Jaehyun walked onto the school's rooftop, it was now Monday.When he'd gotten back to the palace the night before, he saw a message from Yuta. It had asked him to meet here. As much as Jaehyun wanted to say 'no', and tell Yuta to leave him alone--he knew that wasn't right. 

If he could hear Iseul out, and forgive her, he could hear Yuta out. 

After all, Yuta was another pond that had accidently gotten mixed up into this mess. If he was going to blame anybody, it wouldn't be Yuta or Iseul. It would be the person who came up with this stupid plan. Mr. Lee himself. But that was farther down the line on the list of things Jaehyun had to clean up. 

The responsibilities that come with being the crown prince can be burdensome, but it kept him in line. And made him a more understanding person. 
Sometimes people are forced into things they don't want to do, made to act out of character in a way that baffles those close to them. 

Luckily, Yuta didn't have to do anything, he just had to keep his mouth shut. 

"I'm here." Jaehyun announced as he walked towards Yuta. He came to a stop in front of him. "What did you want to say?" Jaehyun already knew the answered, but he'd let Yuta say it in his own words. 

"Jaehyun," Yuta took a moment to gather all the things he wanted to say, "I'm sorry. I should have told you when I found out. But I hope you can see why I couldn't." 
The crown prince nodded, "I get it." 
"I didn't even know till Sicheng's birthda- you get it?" He paused. 

Jaehyun nodded, "It's not your fault. And I'm not mad. I already talked to Iseul about it, we actually talked even more on the phone, she told me all the details so I can handle everything." Yuta's eyes widened. "What do you mean 'handle everything'?" 

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at him, "You don't think I'm just going to let this go, do you?" Yuta nodded slowly, he had a feeling this was a trick question. 
"Absolutely not." Jaehyun said in a deadpan tone, "I'm not going to marry Lee Seol, and I'm sure as heck not going to have any deals with Mr. Lee, at least the older one." He added the last part on, after all Haechan was a close friend of Iseul's, so he might make an exception for that Lee. 

Yuta began laughing hysterically. Jaehyun's forehead creased, "What's so funny?"  Yuta had to take a moment to compose himself. 

"I've been so stressed out, I thought you hated me!" The corner of Jaehyun's lips quirked up, "I don't think It's possible to hate you." Jaehyun said in a fake sweet voice. Yuta fake gagged. The two laughed for a moment before Yuta spoke, "So, what's this plan of yours?" 

Jaehyun shrugged, "To stick my ground, and watch Mr. Lee's plan crumble." 

~~~~~~~~~

To: Jerky Princess:

What are you up to?

Iseul smiled at her phone, she had it hidden under her desk at work. 

To: Royal Jerk

Work:\ Have you talked to Seol yet?"

Iseul troubled her bottom lip as she waited for a reply. She wished she was able to go with him, to sort things out as a pair, but she knew that wouldn't work. After all, she was supposed to have disappeared from Jaehyun's life. 
But somehow she found herself back in it, all because Taeyong decided to trick her into meeting Jaehyun at the park. She made a mental note to thank him, and yell at him. 

The ding of her phone drew her attention back to the device. 

From: Royal Jerk

Not yet, I'm going to soon. 

From: Royal Jerk

Do you want to meet up later? 

A smile took over her face as she read the message. 
"What are you so happy about?" 
Iseul's head jerked up at the sound of a voice, a voice that belonged to her co-worker. Iseul let out a sigh of relief, "Geez, Ten, I thought you were the manager." She put a hand to her chest. 

Ten smiled as he took the seat next to her, "You completely ghosted me for two months, then when you show up I don't even get a proper hello?" He asked dramatically, Iseul's lips twitched up into a smile, "It's not like you ever texted me." Iseul shot back, but neither of them were actually upset. 

"I got a new phone, your number was erased." Ten explained as he logged into his computer. 

Iseul set her phone to the side, "So what did I miss while I was gone?" She questioned. 

Ten chuckled, "Well, we have a new manager. Lucas broke two coffee machines, and YangYang was convinced you'd betrayed us and left for a different company." Ten explained quickly, "Amongst other small things." 

Iseul playfully rolled her eyes, "I'm surprised Lucas only broke the machine twice." She joked. Ten laughed, "It would have been more, but the manager took his machine privileges away." Iseul smiled. 

Her conversation continued, she would have felt even happier if their wasn't the problem of Jaehyun being engaged in the back of her mind. But she tried to distract herself by talking more with her coworkers.

In the end it slightly worked, or at least worked enough to were she forgot about his last message.

~~~~~~

Jaehyun puffed his cheeks out as he looked at the phone. Still no reply. He mentally groaned as he shoved the device back into his pocket. 
He would have to push that to the back of his mind. Because right now, he had to talk to his fiance. 

He internally cringed at the thought of being engaged to Lee Seol, it felt like he was sent back to his first meeting with Iseul. Back when he thought it was just another money hungry rich girl who wanted to be a princess, but he was wrong about that. A smile took over his lips again at the thought of his princess. 

Come to think of it, he rarely called her by her name, Iseul or Seol, he had no idea when the nicknames started, but they stuck. 

He pulled himself from his thoughts, he knocked on the door to the Lilly Pad House, the one the real Seol was now staying at. 

A few seconds later a petite girl who had hair like Iseuls, and a similar nose and eye shape and over all had a pretty look--though Jaehyun personally thought Iseul was way pretty--answered the door. 
She looked up at him in shock, "Oh, Crown Prince, I wasn't expecting you." She sounded almost upset he had arrived, but she still kept her manners. 

"May I come in?" Jaehyun asked. Seol nodded, "Of course, your highness, but don't mind my asking, doesn't the king want to meet with us as well?" 
Jaehyun was almost getting annoyed by how polite she was, "It's fine, I was actually hoping to talk to you privately." 

Seol nodded, "I think that might be a good idea, prince." 

The two took a seat on the