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No More PrincessEventually, routine becomes boring. The same food each morning because of a stupid diet is boring. The same work every day is annoying and boring. A little twist in the routine, like helping a stranger on the street, would be better than what Jihyun does all the time.
If only she goes out on the street.
The danger her father speaks of is nonexistent in her mind, for she hasn't seen any of this "danger." Her family trips to the countryside each year were peaceful and relaxing, so what other danger can the outside world hold?
On TV, she sees a few violent situations, but they're reality shows, so of course they were staged, right?
Of course Jihyun knows there are mean people out there, ones with no feelings and doesn't give a crap about anyone else, but how can that be a danger to her?
Her parents think differently, so this castle is all she knows.
After breakfast, Jihyun changes out of her pajamas into other comfortable clothes--ones she could get away with. God forbid she wears her night clothes all day but a t-shirt and jeans are perfectly fine. She eyes the stack of applications she forgot about yesterday when she walks into her office. "You're going to disappear soon," She sings joyfully but her tone has a hint of evil, like she's acting friendly to a bug then immediately squishes it.
She plops on her chair, breaking the rules with one leg between her and the seat, her back as straight as a ruler. After guiltily pulling her leg from under her to the floor, she turns on her computer and opens her e-mail, calender and solitaire. "I will conquer you today."
Yoona strolls in through the open door with a tray of hot coffee, sugar, cream, and two cups. "Would you like some coffee, Jihyun?"
"Yes," She watches Yoona set the tray on the small table beside her desk. "And it seems like you do, too."
Yoona shrugs, "I feel like drinking something warm this morning; it's kind of chilly. Since I was getting you your serving, I thought, why not?"
"Cheers to you," Jihyun smiles over the rim of her coffee mug, the steam dancing around her lashes.
"Cheers to me," Yoona echoes and matches Jihyun's laugh. "So what are the plans for today?"
"Clearing this mess." Jihyun's hands spreads over the desk in front of her. "And the ultimate goal: seperating those fifty-two cards in order, onto four piles."
"You're torturing yourself over that game, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not. The game is torturing me."
Yoona shakes her head in a mocking disapproval, but Jihyun doesn't notice. "When do we get started?"
Jihyun glances at her friend, who's still clutching onto her coffee, standing over the smaller pile of applications. Her lips turn up into a soft smile. "I'm starting very soon. You can join me when you've finished that drink. And maybe another one, after that." At Yoona's arched brow, Jihyun raises both of hers. "You look really comfortable in that sweater, so why don't you relax in it before you start to help? Curl up on that couch and look gorgeous like you usually do."
A huff emits from Yoona, passing as a disbelieved laugh and she starts toward the couch Jihyun mentioned. "You're too nice."
"It's in my nature." Jihyun chuckles.
As Yoona sinks into the cushions, Jihyun pulls a resume. "I think the hardest part of this whole hiring thing is going to be choosing which ones to hire. I mean," A straight hand shoots down to the floor. "look at this pile! It keeps growing, like it's alive."
"I think it's because you find too many good qualities in people and not enough of the bad."
"Now," She holds up a finger. "The question is whether that's a blessing or not."
"It's a blessing in most cases, sweetie. Especially with you, because you have a sharp eye when it comes to whom to trust."
"Do I?"
"Mhm. Remember the furniture delivery guy?"
"Yes,"
"And Baekhyun's ex-girlfriend?"
Jihyun sighs. "How could I forget? What was she, a cook?"
"I think she was one of the cook's helpers, actually. Or apprentice."
"Well, don't mention her to Baek again. He still tenses his shoulders at the mention of her name."
"At least he doesn't cringe anymore."
Jihyun laughs and takes another resume. "That's true, it's gotten better."
"Are you going to talk to him about her later?"
"You know I'm going to." She tries to hide a devious smile. "I can't resist."
Yoona chuckles. "When you do, make sure to--"
Her sentence is interrupted by a vigorous shake of the room, violent enough to knock pictures off the wall and vases to the floor. Yoona's coffee drops as her hands fly to the couch for support and she notices that Jihyun has grabbed onto her desk. The sound of screams and commands reach the room and the panic in Yoona's eyes immediately match Jihyun's.
It ends quickly, so quickly that Jihyun nearly tries to convice herself it didn't happen. But the damage around the room doesn't let her.
"An earthquake?" She hears Yoona suggest.
"I . . . I don't--"
"Jihyun!" She turns to the door, not seeing her brother but hearing him down the hall. She starts toward it before he calls her again and shows up in front of her. "You need to leave, now." As he speaks, he grabs her arm firmly, but with a caring gentleness, and pulls her from the room. "Yoona," He calls over her shoulder. "Go to the front parlor; my mom probably needs you."
"Mom?" Jihyun asks, running down the steps next to her brother. "Is mom hurt?"
"Mom's fine, she just needs help calming everyone down." They pass the front door, hastily step around some broken ceramic, and Jihyun realizes that he's taking her to the garage.
"Baekhyun," She tries to pull away from him, but he holds strong. "Why aren't you telling me anything? What's going on?"
"I can't tell you exactly, because I don't know." He grabs a pair of keys by the garage door before opening it. "But I can tell you that I was ordered to get you out of here." He meets her eyes. "Before something worse happens."
"Worse?" She repeats frantically. "What about you? You're going to be here if something worse happens?"
"My orders were: you first, then me. You're the youngest, you need to go first."
"But you're the male!"
"You know that's not how it works in the family!" He opens the door of a black Subaru and shoves her into the driver's seat. "I'm leaving right after you, so listen to me when I tell you to go. Like right now."
"Where am I supposed to go with no money?"
"Away from here!" He shuts the door. "Anywhere, just get far away from the castle. Go!"
When he disappears back into the house, Jihyun swears and sticks the key into the ignition. "That ," She grumbles as she skids out of the driveway. "How does he expect me to drive without a license?" Then, with a slow breath, she leans back and pushes on the accelerator. She should be okay from the times Baekhyun let her drive around the castle, right?
Skid right, avoid the Buick. And jerk the wheel back again to not clip the front of the car on that tractor trailer. "," Jihyun breathes. "Calm, I need calm. And everyone else needs to be calm." She adds when a horn honks (she's sure it was toward her). Well what can she do about it? She doesn't have a license, and being pushed out of the castle like that with no clear mind where to go, she's sure to be a little crazy on the road.
But these people around her don't know what's happened, have they?
That's why she can't blame them, Jihyun reminds herself, for getting angry.
But she can swear at them all she wants in her head.
Sitting back in her seat, Jihyun turns on the radio to a classical music station.
Maybe this is good, she thinks. She's on her own, away from the rules and duties of the castle, away from the pressure her father puts on her.
And away from Baekhyun and Yoona.
Jihyun frowns. What's going on back there, anyway? Are they safe? Groaning, she hits the wheel. If only she had a phone, she could call and check up on them!
"Now I'm going God knows where in this car, and I have no idea where I'm even at." She sighs. "If I can at least find a sign that says--wait, what's this?" Jihyun looks frantically at the two lane highway she's on turn into a three lane highway. "Where do I go?" She asks aloud. "Does this . . . " Is this lane supposed to take her to another place?
She gives up and jerks the wheel right, earning a honk or two from the cars behind her. "Anything to get me away from this road," She grumbles.
She notices signs for fast food and hotels on the way down the exit ramp. Since she's been winging it so far (what else is she supposed to do?), she continues to follow her gut and keep driving the same strip.
After fifteen miles or so, Jihyun's anxiety starts to wear down and she actually begins to look at the towns she's been passing through. In one city, she scowls at the graffiti on sides of buildings and stray dogs running the streets, loud music emitting from a car on the side of the road.
Jihyun purposely goes over the speed limit to get out of that place.
The next city, a smaller city, about a half-hour North, is a much more pleasant town. Jihyun sighs softly at how relaxed it seems. Glancing at her dashboard, she notices her gas tank's needle leaning closer and closer toward empty. With another look around the area she's in, she decides it'll be a great place to stop and think about what the hell to do with her situation.
After parking the Subaru (poorly, but she wanted nothing to do with that car so she left it), Jihyun spots a bench outside a restaurant and plops down--gracefully.
The aromas from the food inside creeps out the door, swirling around her, almost in a mock, she thinks, to torture her empty stomach.
She sighs. Where is she supposed to go now? How long is she supposed to stay away? Baekhyun never told her these things in the haste he was in! Even if she wants to get back home, there's no way she'll figure out the road signs. She'll just get lost all over again.
Jihyun watches the people of the town walk by, envying those coming out of the restaurant, satisfied from their meal.
She starts to count the number of dogs that walk past, or try to pick out the people heading to their job. An older man passes, handing Jihyun five dollars on the way and smiling with sympathy. Flustered, Jihyun holds the bills back out, urging for him to take them back, but he just tips his hat and keeps walking.
"But I don't need this!" She calls after him, but he makes no sign of turning around. After a quick glance at the money, Jihyun reluctantly folds it in her pocket. "Well, people sure are nice here." She confirms her earlier suspicions of the atmosphere of the town.
"You don't look like you're homeless."
Jihyun looks up at the figure in front of her. A young looking man who has his thumbs hooked in his front pockets, his head cocked to the side, is looking at her with a trace of puzzlement. His eyebrows raise when she stays silent.
"Well," She starts. "That's because I'm not. But apparently other people think so," She digs the five dollars out of her jeans pocket. "I've already gotten pity money."
"I know. I saw." The man studies her some more, standing in the same postition as before but now he starts to chew on his bottom lip in thought. She thinks of the attribute cute.
"Any place to go?" He finally says.
She shrugs. "Not tonight,"
"Why not?"
"It's complicated." How will someone react if she tells them, Well, my brother pushed me out of the castle I live in because there's some sort of threat and told me to drive without a license to God knows where? It's best to keep all that under wraps.
"It's going to get cold soon." He says. "I have a place you can stay."
"Really?" She stands, hopeful, as he turns and starts to walk. "Where? Is it a nice hotel?"
The thought of being in a hotel! The ones she saw on TV and online looked so luxurious, so comfy--but, damn! She only has a few bucks--
"Not a hotel. My apartment."
Jihyun stops in her tracks. "Your apartment?" She asks for clarification of her hearing. After he nods, she rushes to catch up with him again, walking side-by-side now. "There's no way I can stay there."
"For what reason?"
"Well . . . . You've just met me. Wouldn't it be uncomfortable for the both of us?"
He turns back around and points to where he found her. "Do you want to stay out here and sleep on that bench with just a few dollars?" He watches her face. "The weather report says it's supposed to rain tonight. Your choice." He tries to hide his grin as her eyebrows curl up, considering the thought of even spending the night in the rain.
With an almost inaudible sigh, Jihyun turns back to him. "You should at least tell me your name."
He smiles this time. "Call me Kai. Follow me."
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