The residents of the capital could always be sure of one thing, as soon as the sun rose in the morning and everyone set out for the day, Chen could be heard bumbling down the hill in his dirtied work clothes, asking if anyone needed help that day. No one knew where he came from, but everyone always wondered why he came from the palace's direction. Little did they know that Chen is actually Prince Jongdae, heir apparent to the throne of their kingdom. Jongdae never enjoyed being in the palace, so he struck a deal with his father to learn what it was like to be a citizen during the day and take classes during the night.

An old lady waved Chen over to help her deliver rice bags to her home across town after buying her monthly groceries. Chen easily placed the rice bags on his shoulder, reaching to grab her other items before receiving a slap on the hand.

"I may be old, but I still have some strength in me!" The lady carries the food in her arms and motions him to follow her, taking quick tiny steps to match his large stride as they begin walking towards the edge of the city. He watches her tentatively as she carries her things, but smiles once she becomes settled and walking comfortably. As he looks forward something catches his eye which causes him to pause. An unfamiliar sight in the marketplace, a girl with long black hair braided down her back in a dress of his favorite color, pink, crouching down a few stands over looking at hair pins with what looked to be her companion. His breath hitched as he watched her smile and pick up a pin, bringing it over to the other girl's hair to test its look. Chen isn't familiar with this feeling, but a small voice in the back of his head answers his question.

"Looks like someone's smitten," The old lady beside him muses, seeing a smile creep onto his face as he watches their interaction.

Maybe he is.

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"Julie, this pin looks perfect on you!" She gushes as she attaches the pin onto the side of her companion's head. She asks the shopkeeper for a mirror, holding it up to the other girl's face to let her admire the pin. "Isn't it pretty?" She whipers, watching her companion blush at the attention she was getting. The girl simply shakes her head at the notion of getting something so lavish and tries to take off the pin.

"Miss!" Julie cries as she struggles against her hands keeping the pin on her head, "I couldn't possibly wear something like this! Please don't make me wear it."

"But it looks so pretty on you! Plus, stop calling me 'miss', you're supposed to call me by my 'name', remember? We're supposed to be cousins!" She whispers, fixing Julie's pin and hair to look neat again.

"Yes, miss."

"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Let me buy you something, please? My cousin is so beautiful, I just wish she had something to compliment that beauty." She pouts a little, just enough for Julie to give in and give her the okay to buy the hair pin. A wide grin forms on her face as she turns to the shopkeeper for the price of the pin, not even batting an eyelash as she hands them the money. Julie glances over and sees Jongdae staring in their direction, becoming alarmed that a stranger was looking their way with such intensity. Before she catches his goofy smile she grabs for her cousin's hand and whisks her away, hiding them between two stalls once he looked away from them to the old lady beside him.

"What was that for?" She pants as Julie straightens up her dress before messing with hers. Julie explains the strange staring man and wonders if it could've been someone that was after her. "Silly goose, no one in this kingdom knows who I am or what I look like. What you just saw was a creeper." She smiles, turning back to meet a pair of dark brown eyes staring at her.

------

Chen takes his eyes off of the female duo for a moment, glancing back at the old lady to register what she said. He wasn't sure he completely heard what she said, and thought that falling in love was something that only happened in stories - and his parents. He asks her to explain what she meant by her statement, and she immediately points to his face, telling him that the expression that formed on his face was one of someone that was in love. She motions for him to go after the girl, that she'll still be standing here after he learns who she is. He quickly looks back to where they were standing but the duo was gone, he was too late.

He runs to the area they once were, looking around to catch a glimpse of her dress again. He sees the tail end of a bright pink skirt make its away around the corner and dashes after it, hoping that it was her that he was chasing after. Chen stops once he's close to the girls, their backs facing him as they straighten up their dresses from running. He doesn't stop to wonder why they were running, he only had enough time to catch his breath before he lost it again as the girl of his fancy turns around and meets his eyes. Her eyes widen and time has stopped around them as he takes a closer look at her features, giving her a once over to see how everything compliments each other.

"Hi." He hears himself saying, taking the initiative to at least know her name before he leaves to go help the old lady again.

"Hi," she whispers, seeming to be scared by his presence, "can I help you?"

"What is your name?" He stutters, becoming more aware of what he was doing and how crazy he must look to her. Chen scratches the back of his head and looks away as a pink tint lightly forms onto his face. He quickly makes an excuse, but stumbles over his words and his excuse becomes ineffective. The girl holds back a smile, finding him somewhat endearing yet idiotic.

"My name is..."

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A/N: DONE. Let me know what you think! :D SECOND CHAPTER COMING SOON.