"Now can you tell me how I ended up being raised by you guys?" Eric whined, placing his hands on the table. He didn't even care that the royal guards were standing in the background (besides Juyeon of course, he was at the table eating dinner with them, as usual), practically blending in with the walls. 

He just wanted to know. Usually, their dinnertime conversations were full of energy. Eric was usually the one leading the conversation, it really tended to be him and his mom talking the most. Juyeon and their dad were quieter, but they laughed and chipped in every now and then. It was usually fun. A happy family.  

Now, everyone was quiet. No one wanted to talk. And it was driving him absolutely crazy. He wanted to know already... how had they ended up in this situation? How did he end up here? 

"I was the head of the royal guard, back in my prime," his dad finally said. "Everything was fine, but my parents were in a situation where we needed to pay a lot of hospital bills. We needed money. At that point, I was already married to your mother, and Juyeon was a few years old. She was retired due to an injury, and because she wanted to stay home to take care of Juyeon. But she was desperately looking for new jobs because we were in a really bad situation financially.

"Being the head of the royal guard, our family became close to the royal family. When they found out about our situation... they offered us a proposition..." his dad said, trailing off. 

Eric had a horrible idea of where this was headed, and he didn't like it. Not one bit. But he swallowed down his rising fear and said, "what was the proposition?" 

His mom reached across the table, laying her hand on top of his. "You were just a few months old at that point, and the Kingdom was in a situation of its own. Not a war or anything, but the situation required all the attention from your parents. They were having a really hard time caring for you. Truly, you were with us or the nannies more than you were ever with them," she said, laughing. 

Eric was not laughing. 

Her smile faded and she continued. "Well, when they found out about our situation, they asked us to care for you. They wanted to give you a chance to grow up as a normal child, to see and experience the real world before being shackled to the Palace. They told us that all of your expenses would be paid for-" 

"That's why I got to go to that fancy school, and Juyeon didn't," Eric suddenly realized, his eyes widening. "That's not fair! That's not fair at all. How come we couldn't go to the same school?" 

"Your parents wanted to give you the best, even though they couldn't physically be there for you," his mom explained. 

"But... I still don't understand," Eric said, a part of him not even wanting to ask the question. "If your situation was bad, how could you agree to take me? Even if all of my expenses were paid... wouldn't that be hard?" 

"Well that's the thing," his mother said, grimacing. "We... The royal family paid us. To take care of you. They helped us a lot." 

His heart dropped. "Have they... been paying you all this time?" he whispered. "For 20 years?"

"Eric," his mother said urgently, holding his hand tightly. "Don't ever doubt for a minute that we love you. We love you so much. You really are a son to us. I promise-" 

"I was just a job," he whispered, blinking tears out of his eyes. "Don't kid yourself. I was just a job to you," he snapped, everything becoming too much. He yanked his hand out of her grasp and got up, heading to his room, slamming the door, and jumping onto his bed. His head was swimming and he wasn't even sure how to feel. A part of him felt betrayed. They lied to him. But another part of him was certain that they did love him... right? He meant something to them, surely. 

In the middle of his internal crisis, he heard the door open. 

"Go away," he muttered, not looking at whoever came in. He didn't want anyone to see him cry again. "I want to be alone." 

The door closed again, but he heard footsteps coming towards him. They stopped in front of his bed and he didn't hear anything else. He barely even heard breathing. 

After a moment, he looked up, and was met with the last person he would have imagined having followed him to his room. 

That girl, Park Chanmi. 

***

A/N 

Ooooh👀