"How has it been? "She asked Saeron.

After seeing each other in the restaurant Saeron worked in, Yeri asked her to follow them after they finished ordering. They decided to just take out the food. Yeri explained first to Yeeun about who Saeron was. Of course Yeeun agreed with this idea but, how about Saeron?

She hadn't grabbed the opportunity to talk to Yeri about something last time. Not this time. She promptly told her manager that she will be leaving early. After a quite long discussion, her manager agreed with the promise of working overtime. Now, the three of them were sitting together inside a taxi.

"Honestly I don't know. I'm not sure if I want to talk about it." Saeron replied

How do I get her to talk about it without invading her privacy?

"So why did you agree to talk with me?"

"I've been looking for this opportunity, but now that we're here, I don't know where to start. I don't know if I should tell you this. I want to tell you, but I still can't face you."

"Are you scared of me?"

"No. It's just that, I can't face you anymore after what I've done."

"What have you done?" 

I hope this is the right approach to make her talk without making her feel invaded.

"You might've known already. Jungkook met me last year through your brother. It wasn't his original intention to bring you down. He originally intended to be a trainee to bring down the Baes. It just happened that your brother was also a trainee and became close to him."

"How did you fit in this?"

"I guess, your brother accidentally talked about your adoption to him. He got interested and asked more details about you. That's where I came to the story."

"Did you give information willingly?"

SR didn't answer him right away. Was I too direct with my question? Did I sound like a police investigation?  Yeeun looked at her weirdly because of it. 

"I might have asked the wrong question."

"No, it's not your fault. I need to talk to you about this. I didn't give out the information willingly, but my mother did."

What?

"My mother was there when he asked me about this. We met a few times before, and he was slowly making me comfortable. However, that time made me feel uncomfortable. As much as I wanted to say no, I can't. My mother was there."

"Did she force you to talk?"

"You know her, she would do anything for money. "

Money was involved?

"She may have a job as a professor at a university, but we're slowly going broke after my father left us. I tried to run away from her, but she always finds me."

"When we met at your dormitory, was it the time that you ran away from her?"

"Yes, that's it. I don't know how, but she found me after that. She may have asked for aid from Jungkook to locate me."

"So, do you really want to talk to me?"

"I really do."

"Then why did you give me the wrong phone number?"

"It was the right one. My mother found me while we we're talking. She threw my phone away after that, and some random person probably picked it up."

So I accidentally helped her mother find out about where she is. Wait. Did someone follow us?

"Did your mother find where you were because of me?"

"You could say that. Someone who's with Jungkook probably tailed you, and ended up discovering where I was hiding."

"Then, someone might be tailing us today. You'll be in danger again."

"Not only me, you could also possibly be in danger as well. After my mother found me, she forced me to pretend as someone from your family."

Confirmed. She was the  one from the show. Wait.

"If you knew that the two of us could be in danger, then why did you still agree to talk with me?"

"Because this may be the last time I can talk with you."

"Wait, what?"

"I would be leaving the country today. And yes, I tricked my manager that I would be working overtime. In fact, this would be the last time I would be working with her."

She then gave instructions to the taxi driver to where she was staying.

"Wait, where are you going? Why are you going?"

"You know I love mysteries  and true crime right?"

"Of course that's how we became friends. We even argued quite a lot about that, then we discovered that we're both good at debating."

"You see, I was offered by someone to work for them after I finished college there, and everything there will be ."

"Are you sure that it isn't a scam?"

"Of course, someone from the company went to verify it with me. She provided a lot of proof to prove they're not a fraud. I was convinced by it. That was also my dream job and I would be able to ran away from my mother if I accepted it. I also won't be in danger there, and they can't harm you because they don't know where I am. Or at least, they can't harm you by making me pretend or extract more information from me about you. Oh, I almost forgot, that person said she is close to you."

"What? What company will you be working for?"

"The Uchinagas."

Minutes later, the taxi reached the apartment where Saeron is currently staying. She asked the driver to wait for her. She went inside, grabbed her stuff and went back to the taxi. She then gave directions to the airport.

"Well I guess this is it." Saeron said.

"At least we are certain that we'll be seeing each other again. Wait, let's exchange numbers first."

"Right."

"Are you sure this is your number?"

"Of course, try calling it. And by the way I gave you the right number the last time. The only problem is the unforeseen circumstances."

"At least you won't have to face these circumstances anymore."

"Right, well then goodbye."

"Bye, see you when I see you."

They hugged each other and went separate ways. Once Yeri and Yeeun arrived at the Parks' company, they were greeted by Hayi's scolding. They were able to calm her down by telling her that they found out about something. They later told her that information when they went back home to the Isles.

Regarding the machine, it would be delivered to the Isles after two weeks. This would be at the same time as the International Festival. Despite its name, it is not actually an international festival as it is only for countries in East and Southeast Asia who still had monarchy and were rich enough. After that festival, the campaign for governor would officially start.

 It was a really packed two weeks. Mark is pressuring the rest of the student council to do their jobs on time. Yeri rarely gets pissed at Mark, but his attitude this time is getting on her nerves. Sure he is stressed, but he should also recognize that others are stressed and under pressure as well. Little did she know that those two weeks will be the one of the remaining good times she will be experiencing.

“Cherish things while it lasts.” She mutters, preparing to go to the festival. She decided to go with Joohyun and the others (except Seungwan who is currently having family activities, but promised to catch up later) for the whole festival while keeping in mind the duties she will be performing as a member of the student council for her year level.

Hours later, the royal families from all over Asia came. There’s the prince of Thailand with her girlfriend, the prince of Taiwan who came with the prince of China, and the only girl in the squad, the princess of Japan. 

It was the perfect opportunity for something to happen. That’s when the current king decided to announce the next heir to Korea’s throne. They called on every family member for a meeting. The heir was chosen.

“No, I don’t want to.” Seungwan disagreed.

“Why?” The king asked.

“I just don’t want to. It doesn’t fit me.”

“What do you mean by that? You are perfect .  Why? Are you scared by defying the tradition? History would remember you as the first female ruler of this country. Don’t you want that?”

“I don’t want to live that kind of life. I’m interested in other things.”

“Was that truly the reason?” Chaeyoung asked.

“Yes, what else could there be?”

“Like you’re dating someone.”

The room was filled with gasps. 

“This seems interesting. Yugyeom would like to see this scene right now. If only he wasn’t third wheeling with Bambam and his girlfriend.” Her cousin Youngjae remarked. Her other cousin, Yugyeom’s older brother Jinyoung, turned him down.

“Was that true?” Her father asked.

“Yes.” She said without hesitation.  

“Do you know that this is against the rules?”

“Of course, that’s why I did it.”

“What?”

“I don’t want this position, and I dated him to disqualify me for this position.”

“You what?”

“I did it, because I don’t want to.”

“Tell me, who’s the guy?”

“Park Chanyeol from the Parks.”

“Parks? The family who owns a biotech company?”

“Yes, them. Why?”

“ I see, they are a decent family, but what could we gain from marrying him? You could’ve married the prince of Taiwan, Mark Tuan instead.”

“Oh it’s already eleven, he’s waiting. I gotta go. Good luck with choosing the heir. Bye.” She left without looking back. Actually, we’re not dating yet, but my sister helped me lie. Thanks to her, I was finally able to hang out with Seulgi and the others.

“Wow, I've never seen this attitude from her. I’m impressed.” Youngjae said again, which made Jinyoung turn around and shush him.

Chaeyoung was also shocked about her sister’s behaviour. She didn’t expect that she would act like this. She always thought she was a gentle person who is afraid to kill a fly. That’s where she got it wrong. She became jealous of the attention the rest of her family gave to her sister. She was always the black sheep of the family. All the attention was given to her achiever sister. She finally saw a window of opportunity to bring her down. That’s when she saw her Chanyeol hanging out at a café.

She was deprived of love, who can blame her? Still it is wrong for her to do that.

 Their other cousin Jaebeom paid no attention to the chaos going on. He kept looking at door to see an opportunity to get out. When he finally saw one, he was interrupted by the king.

“According to the rules, Jaebeom should be next in line since your father is dead.”

His eyes widened when he heard that.

Youngjae smiled at the new drama unfolding in front of his eyes. He began secretly recording the happenings in front of his eyes. 

“What the ? Of course not.”

“Why do kids these days don’t want to rule? Princes years ago are killing each other for the throne. God, what’s wrong with kids nowadays?”

“Like Seungwan, I am also unfit to rule.”

“Well I see, aside from exhibiting delinquent behaviours.”

“That’s offensive.” He cut him off.

“ I know. What other things could you reason could you list to say that you are unfit for this? I know you might list delinquent behaviours, but like Seungwan using her alleged boyfriend, I suspect you might be doing the same thing.”

“Do you want someone like me to rule the country?”

“You could be trained. Who knows, you might’ve the potential to become a great leader in the future.”

“Are you sure about that? Do you know that I am also looking out for someone?”

“The tea is so good today.” Youngjae muttered,

“Okay, then who could this someone be?”

“Someone I know who might not want to be a member of our family.”

“Oh, was it common?”

“It was just someone from the Isles, whose family had quite a lot of issues.” 

“There’s quite a number of controversial families who live here. Let’s cut off the chase, who is it?”

“The Kangs.”

“Oh it’s them. I agree their family has controversies about lending from the Parks.”

“Not anymore. I paid the debt.”

“You what?!’

“I paid their debt in full. God, those damned money lender Parks even hired mercenaries to threaten them.”

“Wow, this is interesting.” Youngjae commented, then immediately shut up after he felt Jinyoung’s glare at him.

“You paid their debt? With your own money?”

“Are you even more concerned about that compared to the Parks threatening them with gangsters? This is the reason why I don’t want to be the head of this goddamn family.” He said as he walked out of the room, finally seeing an opportunity of escape.

“Wow this seems to be a Trip to Jerusalem