As soon as they stepped off the plane in Bangkok, Yubin and the queen found themselves surrounded by the overwhelming hospitality of the Royal Thai Family entourage. They were greeted by an English and Korean speaking PR officer and a party of 10 bodyguards to a limousine right off the plane. No wonder they found no reason for my bodyguard to be here. Yubin thought.

Upon arriving at the royal palace, the Thai King and Queen greeted them in their traditional Thai greeting of which Yubin and her mom immediately responded politely with the same move. The royal couple then introduced their 4 children who were all in their 20s. There was the crown prince and his new wife, 2 beautiful princesses and last but not least Yubin’s potential husband-to-be, the youngest Prince Nichkhun who stood more handsome than the photos she had seen so far.

“It’s my honor to meet you, Princess Yubin.” He greeted Yubin, Thai style with palms together bowing slightly, but what surprised Yubin and her mom was he was speaking in Korean.

Before they could ask how or why, he quickly explained “I had been learning the language for the past 6 months.”

“I’m impressed!” The Queen of South Korea applauded.

Yubin nodded and smiled politely at the boyish prince, agreeing with her mom. Lunch was served at the huge dining hall and it was during this meeting that Yubin found herself enjoying a nice Thai meal and friendly conversations that managed to keep her thoughts away from Taec. On the way in the plane, she was still worried about him and wondered about his feelings for her. His silent treatment was saddening enough. She hoped she didn’t scare him with her long text of confession. Though she still wished that Taec would contact her, she felt no right to be angry or disappointed with him since he was likely conflicted by his friendship with Siwon.

Prince Nichkhun was a gentleman and quite a charmer. To her surprise, despite his good looks and charm, he did not give her the impression of a player, unlike Siwon who gave out that vibe the first moment she met him even when he made no flirty move at her. The prince was always smiling politely and even his eye contact was polite while Siwon had all the smiles and eye contact she could feel it scanning not just her face but her body. As for Taec, she felt a sense of sincerity from him, even when they first kissed as strangers.  

Just then, Yubin’s phone suddenly rang, alerting not just her but everyone at the dining table. Yubin’s mom gave her a look that she knew immediately meant “Put that phone away, don’t you see we are in a middle of something?”

Yubin smiled embarrassingly at the hosts and quickly rejected the call without looking, and setting it to silent.

“I’m sorry. I’ll take the call later.” She apologized.

She took a peek at the caller number and gasped. It was Taec. Gosh, she just hung up on him! As she tried her best getting involved in the conversations at the table, she was also, busy trying to text to Taec that she was in the middle of something and would call him back as soon as possible. However, before she could send that text to him, she received a text from him instead.

“Dear Yubin. I’m sorry to have missed your calls last night. I fell asleep and my phone was on silent mode. I swear I have no means to avoid your calls. Yenny has explained to me everything and I am taking a flight over to Bangkok now to see you. I know it’s crazy and weird but I have lost you once years ago and I’m not gonna let that happen again. I will only be able to land in Bangkok in the late evening and I will contact you once I arrive. Please wait for me.”

Yubin found herself panicking, no, excited, no, nervous. She wasn’t sure but she sure couldn’t wait to see him. She replied to him with a quick “OK!” text while she thought of a way to meet him later. The security was definitely tight with royal guards aplenty and the royal family already made plans for a tour in the city and dinner at a nice restaurant later in the evening. She was basically stuck in a full royal itinenary.  

After lunch, Yubin was ushered to her luxurious guest room where she could unpack and change for the city tour later. While she was getting ready, she was in deep thoughts thinking of an escape plan. Then she was led into the limousine sitting next to Prince Nichkhun. Apparently, their mothers wasted no time in letting them have some private time to get to know each other while the 2 queens took another car.  There was a long awkward silence before the prince spoke up.

“By the way, you can call me Khun. It’s easier for everyone. And ermm, is there something I can help you with?” he asked politely, noticing Yubin’s distracted look.

“oh..no. Sorry, I’m just a little tired.” Yubin answered. “You speak Korean pretty well, considering it was only 6 months.”

 “Haha..mostly conversational Korean.” he let out a little laugh, feeling flattered. “But I do have a very good teacher.”

“Oh, is he or she Korean?” Yubin was feeling quite comfortable chatting with him now after hearing that friendly chuckle from him.

“Yes, she is.” He said with a proud smile.

Yubin smiled at him, realizing how happy he looked. 

“Why did you learn Korean?” Yubin was curious because it would mean serious marriage business if the Prince of Thailand had been learning her mother tongue language for the past 6months but she hoped it was more of a hobby or interest.

“My mother insisted. It seemed she has plans for me to marry you eventually.” He was looking at Yubin and this time he became the curious one as he continued. “My mother is very serious about this marriage and I do not know if you and your family are aware of this. But when she heard rumors of you having other marriage proposals she quickly arranged this meet-up for us, to confirm this marriage.”

“I..I..” Yubin didn’t know how to put it to the prince. How was she going to tell him that this was just a preliminary stage where she planned to strike him off as soon as Taec arrived? She sure was not aware the Thai family had only one candidate in the Prince’s bachelorette list. She was shaking her head in confusion because even her mother told her that this was only the first round and not a final round. Why were things happening in a speed mode suddenly?

“I guess you are not aware.” He tried to explain. “I myself was also surprised by my mother’s sudden arrangements. I am aware of her intentions months ago but I didn’t expect she wanted things to go into confirmation right when we first meet.”   

 “I’m sorry, Khun..but.. it’s likely this marriage is not going to go through…” Yubin admitted. “I’m…I’m in..love..with..someone else.”