I'm still alive! Haha! And yay! Another semester just ended! One sem to go and I'm done with these ssss! \O/ Anyways, just so you know, I would continue my stories, even after someone's wedding to someone, well, we don't like. I don't really care if he gets married haha. I like making stories with him and Kyuhyun as the main characters. haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this... short update hehe. >:P

CHAPTER SEVEN

An unfamiliar tune of an old song woke her up. Groaning, she got up and tried looking around for the source of disturbance through her bleary eyes. Who dared waking her up at such an ungodly hour?

The first she noticed was Kyuhyun seated on the floor, playing Starcraft, and he seemed unfazed by the irritating ancient song. Then again, that was Kyuhyun playing Starcraft; nothing could distract him, except, well, her.

Her gaze fell on the ignored vibrating phone next to its owner. A light bulb appeared on the side of her head as she realized that the annoying song was Kyuhyun’s ringtone. There’s no doubt that was Donghae’s doing. Obviously that song was written 300 AK (After Kyuhyun) or so. Kyuhyun doesn’t know it.

Her sleepiness was suddenly gone.

“Your phone’s ringing, Kyuhyun-ssi.”

The lack of response from the prince translated to an ‘I don’t care’ in Cho Kyuhyun’s action language. In a span of mere weeks, she was able to learn and memorize every meaning behind Kyuhyun’s gestures, especially the rude ones. She even already understood most of the intelligent curses from Kyuhyun’s time. She didn’t know if she should be thankful or not for that.

But she’s Lee Sungmin, and she doesn’t tolerate such attitude.

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun, answer your damn phone because it’s ing annoying.”

3, 2, 1…

“Language, Lee Sungmin,” Kyuhyun mumbled, his eyes still focused on the laptop screen, “You must have forgotten who you are speaking to.”

Sungmin rolled her eyes but threw her body back to the sheets since she saw Kyuhyun pick his phone and swipe his thumb on the screen with ease as if he wasn’t having troubles with it yesterday. She bit back a giggle when she remembered his wallpaper, which was one of his pictures he accidentally took due to his curiosity. Of course Kyuhyun didn’t like it, but he only knew how to call, answer calls, text, and play games through his phone so he just let it be… for now.

“Donghae,” Sungmin heard Kyuhyun say. It’s a wonder how the prince could talk on the phone and play on the laptop at the same time. So her history books weren’t really lying when they described Prince Kyuhyun a genius.

There were a few hums and nods from the prince. She was slowly drifting back to sleep when Kyuhyun spoke, “Pray tell, what shall I do?”

Sungmin suddenly got curious with what the two were talking about. Knowing that those two are named Donghae and Kyuhyun, she knew they were planning something mischievous. It wasn’t the first time Donghae called Kyuhyun, and most of the times, they were making plans on joining a Starcraft competition—Kyuhyun’s username was princecho—or at rare times, they plan on pulling a prank on her, which, of course, obviously failed. It was weird how close the two boys are when Kyuhyun obviously disliked her baby brother the first time they met.

Thank Joseon’s conservativeness Kyuhyun wasn’t influenced by Donghae’s interest for .

What really got her curious was Kyuhyun’s serious face. Whenever they’re talking about Starcraft and pranks, he had that dorky grin and he was laughing. What were they talking about that caused Kyuhyun to be that serious? And why keep it a secret from her? As far as she knew, everything concerning Kyuhyun should be consulted to her. She frowned.

“What did he say?” She asked as soon as Kyuhyun disconnected the call.

~0~

“You know you don’t have to work.”

They just got off the bus and were making their way to Lee Technology, Inc. It was Kyuhyun’s first day in work. Apparently, Donghae got their cousin, Heechul, to give Kyuhyun a position in the company without their father’s knowledge. But because of Kyuhyun’s young age and lack of knowledge on the field, Donghae decided to put him as a student trainee first.

It worried her. Kyuhyun’s nonexistent social skills get him into trouble, using his encounter with Yesung as a basis. As a trainee, he should be interacting with fellow trainees, co-workers, and most especially, his bosses. Having to be served his entire life, Kyuhyun will surely throw a fit once one of the higher-ups will tell him to do something.

She already did her part of continuously reminding Kyuhyun to be polite to his ‘superiors’ and even bribing him with ramen if he behaved every week. Then again, does he listen to her? She’ll give Kyuhyun a week before he gets fired for being rude.

“This has to be done, Sungmin. I have decided.” Kyuhyun mumbled, irritated at his outfit. He couldn’t figure why these people in the future preferred fitter clothes when clothes back at their time were much more comfortable. A suit doesn’t go with him, especially with that ugly wavy hair in a ponytail. He looked so… unprofessional.

Sungmin sighed. This man’s stubbornness could never be cured. “Why are you insisting on working? Aren’t you content on playing Starcraft at home?”

It caused Kyuhyun to stop on his tracks. She looked at him curiously; he was looking at the ground, his feet lightly kicking on the cement. Judging by his expression, he was contemplating on something.

Seconds later, he replied, “People will never get contented with what they have, Sungmin. I cannot stand staying here, not taking action, waiting for the solution to my problem to arrive in a silver platter. I am not a prince here,”

Her gaze softened as she watched Kyuhyun fiddle with his fingers, probably unconsciously since he’s still staring at nothing.

Kyuhyun continued, “Throughout my stay in this time, I have realized I shall now mature and be the prince that was expected of me. I shall do all means to save my family and my people. This job will allow me access to information which might lead to what I am searching for, I believe…”

Without hesitation, Sungmin pulled Kyuhyun for a hug. It was not a tight one; but not loose enough not to be felt. She could feel her cheekbones hurting due to smiling so widely. She had never felt this happy before.

“I’m so proud of you.” She whispered, not caring if she felt and acted like a proud stage mother.

Thankfully, Kyuhyun didn’t pull away nor push her away. He stood there, stiff and eyes wide. She didn’t care, though. She was so happy that Kyuhyun’s finally stepping up for himself, his family and his country.

The clearing of throat from someone behind her served to be the signal for her to let go.

A read head in a pink tuxedo had a smirk on his quite feminine face, confidence and arrogance exuding from him. Kyuhyun just raised an eyebrow. He had never seen such… man. Was he even a man?

“Heechul,” Sungmin drawled out, trying to make it seem like nothing awkward happened.

“That’s oppa for you, my Minnie.” The older male winked at his younger cousin, who rolled her eyes at the statement.

Heechul then faced the tall teen, “And hello to you, Kyuhyun, or should I say, Prince Cho Kyuhyun?” Kyuhyun merely narrowed his eyes in suspicion, much to Heechul’s amusement. The moment Donghae told him the real identity of their new ‘trainee,’ he knew he’s in for an interesting adventure. He’ll never let go of such opportunity.

The tension between the two men was too familiar to Sungmin that she knew how to prevent it from rising more. She smiled—smirked—at her cousin. “I leave him to you, oppa.”

“Alright, baby, I’ll take care of your prince.”

Sungmin gasped. “He is not—”

“The most important rule here,” Heechul interrupted Sungmin, but his expression suddenly turned professional that it was a shock to Kyuhyun. He’s really Sungmin’s relative. Bipolar and strange. “Is to not disobey the Kim Heechul, who is obviously me,” The man didn’t have to say his monologue was directed to the prince. “I don’t care if you’re a ing prince from the past. You are now in our world and time… and my territory. Any form of disobedience will not be tolerated. Are we clear?”

While Heechul was speaking, Sungmin couldn’t help but smile proudly. Now that’s her cousin, Kim Heechul. It was nice knowing that Kyuhyun finally found his match and Heechul will surely and gladly discipline the mischievous prince.

When Heechul walked ahead inside, Kyuhyun grumbled something like, ‘You fools would not be alive if not for us.’ Sungmin laughed and patted her roommate’s shoulder. “You should go inside. Remember not to make Heechul angry. He’s scarier than me.”

At that, Kyuhyun gulped.

~0~

Kim Heechul, Kyuhyun learned, was indeed scarier than Sungmin.

Every worker they have passed by looked terrified at the man. They either stand up from their seats or stop walking and stepping aside to greet the man.

Kyuhyun didn’t mind it, though. He was used to such scene. Besides, he was busy observing the odd place. The walls were in cement and are pristine white, there were no candles around to give light to the chilly room; only big rectangular white bulbs on the ceiling, people were dressed like him, and there are tons of larger laptops on the desks. He was excited to use one of them.

Aside from being the owner’s nephew and plainly intimidating, people inside these rooms respect Heechul because he’s the IT department head. If he could recall correctly, Donghae told him IT meant Information Technology.

They stopped in front of a door where ‘IT Department’ was written on it. He turned to him and whispered, “Look, only Donghae and I know about you so I don’t want you speaking in an ancient language to these ers.”

Kyuhyun was about to comment, but Heechul had a follow up, “I hope you memorized and understood the fake resume we made for you. Your new team leader will have a few questions regarding you and I really wish Donghae and Sungmin have briefed you already.”

Indeed, they have come up with a story already, yet again, and he already knew everything by heart. Lying and pretending were some of his best departments, considering the abundant number of times he have snuck out of the palace and come back as if he had done nothing wrong. He’s confident in this one.

“Yeah,” he tried his very best in replying the same way the future people do.

Heechul smirked and opened the door. “Welcome to hell, Prince Cho. A fugly Chinese will talk to you. Be nice.”

And then, he was pushed inside the room rather harshly. He reminded himself to search for a certain Heechul-look alike when he gets back to his time and have him punished for the disrespectful deeds his future counterpart had done to him. Also, he has to discover what ‘fugly’ meant.

“Heechul, is that you?” A strangely familiar voice rings inside the secluded room full of weird artworks hanging on the wall. He thought he had seen that kind similar to what his sister had from the country she studied in.

He felt as if his jaw dropped on the floor as his advisor stood in front of him, clad in clothes just like his. If not for the grunt the other had made, he would have bombarded him with questions just like how he does usually. He was back to reality.

“Are you the trainee?” Hankyung-look alike asked with that same polite and charming smile.

Nodding slightly, he wondered if Hankyung was also in his state. Was he also teleported? Was he also pretending to be another person so as not to be caught? If so, was Youngwoon with him? Does Hankyung recognize him? There were so many questions in his mind but he was unsure whether to tell the man in front of him. His prior encounter with Jongwoon’s look alike did not go well due to his recklessness. He couldn’t risk getting in trouble again.

However, there was no hint of recognition from the man. He was the same as the Yesung person; a future counterpart.

After the interview, he was led to another room with lots of ‘cubicles’ according to Hangeng—Hankyung’s present name—were lined up. The artificial air was very cold that he felt his clothes were too thin for the room temperature. He will freeze inside.

In all honesty, he really was nervous at the beginning, especially at the appearance of Heechul, but seeing Hangeng or Hankyung was going to work with him, he knew that nothing will go wrong and he should just go for it. There must be some hidden meaning behind the appearance of his acquaintances on this time. He’d become more than determine to figure it out.

He recalled his conversation with Hangeng an hour ago.

 “Cho Kyuhyun? As in the Prince Cho Kyuhyun?” Tan Hangeng, HR Head, said with amusement laced on his baritone voice.

He smirked. Maybe there’s a chance Hankyung remembers him?  “The one and only.”

However, Hangeng only nodded and leaned back on his chair as if the information wasn’t surprising. “That’s cool.”

It was disappointing that the most intelligent scholar in the palace didn’t recognize him even if he’s in the future. He wanted to know at least one who experiences the same thing. He wanted to know that he was not the only one in this.

But he only kept on meeting future counterparts. It seemed like he was the only one in this phenomenon. He wondered who the next one will be.

The answer to his question was given to him when Hangeng stopped on one area and told a very familiar short man to stand up for introduction. The man’s feminine features were the way he remembered it, including his high and protruding cheekbones. Probably the changes on the man were his clothes and hair—it was red, for Sejong’s sake.

“Nathan, this is Cho Kyuhyun, a new trainee. And Kyuhyun—” Since when did he and this servant go on a first name basis? “—this is Nathan Kim. He’s from Taiwan, also a trainee. You treat each other well, alright?” After that, Hangeng left him with Ryeowook’s replica.

Ryeowook—Nathan—beamed at him and clapped his hands. “Amazing, you have the same name as the prince!”

He inwardly smirked. He is the prince. But he didn’t need to know that. Ryeowook looked as oblivious as Hankyung. He’s glad that he took Donghae’s offer. Things are getting interesting.

~0~

One good thing about Ryeowook was that he managed to pass his natural instinct of serving the prince on to his future persona. Nathan, as usual, was too accommodating; constantly asking him if he needs some help or if he needs coffee or something. Kyuhyun would have taken advantage of it, but it would become suspicious if he’ll let Nathan serve him when they are both trainees. Heechul will get furious.

During lunch break, he refused the offer of Nathan to eat with the other workers. He needed to relay everything to Sungmin, for he had promised her that he will update her. Ten minutes was spent looking for a place where no one could hear the conversation. Everywhere he went, there were one or two people lounging in it even if it’s a lunch break. He was so close to giving up until he found a big heavy door where a sign ‘Emergency Exit’ was above it. Behind it wasn’t a room; instead, it led outside the building and there were metal staircases. If he’s afraid of heights, he’ll already faint—he’s on the 20^th floor.

“Why are you calling Sungminnie?” Kyuhyun frowned; a different voice rang from the other line. It was not Sungmin’s voice. And who is Sungminnie?

“Who gave you the permission to use my phone?” Then, he knew he heard Sungmin from the other line but she seemed quite far from the phone. “It was ringing.” And the owner of that other voice was talking to Sungmin. Was that possible? He thought. There were sounds of struggling and arguing, and then after seconds of listening to their nonsense banter, Sungmin finally talked to him.

She sounded worried. She should be. “Sorry. He… Yesung used my phone. Why did you call? How’s work so far?” Oh, so it was Jongwoon replica. He paused.

Why did he call again?

Before he could think straight, he blurted out, “I am famished.” He really is, but that's not his agenda in calling her. He couldn’t remember what he was going to tell Sungmin.

“…What do I have to do with it?” came Sungmin’s reply. Judging by the tone she used, she was annoyed.

“I do not have food.”

“Then go buy. You’ve got money with you.”

“You shall bring me food.” In all honesty, he didn’t know what he was saying.

“What the …” Much to his confusion, there were beeps from the phone, and Sungmin’s voice was gone. He innocently stared at his phone, not even irritated for the first time because of the wallpaper.

Why did he call again?

~0~

“Who is Hankyung again? And Ryeowook?”

He rolled his eyes, thanking that Sungmin had her back on him, washing the dishes. Sungmin was already home when Donghae dropped him off from the office. Fortunately, his idiocy back at noon seemed to have been forgotten by the woman as she didn’t bring it up while they were having their dinner. And so he brought up the topic that he really was going to say.

“My servants from the palace,” he mumbled. Sungmin turned off the faucet and spun to face him but didn’t say anything. “I assure you these Hangeng and Nathan look exactly like them. It was similar to the case of Jongwoon.”

Sungmin leaned on the counter and crossed her arms. “Oh, and they don’t know you, too?” Kyuhyun shook his head, his eyes focused on the opened scroll. “Unfortunately, they do not.”

They stayed silent for a moment, before an idea crossed Kyuhyun’s mind. It was crazy, but what if Sungmin thought that way, too? Surely, the woman was well aware that the situation was serious and she wouldn’t make fun of him and his theory.

“Would you agree if I tell you this is not a coincidence?”

Sungmin smiled gently.

“You know, things like this… they happen for a reason.”

~0~

The big letters on the screen spelled ‘GAME OVER’ as he was distracted by the sudden ringing of Sungmin’s phone. Glancing at the wall clock, Kyuhyun’s frown got deeper; who in the right mind would make a call at 3 in the morning? Probably Heechul, he thought.

“Geez, you’re still awake? You’ve got work later!” came Sungmin’s groggy voice. He watched Sungmin clumsily reach for her ringing phone from the bedside table and put the pink thing on her ear.

“What the hell, Heechul…” she answered in between a yawn.

Knowing that it was indeed Heechul who called, Kyuhyun moved to continue his damn game, but when he heard ruffling of bed sheets, he turned around to see Sungmin sitting, the phone still on her ear, but her eyes were widely opened… horrified.

Instinct told him to immediately crawl next to her and take her shaking form in his arms.

And so he did.

TO BE CONTINUED

-not much KyuMin moment? Haha! Just wait for it! I don't want them kissing and making babies right away :P