"You go on ahead, I'm buying a few things first."
Seora announced as the two closed the library for the day. Yuta was quiet for a minute, but he knew it would be stupid for him to leave her alone.
A smile crept his face slightly, "Nonsense, I'll accompany." He said and left her no chance to decline as he took her hand and pulled her towards the central market.
Truth is, Seora wanted to see the palace up close after a while and at the same moment, she wanted to buy new dresses for Hayoung and Youngmi, also something for Jaehyun and Uncle as well. It had been almost two months since she stayed with them, she wanted to give them a token of appreciation at least.
She didn't earn much from her job, but she had extra with the savings she brought with her before the runaway.
As she walked through shops to find dresses, her eyes unknowingly landed on one dress which had a medieval cutting, in red of course with a touch of white through the middle and parts of the design. Simple, yet eye catching as it was her favourite colour.
The girl stopped staring when she noticed Yuta was looking at the dress as well. "With your black hair, you'd stand out in it." He commented.
"Oh, no." Seora nervously chuckled. "I don't plan to buy anything for me today." She stated, her focus was for the family, not her. Besides, she had too many red dresses she barely wore back in the palace. Taeyong told her she was obsessed once, it made her chuckle at the memory.
Eventually, she walked further into the shop, her hand touching cloth made of silk as the familiar material caught her attention. Silk made her skin cool in hot days, she had the comfort everyone dreamt of back in the palace, but she was no longer that princess, she's Eunmi.
It took her quite some time to choose until she finally decided, she brought dresses for Youngmi and Hayoung, a pair of boots for Jaehyun and a new outfit for Uncle. Jaehyun's boots had white stitchings at the collar of it. The designed seemed to be handmade as the princess observed and she was truly delighted to present it to the family.
As usual, Yuta said nothing and simply observed. He offered to carry the stuffs but as usual, the girl wouldn't allow him. Truth is, he had an uneasy doubt about Eunmi, but he couldn't find the reason just yet. As Yuta was a very skilful assassin, he was trained to trust his guts.
"That's awfully a lot." He casually commented. "It's for everyone in the house." Seora replied with a smile, she felt happy at the thought of presenting it to them. "Perhaps I'll get you one soon." She teased the guy and Yuta didn't bother to hide the smile from his face.
"I'll remember that." He said and was about to take the things from her hands, wanting to carry it for her but Seora was quick to pull it away from him. The two began to quarrel over the small matter until she accidentally ran into another person causing her to drop everything.
Luckily, Yuta caught her before she could fall as well. "My apologies." Seora instantly apologised to the man in front of her and started to gather her things to only realise it was Doyoung.
She grew nervous even though she knew her appearance looked different. The sharp bodyguard eyed all the items dropped as he helped her picked them up. The boots caught his eyes, a new design, eye catching indeed.
"It's alright, I wasn't looking." He smiled as he handed her the bag. However, before Seora could take it from him, Yuta grabbed it from Doyoung.
Yuta suddenly flashed a quirky smile "Thank you for the help, we'll be on our way now." He wrapped another arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the bodyguard.
Doyoung couldn't help but to stare, he wanted the girl named Eunmi to be Seora, but the presence of the other male made it entirely impossible for her to be the princess.
He knew everything about her background, the princess had no male cousins, she was an only child. There was no male connected to her other than the prince being her fiancé. It was a valid reason that Eunmi was not Seora.
《—♡ 》
"Eunmi's home!"
Hayoung exclaimed as soon as she saw the elder girl from the door. A child like her had different moods all the time, she wrapped her arms around Eunmi's leg for a short while before releasing them.
A large smile plastered on her face as she looked at the elder one with anticipation. "Did you get it?" She asked. "Get what?" Eunmi pretended to not understand. "You forgot!" The girl was trying to find something to blame.
"No, I would never." Eunmi defended herself before walking past the child. Hayoung was expecting the dress that the princess had promised to give her, but until now she received nothing.
Luckily, she wasn't the type to scream and throw tantrums around. Instead, the little girl pouted and sat outside, her arms crossed. "What's with the sad face?" Yuta asked as he came later after Eunmi.
Hayoung, pouting, said "Princesses don't lie." Her expression furious. Yuta chuckled at her comment, he knew exactly whom she was referring to but he found it oddly adorable that she referred to Eunmi as a princess. It has been a few times she called her that.
"Why do you always call her a princess? Aren't you one too?" He asked, taking a seat next to her. "I'm just pretending, she's a real one." Hayoung said. "I've seen her in a tiara before when she ca—"
"Hayoung! It's bedtime." Eunmi called from inside. "I have to go, but I'm mad at her." Hayoung voiced out loudly. Yuta brought up a hand to pat her on the head. "Just go inside, who knows, maybe she truly has something for you." He assured.
After much hesitation, the girl decided to walk into the house, wishing a goodnight to the male beforehand.
As Yuta watched her leave, he would constantly think of the things the child had told him before. He didn't know if it was reliable to trust a child, but they never lie.
He found himself growing curious of Eunmi somehow, other than the fact of knowing her more for his own benefit, he had reasons to believe she never told him the truth about herself. Of course, he never thought it was bad as she had all the rights to her privacy, but somehow or rather, this secret of hers was leading to something so twisted.
If curiosity killed the cat, then he was willing to give it a go. He wanted to know more, he needed to confirm this curiosity so that he could properly tell her that he held feelings for her. He could only hope this secret, wouldn't interfere.
"Oh, you're still here?"
Yuta's thoughts got interrupted as Eunmi stood by the door, eyeing him who was sitting down. "Do you want to come inside?" She offered, although it wasn't something she should as it was getting late.
"It's fine, I think I'll be going now." He said, getting up. "Thank you for today," Eunmi said which made him stop to look at her for a moment. "—a-and for every other days as well." She added with an awkward grin.
"As long as you'll go to the festival with me." He smiled. The princess had almost forgot about the event, nonetheless she flashed a smile to him. "I haven't said yes." She teased. "Goodnight, Yuta." She waved him goodbye.
The male flashed yet another heart-stopping smile, "Goodnight, princess."
《—♡ 》
🐾 Happy Lunar Years!
I dreamt about nct having a concert
in my country,, GOD PLEASE
i really want to meet them but
they better set the date on the second half
of the year,, because I REALLY WANNA GO 😭
