"I feel so bad for Chanmi," Dayeong sighed, looking at Juyeon, whose eyes were also sympathetic and worried. "She must have been your friend for a long time since you are both royal guards. Do you think she'll be alright?" 

"She'll be just fine," Juyeon assured her. 

He was sitting on the chair beside her bed, and she perched on her bed, her legs tucked under the covers. It had become a natural occurrence, to stay up talking like this. Well, she did most of the talking. He responded occasionally, but mostly, he just listened. She played with the folds of her blanket, considering. Considering something she'd been thinking about for a long time. 

"Juyeon..." she said softly, balling her hands into fists. She dug her nails into her palms as she tried to contain her nerves. 

"Yes?" he said, his voice gentle. He reached forward, unfolding her hands. "Don't do this, Your Highness. You'll hurt yourself." 

Her heart was pounding, as it always did when she was around him. She could hardly bring herself to meet his eyes. 

Juyeon, the boy she'd ended up liking. Juyeon, the reason she wanted to stay in the Palace. 

"Today is a no-rules day, right?" she whispered. 

"Right," he agreed. 

"Then can I say something...?" she asked, trailing off again as she tried to stop her hands from shaking. 

"Of course." 

Dayeong closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she turned to face Juyeon. 

"I like you," she said, carefully watching his face for a reaction. 

For a second, she saw surprise. She saw emotions that she couldn't place, gone so fast that she was sure she'd imagined it. And then his face was emotionless, his eyes betraying nothing. 

"I'm honored that you feel that way, Your Highness," he said, standing up and bowing to her. "I should leave now," he said, turning to go. 

"Wait!" she cried out, jumping out of bed so fast that her legs got tangled in the covers and she fell. 

He caught her before she hit the ground. 

"Do you... do you feel nothing?" she whispered, her gaze locked in his as he steadied her. She watched the calm exterior of his eyes break, and he looked away, letting go of her. 

"I should leave, Your Highness." 

"Juyeon wait!" she begged, grabbing onto his arm, but he gently pulled away. 

He kept his back to her as he said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid I can't accept your feelings." 

And then he left. 

Dayeong sank to the floor, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. She stared at her closed door, wishing that he'd come back and give her the answer she'd wanted to hear. 

But he didn't. 

"It's okay," she murmured, crawling back into bed. "He doesn't like you, and you should respect that," she said softly. "You should keep your distance," she whispered, crying harder as she spoke to herself. 

Suddenly, her room felt suffocating, and she couldn't bear to stay there another minute. She put on her slippers and ran out of the room, ran until she found herself in the gardens. She wandered around until she found the yellow roses, and then she stopped in front of them and kept crying. She reached forward, about to touch one of the needles. 

"Dayeong?" 

She looked up, her finger centimeters away from the needle. "Eric?" she whimpered, running away from the roses and into his arms. 

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, hugging her tight as she cried in his arms. "What happened?" 

"I think I made a mistake," she cried. "I made a big mistake." 

"What did you do?" he murmured, rubbing her back in comfort. "I'm sure your mistake wasn't as big as mine," he said bitterly. 

Suddenly remembering what happened earlier, she wiped her tears and leaned out of his embrace so that she could look up at him. "Are you alright?" she whispered. "Is Chanmi okay? You guys must be really close..." 

"She's the girl I was telling you about," Eric said bluntly. "The girl I want to marry." 

Dayeong looked up, giving him a sad smile. They were both falling for their guards, now weren't they? 

"It must be really hard for you guys now," she said softly. "And with me here... do I make her uncomfortable?" she wondered aloud. 

Eric shook his head, smiling at her through his own tears. "Dayeong... I think of you as my best friend. Why would she be uncomfortable with that?" 

"My best friend," she whispered. "I'm glad we're best friends, Eric."