Life at the outskirts was truly peaceful. The summer palace was constructed about a century ago, and was specifically designed to accommodate the royal family when they wanted to get away from the capital. It was akin to a small estate, having only a handful of quarters for people to stay in, compared to the countless rooms in the main palace. 

Upon entering the gate, there was a small courtyard, around which the main quarters were to be found. The courtyard was built on uneven ground, given that the palace was at the foot of the mountain. At night, the fire pit in the middle was lit up with a bonfire, and the princess made it a point to sit down with her ladies-in-waiting around it. She asked them about their day or had them tell her stories about the palace. Initially, the ladies were wary, but the princess successfully coaxed them into answering, until the atmosphere became filled with laughter and mirth.

Occasionally, she would look back to see if Jongkook was with them. She knew that he liked to walk around at night to think or to wind down, but the candle in his quarters was lit up, indicating that he had chosen to remain indoors. From her place in the courtyard, she could see him sitting down on the floor, behind what seemed to be a desk. He was hunched over, his elbow resting on his propped-up knee. She couldn’t stop staring at his silhouette, and the slightest of his movements mesmerized her - the way his back seemed to move whenever he breathed, the way he’d boyishly brush his hair back, and finally the way he moved his hand towards his deck, tapping it with his fingers. 

“Your highness, is everything alright?” Eunji approached her and asked, having seen the princess stare off into space distractedly.

She immediately put on a smile, and nodded, but she could still see Eunji’s eyes warily looking at her. “You know what? I have an idea! We should play hide and seek!” she said, feigning excitement. 

“Your highness, it’s past midnight,” Eunji simply answered. 

“And I am still not tired enough to retire to my quarters. Come on! It will be fun, Eunji-yah,” she insisted. Truthfully, the princess didn’t know what had come upon her, but none of her expectations from this trip had been happening and her spirit was beginning to dampen. Perhaps letting herself enjoy a childish game would take her mind off things. 

Soon enough, Donghoon was selected to become the seeker, and she, along with Sechan and the other ladies, was getting ready to hide. Eunji was glued to her side, but she insisted she wanted to hide alone. “We’re going to get caught this way, Eunji. I’ll hide in the back garden. You should probably join Sechan,” she baited her lady-in-waiting. 

When she heard Donghoon counting, she ran as fast as she could to the back garden. She thought of hiding in the pagoda or behind the bushes initially, but the moonlight provided ample lighting to all areas of the garden, making her silk hanbok distinguishable. Being intensely competitive, she decided to move further back to find a hiding spot. 

Beyond the pagoda, the princess found a path leading out of the garden. She could hear the faint sound of water rushing through, so she followed the path and eventually chanced upon a small brook beneath what looked to be a cave. She looked up, seeing the rocky ridges of the mountain. In the middle of the brook was a narrow path, leading to the other side, where huge rocks were situated. 

She decided it would be a great hiding spot. It was inconspicuous, and she could take a seat on one of the rocks as she waited for Donghoon. All she had to do was to cross the path in the middle. 

She hiked up her skirt, and began to traverse the narrow path, not minding the pebbles. She carefully balanced herself; the path was narrower than she had expected, and the water was threatening to dampen her shoes. 

Left, right, left, right, she mentally recounted, as she took each step. The path could only accommodate one foot at a time, so she had to take every step in front of the former one. It had been going well, but the path was longer than she’d anticipated. Her arms started to give way, and her skirt slipped out of her grasp. The added weight to her right side threw her off her balance, and she fell on her back to the water.

Fortunately, the water was only inches deep and, save for a few scratches from the stones at the bottom of the brook, the princess was unharmed. But she was very wet. Her back was drenched and her skirt felt heavier with the water that had seeped in. She pushed herself off of the ground, and decided to waddle her way through the brook and into the cave. Upon reaching her destination, she settled herself on the smoothest surface she could find. 

She looked up at the crescent moon. Its gleam had been reflected on the surface of the water, making it look like the brook was littered with diamonds. Interestingly, it provided her a good distraction, but soon enough, she realized how silent the night was, save for the sound of crickets chirping. The night breeze softly whistled, and, given the damp cloth on her back, she shivered. She swallowed, feeling a sense of dread after realizing she was truly alone in a very unfamiliar place. 

But someone should find her soon, shouldn’t they? 

Donghoon barged into Jongkook’s quarters. He immediately hid his parchment underneath the nearest book he could find. 

“Hyung, we can’t find her highness,” Donghoon breathlessly said. Jongkook immediately stood up, throwing on his durumagi, the overcoat that had been personally handmade by his dear mother, and tying it as he followed Donghoon out of his quarters. He’d already been in his white hanbok, wanting to retire for the night, but after some tossing and turning, he realized he couldn’t sleep. He ended up scribbling and sketching mindlessly until Donghoon came in. 

Donghoon explained that they were playing a game, and he’d successfully found all the ladies-in-waiting. But it had been half-an-hour already, and, despite everybody else’s help, they couldn’t find the princess.

Jongkook immediately looked for Eunji, who was scouring the kitchen with Sechan. “She said she’d go to the back garden to hide, but we already checked the area. She must’ve changed her mind, commander,” she told him.

Having heard this, the commander wanted to cover all bases. He instructed the palace guards to check outside the palace. He left the entirety of the palace to Donghoon, Sechan, and the ladies, with directions to check every nook and cranny. He then went to the back garden where he wanted to begin his search.

Upon reaching the back garden, he saw a path behind the pagoda that led to the forest. He quickly ran back to the palace to grab a torch, and proceeded to walk deeper into the darkness. The walk seemed endless for a while, and every so often, he’d call out to her, hoping that she would respond. Soon enough, he heard the sound of water flowing, and a few steps later, he had reached a clearing.

The brook he came across seemed to glimmer in the moonlight, but as he raised his torch, another sight brought a huge sense of relief to his heart.

Beyond the brook was Jihyo, her arms poised in an attempt to defend herself. Her focus was trained on him, initially believing he was an enemy. But, upon recognizing him, her eyes visibly softened, and she whispered, “Oh, Jongkook…” She put down her arms, and walked back to her spot. From afar, Jongkook saw her shivering as she took a seat, and it was only then that he’d realized that her hanbok was dark and drenched.

He walked through the brook to be by her side. “You’re shivering,” he said, as he approached her. She had been rubbing her arms with her own hands to keep herself warm, but that didn’t seem to help, s