Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 19 ~

Eric was furious with Chanmi. 

But that was no surprise. For a week now he'd been going back and forth between furious and sad. Angry and heartbroken. 

Because she continued to treat him the way she was probably supposed to... like a Prince. 

And now he finally understood why. 

As they left the interview room, understanding came to him in full force, and in the back of his mind, he had to admit that what she'd done had probably been for the best. They'd acted the way they were supposed to during that interview, like a Prince and his guard. If they'd acted the way they usually did, as friends, he could have gotten her into a lot of trouble. 

But still, why couldn't she have told him? If she'd told him, he would have listened. Probably. But why didn't she even try. 

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he walked through the hallways in stormy silence, listening to the sound of her shoes behind him. In the distance he saw a door, and though he didn't know where it led, he made a decision. He decided that he wasn't going to wait any longer for an explanation, and he sped up his pace, hearing her footsteps speed up as well. 

When they reached the door he used one of his hands to yank it open, while using the other hand to link with hers and pull her into the room with him. 

As the door closed behind them and he walked face-first into a broom, he realized that it really wasn't a room, but a closet. Not that it really mattered to him, because he didn't need a lot of space. He just wanted privacy, and he didn't want to get caught. 

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, alarm in her voice. 

"Oh, so you're speaking comfortably to me again? No more 'Your Highness'?" he growled, barely containing his anger. 

She glared back at him, and they were so close that he could smell the faint, sweet scent of her perfume. It washed over him and threatened to distract him from his anger. 

"Look, Eric," she started. 

"No," he snapped. "I get it now. I get that you didn't want to screw up the interview, right?" he asked, and she nodded in confirmation. "I can understand that," he continued. "But what I can't understand is why you didn't tell me anything. You just let me be hurt. You hurt me," he said angrily. "Really Chanmi, what do you think of me? Do you think I'm a child who wouldn't have understood something like that? Do you think less of me because I'm younger and because you're the one protecting me and I can't do anything to protect you in return? Really, what do you think of me?" 

She blinked a few times, but whether she was blinking back tears or just trying to figure out how to respond, he couldn't be sure. It was too dark. 

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "For knowing that I would be hurting you and going ahead anyway, I'm sorry."

Eric sighed, unable to stay mad at her. He reached forward, wrapping her arms around her, pulling her to his chest. He felt her hesitate for a second before leaning into his embrace, not hugging him back but at least not pulling away. 

In the week that she didn't talk to him, he'd felt his feelings for her slowly intensify. They shouldn't have, because they hadn't been on good terms. But somehow, the heartache he'd felt had allowed him to see things more clearly. 

He closed his eyes, hugging her tightly. He liked her, he really did. And he was so, so scared.