Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 21 ~

"I want you to go horseback riding with me."  

Chanmi stared at Eric for a long moment, trying to process what he'd just said. "What?" she finally said. "It's 8 AM. I just came in. Your bed isn't even made and you haven't eaten. And you want me to do what?" 

"Do you not know how to ride?" Eric asked, ignoring all of her words as he got up to make sure his room door was locked. 

"Of course I know how to ride," she sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "That's not the point. You know I'm not allowed to ride with you." 

"I don't like that," he mumbled, starting to fix his bed. She liked that about him. As soon as he'd arrived in the Palace, he'd refused maids and butlers. He was used to doing things for himself, and he liked it that way. Plus, he claimed that he was a very neat person, and would be hard and annoying to please. She wasn't sure about how hard he'd be to please, but he was right about the neat part. He was very neat all on his own. Even on days when his schedule was packed with meetings and classes, he kept his room neat. 

"When I'm King, I'll change those stupid rules," he said, finishing the last touches on his bed and turning around to wink at her. 

"Well you're not King yet, so the rule still stands," she teased, moving to sit with him at the table as he began to eat his breakfast from the tray that was set out for him every morning. 

"You want some?" Eric asked her, as he did every morning. And she declined, as she did every morning. There were some lines that she wouldn't cross. Like sharing breakfast with him. The Palace gave her breakfast, and she'd already eaten. Maybe it wasn't as fancy as his, but she was satisfied. 

There were some lines that she wouldn't cross, but lately, Eric was making it harder to distinguish those lines. They kept becoming blurry, and while she became increasingly worried about their ability to hide their forbidden friendship, she also didn't want to stop. And that was a problem. 

Another problem? She secretly did want to go horseback riding with Eric. She liked horses, and she liked riding but hadn't been able to actually ride in forever. She'd learned it as part of her training, but after that, she hadn't had the chance to actually practice. Riding for fun? Never. 

She liked being with Eric. He was kind and funny and easy to be around, and she liked spending time with him. She had to admit, going riding with him did sound fun. It sounded amazing. But she knew she couldn't do it. 

"What are you thinking so hard about?" he asked, his voice playful. "Are you reconsidering my offer?" 

"It's hardly an offer when you have no power to actually make it happen," she teased back. 

His eyes took on a mischievous glint as he shoved a bite of pancake into his mouth. "We'll see about that," he said after swallowing his bite. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, suddenly becoming suspicious. "Don't you dare do anything crazy that might cost me my job." 

Eric rolled his eyes at her. "There you go again. Really, would I ever do anything crazy?" 

"Yes," she said, without hesitation. 

He made a face at her, laughter sparkling in his eyes. "Okay, maybe you're right. But seriously, you know I'd never do anything to put your job at risk. Trust me. I have a plan." 

"That... worries me," she admitted, half-joking. "But I suppose I'll have to trust you this time," she said, sighing dramatically. 

Eric grinned at her, getting up. "Good. Then follow me."

She got up, rushing after him. He was walking really fast, almost running. "Wait up!" she called after him, following him out of the door. It only took her a few minutes to realize where he was heading, and it almost gave us a heart attack. "Eric, are you insane?" she whispered, grabbing onto his arm to pull him back. "You're not going to your parent's office, are you? Please tell me that's not where you're going." 

He gently extracted his arm from her grip, gave her a smile, and then turned and started running away. 

"You little-" she whispered, shaking her head and sprinting after him. 

Sure enough, he barged into his parent's room, and she quickly composed herself before walking in behind him. She felt herself go into professional mode, her eyes trained to the floor, her face becoming a stone mask. 

"I have a request," Eric said to his parents, his royal parents, his voice now in Prince mode. 

"Go ahead," his mother said, barely looking at him. Both of his parents were more focused on the stacks of papers on the desk, and Chanmi fought down the sudden surge of anger. Eric had been at the Palace for almost a month now, and they still hadn't made adequate time for him. Even worse, the parents who raised him hadn't been able to visit Eric, and Juyeon's face went dark and he refused to answer anything regarding them. Every day it became more apparent how little the King and Queen cared about their son. 

She sensed that Eric knew all these things too and that he was hurt. She wanted to bring it up, to try and comfort him but was scared to. She was scared of talking about personal things. She was scared of getting too close. 

"I had a nightmare," Eric lied. "A nightmare where I got hurt because my guard was too far away to protect me. I want to go riding but... can we break the rules? Can my guard ride with me? I'd feel a lot safer that way." 

Chanmi had to stop herself from laughing. That boy was a great actor. 

"Sure," the King said, waving away his son's question. "It's a stupid rule anyway. Go, do whatever you want."