Shinkyu stirred around semi-consciously. Her head was pounding furiously, threatening to explode anytime. She banged her fist on her head, praying for the pain to stop, but it never did.

“Ow… My head!” Reluctantly, she turned aside, and felt a gush of cold air brushing across her .

Wait, ??

Shinkyu immediately shot upright and stared into the blanket, and her eyes landed on her body.

Remember when she thought marrying Jiyong would be her worst nightmare? Well, cut that. THIS was her WORST nightmare!! She shut her eyes tightly, hoping for it to be just a dream. But when she opened them again, she was still in the same place and situation!

Shinkyu looked to her right and saw another body covered in blanket. Her eyes widened in complete shock as she yelped, and then she covered with her hands. She didn’t want THAT to wake up! Who ever that ert was! She didn’t want him waking up and force himself on her again! Tears were trickling down her cold cheeks, and she pulled the blanket up to her chin. The whole room was dark, and she couldn’t make out who that guy was.

What happened yesterday? She was with Jiyong and Kyuhyun, they went to a have a drink, except, Shinkyu was sure she didn’t get drunk. She only had a glass of orange juice! Whoever heard of getting drunk because of oranges?? Didn’t either of them send her home?

Shinkyu was really scared. She always told herself that she would never cry because she didn’t want to rely on anyone else. But she failed miserably at that. Here she was, crying pathetically!

Far across the other side of the room, Shinkyu spotted her clothes. Careful not to make sudden movements, she crawled out of bed s-l-o-w-l-y. She quickly got dressed and dashed out of the room in a split second. By the next 5 minutes or less, she was already in a taxi. She felt a blunt pain, but she ignored it, as well as a puzzled and concerned look from the driver. Shinkyu just closed her eyes, and stayed still until she reached home.

She was trying hard not to cry anymore, not even when she couldn’t walk and could only limp across the huge living room. It was 3 something in the morning, way past her curfew at 12 am. Yes, she was 19 and she still had curfew, but her parents assured her it was to prevent her from being in “danger” (ie encounters with erts). She looked around to make sure no one was around, but there was.

Her father was slumped on the sofa, with the laptop still on, but he was already asleep. Mr Ly stretched his arms as he smiled sleepily at Shinkyu, “Oh there you are, Shinkyu! Sohee told me you’ve gone for a night out with Jiyong and that Kyuhyun? So… You had fun?”

He didn’t realize what time it was.

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 It was a nightmare. How did Ly Shinkyu, daughter and heiress to the Kwon-Ly Share Holdings, get herself into such trouble? It was not like she was free of order marks. In fact, she had gotten quite a lot during her middle school years, one of which was because she hid in a cabinet to skip PE. Make that TWO order marks; one for skipping PE and another for trampling on the stationeries in the cabinet.

Shinkyu opened her eyes to the sun’s greeting, while constantly peeking under the blanket to make sure she was still dressed. Great—she was developing a phobia. She took another peek, this time at the clock. It was already 7.30am. But she didn’t feel like going to school. She didn’t feel like getting up at all.

Just as she was about to go back to sleep, Sohee came into the room. “Miss Shinkyu…” she shook her employer’s shoulders.  “You were out till very late yesterday, weren’t you?”

Shinkyu looked at her. “How did you know?”

“I went to sleep at 1. You were still not in…” said Sohee.

“Well, yeah…”

“Miss, what happened yesterday? Where were you?”

“That’s not necessary for you to know,” Shinkyu snapped. “And anyway, I was with Kyuhyun and that JERK. You knew that!”

Sohee shook her head, not in a disagreeing way, but more of the ‘stop-lying-I-can-see-through-it-all’ way. “Kyuhyun called. Yesterday night at 11.30pm.”

“Oh..?” Shinkyu remained calm, but Sohee could sense that she was getting nervous.

“He said Jiyong would be sending you back before 12. So where were you? Where did you go?”

Shinkyu kept quiet. She wanted to tell Sohee. She was her special friend. Ga-eul and she did a lot of things together because they were best friends, but Sohee was a special friend to Shinkyu. There were things that only Sohee know of and not Ga-eul.

“You can tell me, miss,” Sohee said in a gentle and reassuring tone as she sat beside Shinkyu on the bed.

Shinkyu looked at her with a deep, searching look and forced a smile. “Just call me Shinkyu.” She paused and sighed. “Last night, I…”

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 “WHAT??? You got yourself drunk and found yourself the next day?” Sohee was definitely shocked, judging by her tone and the way her eyes grew into satellite plates. (Shinkyu didn’t tell her that she got drunk after having a glass of orange juice, in case Sohee thought she was crazy)

Shinkyu shushed her down. “Shh… Not so loud. Mum and dad don’t know about it!”

“Are you serious? Who was the guy?”

Shinkyu admitted that she didn’t know. “The whole room was dark, and I was so scared. I just got dressed and ran away from that hell! It was so horrible!! What am I supposed to do now??”

“Oh my! You’re so done for! What if someone recognizes you??”

“Well,” Shinkyu sniffed and brightened up all of a sudden. “What’s done is done. There’s… there’s no point in whining, right?”

“What will sir and madam think?” Sohee asked.

“They won’t find out! They mustn’t!” Shinkyu exclaimed. “The company’s problems are enough of a burden. They don’t deserve to be worrying any further for me… You have to keep this a secret, okay?”

Sohee nodded obediently. “Of course, mi—Shinkyu! At the same time,” she stood up from the bed. “You should get ready for school. It’s late!”

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 “You what?” A handsome gentleman who appeared to be around 20 exploded with an aghast expression on his flawless face.

“Nothing,” With a frown of dismay clouded over his beautiful face, a young man grunted angrily at how clueless his best friend was.

“But you said you… and another girl… umm… did ‘that’.” Again, still with the familiar expression on his face, the guy nudged his friend slightly, trying to get his not-so-clear point across.

“Seriously, Seungri ah, what if I did? It’s not like we know each other anyway. I didn‘t even get to see her face, but I doubt that she‘s that pretty. Besides, I didn’t remember enjoying the night so she mustn’t be that good…”

“Jiyong hyung! Have you ever thought about the fact that she could get pregnant?!” Seungri shrieked. “Don’t say things like that and be serious for once in your life!” his voice softened to that of a whisper  as he felt eyes were gluing on them, full of curiosity, that was.

Jiyong impatiently knocked on Seungri’s head. “Pstt, there’s no way we would meet… each… other… again…” His voice choked there as another strange, yet familiar voice reached his ears.

Abruptly, he turned his head around to search for that voice and there she was, running toward him with such a laughable expression on her face, an expression of wariness mixed with the cuteness of her bubbly face.

“Damn! What the heck, I’m late again!” It was none other than the princess, Shinkyu.

Jiyong reached out his hand and grabbed her right arm, pulling her to him. “What the??” Shinkyu tried to break free from his grasp, but he was quite strong. “Get away, you prince of rotten hell! I have to get to class!”

She kicked him in the shins, making him jump up and down in pain. “OWW!!! That hurts!”

“Good! This is entirely your fault! Why didn’t you send me home yesterday night?” Shinkyu shouted angrily. Jiyong has already calmed down a little but, and was gaping at her with his mouth opened.

“Wh—what about yesterday?” he stuttered. Never was he going to let the cat out of the bag! “You weren’t in the car anymore when I woke up from my nap. So I supposed you went back by taxi or something!” This was barely the truth. In fact, the first thing Jiyong saw when he opened his eyes was not the steering wheel of his car, but was the hotel ceiling.

“Oh, great! This is just like you, IRRESPONSIBLE!”

“Why are you so agitated anyway? You’re not abducted or anything. You’re right here. So why are you so angry about?”

Shinkyu was speechless. She couldn’t just tell him that she woke up beside some stranger in a dark hotel room! She just told Sohee, and she was going to keep it at that. “Whatever! I’m going for class!” She left the scene with her face in a bright red shade.

“What a stupid girl…” Jiyong muttered under his breath.

That morning, Shinkyu’s father once again tried to talk her into marrying Jiyong. What was he thinking? It was not like they had always put on a happy smile whenever they were both together with the kings and queens. Not even Song Hye Kyo could act friendly and gentle when facing that kind of jerk.

“Who would fall for such an arrogant jerk like him?” Shinkyu huffed as she was sliding the door to her classroom violently.

And strangely, all of her classmates, as well as the teacher, were eyeing her with the weirdest look ever. She was sure her skirt was not crooked, and she always made sure to comb her hair in place. So what was their problem?

“Good… morning?” Shinkyu smiled faintly as she headed for her assigned seat, which was next to Ga-eul’s, and located as far as possible from Jiyong’s.

Ga-eul was staring at her as well; with a look on her face as if Shinkyu just announced that she will soon have all her hair ripped from her head. “What did you do, Shinkyu?!”

“Morning, my !” Hanbyul retorted, sticking out her middle finger.

Even though she was displeased with the respond that she had just gotten, Shinkyu sat down quietly and scanned the room for clues. And that was when she landed her eyes on the newspapers. There were three things she saw; one: her picture, two: Jiyong’s picture, next to her’s, three: the ridiculous headline dominating the front page.

‘Prince Jiyong and Princess Shinkyu: Having an affair!’

Immediately, Shinkyu ran through the narrow aisle in between the two rows of tables to get hold of the newspapers. She began to read the article aloud, ignoring all the glaring and mocking statements she was receiving.

“A reporter witnessed the Kwon Jiyong and Ly Shinkyu, heir and heiress of Kwon-Ly Share Holdings, walking out of the same hotel with crooked clothes and worried expressions on their faces. According to the hotel manager, the two of them were barely conscious when they entered the hotel to ask for a room. They didn’t leave the room until it was around two in the morning of the following day.”

Shinkyu shook her head in disbelieve. “No… NO WAY!!” She was clearly trying hard to convince herself that it was the reporter’s mistake, and that she didn’t actually spent the night with Kwon Jiyong. The prince entered the room right on cue, when Shinkyu needed to slap someone.

Everyone was now staring at him. Just like Shinkyu, Jiyong couldn’t figure out why they were studying him like some kind of experimental subject. Shinkyu continued to read the newspapers.

“There are also evidences that could be used to prove that these two are indeed having an affair behind their teasing and hatred toward each other. We have had an interview with Mrs. Kwon, the founder and co-owner of KLSH, and as expected, he has proudly confirmed the fact that Shinkyu will soon become his daughter-in-law in a short amount of time.”

“WHAT??!” Jiyong finally got the message and snatched the papers from Shinkyu, who was standing still with no expression, just like a soulless shell. Ignoring the glares from his classmates, he finished reading the newspapers.

“Even Mr Ly, Shinkyu’s father, has already stated the same thing, regardless the rumors that could possibly arise and ruin the youngsters’ lives. Well, even though both parties have proven that their son and daughter are an item, we still have to wait for the two of them to announce it themselves. In any case, congratulations!”

Jiyong literally dropped the newspapers as he was trying to recall what happened yesterday. That girl was Shinkyu? He remembered when he was feeling really dizzy while driving; he had stopped the car by the roadside. And then…  They went into a hotel??

“Very good, Kwon Jiyong…” Shinkyu said sarcastically. Jiyong could sense that she was trying to control her anger. “That was the last straw. You are officially the worst being ever on earth! Go to hell!” With that, she dashed out of the classroom.

“Shinkyu!” Ga-eul called after her.

“Well done, Kwon Jiyong…” Kyuhyun spoke up. Jiyong glared at him. He didn’t even know that freak was in the class all along. “You’ve just ruined a girl’s life. She hated you, and now, she hates you even more…”

Jiyong didn’t know what to say.

Yeah, life is full of surprises…