Groaning, you turned over in your bed, opening one eye cautiously to check the time on the Hello Kitty clock sat upon your bedside table. It was eight in the morning. You groaned once more. It had been an agonising night, with your mind troubled and confused. You’d hoped for a little more sleep but decided you would just have to survive with the measly four hours rest you’d received. You didn’t normally need too much sleep to survive a day, but this morning you felt a little more drained of energy than usual. Thinking was clearly not a healthy thing. You made a mental note to your brain, telling it not to do that too frequently.
            After rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand, you scanned your room, taking in the way the Sun’s light reflected off of each ordinary object, from the wardrobe to the chest of drawers…to the mound on the floor by the door. Eyes widening, you jumped up, out of the bed and stared at it, realising exactly who it was. It was a man, more specifically, a young Elf King.

            Events from the previous night suddenly hit you like a tonne of bricks. All the information you had been bombarded with; of course! That was why you hadn’t managed to sleep well at all! The knowledge of how this young man, lying on your bedroom floor, was from a different world altogether was one thing, but the things he had said to you about how you were destined to be his Queen was another. What could you do in such a situation? It was hard to really process all of this. Your head was attempting to think logically about the entire situation, as it had been trying to all night. Even so, part of you still mulled over the notion of being royalty and for that, you chided yourself internally. How could you possibly be royalty when you were just an ordinary person?
            Looking over to the young Elf King, sprawled out by your closed door, you were certain you had lent him the sofa to sleep on, yet here he was, lying on your hard, wooden floor. Guilt momentary took a hold of you. It had been his choice to sleep there. It was not your fault. Yet somehow, you still felt responsible for his actions. There was no cushion or pillow under his head nor was there a blanket upon him. How could he sleep like that? It was a complete mystery to you. Had it been you, it would have been impossible to sleep in such a way. You wondered momentarily whether Dohyun had taken the sofa spot to sleep upon but then quickly forgot about Dohyun as you found yourself mesmerised by JR’s sleeping form.
            Watching him asleep, lying curled up on the floor made it difficult to believe that he was truly a King. Surely this was how servants or peasants slept, not a King! You wondered what kind of palace he lived in, for it must be beautiful. It was probably surrounded by greenery and beautiful fountains, or perhaps even a lake! You imagined momentarily what it would be like to walk through the palace corridors, adorned in fine silk garments and treated with respect and love from all. Sighing at yourself for wandering down the train of royal thought once more, you combed a hand through your tangled hair, trying to free its ends.
            Your life was here, on Earth, where you were studying, growing, learning. It was where all your family and friends were. This was where you had been born and it was where you lived. This was home. How could you possibly be a Queen of another world? More to the point, how could you possibly be an Elf Queen? They must’ve mistaken you for someone else, yet they had your name and birthday perfectly accurate. How many other people with the same name and birthday could there possibly be in the world as you? The probability was low, almost negligible. Yet the idea that they even knew this personal information made you uneasy once more. Was it possible that they were criminals of sorts? They had green eyes and pointed ears, but it was easy to fool someone if you had contact lenses and prosthetics…

            You tentatively tip toed over to him and crouched down. If you were going to prove this theory, of them being fakes, now was as good a time as any! Reaching out, you lightly brushed his soft, dark hair away from his ears. The protruding edges mocked you, daring you to touch them and your curiosity was more than happy to oblige. Taking your hand, you carefully slid it behind his ear and used your fingertips to glide over the tip of his right ear, trying to feel for a break of any sort to prove that they weren’t real. Muttering to yourself whilst completely absorbed in what you were doing, you failed to notice the fact that your simple touch had caused the young King to awaken…

            “Good morning,” his sweet, husky morning voice uttered, startling you and causing you to fall backwards.
“I-good morning!” you quickly replied, flustered at having been caught in the act. Brushing your hair away from your face, you looked across to him and found that he was standing, his hand outstretched towards you, offering you help. Taking his hand felt like it would be a sign that he was winning. Not taking it felt like it would cause deep offense. Sighing heavily, you held out your hand. You weren’t so petty as to cause anyone offense, no matter how complex or frustrating the situation was.
            JR took your hand into his, the warmth of them making you realise just how cold your room was. As you rose to your feet, a shiver crept up your spine and along your arms, causing you to shake a little in response. He immediately looked at you in concern, his deep, green eyes filled with so much warmth and affection. You wished that he would stop looking at you in such a way, mostly because the strange, nauseous feeling was returning, but also because you were beginning to find yourself attracted to him each time he did that…

            “Are you cold?” he cautiously asked, taking both your hands into his own and gently rubbing them in an effort to generate heat. “Should I get Dohyun to make a fire to keep you warm?”
“No, I’m fine-wait-make a fire?” You raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have a fireplace…”
“But-how do you keep warm in the winter?” the young Elf King looked at you with a horrified expression, which only served to amuse you.
“Things work a little differently in our world,” you told him, chuckling a little.
            A smile began to grow upon his face, making your stomach churn anti-clockwise. Taking a step forward, he closed the gap between you both. You weren’t quick enough to step away, nor were you sure that you really wanted to. These conflicting feelings were toying with you, clouding your judgment and making it difficult for you to really deduce how to handle this situation. What did he want? What did you want? The logical side of you just wanted him to leave, but your curiosity was too great to agree with logic. As your mind continued battling with itself, JR tilted his head and his face edged closer to yours.
            “You have a beautiful laugh,” he whispered in your ear before cupping your face in his hand gently. “Perhaps you can teach me about your world, and I can teach you about mine,” he mused out loud, running his eyes across your features. You felt your heart pounding against your chest. You decided in that moment that being this close to him was dangerous, in more ways than one.

            “How-long are you going to be here?” You suddenly asked. He gave you a hard glance before looking away.
“That is not such an easy question for me to answer,” JR replied rather cryptically.
“Why isn’t it easy?” You asked him.
“Because,” he turned back towards you, his eyes filled with that longing gaze once more, “You may not like the answer.” You knew deep inside what he meant. He could not return unless you returned with him. Perhaps you already knew that but you wanted him to say it clearly. Either way, the air between you both was filled with awkwardness. There were unsaid words hanging in the air and you very much wished that you had not brought it up.
            “Can I ask you something?” JR asked, breaking the silence after some time.
“Sure,” you said, forcing a smile. “What is it?”
“Earlier when I was asleep,” he looked down, his cheeks flushing red slightly, “Why was it that I awoke to your touch upon my ear?” It was now your turn to go red. You had thought you had gotten away with it but apparently not!

            It was a question you thankfully did not manage to answer in the end, for in that moment, there was a huge crash in the main lounge area of your flat. This was followed by an explosion of voices, their tone angry and bitter. They spoke in a language you did not recognise, but from the look on JR’s face, he knew exactly what they were saying. Instantly, he released his grip on you.
            "GO, HIDE, NOW!" JR sternly told you. Fear twisted itself around your heart and you found yourself unable to move from where you stood. Something was very wrong and you had a funny feeling that it had everything to do with you; after all, not everyone wanted an Elf Queen, did they?