The morning wasn't bright as usual. Grey clouds moved slowly towards the kingdom and soon, rain will pour. This concerned the prince who waited patiently for the couriers to arrive safely.
"We have three trips for day, Your highness." a man informed him. Yoongi nodded in understanding.
"Make sure they are putting the barricades and check the houses left for explosive substances today. Do not let the people cross it."
"Understood, Your highness." the man bowed and left. His worry grew when hearing thunder from a few miles away.
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, a cheery voice echoed in the huge house.
"Pretty Princess is here again!"
Minhee waddled to her with a toy in his hand. The princess lifted her up and he let out a glee laughter.
"Minhee missed you!"
"Aw, I missed you too." Eunkyung pinched his cheek.
The boy continued, "Soobin hyung misses you too! He keeps saying he wants to meet you since yesterday. It's noisy!" he shook his head with a dissatisfied face. Just then he realised a newcomer he had never seen before. Minhee pointed, "Who is this, Pretty Princess?"
Seungmin blinked his eyes twice. Minhee's finger almost poked his eyeballs that he needed to take a step back. Eunkyung hummed, "Hmm... I don't know. Why don't you ask him?"
Minhee leaned in to examine the facial feature while Eunkyung held him tighter to make sure he won't fall. "Who are you? Are you Pretty Princess' friend?"
The puppy resembled guy shook his head. "I'm her partner."
"Partner of what?"
Seungmin and Eunkyung exchanged glances. The girl raised her shoulders with an amused look. Both know Minhee wouldn't understand so he chose to lie a little.
"Partner in archery and swording."
The boy gasped. "You do archery and sword?!"
Eunkyung nodded on his behalf proudly. "He's so good at archery." she whispered.
"What's your name?" enthusiasm was clearly shown on Minhee's face. As the conversation continues, he held out his hand to feel the fabric of Seungmin's clothes. Then he moved to touch his hair. Eunkyung passed the boy for Seungmin to hold.
"I'm meeting Soobin for awhile." she informed, and he let her be.
"Calling for breakfast!" a voice called out.
Minhee immediately pulled Seungmin to join at the dining table. The male gladly complied. He treated the boy like his younger sibling. In just less than one hour, they clicked. There's a few children who threw Minhee envy looks for getting special treatment yet the boy cared less.
"Do you have more friends, Seungmin hyung? Other than Pretty Princess?"
Said guy smiled when hearing the name he used for Eunkyung. He remembered the day he followed the royal family to the village, the same boy called her as that and the first thing he thought was, children don't lie.
"I do have some at school."
"Oh, do you go to the same school as Soobin hyung?"
He shook his head before feeding Minhee. "Him and I came from different places. We're not friends."
"But he is friend with Pretty Princess." Minhee said full mouth. Confusion arose but Seungmin just giggle at his cuteness. "But I don't think they are friends because Soobin hyung likes Pretty Princess."
The words struck him. He paused from pinching the food to smaller bits. Seungmin tried to calm down when he recalled that she was meeting Soobin a few minutes ago.
It's alright, they are just friends.
"Really?" he croaked out with a smile. "How do you know?"
Minhee sighed dramatically. He waved his hands in the air as he spoke, "He keeps saying he wants to meet her, he misses her and he wants to tell her something soooo so important before he returns home. I have to listen to him all day!"
Seungmin nodded in understanding, pretending to be immersed in the information when deep inside he just hoped Soobin will not do anything.
If he does, he hoped Eunkyung will stay.
Suddenly he was conscious of himself. Insecure, to be exact. Who doesn't? As much as he disliked it, Soobin was really good looking when they first met at the hill. He was Eunkyung's old friend so they had known each other longer than him. On top of that, he was so tall!
He silently shook his head as he told himself that Eunkyung was not the type who easily change her heart. She will stay, they will.
"Oh, there they are!" Minhee pointed. "Soobin hyung, Pretty Princess, have you eaten?"
"Hello, Minhee." Eunkyung ruffled his hair. "We have. Is the food delicious?"
Seungmin felt a presence next to him. He glanced up and smiled at Soobin as a silent greeting. However, the taller didn't react at all.
"Are you finished?" Eunkyung asked Seungmin. "Yoongi oppa is already calling for us."
"Yeah, yeah I'm done." he was flustered at the one handed greeting so he quickly got up. "Let's go."
Much to his dismay, Soobin walked together with them. Don't get him wrong. He did not despise the guy but their interaction earlier somehow made it feels awkward to be around him. Soobin clearly was not interested in Seungmin as an acquaintance.
The first batch of the couriers arrived. Before they could do anything, Yoongi pulled both Seungmin and Eunkyung back. "Nope, nope. You are not allowed to help. Two weeks are not over yet."
"Oppa,"
"Stand and watch."
"You said that last time too. Know what? We'll just go somewhere else." the princess laced her hand together with Seungmin.
"It's almost raining."
"We will stay there until you're finished." the girl replied, salty at the fact that they still could not help. Then what's the point of coming here?
Alright, maybe they are the stubborn ones who came when told not too but lifting some stuffs won't do harm.
Yoongi let out a small sigh before nodding hesitantly. When he left, Eunkyung huffed, unsatisfied. "Why can't he just let us help?"
"Maybe because you're a princess, Your highness. Look at your gown." Seungmin stated. "It's not proper to see a girl lifting heavy things especially when you're a royal."
The princess lightly pouted as she faced him. She glared at her brother from the back. "I'm hungry. Are you?"
"Kind of. I didn't eat earlier."
"Me too," she just realised both of them had lied to Minhee a few times. "There's a really good café around here..."
As they both walked out, Soobin tore his eyes off them.
His heart clenched at the fact that she already has someone to treasure. He felt a lump in his throat when remembering the rejection earlier.
"Seungmin and I... we are together." she said guiltily. "I'm... I'm so sorry–"
"No! It's okay." he smiled. "I do not expect for answer, just want to let you know."
Lies.
He really expected for an answer, even if it includes waiting. He did not just want to let her know, he wanted more.
But what did he expect? To think of it, they became friends just for awhile before he chose to ignore her and met her again after years. Eunkyung couldn't possibly develop feelings after what he had done. Contrary to himself, he actually missed her and regretted his actions so much.
He was the one who let her go first.
Soobin chose not to dwell with his feelings too much. In his mind, he told himself that it was just a mere crush. Nothing more. Eunkyung was just a princess he adored for years.
Yes, that will do.
Amidst the busy surrounding in the house, a figure in a long cloak peeked out from the courier. The sharp eagle eyes examined the shops before it moved to a big banner hung from the third floor of the orphanage building.
The courier was almost empty. The figure immediately jumped off the vehicle and took shed in an alley nearby. The fingers quickly pressed the button of the pager with a smirk appeared on the face.
Two green alphanumeric sentences appeared on the screen of the small device.
"Haven Orphanage House."
"I'm going to do my own business now."
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"It's so gloomy today," Eunkyung sighed while stirring the hot tea. "I hope all of them will arrive safely."
"Is there anyone guarding the cottage?"
"There should be." she shrugged, "We are not allowed to go anywhere until everything is safe."
Seungmin stifled a laugh. He knew that well, yet here they were sitting in a café instead of home. A few eyes darted to them, curious as to why a princess was sitting with an ordinary man in this place. He noticed that but cared less.
None of them had exposed their relationship to the public and they did not intend to do so. Some might have known how close they were but only as friends. However, if the news got out they would not do anything either. There's no reason to hide about this. Seungmin was the son of the royal's archer so it's fair.
Sound of rain hitting the roof slowly became clearer. The people outside ran for a shed. The café owner turned on the heater. Eunkyung worriedly glanced outside. "They still have two trips left."
"Is there anything we can do to make the process faster?"
"I don't think so but let's finish this before it starts raining too hard."
The male nodded. He blew the tea and carefully sipped on it before something crossed his mind. "The day after my birthday Minju came to give me a present."
That caught her attention.
"It was a storybook with a letter. She said she's moving away."
"What?" her eyes widened.
"I think she already has." he said. "To Gracine. Her parents want to expand their business. I just thought of telling you this because I don't like keeping secrets anymore, even for the smallest thing."
"I have–"
"And we're just friends, just to make sure you don't misunderstand anything."
Eunkyung laughed as she shook her head, "I know, I get that." she warmly smiled. "Actually, awhile ago Soobin told me something too. I rejected him."
He hummed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "As you should?"
"Hey," her leg lightly nudged his feet. "Don't be jealous or dislike him. He didn't know until I told him about us."
"No, I'm not. I just think that he doesn't like me because he didn't say anything when I greeted him. I was... awkward."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," she played with her spoon while staring at the tea. "I had no idea he likes me until today. We agreed to stay as friends so I hope nothing bad will happen between you two."
His heart softened at that. For him, Eunkyung had no reason to feel sorry. It was just his personal feelings about Soobin. Seungmin finished the tea and offered his hand. "Let's go back to them, yeah?"
This time they did not bother hiding their tangled hands. There were not so many people around and it was raining. It would be understandable if they hold hands and run in the rain to reach the orphanage house.
"Should we play in the rain?" the princess suggested but he firmly against it.
"We should have brought an umbrella." Seungmin shielded his head with a hand while looking around. "Let's walk at this side first before we cross the road."
Their vision was blurry. They couldn't see the orphanage house that was a few blocks away. Droplets fell on Seungmin's side so they walked faster until they reached a music instrument shop located at a corner lot.
"Oh, the couriers are on their way!" Eunkyung had to shout because of the noise hitting the roof. A few couriers from the orphanage drove past them to the village. "I hope they can see the road well."
"I was about to ask for a ride." Seungmin joked. He held her hand tighter as they crossed a small intersection to the next block. By now the rain almost drench them. They shivered when they got under the roof at the sidewalk. "One more block and we'll get the heate– umphh!"
His hand suddenly slipped from hers. Eunkyung turned around to see a figure in full black was strangling him by the neck.
"Seungmin!"
Said guy managed to stand on his feet despite the slippery road and being dragged to the road. He blindly moved backwards and slammed the figure on the wall. A few passerby screamed at the sudden attack. However, the grip on his neck did not loose.
Eunkyung could not approach them. They were moving back and forth until Seungmin kicked his leg and the figure fell on the ground. The rain had fully drenched them from head to toe. Seungmin struggled to get up before the figure suddenly tripped his leg and he fell as well.
"Who..."
"You've had so much fun." a familiar voice spoke through gritted teeth. The hood was still covering his head but it did not take a genius to know who he was.
Han, the princess gasped. She helped Seungmin to stand and shielded the guy with herself in the rain. Jisung let out a low chuckle.
"How interesting. A girl protecting a guy."
"Let's return now." She did not waste any time to grasp Seungmin's hand and turn to run.
However, Jisung was faster. He took out a blade from his pocket and swung it to the princess. Seungmin heard his footsteps from behind.
And he took the blade for her.
It all happened so fast. Eunkyung only realised it when he felt the grip on her hand tighten and as she turn to her back, Jisung snickered.
"What a big sacrifice."
"H-han why..."
Said guy harshly pushed Seungmin to the side until his head hit the nearest pole. Eunkyung trembled when blood oozed out from his stomach and head.
Jisung scoffed. He wiped the blood on the sleeves of the cloak before running away.
"S-seungmin..." she cupped his face and slapped it lightly. The blood flowed so fast because of the rain pouring down. She screamed for help when he did not give any reaction. His eyes had closed shut.
Her screams however were drown by the rain. She only received help when a random citizen reached out to the prince at the orphanage house.
It seems like her hope for everything to be fine was long gone.
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