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

Chapter 4

Eun Chae groaned when the maid came to wake her up, "Please your highness, the Queen Mother wants to see you for breakfast."

"Ehh, come on mom, five more minutes!" Eun Chae murmured.

Bae was watching and rolled his eyes, "Allow me," he walked in and tossed a glass of water in her face, "Get up you lazy woman."

Eun Chae shot up and sputtered, "You-! Why I'm going to-!" she lunged at Bae and proceeded to bite his ear, "Get some manners!"

"Ow! Get off of me you freak!" Bae shouted as he tried to push Eun Chae off of him, "Since when do girls bite ears?"

'Since me you arrogant twit!" Eun Chae replied as she stood defiantly up, "Now get out of here before I kill you and devour your corpse!"

~~~

Eun Chae emerged to eat breakfast about 15 minutes later, a white and pink polka-dotted sundress with white flats as her attire. The Queen mother smiled at her, "Good morning, Eun Chae. I take it you've been sleeping  well this week."

"Hei Mama/Yes your highness," Eun Chae replied in proper court language, "the beds are very comfortable."

Mother motioned her to sit in a seat across from Bae. Bae looked at her and made a face and Eun Chae stuck her tongue out at him as she sat down. The attendants brought out breakfast of boiled eggs and very expensive sasuage. The ate in silence and the Queen, also in attendance, coughed and spoke, "The maids said you two got in a fight earlier..."

"He tossed water in my face!"

"She bit me!"

"After you tossed a glass of cold water in my face!"

"You weren't waking up!"

The Queen turned in exasperation to Mother, "What do we do?"

"They're already bickering like a married couple; we're making progress," Mother nodded in satisfaction, "They'll get over this soon."

"Mama, honestly?" The Queen looked at Mother in shock.

Il Sung walked in, his dark hair combed neatly and a smile was on his face, "Good morning, Mama; What's for..." his question trailed off as he saw Eun Chae stabbing Bae with a fork while Bae had a fist full of Eun Chae's hair, "...breakfast...."

"Eggs and sasuage, dear," Mother motioned him to the seat next to Eun Chae where there was a plate for him.

Il sung inched past the third World War going on between the newly-weds and watched them go at it as he ate, "What's this about, anyway?"

Min Jung walked into the room, but quickly left when she saw her brother and Eun Chae fighting, "Eek! My brother and my sister-in-law are trying to kill each other!" 

After Min Jung left, Eun Chae stopped stabbing at Bae, "Look, let go of my hair, and I won't take this fork and lodge to in your throat."

Bae released her hair, "Fine, only because I want my sister to dine with us."

Min Jung reentered almost exactly afterwards and sat next to Bae, "See, isn't this a lot nicer?"

Il Sung nodded, "I feel safer now," he looked sympathetically at Eun Chae as she massaged her scalp, "That looked like it hurt."

"No, really?" Eun Chae muttered sarcastically as she tried to fix her hair, "Aw man... now i need to go fix it again. Bae, I hate you."

"Feeling is mutual," Bae replied flatly as Min Jung smacked his shoulder.

"Brother, she is the lady. You need to take her shopping to make up being so rude," Min Jung scolded but her eyes twinkled mischeiviously as she looked at Eun Chae, "Besides, she's still getting used to the way we do things; you mustn't be too hard on her."

Il Sung nodded, "Yes, you need to shower her with gifts and help her adjust, you know."

"I gave up my hot girlfriend for this clumsy twit," Bae muttered frankly.

Eun Chae narrowed her eyes, "Oi, I heard that! I gave up my home, friends, and lifestyle for you, you selfish, conceited, arrogant, rude loser!" she shot back.

Min Jung's eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the two. She puckered her lips and looked at her plate, "Oh boy..."

"You think you've got it bad? I wanted to be a baker, a perfectly awesome baker and head of a bakery! I wanted to spread joy through breads, cakes, cookies. I wanted to graduate a normal high school with my friends, go to a college, marry a NICE guy, have 2 kids, run a bakery, and grow old with a guy I loved! You're upset because you lost your GIRLFRIEND? I can't even visit my family, buddy! Think before you speak you boorish Clout!" Eun Chae shouted and stormed out of the room, leaving Bae in a state of shock.

"Ooh," Min Jung winced, "that was nasty."

"Um... I think I'm done eating now..." Il Sung pushed his plate aside and inched out of the room.

~~

Eun Chae was sitting on the edge of the fish pond in the garden. Annoyed, she sighed, "Fish, you get it easy. Nothing eats you, you get fed well, and you get to do whatever you want."

Il Sung came and sat beside her, "Hi."

"Yo," Eun Chae sighed, "What is it?"

"Just give Bae a little time; try to do things with him, you know? Go out places, like out to lunch or shopping. You two can make this work, I'm positive."

Eun Chae tried to smile, "Pfft, you have more faith than I do... I've tried, but he won't come with me anywhere. I always ask 'Hey, want to come to the mall with me?' and he'll look at me like I'm crazy and not anwser."

Il Sung thought for a few moments, then smiled, "Well, make him come with you."

~~

Eun Chae had grabbed her purse and was heading out as she bumped into Bae, "Oh, hey. I'm going to go to the mall and you're coming with me."

Bae just stared at her, "No I'm not."

"Do you want me to tell the Queen and Queen Mother that you're being mean to me? I'm sure they'll make us do something even worse than go to the mall..." Eun Chae went to pass him and Bae groaned.

"Fine, let me get my wallet and coat," Bae grumbled, "Only because I don't want another bonding session with you."

As she waited in the car, Eun Chae silently mouthed 'Yes!' and fist-pumped the air.

Once at the mall, Eun Chae couldn't decide what store to go to first. She decided on one selling a bunch of cute dresses and skirts, knowing Bae had no choice but to follow her. She oogled over them all and decided on a white one with pink lace trim, "Ooh! I like this one!" she plucked it off of the shelf and proceeded to try it on, modeling it for Bae, "Well? Do you like it?"

Bae was uninterested but gave fairly honest feedback, "Well, it is kind of cute. You need different shoes and a different shirt."

Before long, Eun Chae had four bags of clothes and was fairly proud of her minor progress with Bae. She looked at him, "Now we take you shopping since you put up with my stuff."

Bae gave her a funny look, "Me? What would I want from here?"

Eun Chae raised an eyebrow, "Okay, you need to go to the men's department with me and we're getting you a casual wardrobe ASAP."

As they browsed, she found things that Bae actually liked and claimed he'd wear. Once they were done, Bae turned to Eun Chae, "Why did you do that for me after how I treated you today?"

Eun Chae shrugged, "I figured we just needed to get to know one another."

There was a long pause until they reached the car. Once they were well on their way home, Bae turned to her, "Thanks, Eun Chae."

Eun Chae looked over at him, "Oh my god, you actually know my name! Divine intervention does exsist!"

Bae rolled his eyes, "Consider us on neutral terms now."