"What are you doing in my room?" he grumbled, sitting up so that he could properly glare at her. 

"I had to follow you to make sure you didn't hurt yourself," she responded, her voice cool, betraying no emotion. Her eyes were trained on the wall behind him, and they didn't waver once. He wondered if now that he knew his identity as a prince, she wasn't allowed to look him in the eyes. 

Eric laughed humorlessly. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm fine. Now get out." 

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," she responded. "It's my job to worry about you." 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Don't you listen? Am I not your boss now? So get out." 

"I follow the orders of your parents, who told me that your wellbeing is of the utmost importance. Thus, I'm here to make sure you don't harm yourself." 

It took him a second to remember that she was referring to his royal parents, his biological parents, and not the people who raised him. Not the people who he still considered his family. 

"I don't want to be a prince," he whispered after a moment. "I'm scared." 

No emotion passed through her face or her eyes. She remained as stoic as ever as she stared behind him. It almost felt like she was staring through him. Like he didn't even exist. 

"You will be fine," she said. Maybe she was trying to be assuring, but with her voice that was trained to lack emotion, it didn't sound that way to him. "You will have a team of people who will help you adjust." 

"What, people like you?" he scoffed, continuing to glare at her. "You're not being any help at all." 

"Yes, a team of people like me," she responded, ignoring his glares. 

"Can't you stop looking at the wall and look at me!" he snapped, getting up. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, and he balled his hands into fists in an attempt to stop them from falling. He was scared. And he didn't want to be a prince. He wanted to go to sleep and wake up to find that this whole thing was a nightmare. He was satisfied with the way things were, and he didn't want anything to change. 

"Is that an order?" she asked, a small smile on her lips as she finally met his gaze. 

"I don't want it to be," he muttered, looking at the floor as tears escaped his eyes. Suddenly, he was the one unable to look at her. 

She wordlessly reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to him. He wiped his eyes with it. 

"Thanks," he said softly, still unable to look at her. 

"Your Highness-" 

"Eric," he whispered. "Please, just call me Eric." 

"I can't," she told him. "I'll get in trouble."

He sighed, finally looking back at her, and only so that he could shoot her another glare. "Why? Can't everyone just call me Eric? Can't I just say that it was my order?" 

Amusement danced in her eyes, but she shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We have orders from higher up to call you Your Highness. Orders from your parents." 

"Don't call them that," he sighed. "We have to call them something to distinguish them from my parents out there," he said, jutting his chin towards the closed door. "How about we refer to them as the royal parents?" 

"You feel free to call them whatever you want, but I can't." 

Eric turned to her, giving her an annoyed look. "There sure is a lot that you can't do." 

She just gave him a small smile. 

"Can't we at least introduce each other? If you're going to be my personal bodyguard or whatever, then shouldn't I know your name?" he insisted. Even though Juyeon had already told him her name... he wanted to see if she'd tell him. 

"Park Chanmi," she said, bowing. She wasn't looking at his face anymore. "At your service." 

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, waving away her formality. "I'm Eric, nice to meet you." 

She cracked a small smile at that but still wouldn't look at him. 

"Can't you look at me when I'm talking to you?" he asked in annoyance, waving a hand in front of her face. 

"I'm not really allowed-" 

"Screw that, just look at me," he interrupted, watching her eyes widen at his response. It took her a second, but it worked. She was looking at him again. 

"Call me Eric when we're alone," he said softly. "Laugh at my jokes when no one's around. When I go to the Palace or Castle or whatever... I'll be alone. Can't you be my friend in secret, at least?"

***

A/N 

Another extra chapter this week😘 It's my little way of celebrating The Boyz placing 2nd on Kingdom!!