#enha royal au

[minhosimthings]

Dances Avec Les Etoiles ft. Heeseung

Synopsis: God how boring is love? For Lee Heeseung, it was perhaps the most boring thing in this rotten world. But for his parents, it meant buisness. And buisness meant getting Heeseung married off to a princess from another kingdom. And when the princess shares a peculiar interest, Heeseung starts to believe in Cupid again.

Pairings: Prince!Heeseung × Princess!fem!reader

Warnings: Brief smut scene in the beginning (not with reader), SMUT MINORS DNI (with reader), fingering, edging, orgasm control, french kissing hehe, dom!Heeseung × kinda dom!reader, mentions of food, sexual tension, hee is kind of a pervert, suggestive at places, fluff, swearing, angst, did I mention sexual tension, enemies to lovers (kind of), arranged marriage, playboi heeseung × playgirl!reader, reader wants adventure and Heeseung is the adventure

A/N: I have been writing and editing this for so long now and it's only part 1! Thank you for being patient with me and I promise to release the second part which has more smut in it very soon! @candewlsy your daddy papi has arrived

Part 1 || Part 2 || The wedding

The French Quotes Series Masterlist

Lee Heeseung was a man of logic.

Which left no room for the poetry in him, although he did say that he enjoyed it a lot.

He was a prince, a ruler soon to ascend the golden throne of Tarnow. Stupid name, he had always thought, it sounded like a wheelbarrow carrying a bunch of tar pieces.

But he had often heard that the poets never allowed someone to go on with their life just like that. What kind of poets would they be if they did that?

And so he had to be betrothed. With a star studded ring on his finger, an imitation of a smile on his face, and a bride by his arm. And a ceremony where there would be flowers, and dancing.

Dancing!

Heeseung had a clandestine love for dancing. The curve of arms and fingers, the movement of hips, the ballet of the feet twirling to create an invisible picture on the ground. And yet, no one knew of this rendezvous of his. Well, almost no one.

"Hyung are you really sure you're alright?" Heeseung's daydream was interrupted by a honey sweet voice from above him. "Get down from the tree, idiot." Another voice, strong as iron reprimanded him.

Sim Jake and Park Jay.

Two of Heeseung's band of best friends.

They had grown up together, due to their parents being close friends, what with the never ending borders they shared between the kingdoms. And he could always count on them to give him advice, whether it be of a bastard's or of a sage's.

"Unless you want to break your arm again, get down from that dumb tree." Jay scolded the brown haired boy, who was, at the moment, hanging upside down from a willow tree, "But you need another reason to visit your best friend don't you loverboy?" Jay added with a cheeky smile.

"As if you have more love in your life" Jake shot back, promptly jumping down from the branches onto the grass with a soft thump.

"Would you two stop bickering and help me out of my current predicament?" Heeseung snapped, letting out a sigh and leaning against the bark of the willow. He had always liked this particular tree. He remembered his mother's hands carefully handling the roots and planting the tiny sapling into the wet mud, talking about how the Duchess' daughter had ran off with some ragamuffin. It was a majestic tree now, like how the poets described the trees of the Gods to be like. He had liked that poem a lot, the one about trees and princesses and first kisses under first snows.

"You're going to get married to a completely random princess, big deal." Jay rolled his eyes, settling comfortably onto the freshly mowed grass. He was often the more mature one out of all of them.

"Where on earth are Sunghoon and Sunoo?" Heeseung questioned, checking his pocket watch. He shook his head, his other two friends didn't exactly know the meaning of being on time.

"Probably kissing themselves." Jake smirked, flicking a leaf at Jay to annoy him, which worked when Jay got up from his sleeping position with a glare smeared on his face and slapped Jake's head.

"Just pretend you have affection towards her and all that and it'll be over in a minute." Jay adviced wisely, looking over at Heeseung's drooping figure. "I wish it was that easy." Heeseung sighed, "I don't want to get married, what if she's snobbery?"

"Hyung don't get poetic." Jay said sternly, moving his head to face Heeseung, "What is even love in these ages? And I am sure she'll be wonderful enough to make you some heirs."

"What's her name again?" Jake questioned, looking at the tree with his tongue stuck out, probably contemplating whether he should climb it again or not, "I hear she's of the far East."

"Princess Y/N of the Kingdom of Witchelm." Heeseung scoffed, "Ooh maybe they have witches!"

"Absolutely not." Jay sighed with a tiring expression.

"Whatever, I'm hoping to pay Priscilla a visit today." Heeseung pushed his hair out of his face.

"Does she love you yet?" Jake ashed with a cheeky grin.

"God I hope not." Heeseung shuddered, "She's just got a good mouth and a nice pussy for me to take. See you later boys."

"Fuck I needed this." Heeseung sighed laying back. The girl looked up at him as she placed her hand onto his cock, her other hand resting on his thigh. She licked the underside of it slowly back up, circling her tongue around the head.

"Fuck has your mouth gotten prettier since last time?" Heeseung chuckled, looking at the girl.

"Shut up and let me do my work." She responded, "You know this is the last time right?"

Heeseung scoffed and placed his hands on her head. "I know."

The girl took the head into her mouth, causing him to jolt. He patted her head which soon turned into him gripping her hair when she went back down again, now bobbing her head up and down. Making sure she reached all the way to the base, Heeseung helped by pushing Priscilla down further.

“Keep doing that thats a good girl” he stuttered out. The hand that was on his thigh reached down to massage his balls, lightly squeezing.

Would his new bride be good at giving him what he wants? Heeseung didn't know anything about her. Nor did he care really. She's probably the regular Mary Jane, a dull lifeless, smiling body, without balance in anything. He wished and prayed fervently that some sort of ballerina took her place instead.

Maybe that'd finally make him happy.

The reflection of Heeseung's mirror stared back at him, not noticing the utter beauty of his eyes. He never cared much for his handsome features, much preferring when people complemented how light he was on his feet.

But it was shameful for his parents.

Dancing? For a crown Prince? Preposterous!

It would have been outrageous if the kingdom found out that their prince preferred dancing over decrees. It wasn't that his mother and father didn't encourage his dancing, they loved seeing their son do what he loved. But to be a prince, a ruler, was to keep a reputation, and that couldn't be spoilt by something their son loved doing.

Heeseung sighed, taking a deep breath and counting his steps, every slow movement bringing him his happiness back inch by inch. Would his bride like dancing?, he wondered, that would be a pleasant thing. Atleast one thing in common with her.

His thoughts wandered carelessly as his feet did, sliding across the floor effortlessly, a gentle sway of the arm here and there, the ballet of a sawn without his mate.

He would be betrothed by tomorrow.

A fateful tomorrow, he hoped.

"And now we introduce, Princess Y/N of the Witchelm Kingdom!"

The man had a ridiculously nasally voice in Heeseung's opinion. Maybe they should replace him with someone who doesn't sound much like a parrot.

"Heeseung stand up straight." Heeseung's mother snapped at him from his right shoulder. Silently grumbling, he obeyed and adjusted his drooping figure along with the drowsy expression on his face. He would have rather ate a carrot than do this right now. The sound of bells and trumpets and what not, and all the ridiculously maroon stained curtains irritated him far too much. The sun was broiling hot, and there was not even an inch of a cloud in the sky. And his nose was rather itchy as well. Perhaps he should ask Jake for that rum again...

"Welcome to Tarnow, Princess." His father's formal voice broke Heeseung out of his train of thoughts, and as he snapped back to his senses, he realised the presence of a figure standing before him. Not caring to lift his eyes to look at the figure, he quickly bowed.

"How was the journey, my dear?" His mother asked in a saccharine sweet voice. She only ever used them with babies, Jay and extra important guests.

"Well the carriage certainly did not like the hefty rocks, but it was pleasant." Heeseung thought he had heard an angel speak for a moment, "Your kingdom is magnificent, Your Majesties." The figure in front of Heeseung curtsied, and that's when he caught a whiff of her perfume.

It was intoxicating, as if it was pulling his closer.

His eyes flickered up, to take a peek at the woman. She was clad in deep shades of maroon with gold trimmings illuminating her figure perfectly. Was this his bride to be?

"Prince Heeseung." You threw a curtsy to him, noticing the way his fawn like eyes were staring at you. Maybe the rumours were right. All the princes of Paradoxica were scoundrels who lounged after women.

"Princess Y/N." Heeseung finally bowed back, and you took note of the fact that his eyes stayed to the ground, not lingering over your figure as most usually did. Maybe he did have a tinge of respect in him.

"Well why wait here in this heat? Shall we lunch inside?" The Queen said in a joviant manner, extending her hand to you, which you took gratefully and stepped inside the castle walls, finally feeling at peace.

You were completely unaware of the pair of deer eyes following you.

Heeseung's first thought upon seeing you was the way you wore yourself. He had often learnt that the best of dancers always moved differently, which was always evident whenever he'd attend balls. The truest dancers would always walk as if they owned the very earth they walked on. Heeseung always felt that they had clouds for shoes.

And the way you walked, the way you held your shoulders, the way you each step echoed with the sound of the air, there was no way you couldn't have been a dancer like him.

But you were a princess, he reminded himself, his soon to be Queen. Dancing was to be put to the side for some time.

Or so he thought.

The luncheon had went quite well in your opinion. Apart from the fact that the King and Queen would not stop talking about the proposal ceremony and the wedding, and their son smirking into his peas whenever his parents came upon the topic of grandchildren, it had gone by in a breeze.

You were happy that Heeseung hadn't talked to you. You were far too tired to have any 'getting to know each other' conversations. He seemed a bit monotonous to you, at first glance atleast. You had always learnt never to judge a book by it's cover. But sometimes advice was made to be ignored, so you simply went on with your day, not caring about what kind of a person Heeseung was.

The rumours were enough for you to summarise his persona anyway. The people of Witchelm talked about him as if he was a splendid rose, one everyone wanted to take a look at. Kind, courageous, handsome, generous, blah blah blah. You would rather have married a fish if it was described as more interesting than him. Although the rumour that he really 'got around' in terms of pleasure had interested you. If that had been true, maybe you did like him. Atleast he would be understanding to the fact that had lied to everyone that you were still a virgin.

Tarnow had been a luxuriant kingdom, known to everyone as the first kingdom formed in all of Paradoxica, the oldest one, it spoke quite well through the aching castle walls when you were exploring the southern wing.

It was in a word, beautiful, with the fading architecture and all the women clad in luxurious silver, dancing their hearts out on the street. How you wished ever so fervently that you could join them.

Dancing was your life ever since you took your first steps. Witchelm was renowned for dancing, for ballet, ballroom and everything in between. It was a pity that you hadn't heard anything about the hobbies of the Prince. Perhaps he preferred dancing too. That would be a pleasant surprise, you thought, as you stepped into your chambers, where all your luggage had been arranged neatly.

"I think I can take over from now on." You curtsied to the girl who had led you over to the chambers. She bowed back and was about to leave when you thought to ask her the question that had been lingering in your mind for long.

"Is there a ballroom here?" The girl turned back abruptly at your question. She had hair as dark as coal and eyes even darker. A pretty sight.

"Oh yes, your Highness." She smiled at you, "We have the biggest ballroom in all of Paradoxica in fact. Most of the King's balls and state dances are held here."

"Then, there must be a place where they practice their dances is there not?"

The girl chuckled at your question and clicked her feet together.

"There is a humongous room in the western part of the castle that's basically empty space for dancing. But the Crown Prince spends most of his time there at night, so we aren't allowed to go there much. I can show you the way if you want."

"The western wing." You sat on the bed with a soft thump, "I can find my route don't worry. Thank you for everything."

The crown prince and dancing..... Peculiar. Very peculiar, you thought as you lay on the bed. You were thankful for finally getting out of the heavy purple gown, and putting on some actually comfortable robes. Although you had begged your mother to let you wear your favourite lavender shades, your mother has refused and put you in the darkest and most sweltering maroon gown. It was safe to say that you were a panting dog by the time you got out of the gown.

Picking up your quill and paper, you smoothed out the creases as you thought about what to write to your best friend back home. Gaeul was the kind of person to find out everything about someone before loving them, no matter what methods she used, so it wouldn't be a problem if you wrote 'i think the Prince likes dancing because a girl told me an extremely insignificant detail' in the letter to be sent to her.

Dipping your quill into the ink pot, you were about to start your letter when-

Knock knock knock

The door tapped thrice. It was safe to say that you were confused. Lunch was just five hours ago and it wasn't even dinner time yet, the sun hadn't set even though the sky had turned a deep purple.

Donning a clock over your robes, you stepped out of the comfortable silks of the bed and strode over to the magnificent, carved door. Tugging on the handle, the door made a creaking noise at it opened, making you cringe at the sound. You caught a figure lingering at the door. The same girl was there, the one who had led you here earlier today.

"Oh hello there." You said, opening the door to its full length, "What is the matter?"

The girl shuffled her feet before your eyes fell on her hands. A tiny black box.

"Someone left this in my chambers with a note attached to it your Highness." She said, "It gave the instruction to give it to you."

You looked at the box with uncertainty before snapping your eyes up to the girl. You took the box from her, your finger gently brushing against hers.

"What is your name?" You questioned, realising that you hadn't asked for it before. "Giselle, Your Highness." She answered, still looking at the ground.

"Thank you Giselle. You may go now." You shot her a smile which she returned meekly and scampered off.

Closing the door behind you, you eyed the box with uncertainty. What if it was some poison which wafted into the air as soon as you opened it? What if there was a lizard inside? You really did hate those dumb creatures. Thousands of thoughts flooded your mind as you looked at the box. You were reminded of your father's words to stop reading so many books with plots of bloodshed and mystery. As if you'd ever stop.

Caressing the box with your hand, you noticed how fine of a quality it had, it couldn't have been sent by any ordinary person. You lifted the lid of the box with hesitation running through your veins, only to find inside......a necklace?

A dainty pearl necklace lay inside the box, along with a tiny note, which you did not notice at first. You were far too captivated by the shimmering necklace. Pearls were a rare occurence in Witchelm, with it being a landlocked kingdom. But Tarnow, you had heard, had a vast coastline, so pearls were easily found.

You pondered upon who it could have been sent by. A secret admirer perhaps? The thought did excite you. But who on earth would send a box like this in these times?

As your thoughts ran wild through a forest again, your hand slightly tilted the box, and the note fell out. You bent down to pick it up and immediately took note of the fact that it was paper which was used for royal decrees. A secret admirer from the ministry?

Unfortunately your mind was disappointed as you ran your eyes through the note.

Wear it for me princess. Love, Heeseung.

Of course. A secret admirer, what were you even thinking? No one would have the courage to give the princess of a foreign country, a pearl necklace.

Rolling your eyes, you settled the box and the necklace into a drawer and put the tiny note into a separate one. The prince had a handsome signature, far better than your scribbles anyway.

The western wing had never seemed like a more interesting place

"I hope you find the chambers a comfortable place my dear?" The Queen's voice rang in your ear. God the atmosphere of the dining table made your hands sweaty.

The little conversations you had with the King and Queen weren't enough conversation for you. It was too.....formal, to regal. You wanted fun, but you knew you wouldn't get that. Not until tonight atleast.

Your plan to sneak out into the western wing was extremely flawed but you had not a care in the world. So what if there would be hundreds of people standing guard? You were quick on your feet, a dancer's gift.

You had silently observed Heeseung throughout the dining session. He seemed quiet, all the talkative ones do at first glance. You noticed the way his foot tapped away every now and then without a care and his fingers drummed his fork in hand. You hadn't a single idea if it was on purpose or not. You had read in the book Gaeul once loaned you that artists, like painters or dancers, can never keep their body still. They always have to be doing something with their hands or feet. So either Heeseung was secretly a painter, or he was a dancer. The former seemed to have more possibilities but it could always be the latter considering Giselle's words about the western wing.

Only one way to find out.

Your skin was filled with goosebumps as you walked down the chilly corridor. You were greatly surprised that there weren't many guards, perhaps Tarnow cared less about security.

You shouldn't doing this, this is dangerous, said a voice in your mind, but did you ever listen to it? No, no you did not.

The western wing was easy to locate, what with the huge painting of a woman pointing her finger towards a large corridor, with the words "Western wing" engraved onto the painting. It was darker than the other parts of the castle, maybe it was a secret wing shut off to everyone else except the Prince. There weren't many doors here either, which caused you to let out a sigh of relief. The dancing room would be easier to find.

And it indeed was, as you now stood in front of a huge oak door, the only one for miles on end. You hoped fervently that it wouldn't creak like the door to your chambers. And to your relief, it thankfully didn't, and the spectacle inside made you let out a gasp.

The prince.

So he wasn't a painter after all.

He was a dancer!

A plain show of beauty, you thought, the Prince was. He looked ordinary at first glance, but now, as your eyes trailed his moving figure, his feet gracefully gliding across the floor, hitting each moment to the melodies of the song he was humming, you'd have thought it was Apollo's incarnate himself. You were mesmerized by him, by his every movement, he was gentler than a swan with his fingers, his robe moving in sync as if he had been commanding it.

My my, he looked like a groom in need of a bride, you thought. You didn't know whether it was past midnight yet, even as the clock struck itself and made a loud noise, you were too distracted by the dancing prince. You would have loved to watch him for a bit more, if not for-

CREAK!

Stupid door!

Heeseung's head whipped around to the door as his humming and dancing stopped abruptly. "Who's there?" He cried, clutching his hand to his sword belt, "Come out!"

There was only one idea in your mind at that moment.

Run.

You hoped fervently the next day that the bags under your eyes would be put off by everyone as exhaustion from the long journey. You hoped that no one thought "Oh the princess obviously must have sneaked out to the dance room and ogled the prince!" Although the possibility of that happening was very low.

You slyly avoided the Queen's questions about your sleep by asking her about when the royal potrait of the groom and bride to be would be painted. And she responded with much happiness that it was to be this afternoon!

This afternoon. With the prince. Wasn't that a joy?

Your schedule was much packed that day, which was disappointing since you had wanted to sneak out to see the main ballroom which Giselle had informed you was in the Northern wing. First, you had to get into your gown for the portrait, which would easily take the entire afternoon. Then the actual portrait session would arrive and God knows how much time a simple layer of paint will take to dry.

"Do you paint my darling?" The Queen asked. "Yes." You answered, knowing damn well you couldn't draw a line if you wanted to. Well a lie in a lie is a truth wasn't it?

Afternoon arrived and so did the sweat drops on your forehead. Damn this gown, you thought as you dragged the heavy on the floor. You decided the first thing you'd do after becoming Queen is ban whatever material this is.

Approaching the door where the Queen had directed you to, you took the handle in hand and tapped it thrice to let whoever was inside know that you had arrived. "Come in." A familiar princely voice answered.

Oh great.

"My Lord." You sunk into a curtsey, not letting your eyes meet Heeseung's. Had he always been this tall and handsome or were you dreaming?

"Heeseung, princess, call me Heeseung." He wore pride quite well in his cunning smirk, you thought, as you looked at him quintessentially.

"Then you may call me by my name as well." You replied, glancing behind him to see an easel propped up, "Where is the painter?"

"Oh him? He's always late." Heeseung leaned back against the table behind him, "So princess, enjoying the palace's attractions?"

"Stop calling me that." You said, rolling your eyes out of annoyance, "And if the attraction is you, then no I'm not." He made the word seem like an enchanting melody, the handsome bastard.

"Would you prefer darling?" He smirked, pushing the stray strands of hair out of his face again. He looked like a siren, pulling you into an ocean you wanted to escape from, but didn't know how.

"Say, my darling," he leaned forward, looking at you with darkened eyes, "You're still a virgin aren't you?"

"Why, do you want to corrupt me?" You scoffed, settling yourself down on the loveseat, "Well bad luck, I'm not."

Heeseung looked taken aback for a moment, his eyes widened and he blinked a few times, but he composed himself quickly.

"Ah we have a little liar do we?" He chuckled lowly, his eyes still looking you up and down, "So you're a bad girl aren't you?"

"I don't care Lee." You crossed your arms, "This is just a marriage for politics, there's no way in hell you are going to magically make me fall in love with you, like in the books."

"You read romance?" Heeseung cocked his head to the side, "Well there's a thing we have in common."

The door to the room burst open before you could get another retort out and you breathed a sigh of relief as the painter rushed in with his assistants and started running about arranging everything.

You were even more thankful when you had to sit down for the portrait, far away from Heeseung. Although a weird pose, you supposed the painter would magically make something out of it.

Heeseung was more interesting that you had previously thought. Atleast he didn't treat you with the insufferable respect most princes did. He was....cocky, rude, daring. A rather sweet taste on your tongue.

Oh how you couldn't wait to sneak out to the west wing again.

You remembered to bring a shawl this time, draping it around your shoulders so that the cold, carved rock of the palace wouldn't let your skin break. You cursed yourself for almost knocking over a piece of what looked like driftwood sitting atop a table, willing aways it's time. The kingdom of Tarnow really had its unusual traditions.

The conversation you had with Heeseung today ran in your mind over and over again and again. You liked the taste of him, the way he stood, the way he held himself. And the way he spoke. You were going to have to come up with new retorts everyday. Well that's more interesting than suffering a life of 'i love you' or 'i will die for you'.

But for now, peering at him through the slightly ajar door was more than enough. Oh how he danced, the movements he made, an astral ballet in the air. He looked at peace, that cocky and confident demeanor was no more, it was replaced, instead by calm and cool. Your eyes tried not to linger to his waist and arms, how his shirt pressed tightly against his muscles. The sinful thought of having a touch of them echoed through your mind. The curve of his body fascinated you, oh he looked as pretty as an angel. Perhaps there is more to Heeseung than you thought.

"She's interesting, too Interesting." Heeseung drawled, as he chewed on his quill tip. To his right sat Park Sunghoon, another crown prince, who had inherited his kingdom without marriage and without everything Heeseung despised. At the moment, he was the only one who could provide Heeseung some comfort.

"Interesting as in she didn't fawn over you or interesting as in she's no a virgin?"

"Both." Heeseung answered leaning back in his chair, "And she's such a mystery, god I want to know more about her."

"There is a thing called conversation you know." A third voice called from across the room. A red haired man was sitting atop the table, casually willing away at grapes.

Kim Sunoo. The youngest crown prince.

"Oh really?" Heeseung smirked, "I though conversation wasn't mandatory or what was it you said last time Sunoo? 'Conversation is only for the loveless?'."

"You know who I meant it for." Sunoo rolled his eyes and hopped off the table promptly, "Anyway the Princess of Witchelm seemed a lovely character. I had a brief incursion with her out in the garden, and she's.....interesting."

"That's what hyung said too." Sunghoon popped a grape in his mouth from the table, clenching his face at the sour taste, "Just run up to her and you know, ask her what she likes."

"Great advice, Sunghoon."

"As if you can do better."

The gardens of Tarnow were a place you reveled in. The freshly mown grass, the sweet scent of daffodils, and the sight of bees almost everywhere elated you. And most importantly, the willow tree.

The grandiose tree reminded you of someone who knew what they were worth, like a Queen who knows exactly what she wants. That's who you wanted to be. A Queen who rebelled, headstrong like your mother always told you to be. And you would fill the streets with dance, music and laughter. Maybe even prompt Heeseung to show off his moves....

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Death would have been more pleasurable than to endure Heeseung right now, as his voice disrupted your peace and quiet.

"You owe your hand in marriage apparently." You stared straight at him, not daring to break eye contact, which was hard considering how menacing Heeseung's stare was.

"Admiring the willow eh princess?" Heeseung plopped down next to you, landing on the grass with a soft thump, "You know, I planted this when I was an adorable child."

"Adorable?" You scoffed, "More like a fiend." Heeseung chuckled at your statement, turning his head to look out towards the landscape.

"I planted most of the trees in this garden." He said, staring ahead with unwavering affection in his eyes at all the greenery, "They've grown a lot since then, my mother says that planting them at a young age allows them to grow with you." The love in his tone made you want to coo at him, but you composed yourself, remembering what kind of a person he was.

"Was that too cheesey?" Heeseung smiled, turning his eyes to yours. "Just a little." You responded, not having the heart to break the moment.

The silence that followed was a dire one, but it was peaceful. Heeseung and you sat in it as if you were fluent, letting the breeze whip your hair about, and the grass seep into your veins. You were so immersed in the butterfly landing on the daffodil that you didn't even notice the leaves sticking to your hair.

"Your hair looks like a bird's nest right now, princess." You heard Heeseung laugh as you turned your head towards him. "Excuse me?" You said, pulling your hand up to stroke your hair, being horrified when you pulled pieces of leaves sticking to it.

"Oh for fuck's sake." You mumbled under your breath, "Ah damn this, I'm going back to the chambers. Good day, Heeseung."

"With a nest in your hair?" Heeseung raised a cocky brow, "Princess, be logical. No one is going to respect a future Queen who looks like she's walked out of a jungle." Heeseung's words were mean but true, "You know I can just remove them, if you ask kindly with that pretty mouth of yours."

You had never wanted to slam his head into a wall more than now. But your reputation also mattered. You were torn between the two choices; Heeseung or risking your reputation?

"Fine." You sat back down on the ground, "Take them out."

"Nicer, princess. Add a pretty please too."

Oh he was on thin ice. You rolled your eyes and grumbled, "Could you please take these leaves out of my hair? Pretty please?"

The scent of Heeseung's neck pressed to your nose as he leaned over to remove the leaves carefully. He touched your hair rather gently, as if you were a fragile doll, which surprised you. Your hand kept lingering at his stomach, holding itself back from touching his muscles.

"There." Heeseung leant back, "All pretty princess again." "Thanks." You muttered, making your way to get up.

"Uh uh uh princess, we aren't done yet." Heeseung pulled you back down, making you snatch your hand away from him, "I want to strike a deal with you."

That night as you watched Heeseung dance gracefully on the stone floor, you wondered how this was the same person you had met in the morning. The same person who had made you a wretched deal, now danced under soft candlelight, unaware of his future bride watching him through clandestine corners.

"Meet me in my chambers tomorrow, and I'll think about not spilling to everyone, your little 'pureness' secret."

Fuck the world. That was your first thought as you woke up the next day, got dressed, had breakfast, had a conversation with the Queen, and made your way down to Heeseung's chambers.

For what purpose must this have been done? For what purpose did you have to be betrothed to a man like him?

"Fine day, isn't it princess?" Heeseung smirked at you from behind his desk. Papers and scrolls were strewn all over the desk, along with ink pots and a couple of what seemed to be drying paintings. A few more were hung up on the wall.

"Is this why your mother asked me if I paint?" You traced your finger over a dried painting of a daffodil. Still life, boring as it may be, still caught your eye. Heeseung smiled to himself.

"She asks everyone that, thinks her grandchildren will be some sort of prodigies." "Grandchildren?" You looked up from the painting to Heeseung's smug face, "We aren't even close to friends and she wants grandchildren?"

"Rule of Law princess, there's an entire book about it." Heeseung leaned back, spreading his legs a bit further, god that shirt stuck to his muscles well.

"What am I doing here anyway?" You scoffed, sitting back on the chair facing him, "You want me to do your assignments or something?"

"Assignments, actually." Before you could blink a huge stack of papers lay in front of you, all stamped with decrees, "And in return you'll get some get sex and your secret not being spilt."

"Good sex?" You laughed haughty, "I highly doubt that. Especially from you."

"You think I can't fuck you better than your lovers?" Heeseung raised a brow at you, leaning back against his desk. "No I don't think so." You simply replied, reaching out a hand to get one of the decrees, but it was caught by Heeseung and before you could even flinch, he had you pressed against the desk.

"Want to test that theory?"

Your retort stuck in your throat when you engaged in a searing kiss and your lips met aimlessly—a real mess of tongues and teeth. Heeseung licked a strip across your teeth and thrust his tongue deeper, exploring the inside of your mouth like a sacred temple with only one chance to visit. Heeseung opened his mouth and gasped, lingering with a few more short, honeyed kisses between his panting breaths and your muffled moans. You scolded yourself for even getting a sound out of yourself at Heeseung's touch.

Heeseung's hand moved up your thigh, and you pressed your mouth to his throat, sucking hard enough to leave a mark.

"That's not the ideal place to leave a mark princess." Heeseung glared at you, to which you merely shrugged your shoulders. So what if Heeseung had a few hickeys on display to the kingdom?

Heeseung's hand travels upto your back, easily removing the dainty dress you had on. You silently thanked Giselle for giving you a dress instead of a gown today.

“is this what you wanted?” you slid your panties to the side, as Heeseung was about to reach further down your slide. He wouldn't have admitted it but he almost drooled at the sight of you. Taking a second to admire you, his voice echoes through your body, “I wonder how many others can have you like this.”

"Not many." You keep your eyes on him, "none of them fuck me as well as I want them to."

You lean forward a bit, making sure he gets a fantastic view of your cleavage. You decide to push the boundaries a bit further, your voice dropping to a sultry tone, fingers playfully tracing the edge of your bra's strap.

Heeseung's exhales a shaky breath, "you're playing with fire, y'know that?" His voice is low, it only spurs the warning and longing lingering inside you.

The world narrows down to the heat of his touch, the electrifying sensation of his fingers on your skin. You feel the rapid beat of his heart against your chest, mirroring your own anticipation. Heeseung's eyes, lock onto yours, a silent agreement passing between you.

Your nails scrape against his scalp and you squeak in shock as Heeseung's hips surge upwards, forcing his hard cock against you. The unabashed moan he lets slip is sinful and it’s all you want to hear for the rest of your life. You can’t stop the urge building up inside you, you’re not even certain you can stop moving your hips even if you wanted to.

His fingers catch the waistband of your bottoms. Heeseung traces your clit over the fabric feeling the warm, wet patch you’re leaving in them and then he teasingly slips a finger underneath, swiping two fingers along your slit, thumb, and index finger opening your pussy to his gaze. He presses a finger inside of you, slowly stretching out your tight hole. You groan, and his eyes roll back at the way your walls stretch around him. You rock harder against him, fucking yourself into his finger and wrapping your arms around his neck again. you just want to feel him against you.

"Fuck you're a tight one." Heeseung smirks into the crook of your neck, taking in your delicious scent, "Is this good enough for you princess?"

His half-lidded eyes look up at you as you contort on top of him, feeling overstimulated, with a single finger. He coos, his other hand sweeping over the back of your head sweetly, pushing back stray sweaty hairs. He nudges your nose with his, hand on the back of your neck, and tries to meet your eye. The squelch as his finger fucks into you, fast and deep, is the most beautiful thing he’s ever heard.

You can feel the tightening of your stomach, your intestines begging for air as your mind wants nothing more but to break free. The sweet edge of release feels better than ever with Heeseung than anyone else you've ever done this with. Fuck was he good. Just as you felt his finger sweep across your cunt one more time, and hot liquid come upto your cervix-

"Heeseung!" You gasped, feeling the painful feeling of having him pull his finger away from you. His smirking face added the fuel to the fire of your anger, as he slowly bent away from you, collapsing onto a chair and spreading his legs far. God did you want yourself propped on that thigh.

"I already told you princess." Heeseung's smug voice infuriated you, "Sex as a reward remember? And you haven't done anything so no reward. Simple logic."

"fuck you" "When princess?"

You were thankful Heeseung didn't make you work all night, you had time to admire his dancing again. He seemed so different when he was alone, so much more gentler, and it only made you hate him more. Why all the cocky behaviour when he was surrounded by people? You liked this softer side of him. You wished that he would get the courage to show that side to the world. Maybe in due time as all things come.

The rest of the days went the same. Rise and shine in the morning, greet Giselle as she gave you your bath, breakfast and burrowings, rush off to Heeseung in his chambers, do your 'assigments' whilst glaring at Heeseung, who glared back, get the desk a bit messier than it had been, and then sneak off to the western wing at late night to watch Heeseung. It was a bit redundant, but you liked this. Maybe it was the fact that Heeseung was someone who made you cum properly (although you wouldn't admit it) or maybe it was the fact that, from the past few days, he had started opening up to your more.

Ignoring the fact that your time with each other consisted of making angry retorts, you noticed that now, you knew more about Heeseung than before. His friends, family, ancient history, his hobbies everything, from A to Z was in your memory now. And you had to admit that you liked knowing more about him.

His sunlit eyes everyday as they silently perked up at the sight of you, the way his mouth dropped to give you the daily retort along with a tiny compliment too, the way his smirks now turned into smiles, and the way he leant nonchalantly against the great willow, when you'd go out into the garden for a little rest. Was this the love the poets described?

"Good news princess." Heeseung strode into his chambers as you stretched your neck from sitting in the chair all day completing a decree, "We're having a ball."

Collapsing on his bed with a thump, Heeseung groaned as he stretched out his aching limbs. Jay really did always do a number on him in practice.

"A ball?" You questioned, rising from your seat, walking over to the bed and climbing on, "For us?" Heeseung looked at you and nodded. "It's supposed to be a pre-pre-pre wedding ball, according to mother dearest."

"Will there be dancing?" You asked excitedly. You hadn't danced in so long that your feet longed to be in some tap shoes and a big flowy gown again.

"Yep, and guess what?" Heeseung smiled at you, "We're going to dance together."

"Oh I am an amazing dancer." You bragged, raising your chin high, "So it's fine if I outshine you right?"

"Please, I am much better at dancing." Heeseung sat up, facing you, "It's fine princess, they'll notice you at the wedding if they don't at the ball."

"Dance for me then." You gave him a cheeky smile. Would he agree? This is what you had been wanting for a long time. "No." Heeseung merely said, checking his bitten nails.

"Are you that horrible of a dancer?" You chuckled. But before you had time to laugh more, a fluffy pillow landed straight on your face with force. Heeseung's smile had never been wider.

"Don't do that you bastard!" You cried, picking up a pillow and hitting his shoulder with it to which he laughed raucously. "Or what?" He laughed again, hitting you with the pillow repeatedly. Stray feathers let loose from the pillows but you had not a care in the world as Heeseung chased you around the room with the pillow clutched in his hand. This had been the most fun you've had in ages.

Young love? So refreshing for a narrator isn't it?

You looked stunning. Your reflection, clad in soft hues of your favourite colour stared back at you, as your eyes ran up and down your body, hugged tightly by the fabric.

The ball had came sooner than you had anticipated, maybe it was the fact that you were so excited for it.

You'd be dancing your heart out tonight. With Heeseung. How you had longed to match his movements for so long, and now you finally had the chance.

"How do I look?" You meekly asked Giselle, who looked like a jewel in her own gown. "Like a true Queen, my lady." She giggled, dipping into a tiny curtsy.

"Shall we move then?"

Heeseung hadn't been too excited about the ball. He had seen too many of them to be entertained by any. And plus, there wasn't a proper lady to dance with either. Where were you? His thoughts, which were running aloof, came to a halt as his eyes landed on someone descending from the staircase.

Was that....you?

Indeed it was, as he blinked his eyes a few times to get into his mind the fact that you, his bride to be, were walking down from the staircase, looking like someone he's always loved for centuries. That, he did, but of course he wouldn't tell you that. Your snarky remarks from time to time, the way you smiled at his retorts and the way you remained a complete mystery to him, no matter how much he found out about you. Love, love, love, was what Jay had told him.

"My lord." You dipped into a curtsey in front of Heeseung. God he smelled exactly like the willow, enchanting and sweetly poisoning. You tried your hardest to avert your eyes from the tightly hugging fabric around his arms and his belt too. You fervently wanted your hands to be tied to it.

"You look pretty, princess." Heeseung winked at you, wrapping an arm at your waist, but not before giving you a look of access, "May we?" He motioned towards the dance floor, where a few women and men had their arms wrapped around each other lovingly. Would Heeseung and you ever be like this, you thought, as he led you over to the marble floor. You would have liked that, you'd have liked that a lot.

You could feel the eyes on you as Heeseung took your hands to his lips and pressed a small peck there. "Ignore them." He smiled up at you, "Time to show off your dancing, princess."

Gulping down the breath you've had in for a long time, you gasped in silence as one of Heeseung's arms pressed against your waist in a position for your waltz. You took your breath in accordance with Heeseung as the violins whipped their bows and the grandiose music began.

Dance was often described as the art of the soul, you'd never seen a living example of it, until now, as your entire body and mind moved in synchronisation with Heeseung. It felt as if dancing on a cloud you've longed to be on, when you were swaying with him. His grip on yours, his eyes tracing yours, and his demeanor being the one of the swan you had spied on in the western wing, it enchanted you, pulled you in to the whirlpool of Heeseung himself. You could have stayed like this forever, swaying in a gown with Heeseung at your start.

Heeseung was intoxicated as well, it was sweet venom lacing his veins, as the clandestine rendezvous of your movements got him to the highest of highs, one that even the most addicted couldn't have reached.

"Enjoying the view?" You cocked a brow at him, noticing the way he was staring at you. You were thankful that a lot of other people had joined the dance and you weren't the only ones dancing now.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing." He smirked at you, his eyes tilting down to your cleavage.

"You've seen more than just my cleavage and it's still driving you crazy isn't it?" You raised your chin, "Pathetic, Heeseung."

"Pathetic is it princess?" Heeseung's voice dropped to a low, as he leant over to your ear, his breath hitting your cold skin, whispering words that made your breath drop.

"More pathetic than the western wing?"

To be continued.....

Taglist: @amazzwon @heeseungshim @yunabi436 @kvmariii @sacrificeatmeup send an ask to be tagged

[en-geneisaxx]

Dark Moon: The Princess' of Oztenxia

𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽, 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 .

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐎𝐓7 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐱 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧, 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐈𝐬𝐚, 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡 𝐱 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐱 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚.

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 - 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠 | 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧 - 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 | 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡 - 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐧 | 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐨 - 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 | 𝐉𝐚𝐚𝐧 - 𝐉𝐚𝐲 | 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐨 | 𝐍𝐨𝐚 - 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐢

𝑺𝒚𝒑𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔: 300 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒛𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒂, 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓���𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒓𝒂, 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔.

A/n: Hi guys! So this is going to be a collab with my big sis (at heart), Prin, and we're making our own version of 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧. Just letting you guys know, this will 𝐧𝐨𝐭 be a Y/n fic (sorry yall) because we've only just decided to show you guys our masterpiece. It is still going under construction, but we do have an idea for where we're going, since we've planned this out for 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. Apart from that, we hope you enjoy!

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔' 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔

Word count: 3,225

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝/𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 ♡

Chapter 1: The new student

𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 - 𝑰 𝑵𝑬𝑬𝑫 𝑭𝑶𝑶𝑫! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 -𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞- 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤. 

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 ‘𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭’ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲, 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐟𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭.

𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 ‘𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡’ 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 -𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭- 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮��𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬: 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

‘𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑧𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑-’

‘-𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦.’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞.

‘𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?” 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

‘𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤, ‘𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦. 𝐵𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, ‘𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑠𝑜? 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ.’

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, ‘𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢?’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬’ 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩, ‘𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛?’

‘𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡, 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝑆𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛.’ 

‘𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒!’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚��𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, ‘𝐷𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛!’

‘𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑙𝑓𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠.’

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, ‘𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠’ 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠?”

‘𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑖𝑡’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, ‘𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐴ℎ! 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑦. 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛.’ 

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, ‘𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑡𝑜𝑜?’

‘𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙, 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠.’

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, ‘𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡,’ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, ‘𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝, 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑂𝑧𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ. 𝑀𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛, 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡.’

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, ‘𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝐼 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛,’ 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐬, ‘𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑗𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡.’

‘𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛.’ 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲.

“𝐎𝐰!” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, ‘𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒?’ 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝑳𝒖𝒙𝒖𝒓𝒚.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 -𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫- 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐩, 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐲-𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬…𝐲𝐨𝐮!?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞, ‘𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫.’ 

𝑾𝒐𝒘, 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕!

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞�� 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

“𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭, 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬, “𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲!” 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. “𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞.” 

“𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 300 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬!” “𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.” “𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲,” “𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥!”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. 

“𝐔𝐦, 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡?” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉?

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏, 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, “𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 -  “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐥�� 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥’𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞, “𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲. 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭!” 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬. 

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭…

𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞- 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐨𝐧-𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

“𝐒𝐨…” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 - 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆. “𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐈’𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.” 

𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒍, 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕! 𝑶𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒖𝒑 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍! 

“𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞?”

“𝐇-𝐡𝐮𝐡!?” 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐝.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫? 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

“𝐔𝐦, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞? 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚-”

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒊’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅: 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒈? 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚��𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?”

𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 ‘𝑇𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔,’ 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢. 

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. “𝐀𝐡, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤.” 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭. 

𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥-𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡.

𝑾𝒂𝒉, 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆.

“𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭-” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞…𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞

“𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧. 

“𝐇𝐦? 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

“𝐎-𝐨𝐡, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐦,” 𝑼𝒈𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒊! “𝐔𝐡, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐭, “𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?”

“𝐎𝐡!” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, “𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲.”

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐎𝐡, 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 . 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐚? 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥.

“𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭. “𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬? 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 

‘𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑶𝒉, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 ‘𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬’, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮…

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.

“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, “𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩, “𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚��𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫, 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲. 

“𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 203, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, “𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞. 𝐎𝐡, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬’ 𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐲𝐞 𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟.

𝑾𝒐𝒘. 𝑾𝑶𝑾. 𝑰, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎!? 𝑰𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆!?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒚𝒔?

𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔? 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞. 

𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?

𝑶𝒌. 

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆,

𝑻𝒘𝒐,

𝑶𝒏𝒆,

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡-𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭. 

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝑫𝑶 𝑰 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑷𝑨𝒀?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

���𝒉, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑! 𝑯𝒂��𝒂, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆. 

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!

 𝐀 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 

𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧! 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 

𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐲 𝐩𝐲𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞. 

𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟. 

𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆…𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑻 𝑩𝑬 𝑾𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑯𝒀 𝑷𝑬𝑶𝑷𝑳𝑬 𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬.

𝑼𝒈𝒉, 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬.

𝑶𝒉, 𝒐𝒉! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒅! 𝑨 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒅! 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅. 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔, ��𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔, 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆. 

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒕.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐝.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥?”

𝑇𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔: @pockettwinzz @diorsyun @potatohoon @dollywons @emi-en @rinbowaman @raeofsnshne @jaylaxies @sungvrhs @heeslomll @velvetkisscs @dollyyun (lmk if you want to be added through asks!)

[zhounauts]

crown prince!lee heeseung x f!reader // warnings: cursing, fainting (?) part two series masterlist

a/n got inspo for this after rereading this reincarnation webtoon i used to like a lot, these reincarnation stories are lwk a guitly pleasure of mine so i was like why not write one

+ is this even considered an x reader??? like heeseung hates u oopsie lolz

anyways enjoy (hopefully)

YOU WOKE UP WITH AN EPIPHANY , to give the two leads their happy ending. despite the fact that you had woken up in a stereotypical reincarnation manhwa, the author was far from stereotypical. not only did she have a strange almost concerning obsession with her two main leads, but she was also a goody-two shoes rule follower who told you that the original plot of the story and every single event must be followed and copied to perfection.

unfortunately for her, you said fuck that, had knights take her away and put her in a mansion on the outskirts of the kingdom where she wouldn't be able to reach you. so now, instead of scheming devious, nefarious acts against the female protagonist you now took advantage of your personal chef who worked relentlessly at your constant requests to try all the fancy dishes you could've never afforded in your previous life.

"the audacity!" rina, your maid suddenly exclaims, holding a letter.

"i can't believe this! my lady, this is outrageous! how can saintess sora write and send something so shameless!? " faye your second maid exclaims.

"hm?" you ask, focusing on the blueberry cheesecake in front of you, "what happened faye?"

"the saintess sent an invitation for her tea party! she wrote, 'countess i know we are not on good terms because of the crown prince, but the other ladies and i hope that you will join our humble tea party, and put aside your grudge'" you chew on the cake.

"oh, okay,"

"OKAY!?" the two scream.

"m-my lady! how does this not bother you? she is being disrespectful and using the fact that she has the crown prince's affections despite you are his soon-to-be wife!"

"oh, that's true," you shrug, "what can i do about it? if he likes her better okay then, i don't want to marry him anyways," rina collapses into faye's arms.

"my lady! rina are you--"

"with all due respect, but my lady, back then you would've done something! why the change of heart now?"

"well. . .he doesn't like me?? like it's pretty obvious, and i was just naive and uhm, craving for male validation back then or something like that i guess. it doesn't matter to me anymore,"

". . ."

"besides, his highness prince jay is more my type ,"

"MY LADY-"

"I MIGHT FAINT-"

after calming down your fainting maids, you had reassured them that you would go to the tea party and give the female protagonist, saintess sora, a taste of her own medicine for the disrespect she had sown you. (you were not planning this at all)

so now here you were, a week later getting dressed for the pain-in-the-ass tea party. "my lady we will dress you up to be the most beautiful at the party!" your maids exclaim.

"that's really. . .not necessary you know? i'll wear one of the dresses i usually wear," rina starts to lecture you, before a knock interrupts. faye rushes out of the dressing area, to open the door.

"your highness!" she exclaims, bowing. you peek out from behind the dressing area and head out.

"my lady you are not ready--"

"your highness, a pleasure to have you here," you say, bowing.

"y/n," heeseung addresses coldly, "are you attending sora's tea party?"

"yes, your highness,"

"she was telling me she was worried you would reject her request, due to your dislike for her," he says, narrowing his eyes at you bitterly. you stare at him unimpressed.

"my apologies, your highness, if i offend you by saying this. however you and saintess sora seem to be mistaken,"

"my lady don't--"

"i literally don't give a shit,"

"oh dear gods," rina mutters, and she collapses.

a/n lemme know how it was 😋😋

[luneengene2]

MY HEIR IS STILL MY HEIR (Ethan Lee)

• Warnings : ANGST, Mention of death due to childbirth, misogyny (?), patriarchy, Grammatical errors

• A/N : This story is not a story about Character x Reader, but rather character's love for his daughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan glared at his mother and father because they dared to say the word he hated so much. Married again. Yes, Ethan really hates those words.

Since the death of his wife due to giving birth to their only daughter, Ethan has found it difficult to recover from this bitter reality. In fact, he didn't want to see his daughter, who had just been born at that time, for a whole month. However, with unwavering strength, Ethan slowly began to accept the wound. He took care of his daughter, raised her with love, looked after her with all his might. He didn't want to lose his gems again. He promised his late wife to always look after their baby. In fact, he was determined never to marry again. He just wanted to focus on taking care of his daughter and his duties as crown prince.

However, his parents, who really wanted a grandson, always made him angry. They insisted that their daughter would never be fit to be Queen. For his parents, this kingdom still needs a man as King when Ethan dies, Queen Ruler for them sounds strange and doesn't suit them.

"Haven't I said for eighteen years that I don't want to marry again, Your Majesty the King and Queen? Or have you forgotten about that?" Ethan asked, he didn't want to look at his parents. His hands clenched tightly into fists, restraining himself from punching objects around him.

"I know about your wounds, Ethan. But this is all for the future of this kingdom," The Queen said softly with her son. He spoke softly so that Ethan would understand their good intentions.

"If you understand how injured I am, why are you still discussing this thing that I don't want to discuss?" Ethan asked sharply. The father sighed, he massaged his temples looking at his stubborn son. "Your mother said this for the future of this kingdom, you need a male—"

"The future of this kingdom is in my hands, then in the hands of my daughter, father. Wasn't that clear a long time ago?" Ethan interrupted in a harsh tone.

"This kingdom needs men, not women as their leaders," The King looked at Ethan with a serious gaze and tone, and that was enough to make Ethan even more annoyed. "Nonsense. I can change those ancient rules if I ascend the throne in the future," Ethan said snorting and his father immediately glared at him. "Don't mess with royal regulations, Ethan—"

"Therefore, stop continuing to ask me to remarry and get rid of your obsession with that unseen grandson!" Ethan again interrupted his father's words. He's gotten bolder because he's been real about this in recent years. Parliament and his parents literally forced him to indulge their obsession with a grandson. "Prince Ethan—"

"What? You want to be angry with me? I should be the angriest one here, father! You openly told me that you wanted to get rid of my daughter in front of me!" Ethan snapped and he stood up from his study chair. He stood in front of his father with angry eyes.

"I swear I would never intend to get rid of your daughter, Ethan! After all he is my granddaughter!" Ethan laughed sarcastically and looked at his father, who he thought was very hypocritical. "More nonsense, you never loved my daughter because she was a girl. You only intend to keep getting rid of her, and I know that." The father grabbed Ethan's shoulder quite hard, making the Queen panic, she was afraid that her husband and son would end up fighting. "I'm just being realistic, Ethan. I'm not selfish, I just want the future of this kingdom to be bright!" Ethan threw his father's hand away roughly after his father said the thing he always used as an excuse. "And you think the future of this kingdom will be dark if my daughter is in charge, Your Majesty?" Before his father had finished answering his question, Ethan issued a crazy ultimatum. "Don't ever tell me to remarry and let my daughter retain her rights as my heir or I resign and renounce my title, Your Majesty?" His father and mother were immediately shocked when Ethan let those crazy words out of his mouth.

If a crown prince steps down from his position, aka takes off his title, the stability of the kingdom will worsen and can be used by anti-monarchy groups to attack the kingdom. And if Ethan did that, it would be the same as the royal family would be at the 'suicide' stage.

"It's better for me to live as an ordinary person with my daughter than to be surrounded by people who only want to take away her rights. I also don't want my wife's rights as Queen to be taken away by another woman," Ethan continued, his parents still shocked by those words. Because Ethan never plays around with what he says.

Heeseung even has a plan that when he ascends the throne, his wife's grave will have its title changed to 'Her Majesty the Queen' and will be moved to the burial area of ​​kings and queens.

"You better think carefully if you really want to impose your will on me," Ethan bowed briefly then left his study, leaving his parents who seemed to have been attacked many times, because Ethan dared to say those words which were classified as forbidden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he walked back to his room, Ethan's gaze was straight ahead, but his eyes were filled with tears. The people closest to him had such evil behavior towards his daughter. Even though their methods were indirect, Ethan knew they only wanted his daughter removed as the heir.

If Ethan remarries, he considers it the same as betraying his wife. He once promised not to marry again until the end of his life. Swear allegiance. The death of his wife and his struggle to defend his only daughter, Ethan will not just let it go. If his wife could bet her life for her daughter's life, then Ethan could also bet his life for his daughter's rights.

Ethan couldn't imagine if Ethan failed to protect his daughter's rights. He just wants his daughter to be his heir, that's all he wants until the end of his life. Not remarrying for the ambition of a son who may not be able to give the best like his current daughter.

"I promise you, darling. Our beloved daughter will not lose her rights, I am willing to do everything for our daughter's rights. I will not let the sacrifice of your life be in vain, my love,"

[hsgwrld-archive]

-STUPID BLUE BIRD

--in which you make new fanpage on twitter, you end up establishing new friendships and…catching feelings ? but they’re just online friends, right?

PAIRING- internet friend!niki x fem!reader x internet friend!sunghoon (?)

GENRE-  smau, fluff, humor ,weird jokes (?) stranger to friends to lovers… more to be added !!

FEATURING- enhypen (all), aespa(giselle &winter) more to be added

TAGLIST :OPENED! send ask/dm to be added!

@yenqa| @mokiverse | @taejays | @urszn | @arson-mp3 | @dimplewonie | @chaewon-slays| @wonyoungsvirus | @luveuly |

COMMENTS:

profiles - DRAFT ONE | DRAFT TWO

1-stop feeding my delusional

2-

[bountycancelled]

THE FEELINGS MUTUAL! | Park Sunghoon x f! reader

SYNOPSIS: in which a very tired prince park sunghoon and a very irritable princess l/n y/n have one unfortunate first interaction... and then find out that they're marrying each other to merge their two small kingdoms. will the king and queen of a newly joined kingdom be able to put their differences aside and rule? will this marriage of convience blossom into something more?

CONTAINS: strangers to enemies...? to lovers, forced marriage, royal duties, lots of bickering, crack, fluff, angst, swear words, suggestive content, my shitty humour.

STATUS: upcoming

PROFILES: "the three musketeers‼️" | "live laugh love legion🥰💗😍"

©loverandaloserrr do not copy, modify or repost my work.

[luciathcv]

young and beautiful - sjy

summary: you're forced to marry prince!jake || warnings: arranged marriage || genre: royalty!au, arranged marriage, fluff, angst || word count: approximately 2760 || a/n: divider credits -> @dollywons

Arranged marriages, something completely normalized within royalty. I never liked the idea of it, I made that clear to my parents, but every time I tried to speak about my haste towards the whole tradition, my parents immediately shut me down, telling me that I didn't have a choice, which deep down, I knew, I didn't.

Nineteen, I was nineteen when my parents finally found the "perfect man" for me. I had no clue who he was. I did know that he was a man from a family with slightly higher notoriety, money, and power, than mine. The Sim family.

I sat on one of the windowsills in my bedroom, looking out of the window. I'd grown used to living here, in this palace, in my family's palace. I didn't want to leave all of this behind just to stay with a man whom I didn't even know.

There was a knock at my bedroom door and I looked over, watching the door open and my mother walk inside. She gave me a soft smile as she went over to my bed, sitting down, looking over at me.

I looked out of the window, "How could I get married to someone that I don't love? To someone that I don't even at least know." I asked.

My mother sighed, "You will grow to love him, I promise you that. I didn't know nor did I love your father at first, but over time, we grew to love one another."

I let out a small groan, looking over at my mother, "Yeah, only because it was what was convenient." I said.

"That's not true." My mother immediately retorted. "I love your father dearly and he loves me. You will grow to love your husband and he will grow to love you." She then said.

I remained silent as I looked out of the window again. There was no point in arguing with her anymore.

"We are going over to the Sim's kingdom tomorrow. You will meet the prince." My mother then suddenly informed me.

I felt like crying if I’m being completely honest. I just wanted to be left alone. To not talk about this anymore. I’d deal with it when I woke up in the morning.

“Okay, mother. I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.” I told her.

She nodded understandably, getting up from where she sat on my bed and leaving the room.

I looked up at the ceiling, trying to stop my tears from flowing, as I let out a long sigh.

I walked up the steps of the castle, my mother and father both on separate sides of me. The door opened, one of the maids having had opened the door. I politely smiled at her, the workers didn't do anything wrong.

The maid greeted us and led us through the castle to one of the lounge rooms. I looked down at my flowy gown, I'll admit, it was pretty, I just hated the fact that I was dressed in this for this specific occasion.

We walked into the lounge room and I could see both the king and the queen sitting on the fancy couch. They looked over at my parents and I as we entered the room and they instantly got up and came over to greet us.

I watched as they first greeted my parents before they looked over at me.

"Y/n," The queen softly said. "You look gorgeous." She complimented me.

"Thank you. You look stunning as well." I complimented her back with a small smile. "And you look handsome as well, sir." I told her husband who thanked me with a smile.

"My son should be here any minute now." The queen told me and I nodded, keeping the smile on my face even though hearing that made my heart drop.

A few moments later, I could hear footsteps. I noticed the queen looking past my parents and I, and I already knew who it was. "This is my son, Jaeyun." The king told my parents and I.

My mother grabbed my arm and maneuvered me so that I was looking at the prince. I made eye-contact with him. Honestly, I wasn't expecting him to look like this.

He looked at me and walked over, gently taking my hand in his and leaning down, pressing a soft kiss to where my knuckles were. He then looked up at me and stood up. I retracted my hand from his as he now looked down at me, "Nice to meet you, princess. What's your name?"

I found myself stuttering and becoming flustered, something that'd never happened to me because of a man before, "Y/n." I answered.

"Y/n. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. My name's Jaeyun, but you can just call me, Jake, okay?" Jaeyun, or should I say, Jake, said.

"Jaeyun, how about you take her to the back garden, get to know one another while we talk with her parents." His mother said and he nodded, looking at me before he started walking. My mother gave me a look, telling me to follow after him, and so I did.

We walked outside and Jake walked to a bench, sitting down and patting the seat next to him, motioning for me to sit with him. I walked over and sat down next to him, leaving some space between us still as I didn't really know him.

"So, tell me about yourself." Jake said, looking over at me.

I glanced at him for a moment before avoiding eye-contact, looking down at my lap, "Like, what?" I asked, unsure on what I was supposed to talk about.

"How about... how old you are?" Jake asked, just starting off with something basic.

"I'm nineteen." I answered. "How old are you?" I asked.

"I'm twenty-one." Jake answered. Hm, he was two years older than me. "Do you have any siblings?" Jake then asked.

"No, it's just me." I said.

"Yeah, same." Jake told me. It was silent for a few moments before Jake broke the silence, being the first to speak again, "What do you feel about all of this?" Jake then asked. I was silent for a few moments, not knowing if I should tell the truth or not. "You don't have to lie. Be honest. I won't get offended." Jake said, chuckling a little as he said the last sentence.

"Well, honestly... I'm not sure how I feel. I just.. wish things weren't so forced. I want to be with someone that I love." I said. "That I loved even before marrying them." I emphasized.

"I understand. I feel the same." Jake said, it was silent for a few moments again. "Did your parents tell you when we're getting married?" He then asked.

"No.. do you know?" I asked, guessing that he did since he brought it up.

"Yeah.." Jake pauses for a few moments. "Next Saturday." He then informed me.

Next Saturday? It was already Saturday today. I'd be getting married in seven days and my parents didn't feel the need to tell me.

"Oh.." Is all I managed to say.

"Yeah.." Jake said, looking away. "Let's just try to make the best of things, okay?" He then suggested.

I shrugged, "I guess so." I looked over at him and he gave me a small smile, something that I could tell was forced but that he did to try and comfort me, and so I returned one.

It was dreadfully the day of my wedding. When I was a little girl, I imagined my wedding day going completely different. Of course, then, I didn't know how weddings between royalty actually worked. Now, I do, and the delusional reality that I had in my head as a kid had vanished and I was forced to face the real world.

The wedding was happening at a chapel in the Sim's kingdom. I guess they thought it'd be most convenient as after the wedding, I'd be immediately moving into the castle on the palace grounds that Jake lived in. Not only that, but the after party of the wedding was going to be happening in the main castle on the Sim's palace grounds.

I stayed in a room away from all of the guests and especially my husband-to-be. Walking down the aisle and getting wed in front of your guests is stressful enough, now add on the fact that we are the prince and princess getting forcefully married in front of not only our families and friends but citizens of the kingdom as well.

I was alone in the preparation room, trying to mentally prepare myself for what was about to occur when there was a knock on the door. "It's me." I heard my mother's voice say from the other side of the door. "May I come in?" She then asked.

"Yes." I said, even though I really didn't want to see her right now.

My mother opened the door and quickly came inside before shutting the door, not wanting anyone that might be coincidentally passing by to see me just yet.

She then came over to me and took my appearance in. "You look beautiful, darling." My mother complimented me.

"Thank you, mother." I responded.

"Remember to smile out there, there are a lot of people from both the Sim kingdom and the Y/l/n kingdom here today for you guys." My mother reminded me and I just nodded in response. "Well, then. I just wanted to check up on you but I should be going now. Your father will be out there waiting to walk you down the aisle." My mother informed me before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

I took a few deep breaths before leaving the room a few minutes after my mother had left. I then walked out of the room and made my way to my father.

"You look gorgeous, Y/n." My father complimented me.

"Thank you, father." I responded, looking down at the ground for a moment before forcing a small smile on my face.

Music then started playing inside and the doors opened, my father wrapped an arm around mine, and we started walking down the aisle, walking arm in arm with one another. Everyone looked at the both of us but especially at me. I felt so embarrassed, something not common for me as I was used to the constant stares I'd been getting all of my life.

When I reached the end of the aisle, closer to the alter, my father let go of me and sat down next to my mother. He was giving me off to Jake like I was some peace of meat, that's what it felt like at least.

I walked up the few steps to the alter and stood in front of Jake. The veil in front of my face made it so that I couldn't see Jake too clearly even though he was in front of me as he took both my hands in his.

The priest started to say the sermon as everyone remained quiet. After finishing, he asked the words that'd determine the rest of our lives forever. "Sim Jaeyun, do you take Y/l/n Y/n to be your lawfully wedded wife till death do you part?" The priest asked.

"I do." Jake said.

The priest then looked over at me, "Y/l/n Y/n, do you take Sim Jaeyun to be your lawfully wedded husband till death do you part?" The priest then asked me.

My heart was beating out of chest. "I do." I said.

"You may now kiss the bride." The priest then told Jake.

Jake let go of my hands before bringing his hands up to my veil and pushing it back and out of my face. He then leaned down a little and kissed me. Everyone in the audience started to cheer for us as we kissed before we both pulled away after a few moments.

Jake then took my hand in his and started walking down the aisle with me, we made our way out of the doors and out of the chapel, out to the carriage that'd be taking us to the palace. He helped me into the carriage and sat next to me before the driver started taking us to the palace. I could see people piling out of the chapel to see us leave. I looked at them and gave a small smile as I waved at them, Jake doing the same before eventually we were out of their sight.

As soon as we arrived back at the palace, I was immediately taken from the carriage and brought to the main castle, where they had all of my stuff ready for me.

They brought me into a room and got me into a new, slightly less annoying dress and did my makeup and hair differently now. I thanked the maids who'd helped me get ready before they left the room to help finish up preparations in the ballroom.

After a while of me waiting up in this random room, I could hear people starting to arrive to the party, not only hearing it but seeing it as I looked out of the window and saw people piling in.

When I entered the ballroom, all eyes were on me. A crowd of people came over to me and started bombarding me with compliments and questions. It was extremely overwhelming as I tried to respond to all of them.

I suddenly felt a hand on the small of my back. I glanced back to see that it was Jake. He gave me a comforting smile as he took his hand off of my back and took the attention off of me.

I ended up sneaking off away from the big crowd. Of course, I had to interact with people but it was nowhere near as overwhelming as the initial crowd.

I was standing to the side, observing everyone, when Jake came over to me with a small smile.

"How are you?" Jake asked.

"Overwhelmed." I answered, not feeling the need to put up a façade in front of him.

"I understand." Jake told me. "It can be a lot." He agreed.

"You seem so fine with all of it." I complimented.

"I mean.. it's hard, it's not easy to do this, but I just do it, especially when I see other people having a hard time." Jake answered, "other people" obviously being me.

"Thank you... for earlier." I said, realizing I never straightforwardly thanked him for earlier.

"You're welcome, princess." Jake said. He then looked over to see his father motioning for him to come over. I noticed as well and Jake looked at me. "Let me know if you need me." He said, rubbing my arm before walking off to his father.

After the party, Jake and I headed to his castle. He led me to a room which I'd assumed was going to be our room we'd be sharing. All of my friends that'd been married already, said they shared a room and a bed with their husband from day one. That was something very weird to me and that I did not like the idea of.

I walked inside and looked around the big luxurious room. "This is your room, my room is down the hall." Jake informed me.

"My room?" I asked, wondering if I'd heard him correctly.

"Mhm. I figured you didn't want to share a bed with some man that you don't even know. I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable." Jake explained.

"Thank you so much, Jake." I said, smiling at him.

"You're welcome, Y/n." Jake said. You obviously wouldn't know this, not yet at least, but he'd been thinking about your guys' kiss at the chapel all day. Now that you guys were alone together, he wanted to say something about it, or better yet, to act on how he was feeling. He held back though, assuming that you weren't thinking or feeling the same. "Goodnight, princess." Jake said, smiling back at you before he left the room. shutting the door behind him.

I walked over to the windowsill and sat down, looking outside at my new surroundings. I'd be living here now. This would be my life. I wondered what the future would entail not only for me but when it came to my relationship with Jake. I'd have the rest of my life to figure it out though. There was no rush for me to find out.

ᥫ᭡ link to my masterlist

[hisphoria]

high society, lhs

chapter 01, debut

synopsis: lee heeseung must find someone that will be willing to marry him just for the title. someone to marry him so that his grandmother can finally stop bothering him. while this isn't a hard thing for heeseung to do since almost every noble girl of the ton would be willing to marry him, he needs someone who has no interest in him. someone who will not bother him if he doesn't even speak to them as long as they aren't at some social event. and of course, he found that in you.

featuring: lee heeseung, sim jaeyun, park jongseong, park sunghoon, kim sunoo, nishimura riki, yang jungwon

genre: non-idol au, arranged marriage trope, enha as royals, victorian era?

content and warnings: cursing, drinking, sexual humor, some toxic mentality (considering the era i'm basing this on), and lotsss of angst

word count: 4193 words

taglist: @sumzysworld @tokkisann @sol3chu @yunjinhuhjennifer @capri-cuntz (still open! comment below if you want to be added)

← go back next →

you hated it.

hated everything about all of these things that your parents were making you do. having to wear this and that, go to this event, and talk to these people it was just getting to be a bit much for you. nothing was entertaining or fun about having to approach old rich men at the balls and acting interested in their boring lives. you also knew just talking to them boosted their egos and they didn't need any of that.

"but mother i'm already engaged to nikolaos. the rest of the ton already knows this as well. i can't just be going around flirting with other men anymore." you pouted as your mother stood behind you tightening your corset and fitting your new dress for an upcoming ball that your estate was hosting.

your mother simply rolled her eyes as she tightened the corset even tighter making you suck in a breath. "i know you are but that does not mean you shouldn't try for better. maybe an even richer man will find interest in you." you debated on whether or not to continue arguing with her. you knew it was pointless but you still thought maybe if you said it enough, she would calm down a little. you were fully devoted to the idea of marrying nikolaus and to you nothing and no one else could change your mind about it. marrying him was something you had dreamt about since the age of ten.

your parents didn't understand this though. your father did a little more than your mother but he just goes along with everything your mother says so it was never up for debate. it wasn't that your mother wasn't letting you marry nikolaos, she was just holding on till the very last minute to see if you will change your mind and marry someone else. nikolaos isn't even unsuccessful, his family being of the high society just like yourself but to your mother is wasn't enough. she wanted someone for you that was in the highest society. preferably in the top ten richest and well known men that appear in the newspapers.

"i want you to be happy" your mother began as she started fluffing out your hair with some oils that she had put onto her hands, "i am not telling you to not marry for love but it is only a plus if you marry for love and money."

you sighed as you looked into the mirror in front of you. the fact that she made some sense to you was something you did not want to admit. obviously money and status was always a plus and you didn't agree with her because it was something you yourself sought out but you did understand why she pushed the idea so much. "right. i understand you mother" you said to her as you stood up from the chair and looked back at her, "but i am indeed happy being engaged to nikolaos. i have loved him for so long and he is a successful man. i will be fine with him."

your mother simply nodded, deciding not to push the subject any further for the day. she gave you a kiss on the cheek before leaving your bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

you leaned against the railing at the top of the foyer looking over the crowd of people down below. it was the day of the ball and you had waited about 40 minutes after everyone arrived to make your entrance. the later you arrived, the less time you would have to interact with the ton and that sounded perfect to you. brushing down your baby blue ball gown, you made your way over to the staircase. you took a deep breath before resting your hand on the railing and slowly making your way down.

don't close your eyes you thought to yourself as you made your way down. it was always so nerve racking. all eyes turning towards you and looking you up and down. hearing the whispers just made it all worse.

that's when you saw nikolaos standing by a tall round table that was surrounded by other noble men. his head immediately turned towards you with a smile and he made his way over to you to meet you at the bottom of the staircase. you felt your heart slightly jump at the action but you weren't sure if that was the nerves because everyone was watching or if it really just melted your heart seeing him.

nikolaos reached his hand out for you to grab before bowing slightly before you, "good evening y/n" he whispered out to you. you smiled at him as you took his hand and touched the floor with your feet. you grabbed onto his shoulder with one hand and leaned into his ear and whispered, "i was too afraid to come out here if you weren't here."

"your mother kept me occupied for awhile..." he sighed as he turned and looked over to see where your mother and father stood attending to the guests who walked through the door. "she probably thought you were here wandering around already and didn't want me to take you away from your socializing." you frowned at this, slightly bowing your head and shaking it.

"i'm so sorry nikolaos" you said as you looked up at him, "you know how she is." he nodded and smiled at you reassuringly, "i know i know. i'm not offended don't worry. maybe you should go and get to know more people?" he said as he directed his attention back over to the crowd. the highest nobles were all gathered at the front greeting my parents. your mother and fathers faces beaming at them, you could've sworn you saw dollar signs in their eyes.

that's when he appeared.

"is that... lee heeseung?" you breathed out as you peered over nikolaos' shoulder to see lee heeseung enter, approaching your parents with a polite smile and bow. he was a well known noble. the highest of all the nobles. he was probably at the very very top of the pyramid in the high society. you heard that his parents were practically nonexistent, leaving the entire estate and title to their one and only son. he only had his grandmother and staff living in the mansion with him. you had only seen him maybe two or three other times as he didn't appear at every social event so him showing up at your estate... it was shocking.

not only was heeseung a high noble but he was also definitely the most handsome noble. his silver hair was styled but you loved that he never slicked it back, it looked natural and some pieces of his hair fell perfectly over his beautiful face. silver couldn't be his natural hair color you had thought to yourself, his dark roots showing under the silver. he would probably look perfect in any hair color.

"you should probably go greet him, no? not saying hi to the duke when he attends your ball is surely a crime" nikolaos let out a small laugh. you cleared your throat and nodded, letting go of his hand and placing your hands in front of you. "i hate to admit that you are right. i must go" you bowed slightly before making your way over to where your parents stood at the entrance.

"oh! my dear daughter!" your mother exclaimed, throwing her hands up dramatically as you arrived beside them. heeseung stood in front of them with both of his hands behind his back. he wore a white button up shirt tucked into some black pants with a dark blue jacket over, the collar gold and decorated with different lines and swirls. he looked like a prince.

heeseung eyed you up and down before bowing before you, "good evening lady y/n. i was just thanking your parents for inviting me to such a well organized and beautifully decorated event here at your estate." he brought his head back up and looked at you with a straight face, not even a slight smile had appeared on his face yet his voice sounded like he meant the compliment.

you bowed back to him, "it is an honor to welcome you to my parents estate my grace. we very much hope that you will enjoy it." you smiled at him as you came back up, placing your hands before you as they had before. heeseung simply nodded at you, the two of you looking at each other in silence for a few seconds before your fathers voice interrupted.

"your grace, we have heard about your engagement to the lady cadence laselle. congratulations" your father said as he put a hand over his heart. heeseung breathed in at your fathers words. he looked to the side and then back to your father again, "it seems that is all everyone is talking about, no? a vow between two families many years ago does not just mean i will easily take her as my wife. although..." he said as he then shifted his eyes over to you, "i have heard your daughter is actually to be engaged to nikolaos."

your mother frowned a bit at hearing his words. you already knew she was disappointed that you weren't marrying someone with a higher title and hearing it from the duke just probably made it worse for her. if even the duke knows, there's no going back is there?

you shifted your feet slightly and cleared your throat, "that is right, your grace. i am fortunate enough to not be in a situation like yours."

oh god.

maybe you shouldn't have said that.

your mother and father looked over at you with wide eyes. silence filling the circle. heeseung looked at you, seeming unmoved but then he cleared his throat and looked away. he scoffed and shook his head, a small smirk appearing on his face.

you put a hand over your mouth, "your grace, i am so sorry i didn't mean-"

heeseung put this hand up and nodded at you. "don't worry about it. i do appreciate some honesty every now and then especially since no one says those things to my face and instead behind my back." you weren't expecting him to be so understanding. you had heard only good things about the duke other than the fact that he was a womanizer but he was still a duke and the fact that you spoke to him that way was pretty unbecoming. you didn't know this man at all to be saying something so casual to him, you weren't so sure why or how you said something like that so easily.

"we apologize for her" my mother started, "i know it's no excuse but she has been pretty stressed out with the engagement and everything." she smiled at the duke.

heeseung looked as if he was about to open his mouth when a couple approached your parents and whisked them away before anything else could be said about you, leaving you and heeseung alone in each others presence.

heeseung looked at you before he took a few steps forward, getting closer to you. you felt your breathing stop as he got so close, close enough to where his scent filled your nostrils and he smelled amazing.

he leaned into you, his lips coming close to your ear and he whispered, "i don't appreciate a lady like you having an opinion on my personal matters. i'd be careful if i were you and watch what i say next time... especially to me."

your eyes widened as he leaned back and smiled. he took a bow before walking away from you and disappearing into the crowd of people. your face flushed and you quickly looked around to see if anyone caught sight of the interaction between you and the duke but it seemed that no one was looking and that made you let out a sigh of relief. you looked back to see if nikolaos was where you had left him but he was nowhere to be found.

heeseung wandered out into the courtyard. bringing a cigarette up to his lips, he heard footsteps come up behind him. turning his head, he saw his most trusted advisor, jake sim approaching him.

"i was wondering where you had wandered off to." jake said with a raise of his eyebrow, taking stand beside him. heeseung pulled the cigarette out from his mouth, letting out a puff of smoke. he clicked his tongue as he looked over at jake, "i would've thought you'd be off somewhere chatting it up with a lady."

jake let out a groan and threw his head back slightly, "as much as i would love to be doing that right now, i saw that little situation you had with lady y/n and when i saw that you took off, i thought it be best to come and find you. you disappeared pretty fast though, it took me a while."

"you saw that?" heeseung asked as he reached his cigarette out to jake to offer it to him. jake looked down at it and took it from heeseung, bringing it up to his lips. "i did, yes. i'm always keeping an eye out. although, it seems that even lady y/n was shocked at what had come out of her mouth" jake said with a laugh, "i've been hearing many things about her actually. she's the talk of the ton currently not falling far behind you."

heeseung rolled his eyes, "maybe they should be talking about her instead of me. she's the one who is actually getting married... not me."

"speaking of" jake said as he looked off to the side, drawing out a puff of smoke. "it's interesting really, her engagement to that man. they've known each other since they were children but lady y/n doesn't really seem to be the type to be able to marry a man like that."

heeseung scoffed, "what would you know? have you ever spoken to her?" a spike of curiosity rising in heeseung. he wasn't usually interested in the marriages and engagements going on in society but he himself was having a dilemma of being pushed to get married and even if he didn't want to, he needed to know what options were available to him or not.

"i hear around." jake says with a slight smile on his face, "i pay a lot of attention to gossip. i am your advisor, i need to know what's going on." he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked up at the night sky, "i've heard lady y/n is a pretty independent woman. it seems to get her into trouble a lot, an independent lady like her is not something that most men are looking for. her fiance was one of few willing to put up with that. she's been very open about not wanting to just idly stand by like a trophy for her husband."

heeseung raised an eyebrow at hearing this information, "like?"

jake smirked, "oh so you are curious?" heeseung rolled his eyes at jake and nudged his arm. "she tries her best to be helpful around her estate. she's always helping her father with things. she doesn't like just helping her mother plan out the balls, she's even gone on work trips with her father. she likes to be involved." jake continued to elaborate.

"i see..." heeseung hummed. he threw his cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot. "does she seem like a romantic to you? do you think she seems like the type of woman to be in her husbands business?"

"what?" jake asked he shifted his body to heeseung so he was completely facing him now, "is she your type? you know she's engaged. you can't exactly just swoop up in there and propose to her-" heeseung put his finger up to jake's face to shush him, "i just need to see what the deal is. if she isn't in love, i've got a chance to offer her what nikolaos will not offer her in their marriage. she seems to be the only woman who would leave me be in a marriage."

"you dog" jake snarled at heeseung, "you just want someone who could care less about you then?"

heeseung smiled at jake as he patted his back, "exactly" he said to him before he walked off, heading back inside the mansion.

two weeks went by of you trying to plan your wedding with your mother and younger sisters. you had all sorts of ideas for the wedding but your mother wasn't exactly the easiest to plan with considering she kept on holding it off every chance she got.

the constant planning and meeting with nikolaos and his family was starting to open your eyes a little more to things that you hadn't even thought about before you got engaged. yes, nikolaos is the sweetest man you know but that doesn't mean there weren't a lot of things that the two of you didn't agree on. nikolaos was a traditional man and he didn't seem to be willing to give any of that up... even for you.

"i don't understand why you can't just let me be involved in some of the business stuff" you frowned at your fiance, "you won't even let me make any decisions? how is that fair if it's a family business!''

nikolaos let out a sigh as he turned to you, "exactly. my family business. you will be my wife, not my business partner. you are meant to stay at home and make decisions at home. not in matters of business. that's not how things work. you are needed at the estate. who will make the decisions at our home if you're not around?"

you felt as if you had been hit in the chest when he emphasized that it was his family business. you didn't think he meant to intentionally be mean by saying it but he said it and meant it. even though the two of you were to be married, he didn't yet see you as someone who was a part of his family. this only further made you feel as if you were an object of decoration for him.

the two of you were having this conversation as you went for a stroll at the public park, members from the both of your families following the two of you from not far behind. all you could think to yourself in that moment was that you needed to get away.

you tilted your head up as you stopped and looked over at nikolaos. "i can't continue with this conversation because i'm afraid that if we do, i will be pushing you into the river." nikolaos' eyes widened at your statement as he watched you continue to walk, "i need to be alone now."

you looked back at your mother and one of your younger sisters then glancing over at nikolaos' mother, "i will be heading off to walk on my own. i'll be in the area, i just need to be alone right now." before any of them could protest you quickly walked off, making your way over to the small bridge that went over the water a bit away. you didn't want to be anywhere near them either.

you leaned against the railing of the bridge, looking over and onto the water. the water was so clear you could see all of the fish swimming around in it. you soon started to feel tears start to prickle your eyes and to keep them from falling you tilted your head back and let out a deep breath.

"not sure if the lady y/n should be off on her own, don't you think?" you heard a somewhat familiar voice say off to the side of you.

you turned your head to see heeseung standing at the end of the bridge with his hands behind his back. he slowly began to approach you with a smirk on his face, finding his place to stand right next to you.

you cleared your throat and bowed slightly, "your grace."

heeseung let out a low laugh and when he did you honestly thought you've never heard anything more beautiful. "formalities? you surprise me. seems you still have manners."

you lowered your head, turning your body to completely face him. "your grace, i am so sorry about that night i really didn't mean to offend you. i just truly... wouldn't wish to be in your position."

heeseung glanced at you before then turning to look down at the water. he leaned against the railing, placing his arms over it so his hands were now dangling over. "aren't you kind of though?"

"excuse me?"

"this marriage, it's something you thought you've always wanted. yet now your feelings are changing about it. or am i wrong?"

you scoffed at the duke. he looked down at the water completely unphased and you hated his arrogance about it. how did he even know about your situation anyways? you thought to yourself.

"i know things" he smiled, "i am the duke, no? i've got my sources of information. plus your heated conversation with nikolaos wasn't exactly low profile like you thought it was. i've done my research. i know the kind of man he is and the kind of woman you are" he said before he looked at you, "you'll be miserable."

your face immediately heated up at his words and you mentally cursed at yourself for it. he knew everything and he spoke of you as if he knew you and something about it made your heart do a million flips. you should have been weirded out, maybe even a little terrified but how could you be when this gorgeous man stood in front of you saying exactly all of the things that you were thinking?

"what are you saying, your grace? i am engaged. this isn't something i can't exactly back out of and i can't seem to change my fiancé's opinion on the matter." you said to him, desperately wanting his eyes to meet yours once again.

heeseung leaned back, placing his hands behind his back once again. his eyes found yours and he took a few steps towards you, "anything is possible, no? i propose..." he started as he reached his hand out and grabbed your gloved hand, "that you come and marry me instead."

you gasped at the contact and although you didn't feel him with your bare skin it was still something and feeling his thumb caress your hand was making you feel all sorts of unbelievable things. you looked up at him with wide eyes, "m-marry you? what are you talking about? you're already engaged and... why me?!"

heeseung pulled his hand away from you, "don't get me wrong my lady, this is purely business. i need to get married because my grandmother keeps pestering me about it and it would be good for the estate and my image. falling in love is not something that interests me at the moment and well you... you want a marriage in which your husband will let you do as you please, no? let you involve yourself instead of keep you home to bear his children. letting you have decisions in regards to my business matters is something i am willing to do."

right, of course. the duke was known as a playboy. falling in love was of course something he didn't care about, a marriage simply for his public image where his wife could care less about what he does in his free time is the ideal arrangement for him. while that wasn't something you were looking for and if anything, you thought yourself to be somewhat a hopeless romantic, a marriage to the duke seemed a million times better than a one to nikolaos at the moment.

you don't even think you were thinking clearly in that moment because without thinking for more than a minute you quickly nodded your head at the duke.

"i'll do it. i'll marry you."

[amazzwon]

my go-to ENHYPEN (hyung line) fics

°˖➴ Fiancé for Hire

(series)

smut, angst, fluff, non idol au, rich!Heeseung x broke!reader, contract au

°˖➴ Cherry

°˖➴ Cherry II

°˖➴ Cherry III

°˖➴ Cherry Epilogue

rich kid au, 80s au, smut, angst, fluff

°˖➴ Stitch me up

underground fighter!heeseung x nurse!reader, smut, angst , fluff

°˖➴ Rile Me Up

pwp, 6.1k

°˖➴ POOL PARTY

7.3k, smut, fluff, angst

°˖➴ LET’S GET MARRIED

he fell first but she fell harder, childhood friends to a married couple, fluff, 5.1k+

°˖➴ WANT

angst, smut.

°˖➴ CHERRIES

strangers to friends to eventual lovers

°˖➴ NDA

idol!heeseung, fem!fangirl!reader, smut

°˖➴ SURPRISE

smut, fluff, 9.3k

°˖➴ PRETTY BOY

fluff, 0.2k

°˖➴ Dances Avec Les Etoiles

(series)

Prince!Heeseung × Princess!fem!reader, arranged marriage, smut

°˖➴ as long as you'll let me

smut, badgirl!reader x virgin!heeseung, college au, 15k

°˖➴ your lips, my lips, apocalypse

angst, suggestive, implied college! au, 2.0k

°˖➴ hopeless

fluff, high school! au, non-idol! au, 10.8k

°˖➴ YOU CAME AND WENT, JUST LIKE THE SEASONS

lovers to exes, angst, 7.6k

°˖➴ KNOCK , KNOCK

skinship, swearing

°˖➴ TRIAGE

(series)

romance, comedy, fluff, high school, written series

°˖➴ STRIP CLUB

virgin Jay, crude words, smut, reader works in a strip club

°˖➴ Carmesi

(Series)

ceo!reader x secretary!jay, smut, suggestive, angst, fluff

°˖➴ Stars and Raindrops

highschool au, strangers to lovers, love at first sight, fluff, angst, crack, 23k

°˖➴ A La Folie

(series)

King!Jay × healer!fem!reader

°˖➴ APPLE CIDER!

crying, angsty, hooking up/sex, weed, 7.9k

°˖➴ you, my fate come and kiss me :

fluff-angst, soulmate au, 0.4k

°˖➴ touch me, feel me

Ceo!jay x Model!reader, smut, fluff

°˖➴ situationship!texts

angst, toxic relationship

°˖➴ just for you

fluff

°˖➴ 4 TIMES JAY ALMOST PROPOSED + 1 TIME HE ACTUALLY DID

established relationship au, romance, fluff, 2k

°˖➴ Cherry Chapstick

fluff at the beginning, smut with plot

°˖➴ Good boy

coworker!Jake x fem!reader, smut

°˖➴ Birthday Sex

smut

°˖➴ LUCK

fluff

°˖➴ kiwi and layla

high school au, f2l, fluff, angst, 26.3k

°˖➴ Royal Sacrifice

prince!jake x maid!fem reader, 7.1k, smut, angst

°˖➴ STRAWBERRY LIPS

fluff, 0.5k, classmates to lovers

°˖➴ cherries

fluff, est rshp, 211

°˖➴ Heartbeat

Friends with Benefits, smut

lyrics theme — "Ayo Fuck this, are we dating? Are we fucking? Are we best friends? Are we something?"

°˖➴ forbidden attraction

hogwarts, wizard!sunghoon x witch!reader, smut, fluff

°˖➴ star-crossed

prince!sunghoon/fem!reader, fluff, smut, greek mythology, angst, 6.8k

°˖➴ Relaxing

smut, 4k

°˖➴ HEAVENLY

playboy! sunghoon x fem reader, exes to lovers, fake dating, mutual pining, fluff, angst, 9.5k

°˖➴ will you let me

smut MDNI, angst

°˖➴ overtime

office au, fluff, 0.3k

°˖➴ Sparks

angst, 1.8k

°˖➴ BED

fiance!sunghoon x fem!reader, 7.8k

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ Headcanons

Enha when their idol!partner has a wardrobe malfunction

Enha when their actress partner films with a hot actor

music bank hosts: idol!enha x idol! reader

the moments that make everyone think you’re dating (all eyes on you)

Enha hyung line reaction to you being bratty

Reaction to you asking them Ass or Tits

JAY tattoos the hickeys you leave

JAY spitting in your mouth

enhypen falling in love with you during hybe game caterers

their "oh" moment (the moment they realise they're in love)

when you play with their hair

when you call them ‘babe’

calling them “husband” trend.

texting them "please don't leave me"

[delcakoo2]

ema’s fic rec’s ₊˚⏃⊹!

i decided to make a lil’ masterlist of fics i thoroughly enjoyed for you guys to also read and support these amazing authors <3 make sure to give them lots of feedback and love; do not be a silent reader T-T! also, there will be no social media aus or smut in any fics below. have fun!!

★ = ALL TIME FAVORITE !!

ENHYPEN !

⚠︎ yang jungwon:

http-do-you-luv-me? ★!!! (16k, jock won, e2l, f, a)

i have reread this masterpiece countless times and it’s p much my comfort fic T-T i could rant about it forever, even if u dont read enha/longfics just read RNNN, all time fav fs <3

for any price ★ (9.4k, assassin won, f, a)

saw assassin and clicked immediately jshsjs, very unique and exciting!! plus yeonjun is featured.. *stares*

in your dreams ★ (10k, dreamwatcher? won, e2l, f, a)

you cannot find any other fic like this one, very creative idea and has a bit of everything !!

love that blooms (demigod au, f)

chasin’ your pretty thoughts (22k, mindreader won, f, a)

lost cause (8.5k, classmate won, f, a)

would you be so kind? (3.7k, classmate won, f)

crepuscule (11.5k, vampire won, f, a)

closer (4.7k, ravenclaw won, f, a)

war tactics and kisses (demigod au, f)

attention, please! (9k, jock won, f, a)

⚠︎ lee heeseung:

always been you (16.5k, badboy/bestfriend hee, f)

my camp counselor is kinda hot (demigod au, f)

attention, please! (8k, jock hee, f, a)

⚠︎ park jay:

study lessons (12.3k, jock jay, f, a)

⚠︎ sim jake:

none for now <\3

⚠︎ park sunghoon:

the 7th sense (10.3k, dragon hoon, f, a)

marriage discount (2k, fake dating, f)

reasons to date (2.8k, classmate/friend hoon, f)

enchanted (3k+ ongoing series, prince hoon, f)

⚠︎ kim sunoo:

none for now <\3

⚠︎ nishimura riki:

sixteen eighty-five ★! (6k, e2l jock/newsclub riki, f, a)

another all time fav, everything about it is just what i enjoy in a fic and i could reread it over and over <33 niki is so mean but then so nice it’s just auhsjs aww

dear bus-noona ★ (0.8k, stranger riki, f)

i barely read short drabbles, but this was absolutely adorable and had me laughing and smiling even with just 800 words <3

kitty got your tongue (14.6k, assassin riki, f, a)

sucks to be you, sleepyhead (demigod au, e2l f)

all i want for christmas is you (5.4k, e2l, fake dating, f)

attention, please! (10.8k, jock riki, e2l, f, a)

lucky charm (2.6k, classmate riki, e2l, f)

behind the net! (9.8k, jock riki, team manager reader, e2l, f, a, plugging my own fic cuz why not)

⚠︎ ot7:

silenced ★! (20k+, zombie apocalypse series)

i just love apocalypse aus so when i found this i KNEW i’d love it <3 the boys are all so loveable and unique in their own ways and mc is so chill but also a badass <3 very high recommend!!!!

TXT !

⚠︎ choi yeonjun:

steal my heart (19.6k, royal + arranged marriage au, f, a)

i said “why won’t you forget?” (2.7k, runaway beomjun, f, a)

mr. vice president (7.3k, frenemies/academic rival yeonjun, f, a)

⚠︎ choi soobin:

actions have consequences (4k, lifeguard au, f, a)

⚠︎ choi beomgyu:

the prince and the jackal ★!! (11.8k natureprince gyu, f)

AAH ANOTHER ALL TIME FAV, i could talk about it forever, but it’s just so unique and close to my heart and the bantering is so cute, idc if u dont read txt read rn it’s amazing <3

the only exception ★ (12.4k, stranger gyu, f)

this fic is just so warm and homely? it made me smile lots T-T

i said “why won’t you “forget?” (2.7k, runaway beomjun, f, a)

favor (4k+ twoshot, classmate gyu, f, a)

⚠︎ kang taehyun:

none yet <\3

⚠︎ huening kai:

none yet <\3

EXTRA ! (i don’t read bts anymore, but i wanted to include these since they’re still favs of mine!)

so you wanna be the best ★ (8.1k, POKEMON TRAINER JUNGKOOK! f)

I GREW UP WITH POKEMON, DIGIMON ALL THAT. so when i saw this??? i genuinely screamed this. one is vv close to my heart <3

lifeguard ★ (12.6k, lifeguard jungkook, f)

this fic will get you to giggle at least once, istg one of the funniest fics i’ve read it is HILARIOUS i’m not over jk putting sunscreen on mcs back and her thinking it was tae the whole time T-T

thank you for reading!! again, make sure to give the authors lots of love :D

[minhosimthings]

A La Folie ft. Jay

Synopsis: Wounds came and went. All in the circle of life am I right? The greatest warrior among all the kings, Park Jay. For him, seeing blood was like seeing the sky. It was a daily routine which he could not escape. Yes sometimes he had grave injuries, which he wouldn't stop to take care of, with him being a workaholic. But sometimes healers do more than heal physical wounds, and for Jay, you did exactly that.

Pairings: King!Jay × healer!fem!reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, no smut (yet hehe), mentions of blood, violence, domestic abuse, mentions of cheating, mistresses (don't read it if you can't handle it), mentions of food, Jay has a REALLY tragic past sorry bout that, reader is an orphan, also this is really dramatic IM SORRY I CANT NOT WRITE DRAMA, open ending oohh

A/N: EYYY MR JAY PARK WOOHOO Ngl I was so excited to write this but the exams and all made this kinda difficult to write so if anyone has been waiting for this I'm sorry for the extremely long wait. Also yes this wil be in three parts yay. @yunabi436 this is for you baby 😽

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

The French Quotes Series Masterlist

"And from Aphrodite's rotten lovesick blood did the white flowers turn into a darker shade of red, eternally forming the flower of love."

Aphrodite and the hunter Adonis' tale had been one of boars, blood, lust and love.

For the young king of the iron-kingdom of Vadronia (rightly given its moniker), the only thing he cared about in all of those four things were the boars and the blood.

Jay Park's kingdom wasn't the strongest in all of Paradoxica just in a penny's wish and a flick of a tail feather. It was quote unquote 'molten from iron itself' as all its rulers were.

From all of his brothers, Jay was probably the one who took his duties as a warrior seriously.

Well, a bit too seriously, according to the said brothers.

"Jay would you please stop running so fast?" Sunghoon panted, putting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily as beads of sweat dripped from his hair and skin.

The mud track was always the hardest one to trench upon, and with Jay on your trail? It was hell. Atleast that's what Jake and Sunghoon described it as.

"Are you going to be saying that when you're running from enemy horses?" Jay turned back and glared at Sunghoon, the light autumn breeze giving him peace as it whipped his hair around.

"For God's sake Jay, no one is going to invade us now." Heeseung walked into the scene, with much less sweatier clothes and an arrow clutched in his hand, indicating he had come back from his target practice, "Give the poor guys a break."

"Yes please give us a break I'll go down on my knees." Jake was close to collapsing on the floor, his hand desperately clutching onto the nearby flag pole for support.

"You'd go down on your knees for your best friend." Jay scoffed, throwing his head back to shake the sweat out of his hair follicles, because as glorious as they were, the stray strands still annoyed him, "And you." He turned towards Heeseung, who, even though was much taller than Jay, now looked like a dwarf in front of Jay's broad figure, "How many times do I have to remind you to come for practice?"

"It's not my fault." Heeseung jut out his bottom lip, he always loved acting cute in front of Jay even if he was older, "Little princess back at home has been spying on me. And not gonna lie, I am extremely aroused."

"Why did I even ask?" Jay rolled his eyes and stretched out his arms, the bright burning sun reflecting in his eyes like the moonshine he loved so much, which he drank by the fireplace as he penned down poetry he could show to no one.

"So Jayyyy" Sunghoon dragged his words out, "Felt any sparks lately?"

"Ask that question again and you'll be running twenty laps round this track." Jay promptly replied, cleaning his face with the lavender-smelling towel the nearby servant handed to him. He always loved the lavender scented things, it reminded him of the springs with his mother, oh how she would tease him with tiny flowers in his hair, and the clink of her ruby created dagger in her belt. The dagger lay soulless now, sitting in a secretive place in Jay's room, as he stared at it and remembered that moment again and again. His bastard father, no matter how many times Jay had cursed him, he still couldn't get it out of his mind.

His mother, his compassionate, kind mother, didn't deserve to bleed out from his father's turn of blade.

And no matter how many potions he took, the smell of the blood filled ballroom still lingered in his nose at night, when he would jolt awake in cold sweat, wanting to cling onto his mother, but then he'd remember that he wasn't eight anymore, she was gone.

"Jay you're my brother and I really respect you a lot." Heeseung started, sitting Jay down on the oak bench, while Jake and Sunghoon quietly sneaked out, running for their lives back to their horses, "But you've got to find someone to love in your life, you've got to get over your fear."

"Weren't you the one who was complaining about love to Jake and I a few days ago?" Jay raised a magnificently trimmed brow, to which Heeseung chuckled.

"Yep but then I fell into that rabbit hole and I seem to like it, a bit too much perhaps." Heeseung stared into the distance, instantly losing his dramatic moment as the setting sun hit his pupils.

"Yeah, someday when I'm older maybe." Jay fiddled with his fingers, he never could keep them still, "But for now, I wanted to ask if you'd want to come with me on a hunt tomorrow?"

"A hunt?" Heeseung quizzed, lifting himself with much difficulty off of the bench, bow in hand, "You haven't invited me to a hunt in ages."

"Necessity is the mother of invention." Jay got up as well, scented towel still in hand, "And in this case it's that wild boar our men have been hunting since last month, been terrorizing the border between Tarnow and Vadronia now. I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet."

"Consider me blinded by love." Heeseung threw a flirtatious wink at Jay, who visibly gagged, "I'll be there."

"I'll be waiting."

"No no no, Jay, we, under no circumstances, apply essence of Hibiscus to a water snake's venom." A lady with greying hair sighed, bending over a wooden cup, while a sturdy, black haired man gulped heavily and stared nervously at the herbs in his hand.

Jay was never very successful in his healing classes, and under the strict gaze of his teacher, old Mrs.Chun, he was far away from catching the train of success.

"I don't get it." Jay frowned like a child, setting the hibiscus flower down on the table filled with healing equipments of all kind, "Wasn't the essence of Hibiscus supposed to combat this snake's venom?"

The old lady sighed again and rolled her eyes, snatching the hibiscus from the table and setting it into a basket full of the bright red flowers. With her other hand, she picked up a wicker work basket of lavender and lifted it up to Jay.

"Lavender. I said lavender remember?" She smiled up at Jay like an encouraging teacher, "Lavender for the wounds which make a man turn purple, and hibiscus for the blood drops."

Jay mumbled the rule under his mouth before pressing the lavender petals to the venom splanched across the bown om front of him. The purplish colour immediately turned a healing shade of dark yellow, satisfying Jay and letting out a sigh of relief from the old lady.

"Just some more practice and patience and you'll be a good healer in no time." Mrs. Chun patted Jay's arm sympathetically.

"But why do I even need to be a healer?" Jay asked curiously, putting the box of potions up on the shelf where they belonged, "I'm already a warrior."

"Every great warrior needs to know how to tend to his own wounds." The old lady smiled, looking curiously at a green flask, "I made a vow to your mother to never let you fail in this subject."

Jay smiled fondly at the thought of his mother spending her hours in the infirmary along with Mrs. Chun. Mrs. Chun herself was like his mother figure, providing him the hugs his 14 year old self needed so bad years ago.

"And remember Jay!" Mrs. Chun called out just as Jay was about to leave the room, "I won't be here for the entirety of next month."

"But then who's going to look after the infirmary?" Jay turned back and raised a quizzical brow at Mrs.Chun, who smiled gently.

"My apprentice will." She promptly replied, "She's a nice girl, I told her all about your predicament of failing at healing." Jay let out a chuckle at Mrs.Chun's joke, "She'll take your classes alright?"

"Don't miss me too much Mrs.Chun!" Jay laughed, "I'm your favourite remember?"

Mrs.Chun laughed heartily to herself. Oh that boy, she thought, still a bit at heart even if he was a man to the world.

Only a bit of love perhaps, can truly lead him to show this side of him to the world.

Jay sighed heavily as he plopped down on his armchair, the most comfortable one by the fire.

Love, he scoffed, what a stupid, dangerous thing.

He believed his father to love his mother, he believed his mother to love his father even as he went out every night to quote unquote 'find himself'. Mistresses were awful buisness, and no Queen had ever objected her king having one. But of course, his mother had to object, she had to be different. She had to storm in to her husband and his lover and confront them. And his father, fire-filled man he was, had to strike a blade through her belly, making her bleed out in 14 year old Jay's arms.

And of course, Jay, blinded by his rage, had to strike his father back, skilled as his father was, Jay was more fleet footed, and in the blink of an eye, his father and his father's new toy were lying in cold blood on the floor, as Jay sobbed, clutching his mother's body, dead as a fish out of the ocean.

And his brothers had noticed, they had always noticed how Jay was never the same from that day. From the happy boy who loved to write stories and poetry and who hated to even step foot in the training yard, Jay became the mercenary king, ready with his sword clutched in hand, and his poems long forgotten to silence and withering darkness.

But it wasn't to say that Jay was a ruthless ruler, he chose not to take that path, especially not after half the kingdom starved under the rule of his father. It wouldn't have been a lie to say he was the kindest one in all of Paradoxica, except he didn't really show it in the way he spoke or acted, but by the way he controlled the administration and whatnot of the kingdom. This kept his busy, seldom leaving time for any other activities, much to the disappointment of his brothers, especially Heeseung, who had always been the closest to him, who had known what he was truly like, deep inside.

Clutching his eagle feather quill, one of his most dearest ones, Jay dipped the tip into his ink pot, letting the excess ink dry off before pressing it to his leather bound diary.

When he wrote the feelings he couldn't ever say out loud onto the softwood paper, Jay felt a sort of contentment, he had always been a clandestine philophile, so to write his proses on the idea of love, death and misery, was to create a beautiful choreography on his mindset.

Alas, if there was only someone he could show them to, someone who would understand what Jay meant in the lines, even with his messy loopy calligraphy, that would have been a dream truly come true.

But how could a man who wrote poems to challenge the angels of love themselves, ever find love?

But I am a mere narrator, what would I know?

And sometimes, just sometimes, Cupid lurked in the ballrooms of dancing princes and in the dark inkpots of oxymoronic kings.

"I have no idea what's happening, but I'm happy to be here." Sunghoon's beautiful Clydesdale horse pranced around on the grass, as energetic and as similar a persona as her owner.

"Would you tell her to calm down?" Heeseung's own chestnut's hooves guided him towards Sunghoon, "She needs the energy for the hunt." Heeseung easily managed to calm the mare down by scratching behind her eyes, to which Sunghoon drooped since he had been enjoying the prancing around a bit too much.

"Why are we going on a hunt again?" Jake adjusted his saddle, making sure he was buckled in properly to his Fox Trotter horse, "Aren't we above killing animals now?"

"Your best friend tell you that?" The clip clopping of Jay's magnificent Dutch Warmblood sent all of the soldiers to silence, "And if the animal is a wild boar, no we aren't above that."

"Whatever you say, oh great King." Sunghoon snickered, as he did a sort of bow on his horse, making everyone laugh.

"Oh shut up." Jay rolled his eyes, clutching onto his horse's hair, and leaning into his usual stance, "Come on now, don't want to keep a beauty waiting do we?" And with the mighty neigh of his horse, he rode off into the forest, followed by Heeseung, Jake and Sunghoon, who followed with dramatic sighs.

"Sometimes I wonder if he just wants to live in an adventure book and say cringey lines all the time." Sunghoon jested, making the others laugh.

"Where on earth is Sunoo?" Jay shouted out, completely ignoring the statement made about him, as the rest of the three managed to catch up to his horse's pace.

"Probably tending to his vineyard." The wind whipped Jake's hair around, "God knows if he'd ever accept coming to a hunt with us."

"Maybe a grape hunt-"

"Shh!"

Jay's action of stopping his horse, and shushing everyone startled the others, and as the clopping of hooves quietened down, they understood why Jay had stopped so abruptly.

The rustling of the nearby begonia bushes, combined with the noises of an animal which sounded extremely similar to a wild boar, alerted them, as they drew out their swords, daggers and metal tipped arrows, all from treasure chest of Vadronia's amazing metalwork, aiming them at the begonia bushes, as Jay held up his closed fist to give the command.

"Come on out." Jay whispered to no one in particular but himself, as the begonia bushes began shaking more rapidly and the sounds of an animal's footsteps came nearer.

"Hey maybe we should-" Heeseung bagan quietly to Jay, but was interrupted by the ripping of the begonias into shreds.

And there it was, what Jay had been waiting for.

A big wild boar in its full magnificence.

Ivory tusks in full gleam, swathes of brown fur all over its damaged skin, with wounds from previous hints. A ture display of its strength, Jay thought, it wanted to intimidate them, as if to say 'see how many people haven't defeated me yet, why do you think you stand a chance?'.

"Steady now, Lady." Jay patted his horse, which was ever so graciously named Lady, although the mare's personality in battle was far away from a lady's. Jay always preferred mares to horses, he though they were more faster and agile, while horses used their brute strength. And he had a hatred from brute strength. It was what got her killed after all.....

"Jake look out!" Heeseung cried out, snapping Jay out of his daze of staring into the boar's eyes. Of all the animals of the world, he hated this one the most, he hated the way his father loved to hunt them, and how he'd come home from hunts everyday drenched in blood with a boar skull im his hands, from which his mother would recoil from, what with her hatred of the smell of iron.

Hatred, that's all that was there in Jay's life. And that's all there will be.

"Jay, we have to get back come on!" Sunghoon cried, his horse already galloping away. The boar was far too big for them to contain. "Jay?" Heeseung peered back, "Jay no!"

But the sturdy built man's ears heeded no warning as he stepped along to the boar, his sword clutched tightly in hand, the carving of his name in the metal shining bright, as if to warn the spirit of the forest that he has arrived.

"Hyung what's happe-" Jake and Sunghoon's horses had turned back to see why the eldest wasn't coming, only to see Jay stabbing at the boar, while Heeseung tried to get Lady, who was close to prancing away into the depths of the forest.

"Help me would ya!" Heeseung cried, flinging his rope around Lady's magnificent neck, to which Sunghoon and Jake came quick and flung their own ropes, "One of you help Jay!"

"I'll go!" Sunghoon's horse galloped towards Jay, but to his shock, he saw that the boar was already lying, its movements still, and Jay standing drenched in blood.

It was dead.

Jay's sword was decorated with ribbons of maroon.

"Jay what the..." Sunghoon began, but he could find no words. The boar had been big, two times the size and strength of any ordinary man, and now it was kneeling at Jay's command, kneeling dead and cold as a fish.

"It's dead." Jay growled, his breathing too heavy, and his hand clutching a particularly dark spot on his stomach, as Heeseung and Jake came to the scene, having calmed Lady down, "The tusk...."

"The tusk? What about the- Jay!" Heeseung cried, before jumping off his horse and quickly moving towards Jay's graceful falling figure.

The last thing Jay felt was the feeling of wet grass underneath his head, Heeseung's hand over his wrist, and the familiar scent of feminine lavender pressing over him before everything went dark as he had always wished for it to be.

Jay never cared much about his injuries. No matter how big or small they were, no matter if it was a paper cut to the thumb or an arrow head to the shoulder, he would simply say "Injuries happen, it's a part of life" and move on. Which proved to be a source of annoyance for his brothers, especially Jake, who had an eye for healing.

But Jay was a firm believer in the notion that twenty four hours a day simply wasn't enough. He wanted more, he craved for more, more time, more work. Although he wouldn't admit it, everyone was in unison with the fact that he was Paradoxica's biggest workaholic.

And when it came back to the topic of injuries, Jay would still keep working, whether or not he was stuck in bed, because Heeseung had forced him to stay there.

Heeseung remembered Jay's younger days. How Jay would whine and do nothing if he got even the tiniest splinter in his finger. How he would beg for a day off from studies if he merely stubbed his tie against the kitchen ladder while sneaking out to steal pastries. But the horrible incident had changed every aspect of Jay, and now, he wouldn't stop working if every limb in his body was broken.

"All for the good of the people" he reasoned.

Usually Mrs.Chun had taken care of him, scolded him too many times about taking rests whenever he'd come back from battles or fights with blood flowing out his nose. But even then he didn't care. So the vision of waking up to Mrs.Chun's berry scent was a norm for him whenever he'd get injured.

But now, the room wasn't berry scented, and nor was Mrs. Chun sitting in the corner, waiting for him to wake up.

A girl?

A girl, wearing Mrs.Chun's apron, had her head rested against his table, her eyes fluttered close.

Were his eyes tricking him or did Mrs.Chun suddenly become thirty years younger?

Feeling something heavy on his waist, Jay tried to lift his head from his pillow, letting out a guttural groan as he did. God what was hurting him so much? He could feel something hurting at his stomach.

"Your Majesty, lie back down." He heard someone say, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the girl bending over him, forcing him to lie back down on the bed.

Jay stared at her for a few moments, trying to remember who she is before the candle went off in his mind.

The apprentice.

You were Mrs.Chun's apprentice.

"Are you Mrs.Chun's apprentice?" Jay groaned, feeling his head throb and his fingers were aching too.

You nodded promptly, before pushing Jay gently back onto the bed as he tried to get back.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Your Majesty, but you aren't getting up for another two weeks. You were stabbed by a wild boar's tusk." You stated firmly, shocking Jay at how casually you had addressed him, "His Highness Heeseung told me to handcuff you to the bed if you even try to move."

"Handcuff me?" Jay chuckled, moving his body slightly to lessen the pressure on his legs, "Where are you even going to get-"

Jay's sentence was cut off abruptly as your hands pulled out a pair of heavy metal from a secret pocket in the olive green dress you were wearing, and held it in front of Jay, effectively silencing him.

"I'm sorry if that was rude, but you are my patient, Your Majesty.." Your mouth let out a chuckle, sending a weird sensation into Jay's stomach, which he had never felt before, "So, I will do anything and everything in order to make you rest."

"So what may I address you by, My lady?" Jay quizzed you, his head now no longer throbbing for some reason. He studied your features for a while, he thought your eyes were pretty, decorated by a thin lining of kohl. Your figure was pretty too, wrapped in the striking colour of the dress you were in, combined with the beautifully familiar way you wore your hair.

"Definetly not by 'My lady'." You chuckled, picking up your dress, and sinking into a curtsy, "Y/N, you may call me Y/N, Your Majesty."

"Pretty name." Jay complemented, watching you stand up straight from your curtsy and smile impishly at him.

"You've got to take your medicine now." You reached into your apron's pocket and pulled a big vial, which was filled with a bubbling, golden liquid, "Now, according to Mrs.Chun, tricks by pretty people often work on you."

"Pretty people?" Jay scoffed childishly, thinking about whether or not he thought Heeseung was pretty, as you measured out the liquid into a cup, "Mrs.Chun needs to have a check for up there. And do you really think you're pretty?"

You strode towards him with the cup in your hand, and smiled widely. "Well, pardon me Your Majesty, but from the way you were staring at me five minutes ago, yes. I do think I'm pretty."

"Don't get your ego up." Jay warned, taking the cup from you, letting his mind linger for a few minutes on how your delicate fingers brushed his scarred ones softly, "Your parents mus'nt have taught you manners did they?"

"Well, firstly, I don't have parents." You smiled, "And secondly I need to check your bandages, they seem to be bleeding again."

So that was what the pain radiating from his stomach was, Jay thought, as he looked down to see his bandages streaked a darker shade of red. He quickly gulped down the golden liquid in the cup, a visibly disgusted expression forming on his face at how bitter it was, and looked up at you, with widened eyes.

"So...?" He said, expectantly, seeing you fumble with some clean cloth, another vial of what looked like cream, and a safety pin.

"Tell me where it hurts when I change them alright?" You said gently, making his lay down on the bed again, "and uh..."

"What?" Jay questioned, seeing your eyes linger at his wound or more specifically, his ab muscles, "Oh you can touch them it's fine."

"Oh. Oh yeah alright." You said, feeling your face heat up slightly. Bandaging him when he was still unconscious was easier than this, when he was awake. God his stare was so attractive to you, even now, as you gently touched his bandages, replacing them with cleaner cloth, you tried hard not to brush your fingers against his abs.

"Enjoying the view?" Jay asked, a cockish sneer to his voice. "There's a view to enjoy Your Majesty?" You fired back, although you most certainly were enjoying staring at him.

"You're an interesting one." Jay said, trying to make small talk as you lightly pressed against the smaller wounds with the cream, "Y/N wasn't it?"

"Yep." You said with a pop of your lips, finishing wrapping his wounds with a slight tap to check if they were secure, "And please do stay in bed and don't work. If you need anything, I'm right outside. His highness Heeseung has told me to rest in the chambers opposite yours."

The chambers opposite to his, his parents' chambers. God did Jay hate that room, all big and filled with skulls from hunts.

"If you want to you can go home, I can manage on myself." Jay said, his eyes set on yours. Why was it so hard to maintain eye contact with you?

"I know how that idea works." You smiled again, bringing that weird sensation back into Jay's stomach, "I'll go and then you'll order someone to bring you your work, so His Highness Heeseung specifically asked me not to leave. I guess you're stuck with me Your Majesty." You curtsied to finish off the impression.

"Jay." He spoke again, to your confusion, which made him stifle a chuckle, "Please, call me Jay."

"Jay." You smiled to yourself, "Well, ring that bell if you need anything."

As you left the room, quietly shutting the door behind you, Jay had the sudden urge to kick his feet in the air. The room was filled with lavender scent, your lavender scent to be specific, and it gave Jay a sense of calm, which in turn reduced the pain radiating from his stab wound.

Well this would be an interesting two weeks.

"Your Majesty what on Earth are you doing?"

Jay froze in his position at hearing a stern voice. Your stern voice, to be precise.

"Resting?" He said, trying to hide his cheeky smile, as he slowly backed away from his table. Rolling your eyes, you quickly got him back to the bed, worried that his bandages will open back again. But the only thing Jay was worried about was that his work wasn't getting completed.

"How about this?" You asked, as you finally managed to wrestle him back to the bed, "I'll do the work for you, if you agree to rest. It's in that diary right?"

"I can't let you do that." Jay grumbled, reaching for your arm, as you hurried to get to the diary on his table. The cold touch of his hand on your warmer skin made you flinch heavily, which in turn made Jay pull his hand away.

"I'm sorry." Jay quickly apologised, as you rubbed your arm, "I- That's my private diary, I don't really allow people to see it."

"Oh, my apologies then." You curtsied, still rubbing your arm, feeling extremely cold for some reason, even if the warm daylight was coming into the room through the window, "Your Majesty-"

"Jay." He corrected, shooting you the tiniest fragment of a smile.

"Jay." You said again, this time feeling more at ease, "You've got to rest, I'm begging you. Those bandages won't magically heal you until you rest. If there's anything I can do to get you to rest, I'll do it."

Jay's ears weren't actually listening to anything. His mind was too distracted again, by your scent. God damn his strong sense of smell, but you smelled like memories he wanted to forget.

"Tell me what perfume you use and then I won't work." Jay looked up at you with a cheeky smile. He didn't know why, but he felt comfortable to show you his smile, which he didn't often feel with the ladies in their paraffin socks.

"I- that's a peculiar question." You said, not knowing what to feel aboutthe actual King asking you about your perfume.

"I swear on my own grave that I will rest if the great healer Y/N tells me her perfume." Jay recited, keeping his hand on his chest for dramatic effect.

"It's the lavender one we get in the town square from Marcella's." You raised your chin up high, "Now would you rest?"

"Hmmm let me think." Jay dramatically sighed, "No."

"Your Majesty, I will beg." You breathed desperately, "I will seriously-"

"Your collarbone." Jay interrupted, his attention diverting from your eyes to your shoulder, "There's something on your collarbone."

Jay took note of the way your eyes flickered quickly and worriedly to your collarbone, and how you rushed to pull the sleeve of your dress up to cover it, clearing your throat afterwards to clear the awkward air.

"Are you-"

"Your Majesty, I admire the way you hold so much strivance for your work but you really must rest if you wish to keep working for the rest of your life."

The atmosphere of the room had a drastic change, Jay could feel it, as you quickly curtsied, said a quick "excuse me" and hurried off towards the exit.

That wasn't a stain or a birth mark on your shoulder Jay knew it, as he leant back comfortably, and decided to follow your advice for a while.

He'd seen dark marks like that on someone he once knew and loved.

And something in him asked him not to rest (unless it was pretending for you) until he figured out where that bruise the size of a man's hand, came from.

Part 2 coming soon....

Tags: @amazzwon @heeseungshim @kvmariii @mwahvvis @hottiewifeyyyy @sacrificeatmeup @perfectnighttt @yawnzzhoon @yunabi436

[zhounauts]

THE PALACE ALMANAC :: FEATURE 2 :: KNIGHT! PARK JONGSEONG warnings: cursing, embarrassment:: pairing: knightcommander!jay x aristocrat!reader

THE HALLWAY IS COMPLETELY DARK as you peek from behind a wall. you shuffle as quietly as you can in the large shoes and baggy clothing you had taken from some passing maids in the palace.

it’s a contrast to how you were dressed just half and hour ago, a glittering and extravagant ball gown for the ball the emperor had thrown to commemorate the end of the war against the monsters and demons that plagued the lands around the kingdom. you had been going to balls your whole life, yet that still didn’t change the fact they were incredibly boring and by the third hour of the ball you were ready to dip.

and that was exactly what you did. after making sure your father was busy and wouldn’t go searching for you, you quickly made your move, sneaking away through the back door of the ball room, tracking down some maids, and now exiting through the courtyard.

the night air is cold, and the three moons of the empire are distant and not incredibly bright. despite this, the excitement coursing through your veins of experiencing a commoner festival keeps you warm enough, and you scale the wall. you reach into the cloaks pocket, grabbing onto a rope that you had bribed the maids for after tossing them your pair of 18 carat gold, diamond encrusted earrings to them. safe to say, that without a word they had dashed away and got you everything you asked for without questioning you and then skipped away with their new wealth.

what you don’t expect however, is as you throw the rope over the courtyard wall, you hear footsteps behind you and then it goes quiet behind you. what the fuck— and then there’s something at your neck. something cold. something sharp.

“don’t move,” a man says, “or i’ll slice your neck”

you freeze in surprise, too shocked to move or say anything. “what are you doing on palace grounds? you aren’t supposed to be here are you?”

“no i—“

“who are you?” he hisses.

“i’m-“

“why are you here?”

“will you let me talk!?” you exclaim annoyed.

“i think your forgetting who has the weapon,” he deadpans.

“oh.” you mutter, “well that’s true…”

“take your hood off,” he commands.

“put your sword down,”

“take your hood off,” he demands again, not relenting. you bite the inside of your cheek. if it this man was a guard, he would definitely report it to your father, you’d be punished, and then you wouldn’t be able to set foot out of the estate for months. so you didn’t let it happen.

“i can’t!”

“what?” the man asks in disbelief.

“i’m….insecure!?” you spit out.

“….what?” the man asks again, “i don’t want to repeat myself, i am the one with the upper hand here,”

“no please i’ll uhm— surrender!”

“take your hood off,” he demands once again.

“i can’t!”

“i don’t care if you’re insecure!?” he asks confused.

“but you sound so—“ you start, your desperate, embarrassed and on the verge of stabbing your self, yet you still blurt out possibly the most stupid thing known to existence. “so cool! and uhm handsome! i feel insecure, i can’t take the hood off,”

now there’s pure silence behind you, the man seemingly so flabbergasted that he can’t even make any noise. and then before you know it the hood is ripped off and your yanked back by the man, you shut your eyes and try to hide your face. unfortunately, the man’s seen you and he exclaims in shock.

“lady jeong!?”

“nope! not me!” you exclaim, “just a maid!”

“i think your family crest is a dead giveaway, my lady,”

“please don’t tell my dad! do not tell duke jeong, please,” you look at the man, trying to forget your embarrassment earlier. the man is in fact actually very handsome, a little bit too fine for a palace guard but you can’t focus on that now. you watch as he sighs.

“my lady, i won’t tell your father,” he starts, “we should head back to the banquet,”

“i don’t have my dress,” you mutter,

“what?”

“my dress is gone,”

“how!?” he exclaims.

“I threw it in a closet okay!? I wanted out!”

“Now why would you—” the man sighs again, “my lady, you are not in any state to head back into the ball like this,”

“well—” you stop, not knowing what to say, only sheepishly looking down at the ground. you were known as the dignified, mature daughter of duke jeong, and now here you were acting like an actual dingus in front of this man.

“maybe. . .” the man stop, “i could—” he stops again.

“what?” you ask.

“if the town square is where you want to go. . .i can take you,” he says, “that might not be a good idea actually never—”

“oh. my. god. YES!” you exclaim, grabbing onto the mans arms. they’re strong and steady and you see the man flinch in surprise. “please! sir! whoever you are!”

“you don’t even know who i am!?” he asks offended.

“Uhm. . .no? sorry are you one of the guards at the estate? i spend too much time studying, sorry. . .” you apologize.

“i’m sir jay, the kingdom’s night commander,”

“oh,” you gape. you stare at the dude, jay in disbelief before snapping your fingers, “right! i knew that!”

“my lady. . .it’s okay,” he answers.

“no. no it is not. i was just attending the ball in your honor and didn’t even recognize you.” you murmur embarrassed, “man my dad would actually be disappointed in me for this,”. jay lets out a laugh, it’s light and unique, and from his chest.

“well, my lady, would you like to head out or not?” your eyes sparkle in excitement.

“yes, yes absolutely! thank you so much sir jay!” jay extends his arm towards you, and you place your hand in his. he brings it to his mouth, kissing it and bowing in front of you. you feel the back of your neck heat up at the action, and you bite the inside of your cheek. many lords and sir’s had done the same thing to you over your life, yet jay doing it made you flustered. he looks you straight in the eye and you awkwardly look away, taking your hand out of his and fixing your hair.

“am i too. . .cool and handsome?”

“aw fuck you!” you exclaim, whipping around, leaving him behind you laughing. and as he laughs, you can feel a smile breaking from your own face, before you join in with him, laughing underneath the stars.

taglist @soobincantswim @firstclassjaylee @yizhoutv @xuimhao @thesassy-mia @k-films

taglist is open!

a/n so i hated the original one i posted and then realized it was only HALF of the story. . embarrassment slapped me like a truck fr ngl

[seongclb]

INTRODUCING... THE HURT SONG SERIES !

— note ! each of these fics have a song that have inspired them. this series is in random order; meaning that the masterlist is in order of fic release but the member will remain unknown until the story has come out. have fun & bring tissues - you might need them.

warnings of each fic along with pairings will be added when the fics are released (extra suspense!).

click “keep reading” to check out the fics planned & send an ask to be added on the taglist for each story!

➤ CUPIDS MISTAKE. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ crybaby by the neighbourhood.

playboy!enha x reader, slight enemies to lovers au, angst & fluff.

synopsis ! you’ve never understood why he gets so many dates all the time, he’s bloody insufferable. you can’t stand him at all, yet everyone else is crazy for him. i guess, you’ll find out what’s so irresistible about himself, soon. after all, he’s already planning your valentines date together.

➤ ANAGEPSIS. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ cologne by beabadoobee.

stranger!enha x reader, strangers to lovers au, angst & fluff.

synopsis ! working at a perfume shop certainly had it’s perks but none of them were as remarkable as meeting him that one late afternoon just before closing time. that day led to flirtatious conversations at least three times a week, to dates around the city and to packing your bags three years later.

estimated release date — unknown.

➤ FIRST LOVE SCAR. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ first love/late spring by mitski.

classmate!enha x reader, high school au, fluff & angst.

synopsis ! the first love is always the most memorable, along with being the least expected. the butterflies as soon as you wake up, stealing glances at one another during shared classes, timidness coursing through your veins when talking to one another. but does it always last?

estimated release — unknown.

➤ DEATH KISS. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ born to die by lana del ray.

popular!enha member x reader, apocalypse au, mainly angst

synopsis ! it was easy to be head over heels for the schools heartthrob. the difficult part, however, was gaining his attention, especially with the tons of other people who seemed to be better suited for him. who would have thought the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse would bring you two together?

estimated release — unknown.

➤ ARRANGED APART. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ moonlight by chase atlantic.

prince!enha member x royal!reader, royal au, angst and fluff

synopsis ! you’re both from families of power and wealth, ruling the country comes with great responsibility. it also comes with the feeling of being alone but when you two meet; it’s as if there’s no one else in the world apart from you two. even countries can’t come between your love for one another.

estimated release — unknown.

➤ ONE LAST DANCE. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ one last time by ariana grande

demon!enha x reader, demon love au, fluff & angst.

synopsis ! from all the horror films you’ve watched, you expected demons to be scary rather than have the sweetest looking smile you’ve ever seen along with becoming your only companion. that is, until he has to leave your side next to join the devil once more.

estimated release — unknown.

➤ THE VOID OF LOVE. CLICK HERE TO READ.

♫ grenade by bruno mars & the only exception by paramore

mafia!enhypen member x reader, mafia to lovers au, fluff & angst

synopsis ! he’s never been swayed by love. with his ruthless job, there’s never been time to fall in love nor does he want to. but they say that love comes when you least expect it. and, boy did it hit him like a bullet in the chest

estimated release — unknown.

[hsgwrld-archive]

0.01 - Finding new friends.

next | masterlist

a/n : i need make more profiles so who wanna be featured in it lmk !!!

--in which you get added to an nct stan group chat on twitter, you end up establishing new friendships and…catching feelings? but they’re just online friends right ?

TAGLIST :OPENED! send ask/dm to be added!

taglist : @yenqa| @mokiverse | @taejays | @urszn | @arson-mp3 | @dimplewonie | @chaewon-slays| @wonyoungsvirus | @luveuly | @ilovewonyo | @ahnneyong | @sserafimez | @redm4ri | @ddenoudepression (if i forget to add you let me know )

[woniebunny]

THE MILLENIAL PAIR

Synopsis: Every one thousand years a new ruler is born who will conjoin and change the eternal kingdom and mortal world forever. In present time there have been no signs of the true ruler, some believe the day will come for them to create order and peace, others believe it as a myth, a fairytale, a folklore.... only time can tell what the future holds. Y/N the future ruler of the Blood Moon Realm discovers her true lineage and will unlock newfound powers, all while trying to navigate her new responsibilities as the Millenial Queen and a soulmate w 6 brothers. Together they must join to save their kingdom and each other.

PAIRING: Royal Werewolf!Park Sunghoon x Royal Werewolf!Reader, Werewolf!Enha x Reader(Platonic)

GENRE: Fantasy/Supernatural, Romance, AU

WARNINGS: Darker themes, mentions of violence, war, blood, etc. May contain some demonic themes, witchcraft, blood bonds. Cussing. Dark Humour.

STATUS: In Progress..

"The world can't change who you are and how much power you hold my love but you can change the world eternally"

"We were made for this my love and we will end this together, always"

[jowrites]

Masterlist.

Multistan. Writes for everyone. Currently Enha(Mostly Hyung-Line)

*****************************About Jo********************************

ENHYPEN

Pretty, Pretty - Hyungline Enhypen SMAU COMPLETED

Muse - Jake Sim ON GOING

Die for You - Jake Sim, Lee Heeseung Part 1 Part 2

Fill the Void - Jake Sim SMAU COMPLETED

Accidents can Happen - Jake Sim SMAU COMPLETED

Intoxicated - Jake Sim SMAU COMPLETED

Otherwordly - Jake Sim SCENARIO

Thank God for cats - Jake Sim Part 2 SCENARIO

"If I buy a car, will you take me on late night drives?" - Jake Sim MINI SERIES Part 1 Part 2

His King Charming - Lee Heeseung SMAU COMPLETED

We got Married - Lee Heeseung idol SERIES COMPLETED

Red string of Fate - Lee Heeseung ONE SHOT

XOXO - Lee Heeseung SMAU COMPLETED

At Her Mercy - Lee Heeseung ONE SHOT

Cared for Always - Lee Heeseung ONE SHOT

When the Dahlia sings Her Song - Lee Heeseung SLOW UPDATES (written)

Her. - Park Sunhoon Royal AU ON GOING

DRAMA ACTORS/ACTRESSES

Us against the World - Byun Woo Seok SMAU DISCONTINUED