No Longer a Monster | Chenji

Chapter 17:

"Princess Amélie Montienne has arrived, my Darling!"
"She already did? I thought she'll arrive tomorrow?-"
"Well, it looks like her plans have changed earlier."

Victor says as the two of them bow down immediately to the royal princess of France. This is a very difficult and dangerous situation for both Mark and Haechan as the princess just arrived all the way from France to Korea to MEET MARK ONCE AGAIN. This time, it's not just Mark's parents who are against Haechan and Mark's marriage.

The princess of the Royal French Monarchy is against it, too.

"Do they even speak English here?"

The princess asks ignorantly as Victor and Samantha shake their heads in response. Amélie scoffs, thinking that Mark has chosen a "really unnecessary path" in his life. She doesn't quite understand why Mark chose that "unnecessary" path.

Does she even think... in general?

"Pathetic. I don't even speak in this foreign language that's unknown to the rest of the world. Mark really has chosen a very disappointing path- Dear god... Clearly, he is out of his mind!"
"... I'm glad that you know it's a bad choice, your majesty-"

Samantha gets cut-off by Amélie's disrespectful attitude.

"Thank god that you stay in a place here, Samantha. I find those gibberish noises annoying and illiterate."

Oh, right. She's an ignorant, stinking racist.

~

"Hey, have you seen Jaemin?"

Jisung asks Mark as he's been trying to find Jaemin in the palace, searching and looking closely in every room endlessly. Of course, Jisung wanted to see if Jaemin was feeling alright because of the heartbreak he had been feeling. Mark turns around from the bookshelf with a clueless look, definitely distracted from trying to find a good book to read since Haechan never really tells him which book to read whenever he asks him.

"... Oh? He's at the hospital-"
"The hospital?! Why would he be at the hospital?!"
"Didn't you know what happened?!"
"... What do you mean, Mark?"
"... Oh... So you really didn't know what happened-"
"What did I not know about?!"
"... Jaemin has a lot of injuries on his torso right now-"
"Since when?!"
"... Remember that time you fired those knights?"
"... Oh, dear god. Why didn't I find out about this earlier?! I have to visit him, Mark."
"... Alright, I'll come with you since I promised that I'll come back by now-"
"Sure!"

Jisung responded as the two of them made their way to the hospital, talking about Jeno and Jaemin's current break-up. Jisung was confused about how relationships should work like because he's clearly have never been into one. Mark thinks that it's adorable for Jisung to be confused about it, feeling like he's also one of Jisung's "bigger brothers".

"Hey, Mark."
"Yes?"
"... Since you're married to my brother... I'm really confused about dating and such-"
"Oh, wow! You're really growing up!-"
"Oh, shut up. I'm just... Well, duh! I don't know anything about that stuff."
"... Anyways, what are you confused about?"
"How... it works? Like... does it have to be very romantic?"
"Well, it needs to have a lot of romance since it's love! It should be the kind of "place" where everything that you do with your loved one is romantic even if it's not really that romantic in general."
"... Oh? So like... doing odd or funny things can be romantic, right?"
"Well, of course."

That's when Mark realizes that Jisung is indeed talking about a certain someone.

"... Hey."
"... Yes?"
"You're talking about Chenle, aren't you?"
"Mark, what?-"
"You're indeed talking about him."
"Well, maybe I am or maybe I'm not? Honestly, I don't know..."
"... Why don't you just tell him that you're really interested in him?"
"Well, I'm not sure! What if it's just because I'm getting confused with everything that's currently happening in the real world? Or something that is somehow similar to that? What if I'm just confused with what I'm feeling whenever I'm with him? I mean, I'm very new to these types of things!"
"... Well, the best thing I can tell you is just trying to get to know yourself more. I know you're going through a lot of confusion and a lot of fast-pacing things. I know that you're also constantly changing for the better so it can be a little hard but you're going to end up fine! It's going to be worth it."
"... Well, I do try that but it makes me even more confused. I just hope that I'll know who I am in the future, I guess?"
"You will, Jisung. You'll know who you really are at the right time."