As soon as she walked through the door that afternoon, one of the maids approached Seulki. By now, she was used to people approaching her when she was merely walking down the hall or through a door so she wasn’t surprised this time. As Seulki walked upstairs to put her bags down in her room, the maid walked up next to her and said, “Master Insoo would like to see you as soon as possible.”

Seulki froze and looked at the woman. “Is something wrong?” she asked, “Where is he now?”

The maid smiled and shook her head. “Everything’s fine,” she said, placing a hand on Seulki’s shoulder, “He just wants to talk to you. He’s in the game room right now so go see him when you’re ready.”

“Oh, okay, thank you,” Seulki said and bowed to the maid. She continued her trek up the stairs and placed her bag down on her desk before walking back downstairs and into the game room. She was slightly surprised to see a couple of boys she didn’t know in there along with Insoo and Hyuneun. One of the strange boys was the first to notice her presence.

“Hey, Insoo, you didn’t tell me such a cute girl was coming over,” the red-headed boy said loudly, approaching Seulki.

Insoo turned around and looked at the two of them. With a sigh he said, “She’s off limits Seyong!” Then he looked around at the other three guys and motioned for them to come over. “Guys,” he then said, “I want you to meet my best friend, Seulki. Seulki, this is Gunwoo, JunQ, and Chaejin. You’ve already met Seyong. They’re my friends from school.”

Seulki stared at one of the young boys who had light brown hair with blonde highlights, now known to her as Chaejin, and formed a broad smile. “Oh my gosh,” she cheered, “You’re so adorable!” She couldn’t help what happened next: she pulled him into her and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and hugged him, refusing to let him go and lightly petting his head.

Hyuneun chuckled and walked up to the two of them. Chaejin looked at her, confused. “Don’t worry, Chaejin,” Hyuneun stated, as if reading his mind, “She just likes cute things and people. I can tell, you’ll be her favorite – besides Insoo of course.”

Seulki let go of Chaejin at that moment. “I’m sorry,” she said. She looked around at the four boys once more before widening her eyes before bowing. She always seems to forget to bow. “Nice to meet all of you,” she said, “My name’s Shin Seulki. I’m a maid here so please let me know if you need anything.”

“Awesome!” Seyong cheered, “In that case, get me some water, will you? I’m parched!”

Insoo walked up to the group and placed a hand on Seyong’s shoulder. Then, looking at Seulki said, “Don’t listen to him. He’s fine. Besides, you’re not working today, are you?”

“Actually, I’m supposed to be working every time we have guests over,” Seulki stated, “Even if it is on a school day and I’m not being paid.”

“You don’t get paid?” the boy known as Gunwoo asked worriedly.

Seulki shook her head and put her hands up in defense. “No, that’s not it,” she said, “I normally do get paid since I’m sixteen, but only when I’m scheduled to work. Sometimes if I do a lot of non-scheduled work in a month, I get a bonus but not usually.”

Hyuneun walked up to Seulki and grabbed her wrist. “Since you’re not working today, do you want to hang out?” she asked with a broad smile, swinging their wrists playfully.

Seulki frowned and played with the hem on her shirt nervously. She really didn’t want to say ‘no’ to her. After all, she is working for her at the moment. “Actually,” Seulki said shyly, “I have a lot of homework I have to do so I don’t think I can hang out with you. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not a problem,” Hyuneun said with a smile, “But why don’t you just do your homework down here? I can help make sure Seyong and JunQ don’t bother you too much.”

She looked at Hyuneun, then at the others, and then at Insoo who nodded supportively with a charming smile. Seulki coughed awkwardly and then nodded her head. “O-Okay,” she said, “I-I’ll go get my stuff.”

Insoo and Hyuneun smiled and the others seemed unfazed. Without waiting another moment, Seulki turned around and rushed out of the room. Why did that have to happen? Why did Hyuneun insist that she stay with them down there? Why did Insoo have to smile like that to her? Doesn’t he know that she’ll do anything he asks her to do as long as he smiles at her like that? As soon as she grabbed her bag, she froze. “No!” she whispered loudly to herself, “Stop thinking about him like that! He’s not your prince anymore! He’s engaged! He’s been engaged for three years! He won’t ever be yours!”

She shook her head one more time and quickly made her way back down to the game room. When she arrived, JunQ and Seyong were loudly playing a game of pool against one another while the other four were sitting on the couch watching a movie that she had never seen before. She made her way to a table in the corner and sat down, taking out her stuff. Before beginning her homework, she looked up at Insoo and Hyuneun and had to swallow the lump that was sitting in . They were sitting uncomfortably close for Seulki’s taste and Insoo had his arm wrapped around Hyuneun’s shoulder and they were whispering to each other happily, followed by Insoo quickly kissing her on the lips.

Seulki gulped and looked down, trying to distract her mind with her homework. At first it worked but then things became more and more difficult as she heard them laugh and out of the corner of her eyes, saw them kiss a couple of times. Once their movie ended, the four of them got up and some of them got some drinks while Insoo walked over to the table where Seulki was working. “How’s it going?” he asked, leaning over her. Seulki could smell the sweet scent of Insoo’s cologne.

She tried to focus herself on her work and what Insoo had asked her. “I don’t understand this,” she admitted, pointing to her math homework.

Insoo pulled up a chair and sat next to her, resting his chin on his hand, concentrating intensely. After a moment, he looked up and around the room. “Chaejin, come here for a minute,” he called out to the youngest of the five boys. Chaejin quickly did as he was told and rushed over to the two of them. “I know you’re good at math and neither of us understands this. Do you think you can help us?”

“Sure thing,” Chaejin replied with a smile.

A large grin crawled onto Seulki’s face as soon as he sat down on the other side of her. “You’re so adorable! I just want to eat you up! I’m so in love with you! You’re too cute!” she yelled, wrapping him in a hug once more. Insoo chuckled softly from behind her and she immediately let go. “Sorry,” she whispered, then she got back to work with Chaejin guiding her every step of the way.

“Seulki!” Seyong interrupted a few minutes later. Seulki looked up at the bouncing boy. “I’m thirsty! Can you get me a soda?”

Immediately she nodded and automatically got up from her seat to fetch the drink. She walked over to the mini fridge that was stationed at the other end of the room and looked inside. “What kind of soda do you wa –” she began to ask him but was silenced as soon as she saw Hyuneun and Insoo on the verge of making out in the corner while everyone else ignored them. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Hyuneun – she was one of her best friends and Insoo and Hyuneun were a really cute couple but it just made Seulki really uncomfortable seeing them kissing like that. Not that she’d ever tell them, of course. That’d ruin their friendship.

“Did you hear me?” Seyong’s loud voice said, penetrating her thoughts. Seulki looked back at him in a daze. “I said I want a root beer!”

Still dazed, she nodded and pulled out a bottle of root beer, closing the fridge door behind her. By now, she figured that she should be used to Insoo and Hyuneun kissing but it always seemed to be getting more and more difficult to bear. She just wanted her prince back.

“Hey, Seulki, are you okay?” JunQ suddenly asked, snapping her out of her daydream.

She nodded once more and looked around at the others who were now staring at her – Insoo looking more worried and confused than the others. Handing Seyong the root beer, she walked over to Chaejin and smiled at him. “I’m sorry Chaejin but I think I’m done for the day. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Chaejin helped her pack her stuff in her backpack and then waved goodbye to her and as she walked out of the room, Insoo ran up to her. “Seulki,” he said calmly, grabbing her wrist, “Are you okay? Are you sick?”

He placed a hand on her forehead but Seulki brushed it away. “I’m fine,” she declared in a monotone, “I guess I’m just tired. If you need anything, you know where to find me.” They both smiled and Insoo quickly hugged her tightly before bidding her goodbye and watching her walk away.