"Yah Han Eunbyul, why do you look moody?" Baekhyun poked Byul's arm.

The two were alone the next day. The other princes weren't visiting that day because Sehun and Kai had a family dinner and Suho was in his artsy mood and went off to paint. D.O. went riding and Chanyeol accompanied D.O. for a few hours. Dahae might visit, but she hadn't shown up.

Byul had been feeling a little down since she saw Dahae's advancements towards Baekhyun. It made everything seem more real at that instant.

Her feelings for Baekhyun. Baekhyun's feelings for Dahae. Dahae's possible feelings for Baekhyun.

Seeing how Dahae might just return Baekhyun's affections made Byul really down. She even contemplated quiting her job if the two really got together but it just wasn't like Han Eunbyul to give up on something.

She felt strange, dumb, for feeling like this. Why did she fall for Byun Baekhyun when there were a thousand reasons not to? 1. He was stubborn and stupid, absurdly childish. 2. She already knew he liked Dahae. 3. He was the freaking Crown Prince helloooooo why would he like her back?

But the thing about love was that she didn't even know when it hit her and it was already there. She didn't ask for it and it presented itself to her, stucking itself in the depths of her heart and refusing to be uprooted. She knew she was stubborn but she wished that her heart wouldn't be as stubborn as she was.

She looked over at Baekhyun distractedly. "I'm not." she defended, answering his earlier question. "I'm not moody."

Baekhyun leaned closer, making Byul's breath hitch involuntarily. He narrowed his eyes and studied her face. "You are." he frowned. "Don't bother hiding. You worked for me long enough and I can read enough of your expressions. You're moody."

Byul wrinkled her nose. Oh, and now he's apt at reading her feelings as well? Why must this guy be such a perfect fit for her but not return her feelings that way?

"I'm not." Byul denied. She faked a smile as best as she could. "I'm just bored." she fibbed. "Bored."

Baekhyun pouted, knowing she was lying. But he too knew that this girl was a stubborn bull and wanting answers that she didn't want to reveal would be asking too much. He relented, not asking anymore.

"Hmm I'm bored too." he murmured. His eyes lit up and he looked at her, smiling. "Han Eunbyul, let's play a game."

Byul looked at him suspiciously. "What game?"

"Well," Baekhyun grinned. "I'm going to teach you to write and read." he announced proudly.

Byul blinked. "Whaa?"

"Yep, grateful right? Who had a Crown Prince as a teacher before you tell me?" he boasted. "Now, I'm going to teach you a short paragraph and you're going to be tested. And if you manage to recite it fully and write it out, you'll win. If you don't, I'll win."

Byul her lips nervously. "What happens when I win?"

"If you win, I'll do anything you say. If I win, you'll do anything I say. Anything." Baekhyun's eyes twinkled with mischief. "So, on for the challenge, Han Eunbyul? Prove that you're not all muscle and strength?"

Byul wrinkled her nose. It's hard to turn down a challenge like this when it's phrased in this manner. Baekhyun sure knew how to pull her strings.

"You're on." Byul nodded. She looked around immediately. "So where's the darned book?"

Baekhyun chuckled and nudged her forehead. "Impatient as always, Han Eunbyul?"

"What the! You tricked me! This is so difficult!" Byul complained, pulling her hair.

Baekhyun had been spending the past hour teaching her how to write a stanza of his favorite poem called "What is Love" (hehehe) and she couldn't even read the thing, much less write it. Her usually steady hands trembled clumsily as she tried to hold onto the brush and her words looked like kiddy drawings instead of words. Jaeho's were even better than hers.

"You took on the challenge Han Eunbyul, you can't back out now!" Baekhyun warned. "It's not too difficult. You see?" he took her hand that was holding the brush and guided as he thought her word by word. He placed one hand on her left shoulder and leaned over to peer at the paper.

Byul's pulse quickened. Her cheeks heated up much to her annoyance and she tried to remember the of the words without getting distracted by Baekhyun's nearness. And failed. Miserably.

She could hardly get a single thing into her mind with Baekhyun being so close. It was utterly distracting.

Baekhyun found Byul staring blankly at the paper and he chuckled, poking her cheek. "Why? Too hard for you, Han Eunbyul?" he teased. "I knew it. You should give up now and not waste our time so I can state my reward."

Byul blinked and woke from her stance. "No!" she made a face. "I'm not backing off without a fight. Give me that book I'll learn it myself!" she grumbled, snatching the book and eying the words.

Baekhyun watched in amusement as Byul's face screwed up in disgust, trying to decipher the foreign looking words that didn't even take any effort to read. *Cute.* he thought.

He realised what had crossed his mind and shook his head. *Focus Byun Baekhyun. Don't let your thoughts run wild!*

After another hour, Baekhyun finally tore the book from Byul's hands and tested her on the stuff. He handed her a new brush and paper and made her write the whole thing from memory.

Byul struggled to remember the words in the right order and the necessary for the chinese characters. Fighting, she was good at. But writing and literature? Psssh.

She finally handed the paper to Baekhyun after half an hour, musing over her words and double checking every single one with the ones in her memory. Baekhyun checked her words, impressed with how much she learnt given that she was illerate from the beginning.

"Hmm not bad." he nodded, reading.

Byul sent him a triumphant look. "I didn't get a single mistake did I?" she grinned.

Baekhyun poked her forehead. "Not so fast Han Eunbyul, you forgot one here. In yong." he pointed. She just missed a single in the word as she compared it with the book. "Ugh! I can't believe I missed it!" she let out a frustrated yell.

Baekhyun patted her head. "Try harder next time." he grinned. "So....you've got to do what I say."

Byul gulped. "So what would that be?"

Baekhyun grinned and leaned closer to her ear, whispering. "Sneak us out of the Palace into the Capital City. Oh, and don't forget the commoner clothes."

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Byul whispered. "It's against the rules! What if we get found out? Do you want me sacked?"

Baekhyun grinned. "I just want to go out again, missed your home." he bumped her shoulders. "And the Crown Prince's got your back. You'll be fine."

Byul rolled her eyes and gestured for him to follow. They snuck towards the palace walls and looked around for guards. Dressed top to toe in commoner's clothes, no one would expect these two to belong to the Palace.

Byul stood down on one knee and patted her thigh. "Step and climb over the wall, Ddong-ha."

Baekhyun shot her an incredulous look. "I'm the guy here and you're expecting me to step on your thigh?" he snorted. "Dream on." he pulled her to her feet and grabbed her waist, hauling her up.

Byul took a sharp intake of breath as her head bobbed over the top of the wall. She grabbed the top desperately and climbed on, sitting on it. She looked down and saw Baekhyun smiling at her. "Here, grab my hand then." she reached down and Baekhyun hauled himself up with her help.

Both of them smiled and jumped off the wall, out into the capital city, into freedom.

-----

Chanyeol paled as he leaned against the wall. Did he really just see Baekhyun and Byul sneak away from the Palace? Together? If he didn't think better, that kind of looked like a....date.

"No it can't be. Hyung likes Dahae." Chanyeol murmured to himself.

He went back to his home, wondering what he should do about it. He can't tell anyone, he'd alert them of the Crown Prince's absence. Baekhyun covered up for him so many times when they were young. He should do that for his hyung this time.

But somehow he didn't really feel like it when he saw who his hyung went off with.

He walked into his family's residence and past his father's room. Just in time to hear Lord Park talking to his right hand man. "And when is the next attack planned? We can't afford to keep failing you know, Lee!"

Lee nodded and bowed. "I understand." he muttered. "It was pure luck the first time Jeonha didn't get killed when the assassin fired that arrow. But the second time the girl Byul caught our assassin lurking around and he didn't dare act. The third time that girl Byul smelt the cynaide in Jeonha's soup and ate it for him. She's making it hard to act, Lord."

Lord Park frowned. "I don't care! I want Jeonha dead. And fast." he growled.

Chanyeol leaned against the wall. Another stunning revelation.

*So Abeoji was the one who tried to kill hyung?* Chanyeol swallowed. *Oh. My. God.*