[9] friends?

» “Hayoung—Yah, Oh Hayoung! You’re going to be late!” Jimin shouts as he dries his hair with a towel with one hand while the other hand shakes the younger sister’s shoulder. The female groans softly and grabs her pillow, placing it over her head.

“Okay then, I’ll just catch Jongin and—‘” Jimin starts as the female quickly jumps out of bed, pushing him out of her room, “Alright, I’m up!” She scurries around the room, changing into her uniform and putting her hair up in a ponytail. Her hands search around on her desk, but she soon stops, a deep sigh escaping her lips. “I miss my glasses…” She runs towards the bathroom and starts washing her face and putting on her contacts.

“I’m leaving!” Jimin shouts from downstairs as he walks out with his friends, looking up his house and shaking his head. A few minutes later, Hayoung rushes out of her house, looking at her wrist watch. “Ah, I’m going to be late!” She starts speed walking but at the same time, trying to greet the fellow neighbors and citizens in the area.

On the other hand, a carriage starts making its way to the school. Jongin and Sehun sit across from each other as they look out the window in boredom. “Where were you last night?” Sehun asks as he glares at his bodyguard, “Why didn’t you take me with you?”

Jongin smirks slightly and shakes his head, “I just went out for a walk.” Sehun scratches his head and mutters, “So? I at least wanted to go out…” His eyes travel to the people walking, his eyes widening as he catches a familiar figure. He leans forward and moves his head as the carriage goes past the figure, “Wait! Stop by the curb!” He orders and immediately, the carriage halts.

The other raises an eyebrow and looks out the same window, his eyes soon mimicking the other. Sehun opens the carriage door and steps down, grabbing the female’s wrist and pulling her into the carriage. “Hey! Wait, what’s going on?!” The female shouts as she is soon seated next to Sehun. drops as she looks at both males, “Wait! …What?” She blinks and scratches her head.

“Good morning, Hayoung,” Sehun grins as he raises a thumb up. It all happened too quickly. Before, Hayoung was just walking as fast as she can and the next thing you know, it looks like she’s being kidnapped right out of the blue. She furrows her eyebrows and glares at both of them, “You could at least ask me…”

Her eyes wander around the carriage—it’s been her first time and it’s very rare for a commoner like Hayoung to be in a carriage. Is this what is feels like being in the high life? Jongin stares at her, chuckling quietly as he watches her reactions. He thought it was very cute and he couldn’t help but smile. Sehun looks at his bodyguard, an eyebrow rising in curiosity. Since when did this guy smile in the morning? He then moves his attention to Hayoung, noticing how tired she looks. He leans forward and stares at her, “Did you sleep well?”

Hayoung blinks and looks at him, seeing the worry in his eyes. She purses her lips and moves her shoulders up and down, “I’m not sure. I worked late last night so…” She bites on her bottom lip as she looks down, remembering what happened last night. A small blush appears on her cheeks as she looks out the window, “Oh, look! We’re here!”

Was she just blushing for me? Jongin and Sehun think to themselves as they stare at her in awe. Both of these boys were just thinking of the same thing—but do they know that she was only blushing from embarrassment? Nope!

Suddenly, she tenses up and holds her hands tightly, “Uh oh…girls…” She closes her eyes and leans her head back, “I’m going to die.” Sehun takes a deep breath and watches the flood of girls surround the carriage. It’s like the carriage is being in a black hole when you’re inside the carriage.

The sight scares the female as her heart starts beating and she feels herself trembling. This might stir up more rumors and she doesn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. “I’ll go out—‘” Jongin starts but Sehun shakes his head and interrupts, “I’ll go out first.” The other’s eyes widen in shock, taken aback by his order. “Sehun—yah—‘” He starts, but Sehun stares at him firmly.

“You just stay behind Hayoung and make sure she doesn’t get hurt,” Sehun commands as he places his hand on the handle. “Hayoung, trust me. I’ll make you won’t get hurt,” He holds his other hand out and gives her reassurance. She breathes and gently places her hand in his. She never thought of being protected this much in her life as she’s been independent on herself.

Jongin feels something burning inside him. He couldn’t get the feeling out, but he sure felt his heart beating more than usual. Next thing he knows, Sehun opens the door and the girls start screaming and waving furiously at him. However, as Hayoung walks out, all the girls stare at her in disbelief. Did she have anything affiliated with these two—especially a commoner? They were all dumbfounded, but what really got girls going was watching their very own prince hold hands with a girl of an entirely different class.

Jongin stays close behind Hayoung as he watches the girls make way for them. It was the first time ever in their school lives that girls actually made way for them. However, he can’t let that get his guard down. He scans the area and watches the girls’ expressions. He laughs softly and shakes his head, continuing to trail behind the two others.

“Why is Sehun and Hayoung holding hands?” “They can’t be going out…” “It’s not fair!”

As soon as the three get in the hallways, Sehun lets go of her hand gently and looks at her, “Hm…that wasn’t so bad.” Hayoung purses her lips and bows her head, “Um, yeah. Thank you—again.” She has given these two boys so much gratitude that it seems like she’s a burden to them. Shaking away that thought, she looks up towards her classroom, “Bye, Prince Sehun…Jongin,” She bows and scurries inside her classroom, her classmates already surrounding her with questions.

-

“This is a disaster…” Hayoung tousles her hair around as she hits her head on the desk during lunch. Yookyung smiles lightly and rubs her back, “At least you’re not being threatened anymore.” Naeun nods and places her chopsticks down, “And people are taking it a little lightly now.”

Namjoo smiles and continues eating, “I think people are starting to notice that commoners can be popular too.” Hayoung sighs quietly and keeps her head down, “Yeah, but…I liked being unknown, to be honest.” Naeun giggles and shakes her head, “You would have been known either way. I mean look at you, you’re smart! People would have noticed that!”

Hayoung sits up and puffs out her cheek, “Anyways, how have you guys been doing? Are we going to the café again tonight?” Yookyung nods and raises a thumb up, “We’re doing just fine! I think Naeun should answer this though.”

Naeun blushes lightly and scratches the side of her head, “My parents want me to get married after graduation…” Namjoo’s and Hayoung’s eyes widen as they stop eating, staring at the older one. “To who?!” Both of them ask as Naeun takes a deep breath. “Kim Myungsoo,” She looks down and holds her hands together on her lap, “Honestly, he wanted to ask me that question after graduation personally, but our parents are telling us to.”

“So, you two liked each other?” Hayoung asks as she smiles warmly, “That’s really cute.” Namjoo nods and hugs her friend, “Congratulations unnie! So does that mean we’ll be seeing him tonight?”

“Mhm! His brother, Joonmyun, will be there too,” Naeun smiles brightly and takes a sip out of her water, “That means Chorong unnie will be there too!” The three girls’ eyes smile brightly as they cheer. It was their eldest friend and they were definitely delighted to hear from her again.

Yookyung takes a bite, “We’ll pick you and Namjoo up after school, okay?” The youngest ones nod and smiles brightly at all the good news surfacing.

-

Night finally came and the café was full of royalists laughing, drinking, and eating. However, Hayoung and Namjoo had their night off and spent it well with their friends. “Chorong unnie!” Hayoung and Namjoo calls out as they attack their friend with a hug. The light brown haired woman laughs and wraps her arms around both of them, a bright smile emitting their faces, “Hayoung dongsaeng! Namjoo dongsaeng! It’s been so long!”

“Hey, how about this oppa?” A man raises his eyebrow as he opens his arms out to them. “Joonmyun oppa!” Hayoung and Namjoo greets as they also attack the man with a big hug, the male laughing joyfully. “Have you been taking care of our unnie?” Namjoo asks as she crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course! I’m always taking care of my wife,” Joonmyun beams as he wraps an arm around her waist, patting her waist gently. “Can you believe your younger brother is getting married to Naeun? I’m so glad for them,” Hayoung whispers as she watches the new formed couple who is seated by the wall. “I’ve been telling him to propose to her for the longest before our parents ‘force’ it,” Joonmyun chuckles as he makes air quotes on the words.

Chorong takes a seat by the table in front of Naeun and Myungsoo, staring at the couple with a sly grin. Naeun catches the older one staring and blushes, looking at Myungsoo shyly. Myungsoo sees her emotion change and looks up, seeing his sister-in-law. “Y-Yah, noona,” Myungsoo coughs as he moves his head away, looking away shyly.

Joonmyun shakes his head and sits across from his wife, distracting her from eavesdropping. Namjoo smiles brightly and sits down by the window, stretching back in her seat, “I wonder what it would be like if we were Princesses…” Hayoung purses her lips and cups her cheeks as she rests her elbow on the table, “We’d be different, huh?”

Namjoo nods and hums quietly, “I’m sure we’ll all still meet though. I can’t imagine what I’d be like without you guys.” Hayoung smiles warmly at her words, “Of course. Destiny brought all of us together!”

Suddenly, the door opens and Namjoo glances at the entrance, laughing softly, “And fate definitely brought you and Sehun together.”

“What?” Hayoung blinks as she turns around to see the entrance, her eyes widening that her eyes could fall off her sockets. Namjoo winks and stands up, “I’m going to talk to Ilhoon. I’ll see you later!” She walks over to the other table and hugs her friend, soon sitting down and glancing at her friend.

Hayoung sinks down in her seat and bites on her bottom lip, hoping that he won’t see her. “Hey, Sehun! You’re here,” A prince grins as he pats Sehun’s back. Sehun lifts his head up as a greeting, walking over towards the table where Hayoung is seated at.

“Hello, Hayoung. May I sit here?” Sehun asks as he stands by the open seat, leaning down slightly for his voice to travel. Hayoung sits up and bows her upper body, “Sure…” Sehun smiles lightly and sits down, immediately opening up a conversation.

Ilhoon watches Sehun and his eyes couldn’t believe it. “Is Sehun—smiling?” He asks as he leans forward to whisper to Namjoo. She nods and watches the two in awe, “Mhm. Rare, right?” He laughs softly and shakes his head, “This is something interesting.”

“Hayoung,” Sehun murmurs as he takes a deep breath, “I want to apologize.” The female furrows her eyebrow and glances at him, “For what?”

“How you’ve been going through all these events. First you were caught up in the crowd, being chased, then your glasses broke and you got threatened. I really want to repay you back…” He stares at her firmly, a whole new aura surrounding him. He felt determined and that he wanted to protect her.

“You really don’t have to,” She lifts her hand up slightly from the table as she shakes her head. Sehun takes a deep breath and holds his hand out, “Can we at least be friends?” Hayoung stares at his hand for a good few seconds, her hand slowly extending out to shake his, “Of course.”

Sehun grins and shakes her hand as well, pulling away gently, “Then as your new friend, I’d like to get to know you.” Hayoung laughs quietly and nods, “Alright. That sounds good.” Even though he may be a royalist, different classes can be friends. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? He seems harmless and a nice person despite being cold at first.

The two slowly got comfortable with each other, laughing their way through the night. All of Hayoung’s friends stare at her in peace. “She’s going to be entering the life of royalists,” Joonmyun observes as he holds Chorong’s hand gently, “Sehun never grew interested in talking to a lot of girls or even sit with a lot of girls.” She nods in agreement and sighs happily, “Hopefully our maknae can turn into a princess.”

As soon as their laughter died, Sehun grins sheepishly, “By the way, you know how friends buy their friends things? As a start of our new friendship, I’ll buy you glasses.” Hayoung shakes her head and smiles, “It’s really nice of you, but you don’t have to.”

“You’ve worked hard enough, Hayoung. Tomorrow, Jongin and I will pick you up at your house and we’ll get you glasses,” Sehun stands up and takes a deep breath, “Tomorrow is Saturday. You have to get out of the house sometime.” He pats her head gently and smiles one last time, “We’ll pick you up at noon. Good night, Hayoung.” Hayoung blinks and blushes lightly, nodding, “Good night, Prince Sehun.”

Sehun walks out of the café with his stoic face once again. The royalists glance at him in confusion as when he was with Hayoung a few moments ago, he was so bright and happy. Was she the key to Sehun’s happiness?

On the other hand, all the bodyguards were outside the café, talking and laughing as they were in their own group. “Hey, Sehun,” Jongin grins as he walks beside his royalist, waving goodbye to his friends. “Hayoung and I are now friends,” Sehun announces as he looks up at the night sky, “And tomorrow, you and I will buy her glasses.” Jongin looks at the ground and feels that same burning emotion rising again. Are they getting closer now? He thinks as he cracks a grin, “Great. I can’t wait.”

Nothing will happen between them, right?