HIS PRINCESS | K.TH

Stakes Growing Higher

AERI

The wind is a cool spring breeze against my face. It has a slight fragrance of the flowers, and I breathe it in slowly as I close my eyes. I can almost hear the blade of grass whistle against each other, under my feet.

I'm alone. No one else is here, and I shift up from the park bench with a quiet sigh.

Rin had been gone since an hour ago, to where V stayed with his friends. She'd been so excited that I could almost see the bright beam of her gaze.

My eyes wander.

And this wasn't too bad— this quiet peace.

This gentle ambience. I hadn't felt this way in a long time— and if I had, it had been too long that I'd forgotten what it'd felt like. My adolescence had been too unforgiving for moments like these.

My gaze catches on a bloom of dark violet florets against the grass.

And I reach down, about to pick one when a hand wraps around my wrist.

My head jerks up.

...Baekhan?

His deep amber eyes are fixed on the dark blooms of violet flowers. Strangely, there's a plastic bag between his fingertips. In the bag, I glimpse an entire clump of these flowers— pulled up by the roots.

Baekhan lets me go. Then he gathers the entire patch of flowers, tossing them into the bag.

I stare at him, wondering what in the world is happening as he drops down onto the bench next to me with a deep sigh.

He raises the bag, meeting my eyes.

"They're toxic."

"...the flowers?"

He nods, running his fingers through his light hair. "The bulbs on the top. If you accidentally pop it and the stuff inside gets on your skin, it can cause some really bad burns."

I blink slowly, looking out to see several patches of these flowers, all over the wide, grassy clearing.

"Then why are they here? The government—"

"I've asked so many times already, because of the children." He mumbles, his brows furrowing with anger. "But they won't do anything. They've only gotten these signs up and no one ever sees them."

He waves at a small, white sign that I hadn't seen earlier. It has a picture of the flower, with a thick red line marking it dangerous.

Huh.

I stifle a bitter laugh.

So some aspects of the Skygrounds were more similar to the Underground than I thought.

He tilts his head, lowering himself to meet my eyes. The soft gold of the sunlight swaths half of his face, making his amber gaze glow.

"And you, Noona?"

"What are you doing here?"

An amused expression spreads on my features as he edges closer. And I can tell, that he's just completely fallen for me. The look in his eyes was just unmistakable.

And I feel a twinge of guilt as V's wintry voice echoes through my mind.

Don't play with him, Aeri.

My hands tighten in annoyance.

But he really just made me want to go against everything he said, didn't he?