Scholarship Princess | Choi Seungcheol

44.

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Prince Chan gave the half-eaten plate of fruit a lazy stare. It had been there, on that table for the past one hour, unmoving. In his vast room, the plate of fruit and he had their battle of stares. Now, Chan wasn't particularly expecting it to somehow transform into a live dinosaur with a fiery roar. But he was tired of looking at the clean-cut cerulean housing watermelon slices.

Instead, he was frustrated by the monotonous movement of his life and a clear lack of entertainment in it. Eventually, Chan realised it was foolish to hold a plate accountable for his worries and logged onto his secret account on social media.

feat.dino was the name he borrowed online. It sounded cool, rolling off his lips like it was meant to be. Dino was the perfect alias for the days he wanted to skip the hammering of the house, ditch the bodyguards to watch a movie in a dark theatre or scroll through the web unsupervised, unchecked. It was his freedom.

It was also how he'd met Vernon.

Dino paused at a picture of his friend on Instagram. He envied Vernon, the free life he led. Prince Chan had, from the very first day, never been allowed that kind of liberty. But Vernon did. Vernon didn't have to worry about getting bad PR upon walking out of an uninteresting class. Vernon wasn't constantly followed by large men in security when trying out a new choice of froyo from a famous place downtown. Chan knew unsupervised actions were dangerous. The responsibility to represent the Royal family lay heavily on his shoulders as the Second Prince. Better be safe than sorry, his brother would say. After all, if something ever happened to his brother, the Crown Prince, running the country would drop down on him.

So, Chan envied the nonchalant attitude Vernon held. He didn't have to be a Prince and he didn't care. Surprisingly, it was also what had drawn Vernon to him in the first place.

Nearly two years ago, Chan had snuck out in the middle of a class to check out an underground dance competition. Everyone in dance had been talking about it. Big groups were participating and Chan just had to see. So, hoodie and mask on, he hadn't expected anyone to recognise him.

Except Vernon.

Vernon had just coolly plucked out one earbud, one hand in his jacket pocket and another on a lollipop he had removed. With a completely clueless expression on his face, Vernon had asked, "Hey... Aren't you that Second Prince?"

Colour had drained off his face within a second. Chan worried about the worst, begged him to keep it under covers, to not let a soul know he was there. The Prince had even offered all the money on him, promised even more. But Vernon had only scrunched up his face as if Chan was the strange one, muttering, "Why would I take your money? What you do is none of my business."

And that was it. It was how they'd ended up doing everything together after that. Pizzas, clubs, even crashing parties together-Chan knew he could count on Vernon. He trusted the man and respected him for holding no prejudice against his Royalty.

Most people always had an opinion. Many wanted something out of him. And anyone rarely genuinely cared.

But not Vernon. Vernon's honest unprejudiced attitude brought the two together to make the most unique of friends. Chan also prided himself in supporting the talent that his friend housed. Business.

He'd thought with Vernon's skills and his lineage, they could make history together. Chan sincerely believed it. But Ari had been an unprecedented force to reckon with. She was always multiple steps ahead, ready to crush them under her toes. Not having expected the new Princess to be so formidable, the duo had taken on an opponent bigger than them and lost.

They'd poured all their resources into the bid and failed. It had taken a collective effort of connection, money bills and strategy to convince and keep the Min Siblings under wraps. While the name itself brought them a guaranteed upper hand in the situation, Chan and Vernon suffered a devastating loss when the bid itself was scrapped. While he staunchly believed he would eventually recover his finances and someday accept his brother's weird crush on the demonic woman, Chan still worried about how the event affected Vernon.