Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 12 ~

"Here's your room," Chanmi said, opening the door and leading Eric in. His new room was probably larger than the house he'd been living in his whole life, but he didn't seem at all impressed. In fact, he hadn't been showing any emotions since the airport incident. 

He kept his gaze on the floor and hadn't said a word since, only communicating by shaking his head or nodding. 

She set down his suitcases next to his bed. "So I'll just... go..." she said awkwardly, not sure of what else to say or do. "I'll let you get settled in. If you need me, press the blue button," she said, pointing to the two buttons on the nightstand. "If there's an emergency, press the red one," she said, starting to leave the room.  

"Chanmi," he whispered, the first words coming out of his mouth since the airport. 

"Yes?" 

"Can't you stay with me?" he asked softly, not looking at her. "I don't want to be alone." 

She hesitated for a moment, knowing that she wasn't really supposed to hang out with him in his room unless it was an emergency. "Is it... an order?" 

"I don't want it to be," he said, barely audible. "I'm just asking. As a friend. You can... you can say no," he whispered, his voice almost breaking. 

Chanmi closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in there. "If anyone comes in here, you ordered me to stay with you. Got it?" 

Eric finally met her gaze, a small smile coming to his face. "So, you're staying?" 

She sighed. "Of course I am. How could I leave you when you look so sad? Plus, I promised Juyeon that I'll take care of you." 

His smile widened a little, though his eyes still held a lot of sadness and newfound stress. "Are you guys close friends?" he asked, walking over to sit on the sofa. He patted the spot next to him, urging her to come to sit too. This time she didn't hesitate. She didn't even bother arguing with him, she just walked over. 

"He's my best friend," she answered, sitting beside him. "He talks about you often... he really adores you, you know?" 

Eric gave her that silly little smile of his, and her heart melted a little. "I know," he whispered. 

"He'll be here tomorrow," she assured him, hating to see the sadness that lingered in his eyes. "Go to sleep, and when you wake up he'll be here." 

"Chanmi," he whispered again, reaching out and grabbing onto the sleeve of her blazer, which she'd gotten back after they'd exited the airport. He held on tight as if afraid she was going to get up and leave him. 

"You alright?"

Eric shook his head. "No," he said softly. "It just hit me, you know. Really hit me. At the airport... I realized that my life really changed and that I'll never get my old one back." 

She felt her heart breaking for him, but forced a smile. "Hey, don't be sad. I bet there are thousands of people who wish they could be a prince or a princess," she teased. 

He gave her a small smile, acknowledging her attempt to cheer him up. 

"Plus, there are a lot of upsides!" she said brightly, but it sounded fake, even to her. "The palace can be really fun. You can do a lot of activities. Do you know how to do horseback riding? We have a professional, the best of the best, at the palace. He can teach you. What about archery? We have people good at that too. You can learn to do so many things! And the palace food is amazing. Trust me, you'll love it. It's superior to everything else-" 

"But I'll miss my mom's cooking," he said, his voice small and sad. "My mom... the mom that raised me. Who fed me every night and stayed up with me when I was sick and tucked me into bed when I was little, and even now she still would sometimes. Maybe I'll have a lot of cool things, but I won't have my family anymore. We can only be close in secret, because they're my employees now, aren't they? Maybe I can learn to do a lot of things, but what use is it? I won't have family, and I won't have friends. You don't even want to be my friend."

"It's not that I don't want to be your friend," she said after a moment. "But it's dangerous. And it'll put my job at stake. You can understand that, can't you?" 

"Whatever," he grumped, crossing his arms. She pretended not to notice the tears falling down his cheeks. "You can leave now." 

"I can't," she told him. "You're sad." 

Eric laughed humorlessly. "You're not my friend. Why should you care whether or not I'm sad." 

Chanmi stood up, crossing her arms too and glaring at him, finally losing her temper. "I told you it's not that I don't want to be your friend," she snapped. "But do you understand the job I have? So, what if we become friends? Then you wouldn't want me to get hurt, right? My job requires me to put my life on the line to protect you. What if you try to stop me from doing that? Worse, what if you try to protect me from getting hurt? What if you end up getting hurt? What if you end up dying? What then?!" she shouted, turning around and starting to walk away. 

She heard his footsteps behind her and quickened her pace. 

But he caught up and grabbed her hand, spinning her around to face him and pulling her into his arms. 

"What are you doing right now?" she squeaked in surprise. 

"I didn't think about any of that," he whispered into her hair. "But still... can't you let me be selfish? Can't you be my friend? Why don't we worry about those problems whenever they arise?" 

"Let me go," she hissed, ignoring his questions. "If someone walks in I'm doomed." 

"I'll take responsibility," he insisted. "Now... please? Friends?" 

"No," she snapped. "Let go of me." 

"Call me Eric," he said. "Call me Eric, as if we were friends. Then I'll let you go." 

Chanmi knew that she could get out of his grip easily. After all, she was trained, and he wasn't. But she didn't want to use force and risk hurting him. He'd been hurt enough for one day. 

She sighed, giving in. "Eric... let go of me," she mumbled. 

He stopped hugging her, instead moving his hands to hold onto hers, and he gave her that adorable smile of his. 

Chanmi raised her eyebrows at him, pulling her hands away from his. 

"How's your arm? Want me to bring you more medicine for it? Do you need me to change the bandage?" 

A triumphant smile spread across his face, chasing away the sadness in his eyes. "You care," he pointed out. "You care about me. You are my friend." 

She gave him a small smile in return. "Of course I care," she said, her voice teasing. "Just a little bit, that's all."