chapter soundtrack:
destiny - ong sung eun

❄️ 

That night, after they finished their dinner, Sooho walked back to his mansion with Kangmoo.

They were walking side by side to the Crown Prince mansion, located on the south east side of the royal palace. Sooho moved there since he was high school, and since then he lived in the mansion alone, along with his staff and maids. They stayed at different building though, but they lived closely so they could stand by as close as they could to the Crown Prince.

The two men walking through the palace garden in silence, before one of them innitiated a small talk.

"So... how was the dinner?"

"As usual." He answered shortly while loosing up his tie. "Royal duties discussion. And some political stuff. More paperworks to do, and Father needs my help to review and give him some of my thoughts or ideas. I guess I'm going to sleep late again tonight. And newsflash— I think that marriage scenario is getting real, real soon." 

Sooho nodded curtly while walking his way to the mansion whenever royal guards or maids passed by him and bowed. Kangmoo did the same, but once or twice, he would greet some staff who he knew. 

When Kangmoo felt the silence was back between both of them, he opened up again, "So, you're going to follow the King's and Queen's order now? You know... that marriage arrangement with— only God knows who?"

The younger man shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't even believe himself that he would do this. "We will know soon. The King ordered his men to find the family who own the ring. The late King, my grandfather, had lost contact with his best friend even when he was quiet young. But I guess they had a strong bond, until the kingdom still hold on to the promise up until now." He sighed. "It just happens that... I'm the one who will be fulfilling the late King's promise."

This time, Kangmoo stayed silent for a while. He was thinking of the right thing to say to his best friend, the Crown Prince, to comfort him. If they were a normal person... damn, Kangmoo would help Sooho to fight his own family so Sooho could have his own freedom. But he couldn't. He was the crown prince, and Kangmoo was his right hand man. They had to follow the rules and decisions made by the royal family.

When they arrived, Kangmoo let Sooho walked up the stairs to enter the mansion's front door. Kangmoo was watching Sooho's back and somehow, the man felt heavy on his chest. He was always more mature than his age. Sometimes, Kangmoo really wished Sooho could feel how freedom truly feels like, how it would feel to be men on his age. 

As Sooho opened up the door, Kangmoo called him.

"Crown Prince," He said. "I really appreciate your willingness to follow the royal duties. But if you ever need help, or if you need someone... I will— Hyung will be there. Got it?"

The younger one came in a halt, and turned his head towards his friend who was watching him from his back. Sooho, the cold man, broke out a small smile as he saw the cheeky side of his friend. He waved his hand, "It's okay, Hyung."

"Call me if you need help with the paperworks. I took some politics and government courses before. Even some additional courses on Korean history and culture. I'm certified, so you can count on me—" 

"Yes, Hyung. Got it."

"Get enough sleep as well! You will need to finish your short film project preparation tomorrow!"

Sooho was closing the door when he shouted, "Yeeeees. Good night!"

That night, Sooho stayed up late until early morning with his warm coffee and piled documents. In front of him, two newest launched Macbook Pro were working their fan at its best to keep the laptop's engine cool. Once in a while, Sooho would close his eyes to take some rest, but whenever he closed his eyes, his memories with Chungya that day kept on coming back. 

He quickly shook his head, trying to forget the memory, and he took another sip of his black coffee.

❄️ 

It was Friday afternoon and Sooho was back at the studio.

That morning, he met Chungya at the campus hall as he arrived. Chungya gave him a small smile when they made an eye contact, then she walked away without saying anything. Since yesterday, the woman didn't even send any messages to Sooho. It seemed like she wanted some space after what happened between both of them yesterday.

Sooho peeked at his phone screen on the table, wondering if he would get any notifications from her anytime now. An hour passed, and Sooho had finished another camera and lighting discussion with his team, and the man checked his phone again.

Until he couldn't hold it back anymore, he wanted to reach out to Chungya.

[Sooho] I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable yesterday.

[Sooho] I hope we're fine?

He bit his lips as he wrote the next line,

[Sooho] And if by chance you change your mind, please tell me.

❄️ 

By lunch time, Youngro had finished the classes for today. The afternoon class was canceled, thanks to the lecturer who loved to be absent on their own class schedule. They made this semester ... 

She closed her old laptop as she sent her updated recording file to her lecturer and thanked the campus recording studio assistant that day.

"Thank you for letting me using the studio today, Miss." She bowed, and walked out of the door.

If there's no more classes, then Youngro could have a longer shift at the cafe today. She smiled at the thoughts of additional salaries she would get by the end of month. For the past few months, she had been taking a part-time job at a famous cafe around her campus. She used her monthly salary to help her mother collect more money for her father treatment, and to buy groceries at home.

At least she got the benefit from the absent lecturer. She giggled as she walked to the nearest bus stop. She waved at some students who passed by her on her way when suddenly her phone rang.

Youngu called.

"Eum, oppa?" Youngro arrived on time at the bus stop, the bus she took to the cafe had come at the same time. One of her hand took her card out of her pocket and tapped it to pay the bus fare. "What's up?"

Youngro could hear her brother's heavy breathing accross the line. Did he just finish a marathon or something?

"Youngro, are you finished with the class today? Is Mrs. Oh, that lecturer, absent again today?"

"She is." Youngro smiled cheekily. She sat on one of the available bus seat as the driver drove the car away from the bus stop. 

"Good." 

"Hm?"

"Mother said you were looking for a yellow stone ring last night?" He said, and Youngro's smile faded slightly. Her face turned serious.

"Yes, has Mother told you about it too, Oppa? Do you know anything about the ring?"

"Yes, actually. I remember that ring, our Grandfather gave it to our family when I was 4. You were not born yet. I will explain everything to you later. But I think... you have to go home soon, Youngro... it's something REALLY important."

Youngro tilted her head, wondering. "Why... why?"

"The people from royal palace came to our house this morning when you left. They're looking for you, and it seems like the yellow stone ring our Father mentioned... it's related to some real stuff with the royal family. They will come again tomorrow, and we have to get the ring ready. You better come home soon."

Upon hearing her brother, Youngro got off on the next bus stop and took another bus heading towards her home.

❄️ 

"Okay. So they didn't come to catch me and throw me to jail because I splashed the Crown Prince with a cup of super hot coffee, but they came for an engagement ring? For who?"

Youngu, who sat on the living room so