YEONHEE’S POV

It was almost like that one stare from the second prince was too much for my heart to handle. Throughout the following days of waiting for the candidates to arrive, his gaze was all there was in my mind. Though it worried me, I longed to see it again, but I wasn’t my sister. I didn’t have the influence nor charisma to allow the king to have the honor of not bowing my head in the presence of royalty, and I was jealous of that.

What worried me even more than that was the fact that our classes would start two days after the last candidate’s arrival. My sister has been staying cooped up in her room for almost an entire day reviewing material on laws and etiquette so she wouldn’t have to put in as much effort later on in our palace lives.

Because I was sure that my sister would probably win the prince’s hand in marriage, I went on and led new friendships with the other candidates for the prince’s wife. We would discuss where we came from, how we were chosen, our families, and of course, what we thought of the palace. Most of us came from families that were actually pretty well off, so we didn’t have the huge culture shock of luxury, but everything still came as a surprise to us. The amount of wealth concentrated in one place was hard to understand.

One day, as the weather began to become warmer, I went to gather water for me and sister because Yeonhwa has been doing it the past few days and Yeonhwa, even in the palace, hated to be looked at by the men in the palace.

I remember her saying, “It’s like men only have eyes. Once they see something they like they feel like they have the right to just keep on looking, as if their eyes have claimed something. They just forget that they have a wife and children at home.”

And it was true. Whenever I go with my sister, the men would whisper around us and say things like, “when I was married, I didn’t have candidates to be my wife,” and even though it was just a joke, it drove my sister to the edge. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate being beautiful, it was that she felt that she should hide her face if she didn’t want to be ripped apart by all of their wives, who in Yeonhwa’s eyes, were more beautiful than she.

So here I am, bucket in hand and being the klutz I am, stumbling on the wooden step that led to the water pumping station. To my surprise, the impact of falling straight onto the wooden floor never came to me, but instead I felt a pressure around my upper arm.

“Whao, slow down.” I heard a vaguely familiar voice say to me as he pulled me up. I could tell it was a male just from the deepness of his voice and how brusque his grip was.

“Thank you-” I looked up to see my savior and found that it was someone who I never imagined it to be. I automatically dropped the pail in hand, as if by reflex, and immediately let my head fall. “Your majesty.”

I heard him chuckle at what I called him. “Please, as if I’m part of the royal family. Please don’t lower your head to me. People aren’t even supposed to know what I look like.”

I cautiously raised my head to look at him straight in the face, and I knew I never wanted to look away again. His eyes carried so much mystery and wonder in them, all I wanted to do was figure him out. His sculpted jawline and slim facial structure only made him more amazing.

“Done staring?” He raised one of his perfect eyebrows.

I immediately looked away while blushing with a smile on my face. I knew he wasn’t expecting an answer from me, but I still felt extremely embarrassed by my actions.

“You’re really cute.” He said, one corner of his lips raised.

I looked at him in surprise. This was one of the few times that I was complimented. After people saw my sister, I automatically became banal, dull, lackluster.

“Me?” I questioned, just to make sure I wasn’t being delusional.

He looked at me in bewilderment. “Is there anyone else here but us?” He picked up the bucket I had dropped earlier and put it in my hands and just that little amount of contact sent sparks flying through my body. He leaned against the wooden wall and continued to look at me; the way all the men looked at my sister, but the way I had always longed to be looked at. Finally, a small smile pulled at the corners of his and my lips, and for some reason both of us started laughing.

“What’s your name?” He asked at the end of our episode.

“Choi Yeonhee.” I said as clearly as I could.

“Yeonhee, Yeonhwa.” He said, tasting the names of sisters on his tongue. He seemed to be looking at me as if I should be asking him his name at this point, but I surely wasn’t allowed to do that. “Ah right, people aren’t supposed to asked royalty their name. That’s ok.” He shrugged.

“I’m Oh Sehun.”

I looked at him with bewilderment, and he immediately understood.

“You’re wondering why my last name isn’t Kim and why my name isn’t Kim Jong-something, right?” He asked, and I nodded. He sighed, and I guessed this wasn’t the first time he gave this explanation. “I was born as Kim Jongseo. It was what I’ve always been called, but then when Jongin was selected to be king, as I expected him to me, my father lost interest in me, to the point that when I ran away from the palace, he didn’t notice for a week. I lived fine. I stripped myself of my royal status, occasionally coming back to the palace to cause a ruckus, to remind them of the son they forgot. That’s when I decided to completely break and changed my name to Oh Sehun. The halmeoni that took care of me… she lived a difficult life. When she was in her prime, her husband and son both passed away in a fire. She was severely hurt too, but she was even more scarred by the loss of the loved ones around her. Her deceased husband’s name was Oh Seyeol, and her son’s name was Sehun, so I decided to take on that name and become the son she never had.”  

“You must’ve been close to the halmeoni then.” I commented. At this point, both Sehun and I were slightly leaning with our backs touching the wooden wall. It didn’t feel like I was with someone that I should fear, nor did I feel uncomfortable. I felt like I was talking to one of my friends.

“I was. She passed away two years ago, so I buried her next to her husband. Can you imagine me? She was the first one who gave me any attention in years. She fed me, she talked to me, she cared for me. I felt like I belonged somewhere.”

“I understand that feeling.” I admitted, though it wasn’t a happy fact.

He turned his head to look at me, but I didn’t dare look at him. I was afraid that I would cry, and I would not ever forgive myself if I let myself cry in front of him.

“I guess we have a lot in common.” He said, turned completely towards me.

“YEONHEE-AH! CHOI YEONHEE!” I heard my sister’s voice calling me from not far from where I was and Sehun also seemed to realize that he wasn’t supposed to be seen with me.

“That’s your sister, isn’t it? I didn’t leave a good impression on her.” He smirked, “Well then, Choi Yeonhee, I hope you see you again.” He said as he lowered his head the slightest bit, but his next move caught me by surprise. He took my free hand and gently let his lips touch the slightest bit before running off into the forest behind the water pumps.

“Yeonhee.” My sister was finally standing in front of me.

I smiled at her awkwardly. “Hi?”

She looked at me with disbelief. “Have you been standing here with an empty pail for more than an hour?”

I looked down to the pail in my hand, and realized that I completely forgot about getting water. “Maybe…?” I admitted.

Yeonhwa sighed and took the pail from me. “This is why I’ve been doing it the whole time. Just go back to the room, Yeonhee. Start studying. Classes start tomorrow.”

“Thanks Unni.” I said, still a little dazed.

As I walked back to my room, Sehun’s words echoed through my ears.

“I guess we have a lot in common.”

He was right. We do have a lot in common, and one thing was for sure.

I wouldn’t forget anything that happened today. 

a/n: hello :) i hope you enjoyed todays chapter ^^ next chapter will be pretty much all Yeonhwa and Jongin so look forward to that :D i really like Yeonhee and Sehun so... look forward to that too i guess? LOL i hope you guys are enjoying this story so far :)