minjoo quickly exclaims

“Hey! Put your hands up!”

Out of shock, the person proceeds to put their hands up as they try to explain themselves.

“Princess…don’t worry. I’m here to help you.”

‘Princess? Does she think I’m the princess?’ Minjoo starts to wonder with the gun still pointed at the stranger.

“What are you talking about?” Minjoo tries to ask.

“My cousin Kwon Eunbi has received orders from the royal family to have me come here to take care of you. My name is Ahn Yujin and I have been assigned to become your bodyguard Princess Hitomi.”

Eyes widen by the shock of what the person is saying, Minjoo has her doubts on what this person’s true intentions were as there were no reports of another officer coming in to help her protect the princess. Deciding to play along for now as the person showed no signs of attacking them, Minjoo lowers her guard and attends to Mrs. Honda.

Remembering that the shooter was still on the floor close to the fountain, Minjoo rushes back to try to capture the person but was met with nothing but an empty area with some blood on the ground. The shooter has managed to run away. This caused Minjoo to suspect Yujin even more as the minute Yujin showed up, everything seemed to be settled.

Turning back to look at Yujin attending to Mrs. Honda, Minjoo suddenly notices something. The truck that Hitomi was in gets started up and slowly heads out the driveway. Running after the truck, Minjoo was met with Yujin holding her back asking why she was running after it especially when they were all in danger right now.

“Princess…what are you doing? Stay down. We don’t know if the shooter is going to come back.” Yujin says as she pulls Minjoo into a back hug in order for the girl to stop running away.

“What are you doing?! I have to go after her. She’s in the truck!” Minjoo starts shouting.

“What are you saying? Who’s in the truck?” Yujin asks back confused.

Frustrated from everything happening so chaotically, Minjoo tells Yujin to let her go to which Yujin quickly did and proceeds to pace back and forth in order to think of a way to solve all of this. Minjoo’s brain has officially overloaded.

Coming back to her senses, Minjoo notices Yujin carrying Mrs. Honda up and walk towards a car parked not too far off.

“Hey, where are you taking her?!” Minjoo questions.

“We have to get out of this place. The shooter might be gone for now, but this place is still not safe. I’m taking you guys to safer location.”

Remembering Hitomi in the truck and how Yujin had a car, frustration continues to grow inside Minjoo as she exclaims

“So, you had a car parked here all this time?!”

“How else would I have gotten here.” Yujin answered is a slightly displeased tone as it seems like the person she thought was the princess, was starting to have a bit of attitude.

“Then why the hell didn’t you tell me! I could have followed her.” Minjoo started shouting.

Scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion, Yujin just shook her head as she placed Mrs. Honda in her back seat and proceeded to drag Minjoo to sit next to the older lady. As the person seemed to be showing signs of resistance, Yujin quickly grew annoyed and started pushing Minjoo’s shoulder towards the backseat before securing the seatbelt down for her.

“If you’re going to move around like this, I can’t guarantee you what’s going to happen between us.” Yujin says as she moves even closer to the girl.

With their faces quite close to each other, the seated girl was silenced by the distance that was between them. Minjoo couldn’t even say anything further as she could tell Yujin was not having it at all. Knowing that the truck was already too far off, Minjoo decides she was going to follow the bodyguard’s lead as she tries to find a way to relay all this news to her captain.

 

 

Driving up to a port headed to Jeju, a fairy like person rolls down her windows to pay for the ferry.

“Going back to Jeju already, Chaewon sunsaengnim?” the ferry staff asks.

“Yes, I don’t want to be away from this place for too long.” Chaewon answers back.

“It’s still summer break. Enjoy some time with family.”

“Haha…it’s okay. I’ve already enjoyed my family time back in Seoul. It’s time for me to head home now.”

“Okay, try to find some time to rest then, you’ve been working so hard for the kids all year already.”

“Understood.”

As their conversation finishes up, Chaewon proceeds to drive the car onto the ferry and steps out to view the scene of the ocean in front of her.

Taking in a deep breath, she lets out a long sigh as she says

“Ah…finally.”

Being a city girl all her life, Chaewon knew the minute she turned twenty she wanted to be out of the noisy place and live in a small town away from all the distractions. Deciding to take on a job of being a teacher to young kids, she chooses the island of Udo to settle into.

Living on the small island off the coast of Jeju, Chaewon would stop by Seoul every month to visit her sister in order for them to catch up and for her to buy certain necessities. Instead of flying by plane, the teacher would enjoy her drives to and from the place as she feels like she could enjoy listening to songs on the radio and have some nice peaceful time to herself.

However, today was different. Today was the day that her peaceful life will turn into a tumultuous sea.

Walking to the back of the truck to check on her stuff, Chaewon notices something different as there seems to be some added weight to her cargo and something that looks similar to blood at the edge of the tarp.

Pulling the tarp up, she gets shocked by seeing a sleeping girl laying on the truck wounded by a small shoulder injury.  

“What the…” she exclaims, taken aback by the random stranger.

She tries to wake the person up by lightly tapping their uninjured shoulder. As the person starts to open her eyes, she notices the person’s eyes widen as they sit up in shock and fear.

“Where am I?! Who are you?!” the girl shouts out loud.

“It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Where’s my mom?”

“Your mom? Look, I don’t know where she is, but how did you get up on my truck.”

“I…I don’t know.”

Looking at the person panicking in front of her in fear, Chaewon tries to access the situation as she notices the person seems to look completely lost. Not seeing any head injuries, she starts thinking the person might have lost her memory due to shock from a traumatizing accident.

“Do you remember who you are?” Chaewon tries to ask.

“No...I don’t.”

 

 

---

That ends it for Chapter 1. 

We will start getting to know the main characters a little more next chapter as well as start their wild and confusing relationships.

Hope you guys enjoy!

 

Previews: 

"We can't trust them yet, Mrs. Honda. Who knows what that tall puppy is up to."

"Are you sure you don't remember anything?"