It happened so fast that Baekhyun didn't even have time to regret his words.

Byul stormed out of the door quickly and had disappeared without a sight. Baekhyun tried being angry with her and cursed her to the heavens and hell, but was dreadfully ashamed that when she suddenly returned, he had perked up like a lightbulb even though those weren't invented yet.

He thought she had regretted, he thought she had changed her mind.

And then she had stormed into her room and rummaged through her wardrobe, grabbing the first set of clothes she had worn when she first entered the palace.

She changed within a matter of seconds and gave him a shattering glare, before storming out of the place again.

Baekhyun watched as she went, sitting in his empty quarters and staring blankly.

The fact that she had left him took a long time to sink in, and Baekhyun was left in disbelief and refusal to believe.

And then after some minutes later when the initial shock had worn off, Baekhyun finally realized what he did.

He told the love of his life to go away. He made her do so. She agreed.

What the hell had he done???!!!!

Baekhyun burst out of his seat, dashing out of the doors and heading for the entrance of the palace in a mad panic. No, he couldn't let her go, not even if she didn't love him any longer.

If she was unhappy with him, he would change. He would do anything and everything to make her happy, anything. Just anything.

If she couldn't find the spark within them any longer and she couldn't love him anymore, he would. He would love her enough for the both of them.

He just couldn't let her disappear out of his life.

By the time Baekhyun had reached the entrance, there was no sight of Byul except for a few confused and gossiping maids and palace attendants.

Baekhyun paled and leaned against the wall, heaving. Minhee, who had been there at that time, came over to Baekhyun to tell him that Byul had fetched her brother and mother, hired a town carriage and had left.

Baekhyun nearly laughed in amusement. Even now she was stubborn was she? So she didn't want to do anything with him, and she wouldn't even accept using the palace's royal horses and carriages.

Baekhyun groaned to himself and ignored the judgmental looks by all the palace staff.

She left. She really left him.

Baekhyun turned away to hide his face as tears welled up in his eyes. She left.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Sora asked curtly, as detached as possible. "I believe we don't have anything to talk about, Chanyeol-gun."

Chanyeol whirled around to look at her with a pointed gaze. "I think we have a lot to talk about." He murmured. "If I recall correctly, you haven't answered my confession the other time."

Sora blinked and her eyes widened. "Is pulling away from the near...k-kiss and saying I can't not enough of an answer?"

"No. I need answers." Chanyeol took a step nearer. "Why can't you?" He searched her face. "That's not a proper answer to a guy that just bared his heart to you. You said that you couldn't. Not that you didn't want to." Chanyeol held Sora's gaze and we found that she couldn't look away.

Sora swallowed and bit her lip hard. "You're thinking too much." She muttered as emotionlessly as she could. "I told you, I like Jeonha."

"Yeah? I love you." Chanyeol shot back, not at all flinching at his words. Sora's heart skipped a beat at his confession and she mentally scolded herself for softening a little on the surface.

"We can't be together, Chanyeol-gun, so I suggest that you better-"

Chanyeol stopped her immediately. "Again with that word: can't. Why can't you? You're the director of your own life, you can choose what you want to do." He stared at her, watching her squirm under his gaze.

"So enlighten me, why can't you?" Chanyeol whispered.

Sora wanted to cry. She wanted to bury herself in his chest and tell him the truth. About her feelings, about her background, about her reasons.

But she couldn't. She had a responsibility she must keep.

"I can't because I won't go into a relationship with someone that doesn't interest me, Chanyeol-gun." Sora kept a calm guarded expression. Her voice was so cool that it could have chilled beer, if they even existed.

Chanyeol stared back at her for a long time and noticed her flinching. It was so mild, not at all obvious that Chanyeol wouldn't have been able to spot it if he didn't know what he was looking for.

He had to admit that she was mentally very strong under pressure. She looked so confident and sure about her answer that Chanyeol almost believed her.

Except he knew one fact: Sora could never love Baekhyun. Not from the way she genuinely smiled when she saw Baekhyun and Byul together. Even the greatest liar wouldn't be able to hide her feelings when she saw the guy she loved being affectionate with another girl.

Chanyeol decided to let it drop this time. "I see." He murmured.

He saw Sora relax at his answer visibly and it spiked his curiosity. There must be something she was hiding for her to be tensed in his questioning. Something she didn't want people to know.

Sora gave a respectful bow before walking off as quickly as she could. Chanyeol watched her and furrowed his brows, thinking deeply.

"What is she hiding?" He murmured to himself. "Just what is it?"

-----

Chanyeol was too bothered by Sora's rejection to join the rest of the Exo boys for lunch. He did however, notice how there was an exceptional amount of gossip around the palace and how the maids and attendants were whispering to each other secretly every time they thought he wasn't looking.

"I can't believe she just left like that." One maid whispered. "Out of the Palace, just like that." She snapped her fingers.

"What I can't imagine, is her turning down the royal carriage ride. It is her last chance to ride it, why spend money on public rented carriages?" Another maid scoffed. "So that's why I think she doesn't have brains."

A third maid tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Why do you think she left? He did come running after her, after all. Do you think she left him?"

"No way." The first maid snorted. "Who in the right mind would leave him? It's definitely him realizing how wrong she was for him. Good choice of chasing her away, really. She should have gone a long time ago."

"I kind of liked her when she was just a peasant like us." The third maid admitted.

The other two made such disapproving faces at the third maid ducked her head in shame.

Chanyeol scratched his head as he walked past them. The maids immediately bowed and pretended to resume in their dusting and cleaning.

Chanyeol shrugged. Stupid palace gossip wasn't worth listening to anyway.

He strolled around the palace grounds, trying to calm his heart. He was sure Sora didn't like Baekhyun, but that didn't mean she liked him did it?

His heart told him that she did but his brain was hesitant. He was also very troubled by whatever thing Sora was hiding.

He realized that it was this thing that had made him notice her in the first place. Because he could always feel that something was up with her, that her dodgy gazes were reasons for worry.

His kungfu alert self grew wary of someone like Sora because of how complicated she seemed, but his heart got attracted by how simple and innocent was despite the things she was hiding.

Chanyeol let out a small sigh and put his hands behind his back. He strolled around with his head completely occupied by the current matters, until he saw Sora.

She was standing at a pavilion and she was staring blankly into space. Beside her on the table, there was a letter freshly written, together with an ink stone and brush.

Chanyeol blinked. Wait. Didn't she tell him that she couldn't read?

Chanyeol hid behind a tree and watched Sora quietly, frowning in concentration. Sora didn't notice him because of his superior stealth and she let out a huge sigh. "Life is so difficult." she murmured to herself. Chanyeol pricked his ears, listening carefully.

"If only I didn't have to lie all the time." Sora hugged herself, sitting down and staring blankly at the pond. Chanyeol's eyes narrowed on the stack of letters on the table and knew that whatever was troubling her HAD to be written on there. He eyed her carefully and crawled nearer to her, hiding himself behind a large leaf he plucked randomly.

He snuck closer and his hand touched the edge of the paper, barely in contact.

At that moment, Sora shifted in her place. "How nice would it be if I'm really Im Sora?" she whispered to herself. Chanyeol blinked at her words, not understanding. If she really was Im Sora? So she wasn't Im Sora? Wait. what?

Chanyeol's fingers grasped the paper and he quickly pulled it to him, reading the contents without caring about how Sora was only a feet away from him. His eyes skimmed through the letter quickly and his breathing quickened.

His eyes caught few words and that was all he could remember.

Japan...Aimi Higashiyama....General Higashiyama....spy....war....

Chanyeol's head snapped towards Sora in shock. "Im Sora, you're a Japanese Spy?"

-----
A/N: For your info I am NOT anti-Japan or anything like that, I love sushi more than kimbap so...:DDD I wanted to come up with an imaginary country like Buville islands or something but it wouldn't be realistic. Any Japan lovers out there, this is a fic. I don't want any two countries going against each other because that is pure sick, so yeah. Just to clarify. In case some of you think I'm a sadist in making or something.