Fallen Crown

Chapter 10

Two weeks had passed since Eun Sang gave her resignation letter at Mango Six. It had been her last day working as a barista and it felt strange to know she would not be going back. It had been her most stable job, the one she enjoyed best. It allowed her to forget her problems and focus on bringing a little bit of warmth and sweetness to others who had their own worries. As she opened the door to her apartment, Eun Sang wondered what it would be like to work at Zeus. She had been hired after an in depth interview for the position of "kitchen assistant" with influence from Young Do, of course.

As she stood in that small, darkened hallway the memories of their kiss filled her thoughts. Every day, at rehearsals, Eun Sang found herself anticipating his lips with startling desire as they practiced increasingly heated scenes. Though she no longer wrote thinking primarily of him, Young Do still had an intoxicating effect delivering the lines.

She could see it in his eyes as well, that he wanted her, and that he was aware she wanted him too. As Ji Eun she could allow herself to slip into the fantasy and give into what she was too weary to accept as Eun Sang.

The story had become very dark and complex. It was, in essence, inspired by all the swirling emotions which tangled her life. The aggressiveness of the scenes, the intricate connections between the characters, all of it had come from her. She had created that world and all its inner workings from scratch. Eun Sang had never thought she could be capable of writing a story by piecing together random fragments of her imagination and feelings.

That was precisely why she was so nervous. The presentation to the school board was tomorrow, after school, and she still hadn't written the ending.

She didn't know how to end it. How could she put the last period to something which had brought her so much joy to create and a sense of accomplishment she hadn't previously experienced in her life?

A part of her knew that it was fear which kept her from conjuring the last words of the script. Fear that a goal she had worked so assiduously to achieve would be rejected without fair consideration. Eun Sang was terrified that the Chairman had set a stage; that no matter what she did he would fail her nonetheless. For the first time in her life she was proud of what she had done, of what she had managed to make under pressure.

There was a sense of pride not just in what she'd written but also in how hard everyone in the broadcasting club had worked. How inspired everyone had been by her. Even Ye Sol congratulated her at the last rehearsal and offered a sincere handshake. For them, and for herself, Eun Sang wanted to succeed.

Hyo Shin told her that the Chairman would not risk tampering the results. There were many students from important, influential families involved in the game. This was exactly why Eun Sang was apprehensive. The Chairman wanted to show her what a peasant could do when allowed to step into a kingdom unworthy of her dirty feet.

Don't think like this or he will win.

Eun Sang was about to set her shoes aside when she noticed a foreign pair in her place. The familiar red moccasins stood out like rubies among rubble. Kicking off her shoes quickly, she scurried toward the living area and was perplexed that Young Do was in the kitchen arguing gently with her mother.

His brows were high as he tried to take the chopping board from her, only to have her mother smack his arm and shove him away. She dried her hands on her apron and scribbled furiously on her handy notebook: "Do you even know how to hold a knife?"

"Mother," he replied softly. "Do you know how many sharp knives I handle in the kitchen every day? Sometimes I even have to chop ingredients when it's really busy."

Her mother was unconvinced, and shook her head after just a pause of consideration. What happened next nearly made Eun Sang fall to the floor. Young Do lifted his arms, and signed, with his hands that he would 'take care of it.'