She shifted in her bed, muttering uneasily to herself as she was still consumed by her sleep. However, something seemed to be different this morning. Kim Taeyeon’s sleep had never been interrupted before, ever. And now, something was irritating her so much that even her endless sleep talking habits couldn’t keep her from waking up.

“Aigoo, what is that?” she complained, rubbing her eyes sleepily, annoyed at the fact that something was different today. She kept quiet, straining her ears to try and catch the reason she woke up so uncomfortably, and sure enough, she could hear people shouting far off in the distance. She cursed herself for having such sensitive hearing and pulled the pillow over her ears in hopes of drowning out the unwanted noise. However, the rough uncaring yells manage to pass through her pillow and ade her ears, making her sit bolt upright in bed to scream in a frustrated manner at the wall.

She was not normally so aggressive, but it seemed really early in the morning – she grumbled to herself as she realised that she had probably just lost a few hours of precious sleep. Besides, who wouldn’t be cranky if they were woken up by such ignorant people, and before the sun had even risen, for crying out loud?

Couldn’t those idiots wait until a bit later in the day to start whatever they were doing? And what are they doing in the forest anyway? she thought to herself unhappily. She slipped out of bed and went to put on some suitable clothes; she shivered at the memories of the men from yesterday. She quickly splashed some cold water on her face, feeling the cold water freshen her up as she rubbed the sleep away vigorously.

The moment she stepped outside her abode, the loud yelling instantly grew even louder. She was beyond pissed – everything was silent, the cheerful birdsongs absent, and even the calming rustle of the wind blowing past the trees muted in the face of the disturbance caused by the men. She exhaled and jogged her way to the people, using the sound of the voices to guide her through the maze of trees.

As she got closer and closer, the sun started rising, and the path ahead of her was illuminated with soft sunlight. She could hear some sharp thuds along with the voices, plus some falling sounds to go with it. She now had a bad feeling about it and proceeded to hurry up her feet.

As she finally entered the scene, her worst fears were confirmed – around twenty to thirty men were hacking down at the trees with huge axes. She could see many fallen trees lying around haphazardly, with a few donkeys standing to the side, ready to pull along the carts that they had been tethered to.

“Hey! What’s going on here?” Taeyeon screamed to get their attention over the noisy thuds scattered all around her.

The men all stopped simultaneously and looked at her. Some looked confused, some nonplussed, while others just looked plain amused at the sight of a short woman shouting at them.

“Oh hey, I remember you, miss,” one of the men said. “You’re the pretty blonde who visited our kingdom yesterday with that kid… Amber or something, right?”

“Yes, that was me,” Taeyeon replied, a little ruffled from the staring, though she tried to stay confident. “What on earth are you people doing here?”

One man scratched the back of his head. “Well, orders from the King, really. We’ve been told to start cutting down the forest because he wants to expand the kingdom… or something like that.”

Taeyeon could only gape at them, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. All she could manage was a small, disbelieveing, “W-What?”

“I’m sorry, miss, but if you have any problems, you’ll have to take it up with the King,” the man said, shrugging carelessly at the end of his sentence. “We can’t go against what he says.”

All the men around him nodded in agreement and picked up their axes, ready to get on with the work. The hacking noises and thuds filled the air again, as well as the voices of the men commanding the others. Taeyeon, though annoyed at the King, gave a quick bow and thanks to the man before she ran back to her house. If what they said was true, then they would be reaching her area pretty soon – her house would be demolished as well. She wasn’t having any of that, oh hell to the no she was not.

All of that running had actually taken up quite a bit of time and now the sun’s position in the sky seemed to be a little higher. She stood in front of her house, deliberating to herself whether or not she should go see Amber.

If she’s not awake yet, I’ll go see the King myself, she decided firmly. Besides, she was a little curious to see this new King. She went inside to grab a quick drink and a banana before starting her journey to Amber’s house. She walked quickly, eager to get away from the noises – they grated on her ears and the very reminder of what they meant made her grit her teeth angrily. It was as Amber had argued the day before – the forest was a free area. Who the heck did this King think he was to even try and imply that he owned everything?

“I’m here to visit Amber,” she stated to the guard, who let her in after obviously and slowly looking at her up and down. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes and kick him one somewhere, but moved past him and entered the kingdom’s walls.

Relying purely on memory from the day before, she walked her way past streets, alleyways and shops before she ended up in front of Amber’s house. She paused, unsure if she should disturb them – what if they were sleeping? – so she knocked her knuckles against the door quietly.

A few seconds passed and the door opened, revealing a tired looking llama.

“Hello? What do you need?” Amber yawned sleepily.

“Hey Amber,” Taeyeon greeted her. “Did I interrupt your sleep?”

“Oh hey noona! No of course not, come in,” Amber said, immediately awake and grinning. She ushered Taeyeon into the house and offered the latter a drink of water.

“No thanks, I’m good,” Taeyeon said. “Where’s Victoria-unnie and Sulli?”

“I think they’re still sleeping, so try and keep quiet noona. So what’s up?”

“I just found out that the King gave orders for the forest to be cut down, and that includes destroying my house.”

“WHAT?!” Amber spat out her drink of water and looked at Taeyeon, silently asking the blonde to confirm what she had just said, to which Taeyeon just nodded sadly.

“What’s going on, Amber?”

They both looked around to see Victoria and Sulli standing near the entrance to the living room, eyes unfocused and drooping.

“Oh h-hey, Taeyeon-unnie,” Sulli stuttered as she tried to stifle her yawn. “What’s up?”

Amber relayed the news back to them which immediately made Victoria straighten up in shock, while Sulli just stood there, half asleep.

“That’s terrible, unnie,” Sulli finally managed to force out between her yawns. “What are you gonna do?”

“I wanted to ask Amber if she could show me to the King’s castle,” Taeyeon said. “That’s only if you’re not busy, Amber.”

“Oh god no, this is a seriously important matter, unnie,” Amber muttered angrily. “I can’t believe he’s given those orders without even checking around to see if you lived close. We are going to see him now. Right this instant. Can we go, jie-jie?”

“Yes you can, I don’t need any help today,” Victoria affirmed. “You go give that man a piece of my mind as well, Amber.”

“Go hyung! Hwaiting!” Sulli cheered, completing the phrase with the well-known fist pump. “Good luck, Taeyeon-unnie!”

“Yes, good luck to you both,” Victoria smiled, though the expression was somewhat marred by a look of worry. “Do your best today!”

“Thank you both,” Taeyeon said, surprised and overwhelmed by the level of care they seemed to hold for her. “I’ll give Amber back soon, don’t worry.”

“Oh you can keep her,” Victoria laughed. Amber smiled back before pulling Taeyeon out of the house. She noticed that Taeyeon’s expression seemed a little odd in this serious atmosphere.

“Noona, why are you smiling?”

“… I don’t know, actually. But whenever I talk to you, Victoria-unnie and Sulli I always feel so… happy,” Taeyeon confessed. “Like you guys are the siblings I’ve never had or something. I don’t know… it’s a nice feeling and I like it.”

“Oh I know what you’re talking about,” Amber agreed. “That’s exactly how I feel when I’m with them too!”

The pair kept up their light hearted chatter until they had passed through all of the stone paved streets and were both finally standing in front of the huge castle the King resided in.

“Well… this is it,” Amber exhaled. Taeyeon could only nod, having suddenly lost the ability to speak.

Amber walked up confidently to one of the two guards standing sentry in front of the big wooden entrance. “We’re here to see the King. Personal business.”

He raised his free hand to his well-shaven chin, as if he was deep in thought. “Do you have an appointment with the King?”

“Not a previously scheduled one, no.”

“Then you have no business here.”

Taeyeon’s heart sank. “But it’s urgent! I need to speak to your goddamn King!”

“You will not address him in that way, blondie!” the guard bristled.

“Hey, calm down, man,” the second guard said lazily. He eyed Amber first and then Taeyeon. “I’m pretty sure he’s got nothing on this morning, so you two can come in. I’m just not sure if he’s awake yet, so if he doesn’t want to see anyone, you’ll have to leave. Is that okay?”

“Yes, yes of course,” Taeyeon breathed a sigh of relief. At least the chances of seeing the King weren’t completely obliterated.

“I’ll just check and see if he’s awake,” the guard B replied. Taeyeon thanked him, before he entered the castle doors. Guard A gave them an obvious snort and then looked away, intending to make it look like they were of no importance and thus, unworthy of his special attention.

Amber and Taeyeon both stood outside, waiting nervously for B’s return, ignoring A as much as he was ignoring them. The minutes passed by in silence and Taeyeon grew more anxious by the second, more and more until she was finally bouncing from side to side from anticipation. Amber laughed at her and placed her hand onto the blonde’s shoulder to stop her from moving around.

After what seemed like at least an hour, B finally came back outside. “You guys can go in, he’s awake.”

“Thank you, really,” Taeyeon told him happily.

“Are you sure you guys don’t have an appointment with him?”

“…Nope, we don’t. How come?” Amber asked.

“Because he told me that he was waiting to see you for a while, actually,” B revealed. “Specifically, Amber-ssi.”

The pair stared at him in shock. Amber shook her head. “No, we haven’t… I haven’t…”

“Well it doesn’t matter. At least he’s willing to see you now,” B said. “Follow me please. Stay guard here, A.”

“Who else is gonna stand guard here, B?” A retorted sarcastically.

Taeyeon snorted with quiet amusement. So their names really are A and B?

She and Amber both started following behind B. As soon as they had stepped into the castle and closed the wooden door, B spoke up. “I’m sorry about how A’s acting. He’s just usually really into his job, I guess.”

“A little too into it, I think,” Amber muttered under her breath; B still heard it, but chuckled.

The rest of the walk down the long corridor was spent in silence. Without the torches mounted on the stone walls every few metres, Taeyeon would have been squinting in the dark enclosed space as her feet automatically walked forward, making soft noises as they padded along on the thick red carpet the floor was covered in. The quiet atmosphere here was different to the one provided in the lush, green forest; this unfamiliar one made her feel thankful for the presence of the tall tomboy next to her.

They finally emerged into what seemed like a large, bright hall. In the middle of the massive area was a long dining table – from the middle, it seemed to span at least 10 metres out from both sides; probably to hold the large amount of guests for the banquets or whatever, Taeyeon assumed.

Directly to the front were a few steps leading up to a large, golden throne, and on that throne sat a figure. He was covered in a flowing red cape, right leg crossed over the left, right elbow angled on the throne’s arm so that it resulted in his face resting upon his fist. His left hand, which was laid upon the throne’s other arm, beheld a stunning amount of shininess from the rings which were worn one on each finger. The gold, lustrous crown perched on his head also had several colourful diamonds embedded in it every few centimetres from each other. His whole appearance screamed “I’m filthy rich”, though Taeyeon knew it was to be expected from the King. His small black eyes stared at them pensively, and his face belied any trace of emotion.

Amber shifted closer to Taeyeon; the proximity of the pair made Taeyeon feel as if Amber might be protecting her from something, and she was grateful for the gesture. The King, though he looked young, seemed like a wise, cunning figure, and she had no idea what he was going to do.

Suddenly, a smile cracked through his pokerface. Taeyeon was stunned – he was actually a very handsome guy, but from everything she had heard about him, she knew she had to keep on her guard.

“Amber-ssi, what brings you here today?” he asked lightly, not bothering to hide his pearly white teeth. If Taeyeon didn’t know any better, she would’ve sworn that he was sneering at them.

“I was told that you had wanted to see me for a while now,” Amber replied steadily. She slid an arm around Taeyeon’s shoulder. “What do you want?”

“I was under the impression that you wanted to hold a conversation with me, Amber-ssi,” the King retaliated, expression changing to one of confusion. “I was woken up by A because he said you needed to speak with me, my dear subject.”

“Yeah, well, I do want to speak with you. Why have you given the orders to cut down the forest?”

“Well you know, Amber-ssi, it’s because I find my kingdom rather small, and so I’d like to expand it by building more and introducing more people into the community.”

“But by doing that, have you realised that you haven’t even bothered to search out the area?” Amber questioned him aggressively as she squeezed Taeyeon’s shoulder protectively. “This young woman is living out there and you’ve pretty much just given orders for the demolishment of her house.”

“Oh, did I? I wasn’t aware of that,” the King answered, raising his eyebrows uninterestedly. “I suppose I’ll have to fire someone – they were the ones who reported back to me that it was all clear.”

The blonde stared at him, wondering how such a handsome looking young man could even think about dismissing someone from their job without a second thought. He’s ruthless.

“However, that is not of my concern,” he continued. “I wasn’t aware of the fact that she had an area of residence in my forest because it was not officially announced, nor did she sign papers admitting to her living out there.”

“What?!” Amber raised her voice, eyes popping out of her head. “Since when is that forest yours, anyway? You don’t even-“

“Silence!” he shouted. “Everything around here is mine, Amber. Everything, for I am the ruler of this land and you can’t do anything about it.”

For a moment there, he sounded exactly like a 10 year old little kid, Taeyeon thought with mirth. Wait, I should be more serious about this.

Amber was rendered speechless by the sheer, well, retarded-ness of the whole situation. She couldn’t believe that he was so adamant about this; she could not debate this with him, because it would eventually be him and his whole army against her.

He stared at the two girls impassively for a few moments before he spoke up again. “However, I can make a trade.”

The brunette and blonde both made eye contact with each other before Amber replied warily, “What kind of a trade?”

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A/N: So anyone guessed the movie yet? I do realise that many things may be significantly different, but if no one gets it by the next chapter, then no one will LOL... I think,

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