The door to Wheein's quarters slammed shut and she immediately ran over to her four poster bed in a teary heap.

"Your highne-" Hyejin began before pausing, it was hard to break the habit, "I mean, Wheein... are you okay?" she lifted her dress at the front and jogged over to the bed to comfort her friend.

Muffled sniffles and the sound of Hyejin rubbing Wheein's back were all that could be heard in the large bedroom. The blonde girl's facial expression softened, which it did not often do, as she was now so used to keeping a professional straight face in order to avoid trouble with the King.

"Did your father say something?" Hyejin whispered and let the question sit in the air, expecting that Wheein may not want to answer immediately.

Wheein made a louder sniffle before bringing her hands up to her eyes to wipe her tears, and Hyejin on impulse scurried away to get some tissues for her auburn friend.

"I hate him sometimes."

Hyejin looked at the floor, but nodded as she walked back towards the bed, tissues in hand.

"He tried to tell me I didn't know what it meant to be a Jung... do you know how awful that felt? My own father basically telling me I'm not living up to his - or the family's - expectations..."

Hyejin handed Wheein the tissues and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder as she wiped her tears away.

The blotchy faced princess rarely cried over matters concerning her family, but Hyejin knew this thing about love was something incredibly close to her heart; it was something Wheein hadn't ever stopped believing in.

"And now he's forcing me to go to this stupid party to set me up with some stupid prince who could never make me happy," she said through gritted teeth, tears threatening to spill again.

"Maybe things will work out," Hyejin offered positively.

Wheein rolled her eyes, "Hyejin-ah, love is supposed to be spontaneous and unexpected... being set up with someone is the least romantic situation I could think of."

Hyejin opened to speak.

"Father doesn't understand love, it seems. Though how couldn't he not? Surely he's in love with mother because he wasn't set up with her. He was able to fall in love freely, and now he wants to deny me of that right."

Hyejin chewed her lip, trying to think of a response that would cheer Wheein up at least a little bit.

"And there's going to be all these people around trying to talk to me... I'm going to feel so claustrophobic. You know how I get..." The princess looked out of the window blankly, "some days I wish I wasn't a princess so I could live and love freely."

She looked at Hyejin with an emptiness about her.

"Maybe you'll meet one of these princes spontaneously, before the King can arrange these little dates, maybe things will be okay, Wheein." Hyejin smiled, though even she wasn't convinced with her reply.

Wheein smiled back, appreciative of Hyejin's motive, and there was a pause.

"Maybe."

There was another quiet moment before Wheein spoke again.

"All this crying has made me hungry. Did you tell chef Yongsun about my beef stew craving?"

Hyejin smiled and nodded, "of course! She was very pleased of your request!"

Wheein smiled back, "I want to go see her to see how it's coming on, and maybe sneak a spoonful before dinner." She winked and rubbed her eyes with the tissues once more - the last thing she wanted was one of the castle staff noticing she'd been crying and going to tell her parents.

"Then go," Hyejin encouraged, "and I'll stay here and try to make this room less dismal." This prompted Wheein to look around at her dark, messy room. "Maybe that'll help cheer you up."

The auburn princess grabbed her friend into a hug and brought her lips up to her ear, "thank you Hyejin, there's no-one more wonderful than you."

Hyejin bowed as Wheein skipped out of the room, deciding to go the long way round to the kitchen, knowing there was less of a chance of running into her parents that way.

***

A strong familiar aroma that felt like home, even more than actually being at home, flooded the corridors leading to the kitchen. 

Wheein let her nose guide her to the source of the smell, stomach grumbling on the way.

From just outside the door she could hear Chef Yongsun singing to the other kitchen staff while cooking...

"Oh yeah, um oh ah yeah neoege ppajyeodeulgesseo jakku baneunhajanha~"

Wheein knocked lightly before entering the hot kitchen, and as she pushed the heavy door open, cloudy white steam shrouded her view and actually made her sweat a little.

"Princess!" Yongsun called with a large grin on her face.

"Yongsunnie!" Wheein beamed back, "dinner smells deeeeeelicious!"

The older girl chuckled as she stirred the pot of beef stew, "your favourite, by request."

Wheein nodded, "when will it be ready?" she asked cutely.

Yongsun was possibly the only person Wheein would ever comfortably do aegyo for; Yongsun was like the fun, young aunt she never had. Her father had a brother who was just as boring as he was, and her mother had a sister and a brother which Wheein never saw because of "family issues" which her mother would never fully explain. It was a sad affair really, as the princess lived alone with only her parents and castle staff for company, but she always made a point about visiting Yongsun because it made her very happy to have an older aunt-type figure in her life who actually seemed to care a lot about her.

"Won't be long now, sweetie," Yongsun smiled, cooing over Wheein's aegyo, "come here a second!"

Yongsun was also the only member of the castle staff who found it easy not to refer to Wheein as 'your highness'; something about their relationship was extremely comfortable, and Yongsun's friendly and informal personality meant that she really had to try to remember to use the right terms when it wasn't just Wheein around.

The princess skipped over to Yongsun and watched as the older girl pulled a spoonful of stew out of the pot. After blowing on it, like a mother would do for a young child with no concept of hazards, she fed Wheein the spoon and looked on for her reaction.

"Waaaaaaah!" Wheein gushed, "amazing! As usual!"

The other kitchen staff smiled as they sliced vegetables and washed up pots and pans.

"I'm glad you like it," Yongsun smirked proudly, "you should get ready for dinner though because it really will be done soon."

"I will then!" Wheein skipped off, but stopped and ran back, grabbing Yongsun in a back hug and wrapping her milky arms around the older girl's waist.

"You're a fighter, kid," Yongsun whispered, "beef stew is power food for fighters."

Wheein nuzzled her head into Yongsun's back, happy to have an adult figure in her life that made her world warm up.