𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲•𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

sixteen

ANOTHER NIGHT spent in jeonghan's study. jisoo had gotten on his knees to beg, but jeonghan immediately helped him up. jisoo tried to shout at him, but jeonghan only laughed.

no more choices. only 'make him fall in love with me' which was suggested by prince chan, but jisoo definitely does not know how to do that. he avoided that choice because he was bad at romanticism and kisses and cuddles.

jisoo was awkward and confused. major turn off. jisoo thinks even of himself as unattractive.

"you failed today, jisoo. try again next time." jeonghan pushes the rim of his glasses upwards, preventing it to fall down on the table and get scratches on its lenses. "you're not making any progress."

"i'm sorry if i suck," jisoo states, making the king laugh a little. "but i will manage. i will stop you."

"how about..." jeonghan proposes, side-eyeing jisoo who sat on the other side of the room in exhaustion. "you just get ready for the war? you're making things hard."

"i know how to shoot a gun. it's not that complicated." jisoo replied, sounding a little overconfident. he shouldn't have answered like that—it sounded like he was falling into jeonghan's side. "i just... i need to fulfill the contract."

"anything for money. money. money. ah! you know what?" jeonghan leans back on his swivel chair, twirling a little as his head hung over the headrest. "they married me off to suhae for money. we had no choice. we did not want money, but we needed to follow what our parents say. do you know how frustrating that is? we already have a lot, but they want more and they're sacrificing us for their selfish needs.

"suhae died because of her greedy and jealous sister. my biological father was poisoned in a dinner in grazia. my step-father faced the same fate as my mother, who visited grazia, and got assassinated. though, unlike mother, he wasn't brought here half alive only so i can watch his death right before my eyes. you, hong jisoo, are as bad as grazia's people."

me? as bad as people who murdered? what did jisoo do? he just wanted money for a better life! for better equipment, for a more comfortable life for him and his parents who are getting even older and weaker by the minute! does jeonghan hear what he is saying? does jeonghan even know why jisoo wants money? jisoo thought rich people can buy information for research. maybe jeonghan doesn't like research so he's making these annoying assumptions.

"no. i am not as bad as them." jisoo simply replied, looking out the window to observe the moon instead of jeonghan's expressions. "i don't use my money to gain more unnecessary money."

"pardon, hong jisoo-ssi, but if you were in my place, what would you do?" jeonghan stood up abruptly, making an unsatisfactory set of rustling and shuffling. jisoo turns his head to look back at jeonghan. "if you're so good, then what would you do? with the pain, with the anger?"

"definitely not take it out on innocent people," jisoo slowly stood up, sighing to ease his anger. "not like someone else in this room."

"hong jisoo-ssi!" jeonghan kicks the swivel chair behind him, making it tremble. the wrathful king walks closer to jisoo—but jeonghan doesn't stand less than a meter close to him. "i asked you what you would do. turns out you have no idea. i was wrong. you're not a wonderful person after all."

"after i fucking took you inside my car and almost got arrested? what if i hadn't noticed you and you would've gotten ran over, or left to die on the side of the road trying to hitchhike? you, your highness, are selfish. it may not involve money, but i can still say it nonetheless. you want everything to be about you. others have lives to—"

"and it's not there for you to interfere in!" jeonghan was close to yelling, but he held himself back in case the gossipy maids were around. "you're sticking your nose in my life for money! isn't that both desperate and selfish?! what will happen to your two other friends who're trying to—"

"HEY! do you even know why i want money, huh? no, right? it's far from selfish, your majesty!" jisoo cuts the king off, turning around to leave without being dismissed. he is indirectly asking for a life sentence in jail. "besides, even if you knew, you wouldn't understand because you have the whole world at your hand."

"yes, i wouldn't. i would never, ever, be like you or like the people from grazia. you are the people who deserve to rot in a jail cell while you daydream all day about money." jeonghan says, turning around to go back to his table as well.

as the door shuts loudly, jeonghan's eyeglasses slides down his nose and falls to the floor.

"sir, it's 11:42. you have missed breakfast."

"i.... can i request for leftovers?"

"hong jisoo-ssi," the voice of prince jihoon made jisoo' spirit awake. immediately, jisoo rises from the bed and pulls the covers so his bloated face could be seen by both the prince and mingyu. "eating leftovers is not advisable. please ask the cooks to prepare him 4 course meal. brunch."

"understood, prince jihoon." mingyu performs a 90° bow, before he turned around and left jisoo alone with jihoon.

"am i getting evicted?"

jihoon chuckled. "no. i wanted to commend you for your braveness. you were able to cut off the king, and yell back at him. almost like you're in a higher position than my brother." the prince says, setting a hand on the shoulder of a nervous joshua.

"that's a... good thing?" jisoo asks, confused. jihoon nods while laughing. "well, thank you, your highness. i am still upset with him though."

"don't worry. he gave you an extra day because he's going to be gone later this afternoon until tomorrow, right? you can vent it all out today. want to play monopoly with the lee princes later today?" jihoon gives jisoo a half smile, which felt rather reassuring.

"sure! are you allowed to play monopoly, though?"