Prince Pauper || KTH

11. Scandalous Peanut

"Thank you, Penny." Taehyung grinned politely. She noticed how cute his cheeks were as they protruded out, making her want to squish them.

"You're welcome." Penny accepted his thanks. "Sorry about those two. I'll yell at them. They usually do this to me too so you're not alone."

The prince merely nodded as he put his hands into his pockets. Silence came between them, both not bothering to move away or even look at each other. This was one of the first times in a while that it was them two.

Penny, however, glanced at the boy's face. She noticed in his big coffee-toned irises how he looked low in spirit. He didn't necessarily seem all that happy every time she saw him. Yeah, he smirked and flirted but it was different. The only time there was a genuine smile on the prince was when his friends visited.

Besides that, she didn't like seeing him sulky but she couldn't really do anything regarding his situation. So she resorted to the only thing she knew would lighten any individual up.

"Come on. Let's get dinner. It's on me." Penny commanded, nodding him to follow her as she began walking to a destination.

Baffled, Taehyung did a double-take before he walked beside her. He looked down at the determined girl and said, "Sweetheart, if this is a dat—"

"Not a date." She corrected as she giggled. "I pity you right now and thought you need a break."

Her choice of words sounded rude but she meant no harm so Taehyung didn't say anything.

"Well, not pity per se." She amended her sentence. "But I do think you need some type of break. Don't you wanna get away from all of your stress?"

A rectangular smile sneaked onto his face as he stared at the humming girl on the side of him. Oh, that smile she enjoyed seeing.

"I do." He nodded.

"Then follow me, Peanut." She placed fists on each side of her hips. "Oh, could you help me first? Could you hold this for me?" She dug into her pockets.

"Sure." Taehyung held out his hand, but what he didn't know was that she took her empty hand into his before intertwining their fingers together.

The prince snapped his head up to the sneaky girl chuckling. Despite having the face of innocence, she was bold. But Taehyung didn't mind. He liked it, it was refreshing.

Then to get on her level of boldness, he pulled her closer and tightened his grip with her. With his other hand, he squished her cheeks as he laughed at how cute she looked. Penny's pupils widened at the sudden movement but didn't mind. She liked it, it made her heart flutter.

Penny brought him near the neighborhood center but instead of going into a restaurant, she brought him to a street vendor's tent. She pulled the plastic entrance cover, revealing small square tables and plastic chairs to resemble a makeshift eatery.

She motioned him to get in and though uncertain to what she was doing, he obliged. He ducked since it was a short entrance before he fully stepped into the tent. He got a better look at the place and saw someone grilling and boiling meals while another sat by the little hostess stand. There were a few people eating here but it wasn't busy at all.

Penny walked inside and was greeted by a worker.

"Penny! Good to see you again." An older lady greeted her with a hug. She wasn't as old as their Halmeonis but she was a couple decades older.

"Hi, Imo!" The young girl said. "Good to see you too."

The older lady shifted her eyes at the confused rich boy standing by the girl. "Oh, who is this?"