Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 8 ~

Eric ran out of his room to find his parents and Juyeon sitting on the couch in their living room, deep in conversation. He saw the worry in all of their faces, but also saw the way their faces lit up when he came into view. His mother shot to her feet, looking like she wanted to go to him, but she stayed in place. 

So Eric closed the distance between them instead, running into her arms. "I'm sorry Mom," he whispered, holding her tightly. 

He heard her let out a sigh of relief, and she held him tight. "Don't be sorry," she whispered back.  "It's a lot to take in... I know. And we were wrong too-" 

"You weren't wrong for anything," Eric insisted. "I'm glad you guys were the ones raising me," he said, pulling out of the embrace so he could look his mom in the eyes. 

She took his hands in hers and pulled him over to sit on the sofa beside her. His dad was on her other side, and Juyeon was on his. It almost felt normal again, except that they all looked very anxious. 

"We don't want to surprise you anymore... but we have news..." his father said, trailing off and shooting his mother and helpless look. 

"The King and Queen want you to go back," Juyeon finally said, when everyone else fell silent. "Today." 

Eric blinked at the three of them, not fully comprehending. "Huh?" 

Juyeon wrapped an arm around his shoulders comfortingly. "Hey, don't worry too much. Chanmi will take care of you on the way there, you can trust her. And we'll be heading to the Palace tomorrow, so we'll only be apart for a day. Of course, things will be different when we get there, but..." 

"I don't want you guys to treat me like a Prince," Eric blurted out, massaging his temples with his fingers and staring at the floor, trying to ground himself. This was all too much. Way too much. He could feel himself beginning to get a headache, and when he looked up, his eyes met Chanmi's. She looked worried for a split second before she averted her gaze from his, and her face became expressionless again. 

He resisted the urge to sigh again. That girl was going to drive him crazy. 

"We'll have to treat you like a Prince, at least when there are people watching," Juyeon said gently. "Especially your..."

"Royal parents," Eric said when Juyeon trailed off awkwardly. "That's what I'm calling them. Because you guys are still my parents," he said firmly, looking at his mom and dad. "And you're still my brother," he told Juyeon. "Just because they want me back now doesn't take away all the time we spent together, right?" 

His father's face broke into a wide smile, and he leaned forward, ruffling Eric's hair affectionately. "Right," he agreed. 

"I don't want anyone to treat me like a prince," Eric whispered, leaning into Juyeon's embrace. "Everything is changing way too fast. Why do I have to leave today?" 

"You have to leave now, actually," Chanmi said, stepping forward. Her eyes were trained to the floor as she spoke. 

"I'll help you get packed," his mom whispered reassuringly, squeezing his hand. He held on tight, never wanting to let go. Never wanting to leave. 

"How am I supposed to go to a country that I've never been to and just become the prince?" Eric grumbled, standing up. "I don't even know the name. I don't know anything. I'll look like a fool." 

"I will answer all your questions on the plane," Chanmi said. She looked at his mother, her eyes taking on a hint of sympathy. "We have to leave soon, so please pack quickly."

***

A/N 

I decided to double update this week, and on Friday as everyone preferred! I'm not sure if I'll be double updating every week, but when I do it'll be on Fridays😊

Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope you're liking the story so far. If it's a little slow now, don't worry, it'll pick up and we'll get into the ✨romance✨ later on😉

This book is gonna be very long. Like, definitely over 50 chapters. And there may or may not be a book two (I'm still figuring it out) so... buckle up kiddos🚘