chapter soundtrack:
moon river - jj heller

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"I love you."

"I love you."

"Sooho-ssi?"

Youngro rubbed her temples. Her head felt so light, a feeling of dizziness would come and go that morning. At the same time, the memories from last night kept on flashing in her head. As she remembered those words she said to the Crown Prince, she immediately washed her face once more. As her eyes gazing down at the running tap water, the girl left out a heavy sigh. In her mind, she was still busy thinking about what just happened last night— and why she had to say that.

"Why did I say that..." she mumbled. 

Since she woke up this morning, Youngro hadn't walked out of her room at all. She felt like she was not ready to face Im Sooho. Not yet.

Youngro's tired eyes slowly moved up towards the bathroom mirror, finding her own reflection. She looked... messy. Her long black hair was somehow looked even more tousled than her usual bed hair in the morning. When she tried to comb her hair with her fingers, her visions caught that familiar bruises on her neck... and the sight of it made the girl sighed heavily once more. 

They really should avoid drinking together at night...

And the nightgowns too. 

Youngro's fingers crumpled the silky fabrics, then pulled it up and took the nightgowns off her body. She bit her lips as she found her own eyes in the mirror. Those marks looked even more visible now. She stared at her reflection once more before turning her heels towards the shower.

"You've done your make up by yourself?"

That was Maeng. She came to Youngro's room at 9 that morning, as she should help the future Crown Princess to get ready for the day as usual. But to her surprise, the girl had prepared herself. She was ready with her casual clothes, her hair was combed neatly, and her light make up was done as well. She was ready for the day.

"Ah, I woke up earlier this morning. The first thing I did was to shower," Youngro chuckled when she saw Maeng looking at her surprisedly. "And I tried to put on the make up by myself. I simply put it on and comb my hair to make sure it's neat. You can retouch it, Maeng."

What could Maeng say? Eun Youngro would look flawless even without any make up. Those light make up she had that morning was enough to highlight her natural beauty already. She thought, there wouldn't be anything to add or retouch. "It's okay, you look good." Maeng tilted her head as she scanned the girl's looks—

"Oops."

Youngro raised both her eyebrows, wondering what made the royal stylist gasped like that. She tried to find what was wrong, but when her eyes saw Maeng's pupils were darted on her neck, the girl froze. She could feel warmth creeping up from her neck, up to her cheeks.

The royal stylist didn't say anything, and proceeded to take out a brush out of her make up box. Her other hand reached a bottle of concealer before finally facing Youngro once more. There was a glimpse of smile on the royal stylist's face when she said, "Come closer, let me help you retouch a bit over there before I go."

There was only one portion of breakfast that morning on the table. Unlike the other days when they had English breakfast most of the time in the morning, that day she was served with Korean traditional dishes. What surprised her the most was a bowl of warm Haejangguk— a hangover menu she would have whenever she had some alcohol the night before.

Youngro was not a strong drinker, and she rarely had alcohol beverages in her life. She only had alcohol beverages if her friends took her out after a full week of examinations, or if there's someone in her peers having a birthday or any event to celebrate, or if she just finished wrapping up a big project.

Last night was her second time drinking alcohol with the Crown Prince. In around a month, she had been drunk twice with him. And it was her personal records. She hadn't ever got drunk that much in a short period of time.

Twice. And it always ended up with the same scenario.

"Haejangguk?" Youngro mumbled silently.

Sooho probably ordered it for breakfast. But why was it only one serving? Who was it for? Her? The Crown Prince? 

If it was for her... then did the Crown Prince not get any breakfast that day?

Youngro was gazing at the bedroom door across hers, wondering if the man she thought of was still sleeping in his room. She wanted to check on him, but when she took the first step, she heard someone coming to the suite. 

"Good morning, Miss Youngro." Jonathan, with his thick british accent, greeted Youngro. The tall man stood by the entrance of the suite, knocking the opened door and waited for Youngro's permission before entering. "May I come in?"

Youngro smiled when she caught the man, and quickly nodded. "Good morning, Jonathan. Please, come in!" She gestured the man to enter the room, even asking him to take a seat if he would stay longer inside the suite. "Have you eaten breakfast?"

"Oh, I had mine already, Miss." Jonathan replied happily, his feet were walking further into the suite living room. When he saw the girl offering him for a seat, he politely turned down the offer. The man was about to open his tab when the girl threw a question at him.

"Jonathan, has the Crown Prince... had his breakfast?" She carefully asked and nodded her head towards the one serving of breakfast on the table.

"Oh, His Royal Highness didn't have breakfast for this morning at the hotel, Miss. The Crown Prince went out for his morning walk at 7 AM. He said he wouldn't have breakfast for today, but he requested for a special menu for you. Korean traditional dishes, and also a bowl of Haejangguk." Jonathan gave her a meaningful smile.

"You guys have Korean dishes too at the hotel?"

The man cleared his throat, "Well, we had chefs who were able to prepare Korean dishes on stand by since the Korean royal family visited us. So, we could get the Korean dish breakfast prepared for you, Miss. We hope you enjoy the breakfast."

So it was really Sooho who ordered the Korean dishes for breakfast. Especially the Haejangguk soup.

"So, we—"

"He went out for his morning walk... two hours ago, then?" Youngro asked once more, and when she saw Jonathan stopped midway once more with his tablet, Youngro quickly apologized. "Oh sorry, you were saying?"

"No, it's alright, Miss." Jonathan smiled widely as he saw the Crown Prince's fiancée apologizing to him with her worried face. "Yes, correct. He went out around two hours ago."

"Alone?"

"The Crown Prince asked the guards to not following him closely, as His Royal Highness would only walk around the Hyde Park area this morning. Kangmoo also went out to monitor the guards."

"Oh." She responded shortly.

"Alright, Miss. Now, may I share with you some updates regarding your schedule tomorrow? I would like to share with you some early brief for tomorrow since you will have to meet the Korean ambassador along with the Crown Prince before you depart to the airport for your flight back home."

"Of course! Of course," Youngro replied, giving all her attention to the man inside the living room. "If it's quite long, feel free to have a seat, Jonathan."

"It's alright. Please don't hesitate to also enjoy your breakfast, Miss Youngro. I'll be giving you the run through quickly."

"You don't need to rush, Jonathan. Want some banana milk while we're talking?"

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In fact, Sooho didn't have his morning walk at Hyde Park only.

He was jogging around Hyde Park at first, making sure his royal guards saw him from afar, so that they could confirm he really was having his morning walk at Hyde Park as he said. However, as he took the second turn, the man walked out of the park through Queen Elizabeth gate. When he crossed the road, he tried to turn his head back to the hotel building where most of the guards stood by.

It should be safe then.

Sooho was about to turn his feet when his eyes caught the sight of his suite's big windows, at the very top of the hotel's building.

And it reminded him of the girl. Eun Youngro was probably still sleeping.

He hoped she was having a good night sleep—

"I love you."

When her soft voice echoed inside his head, the man left out a long exhale, leaving out soft fog out from his mouth. He really wanted to slap himself for what he had done last night. He shouldn't had done that.

And that morning, Sooho wasn't ready to face her rightaway. Not after what happened that night. Not after that sudden confession from Eun Youngro. Not after he left her unanswered. 

One last time, he took a glance at the suite's windows, peeking through his windbreaker hoodie. He hadn't told Youngro where he would be going that morning, but he had left his messages to Jonathan. He was leaving that morning for a walk. But he wasn't going around Hyde Park. He walked further while sorting out his mind through each step he took that brought him to Soho, in West End of London.

He had to clear things up. At least, he tried.

❄️

"I'm back."

It was passed 10 when Youngro noticed that the Crown Prince had arrived back at the suite.

She was in her room, waiting for him worriedly. She had sent him messages since she finished her breakfast, yet the man didn't respond at all. When she tried to reach out to Kangmoo, the older man only said that the Crown Prince was still in his morning walk. But it had passed three hours. And until then, she hadn't heard anything from him.

So, once she heard his voice outside, Youngro immediately jumped of