If you get the significance of the title, this will not be a spoiler for you.

Otherwise...

Contains SPOILERS

Just forewarning you about that.

Also, Kiseop is missing because, as per when this happens in the timeline, he is still several months from being done with his military duty.

Now... let's begin!

“Hime-chan!” Hoon called as he stood center stage, gazing to stage right as he waited for Eunsook. Serin was kneeled beside her, whispering encouragement. Hoon called for her again. “Hime-chan!”

He didn’t need to hear Serin to know what she was saying. “Run to appa like we practiced earlier.” Hoon saw the smile and thumbs up Serin gave to their daughter, and immediately, Eunsook ran to him, pink dress flowing behind her. She was dressed as a princess, wearing a sparkly pink outfit, shiny plastic jewelry, and a crown. He, to complement her, was dressed as a prince, though his outfit was a dark navy blue. All of the members, stood watching her, each in their own customized prince costume. They had decided to do a skit during their Halloween event this year, and Hoon had insisted that Eunsook had to be a part of it. Instead of having the MC dress as the girl and have all the members vie for “her” love, they’d opted to use Eunsook as the princess. That left a rather significant margin of error in how the skit would play out. Eunsook could easily forget her lines, and Hoon assumed she’d get stage fright over being in front of so many people. But as long as she selected Kevin as her prince charming in the end, they would cover any other mistakes.

She’d done exceptionally well when they’d rehearsed the skit. Hoon had high expectations. She ran out to him, and the entire audience went “Awwww,” in unison. Their audible reaction caused Eunsook to realize that this wasn’t like the times she’d practiced and that there was an audience there. She froze in terror, tensing as she looked up at Hoon uncertainly. He smiled and nodded at her, trying to reassure her without breaking character. “Eunsook hime, the time has come for you to pick a prince. We will compete for your favor,” he told her in Japanese, which only served to make the expression on her face more concerned. They’d practiced in Japanese, but it seemed as though her fear had made her forget what she’d learned.

He looked down at her expectantly, hoping he could get her to talk by making eye contact. Still scared, she nodded timidly and said, “Yes, appa.”

The audience laughed at her mistake, finding it humorously cute, but the sound echoing through the theater only scared her more. She went to Hoon’s leg, hiding behind him as she clutched at his pants. He glanced at the members. Eli, Soohyun, Kevin, and Jun seemed quite amused at her behavior. But Hoon wasn’t sure what to do. This wasn’t like they’d practiced. Using Japanese was likely only to confuse and upset her, but he didn’t want to use Korean because the fans wouldn’t know what he was saying. He was glad for Soohyun, who was able to quickly come up with a solution and salvage the situation. He asked her in Korean, “Eunsook hime, do you want Appa to hold you?” After she nodded, hiding her face by pressing it against Hoon’s thigh, Soohyun translated what he’d asked for the fans.

“Is it okay to translate for you?” Kevin asked then. “Eunsook hime is scared.”

“Hai!” the fans responded.

Hoon bent down and picked her up. She hid her face into the crook of his neck, trembling in his arms. He felt so bad for her. He reached back with one arm, supporting her slight weight with just one, so he could turn off his mic temporarily. “Eunsook,” he told her gently. “It’s okay. The audience won’t hurt you. They think you’re cute. Just relax and have fun with appa and your U-KISS uncles. Try to forget about them.” When she nodded her understanding, he clicked his mic back on, and was greatly relieved when she stopped trembling and actually looked out at the audience. She very obviously did not want to leave his arms, but he was satisfied that she was now prepared to at least interact with the members so that the skit could move forward, even if it wasn’t exactly as planned.

Soohyun smiled impishly as he told Hoon, “Prince Appa, please announce the first contest.”

Hoon groaned internally. Soohyun would be kind to Eunsook for this, but he would get teased constantly for the foreseeable future. However, now was not the time to give Soohyun attitude. “Well, our first activity to win the princess’s love is a round of musical chairs. I will valiantly sit this one out.” He had been intending to play, but he knew he couldn’t leave Eunsook to stand on stage alone. So he held her and watched everyone else play. There was quite a bit of cheating, primarily between Soohyun and Eli. They quickly knocked out Kevin and Jun, and with the final round at stake, Soohyun pulled the stool out from underneath Eli when the music ceased and was crowned the victor.

They played several other games, Hoon sitting out of all but one, the last one, because it was the only one he could manage to do while still holding Eunsook. The goal was to throw as many balls through a hula-hoop as possible. Hoon was letting Eunsook hold the basket of balls for him, so it wasn’t surprising that when all of the members claimed that he’d been cheating when he won. He laughed it off. It’s not like it really mattered. The “winner” was already decided regardless of who won the individual competitions. Hoon put on his best act at the accusations, pouting and looking sad about having his victory rescinded.

Eunsook did finally seem to be having fun now that they’d reached the end of the games. Now she only had one thing left to do, and Hoon was confident that she’d be able to do it. They lined back up, poking fun at each other, and Hoon asked Eunsook, using Japanese once more. She remembered this time, but still looked at him dubiously. “Appa,” she answered upon being asked which prince she chose.

Hoon flicked his eyes to Kevin and then Soohyun, looking for help once more. Soohyun strolled over, and took her from Hoon’s arms, something that earned Soohyun a look of intense mistrust. “Eunsookie hime,” Soohyun said gently. “You don’t want Prince Appa. He’s no good. You should pick someone else.”

“How about Prince Kevin?” Eli suggested then, wiggling his eyebrows at her, something she always found amusing.

She looked at Eli steadily. “Prince Kevin?” he suggested using English. He’d taught her some English. She was more comfortable hearing the familiar language from his mouth, so she nodded, understanding his question.

Soohyun transferred her to Kevin’s arms, and that is when things fell apart. Kevin couldn’t hold her for this part, and put her down. As soon as her feet touched the ground, tears erupted from her eyes, and she cried in loud sobs. Kevin hugged her tightly, staring at Hoon with wide, panicked eyes. He picked her back up, but that didn’t console her. Hoon immediately took her back, but still she cried. They were all at a loss, staring at each other in shock and confusion.

Like a light in the dark, Serin rushed out on stage, heels clicking against the wood floor. She was apologizing the whole way out, though only the front row was able to hear her. “Gomenasai,” she repeated over and over, bowing in apology as she went. She whisked Eunsook out of Hoon’s arms. It was like magic. As soon as she was in Serin’s arms, she immediately went quiet. “Are you done with her?” she asked seriously in a hushed voice.

All five of the members nodded. And Serin, visibly relieved that she wouldn’t have to stay out on stage with them, gave one more apology, bowing low with Eunsook in her arms, before finally carrying her daughter backstage. “You did a great job, Eunsookie,” she praised. “Everyone loved it.”

Hoon was a bit disappointed that they couldn’t do the last part of the skit with Eunsook, but he knew they’d be fine without her. Plus she would be happier offstage with Serin, and he was at least glad that she’d be able to be relaxed and happy. He glanced over to where Serin and Eunsook both stood. Serin was speaking to her while she was watching him intensely. He was proud of her, despite her struggles dealing with being on stage for the first time, and he pressed on.

To make things more obvious, he hoped Serin would play along. He called, “Hime! Eunsook hime! After consulting with Queen Serin, which prince have you chosen?”

He waited, hoping that Serin would hear her name and grab a microphone. To his relief, Serin did find one within seconds, and said, “Kevin sama.”

He managed to hold in his sigh of relief. Now, the skit could be finished as planned. And he, personally, would be glad for it to be over. Though judging on the reactions from the audience, they’d loved it. Still, he’d rather be singing for them, since that was his true passion. Thankful for the skit’s completion and for Serin for, among a long list of unrelated reasons, salvaging the skit, he prepared to sing and dance and entertain.