Since When Was I Engaged?! {A Korean not-so-Cinderella story}

Episode 3

Eun Chae's next few days were horrible; she barely ate, slept, or did anything other than sit and stare at her wall for hours and talk to Lewis, "Lewis... how did this happen? I'm just your average girl...your average so-not-a-princess teenager..." Lewis' clear black eyes stared back at her, as though it was waiting to hear more, "What am I supposed to do? How do I act? M-maybe they'll realize how utterly hopeless I am and say I don't have to marry him...Oh, you're right! The chances of that are slim to none; in easier terms, I'm screwed!" she clutched Lewis to her chest and flung herself onto the bed and let out a groan.

Her mother knocked twice on the door, "Eun Chae, can I come in?" after Eun Chae gave no response, she came in anyway and sat at the edge of her bed, "Eun Chae, come on now. This can't be all that bad."

"Yes it can!" Eun Chae's muffled voice came from underneath her pillow that buried her head.

"Eun Chae, look on the bright side; you'll be a princess!" her mother coaxed, "You'll get to live in the palace, have fancy food and clothes, and you get to marry a prince! Look at the positives."

Eun Chae pulled her head out from under her pillow, "Mom, I don't even like this guy! I don't know his mom and dad, let alone any royalty of the sort. Plus, he's got a girlfriend who will rip out my bones, crack them, and use them for toothpicks if she gets her hands on me after this! I can't see any good coming out of this, ok!? We'll kill each other before they can divorce us!"

Her mother nodded and rubbed her back sympathetically, "I understand, sweetie... but we have no control over any of it even though you are OUR daughter. The Queen Mother has already made arrangements to meet you-"

Eun Chae gaped, "Already!? Holy Jesus Christ Super-"

"Enough of doing that already!" her mother snapped, "It's disrespectful. Now, listen, I bought you a new dress for the occasion, just do put your hair up. Please, it's all I'm really asking of you."

Her mother left after a nod of affirmation and Eun Chae dreaded having to go to school the next day, wondering what Bae would say to her about the whole thing, if his parents had even told him anything. She chided herself on that thought: why wouldn't they have said anything? She looked at Lewis, "Oh Lewis, when I wished for a prince I wasn't wanting THAT guy."

~~~

The next day came about too fast. Eun Chae rode her bike to school as slowly as she could, hoping she get lucky and miss prince 'Jerk-Face' altogether. However, it was one of those days when nothing seems to go right; as soon as she walked into the building, who came striding up but the man himself and he was clearly not happy. Grabbing her by the ear, he pulled her off into another corridor and turned to her, "What in the name of god did you say to your parents, or mine, better yet?"

"I, Mr. Jerk, said nothing but scorn to mine and how in the name of god would I speak to the queen of all women? Get serious, Bae," Eun Chae rubbed her sore ear, "I'm just as unhappy as you are!"

"So you didn't say a word?" Bae asked, raising an eyebrow.

Eun Chae narrowed her eyes, "I said nothing, didn't you hear me, you twit? Do you think I WANT to get married to you? I just got home, told them I argued with you, then they sat me down and gave me 'The Talk', I spazzed out and cried for twenty minutes without cease," she nodded matter-of-factly.

Bae nodded, "I see...ugh, What will I tell Jae Hwa?"

Eun Chae winced; if anybody was Mrs. Perfect, it was captain of the dance Team Jae Hwa Jeok. Nobody in the history of girldom was a perfect as Jae Hwa was and she was certainly a better match for Bae than Eun Chae. To add to it, if anyone could destroy your morale, it was Jae Hwa; that's just how popular girls are. Jae Hwa was Bae's girlfriend and she made sure everyone knew about it, too. She looked up at Bae, who was biting his lower lip in frustration, "Um, hey, I don't normally ask for favors from people I barely know, but could you do me a favor and tell her I didn't agree to it either? I really don't want to die...so, please?"