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The day with the princess was a disaster. She was nice, yes. A little too nice for Mingyu's liking. His crown and status was clearly all she cared about.
However, his mother didn't stop there. The next day, two more girls came by. Both at different times. They were too bland. Too… perfectly princessy for him. So, the day after that, three more princesses came.
"Well?" His mother asked him, as the third girl left.
Mingyu rolled his eyes, putting his phone down. He had been reading the news. Some boring article about rumors of him trying to find a wife. But he was still the most eligible bachelor in Pledis.
"No mother, they were boring."
His mother sighed "Prince Kim Mingyu, if you keep turning girls down like this, we'll run out. They were pretty, right?"
He shrugged, "Sure, I guess. But what else? If I’m to marry someone I want them to be interesting, to have conversations with me, worthy of my time. Just… interesting at all."
"Mingyu, please. You haven't even given them a fair chance."
Mingyu hung his head back dramatically "They don't care at all. All they care about is that I'm a crown prince."
“Still darling, they’re good people. They could offer a lot for our country.”
He shook his head and got up off the couch he had been sitting on.
“Where are you going?” his mother asked, confused.
“I need some air. I’m going for a ride.”
Mingyu rode his horse all the way to the edge of the forest. He wasn't allowed to go in, get to the deep part of the forest and you'd get lost. It had happened to the best. Prince Soonyoung had joked about it once, went in a little, laughing loudly as prince Mingyu was in a slight panic, before coming out again. It hadn't nearly been as funny as Soonyoung had thought it was.
But there had always been something about the mysterious forest that attracted Mingyu. And, sure enough, whenever he'd go on a ride, he'd end up at the edge of the forest.
But it was getting dark, and therefore time to head home. He turned his horse around and saw something in the distance. It startled his horse, making it wild, turning around and running into the forest.
Mingyu couldn't stop him, whatever he tried, the horse kept going. Mingyu panicked more and more as the forest kept getting thicker. Trying to get his horse to turn around and go back.
There was a low hanging tree branch Mingyu didn't see. He bumped his head against it and everything went black.
Slowly Mingyu started coming back to consciousness. It was strange, his head hurt but not as badly as it should have, considering what happened. He heard someone gasp, probably noticing he was waking up, and footsteps swiftly walking away from him.
He forced his eyes open. But too late, you had gone.
It was dark, of course, and the forest was thicker than ever. Fear shot through his body. Was he in the deep part of the forest? What if he couldn’t get out?
He looked around. His horse, where was his horse? He let out a relieved sigh when he saw his horse grazing beside a tree it was tied to. How did it get there?
As he turned his head back, ready to get up, he saw a head disappear behind a tree close by.
“Who are you?” Mingyu asked loudly, “I’ve already seen you. Show yourself.”
You slowly walked out from behind the tree. He was shocked. A girl?
You introduced yourself quietly.
“Where am I?” Mingyu asked.
You shrugged “The forest.”
He rolled his eyes “I noticed, yes. How did I get here?”
“Oh, I saw your horse and you were there too.”
Only now Mingyu noticed the fabric tied around his arm, blood seeping through it. When he looked at you again he could see a part of your shirt was ripped.
He held up his arm “Did you do this?”
“Yes. You were hurt, so I took care of it.”
Mingyu sighed, “Alright, what do you want for it?” He had left his checkbook at home but he could always come back later.
To his surprise, however, you frowned “What? Why would I want anything for it?”
He snorted, “Everyone always wants something in return for being ‘nice’,” he explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “It’s never free. So what do you want?”
You straightened your back. “Real kindness has no price.”
“So… You’re telling me you want nothing?”
You nodded “Yes. And I’m sorry you grew up without kindness.”
He frowned, before chuckling a little "What makes you think I grew up without kindness?"
"If you think kindness comes with a price, you've never experienced real kindness."
"Fine. You have. Just now." You crossed your arms awkwardly.
Mingyu stared at you, making you quite uncomfortable.
"So what's your name, anyway?" You asked him, looking at the ground.
He frowned "You don't know who I am?"
You raised an eyebrow as you sat down across from him, legs pulled up to your chest "Should I?"
It seemed you said something he completely couldn't understand, but then he straightened his posture "I'm… uh, Mingyu."
"Nice to meet you, Uh Mingyu." You laughed.
"Just Mingyu is fine." He smiled.
You looked at each other, both smiling.
"Are you lost?" Mingyu asked you.
You shook your head, frowning with a smile, "Are you?"
He didn't seem to like that, "Yes. Remember how I was unconscious when you found me? Of course I'm lost."
You chuckled "Well, you probably come from the castle town, right? That's not difficult to find from here."
You noticed that made his eyes light up with relief.
"Why were you sleeping on your horse anyway?"
He frowned, kind of annoyed looking "I wasn't sleeping. Why would I be sleeping?"
You let out a chuckle again "I thought it was a little strange, yes."
He shook his head, which was clearly painful.
"What happened then? Because you were sleeping when I found you."
"I wasn't sleeping. I was unconscious."
He rolled his eyes, "I hit my head against a branch, because my horse went crazy."
You shuffled closer to him, pointing to the tree with his horse. "Your horse is now over there."
He titled his head back a little as an automatic response to you getting closer, "I saw that… yes…"
"Do… Do you live here?" Mingyu asked.
You nodded "Not right here of course, a little bit that way."
You pointed in the opposite direction of his horse. Deeper into the forest.
Mingyu frowned "I didn't know there were people living in the forest…" it was fairly clear he didn't say that to you, it was more like thinking out loud.
"I think it's just me and my family. And the swans, of course." You shrugged.
Mingyu tilted his head "Swans?" This deep into the forest? Though, to be honest, Mingyu wasn't sure where he was.
You nodded, "Yes, we call the lake they live in 'Swan lake' because there are so many. Well, I call it that. I don’t think anyone else cares."
Mingyu didn't say anything, just looked at you. His gaze clearly made you a little nervous.
"I could show you… if you want?"
That surprised him, “What?”
“Swan lake.” you insisted, “It’s not far from here. Unless you’re still hurting too much to go anywhere.”
Mingyu stood up proudly, “Of course I’m not too hurt.” You had already seen him knocked out, at his weakest. He was not going to let you think he was weak. Even though his arm did hurt and his mind was clearly still foggy. “Let’s go see your Swan lake.”
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