Eric stood by the door, eavesdropping of course. He'd left it open a crack so that he could hear what they were saying to her.  

"Above everything, my job is to protect His Highness," he heard her say. "I would like to make my point one more time. He had quite a scare yesterday, and he still needs time to adjust to everything. Please consider moving back the interview." 

He couldn't stop the silly grin from coming to his face as he heard that. 

So she did care about him, after all. If she didn't, then she probably wouldn't have even tried to argue with his royal parents. But she did. She had guts, arguing with the King and Queen. He admired that. 

His heart hurt a bit though, as he realized how little his parents actually cared about him. If they did, then maybe they would be considerate of his feelings. Maybe they'd listen to Chanmi. But they didn't care. 

On the other hand, he suddenly understood why Chanmi was so hesitant about becoming friends. Because at that moment, when he saw his royal parents getting upset with her... he'd wanted to help. He wanted to stand up for her. 

But he'd known that the most helpful thing to do would be to leave. And he hated that. They'd known each other for only a day, and yet he already hated having to leave her in that situation. 

She was right, being friends could be dangerous. But that didn't mean he was ready to give up. They could be careful. He wouldn't let them get caught. He'd protect her in that way. 

He heard his parents dismiss her and figured she would be walking over now, so he ran to the sofa in the middle of the room and threw himself into it just in time. He grabbed a magazine off of the table and opened it just as she walked in. 

"It's upside down," she pointed out as she walked over to him. "And I heard you jump on the sofa."

Eric made a face at her. "How'd you hear that?" he grumbled. 

"I have good hearing," she said, sighing. She wouldn't look at him. "And I've been trained to notice tiny details. Like the sound of footsteps, no matter how faint. Of course I heard you running. Now, let's get going," she said, motioning for him to follow her. 

"So, I still have to do the interview?" Eric asked as he followed her into the hallway. 

"Seems like it," she told him regretfully, taking out her phone and checking her email. "I'm going to take you now to your interview prep teacher. You'll work with him for a little bit and then the rest of the day I can show you around, alright?" 

"What about Juyeon?" 

"He's booked with meetings for the next few weeks," she explained. "It looks like the King and Queen are planning something." 

"Chanmi..." he said hesitantly after a moment. 

"Yes?" 

"I think I really understand why you didn't want to be friends." 

She looked over at him, an expression of surprise on her face. "I told you clearly why last time, and now you realize?" she teased. "How'd you come to this understanding?" 

"I was really hesitant to leave you with my royal parents," he admitted, walking beside her but unable to hold eye contact. "I was worried. But... I did leave. I knew that my leaving would be the most helpful in that situation, so I left. Chanmi," he said, stopping and holding onto her arm, turning her to face him. "I'm mature enough to know such things, so you can trust me. We can be friends comfortably, and I won't let us get caught. Okay?" 

"We can't do that," she said gently, pulling her arm away. "We can't be friends." 

"We are friends," he insisted, his gaze intense as he stared at her. "If we weren't, would you have stood up for me like that? In front of the King and Queen... that was amazing." 

Chanmi cracked a smile at that, though he noticed she immediately tried to hide it. 

"You know what I noticed about you in there?" he said as they began walking again. 

"What did you notice?" she asked, sounding slightly amused. 

"Most of the time, your expression is cold and emotionless. You're really good at that. Like when you were talking to my royal parents, I couldn't read any of your emotions. You were great." 

"That's part of my job," she told him. 

"But you laugh and smile when you're with me," he said, and she stopped in her tracks, looking at him curiously. "You usually seem good at that part of your job, really good. So why do you drop it around me? Why do you let your guard down?" 

She hesitated for a long moment, not meeting his eyes. "The Palace can be a really cold place," she finally said. "I'm worried about you. It's only been two days, but lately, you've been the cause of all my worries," she said, sighing. 

Eric grinned, finding her kind of cute. 

"I didn't want to add to the coldness of the Palace," she explained. "So I smiled. I laughed. I..." 

"You are my friend," he said softly when she trailed off and didn't say anything else. "You are. Because you care about me." 

***

A/N 

An extra chapter today because this book passed 1k. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH🥺💖 I hope you're enjoying it🥰