At that moment, a lot of emotions flashed through her. Happiness. Confusion. Worry. Fear. So much fear. Fear for getting in trouble, for getting caught. Fear of losing her job and being kicked to the street. But most of all, fear that she'd give her heart to him and he'd eventually break it. 

Fear that he'd leave her, just like everyone else did.  

She stepped back, pulling her hands out of his while she shook her head vehemently. 

"No. No, Eric, you can't like me. That's-" 

"Against the rules. I know," he said, his gaze intense as he stared at her. "But I don't care. I just... like you." 

"You don't care because you're the Prince," she said, taking a step back. He took a step forward and she placed a hand on her rapidly beating heart, trying to calm herself. "You don't care because you have nothing to lose. If you get in trouble, it doesn't matter. You still have a home, you still have your family. If I get in trouble, I lose everything. I have nothing and no one. So don't do things like this. Don't do things that'll put me in danger."

She saw confusion flickering in his eyes. "What do you mean, you have no one. You have me. You have your family, I'm sure-" 

"My parents abandoned me when I was born," she spat, immediately regretting it. She hadn't intended to open up that much to him. "So if I lose this job, I'll go to the streets. Meanwhile, if we get in trouble, you'll still be here. You'll lose nothing." 

"I'll lose you," he whispered. 

Chanmi laughed humorlessly. "Do you really think our situations are comparable?" 

"No," he said softly, stepping forward and taking her hands once more. She felt tears running down her cheeks, and her heart hurt so much that she suddenly found it hard to breathe. "I'll find a way to protect you, I promise. We'll hide it. We can figure out a way to be together. Please. I like you a lot." 

She stepped back again. Wiped a tear from her face. Took a deep breath, composing herself. She tried to make her face emotionless. It was something that came naturally in front of everyone. 

Everyone except him. 

She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face as she shook her head. 

"I'm sorry Eric," she whispered. "But we can't be together. You know this as well as I do... so please refrain from making such confessions in the future."

***

A/N 

Well then😭

Anyways, I'll probably be updating much more than just twice a week for a while. Hope you're exciteddd🥳