xii
No More Princess"Hi,"
She can't find her voice. Neither can Yoona, who's also staring at him blankly.
"You're probably really surprised."
Jihyun nods and squeaks out a small, "Yeah,"
Just then, Luhan runs up behind Kai and punches him on the shoulder. "Dude, you know I can't run as fast as you."
Yoona turns to looks at Jihyun, bringing her back to reality with a flick of her hand in a gesture that says, "What the hell?"
Jihyun swallows. "Yoona, this is Jongin--Kai--and his friend Luhan." At their names said, they raised a hand in hello. "Guys, this is Yoona."
"Nice to meet you, Luhan, Jongin," Yoona smiles. "I'll just . . . go get some coffee for everyone." As she exits, she glances back at Jihyun, her eyes widening just slightly and pointing at Kai.
The two boys in front of her still had the evidence of their run, and Kai takes Jihyun's silence as a small cue to advance, Luhan trailing him.
"You guys ran." Jihyun confirms.
"We ran. Do you know, by the way, exactly how big this place is? Don't answer that. I'm just saying we had to look in nearly every room to find you."
Jihyun nods slowly, taking it all in--or at least trying to. "You two were looking for me."
"Yep," They answer together.
"And why, might I ask, didn't you do this a few days ago, when I actually left?"
Kai shrugs. "I had to plan it out. We--" He points back and forth between him and Luhan. "--had to plan it out. Did you think I could just waltz right in here after what just happened?"
"Good point."
Then, as if he suddenly realizes where he is, which Jihyun thinks he does, Kai looks around him, folding his arms. "So this is where you spend most of your time? Pretty nice. I've been wondering what you look at everyday."
"It used to be you." Jihyun blurted before stopping herself.
Kai looks at her and his eyes soften, and Jihyun thinks it's sympathy she's seeing in them, but she realizes with a small catch of her breath that it's longing. He misses her, too.
She clears , "Anyway, since you guys didn't just waltz in here, as you said, what'd you do?"
"We broke in."
She stares at him, blank, the room silent and Luhan nervously shifts his weight to his other foot.
Finally, she speaks. "You broke in."
Kai nods, confirming his answer with a verbal response of, "Yeah,"
A few more moments of silence went by before Jihyun shook her head, holding a hand up. "Wait a minute--" Then, she hears yelling. Coming from somewhere outside her room, there's distinctive yelling and shouting, and whoever's emitting the noises seems very alarmed.
"It wasn't my idea!" Luhan shouts and nearly holds his hands out like he's just been caught in a robbery.
Surprising Luhan and Kai, who are both on edge and staring at the open door, Jihyun laughs.
"Why are you laughing?" Kai asks, a little bit of alarm running through his own voice.
"Because," Jihyun chuckles some more. "We just had a meeting this morning on improving the security and then this happens. It's really ironic."
Kai grins, mostly because Jihyun is smiling and also because, well, the situation is actually pretty funny.
But he still moves closer to Jihyun, pulling Luhan with him, away from the door.
Jihyun plants her feet, straightens her back when the guards and her father come through the open door. Instictively, she moves in front of the boys.
"Arrest them," Her father command the guards, who have come in a group of six and are all holding guns, pointing at the intruders. Jihyun doesn't move.
"Stand down." She counters.
"Byun Jihyun," The Prince scolds.
"There is no reason to arrest these men."
"They are intruders."
"They are my friends."
"Friends?" Her father repeats incredulously. "And how exactly do you know them?"
"I lived with him while I was on my emergency leave." She lifted a hand behind her to Kai.
The Prince's eyes harden. "All the more reason to arrest them."
"No!" She protests, and as if it will help, Jihyun's arms fly out and act as a barrier between them and the guards.
"Jihyun," Her father is now growing impatient. "Intruders are intruders. I don't care if they're your friends."
"Then how will it look in the papers if everyone knows you've arrested the man your daughter is in love with?"
She can visibily see her father freeze, and on top of that, she can feel Jongin tense behind her.
She's almost thankful when Baekhyun comes in the room, dragging Sehun and Kyungsoo with him.
"Can someone tell me why these two were arguing in a car outside?" He looks around the room, picking up right away on the tension. "What happened in here?"
"Sehun, Kyungsoo, explain yourselves, please." Jihyun orders quickly, turning the conversation, hoping to save Kai and herself from more embarrassment, because surely, Kai is embarrassed.
Sneaking a glance at him behind her, she's surprised by the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Maybe . . . not?
"Well," Kyungsoo starts, focusing the attention on him. "They--" He nods his head in Luhan and Kai's direction. "--were taking longer than they said they were going to be, so I thought we should go in after them, but--"
"That'd be a stupid idea." Sehun finishes for him.
"And I don't understand how."
"Because what if they got shot? What if they were dead? You'd want to die, too?"
"We would have had no way of knowing if anything like that happened."
"Then please, go in and find out for yourself. I'll be out here, alive."
"We're already inside!"
"I was speaking figuratively, like we were still outside, ."
"Well that's stupid."
"Thank you, Detective Do, you've been a major help."
"Kiss my , Oh Sehun."
Baekhyun rubs a hand over his face. "This is how I found them."
"There was a planned time on when you'd be in and out?" Jihyun questions, turning around to the two boys. "What, were you planning on kidnapping me?"
"No, not kidnapping. Just convincing you to run away again."
The Prince is cut off from saying something, which both Jihyun and Kai are grateful for, when Yoona and Jihyun's mother walks in.
"I have tea and coffee for everyone." Yoona stops short when she sees Baekhyun and Sehun and the others who weren't there five minutes ago. She sets the tray down. "I'll get more cups."
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Baekhyun asks, holding an arm out to silence the bickering beside him.
"I heard what was going on." She says simply and looks directly at Jihyun. "Everything."
Jihyun drops her gaze, embarrassed that her mother heard about her feelings for Jongin, and also holding her tongue from commenting on the fact that she must have been eavesdropping.
The Princess continues without concern to her daughter's embarrassment, focusing on the guards. "We don't need any type of weaponry here. These boys are not a threat. Please retreat."
The guards bow in compliance and file out, walking past the Prince, who seems to be so shocked with everything going on, he can't even find his voice.
Jihyun can understand why. Finding out your daughter is in love with the man whose house she stayed at for three weeks, then learning that same man was planning on kidnapping her to take her back, and then his wife taking matters into her own hands when it's usually him making all the decisions.
It could be a lot for someone like him.
"I would like to speak to my daughter now." The Princess smiles at Jihyun. "Alone."
Jihyun bows her head and takes a couple small steps, waiting to follow her mother out.
"Baekhyun," She continues, head rising in his direction. "Please look over everything here while we're gone. Your father seems to be not himself at the moment, and we shouldn't be gone long."
"Sure,"
Jihyun looks at Kai, who gives her a small smile, before walking out.
"So," Baekhyun puts his hands on his hips. "I'm kind of confused. You're the guy she stayed with?" He points to Luhan, who quickly shakes his head and pulls Kai forward.
"I am . . . . sir . . . ."
Baekhyun laughs. "You don't need to call me sir. Besides, we might be brother-in-laws."
The Prince makes a noise of objection.
"Calm down dad, it's not like she can remain single forever."
"I realize that," The Prince retorts. "But I did not anticipate her to live, for three weeks, with a guy she just met. She's acting like a naive little girl, and she needs to set her head straight."
"Sir, if I may-"
"You may not." He snaps, shutting Kai up.
"You may," Baekhyun says, ignoring the glare from his father.
Kai nervously fidgets, unsure if he should speak or not.
Baekhyun reassures him. "Go ahead. Don't worry about him."
"Right, um, well, I just wanted to say that you're wrong, she's not naive." He looked directly at the Prince, trying not to stutter. "She knew exactly what she was doing, and was very cautious about accepting my offer for a place to stay." Sort of. "If anyone's at fault, it's me. She refused to sleep anywhere but the couch and thanked me tremendously for giving her shelter and food and clothes. She is anything but naive. She's wonderful, and if you failed to see that, you have not been around her enough.
"I don't mean to be rude, Your Highness, but I can't help but point out your faults when it comes to your daughter. It's obvious that you can't stop her from loving me, and I'd like to second that. You can't stop me from loving her."
The room is silent, except for Sehun's quiet, "Oh, ."
The Prince and Kai stare at each other, neither wanting to look away, standing their ground.
Baekhyun decides to break the tension. "I feel like I need to clap at that speech, but . . ." He trails off, knowing everyone would understand what he's saying: But I don't wanna piss dad off even more.
"I will," Jihyun says from the doorway, and starts smacking her hands together.
Kai looks at her, surprised that she and her mother were back from their little conversation so quickly, and feels a wave of embarrassment. This is definitely not how I wanted to tell her, he thinks.
Jihyun stops clapping when her dad curses and leaves the room.
"I got him," The Princess says over her shoulder as she follows him out.
"You heard that?" Kai asks Jihyun as she walks to him. "All of it?"
"The whole thing."
Kai makes a sound of frustration, "I was hoping for that moment to be romantic and cute, not begging your father for acceptance."
Jihyun shrugs, "It was cute and romantic to me."
Grinning, Kai wraps his arms around her and rests his forhead against hers. "I can always try it again."
"I don't care how you tell me you love me, as long as you do."
"I love you,"
"What? I didn't hear you." Jihyun says, a smug smile on her face.
Kai rests his hand on her cheek, brushes his thumb against her cheekbone and says softly, "I love you, Jihyun."
And he finally leans down to kiss her.
"Come on, guys, not in front of the maknae." Luhan says, shielding Sehun's eyes, who promptly whacks his hands away.
Later, they sit in the family room, side by side on the couch, holding cups of coffee that Yoona got for them.
Luhan and Sehun wanted a tour of the castle, so Baekhyun took them on one. Kyungsoo was dragged along, but Jihyun thinks he secretly wanted to go with them, anyway.
"So what'd you guys talk about?" Kai asks, sipping his coffee. "You and your mom."
She smiles, "Girl stuff."
He raises his eyebrows at her, "Girl stuff?"
"Yep."
"Okay, not gonna ask any further."
Laughing, Jihyun sets her cup on the table in front of them. "It was nothing, really. She just reminded me about marriage and and the importance of family and what position I'm in and all that."
"Oh," Kai nods. "Right." He takes another drink from his cup. "This is really good coffee, you know."
"I know,"
"We should take some with us."
"Should we?"
"Yeah, it's way better than the coffee I keep buying." When he looks up from examining the coffee in his hands, Jihyun's staring at him with a small smile on her face. "What?"
She shakes her head, "Nothing." She doesn't want to tell him how happy she is that he's already thinking they'd continue to live together, that he's completely okay with it. She doesn't even know how to express it. "My mom told me that she'd let me stay with you, by the way. She's trying to convince my dad right now."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She said, 'You can still be with him, but you have visit us every holiday, call as often as you can, blah, blah, blah.'" Jihyun impersonated her mother with a higher octave. "Those are my requirements. Unless," She adds quickly. "You want to live here?"
Kai looks around him in thought. "As much as I'm flattered to be offered to live in a castle--and trust me, I'm flattered--I'd like to stick with my apartment."
Jihyun feels a small flush of relief. "Good, me too."
"You're not planning on still being a princess?"
She shakes her head. "Baek's got a good hold on his future; he'll be a good king when the time comes. All I do is manage my sanctuary and smile at everyone who walks in. I've never really liked it, anyway."
At Kai's breath of laughter, she raises an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing, nothing," Kai says, waving his hand. "It's just . . . I just noticed you were sitting like you used to again."
"Am I?" Jihyun looks down, checking her posture. "Ah, well, I guess being back here makes me do all those things naturally again."
"Back in your natural habitat."
Jihyun laughs, "Yeah, that's one way to put it."
"So," He stretches his arms and lays them on the top of the couch. "When do I carry you off on my majestic white horse?"
"After I pack. And there's something I need to do."
Yoona helps Jihyun gather her things and put them in a few bags, upset the entire time.
"You'll still visit me, right?" She keeps asking, double-checking what goes in Jihyun's tolietry case.
"Of course I will," Jihyun answers every time. "You're my best friend, Yoona, how could I not keep in touch? That'd be giving you permission to murder me."
Her joke manages to get a little smile in return.
"It's just . . . this is so weird. You've been here forever, and I've been seeing you everyday for so long and now . . ." She sighs, zipping the bag. "Now I won't be able to see you as often."
Jihyun looks at her friend solemnly. "I know how you feel. It's weird for me, too." Sitting on the bed, she pats the place next to her and shifts when Yoona sits. "I'll tell you what: I'll call you as often as I can. Which will probably be everyday, because I don't know what I'm going to do while Jongin's at work."
"You better call me." Yoona ordered this with a point of her finger. "And you better tell me what a cutie Kai is." She grinned and leaned in like she had a guilty secret. "I've been wanting to know how sweet he is to you. I mean, who breaks into a castle to save someone? It's so romantic."
Jihyun laughs. "He's so sweet, you don't even know. It says a lot about a person when they invite a homeless stranger into their home."
Yoona looks dreamingly into the air. "Maybe we'll have another scare and they push me out and I'll find the love of my life, too."
"And I'd like to meet him right away."
Yoona smiles and grabs Jihyun's hand. "It's not gonna be the same without you here, you know."
She nods. "I do. It'll take a little to get used to, even for me. By the way, since I'm leaving, I was thinking about what I should do with my sanctuary."
Yoona looks shocked. "You mean you're not going continue with it?"
"No."
"Are you going to sell it?"
Jihyuns shakes her head. "I have a plan already. I'm going to hand it over to you."
Yoona's face was blank at first, then when the news sunk in, it paled from shock and she started denying the offer.
"I can't, Ji, it's your sanctuary. I don't even know half of the things you do--"
"It's not mine anymore. And you'll catch on, I know you will. It's nothing you can't do."
"But--"
"No buts. I know how much you liked working with me on the sanctuary. You loved it. You practically glowed when we talked about new water tanks for the hippos or upgrading the bird's houses. There's nobody else I'd rather have to take my place, Yoona. Oh, don't cry."
Yoona dabs her eyes and laughs. "I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm . . . I'm so grateful."
Jihyun waves her hand. "Don't worry about thanking me, I know how much it means to you. Or at least a fraction of it."
Suddenly, Yoona hugs her, squeezing her so much Jihyun's not sure Kai will have someone to take home.
"I'll miss you." Yoona says when she pulls back.
Jihyun smiles, "Me, too. I'll see you soon."
Kai helps Jihyun load her bags into the trunk of the Altima her parents let her have (since she was on her own now, she needs a car. And she'll use it as soon as Kai teaches her how to drive and she can get her license). Luhan, Sehun and Kyungsoo are standing outside the car they drove here in, waiting for them to be ready and head back to Kai's house, where they're going to hold a Welcome Home party for Jihyun. (She doesn't know about it yet, since they just decided on it about ten minutes ago.)
Jihyun smiles when the last bag is loaded, finally letting the realness of it all sink in. She was going back home with Kai. Whom she loved. For as long as she wanted.
"Have you said goodbye to everyone?" Kai asks her.
"Yeah. Baekhyun wanted me to tell you he'll kill you if you get me pregnant."
Kai didn't try to hide his blush. "Hey, the baby needs a father, doesn't it?"
"Is this your majestic white horse?" She patted the deep blue car.
"Yep. I'm whisking you away forever, never to return. I'm sad I forgot my cowboy hat, though."
Forever. Jihyun releshed in that word; she loved hearing him say it.
"A shame you forgot it." She joked. "I'm sure you would've rocked it."
He laughed at her. "Ready to go?"
Nodding, she said, "Ready."
Before they get in the car, Kai wraps his arms around Jihyun in a hug, resting his forehead against hers.
He sighs contently, "You don't know how happy I am right now, being able to go home with you again."
"I think I know," Jihyun smiles. "Because I'm just as happy."
The end! I hope everyone has enjoyed this story! I'm still working feverently on Phoenix, so stay anticipated for that! Also, I'm working on another story, but I'm not sure whether I should post it or not. What do you guys think?
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and subscribing and commenting!
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