ROYALS ; zerobaseone

[ TWENTY ]

K.YH, 3P

IT'S the day. the day of the ball.

yunhee was sat in her usual spot at the dining table, grinning at minjun across the table.

"I'm so excited! I love the events after the meetings, so much." she grinned to the ice prince.

"we better have a dance together tonight. if we don't, we're not best friends anymore." minjun replied.

"you say that every time theres a dance but you two always make sure you had a dance together." eunkyung replied, rolling her eyes. "you keep on taking yunhee from me whenever you dance with her!" the hwang complained. she was sat beside yunhee, yoonjae on the other side.

"since this is your first ball with us, and hopefully not the last, basically, yunhee likes to make sure that she has at least one dance with us. shes the type of princess that's on the dance floor for almost the whole thing since shes dancing with everyone." jiho explained to the nine princes.

"she always complains that her feet hurt after but she refuses to sit down and rest until she's danced with all of us and her friends." hae-eun sighed, shaking her head at the younger.

"of course I have to dance with everyone! I cant just leave someone out because that would make me feel bad." yunhee defended herself. "I'll make sure to dance with all of you as well before the ball ends." she adds, looking at the zerobase princes and giving them a wink.

[_]

later that evening, yunhee was in the middle of dancing with ricky. his platinum blonde hair gave him away. the white, black, and gold mask he was wearing just confirmed that it was him and not some other blonde prince.

when the dance ended, he dipped her which made the two break out into a small fit of quiet laughter. oh his laugh, it was music to her ears. his smile, oh my.

"it was nice dancing with you, princess." ricky told her, his voice smooth. he bowed and kissed her gloved hand, making her smile.

"it was a pleasure to dance with you, my prince." she replied, curtseying and bowing her head at him.

"yunhee, you need to try these cupcakes." eunkyung whispered to her, appearing behind the taller princess. yunhee turned around and came to face eunkyung, who was holding a mini plate with desserts on it. they were for the two of them.

"you know I can barely eat with this corset, eunkyung." she whispered back, allowing herself to get by dragged by the shorter princess to sit at an empty table.

[_]

after the last dance, yoonjae swept her away to stargaze at a balcony, just like he said last night.

"it's so beautiful." yunhee breathed out, leaning on the hard and cold balcony railing as she stared up at the night sky.

the stars were bright and the moon shone down on the two. the white light beaming down on yunhee made her look like she was sparkling, her light pink dress and mask sparkling with her.

"not as beautiful as you." yoonjae smiled at her, making her giggle a bit.

"stop it." she giggled, nudging his arm.

"I'm not lying, princess. you look fucking gorgeous in the moonlight, my love." he said, stepping closer to her.

"okay okay, sure. you look amazing, by the way." she smiled, rolling her eyes playfully at him.

"I know." he replied cockily, making her scoff with a chuckle. "thank you, yunhee."

"of course, yoonjae. I cant lie at a time like this." she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I wish every night could be like this. just the stars, the moon, us, and peace. if we weren't so special to people, maybe we could have a life like this." she sighed after.

he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. "I wish the same thing sometimes. I always wonder what people who live a quiet life do and why I can't do it too. we were both put into the spotlight as soon as we were born and I'm getting tired of it. that's why I asked if you wanted to run away with me last time."

"you know, that night I actually did really want to run away with you. I was thinking it over and almost became a runaway princess." she chuckled, getting a chuckle from him as well.

"the offer is still on the table, if you want." he half-joked.

"and it might happen if this princess shit gets worse. I'll let you know immediately, as usual." another chuckle from yunhee, following a small yawn.

"I hope the ball ends soon so we can sleep. I can tell you're getting tired." yoonjae smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"me too. I really need sleep right now, today was just so tiring." she agreed, smiling up at him.