it was the day after you met prince jaemin, a week before the winter ball. all the maidens living in the castle were allowed to return to town, just for 24 hours, to visit their families and individually find the dress they were going to wear for the ball.
luckily, one of your close friends was a dressmaker and a seamstress who worked at one of the finest dress shops in town, so your dress was prepared way ahead of time with her help. after picking up the dress and dropping it off at your parents’ house, you spend your evening strolling around town, dreaming about the ball and your previous encounter with jaemin.
at some point, the streets become almost deserted, and the lights are dim as you exit mark’s bakery with a loaf of bread in hand. after some moments, you feel as though you are being watched.
you ignore it at first, thinking it was just you getting paranoid. but as you slightly glance to your left, you notice a figure following you in the shadows.
dropping the bread, you make a run for it. however, the mysterious figure calls out to you.
“wait!” the voice is deep, not too deep, but at a level that seems almost too familiar to you-
something hits your back with a large smack sound, causing you to trip on a loose stone on the ground and fall. groaning as you reach your hand behind your back, you realize that someone threw your loaf of bread at you.
the figure catches up to you and is by your side before you can get up and run again.
“so sorry about that, miss y/n! let me help you,” the figure extends out his hand. you look up, and there he is- na jaemin, but with soft brown hair instead of the bright pink you saw the day before.
“jaemin?! what the hell are you doing here?” you say as you take his hand.
he pulls you up. “i came to see you, obviously.”
“w- what? how did you even find me? and why so late at night? and what’s with the hair color change?”
“woah, don’t get too excited to see me.” jaemin says, chuckling.
“i’m not! i’m just surprised.”
“whatever you say, miss y/n. to answer your questions, though, i dyed my hair because the ball’s next week, and pink hair might be a little too noticeable. and i’m the prince, duh, so i had to escape at some time where not much people would be out.”
“you- wait, escape?!”
“shh, you can’t tell anyone, but i have connections with one of the guards.” he winks at you mischievously. “anyways, i was walking around for maybe 15 minutes, and then i luckily reached the bakery that that mark lee boy works at, and he told me you went this way.”
“... you talked to mark lee?”
“yes, why do you sound so surprised?”
“nothing, nothing. but… what were your first impressions of him?”
“... i mean, he’s nice... and handsome…. wait, why do you care so much?”
you grin as you playfully slap his shoulder. “you’re still jealous, aren’t you?”
“i- i’m not! he was just very handsome, that’s all.”
“you’re handsome too, you know.”
“i know, but… fine, maybe i was jealous that he got your attention so much.” he mumbles the last part.
you giggle at how cute this boy is. at the same time, you can’t believe how easily the prince gets jealous. “jaemin, trust me. mark and i are just friends. besides, he likes my friend, anyways. she made my dress for the ball next week.”
jaemin perks up at the mentioning of the winter ball. “can i see it?”
“see what?”
“your dress!”
“are you kidding me? it’s at my house.”
“so? let’s go then.”
you stare at him. “you want me to take you to my house?”
“i don’t see why not.”
“jaemin, you’re the prince. how are my parents going to react when i suddenly bring the prince to our house?”
“well… you don’t have to say it’s me. just introduce me as nana, and say i’m… i dunno, mark lee’s brother.”
“nana?”
“it’s a nickname my parents gave me,” he blushes, and you laugh.
“nana it is then. alright, let’s go.” you pick up the loaf of bread you left laying on the ground. “by the way, did you have to throw this at me?”
he smiles. “i had to get your attention somehow.”
-
as you near the front door of your house, you pull jaemin back. “i just want to warn you about my parents… especially my mom. please don’t mind if they’re a little weird.”
jaemin grins. “don’t worry. even though my parents are the king and queen, they still get a little embarrassing too sometimes.”
you nod, grateful that jaemin understands what you mean. as you begin to walk again, jaemin grabs the loaf of bread from your hands. you give him a questioning look, and he shakes his head.
“you’ll see.”
after a few seconds, you open the door to your house, letting yourself and jaemin enter before locking it again. as jaemin takes a look around, a voice calls out to you.
“y/n? is that you?” it’s your mom, who enters the room that you two were in. seeing jaemin, she gasps.
“y/n, is this the boy you were gushing about earlier? the one who you refused to name?”
you blush madly, noticing jaemin’s arched eyebrow and emerging smirk.
“yes, mom. mom, meet nana, he’s mark lee’s brother.”
“nana! pleasure to meet you!”
jaemin bows. “thank you for having me in your lovely home, miss. it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” he holds out the loaf of bread in his hands. “please take this loaf of bread as a gift, it’s from the bakery my brother works at.”
your mother graciously accepts it, raving over how “well mannered” nana was. you gape at jaemin in shock of what he did with the bread that you bought, and he just laughs. that boy….
“so, nana, how did you meet my daughter?”
“well, it started when-”
“sorry, mom, but nana and i have to get going,” you explain quickly as you drag jaemin past your mom.
“alright then… don’t do anything inappropriate, you two.”
you roll your eyes. “of course we won’t.” you push jaemin into your room and shut the door.
you turn to jaemin, a light blush on your cheeks. “sorry about my mom…. you weren’t supposed to hear that part in the beginning.”
he grins. “no problem. i’m glad i heard that part, actually.”
your face flushes even more. “let’s not talk about that,” you joke.
“but i-”
you interrupt him, pulling your dress out of your closet and holding it in front of your body. “here’s my dress!” you say.
jaemin stares in awe, as it reminds him of the angelic aura you gave off when you first met him. noticing his gaze, you frown.
“do you like it?”
“i do.” he blushes, and smiles shyly. “i think it suits you a lot.”
“thanks, jaemin.” you laugh a little, trying to clear the awkwardness in the air. “now you’ll be able to find me next week.”
he grins, and points at the dash of pink on the dress’s side. “was that supposed to match with my hair?”
“n- no! that’s a coincidence.”
jaemin laughs. “sure, sure.”
“hey, i’m serious!” you grab a pillow from off your bed and smack his head with it.
jaemin jokingly gives you a look. “you shouldn’t have gone that way, miss y/n. i have martial arts training.”
“yeah, but i’m specially trained in pillow fighting! think you can top that?”
“why don’t we see for ourselves?” jaemin grabs another pillow, holding it up and bracing himself in an attack position. within seconds, his pillow makes contact with your shoulder, and you’re lying on your bed from the blow.
you shriek with joy, and soon after you two are in a vicious battle of the pillows. after some time, when your hair is messed up, your faces are flushed, and pillow feathers scatter the room, you hear a clicking of the front door, meaning your dad has returned from wherever he was at.
you freeze, not knowing what to do. your dad was normally ok with having people over, but having boys over late at night was not necessarily something that fit under that category.
“quick,” you whisper, opening up a window in your room. “go through there.”
jaemin hesitates, pouting. “i can’t stay over for the night?”
“unfortunately, no. i think my dad would freak if he saw you here, considering it’s almost midnight.”
he nods, and after whispering a goodbye, he goes through the window.
you tidy your room a little bit, fixing things that got knocked over and kicking the pillow feathers under your bed. then, you hop into your bed, just moments before your dad knocks and opens your door.
“hi, y/n,” your dad says warmly. “i heard some noises in hear, everything ok?”
“yep! i was just getting ready for bed and got excited for some reason.”
he laughs. “i mean, the ball’s a week away. i’m sure everyone attending is just as excited as you are.”
“yeah, probably.”
he winks at you. “you know, isn’t the prince supposed to choose someone to be his partner there? wouldn’t it be amazing if he chose you? imagine that, my daughter being the next queen of the kingdom.”
you totally forgot about that part, to be honest. but more importantly, you’re surprised jaemin hasn’t mentioned that to you either. you smile nervously. “well, there’s so many others who will be competing for that title. there’s a slim chance, but of course we can hope.”
your father nods at your response. “either way, your mother and i will be glad if you at least have fun at the ball. goodnight, y/n.”
“goodnight, dad.”
he closes the door, and you close your eyes and roll over into a comfy position. however, a few minutes later, you hear a thump by your window and, seconds later, someone tucking themselves into your bed right next to you.
startled, your eyes pop open and are met with jaemin’s. you almost scream.
“jaemin, what the hell? i thought you were going back to the castle!”
“i was, but i got cold,” he says. “besides, i think i would have gotten lost if i continued walking.”
“yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can just stay here for the night!”
“why not?” he says, pouting. god, you hate when this boy pouts.
“because- what if my parents walk in here and see you? what are they going to think?”
“here, i’ll just cover myself with the blanket. like this,” he lowers himself so that only a few tufts of his hair remain on the pillow.
“is… that comfortable?”
“i mean, it’s warm, and that’s what i came for.”
“ok… but what about tomorrow though? what if someone finds out you’re not in the castle?”
“oh, they won’t. trust me.”
“... fine. well, goodnight then.” you close your eyes.
“wait!”
your eyes pop open again. “what now?”
“where’s my goodnight kiss?”
you almost choke on your own saliva. “p- pardon?”
“i’m kidding. unless you’re actually down for it. but i’m kidding. goodnight, miss y/n.” after a second, he closes his eyes.
unable to answer, you close your eyes as well, thinking about what jaemin said until you fall asleep.
-
the next morning, you wake up as the sun shines through your still open window. you wonder if jaemin left already- until you realize he’s right next to you. with your arms wrapped around him. and jaemin’s staring at you.
startled, you remove your hands and sit up immediately. jaemin chuckles.
“good morning, miss y/n. everything alright?”
“g- good morning, jaemin. um, how did we end up... like that?
“you tell me, y/n.”
you blush and look at the time. it’s a little after six, just before the kingdom starts to wake up and start their day.
“jaemin! you need to leave, quick. before the streets get too busy.”
you abruptly push him out of your bed.
“if you were awake before me, why didn’t you leave earlier?”
“i tried, but your arms kept me from going too far.” he smirked.
you rolled your eyes, pushing him towards the window. “you could’ve just forced my arms away. i wouldn’t have minded.”
“well, i’ll take note for the future then. how about a good morning kiss, though? since i didn’t get one last night?” he puckers his lips, waiting expectantly.
“jaemin, are you insane?” you can feel your face turning bright red.
“i’m kidding, y/n. you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. anyways, bye!” and with that, he’s out the window and gone.
your head feels light headed as you take all of what just happened in. you tuck yourself back into bed, smelling jaemin’s scent on the pillow, as you try to fall asleep again for another half hour or so.
but, all you can think about is that you’re a day closer to the winter ball, and that the ball will definitely have a lot in store for you and jaemin.
