“Aigoo, aigoo, aigoo. Where did that girl go?” Suho muttered under his breath as he ran down the halls of the palace. He was trying to catch up with Ara after she ran out of the trial room, but she ran too fast and too far that he lost her in the first couple minutes. 

 

He eventually slowed down and started walking around. He eyed the various doors to rooms that could possibly be hiding Ara. “She could be anywhere!” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. 

 

A few guards walked by and eyed him suspiciously. Suho froze in fright. *Oh, god. Don’t tell me I’m going to be imprisoned again.* He shut his eyes tight and prepared himself for the worst. But he didn’t feel anything happen. He opened one eye and peeked to see what happened. They merely shrugged him off and continued on their way. Suho heaved a large sigh of relief. “Thank god.” He clutched his now steadying heart and continued on his way. 

 

He walked down too many halls for him to count for who knows how long before plopping down in the middle of one hall and giving up. “AISH! This girl! Why did she have to run?” He bowed his head in defeat. 

 

Suddenly, he felt a small, cool breeze whirl around him. He shivered and unconsciously rubbed his arms together before realizing what was happening. “Where is that breeze coming from?” He scanned around the hall for the source of that breeze and finally spotted a door that was slightly open. He promptly stood back up and silently walked in that direction. He slipped through the door and shut it behind him. 

 

The room was an extremely lavish bedroom, fit for a princess. *This HAS to be her room.* Suho spotted a large window on the other side of the room. He walked over towards it, and he discovered that it wasn’t actually a window, but it was two large glass doors that blocked the way to the balcony. He opened the door and was surprised to find Ara sitting on her balcony, feet dangling over the edge. 

 

He walked over and sat down beside her. She glanced towards him before staring at the night sky again, letting out small sniffles here and there. 

 

Suho shifted awkwardly, not knowing what to do. *Should I comfort her?* He looked over at her side-profile and sighed. He scooted closer to her and nudged her with his elbow. “Yah,” he called out gently. 

 

Ara looked at him with red teary eyes. “What?” 

 

“Don’t cry.” 

 

Ara scoffed at him. “Kind of too late, oh smart one.” 

 

“No,” he shook his head, “what I mean is that you shouldn’t cry over the fact that Youngmin died. I mean everyone dies. One way or another, we all die.” 

 

“I know we do.” She wiped away some of her tears with the back of her hand. “But it doesn’t make it any less devastating, now does it?” She snapped at him. 

 

Suho was taken aback by her hostile tone, so he remained quiet after that. 

 

The two sat in complete silence, except for the occasional sniffling from Ara. Suho stared at her as she continued staring at the sky with an unreadable look in her eye. *What is she thinking about?* 

 

As if Ara could read her mind, she spoke up. “You wanna know something?” Suho cocked his head to the side curiously. She sighed and shook her head in sadness. “It’s not only the fact that Youngmin died...” 

 

“Not only the fact for what?” 

 

“Why I care so much. Why I’m crying over some boy that I had just met a day ago. It’s not only because of his death...” 

 

Suho looked at her curiously. “Then what is it?” 

 

“You see, Youngmin... He’s not the only thing that died.” 

 

Suho looked at her with a confused look. “What do you mean?” 

 

Ara sighed. “What I mean is that he’s the first person I met on the streets who didn’t treat me like I was royalty.” A small smile started to appear on her face. “The person who saved my life.” The smile was wiped straight off, and she looked at Suho with sad eyes that made him want to reach out and give her a hug, but he restrained himself. “He represented my freedom. The freedom that I want. The freedom from being a,” she bowed her head and quietly whispered, “princess.” She gazed up at the sky, as if Youngmin was up there, looking down at them. “Now that he’s gone... I feel like my chance for being free is actually, truly DEAD.” She sighed and bowed her head. 

 

Suho shook his head. “What’s so wrong with being a princess? I mean, you can do whatever you want, right?” 

 

This time, she was the one who shook her head. “No. Because my family...we’re going bankrupt,” she heaved another sorrowful sigh. “And the only way we can save ourselves is to marry me off.” Her face scrunched up at the mention of the word “marry”. “The only reason why I ran away because of that.” 

 

Suho patted her shoulder. “That’s not right.” 

 

“Of course it’s not,” she spat at him. “Do you think it’s right for a father to sell his daughter away for money? To save his own ?” 

 

Suho took his hand away from his shoulder. “Wait, hold on there. You can’t say those things about your father. I mean he’s your father.” 

 

“I know he’s my father, but sometimes I feel like he doesn’t see me that way. I love him and everything, but he can be such a . I mean, he wants me to get married! Just so we don’t get bankrupt.” 

 

Suho shrugged his shoulders. “Well, maybe you should take one for the team.” 

 

Ara snapped her head towards him. “What did you say?” she said with clenched teeth. 

 

“Well, I’m just saying that maybe you should help your family out. If this is the only way, then you should help them.” 

 

Ara shook her head furiously. “I cannot BELIEVE that you are even suggesting that to me right now. I don’t WANT to get MARRIED. Are you kidding me? I wish I didn’t have all of these responsibilities.” 

 

Being the leader of the group, Suho couldn’t understand her feelings about all of this. He shook his head. “Everyone is born with responsibilities. You just have to learn to accept them and live up to them.” 

 

Ara glared at him before turning away. “You sound just like my father,” she muttered bitterly under her breath. 

 

Suho caught that and said, “I sound like a man who knows what he’s talking about.” 

 

Ara snorted. “Sure. You’re so uptight. I can’t believe this. It’s like you have a stick up your . Can you just please look at this from my point of view?” 

 

“Excuse me?” he retorted. “I’m being mature about this. Can’t you see how this could help your family? Stop being selfish, grow up, and just accept your princess duties.” 

 

Ara rolled her eyes at him and stood up, glowering down at him. “I didn’t choose this life. I didn’t choose to be born a princess. So don’t act like you know what‘s best for me.” She spun around on her feet and stomped into her room. 

 

Suho sighed and slammed his fists into the balcony floor. “Do I naturally make things worse?”