Chapter 5

“Chaewon-sshi?”

“Yes. Hiichan?”

“Can I ask you a quick question?”

“Yea sure.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping in your own room?” Hitomi questions as she turns to face the person laying in bed next to her.

“Oh…uh…”

“Ever since the day I had my nightmare, you’ve been sleeping here with me every night. And I haven’t been getting anymore nightmares, so wouldn’t it be better for you to sleep in your own room?”

“Um…well…I…uh…I…” Chaewon stutters as she tries to think of an excuse.

With seconds passing by and no answer, Hitomi suddenly asks again

“Do you perhaps want to trade rooms by any chance since it seems like you like to sleep in this room more?”

“No…I don’t. I just…I…I…I don’t like how cold my room is. This room is a lot warmer.” Chaewon answers nervously.

“Oh…but doesn’t your room have a heater?”

“It’s broken.”

“It is?”

“Yea…I haven’t gotten a chance to call someone to fix it yet.”

“Oh…okay, but I haven’t been turning on the heater these past few days though.”

“I…uh…I wasn’t sure if you like it on, so I never asked.” Chaewon continues to make an excuse.

“Oh…I’m fine with it. Do you want me to turn the heater on for you then?” Hitomi asks as she was prepared to get up out of bed.

But not even an inch up, Hitomi gets pulled back down as the owner of the house brings one arm around the girl’s body.

“It’s okay. The warmth from being next to you is enough.”

Frozen from the other person’s actions, Hitomi feels Chaewon’s arm pull her closer. She turns the other way to hide her smile and blush. It seems like the owner of the house wants more than just warmth.

Feeling Chaewon’s head on her shoulder, Hitomi quickly turns back to see the other girl nuzzled up to her.

“Are you cold Chaewon-sshi?”

“Yes…I am.” Chaewon says as a smile forms on her lips.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to turn on the heater?”

“No. I’m fine like this.”

“O-Okay.”

Not really wanting to question any further, Hitomi lets everything be as she was also enjoying the warmth the other person was giving her as well. And as they slowly doze off into their daydreams, both girls gladly and comfortably embrace in each other’s arms.

 

 

Waiting in the suite they were staying in, Eunbi holds off until the end of the day for Mrs. Honda and Minjoo to enter their rooms before approaching her cousin to say

“Yujin-ah…meet me at the balcony, now. We need to talk.”

Hearing her cousin’s orders, the bodyguard takes a gulp and prepares for their incoming conversation.

Walking out to the balcony, Yujin closes the glass door shut, before Eunbi starts talking.

“Yujin-ah…what were you and the Princess doing earlier?”

“We…we…we just hugged.” Yujin answers with a hint of uneasiness in her tone.

“Why?”

“She was feeling nervous, so she asked for one.”

“What? You guys were arguing like there was no tomorrow when you guys first met, and now you’re telling me you guys are close enough to give each other hugs? What am I missing Yujin? How did you two get so close?”

Taking in another deep breath, Yujin starts to explain without giving too much detail on what actually happened.

“Well…we apologized to each other and managed to get over our differences.”

Giving the bodyguard a weirded look, Eunbi continues to question

“How?”

“We just…did.”

Sensing that her cousin was keeping quiet about something, Eunbi states

“Yujin-ah…I don’t know what’s going on, but you know it can never be.”

“What? Unnie…what are you saying?”

“I’m trying to say that she’s too high Yujin. No matter how hard we work or how rich we get, we as normal people can never be of equal status. It’s best to stop any feelings now while you can.”

“Unnie, you’re misunderstanding.” Yujin scoffs at Eunbi’s thought.

“I hope I am Yujin. But remember I’ve been with you all your life. I know how you are when you like someone. So please, don’t fall in any deeper. I don’t think I can bear seeing you in pain again.”

Not waiting for Yujin to say anything else, Eunbi walks up to the glass door and before returning back into the suite she says one final thing.

“I’m happy that you’re finally moving on Yujin. But if it’s going to be with her, I…I don’t know if I can support it.”

With Eunbi out of the balcony, Yujin stands there alone and turns to face the view of the city. While resting her arms on the railing, every word Eunbi just uttered kept ringing in her mind. With memories of her and Minjoo together, Yujin closes her eyes and drops her head down while thinking

‘No…I don’t like her. I…I can’t.’

Hearing the door to the balcony open again, Yujin turns to expect Eunbi coming back to tell her something but was surprised to see the person she’s been thinking about.

“Minjoo-sshi…”

“Did Eunbi-sshi scold you for something?” the fake princess asks out of concern.

“Huh?”

“I…I saw you guys talking here and it seemed pretty serious. Is there something wrong?”

“She was just asking about why we hugged earlier? Nothing else.”

With the mention of the hug, Minjoo gets even more curious.

“And what did you say?”

“I just said you were nervous, so you asked for one.”

“And did she say anything else after?”

“She was a little surprised, but…she didn’t mention anything after that.” Yujin replies with a slight hesitation in her tone.

“Are you sure? Cause it doesn’t seem like –”

“It’s getting cold now. I think we should head back in.” Yujin cuts in to stop the girl from questioning any further.

Staring at Yujin opening the door to go back inside, Minjoo senses something must have happened. As she follows the other girl back in, Minjoo sees Yujin lay down on the sofa to get ready for bed.

“Why are you sleeping here? Aren’t you sleeping with Eunbi-sshi?”

“We’re not at the safe house anymore, I can’t. If I sleep with Eunbi unnie, there might be a chance something will happen to you without me noticing. I don’t want to risk that.”

“But there are guards outside this room and this hotel is known to have high security. I think it should be fine for you to sleep inside. It’ll be more comfortable.”

“I don’t want to sound like I don’t trust the guards your family brought over, but I just want to be cautious about everything. It’s getting late now; you should go to bed. We’ll be heading to Jeju first thing in the morning.”

Not listening any further, the bodyguard pulls the blanket over her head so their conversation would end.

But being the person that she is, Minjoo was not willing to give up just yet.

Silence overcame the room as Yujin waits to hear the door to Minjoo’s close first but to no avail, that sound never came. Suddenly feeling someone sit on the sofa, Yujin quickly pulls the blanket over her head down to see Minjoo lay down next to her.

“What are you doing?” Yujin asks as she sits up to look at Minjoo who was getting comfortable on the sofa.

“You told me to go to bed. So…I am.”

“Not here though. Go sleep in your room.”

“No.”

“What? Why are you doing this?”

“You said you wanted to stay cautious. What better way to do that than if I was here with you? If anything happens to me, you’ll be the first to know. Isn’t this better?”

“Whatever you’re trying to do, stop. I know you’re being sarcastic with me right now.”

“I’m not. I’m just making your job easier.”

“Sigh…okay. What is it going to take for you to go back to your room?”

And with a smile of triumph, Minjoo replies

“You go sleep on a proper bed inside.”

“I’ll sleep on a proper bed tomorrow. Eunbi unnie is probably asleep already, I don’t want to wake her up.”

“Then sleep in my room.”

“What?” the bodyguard utters as she wanted to make sure what she heard was correct.

“We’re both girls and it’s not like we haven’t taken a nap together before. I believe we’ve actually done more than just lay next to each other.” Minjoo says as she hints at their past elevator incident.

“Look. I don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re bringing that up again, but I’m not sleeping in the same room as you.”

“Then I guess this sofa will be our bed for the night.”

“Fine if you’re going to be stubborn about this then, don’t say I haven’t warned you.”

“What?”

Not having time to react, Minjoo suddenly feels a pair of arms come in to swoop her off of the sofa. Slightly struggling because of the position they’re in, Yujin manages to stabilize herself and stands up properly.

“Hey, what are you doing? Put me down.” Minjoo exclaims as she tries to wiggle her way out.

“If you don’t want to wake the people on this whole floor up, I suggest you talk quietly, Minjoo-sshi.” Yujin says cunningly as she walks to the girl’s room.

Reaching the bed, the bodyguard proceeds to drop the girl down quite harshly as she quickly turns around to head for the exit. However, things aren’t as easy as they seem when it comes to Minjoo.

Getting off the bed, Minjoo rushes over to her bodyguard and before Yujin could fully open the door, she pulls the girl back in. Quickly placing herself in front of the exit, Minjoo could be seen slightly panting from all the moving around she did while in the other girl’s arms.

“Minjoo-sshi. Why can’t you just leave me be?”

“Because…”

“Because?”

“Because I don’t want you to hurt your back.” Minjoo tries to justify.

Giving the fake princess a confusing glare, Yujin responds

“Because you don’t want me to hurt my back? Is that really all you could come up with?”

“Why? What’s wrong with it? You’re supposed to be protecting me remember, I can’t have you injure your back on the job.”

“I believe sleeping one night on the sofa would do no harm to my back. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest now.”

Walking up to Minjoo, Yujin proceeds to drag the other girl away from the door. But before she could open it, she suddenly feels two arms locking her body.

“What the?” Yujin utters as she looks down to see Minjoo’s arms giving her an aggressive hug.

“I’m not letting you leave.”

“What is wrong with you, crazy lady? I’m starting to get scared.”

Pulling Yujin with her, Minjoo manages to land the both of them into bed and says

“I heard what you and Eunbi-sshi were talking about.”

Being almost petrified from what she just heard, Yujin lays still and slowly asks

“What did you hear?”

“Everything. The balcony in my room is right next to the one in the living room. I wanted to step out for some fresh air, but when I opened the door to it, I…I heard everything.”

Closing her eyes and with an expression like she was caught in the middle of a white lie, Yujin tries to explain

“What you heard; it was just Eunbi unnie being overly –”

“Is it true?”

With a question thrown at her, Yujin freezes again.

“Is it true that you have feelings for me?” Minjoo continues.

And with a slight pause, Yujin answers

“No…I don’t. It was just a misunderstanding from Eunbi unnie’s end. I don’t like you like that.”

And as if she was just stricken with an arrow, Minjoo loosens her grip on Yujin.

Sitting up, with her back still facing Minjoo, Yujin makes sure her expressions were never shown to the other girl before saying

“I’m sorry if I made you think that as well, but you can rest assure. From now on, I’ll protect you from a safe distance, so other people don’t misunderstand. It’s getting late now; you should get some rest. Have a good night.”

Standing up to start heading towards the door, Yujin suddenly hears

“I don’t believe you.”

Trying to stay composed, Yujin turns around and sees Minjoo sit up looking at her as if she was hurt by the former’s words.

“Minjoo-sshi…it’s –”

“Kiss me.”

“What?” Yujin exclaims in shock as the girl in front of her just seems to be pulling out new tricks to surprise her every time.

Getting up to stand right in front of her bodyguard, Minjoo says

“If you want me to believe you, then kiss me. If you really have no feelings for me, then this will just be a normal kiss like the one we had in the elevator. It’ll be nothing more than just a simple mistake and I’ll be happy to look over it if it’s true.”

“What’s the point of doing this?”

“I…I don’t know either, but I just want to confirm something.”

“Confirm what?”

“Confirm that…”

With the confused look that Yujin was giving her, Minjoo closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath to answer

“Confirm that I actually have feelings for you.”

Eyes widen and jaw dropped from what she just heard, Yujin takes a step back to process everything. The only thing Yujin could do now was shake her head in disbelief.

“No…no…this can’t be true. I’m probably just dreaming.” Yujin repeatedly chants.

Seeing this urged Minjoo to prove her point even more.

Taking a step closer to the taller girl, Minjoo doesn’t wait for an answer and tugs at the girl’s shirt so that the bodyguard could lower herself for their lips to meet. And with their lips finally together, Minjoo brings her other hand up to Yujin’s cheek and with her thumb, she gently caresses it.

Pulling away to look at her bodyguard’s reaction, the only thing Minjoo could see was the expression of shock on Yujin’s face.

“Do you still think this is a dream or should I prove it some more?” Minjoo utters as she was about to go in for another kiss.

“No…No…I…I know now. You don’t need to prove anything else.” Yujin answers while avoiding eye contact.

And as if she was just plain teasing her bodyguard, Minjoo goes in for another kiss. This time even longer.

Pulling away again, Minjoo hears

“Hey, I said I know now. Why are you –”

Then after another break, another kiss happens. This time even more passionate.

“What are you –”

And then another one, this time longer and more passionate.

Not being able to go through with this anymore, Yujin puts both her hands on Minjoo’s shoulder and pushes her away to arms distance. Taking in a big gulp while gasping for air, Yujin utters

“Minjoo-sshi. I believe this is enough.”

“No…it’s not. Not until you let your true feelings out.”

“I did. I told you I don’t think of you in that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you close your eyes during everything.”

Realizing that she had actually given into the girl at one point, Yujin looks away again and lowers her arms.

“You can say all you want that you don’t like me, but your actions are saying otherwise.” Minjoo takes a step up to say.

“I…I…”

“Come on. Say that you don’t like me again. Say it. But if you are, then look me in the eyes and do it this time.”

And with this, Yujin finally breaks her silence.

“Fine. So what if I have feelings for you. What difference is it going to make whether I tell you or not? It’s never going to happen anyways.”

“Why are you saying that? If we have mutual feelings for each other, then what’s wrong with us being together?”

“What’s wrong is I’m just an average person and you’re the heir to another country. How can I possibly drag you down to be with me?”

With Yujin’s argument being placed, Minjoo struggles to keep her emotions within. As much as she wanted to tell the girl in front of her the truth, she knew she couldn’t go against her captain’s orders and this was causing her so much distress.

Walking up even closer to give Yujin a hug, Minjoo closes her eyes and tries her best to keep the bodyguard from moving away.

“I know that it may seem impossible now, but please don’t give up just yet. I promise by the end of all this, everything won’t be as bad as you think.”

“What?”

Pulling away, Minjoo looks up to stare into Yujin’s eyes before saying

“Just trust me on this. Please.”

And as if she was mesmerized by the girl’s gaze on her, Yujin could only look on and try to read what Minjoo was trying to communicate over to her.

“I…I…I don’t think I can Minjoo-sshi. I don’t think I can go through any more pain regarding love. I’m sorry.”

As the harsh words from Yujin start attacking her even more, Minjoo still doesn’t give up. Bringing both her hands up to Yujin’s face, she pulls the other girl down to crash their lips together once more. Pulling herself away, Minjoo utters before diving right back in

“Then I’m going to make the best of the time I have with you right now.”

Right after saying those words, Minjoo made sure she would have Yujin with her for the night as she quickly swapped their bodies around and pushed Yujin onto bed with her.

And with the thought of just one night together, Yujin finally gives in and does what her heart actually wants this time.

 

 

Waking up the next morning, Minjoo brings an arm around to expect Yujin still in bed but notices just an empty space right next to her. Opening her eyes to see herself all alone, she sits up and recalls what happened the night before.

With the both of them finally letting go of everything, they intimately gave into their feelings. Smiling from this thought, Minjoo quickly washes up and rushes out to the living area to see Yujin and Eunbi packing up and getting ready for all their travels to Jeju.

“Good morning Princess. Have you gotten all your bags ready? The staff are going to start bringing everything downstairs.” Eunbi says as she loads their luggage onto the hotel trolley.

“Y-Yes. Everything’s already packed. It’s in my room. I’ll go get it.” Minjoo answers as her gaze was constantly towards Yujin.

Turning around to head back into her room, Minjoo get stopped when she hears Yujin say

“No. It’s okay. I’ll go get if for you…Princess.”

With her bodyguard walking by and grabbing her stuff, Minjoo notices the blank expression Yujin had and she knew something was wrong.

Finally being done from loading all the stuff, Eunbi decides to head downstairs to coordinate with the police to make sure all the traveling that was going to take place would happen in a safe and timely manner. This left Yujin to be with Mrs. Honda and Minjoo.

With Mrs. Honda at the balcony and Yujin in the living room waiting for the confirmation for everyone to go down, Minjoo uses this chance to talk to the other girl.

“Yujin-sshi –”

“I’m sorry Princess. I don’t have time to talk. Eunbi unnie is coming up to get us. We have to head out now.”

Standing up, Yujin heads over to the balcony to call for Mrs. Honda and with the older lady in the room again, this leaves Minjoo with no choice but to push their conversation back.

Throughout the day, Yujin made no contact with Minjoo and stayed at least arms distance away from the girl. This caused Minjoo to grow concerned as it seems like Yujin was trying to push her away after their night together. It also wasn’t helping that all members of the royal family were trying to talk to the fake princess as they wanted to get to know her a little more and this almost drove the girl crazy as she wanted to scream out to everyone that she isn’t the person they think she is.

“Captain.” Minjoo calls out quietly as everyone else was busy getting their luggage situated after arriving at the airport in Jeju.

Signaling the girl to go talk somewhere quietly, they both end up in a small corner where they were able to get away from everyone for a few minutes.

“Minjoo…what is it?” Chaeyeon asks.

“I can’t take it anymore. Please just let me tell everyone I’m not the person they think I am.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“I can’t fake these lies anymore. It’s getting too burdensome and the more I lie the more guilty I feel. Please don’t put me through this misery anymore.”

“Okay. Minjoo. Calm down and tell me what’s going on. We’re about to go find the princess now, why are you backing out all of a sudden?”

“I’m not backing out Captain, but I don’t want to lie to everyone about this anymore. Just let me reveal who I am. Please.”

“Minjoo-yah…you know I can’t. Not until we have the real princess with us and make sure she’s safe.”

“But –”

“This is my final order Minjoo. I don’t want you to go through with this either but remember what we’re here for. Think about what could happen to the real princess if people find out she’s still out there somewhere. Her life is still in danger Minjoo. I can’t risk that right now.” `

And with that said Chaeyeon proceeds to walk away from the fake princess rendering her speechless.

Dropping her head and shoulders down, Minjoo walks back to the group with a less than pleasant expression on her face and this does not go unnoticed by her bodyguard.

Making sure Minjoo wouldn’t notice her stares, Yujin made sure the girl was always in her line of sight. Every time the fake princess would go anywhere, the bodyguard made sure she had other people with her at all times and that no one would be able to get to her easily. When they got into the elevator to head to the lobby of the hotel, Yujin instructed Eunbi to be with Minjoo at all times and never leave her side just in case anything bad happens. This was the only thing she could do for now, as she figured it’s best to keep a distance from the person she thinks she’s forbidden to fall in love with.

However, with Minjoo in her sight all the time, she suddenly noticed something weird when Minjoo had called Chaeyeon over for a conversation. Looking at the two talk, Yujin couldn’t help but suspect how comfortable the two were with each other and how Chaeyeon seemed to be even more authoritative over Minjoo.

‘Were they always close?’ Yujin thought as she saw Chaeyeon walking away from Minjoo with the latter looking seemingly frustrated about something.

“Yujin-ah! Help me with this.” Eunbi utters, bringing her cousin out of her thoughts.

With Eunbi needing help with some luggages, Yujin tries to brush off the suspicious vibe she was starting to get from the fake princess again. But since this wasn’t the first of these feelings, she made sure to keep these thoughts lingering.

 

 

Finally arriving at the resort, everyone separated to their own spaces while the police start their plans on how they were going to head to Udo island.

“Hey look, the island’s holding a festival tomorrow.” Hyewon utters as she was looking up information on the place.

“What festival is it?” Yena asks her teammate.

“It’s just an annual festival to celebrate the birth of the island.”

“Perfect timing. This could be the perfect excuse for us to go to there.” Yena responds as she sits next to Hyewon with a cup ramen in hand.

“Where’s mine?” Hyewon asks the girl sitting next to her.

“Go get your own.”

“No. Can’t you see I’m still looking up information about the place. Go make me one.”

“No. Go make it yourself.”

“Quit it you two. Will there be a moment where you don’t fight over food? And Sakura, stop playing games. We still need to find a way for Minjoo to approach the Princess without anyone noticing.” Chaeyeon orders bringing everyone’s attention to her.

“Sigh…you talk like you don’t know me Captain.” Sakura responds as she pauses her game and sets her console down.

“What are you suggesting Sakura?”

“Eh…suggest?”

“Yea…I assume you have a plan already, since you seem so confident.”

“Oh…no. I was just talking about how I like playing games. Don’t you know I like playing games?”

And with that said, all three other people in the room let out a long sigh before facepalming themselves.

“Alright, so before I regret my decisions on putting you guys on this mission any further, stop focusing on other distracting things and start coming up with a plan. I’ll suggest we go to Udo Island to the family tonight. The only problem we have now would be how do we get Minjoo to meet up with the Princess and talk to her.”

“Captain, I think you’re forgetting about one other problem.” Hyewon raises her hand to say.

“What is it?”

“The bodyguard that’s been with Minjoo this entire time and is probably still with her right now. Do you think she would let Minjoo leave her sight that easily? On top of that there’s her cousin as well. Even without the royal family in the way, there’s these two that’s going to be a problem.”

“Honestly Captain, why don’t we just tell them the truth? We already know they’re good people.” Yena also raises her hands to ask.

“Because they’re too close with the royal family. Considering Eunbi-sshi is so close to Princess Sojung, I don’t want to risk the chance of her telling Princess Sojung the truth about who Minjoo actually is. As long as the shooter is still out there, the chance for another assassination to happen is still high. So until the Princess is not our duty to take care of anymore, I forbid all of you to say anything else about this to anyone. Got it?”

“Captain. Do you mind me asking you one more question?”

“What is it Yena?”

“Suppose we did convince the Princess to come back with us. How are we going to tell everyone we’ve been lying to them about all this?”

And with an important question thrown out, Chaeyeon freezes. With all efforts focused on bringing Hitomi back, none of them really planned on how they were going to tell the royal family the truth.

“We’re just going to have to accept our fate at that point.”

 

 

“Minjoo-yah…stand up straight. Don’t look down. Chin up. And why are you walking like that? Your leg should not be able to bend backwards like that. You are a princess for goodness sake.”

An old lady could be seen giving these instructions to the fake princess as she “prepares” for her return to her country.

“Grandmother, I believe this should be enough for the day. Remember we are here to relax and have a vacation. We still have a bit of time left before we can start worrying about this.” Nako who was sitting next to the lady utters as she notices Minjoo struggling to get by with this.

Ever since everyone reached the island and separated ways, Minjoo thought she would get some time to herself where she could be away from the family who was constantly bothering her, but to no avail the royal highness quickly starts Minjoo on her lessons on how to properly act and behave like a princess. Making the girl wear heels and walk in it for hours, the royal highness remarks on every little detail that needed to be fixed causing Minjoo to be even more stressed.

However, as the fake princess was struggling through her lessons, her bodyguard was standing not too far off enjoying the show. Trying to hide her chuckling smiles, Yujin made sure to look away every time Minjoo looked at her. And this caused Minjoo to grow even more frustrated as now it seemed like her bodyguard was laughing at how funny she looked walking in these pain inducing heels.

“Alright. Fine. We’ll end the lessons for the day here.” the old lady utters as she stands up from her seat.

And with a sigh of relief, Minjoo sits down to try to take off the heels she was wearing.

“However, you’re going to need to keep those heels on throughout the day Minjoo.” the grandmother continues.

“What?!” Minjoo utters in shock as all of her energy has now depleted.

“Just looking at how you are today, you’ll be needing a lot more practice. The fastest way for you to get comfortable with these heels would be for you to constantly wear them.”

“But…I don’t want to wear them. I’m okay with just sneakers.”

“No. You are a Princess, Minjoo. I can’t have you wearing sneakers when we head back home. How would people look at you if you did?”

“But –”

“No buts. Now unless you want to continue lessons, I suggest you get comfortable in these.”

“Okay…” Minjoo answers in a pouting tone.

Seeing this, Yujin lets out another small smile which doesn’t go unnoticed by the other girl.

“Grandmother, you’ve been out for quite a while now. I think we should head back in and rest.” Nako quickly suggests as she tries her best to get Minjoo out of this difficult situation.

“Alright. Let’s go then Nako.”

And with the two royal family members out of sight, Minjoo lets out the deep breath that’s been weighing her down. Turning to face Yujin who was still chuckling at what happened, the fake princess balls her fists together and walks towards her bodyguard.

“What are you laughing at?” she questions as she stands right in front of Yujin.

“Nothing Princess.” Yujin quickly answers back as she straightens her expression.

“Are you laughing at me?” Minjoo asks as she shoots a glare to the person in front of her.

“No. No I’m not Princess.”

“You better not…and stop calling me Princess, you know I don’t like that.”

With her expression starting to stiffen, Yujin avoids any eye contact with the other girl and utters

“I-I’m sorry, but that is your title. I…I can’t follow that order…Princess.”

“What? What happened to you? Just last night, we were –”

“Last night? I’m sorry, I don’t recall.” Yujin quickly cuts in to say.

Hearing this, Minjoo’s frustration grows even more.

“Do you want me to say exactly what happened last night between the both of us out in the open like this Yujin-sshi?”

“Please stop this Princess. Last night, I gave into something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“What the heck is wrong with you? How can you expect me to let everything slide after all that’s happened?”

“I apologize once again.” Yujin responds still looking away from Minjoo.

“You know for someone that was calling me crazy last night, I think you’re the one that’s actually crazy here.”

Having enough of what her bodyguard said, Minjoo proceeded to turn around and walk away. However, as the girl was moving away from where everyone was staying, Yujin had no choice but to follow the girl.

 

 

With only one day left to prepare for the festival, this also meant the time for Chaewon’s confession was slimming down as well. As every minute was going by, the girl could only wish for time to tick faster as she couldn’t contain her feelings anymore. Coordinating with Yuri on where the confession was going to take place, she starts growing nervous at how the results for her confession were going to turn out.

“You’ll do fine Unnie. I believe everything will go as planned.” Yuri utters as she double checks all the final details of the place.

“You sure Yuri? What if people come and interrupt us in the middle of my confession?” Chaewon asks back anxiously.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure no one comes walking around this part of the beach during that time.”

“Alright, thanks Yuri.”

“No problem. Just don’t forget about me and be sure to feed me every once in a while. Once you guys are officially together, I’m pretty sure I would hardly be able to step into your house again.”

“Hey don’t say that. I’m pretty sure Hiichan would love to have you stop by for dinner whenever you want.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind me joining you guys for dinner every night?”

“Hey, I said Hiichan would love to have you stop by, not me. I’m still the owner of the house. I’m only letting you come by once a week.”

“I’m helping you this much and you’re only feeding me dinner once a week. Wow…maybe I should have helped that other teacher to get a date with Hiichan instead. I’m pretty sure they would have given me a better deal. Hmm…I wonder if they’re still interested.”

“Okay…okay. Stop by whenever you want. I won’t stop you.” Chaewon crosses her arms to respond.

“Haha…works every time.” Yuri utters with a cunning smile.

“Sigh…alright. Let’s go home. I have to sleep early tonight. Hiichan and I are going to the market first thing in the morning tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you’re not just rushing home to see Hiichan?” Yuri continues to tease.

“Shut it.” Chaewon utters as she quickly heads back to her car.

 

 

Walking along the trail that had a view of the shoreline, Minjoo’s only thought right now was for her to return back to be her normal self again. She didn’t want to be this title of “Princess” at all.

With Yujin following not far behind, the fake princess turns around and asks

“Why are you following me?”

“I am your bodyguard. I have to follow you.”

“Well you don’t need to. I can protect myself. So, leave me alone.”

“I can’t do that.”

Getting irritated again, Minjoo turns around and starts dashing off to which Yujin quickly rushes after. But due to the heels she was wearing, the girl couldn’t run as fast as she could and ended up tripping on a small crack on the sidewalk causing her to fall.

Seeing this, Yujin immediately rushes up to the girl who was now on the floor with pain evident on her face.

“Are you okay?” Yujin asks as she bends down to be at eye level with Minjoo.

“I’m fine.” Minjoo answers as she tries to stand.

Standing up, Minjoo who was now in a terrible mood, takes off her heels and continues to walk barefoot.

Seeing this, Yujin catches up to the girl and stands before her.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Then why are you taking the heels off?”

“It hurts walking in them. Now leave me alone.” Minjoo says as she continues to walk past the other girl.

“Sigh…then let’s head back so you can sit down. Why continue walking in them if it’s going to hurt you?” Yujin utters as she follows Minjoo from behind.

And with Yujin continuously following her, Minjoo grows mad and thinks of a way to get back at her bodyguard. Turning around to face the person she says

“Fine. If you want to follow me so much, then come here and turn around.”

“What?”

“Hold these heels and turn around.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

“O-Okay…” the bodyguard utters again as she grabs onto the pair of heels and went along with all the instructions.

With her back completely facing Minjoo, the bodyguard suddenly feels two hands on her shoulders and before she could ask anything else, Minjoo had managed to jump up onto Yujin’s back.

“Ahh! What the!” Yujin exclaims as she grabs onto Minjoo and stabilizes the both of them.

Trying to get comfortable, Minjoo makes sure to hold onto Yujin tight before saying

“Now, walk back to the resort.”

“What? Why don’t you walk back yourself?”

“Because my feet hurt, and I don’t want to walk back barefooted. I believe you’re strong enough to carry me. Considering you even carried me last night.”

“You could have asked nicely, instead of startling me like this.” Yujin says as she gives in and adjusts the girl on her back.

“I wanted to make sure you couldn’t say no.” the fake princess answers with a bright smile.

Rolling her eyes from the answer, Yujin proceeds to walk back to the resort in silence.

And as the silence was only making the situation worse, Minjoo quietly utters

“Yujin-sshi…”

“Yes Princess?”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me Princess?” the girl asks with a somber tone.

After a small pause, Yujin answers

“No…I’m not. I’m sorry…Princess.”

And with her attention still focused on getting the both of them back, Yujin suddenly feels a pair of lips land on her cheeks causing her to stop in place.

“P-Princess. What are you doing?” the bodyguard exclaims as she turns her head to face the other girl.

“Punishing you.” Minjoo says while landing another peck on the girl’s cheek.

“What?”

“This is your punishment. If you’re going to keep calling me Princess, then I’m going to keep punishing you.”

“What the heck? What kind of punishment is this?”

“And don’t even think of dropping me down. If you let me go before we arrive at the resort, I’m going to do something even more extreme than this. If you don’t believe me, I can show you right now.”

Feeling Minjoo’s face leaning into hers, Yujin quickly looks away and continues walking.

“So…are you going to keep calling me Princess now?” Minjoo teasingly asks again.

And with no answer, Minjoo “punishes” Yujin again.

“What? I didn’t even say anything yet?” the irritated bodyguard asks as she stops in her tracks again.

“Exactly. Not answering is impolite Yujin-sshi. It deserves a punishment.”

“Gahh…I can’t even do anything right?”

“You can…you’re just choosing not to.”

“Fine. If I call you by your name again, will you stop?”

Minjoo nods.

“Okay Minjoo-sshi. I hope we can get back to the resort with no problems now.”

However, not even five seconds into walking again, Yujin feels the same pair of lips on her cheeks again.

“What is it now?! I called you by your name already.” she angrily exclaims.

“This is your reward.”

“What?”

“You’re following orders and helping me get back, so I thought I’d give you a reward.”

Not wanting to play into the girl’s game anymore, the bodyguard could only say

“I…I…I give up. Just do whatever you want to do.”

With a smile of success, Minjoo lands another “reward” on the displeased Yujin before resting her head on the girl’s shoulder.

After a few minutes of walking, Yujin takes a brief pause. With her bodyguard coming to a stop, Minjoo suddenly asks

“Is something wrong? Why are you stopping?”

“Yes…what the hell have you been eating? Why are you so heavy?” the bodyguard answers back slightly panting.

Shocked by the other girl’s response, Minjoo shoots Yujin a glare and retorts back

“Hey! I’m not that heavy. Why are you so weak?”

“I’ve been carrying you for twenty minutes now. You don’t expect me to take a break every once in a while. Why the hell did you have to walk so far in heels when you know you weren’t comfortable in them?”

“Well if you weren’t following me, we wouldn’t be like this, would we?”

“I am your bodyguard. If you don’t want me to do my job, then you should have let me quit when I wanted to.”

Pissed at their quarrel, Minjoo attempts to get down from the other girl’s back, but with Yujin’s grip held tight, it proved to be harder than she thought.

“Let me down, I’ll walk the rest of the way, since I’m so heavy.”

“No. You wanted a ride back, so I’m giving it to you.”

“Then let me down and take a break first.”

“We’re almost there. Just give me a minute to take a breather.”

“Then put me down and rest first.”

“It’s fine, I’m going to start walking again.”

“Sigh…suit yourself then.” Minjoo quietly murmurs in an offended tone.

Sensing that she might have been a bit harsh on the princess, Yujin tries to think of a way to change up the mood. While thinking, she somewhat jumps in place to readjust the both of them. Landing back down with her knees slightly bent, Yujin accidentally loosens the grip on Minjoo by a bit causing the girl on her back to let out a squeal because she thought she was going to fall.

Chuckling from hearing this, Yujin lets out a tiny smile.

“Why are you laughing? You almost dropped me.” Minjoo exclaims.

“N-Nothing…I just didn’t think I would hear you squeal like that.”

Shooting another glare at Yujin, Minjoo wraps her arms around the other girl tightly and proceeds to shake her body around so the bodyguard would have a hard time walking.

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry. I won’t laugh at you anymore!” Yujin shouts out as she tries not to fall.

Finally feeling the grip loosen, Yujin gasps for air before saying

“Will I ever get a break from you?”

And with a smirk as if she had enjoyed the other person’s suffering, Minjoo answers

“I don’t know. Maybe if you start behaving again?”

“Sigh…I should have just gone through with quitting.” Yujin quietly mutters to herself.

“What did you just say?” Minjoo questions as she tightens her hold on Yujin again.

“Sitting! I’m just thinking that I want to be sitting right now.”

Loosening the grip again, Minjoo utters

“Hmm…but it sounded like you were saying you should have gone through with quitting though.”

“No…why would I say that?” Yujin sarcastically says.

“Hmm…okay. Well we’re almost there. Just a little bit more and you’ll get to rest.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yujin replies

“Yes Pr–”

Feeling Minjoo stare at her while leaning in for another “punishment”, Yujin quickly changes her response.

“Yes Minjoo-sshi.”

 

 

Finally reaching their destination, Yujin walks into the part of the resort that was closed off for the royal family. And as everyone sees Minjoo on her bodyguard’s back, they all rush in with curiosity.

“Minjoo-yah…what happened?” Mrs. Honda asks as she helps Minjoo get down.

And with Minjoo taking a seat, she explains

“My feet were hurting from too much walking in heels, so Yujin-sshi helped me get back here.”

“Gosh…are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay.”

“Okay…Wait here then, I’ll go get you guys some water and some shoes for you to change into.”

With Mrs. Honda out to get the items, Minjoo turns to face Yujin who was sitting not too far off. Noticing how the other girl was letting out pants from all the carrying and walking she just did; the fake princess grows concerned.

But as she was about to ask for the other girl’s condition, another person has already approached Yujin.

“Here…drink some water.”

A hand comes in to hand the girl a bottle to which Yujin gladly took and proceeded to drink from.

“Thank you…Princess Nako.”

“You don’t have to be so formal, just call me Nako.” the person replies as she sits next to the tired girl.

“Uh…But I –”

“I insist. Just call me Nako…Yujin-sshi.” the girl continues to smile with her response.

“Sigh…okay, Nako-sshi. Thank you for the water.”

Too tired to argue back, Yujin just wanted the day to end so she could finally get some proper rest.

“Yujin-sshi…when you have the chance, do you think I can talk to you about something?”

Sensing a serious topic was about to come up, Yujin takes a look at Nako’s face before lightly nodding her head.

“Then let’s go talk over there. I think it’ll be a bit more private.” Nako says as she points to an area off to the distance where no one would be able to hear their conversation, but everyone would still be within Yujin’s sight.

Walking over to the spot, the royal person quickly goes into topic.

“Yujin-sshi…I want to ask you if you will be able to continue your services for our heir even after we leave Korea?”

“What?” Yujin utters confused at what she just heard.

“I’ve recently had a conversation with my grandmother and Sojung unnie. We all think that with the shooter still out there, Minjoo’s life is still in danger. So until we catch the person in charge for the attack a while ago, we want to be sure there’s someone that can protect her and be by her side at all times.”

“But don’t you guys have guards or your own people that will be able to handle this?”

“We do. But…we think that the person responsible for the attack might be an insider.”

“An insider?”

“Yes…the day the attack happened was the first day the police and you were supposed to meet Minjoo. No one has ever seen or knew about her before that. After the King’s death, we released news of him having an heir to the citizens of our country, but we never released who she was or where she was currently residing. The only people that knew where she lived were only family members and we didn’t even find that out until the day before the King’s passing. On top of that, Sojung unnie hired you guys in private without telling anyone. It wasn’t until after the attack happened that we found out you were hired. I think that the person responsible for this must have wanted our heir dead and throw the blame towards the Korean police for not doing their job properly. Luckily, they didn’t know there was someone else that was also hired to protect the princess which caused them to fail their mission.”

“Hmm…so what you’re saying is that, the address of the house was only known by a select few. And you’re scared that the person that leaked it to the shooter must have been one of these people.”

“Yes. I don’t want to point fingers at anyone right now, but I do sense that if the person responsible for all this is the person I’m thinking of, I fear that we can’t even trust our own guards. So please…if you don’t mind, we’re willing to pay any price you name. But we want you to continue protecting Minjoo until we catch the person behind all this.”

“But I…that means I would have to follow you guys back to your country as well…right?”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry about the paperwork. I am already having people start the process of getting you and Eunbi-sshi authorized to enter our country. The only thing we would need from you guys will be your passports.”

Turning her attention to face Minjoo, she sees the girl staring back at her while being pampered by the people surrounding her. With this sight, Yujin could feel the difference in the both of them even more as Eunbi’s words come ringing in her head.

“No matter how hard we work or how rich we get, we as normal people can never be of equal status. It’s best to stop any feelings now while you can.”

“I…I…I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can take this offer. I hope you understand. I only took on this job, because it was a request from my cousin. I never wanted to do this in the first place.”

Standing up, Yujin looks at Nako and continues

“If you guys are scared the Princess will still be in danger then, I can probably refer you to someone I know who’s more fit for the job than me. If not, I believe if you talk to the Korean police, they might be of some help on this as well. I’m sorry and I hope you understand.”

“Wait.” Nako calls out before Yujin could turn around and leave.

Taking in a sigh, the royalty continues

“Before you make your decision, I want you to think about it. We still have a few more days in Korea before we leave. Please reconsider this. I’ve read about your background before Yujin-sshi, I know what you’ve been through.”

“Then you know what happened during my last mission.”

“I do, but I’ve read up on enough of your background to believe that you are still the best person for this job. So please give it some more thought. I’m going to wait for your answer again before we fly back. If by the end of it, you still remain stern on your choice, then I’ll respect it. But for now, your answer to me is not yet finalized.”

“Very well. I’m not going to argue back, you can ask me again before you guys leave if that’s what you want, but I believe my reply to you will still be the same.”

Not waiting for another response, Yujin walks back to stand in close proximity to the person she was tasked to protect.

 

 

With the next day approaching, Chaewon and Hitomi gets up bright and early in the morning to head to the market and grab the ingredients for the food booth. During their stroll in the place, Chaewon could be seen trailing behind Hitomi smiling happily as if she wanted the confession to happen right then and there. But it still wasn’t the right time yet.

‘Just a few more hours.’ she thought as she starts taking in deep breaths to calm down her nervous feelings.

“I think this should be all.” Hitomi utters, bringing Chaewon back to reality.

“Okay, let’s pay and head back to prep.” Chaewon answers as they both head to the register.

As all payments done, both continue their conversation about the festival that was about to start in a few hours. And this is when Chaewon starts her plans.

“Hiichan, after we’re done with the booth, do you want to go for a walk along the beach? There’s a place I want to show you.”

“Sure. Where are we going?”

“I can’t tell you yet. It’s a secret.”

“Aww…” Hitomi replies with a pout.

Seeing this, Chaewon couldn’t help but to let out a chuckle from the cuteness the girl next to her was displaying. Reaching up to caress the other girl’s head, Chaewon says

“Don’t worry. I promise, it’ll be worth the wait.”

Blushing from the sudden moment, Hitomi could only stay silent and smile in response.

With both their attention focused on each other, this causes the blushing girl to not notice the part of the sidewalk that dipped down causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground.

“Hiichan!” Chaewon yells out startled by the moment.

Quickly bending down to look at the situation, Chaewon sees Hitomi sit up and starts to attend to her own ankle.

“Does your ankle hurt?” Chaewon worriedly asks.

“A little. I think I might have landed in a weird position.”

“Looks like it’s starting to get swollen. Let’s get you to a clinic nearby to get it taken care of. Do you think you can get up?”

“I-I think I can.”

Grabbing onto the cart that had all the groceries in it, Hitomi tries to stand up but ends up falling back down due to putting too much weight on her injured ankle. Seeing this, Chaewon shakes her head and thinks of something else that could help.

“Here. Let me help you.” Chaewon utters as she reaches her hand out.

Hitomi grabs onto Chaewon with one hand and with the other hand, she grabs the cart. Pulling herself up, Hitomi hops around on one foot and uses the cart to balance herself.

“Hop on.” Chaewon says as she turns around and gestures to give Hitomi a piggyback ride.

“Chaewon-sshi…it’s okay. It might take a while, but I can walk.”

“No. It’ll be faster this way, we still have a lot of prep work to do, so come on. I promise I won’t drop you, so don’t worry.”

Spotting that the car wasn’t parked that far off from the pair, Hitomi decides to give into the suggestion. Grabbing onto Chaewon shoulders, she hops on.

With Hitomi on her back, Chaewon readjusts the girl’s position so that Hitomi would be more secure.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Chaewon-sshi?” Hitomi asks as she notices Chaewon starting to pant a few steps into the walk.

“Yea…I’m fine.” Chaewon utters back, slightly out of breath.

“I’m sorry. I must be really heavy right?”

“No. You’re not heavy. I’m just weak.”

“But just look at you struggling right now. Please…if I’m too heavy, just let me down.”

“What are you talking about Hiichan? You’re really light, I think you actually need to eat more.”

With just a few more steps to the car, Chaewon stops to take a break.

“I’m so sorry Chaewon-sshi. You can let me down now; I’ll walk the rest of the way there.”

“No, it’s okay. Really. I just need a minute.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t have to be nice to me Chaewon-sshi. If you’re struggling, you can just let me down.”

“I’m okay Hiichan. It’s just been a while since I exercised. I think I need to start again.”

“I’m sorry Chaewon-sshi…”

Hearing the girl sulking from this, Chaewon ends her break and tries her best to reach the car. Once there, she quickly helps Hitomi into the vehicle and as she closes the door and turns around, she lets out a huge breath.

‘I really need to start working out again.’ she thought as she heads to the trunk to put all the grocery bags in.

 

 

Getting up early in the morning, the Prince quickly calls for his right-hand man.

“Yes Prince.” the underling answers.

“Call the shooter and tell him I have new orders.”

“What is the mission going to be Prince?”

“Before we head to Udo, I want to have a bit of fun. If he can, land a hit on any of the royal family members except the heir. It’ll be even better if a few bullets land on the Korean police as well. It doesn’t have to be anything serious, but just enough for the family to be scared of staying here.”

“Should he land a hit on anyone in specific?”

“No, if he doesn’t land a hit on anyone, it’s okay. I just want to scare the family for a bit.”

“Are you sure about this Prince? Wouldn’t it be easier if we target the Princess instead?”

“No. I have a better plan to secure the throne than just killing the heir. But we have to return home first if I want to continue on with it.”

“Understood.”

And as his underling walks out to follow his orders, the Prince quietly mutters

“What a show today will be.”

 

 

With everyone getting ready to head to the ferry, Yujin decides to take a walk around the area. Even though the area was closed off, she still wanted to make sure no one was able to enter into the vicinity. After a few minutes into this, everything seemed to be clear and she prepares to head back to the group. However, behind a tree not too far off from everyone, she suddenly notices an unfamiliar person looking at the group. Getting a weird vibe from the person, Yujin slowly approaches the being quietly.

“Yujin-ah! Where are you going? We’re heading to the ferry now.” Eunbi calls out, causing the bodyguard to turn and face her.

Quickly turning back to where the unknown person was standing, Yujin sees that the person is now gone.

Sensing that this wasn’t a good sign, she quickly rushes back to where everyone was. Scanning around, she tries to stay calm while making sure Minjoo was within arms distance from her so that if anything were to happen, the princess would be within her reach of protection.

While standing within the vicinity of everyone, Yujin suddenly hears

“Your Highness, some of the guards and I will head to the ferry first. I want to make sure everything is ready before everybody gets on. Once everything is prepared, I’ll send the guards back to pick everyone up.” the Prince explains.

“It’s okay Prince. I can have someone in my team do that for you.” Chaeyeon who was standing close by quickly responds.

“It’s alright. The Korean police’s main duties are to protect the princess. This is no trouble at all. I can take care of it myself.”

“That’s right Chaeyeon-sshi. Jungin is in charge of the security back in our country. This is something he normally does for us anyways, so just let him do his job.” the grandmother utters.

“Yes, your Highness.” Chaeyeon responds.

“Very well, I shall head out now.” the Prince says before taking a bow and proceeding to walk out of the area.

As he passes everyone, he lets out a smirk of satisfaction.

Noticing Yujin looking a little more alert than usual, Eunbi walks up to her cousin before quietly asking

“Yujin-ah…is something wrong? Did you see something earlier?”

“I did.” Yujin whispers back with a nod.

Eyes widening in shock, Eunbi continues to ask

“Are you sure? The area is closed off. How can someone be able to come in?”

“I don’t know either, but I don’t have a good feeling about this. We should hurry onto the ferry, the faster we get out of this area the better. Help me inform the police about it too. They need to know.”

And with a nod from the older cousin, Yujin turns back to the same area she saw the unknown person and in a small distance, she sees a hand pop out behind one of the trees. Staring at the hand, her eyes widen once she realized what was in it.

“Everybody down!” Yujin quickly shouts while pulling out her gun.

Bang.

As a shot was heard, everybody goes into shock and drops to the floor. Fortunately, the area had huge rocks that were able to provide shelter for everyone. With more bullets being fired, the police and the royal guards go into defense mode and pull out their guns.

“Get everyone out of here now!” Chaeyeon commands.

“Yes Captain!” All her teammates including Minjoo responded.

Not wanting to accidentally shoot out bullets randomly, Yujin made sure to aim only at the tree the person was behind to prevent the person from shooting any further. But anytime a hand would pop out from behind it, she’ll try to aim at it as well. The bodyguard didn’t want to randomly shoot out bullets towards that direction in fear that other people could accidentally be in the area behind the shooter. Sensing what Yujin was doing, Chaeyeon joins into shoot at the same place as the bodyguard. While the two of them continue their shots, the other guards and police rush everyone out of the area.

As everyone except Nako and Minjoo was able to get out, Yujin and Chaeyeon run out of bullets at the same time. Detecting this, the shooter continues his job and lands a few shots on the royal family’s guards.

Looking up to see Nako panicking while trying to get up and run out of the area, Yujin spots the gun from the shooter move to aim towards the girl.

“Watch out!”

Bang.

Quickly getting up, Yujin runs towards Nako and manages to successfully bring Nako onto the ground with her safely. However, it was at the cost of her arm being shot.

“Yujin-sshi!” Minjoo shouts out.

Luckily enough, Chaeyeon manages to reload her gun and continues her shots.

Staying low, Minjoo rushes to Yujin’s side and takes the gun. Taking the magazine from Yujin to reload the gun, Minjoo continues Yujin’s plan to shoot towards the person.

“Nako. Stay low and get out of this area, now!” Minjoo shouts out.

“But what about Yujin-sshi?” Nako worriedly asks back as she notices the bullet wound on Yujin.

“I’ll help her out myself, but you have to get out of here now while you have a chance. If the shooter has the upper hand again, it’ll be difficult for everyone.”

Not having time to decide anything further, Nako nods her head and quickly rushes out of the place with the guidance of the rest of the royal family guards present.

“Princess! Get Yujin-sshi out of here. I’ll try to hold the person off.” Chaeyeon orders.

“But –”

“We don’t have time! Hurry! Remember they’re after you!”

Turning around while still pointing her gun towards the direction of the shooter, Minjoo looks at Yujin’s wound and hurriedly asks

“Can you get up?”

“Just leave without me. I’ll be fine.” Yujin answers back as she places a hand on her injury.

“I’m not leaving without you, so unless you want us all to die, I suggest we not argue right now.”

Yujin, letting out a sigh, knew there was no time to decide. Quickly standing up while trying to stay low, Yujin and Minjoo start heading out of the area when…Chaeyeon’s bullets run out again. Hearing the sound of the empty gun, Minjoo, instantly grabs onto Yujin’s hand and starts to bolt in the opposite direction everyone had went in order to throw the shooter off.

However, the shooter’s target for this mission was not the heir. After running out of all his bullets, the shooter swiftly disappears from the scene as if he evaporated into dust.

 

 

Continuously running as they were too far off to notice the shooting had stop, Minjoo notices a boat about to leave shore.

Quickly dragging Yujin along with her, she rushes up to the boat driver before begging for help.

“Sir…can you help us? Please.”

“W-What’s going on? Why are you bleeding?” the older gentleman questions while pointing at Yujin.

“We’ll explain later, but do you mind taking us away from here. We have to get out of this place fast.”

With the pleading look Minjoo was giving, the older guy quickly helps Yujin up onto the boat before dashing off into sea.

A few minutes into their ride, Minjoo looks back at the island and sees that they are quite far off now. Turning back to attend to Yujin, the fake princess rushes up to her side and sees Yujin starting to grow pale from the blood loss.

Reaching over to grab Yujin’s hand, Minjoo turns to face the driver and asks

“Sir…where are we heading? And how far until we reach land?”

“We’ll be at Udo island in just a few minutes. There’s a hospital really close to the port. I’m trying to call them right now to let them know, but the signal isn’t that great, so hang on just for a bit more.”

“Yujin-sshi…you hear that. Just a few more minutes and you’ll be at the hands of a doctor. So please, just hold on a little longer.”

Slight nodding her head, Yujin takes in deep breaths and stabilizes her breathing.

Reaching the island, all three people were met with the paramedics who swiftly helped Yujin into an ambulance. Throughout the ride to the hospital, Minjoo kept Yujin’s hand within hers at all times and made sure to never lose sight of the injured girl. With their eye contact never parting, Yujin could see the worried look Minjoo was giving her.

Giving the fake princess a reassuring squeeze on her hand, Yujin gave out a small smile before mouthing the words

“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

Seeing this, Minjoo was still not at ease. Even though, the paramedics were able to attend to the wound during the ride to the hospital, Minjoo wanted to make sure Yujin was one hundred percent safe before feeling assured.

Standing in front of the operating room, Minjoo paces back and forth waiting to hear the results from the doctor. After waiting for a long while, she sees a doctor walking out towards her.

“Doctor. Is she okay?” the fake princess worriedly asks.

“The patient is safe now. The procedure went fine, and we’ve managed to remove the bullet out of her arm. Luckily, it’s not a major injury as it was not in an important part of her body. She should be able to recover just fine. It’s recommended for her to get admitted tonight, but it seems like she’s refusing to do so.”

“She’s awake?”

“Yes, she woke up just a few minutes ago.”

“Can I go in to talk to her then?”

“We’ll have her transferred over to another room first and you can visit her there.”

And with a nod of the head, Minjoo bows to the doctor before waiting to get the confirmation of which room Yujin will be transferred to.

Upon entering the room, Minjoo sees Yujin get up out of the bed to grab her stuff.

“What are you doing?” the fake princess asks.

“Getting dressed. We should head back now.”

“What? Why? You’re still injured. Just rest here for the night. I’ve contacted the police already. Everyone is safe. They’ll come pick us up tomorrow.”

“What about the shooter?”

“He’s…gone.”

“Then it’s best we don’t stay here. If he knows I was injured there may be a chance he would come looking for us here.”

“Yujin-sshi…it’s starting to get dark outside. All operating ferries are closed now. There’s no way of transportation here unless the shooter has their own boat. We can’t even go back either.”

However, as Minjoo was trying to talk her way into making Yujin stay for the night, the bodyguard has already entered the restroom to get changed.

“Why are you so stubborn? Aren’t you worried about yourself?” Minjoo frustratedly exclaims.

Turning back to face Minjoo, Yujin walks up to the girl before answering

“No. I’m not. I’m worried about you.”

 

 

 

With the town festival up and running, all kids and adults enjoy their time to celebrate and have fun. Hitomi and Chaewon are occupied with the food booth, while Yuri is busy MCing the stage filled with performances from the students of the island.

“Finally.” Chaewon exclaims as they just finish selling their last order of chicken.

Taking a seat after a long day, Chaewon sees a hand come in with a bottle of water.

“Water?” Hitomi asks as she takes a seat next to the teacher.

“Thank you.” Chaewon replies after taking the bottle.

Looking down at her watch, the teacher’s eyes spark up as she remembers she has to be at the location soon.

“Hiichan…how is your ankle?” she asks out of concern.

“Better. I can walk a lot easier now compared to this morning.”

“Great. Then do you still want to go for that walk on the beach?”

And with a smile, Hitomi answers

“I would love to.”

 

 

 

“Where are you going?” Minjoo asks as she traces behind Yujin who was scanning around as if looking for something.

“I’m trying to find a place for us to stay for the night.”

“Well if you weren’t so stubborn, we could have just stayed at the hospital. It would have been better for them to have a look at your wound tomorrow morning before we leave.”

As the both of them continue their walk, they stumbled upon a peaceful beach that seems to be empty.

“Where is everyone?” Yujin asks as she notices most of the lights in the neighborhood off.

Taking a look around Minjoo suddenly remembers Chaeyeon mentioning something to her about a festival that was going to happen that night.

“I recall Chaeyeon-sshi saying this island was holding a festival tonight. That’s why we were set to come here this morning. Everyone is probably there right now.”

“Then let’s head there first. Maybe we can ask if there are any hotels we can stay at nearby.”

“Wait.”

While continuing to walk, Yujin suddenly feels a hand come in to stop here. Intertwining their hands together, Minjoo brings Yujin’s attention onto herself.

“We’re going to be here for the night anyways. Let’s just enjoy our time here first. I don’t really want to be in a crowded place right now.”

Sensing that Minjoo was probably exhausted from all the running around and the commotion that happened this morning, Yujin lets out a sigh and nods her head.

 

 

 

“Hold my hand.” Chaewon says as both her and Hitomi were about to reach the sanded areas of the beach.

Extending her hand out, the teacher waits for Hitomi to respond to the gesture.

“I want to show you something, but we have to be on the sand to see it. Since your ankle is still hurting, hold my hand to help steady yourself.” Chaewon continues as the other girl was in silence.

And with a smile, Hitomi gladly reciprocated the gesture and the two of them continue their stroll in the sand.

 

 

 

On the other side of the story, Yujin and Minjoo continue wandering on the beach with their hands still intertwined.

“Yujin-sshi.”

“Yes?”

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Yujin nods.

“What were you talking about with Nako yesterday?”

“Huh?”

“I saw you talking to Nako yesterday. It seemed pretty serious; do you mind me asking what you guys were talking about?”

Remembering the question Nako had ask her, Yujin’s expression grows dark.

“She asked me to continue protecting you after you head back to your country.”

“Sh-She did?”

“Yes. She knew you were still in danger, so she wanted me follow you guys to your country.”

“And what did you say?”

“I…I refused.”

“Oh…”

Disappointed in the girl’s response, Minjoo continues to question

“Can I ask why?”

“I…I just think it’s best for the both of us if I do so.” Yujin answers as she starts letting go of Minjoo’s hand.

Minjoo, seeing this, quickly brings Yujin’s hand back into her own as she wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

“But what if I want you to come with me?”

Stopping the both of them in their walk, Yujin goes to stand in front of Minjoo and says

“Then this is more of a reason for me to refuse this offer. We can’t continue doing this. Our feelings for each other has to stop.”

Looking down, Minjoo feels her heart tighten. Even though she wasn’t the real princess, it still hurt to know that Yujin wasn’t willing to fight for their feelings. With the small amount of hope that once Yujin finds out who she really is, their relationship can finally bloom, Minjoo takes a step closer to the person in front of her and wraps her arms around the bodyguard’s waist.

“Then just for a moment, let’s forget who we are. Let’s just be two normal people who happen to have good feelings for each other. At least just for tonight.”

Closing her eyes to cherish this moment even more, Yujin grows weak and brings her arms up to respond to the embrace.

 

 

 

“Right here. Stand right here.” Chaewon instructs as she guides Hitomi onto a certain spot while turning the both of them to face the direction of where the festival was held.

Looking down at her watch, the teacher continues to say

“We have just another minute.”

Hitomi sees Chaewon staring at her watch so seriously and lets out a chuckle.

“Something wrong Hiichan? Why are you laughing?” Chaewon asks as she notice the smile on the other girl’s face.

“Nothing…it’s just, I think this is the most serious I’ve seen you since we’ve met.”

“Well this is something important to me. I need to make sure everything will come out perfectly.”

Staring back at her watch, Chaewon heart beats faster with every second passing by.

“Here we go.” utters Chaewon as she goes to stand in front of Hitomi with a few feet apart from them.

“5…4…3…2…1!”

 

 

(credits to owner)

 

As Yujin and Minjoo continue to treasure their current moments together, the sound of the fireworks draws both of their attention to the beautiful night sky. While still snuggled up to each other, they turn to have a better view of the show.

“Should we move up a little closer?” Yujin suggests.

And with a nod from Minjoo, the pair hold hands and continue their stroll closer to the show.

 

 

 

While the sky continuously gets filled with beautiful fireworks, Hitomi looks up in astonishment. And seeing the person in front of her enjoying the show, Chaewon couldn’t help but to let out a smile. On top of choosing this place because of how perfect it was for a confession, it was also the best place to watch the fireworks that the festival would light up every year.

And with the show finished, Chaewon walks closer to the other girl before asking

“So…did you like it? We got the best view from the entire island.”

“I loved it, but why did you turn your back against it. Don’t you want to watch it too.” Hitomi exclaims.

“I’ve been watching every year. This is nothing new to me. I’d rather look at you enjoy it instead.”

And with a slight blush, the other girl replies

“Thank you for taking me here then. I enjoyed this very much.”

“There’s actually one more thing I have for you.”

“There is?”

Reaching over to grab both of Hitomi’s hand, Chaewon starts her proposal.

“Hiichan…I…I…I…I think I…”

“Chaewon-sshi…is something wrong? Are you cold?” Hitomi asks out of concern as she could see the other girl shaking in nervousness.

Bringing both their hands up closer to her, Chaewon takes a deep breath in and says

“Hiichan…I think I li–”

“Hiichan?!”

With a different voice coming into abruptly stop the conversation, Hitomi’s expression grows dark as she sees someone very familiar standing right before her very eyes.

“M-Minjoo…” she softly mutters to herself.

“You know her?” Yujin who was standing next to Minjoo whispers as she looks back and forth between the both of them.

Shocked that she finally found the princess, Minjoo slowly walks towards Hitomi.

Trying to avoid the person, Hitomi proceeds to stagger away startling everyone including Chaewon.

“Hiichan!” Chaewon calls out as she chases after the girl.

Catching up to her, Chaewon stops Hitomi from walking any further, while Yujin and Minjoo continue to look on bewildered by the situation.

“Hiichan…what’s wrong? Where are you going?”

“I…I’m sorry Chaewon-sshi. I think we should head home. I don’t feel so good.”

Hearing this, Chaewon stiffens. Everything she’s planned for went to dust as she never had a chance to finish her confession.

“Okay…let’s get you home then…” Chaewon answers back with a disappointing tone.

And with Hitomi about to leave the area, Minjoo hurries after her in hopes to have a talk with the girl.

“Hiichan! Hiichan!” she calls out as she catches up to both girls.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are.” Hitomi replies as she avoids making any eye contact.

“Hiichan! Don’t act like you don’t know me. Do you know how long we’ve all been looking for you?!” Minjoo sternly shouts out causing everyone to halt.

Turning to face the talking girl, Chaewon suddenly asks

“Y-You know who Hiichan is?”

“Yes, I do.” Minjoo answers back.

“Then you should know. Hiichan’s lost her memory ever since I met her. She doesn’t remember anything.”

“What?” Minjoo utters in disbelief.

‘That can’t be?’ she thought as she still remembers their last conversation together.

“Chaewon-sshi…let’s hurry home. M-My head’s starting to hurt again.” Hitomi exclaims.

“But what about this person. If she knows who you are, then she can help you regain back your memory.”

“I…I…”

“Hiichan…did you really lose your memory?” Minjoo intervenes in to ask.

With her eyes looking at the ground, Hitomi avoids any interaction with Minjoo. Reaching over, she grabs the end of Chaewon’s shirt and slowly moves to stand behind the other girl.

Sensing that the other girl was showing signs of fear, Chaewon starts questioning Minjoo.

“Who are you? And how do you know Hiichan?”

“I-I’m her friend.” Minjoo hesitates.

“Her friend? How can we be sure of it? Hiichan was injured when I first met her, how do I know you’re not the one that hurt her?”

“What? How can I be the one to hurt her when I was supposed to pro–”

Stopping herself from revealing something she wasn’t supposed to, Minjoo sees Hitomi peek her head up as if she was scared Minjoo was going to expose everything. And with the expression of fright Hitomi was giving, the fake princess knew, the girl was faking her memory loss.

“You were supposed to what?” Chaewon interrogates.

Taking a few seconds to gather her thoughts, Minjoo calmly explains

“The day Hiichan went missing, she was at my house and there was an attack that happened. She happened to get shot at and fainted out of fear. I didn’t know what to do, so I put her in a truck that was parked close by. After that, the truck drove off and I pretty much lost contact of her until now.”

With every detail coming in, Chaewon hesitantly asks

“Y-You were the one that put her in my truck?”

“Yes.”

“T-Then that means that you live next door to the house my sister lives in.”

“Yes. I believe you must be the sister of Chaejung-sshi?”

“T-That means y-you’re the princess.”

Hitomi’s head shoots up from hearing this. Not knowing who was taking her place, she always thought, the police would hire a stand in to take her place for the time being. Never in her mind did she think the person taking her place would be Minjoo.

“Yes…I am.” Minjoo states while staring directly at Hitomi.

Chaewon turns around to face the girl behind her and utters

“T-Then you’re friends with the princess? I…I can’t believe it.” Chaewon shockingly says.

Grabbing onto Chaewon’s hands as if she was trying to calm the girl down, Hitomi looks back at Minjoo before saying

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything, and I don’t want to either. My life is here now, and I prefer to keep it this way.”

“Hold up Hiichan…don’t you want to find out who you are?” Chaewon continues to ask.

“No. I don’t. Let’s go home now Chaewon-sshi.”

“Wait Hiichan. We still need to talk.” Minjoo intrudes.

“There’s nothing else left to talk. I’m happy with the way I am here, so please just let me leave.”

“Okay…I think this has gone for long enough. Minjoo-sshi, if your friend doesn’t want to talk to you now, then let’s just come back tomorrow. We still need to find a place to stay for the night, remember?” Yujin cuts in to say.

Standing there watching everything unfold, the bodyguard knew something was off as she recalls the details of the night the attack happened and there was no mention of a third person with the princess and her mother at all. Knowing that this back and forth argument wasn’t moving anything forward, Yujin had to step in to stop everything from dragging out.

“Where are you planning to find a place to stay at?” Chaewon asks.

“We don’t know yet. We were planning to go where the festival was and ask around there.” Yujin answers back.

“There’s no use. Because of the festival, all the hotels are most likely booked for the night. It’s going to be hard to find a place.”

“Then do you know any other places around here then?”

“It’s a small island, there aren’t that many. And if there are, I’m pretty sure it’s all booked by now.”

Turning to face Minjoo, Yujin asks

“Then maybe we should head back to a police station and wait there, it’ll be no use if we keep going at this point.”

“But what about your injury?” Minjoo asks back.

Hearing the word injury, Hitomi quickly grows concerned and asks

“Are one of you guys injured?”

“I’m fine. Just a small bullet to the arm. I’ll be okay.” Yujin answers.

Turning to face Minjoo, Hitomi continues

“Is it because of…”

And with a slight nod from the other person, Hitomi drops her head down again.

“I-I’m sorry.” she says out of guilt.

Knowing that Yujin was injured because of an attack that was most likely supposed to be aimed at her, her heart drops as she feels that everything was her fault.

“Hey, why are you sorry? This is my job. I’m the bodyguard tasked to protect the princess.”

“Y-You are?”

“Yes. I am.”

Hearing this, Hitomi’s heart drops even more and it seems like there’s a lot more people involved in this situation then she had initially thought. And the guilt from running away from the problem continues to grow inside her.

With tears forming in her eyes, she quickly turns around to stop them from flowing down.

“H-Hiichan…is there something wrong?” Chaewon checks up on the girl.

“No…it’s just. I feel bad.”

“Feel bad about what? This isn’t your problem, you just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I…I…”

“It’s okay. I think we’ve had enough of this. Let’s go home now.”

Turning back around to face the other two, Chaewon suddenly gives out an offer

“It’s already getting late, why don’t you guys stay at my place for tonight? We’ll talk about everything tomorrow morning once we have a chance to think things through.”

And with a nod from the other two, the four of them set out to the teacher’s house.

 

 

 

Walking into the house, Chaewon immediately directs her guest to the current unoccupied room.

“You guys can stay in this room for tonight. I’ll bring you guys a spare change of clothes to change into. Bathroom’s there. If you need anything, I’ll be in that room over there.”

“I’m sorry to ask, but are there only two rooms in this place?” Minjoo curiously questions.

“Yea. Why?”

“Cause if we’re staying here and your sleeping in that room, what about Hiichan?”

“Oh…the room I’m staying in is Hiichan’s room.”

“What?!” the fake princess shouts out of shock.

“Yea…this is my room right here, but I don’t really use it anymore so –”

“Wait. So you’re telling me that you guys sleep together in the same room?”

“Yea…”

“Is there a reason for you to do so when you have another room that’s available.”

“I…uh…well…Hiichan gets nightmares at night. I stay with her to help wake her up from it.” Chaewon answers with a nervous blush to her face.

“Has she been getting them every night for you to be with her in that room?”

“Uh…”

“I was the one that wanted her to stay with me.” Hitomi comes in to explain.

With everyone’s attention on the talking girl, Hitomi continues

“We’ve all had a long day. You guys should get ready for bed. Goodnight.”

Turning around, Hitomi walks into her room without waiting for a response from the other three. Chaewon soon follows the girl into her room after she grabs the other two some clothes.

And after Minjoo and Yujin wash up and enter their room, Minjoo who was getting ready for bed notices Yujin grab a pillow and heads towards the door.

“Hey. Where are you going?” Minjoo asks right before Yujin was going to reach for the doorknob.

“I’ll sleep on the couch outside tonight.”

“Do you really want us to argue about this again?”

Getting up off the bed, Minjoo rushes over to Yujin and slowly wraps her arms around the girl before saying

“I’m tired. Can we not?”

“I am too, so please just let me leave. I…I don’t want to fall in any deeper.” Yujin solemnly answers back.

“Do you remember what I asked you earlier? For tonight, there’s no titles to our names, there’s nothing that’s bounded to us, we’re just two normal people. So, can we at least enjoy the time we have together now…please?”

And with an expression that showed signs of surrender, Yujin turns around before fully embracing the other girl.

“Why can’t I ever say no to you?” the bodyguard utters as she tightens their hug.

 

 

 

In the other room, while lying in bed, Chaewon turns to face Hitomi who has her back turned against her. Thinking of her missed opportunity to confess, Chaewon lets out a long sigh.

“Are you still awake Chaewon-sshi?” the owner of the house hears as she feels the other person turn around to face her.

And as they lock eyes, Chaewon turns her body so she faces the ceiling to avoid having the other person see her emotions right now.

“Why are you still up Hiichan?”

“I…I can’t sleep.”

“Why is that? Is it because of the people we met today?”

“Yes…”

Chaewon’s expression grows darker.

“Are you going to go back with them then?” she asks fearing for the worse.

“No. I’m not. I’m going to stay here.”

Quickly turning to face Hitomi, Chaewon utters

“Are you sure? You don’t want to find out who you are?”

“No. I don’t.”

“But –”

Not being able to finish her sentence, Chaewon sees Hitomi move closer and snuggles up to her rendering her speechless.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore. I…I just want to stay in this moment for as long as I can.”

Closing her eyes, Chaewon brings both arms up to wrap around the other girl without saying anything else.

 

 

 

As the next morning approaches, Yujin wakes up to feel a numbing sensation on her arm. Turning to face it, she seems Minjoo sleeping on it with the girl’s head rested on her shoulders. Not wanting to wake the girl up, Yujin gently lifts the girl’s head off of her and proceeds to slowly pull her arm out from under before resting Minjoo’s head on a pillow.

Looking at her injury from yesterday, she noticed a little bit of blood from it. Wanting to take care of it, the bodyguard walks out of the room and as she heads towards the bathroom, she hears

“Do you need help with that?”

Turning to face the owner of the voice, she sees Hitomi sitting at the dining table. With a first aid kit set down on it, the real princess continues to say

“My injury is all healed up now, but I wake up every morning to check up on it anyways. Might as well help you out too since it can be quite difficult to handle it by yourself.”

And with a smile, Yujin gladly joins Hitomi at the dining table for the girl to attend to her.

 

 

 

Opening her eyes from the light that was shining through the windows, Minjoo turns to face the other side of the bed expecting the person that’s been making her heart go crazy to be there, only to be let down again as there was no one next to her. Getting out of bed, she opens the door to go look for the person but freezes when she sees her bodyguard sitting next to the real princess chatting with each other playfully.

“Ow!”

“Was I pressing to hard?!” Hitomi exclaims, scared that she was putting too much pressure on Yujin’s injury with the alcohol.

“A little.” Yujin winced in pain as Hitomi accidentally touched her arm again.

“I-I’m so sorry. I just wanted to help.”

“No, it’s okay. I understand. You don’t have to apologize so much. This is your third time apologizing already.”

Seeing the other girl giving out a pout, Yujin lets out a smile and thinks of something fun to help with the situation.

As Hitomi goes in to dab more alcohol on the wound, Yujin lets out another pain inducing “cry”.

“OW! OW! OW! I think my arm is going to come off.”

With Yujin looking like she was squirming in anguish, Hitomi starts panicking and quickly drops everything and puts both her hands together as to say sorry with an expression that was too adorable for the other girl not to smile at. And as she notices the smile on Yujin’s face, the real princess starts to question

“W-Wait…why are you laughing? I thought your arm was hurting.”

“Oh…uh…OW?”

“Hey…did you just lie to me about being in pain?”

From the look the other girl was giving, Yujin couldn’t help but chuckle at her gullibility.

“Yujin-sshi…I never expected you to be this type of person.” Hitomi says in disbelief.

“Haha…I’m sorry, but you kept apologizing when you didn’t need to. I just wanted you to stop.”

“But I feel bad. The reason why you’re hurt is because of me.”

“No, the reason I’m like this was because I was helping someone else. It has nothing to do with you.”

And with guilt continuing to build up inside of her, Hitomi looks down and away from Yujin. Knowing that she was the actual reason for all this, the real princess couldn’t help but to be sad over all that’s happened.

“But still. I think I should get Minjoo to come help. She might be better at this than me.”

“No. Here, if you really do feel bad then I trust you will be able to finish this process. And trust me, I’m pretty sure you have the lightest hands in this entire house right now, so you’re the most fitting to help me right now.” Yujin utters as she hands Hitomi another piece of cotton.

Through the encouraging words given, Hitomi smiles and proceeds to do what was asked amidst another person looking at them from afar.

Closing the door behind her, Minjoo crosses her arms and lets out a pout before thinking in her head

‘Hmph…she pushes me away when I worry so much for her, saying we’re not fit for each other. But when it’s with the real princess she has no problem with.’

With her emotions all wrapped up in these thoughts, she hears laughter outside, and puts an ear to the door.

“No…I wasn’t calling you a mandu(dumpling). I said you are the best(Hiichan is 뭔들).” Yujin says as she was trying to compliment the girl helping her with her injury only to have Hitomi misunderstand, thinking the bodyguard was calling her a dumpling.

And as both laugh at their miscommunication, Minjoo’s irritation grows.

Not being able to take it anymore, Minjoo rushes out the door to see someone already beat her to interrupting the pair in their conversation.

“Hiichan, why did you get up so early? You should have rest up a little more. You were working so much yesterday.” the owner of the house says to the two people sitting down.

“I just wanted to help Yujin-sshi with her wound. Just like you did the first day we met.” Hitomi answers.

“You could have told me; I would have done it for you.”

“It’s okay. You were still asleep when I woke up. I didn’t want to bother you.”

Turning to see Minjoo at the doorway, Hitomi calls out to the person.

“Oh…Minjoo. You’re awake. Are you guys hungry? I prepared food for everyone already. Go wash up and have a seat.”

And with everyone’s attention on Hitomi, the girl clueless at the stares on her, continues to set up the table for everyone leaving the others no choice but to obliged to her orders.

 

 

 

With everyone at the dining table, an awkward silence ensues that causes everyone to only look down at their plate.

“Uh…so…when are you guys planning to head back to Seoul?” Chaewon asks trying to break the silence.

“I’ve already messaged the police about my current whereabouts, so they should be arriving anytime soon.”

And with an understanding nod from the owner of the house, Minjoo turns to Hitomi before asking

“Hiichan…do you mind if we have a talk? Just the two of us.”

Looking up to face Minjoo, Hitomi could tell the girl wanted to talk to her about her return and as she’s been so frustrated about all the lies that she’s created, the real princess quickly nods her head before heading out of the house with the other person leaving Yujin and Chaewon clueless of the situation.

 

 

 

Making sure the other two weren’t eavesdropping on them, Minjoo pulled Hitomi away and gave themselves some distance from the house in order to make sure there was no way anyone else was going to hear their conversation.

“Hiichan…do you want to tell me what’s going on? Why does Chaewon-sshi think you lost your memory when I know for a fact you haven’t?”

“I…I…just didn’t know what to do when I saw her. I got scared so I pretended to not know who I was. And one thing led to another and my lie was already in too deep. How could I tell her the truth when she’s been so nice to me?”

“Sigh…but you can’t expect to live here through your lies Hiichan. It’s just not right. You have a huge task ahead of you and it’s time for you to go back to take care of it now.”

“But I don’t want to. I don’t want to go to a country that’s going to place me so high. I just can’t see myself living there happily. And plus, you took on the role of the princess already, why can’t you just continue it?”

“Because I’m not the actual princess and I need my life back Hiichan. I don’t want to live a life full of lies as well, especially since…”

As the girl in front of her took a slight pause, Hitomi asks

“Since what Minjoo?”

“It doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is that we need to get you back into safety before anything bad happens.”

“But I’m safe here. No one knows who I am and I’m content with it. Isn’t that even better?”

“Sigh…but don’t you miss your mother? She’s been so worried about you. After finding out you were here, she’s been anticipating the day to see you again.”

“I…I do, but I…”

“Hiichan, your mother’s been losing sleep every night worried about you. Every time your grandmother and her talk about you, the joy a mother gets to have while talking about her daughter is practically nonexistent because you’re not there with her. Don’t you think it’s a little selfish of you to just leave her to be by herself like that?”

Hitomi, now left speechless could only avoid any eye contact the other person was giving as tears start forming in her eyes. And this encouraged Minjoo to continue her speech.

“Your mother only has you Hiichan. She already lost her husband, don’t make her lose a daughter as well. I’m pretty sure your father wouldn’t want that to happen.”

And as if her words backfired on her, Hitomi suddenly remembers the time she gave the little boy Jinsoo a similar talk.

“Remember to behave towards your mother and treat her well. You’re all she has now. Remember your Dad is looking over you from afar, you don’t want him to be mad at you for mistreating your mother, right?”

These words echo in her mind as the thought of being away from her mother pains her even more.

“I’m sure both your parents want you to have a normal life, but I’m sure your father also wants you to continue his legacy in the country that he loves. If not, he wouldn’t have told your family about you. And right now, that throne is yours and only yours. So please Hiichan, its time for you to accept the truth and go claim what belongs to you.” Minjoo continues.

“But why would he not mention a thing about his country to me if he wanted me to take over it one day? If he really wanted me to continue his legacy, he should have mentioned something at least.”

“I don’t have an answer to that Hiichan, but I’m sure deep down you know why.”

“I do?”

“Yes, remember the first day we met. You talked about how great and charming of a person he was and told me about all the things he taught you in life. I can tell by the way you talked about him; he has such a big influence on you. And I’m positive that through his words and lessons, he’s got you to become the person you are today. So, if you think about all of that, I’m pretty sure you’ll get your answers about what your father really wants from you.”

With every word Minjoo said, tears started to flow out of the princess’s eyes. Hitomi grabs onto her necklace reminiscing all the moments she had with her father. All the life lessons he’s taught, all the words of wisdom he’s spoken, and all the actions and examples he’s shown all come rushing back into her mind as the princess drops to the floor sobbing.

Seeing this, Minjoo also lets out a few tears as she also drops to the floor to console the crying girl.

“I-I’m sorry Minjoo.” the princess utters through her cries.

Knowing that she’s finally convinced the girl to come back, Minjoo feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

 

 

 

After all the waterworks, Minjoo and Hitomi stand facing Chaewon’s home fearing for what’s to come next.

“Do we really have to leave today Minjoo? I don’t think I’m ready yet.” the real princess utters with a pout.

“Yes, we have to. It’s not safe for you to stay here.”

“But what about Chaewon-sshi…”

And with a smile of knowing what the other girl was worried about, Minjoo teasingly says

“I guess you’re not ready to leave because of her right?”

Hearing those words, Hitomi explains

“I just don’t want to hurt her feelings. I can’t even imagine how she would feel if she were to find out who I was. I don’t know if I’m ready to tell her the truth yet.”

“It’s okay Hiichan. I…I understand how you feel.” Minjoo replies also thinking about the bodyguard that’s been with her all these times.

“You do? I thought you wanted to return back to your normal life.”

“I do, but I guess I’m just scared to reveal who I actually am to a certain someone as well. I don’t think they would take it so well if they were to find out I was lying to them all this time.”

Taking a moment to think of a way out, Minjoo suddenly suggests

“Then how about we keep this a secret for now until we’re back in Seoul? It might be better for people of this island to not know who you actually are.”

“That’s a great idea Minjoo.” another voice comes in to say.

Turning to face the owner of the voice, Minjoo sees her captain approaching them.

“Captain…”

“The princess’s life is still in danger and through yesterday’s incident, it’s best to have her identity hidden for now.” Chaeyeon continues before bowing to the princess.

“Hiichan, this is my Captain and the person in charge of this operation, Lee Chaeyeon.”

“Nice to finally meet you Chaeyeon-sshi.” Hitomi says before bowing to the other person.

“Pleasure to meet you as well, Princess.”

“Where is everyone else Captain?” Minjoo asks.

“They’ve headed to the house you’ve been staying at. I believe they should have met Yujin-sshi already. We should start heading there as well.”

“Alright. I guess it’s time Hiichan. Let’s go.” Minjoo says as she brings one hand out to which Hitomi grabs onto before walking back to the place she’s been calling home for the past week.

 

 

 

Upon arriving in front of the place, Hitomi sees all officers greet her politely and scared Chaewon was going to notice, she quickly utters

“Please don’t do this. Not right now. Even if it’s only us, I’m still a normal civilian here. I’m still like everyone else.”

Looking at their Captain, Yena, Hyewon, and Sakura sees her give a nod to them signifying them to obey the Princess. Even though they know the plan of having Minjoo continuing her disguise, they just thought it would be right for them to properly greet the Princess first before anything.

And as they all enter the house, the princess notices Chaewon sitting on the couch confused at all that’s happening.

“You must be Chaewon-sshi?” Chaeyeon asks.

“Y-Yes.” the girl replies back while standing up.

“Thank you for taking care of Hiichan for us. She means a lot to the Princess and now that we’ve finally found her, I believe it’s time to take her back to Seoul so she can properly get treated for her condition in order for her to be ready to leave for the country of Eito.”

With eyebrows furrowed together, Chaewon looks at Hitomi heartbroken from the situation.

“S-She has to leave now?” the owner of the house utters.

“Yes. After she grabs her stuff, we’ll be leaving right away.”

Looking away, Chaewon could only nod her head as she turns around and closes her eyes.

“If you guys don’t mind waiting outside, I want to talk to Chaewon-sshi privately.” Hitomi orders while looking at everyone.

Wanting the girl to say her final goodbyes, everyone obliged.

 

 

 

“Ch-Chaewon-sshi…” Hitomi calls out as she takes a step closer to the girl before resting one hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll help you pack.” Chaewon replies back.

She quickly enters their room and grabs the stuff belonging to the other girl. Hitomi seeing this, tries her best to suppress her tears.

Almost done packing, Chaewon goes through one last cabinet and suddenly notices two jars filled with paper stars in them. Each jar had a ribbon tied to it with a rolled piece of paper attached. Holding them both within her hands, she hears the other girl explain

“I made this a few days ago when you were out of the house. I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay here and this was just a small gesture to show that since I don’t really have any money on me. Each jar has a thousand paper stars. It’s been told that if you were to fold a thousand stars you can make a wish. That’s why I made two. One for the each of us.”

Feeling tears coming again, Hitomi pushes through with her explanation.

“I’m sorry, I guess I got too excited and already wrote down my wish, but the other one’s empty. So, whenever you want you can write down your wish on the piece of paper I attached to the jar.”

“Do you want to keep yours then?” Chaewon asks still staring at the two jars.

“No…I want you to keep both of it. I want the jars to stay together while we are apart.”

And with everything all packed up, Hitomi grabs her bag and before she heads out the door, she says her final greetings.

“I guess this is goodbye Chaewon-sshi. I enjoyed the stay here very much. I promise the memories of us together will not be forgotten. Thank you for everything.”

Feeling a single tear stream down her face, Hitomi knew she had to leave before she starts crying again for the second time today, but before she could make her way to the door, she suddenly feels two arms wrap around her waist from behind.

“Do you have to go?” Chaewon asks through her cries.

And hearing this, Hitomi lets everything out as well. She quickly turns around to hug the person as they cry within each other’s arms.

“Please, don’t leave.” the princess hears again and breaks down even more.

Both hearts so broken, could only be mended through each other, but with one person tasked on something so great, it was practically impossible for them to get repaired.

Knowing that if she were to stay like this any longer, she would probably end up doing something reckless, Hitomi slowly breaks away from the other person.

“I…I have to go now. Please take care of yourself. Goodbye…”

Turning back to face the door, Hitomi feels Chaewon grab onto her hand and trying to stay strong, she slowly walks away from the other person. With their hands pulling apart, she feels the very last touches of Chaewon before exiting out the house.

And with the other girl gone, Chaewon’s knees grow weak as she drops to the floor. It seems like all her happiness was taken away from her in just a matter of minutes and there was nothing she could do to get it back. Looking at the two jars that she placed on the cabinet next to her, she pulls the piece of paper attached to one of them and as she rolls it open, she sees the wish Hitomi wrote and starts bawling even more.

In it, it read:

‘I wish we could be together like this for a long time.’

 

 

 

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That end's it for this chapter. 

As I have mentioned in my other story, since I don't really log onto here as often, I've created a twitter: @cupOfT_2825  in order to answer any questions you guys have or give updates on when the next chapter will be released.

So until next time, hope you guys enjoyed.

 

Previews: 

"Are you really going to give up that easily Unnie?"

"They took us all for fools."