Princess | Kim Jiwoong

Chapter 20 : Just Talk to Me

Tik tik tik. The clock keeps ticking. As if sucked in through a magical force of some sort, I follow the movement of the clock's hand. It comes around a circle and goes back to the place it started from. Over and over again. The loop will never stops unless the battery dies.

Weirdly, I seem to relate with it.

Who would think that Kim Jiwoong, The eldest Prince of South Korea, is somewhere out there comparing himself to an aimless clock.

I nuzzle into the damp towel as I felt a droplet of water dripping drown from my hair.

If I knew I would be so concerned about the bedsheet getting drenched, I probably would have just dried my hair instead of lazily plopping down on the bed with a towel under my head.

Out of the blue, I became aware to the fact that the duration of me keeping my eyes shut while blinking was becoming longer and longer each time I am doing so.

I forgot to bring my prescribed eyedrop from home and i forgot to buy it again when I was outside the whole day.  Should I send someone on the errand? No... It's too late.

It pretty late. Quite late. Really late. When will she be back?

From what I have seen and heard. The Zhang siblings seem really close. So they must have a lot to talk to.

Or is she hanging out with her friends? 

I was lost in my thoughts and lost in the stillness of the night.
   Faint sound of footsteps kept getting louder and louder, subtly, until it pulled me out of my daze, right when I was on the pathaway of drifting into the land of dreams.

I couldn't dare to keep my eyes closed, when the queen of that dreamland of mine, was right next to me.

I stared at her for almost a minute although it felt like just a few seconds to me.

Maybe the light-heddedness was still there inside of me and that's how I got the courage to hold her arm. 

She looked at me. But the expression on her face. The expression.

She looked at me as if she was caught during an act of deception.

The sadness in her eyes as she was looking at the reflection of herself, The trembling in her hands as they were taking off her earrings, The impatient tapping of her foot against the carpet- I saw them all disappear, The moment she turned to me.

She had put on her mask again.

I sat up. Ours eyes met. My hand that was holding her arm, I slided it down to her wrist.

Her skin was soft yet it felt cold to the touch.

Did I see it wrong? For a brief second she looked like she winced in pain. I held her other wrist. Again. She squinted her eyes and her head tilted down ever so slightly.

I looked down to where my palms were wrapped around her wrist.

Red bruises. Looking fairly recent.

At the corner of her left hand stood dabs of unblended foundation. I turned my gaze to the dressing table. There itvwas, a lid opened foundation bottle and a sponge on the center.

She was hurt. And she felt the need to hide it from me.

I was sitting on the corner of the bed and she was sitting on the tool in front of the dressing table, she was looking at me and I was looking at her.

We are so close yet too far.

These are times when I feel like I don't know you at all. Am I not trustworthy enough?  Not enough to even show your true emotions with? Am I nothing more than a stranger?

"What is this? " I ask her, paying close attention to my tone.

" Nothing." She moved back and all I could do was let go of my hold on her.

But the moment I saw her walking away, her back tuned to me, I knew I have to get answers today.

I grab her forearm, making sure that my hand is nowhere near her wounded wrist. I pulled her towards me.

I felt a sudden pang on my chest. As a result of her spinning around towards me, the back of her fisted hands had hit me.

" Please, Just talk to me."
   I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer. Closer to the point where her hot breath tickled my neck.

" I just bumped into something. Nothing more."

She is avoiding meeting my gaze. She is restless and uneasy. Everytime. Everytime when I'm with her.

" Look at me "

I cupped her face that was getting paler by the seconds and the next thing I knew her warm and soft lips were pressed against mine.

I could taste our shared breath, feel the thud of our combined heartbeat, feel her tight grasp on my collars get even tighter and stronger - I was taken aback.
  So taken aback that it send wild tremors along my nerves.

Having my palm on her face, felt like touching a burning flame. My eyes half closed, hers completely shut.

" Why wouldn’t you kiss me back? "
She uttered, gasping for breath.

Her trembling lips hovered over my chin and the tip of her nose tapped the top of my upper lip - she was still tiptoeing.

Darn, I want her so bad.

I lean down, grazing her cheekbones with my thumb, Her eyes are anticipating for me to connect our lips again.

I give her a short peck. Another one. And another one. Keeping her gaze locked with mine, She backs down everytime. Eventually her back crashes lightly against the dressing table.

Reaching behind her, she threw aside whatever that was on the center of the table.

Holding the sides of her waist, I pick her up, place her on top of the table and then...

" Just kiss me " No sooner as she finishes uttering her words, I follow her command.

I have no idea how my lips are moving, no idea where my hands are, All I know is, I want this moment to last forever.

" I love you "
I freeze. She said... She said... That...

" I love you, Jiwoong."
She said it again.

I stare at her. The expression on her face nothing like I've ever seen.

She places a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose. Her soft giggle announced itself in such a way which made my heart feel like a million petals opening in warm sunlight.

...