In the Middle of the Night [BANG CHAN FF] ✔️

18. Anniversary

Meetings and negotiations with various people involved in the project of building the school for the poor went well. Some situations were a struggle for princess Yona, as she made all decisions on her own, but having Bang Chan behind her helped. Whenever she felt uneasy, she would turn to him and his short nod would reassure her, give her confidence, and put the smile back on her face. And Chan was also very proud of the princess: she carried a big obligation on her shoulders but her wise words and clever interpretations made all of the meetings end on a positive note.

Yona was busy every day in September; not only did she have meetings regarding the new school, but she also had to prepare for the new school year in college before October 1st. She will start her senior year and with that in place, there were a lot more responsibilities for her. But, again, having the right person by her side pulled her out of the dark depressing state of mind every time.

"So, is the princess coming tonight?" Han asked while polishing the plates. He stood next to Bang Chan who had the same task.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her the whole day. It's Monday and the first day of her new school year. She probably has a lot of things to do so I can't guarantee that she'll come," Chan explained, putting the dry plate on the stack.

"Well... did you invite her?" Hyunjin, who stood on Chan's left side, also drying off the dishes, asked. At that moment Bang Chan felt as if he was being interrogated, stuck between two men, and feeling their piercing gazes.

Chan took a moment before answering as he knew that his answer would cause chaos. "No," he said shortly, prepared for backlash. His two friends started yelling in a union, their shouts and words overlapping, difficult to understand. Chan gripped the cloth in his hands and the two saw that, silencing immediately, "Please, calm down..." Chan said, the words directed both to him and his friends, "No, I didn't invite her. Yes, we talked about this day a few times, I told her that there might be a celebration dinner but I never invited her directly. After all, it would be unnatural for a princess to hang out with a bunch of men..."

Finishing his sentence, Chan felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked to his right at Han, "Chan..." Han closed his eyes and shook his head, "Sometimes you have to look over your pride and be straightforward."

"I agree," Hyujin nodded. A bunch of wet plates still waited for them.

"And besides..." Han took another pause but moved away from Bang Chan and put on his whining face and voice, "I thought we were all friends with the princess!" he fake-cried, "She was so sweet and chatty on her birthday. She took the time to talk to each one of us; chatting with Seungmin the longest, oddly enough..."

"As I said, it's the beginning of the school year so Her Highness is probably very busy with schoolwork. Let's just drop this topic, alright?" as much as he wanted her to be present, Chan had to face the reality.