Tales Under A Cloud

07| Light and Shadow

The girls laughed over what ChengCheng was saying. Yuyan was in a corner eating corn while Yuxin and Kun were stealing glances at each other when one of them wasn't watching.

But then the prince stopped looking away and Yuxin felt so nervous under his gaze that she had to left the place. She began to wonder why she felt like this when she was with Kun, and now she thought about him most of the time.

Yuxin went to the kitchen and sat in the dining room with a glass of water. After a while Kun arrived and sat across from her.

"Yuxin" he called her with a soft tone that made her heart beat faster than usual "Could you see me after dinner? I want to show you something."

Kun didn't wait for her answer, he had to leave because Xie Na was calling him.

So when he left, Yuxin drank the glass of water and returned to the room where the small party was. She found the girls going out to the garden, except for Yuyan who was still eating another corn on the couch.

"What are you going to do?"

"ChengCheng is going to teach us how to ride a horse. Lady Fanzi won't be at the castle until tomorrow" Zuyi said as she was already happy to walk more freely in the castle without the supervision of the said woman. The others followed her enthusiastically and Yuxin stayed with Yuyan.

"Lady Fanzi never caught you when you went riding twice and with the prince" she said and Yuxin was surprised.

"How did you know?"

"Xie Na and I saw you leave the castle" Yuyan turned to see her when she finished eating the corn, and this time her tone was more serious, which scared Yuxin a bit "Do you still want to go home?"

Of course she wants to. Her parents need her and she wants to continue making designer clothes. She doesn't want to be here. But not a word comes out of her mouth. She couldn't say anything when she thought about Kun.

Why am I doubting now? She asked herself, I don't want to be here, right?

"It seems like ChengCheng has a problem with the horse" Yuyan snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked through the huge window.

The horse looked out of her state and no girl could get close to her.

"She must be scared,"Yuxin said and went out to the garden followed by Yuyan.

"Girls, I promise you this time she will let you ride,"ChengCheng commented, and tried again to calm her. He never rode BaoBaoTa before, that's why she was still backing off.

"She's scared." They turned to see Yuxin who slowly approached and patted the horse head like she always does. The horse didn't try to get away from her, which surprised ChengCheng.

"You also know how to ride horses?" he asked, and Yuxin shook her head.

"BaoBaoTa is a good girl, she is only scared"

"How do you know her name?" Zuyi asked and the other girls waited for her answer. Yuxin gulped and stopped moving her hand. She didn't even to dare look at them, she accidentally screwed up.

"I told her, because Yuxin likes horses," ChengCheng reply for her. He already knew that she and Kun rode the same horse together.

*

They had already eaten. And Yuxin headed towards Kun's office when everyone had  gone up to their respective rooms. Yuyan didn't ask Yuxin where she was going because she knew it had something to do with the prince.

"You came," he said with a wide smile after seeing Yuxin in the door. Kun was a bit worried that Yuxin wouldn't want to came, but there she was.

The two reached the rooftop in silence. As soon as Kun opened the door, the air hit their faces. The first thing Yuxin saw was the yellow lights hanging around them like fireflies, and when she looked up she found a lot of stars and the beautiful moon. Yuxin hadn't seen the moon as big and beautiful as it's now.

"I come here when I need to think. It's like a secret place."

"It's beautiful" Yuxin walked further forward with excitement, who made Kun chuckles toward her cute action "Look, from here I can see the park."

That park wasn't that far away, and it was small too. The children go there but you don't find them together at the same time because there are only two swings.

"When I become king I want to do a lot of parks and add more playground".

His father had already done so much for the kingdom over the years. Kun wanted to help too. And he was going to start that little project first. When Yuxin kept quiet, he turned to see her and found that she was watching him.

"You will be a good king" she said and her smile made Kun's heart pound so loudly, but he strangely felt at peace with her.

He had never felt this way.

I want to be closer, he thought and started to lean forward.

Kun got closer and closer to her, and the more he did it, the stronger his heartbeat was.