The Prince
Two PrincesIt's another day in the university.
The Prince was still the center of everything. His schoolmates watched his every move, from the way he walked to the way he breathed. Everyone was anticipating what he would do next and to be honest, for him, it was too suffocating.
All he had to do was to not do anything wrong, just for that day, just until after classes.
He told his bodyguards to wait for him outside and he finally walked in the university gate. He walked slowly until he reached his classroom for his first class.
He stopped near the door as he saw a lot of new faces. Probably because the class that he prviously attended to was dissolved, and his original classmates were distributed by the university registrar to other classes available. Because he was an honor student - and a prince, for that matter - he was asked to choose whatever class he liked, and he chose the earliest possible timeslots so that he could go home earlier too and study his extra subjects at home.
His classmates noticed him and they all kept quiet as they looked at him. As he entered the room, others talked and gossiped about him, others did their own thing, not minding his presence. He looked around for vacant seats.
He preferred sitting with the people who didn't mind him, it would be a less bother to him.
He put his bag under his seat and got a book to read.
After some time, the professor entered the room, and he closed the book.
"I would like to introduce you to our new student, his Highness, Prince Leo," the professor tried not to stutter, but he ended up being nervous as the Prince glanced at him. The Prince stood and bowed at everyone. "He would be joining our class for the next few months for this semester, so please let us take care of him."
"As the prince, of course, we would," said someone about six chairs away from him. Prince Leo looked at him and the latter smirked. He looked like a troubemaker in the class, but he didn't mind.
He realized that no one actually sat beside, behind and in front of him. The chairs surrounding his own were vacant, as if the class was avoiding him.
It was better anyway.
He sat and got his laptop as the professor started his lesson.
"I'm sorry, I am late!" Everyone's attention, except Prince Leo who was reading the book, was caught when a guy went running into the classroom. The professor realized that it was another new student.
"You're late on your first day," The professor said. "Are you new?"
He tucked his backpack on before nodding. "Yes, I just transferred to this school today."
"Well then," the professor put his glasses on. "Introduce yourself to the class."
He looked around and saw Prince Leo reading a book. He grinned widely as he shouted, "Prince Leo!"
The prince raised his chin and glanced at the person who called him. It was a bit rude, because he never experienced someone calling his name confidently and easily. The guy unbelievably caught his attention.
His voice was familiar, and his face was also familiar even if his eyes were hidden behind such thick glasses - it was also the time when he finally remembered who the person was.
"Chopper?" He murmured as he stared at that person who was smiling at him.
"Yes, Sir, he is the prince, now get on with your introduction," the professor told Chopper. Chopper looked at the professor and apologized.
Chopper then introduced himself after he cleared his throat. "Hi everyone. I am Lee Jaehwan. I just transferred here today. I'm a business major."
Prince Leo furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Chopper who introduced himself with a different name. Chopper, or Lee Jaehwan, waved at him, so he looked away. Why was he even waving at me? He ignored him.
"Oh, by the way, I would like to tell you something about Prince Leo," Jaehwan paused, smiling playfully at Prince Leo who looked back at him. The prince's heart skipped a beat when he realized that Jaehwan might spill that he saw him in the night club and only one word from him would destroy his image, well, apparently, because why would going to a night club destroy his image?
"Still," he mumbled to himself as he nervously anticipated what Jaehwan would say.
"Prince Leo is my friend, so, be nice to me," he told everyone and grinned. Prince Leo sighed deeply in relief as he looked away. Their classmates began to create noises.
Prince Leo secretly raised an eyebrow to Jaehwan who just plastered a big, playful grin on his face. I am not your friend, why would you say that? To create an image? To make our classmates adore you? He thought he was wrong in judging Chopper, or Jaehwan, based on what he did that night. The truth was, he was a fame .
"Silence," said the professor to everyone, then he turned to Jaehwan. "Mr. Lee, go sit anywhere you like."
Jaehwan turned to the professor, "May I," he stopped as he turned to the prince who was waiting for him to say another thing that would make the latter irritated. "May I sit beside my friend?"
Their classmates began to talk again. Without any objections, Jaehwan approached Prince Leo.
"Is this seat taken?" He pointed at the seat beside his Highness. When the Prince glared at him, but didn't give a response, Jaehwan concluded, "I guess, it isn't taken, so I would sit here."
"I think he's just showing-off," one of their classmates whispered to another, but it was loud enough to be heard by Jaehwan and the prince himself.
Instead of answering back, Jaehwan just focused his attention to the prince. "Prince Leo, I didn't know you are a business major as well."
Prince Leo once again ignored him.
"Well, as I said, I just transferred here, I was from-"
"Mr. Lee! Keep quiet! I am starting my lecture here," the professor told Jaehwan who in turn kept quiet, but after a few moments, he tried to talk to the prince again.
"You know, I also didn't know you're studying here," Jaehwan said to Prince Leo who glared back at him.
"Can you just," His voice was soft yet strong. "Can you just listen to the professor and stop talking to me?"
Jaehwan smirked. "Alright, maybe later, we'd get to talk."
But Jaehwan wasn't able to control. Fifteen minutes later, he got his notebook and wrote something. Prince Leo secretly glanced at Jaehwan who was chuckling while writing something on the notebook. He was curious why Jaehwan was still using a notebook, but he preferred not to ask because Jaehwan would think he was interested and he might talk once again. Prince Leo rolled his eyes and continued listening to the professor.
"If you are curious why I still use notebook, well, I prefer the traditional means of taking down notes," Jaehwan answered the prince's invisible question.
I don't care. Just stop.
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