Let's travel back to Jungkook's birthday.

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flower's do bloom
even in rain falling!

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She hadn't met her fiance yet, neither was she prepared for that. As the car neared the palace in the heart of Busan, Eun Ae couldn't help but feel anxious.

She vividly remembered the day she saw lines of gifts and greetings piled up in her house, jamming up in almost the whole room. She had quickly ran to her mother, only to find her talking with some guests.

"So the marriage has been fixed. Eun Ae and Jungkook!"

She still remembered the clinking of their glasses as the oldest person made the toast. That time, she felt scared. She wasn't ready for a marriage, or that's what she believed. But she was in no place to step inside the room and put forward her thoughts, that, as she had been taught, would be disrespectful and being a princess she wasn't supposed to do that.

Once out of the memory, she looked outside the window. Busan had been her favourite city; the colours, the hues, the food, the flavour, everything about this city, somehow, intrigued her. And now to be a part of it, she felt anxious.

"What happened, baby?" She heard her mother, her eyes filled with concern.

She had so much to say, so much to ask. But she suppressed it all, deep down in her heart, and just shook her head sideways.

She assumed they reached the palace late, as she could see how the crowd had already filled the ample hall. She looked at her mother before stepping out, and after she recieved a nod, she followed behind them.

"Be at your best behavior. This would be the first time you'll be meeting them."
Her father spoke hurriedly, beaming a small smile at the people they passed by.

"Yes, father." She looked down, and continued to follow her parents.

As soon as they entered the hall, she heard nothing but silence. She looked up to see that there were people staring at her, as if charmed. She had no idea what to do, and would've stood there if her mother wouldn't have pulled her away.

But then, as she was being pulled, she saw him, standing in the middle of the hall with a younger girl by his side, and she was enchanted.

"He is the prince," She heard someone whisper in her ears, just as she thought no one else but the Prince, but nonetheless, nodded back.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him, he looked so... Majestic. She found him utterly handsome in that black suit, a tie dangling, not so loosely, around his neck. His eyes fascinated her, utterly beautiful she'd say, but she also saw sadness in them, as if he was suppressing himself. But then her eyes travelled to his gestures, everytime he bowed, she smiled a little more brighter, she found that gracious.

The girl standing next to him, whom she assumed to be his sister, hadn't left his hand once and she felt jealous. She didn't know why but she felt a weird want to feel his touch. She despised her for the slightest moment and then looked away, just to turn back and stare.

She stared at him as if he'd run away, which she assumed to be true, because she had never seen such a glory in her life and this felt to be like a dream she'd never like to wake up from. She stared and stared, taking in all his features as fast and as slowly as she could. But when she looked where his eyes were fixed, she felt a sudden ache.

He was looking at someone else, someone more beautiful than her, someone who was staring back at him but with disappointment. Someone in a blue dress, but sad eyes. A godly aura, but depressed soul. A sweet smile, but faked.

"Eun Ae!" She looked at that someone for the last time and moved away to greet her in-laws.

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Hours passed but nothing happened. Neither did she go to Jungkook to talk nor did Jungkook had the time for that. Apart from him, all his family members seemed to be happy to meet her. He doesn't even know I'm here. She sighed, looking at him.

She saw his grandfather walk up to Jungkook and pat his back. Jungkook looked away immediately, and she wondered why? But then she heard the older call out for attention.

"Other than my grandson's arrival tonight, we have one more important and beautiful presence amongst us!" She saw him forward his hand towards his right, where she was standing, and she felt a nudge from her mother.

"Go forward," Her mother whispered in her ears and lightly pushed her forward. "Go." She smiled at her.

Eun Ae looked back for a moment, she saw the happiness in her parents' eyes and that, she believed, helped her move. She took slow, shy steps, as she had been taught and went over to place her hand gracefully in the older man's. He said her name loud enough for the whole crowd to listen, and pronounced her as Jungkook's fiancee. Her eyes widened, for she had not even met the guy once but complied anyway. When her eyes met Jungkook's, she saw the sadness again, and something stopped her from going any further, as if she was doing something wrong. But that feeling felt strange enough to ignore and she carefully placed her hand in Jungkook's.

She felt his touch, she smiled at that, while standing by his side. The touch she had craved for no reason at all. But he wasn't exactly holding her hand, he had let it be loosely placed in his', but he didn't hold her hand like she was. She was holding it so tightly, entangling her fingers with his but he didn't do that back. And the she looked at him with a question mark on her face but he wasn't looking at her.

She had never been in his eyes, because he had already averted his gaze from Eun Ae to someone else, the same someone in blue dress. And then Eun Ae saw that someone's eyes lose hope, and a shattered quietness lingered in them, reflecting the same emotion that she saw Jungkook's eyes when he held her hand.

She saw that someone walk away into the crowd and leave, and she'd bet that she felt Jungkook leave her hand immediately and stomp forward but stopped when he felt a tug from his grandfather.

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The problem had been sorted easily as the writer's manager had given the speech she was supposed to, but the chaos created among the guests caused a lot of disgrace to the Jeon family. And the anger Jungkook's grandfather had tried his best to suppress didn't ease the situation at all.

Eun Ae swore she felt scared for a moment, but Hae had pulled her away before she could witness anything in the small room where both the families were crammed up. "He has a habit of making a big deal out of everything. I'd suggest you to ignore his presence when you stay here." Hae shrugged at her and, Eun Ae almost laughed at her nonchalant behaviour despite being a princess but nodded, nonetheless.

Once everyone had almost emptied out the palace, it was only them. The Jeon family and her family. They were having a talk and sharing their old friendly memories, especially the ones where Jungkook and Eun Ae were the main protagonist and that irritated her.

"It was once that she fell from a horse-"

"Oh my God! Jungkook also fell at his first try!" They all laughed together. Except for her and as she could see, Jungkook didn't even pay any attention.

"I-" He spoke and all of them looked at him curiously.

"I have to go somewhere... Jimin hyung asked me to come over." He got and bowed immediately, bidding his goodbye to everyone and ran away.

He didn't say anything to her and that hurt her a bit, so she decided to follow behind him and bid her farewell herself before he could leave. But he surprised her, or it was his actions that surprised her. As a prince, she wondered, wasn't he supposed to drive away in a car rather than running like a maniac?

But he ran so fast, as if his life depended on it. She wondered what important work did he have at his friend's house and as a simple kind gesture, she decided to use her own convenience to drop him where ever he had to go. She quickly walked over to the car, and bent over to ask the butler to follow the prince.

The butler did as he was asked to, but instead of offering a ride to Jungkook, she sat in the car quietly. She saw another car stop infront of the gates and he jumped in hurriedly, almost slipping in the process. And the car drove faster than she had imagined. She asked the butler to keep on following the car. The speed enchanting her because she had to hold on her seatbelt to stay at a fixed position.

But the car stopped after a while and she looked forward to find rows of cars and other vehicles trafficking the area.

Jungkook had already hopped off the car and started to run away and she followed his lead. Running and failing miserably, because her heels were hurting when she ran, but pushed herself to follow him.

This run, she thought, was no more for the good bye or the Jimin hyung he had talked about. He was going somewhere else and she, as no one, didn't know why she was still following him. She looked behind to find the cars still there, the honking still disturbed her but this urgent need to follow him around didn't waver.

He took turns and turns over turns, choosing alleys over the main roads and she followed him recklessly. It felt like a whole new adventure to her, for she had never ran on the streets like this before and she enjoyed that. But when Jungkook stopped infront of some hotel, her adventurous happiness was invaded by a grim atmosphere.

She felt like she should leave him alone, that maybe this was some kind of a hideout he had and she shouldn't trespass that but her feet had already followed him inside the hotel and up the stairs, because she had no idea where he was going.

But when she saw him banging on a certain door harshly, she felt a little jealous. Was he there to meet someone? The question hit her like a bullet and she almost stumbled back. Anything, but betrayal wasn't something she expected.

"WHERE IS SHE?" He shouted loud enough for his voice to reverberate in the hallway, and she saw a girl in some black dress standing over there, looking at him with a dangerous amount of wrath.

"I don't know." The girl had answered through gritted teeth and she saw Jungkook run inside the room, in search of whoever he wanted to meet. The girl followed him inside but didn't close the door exactly. Eun Ae felt wrong doing that, but she neared the room and eavesdropped the conversation going inside.

She found out, that he didn't want her, that he loved someone else, and the most probable, he was being forced into this relationship. Every word hit her like a shower of arrows. Every helpless sigh he released made her feel like a bad person, a heavy burden weighed down on her heart, as if she was the one ruining it all for him.

But wasn't this supposed to be? This was how it goes, doesn't it? A prince needs to marry a princess, she had been taught that, that she would marry a prince, who was Jeon Jungkook for her, that she'd have to continue royalty like her ancestors had and pass that on. But was royalty bigger than love?

She had bound herself to like the person her parents would ask her to marry to but Jungkook, oh Jungkook, he tried to break free from these rules and regulations. She could see the rebel in his eyes when he said that he wanted to meet his love. She wanted to feel that rebel, too, but she was scared.

But then there was love. Jungkook wouldn't be her's, he'd always belong to that someone he loved, for whom he had ran across the city, for whom he was begging, just so he could get a glimpse of her.

How broken that girl must've felt, and that was because of Eun Ae. She hated herself to be in such a situation. How could she seperate two lovers? She had no audacity to do that, but there she was standing in that ugly situation. Where she was wrong, but she had no idea. Where everything going around her was wrong, but she couldn't stop it. Where the royalty had no justice and she couldn't help that.

She stared at Jungkook's sorrowful face, still hidden behind the barely open door.
And there as she left the hotel; to let Jungkook have his time, to try his best, to help his own self; she decided to help him. That,

Royalty will never be bigger than love.

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A/n

So... Well... Umm... These secrets chapters are supposed to be short... But here we are, 2218 words... Well, whatever
┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

Be the best of you!