.thirty one.

Yo continued laughing in amusement as So left the room in a hurry, hurt and humiliated. Eun lowered his head, having regretted his request. Hajin shot the little prince a glare as she exited the room, chasing after the fourth prince. Minji left Jung's side, going over to the tenth prince and starting to scold him, although she could already see he felt bad about what he did. "You shouldn't have done that to your brother. You really hurt his feelings." She said, Yo still laughing as though something hilarious had happened. Even Yeon Hwa, who was one of the most horrible people Minji knew in Goryeo, thought him horrible for having convinced Eun to make the request.

"I know." The tenth prince admitted with a sigh, "I feel terrible."

Minji sucked in a breath, ready to fight him on it, since she thought he would no doubt try to defend himself. But when that did happen, she was taken by surprise. She didn't press him further when she realized he actually felt bad about the situation. Instead, she placed a hand on his shoulder and started offering some reassurances.

"Maybe if you talk to him and tell him you didn't mean to make him feel bad, he'll understand. He's your brother and I'm sure deep down he cares about you." She explained, adding the deep down part because she once remembered Eun mentioning to the other boys that his older brother had proportioned him a very scary death threat when the tenth prince accidentally stepped on his foot one time. Do you want to die? The tenth prince perfectly mimicked his fourth brother while covering half of his face with his hand.

With the celebration ended, Han and Jung walked Minji and her sister home. 

Han talked to Soon Deok with excitement. "That bear skin was so cool, Soon Deok-ah." The two then started talking animatedly about catching the large wild animal and making him into something of a rug. Minji thought it stomach churning to hear about, but she thought it was nice to see them bonding. It was obvious that Han had a thing for Soon Deok, even though the seventeen year old was completely oblivious to it. 

Jung and Minji were having their own side conversation about how he wanted her to plan something like that for his birthday. 

When they arrived at the general's house, the boys said goodbye and walked back to the palace together. Soon Deok was happy that things hadn't gone badly for her when she gave the tenth prince her present. But it had all been thanks to Minji who had been there to persuade him into thinking it was a good present. Soon Deok couldn't bear to think how he would have reacted otherwise, if her sister hadn't been there. The seventeen year old was more awkward and quiet than her social younger sister who seemed to get along with all the princes of Goryeo, but especially with the four youngest ones. Jung, Eun, Han, and Baek-ah seemed to like her and consider her a friend.

Soon Deok gave an enamored sigh, thinking about her very brief interaction with the boy that she loved. To her, it was like they had shared more than just a few words. "His majesty will be expecting Prince Eun to choose a wife soon." She still had hope that despite their very little interaction, he would end up choosing her.

Minji crinkled up her nose, knowing the private details of the whole situation, things that neither her sister nor Jung knew yet. Eun would pick her when the king asked her who he wanted to marry, which would likely be soon considering that the King had been pestering his son during the days right before his eighteenth birthday. That would leave Soon Deok without Eun as an option to marry, and it would leave Jung without a girlfriend. Minji didn't know if she should tell them both about it. She knew Jung would absolutely not take it well. Perhaps her sister would understand. But Jung would never. He would think that he was right all along, that Eun had always liked Minji and was just not ready to admit it. But it wasn't about that. Eun had told her quite clearly. 

He would rather marry a friend over some woman he didn't know. 

For the moment, Minji thought to keep the information to herself. The tenth prince had been drunk when he confessed all of that to her. Perhaps he would later think it over and decide that he didn't want to marry Minji after all. If she were to tell them now, she might be making a big deal out of nothing. 

-

In the days following his birthday party, the tenth prince was on edge. He expected his father to urge him to pick a girl to marry, but when he didn't, Eun saw some relief. He was almost glad when he asked Ji Mong about it and the astronomer informed that his majesty was more concerned at the moment about the drought. Once solving that problem, he would again focus on finding a bride for his son. 

At his mother's home, his relatives continuously introduced him to women, all of which he didn't care for. He still wasn't ready to get married or even to have a girlfriend. Prince Eun rejected every woman that was thrown at him. 

Nowadays he preferred to spend more time at the palace, since he was going unnoticed for the time being. Until the drought could cease, he had nothing to worry about.

Minji had gotten ready to visit Jung in the palace. On her way out, she saw her sister and she had an idea--if she could try harder to push the tenth prince and Soon Deok together, he might grow to like her and end up picking her as his wife. "Unnie!" She called, rushing over to her as her sister practiced martial arts in the back yard. When her sister looked to her, giving her full attention, she continued. "I'm going to the palace to visit Jung oppa. You should come along. You might run into Eun since Jung says he's been spending a lot of time in the palace lately."

Soon Deok lit up at her words. She would now have a valid excuse to be there, visiting with her sister who was there to see Jung.

The seventeen year old nodded quickly, a bright smile forming on her lips, and the two girls left the house together. Minji wanted to suggest her sister to change clothes, since she was in her military gear. But she decided against it. If Eun was going to like her, he had to like her as she was. And Soon Deok was a strong military girl. Minji was supposed to be the same. But that was the real Park Hak Soon. Minji wasn't like that and Jung still liked her, so she had to be doing something right. 

As soon as they arrived at the palace, they separated and Minji went to find Jung. Soon Deok wanted to find the tenth prince. 

Minji had no such luck and was told that Jung was having breakfast with his mother. The guards offered to take her to him, but she declined the offer. She didn't like Queen Yoo very much and she knew the queen didn't like her either, as she didn't think Minji was good enough for Eun. As she wandered the palace, waiting for her prince to finish his meal with his mother, she spotted the tenth prince, and not far behind, hiding behind the great stone pillars, was her sister Soon Deok. On the prince's shoulders was the bear skin, and in his hand the sling shot Minji made for him. 

The moment he spotted Minji, his face lit up with a bright smile.

"Finally!" He grinned, closing the distance between them. "Someone to play with."

"Wait." Minji started nervously, and calling to her sister, she added, "Soon Deok unnie! Come join us."

Eun was at first surprised that Soon Deok seemed to have appeared from nowhere, but quickly dismissed the thought when he realized he had not just one, but two people to play with. He wasn't entirely pleased with having Soon Deok there, though. So much so that he leaned in to whisper into Minji's ear. 

"I don't want to play with her." He crinkled up his nose as he drank in the seventeen year old standing there with a big smile on her face that was directed towards him. "She's very strange."

"Be nice." Minji urged him through gritted teeth. Saying more loudly, she continued as though he hadn't just tried to refuse playing with Soon Deok. "I have an idea. Let's play a game." At the mention of game, she got the tenth prince's full attention. "Eun oppa will be the bear and he has to catch us." It was a simple proposal, like playing tag or Cat and Mouse. The two other teenagers seemed to be on board with the idea from the start.

They walked over to a vast field inside the palace and started playing their game, but Eun constantly only went for Minji, leaving Soon Deok to watch them from the side lines. Minji ran at full speed, laughing at the top of her lungs, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed her sister with a frown on her face. In her moment of distraction, the tenth prince caught up to her and knocked her over, pinning her down on the grass and taking her completely off guard. "I caught you." He huffed, with a victorious grin, clearly out of breath but would not give up until achieving his goal.

Soon Deok walked over to them, faking a smile, and made a suggestion. "Why don't I show you two something I'm actually good at?"

Eun watched her with curiosity while Minji tried to push him off her.

"I'll teach you how to catch something for real."

-

Eun was more than excited when Soon Deok mentioned she would teach him how to catch a bird. It was something he had been wanting to learn for a very long time. 

Both Eun and Minji watched carefully as she set up a trap made out of twigs and rocks, which would be triggered when she pulled a piece of string. Eun had made similar traps before, but they never seemed to work. Hers looked sturdy and the three sat in the grass, waiting for a quail to approach and take the bait, a bunch of seeds and nuts that they had found in the nearby forest area inside the palace.

Minji's sister let Eun hold onto the string and as soon as a bird got close, he wanted to tug on it. But she stopped him, placing her hand over his. Minji could see how much that small touch of their hands meant to her sister and she wanted so badly to help her, to convince him to fall in love with her. But it wasn't so simple. He didn't seem to feel that way about her and it was impossible to force someone's feelings. 

Once the bird was inside the trap, Soon Deok and Eun pulled on the string to trigger it.

Eun jumped up joyfully, looking every bit like a little boy. "I caught it! Did you see that?"

Instead of looking to Soon Deok, he looked to Minji.

Minji gave a nod of her head while Soon Deok got up on her feet. She walked towards the trap and picked up the little bird in her hands, bringing it back for the tenth prince to see. 

Just as Eun continued gushing over how he caught the bird, and they were going to eat something he had caught with his own hard work, there was a snapping sound heard. Eun and Minji looked terrified as they saw the now dead bird in Soon Deok's hands. She had snapped its neck like it was nothing more than a twig. 

The color drained from Eun's face, and Minji couldn't help but feel bad for the animal. But that was how they did things in Goryeo. It was totally normal for someone to catch, kill, and eat an animal. Eun didn't seem to agree with that. Horrified with what she had done, he yelled at her, "You're a murder! Don't get close to me ever again. I knew I didn't like you." With that, he stormed off, leaving the two girls by themselves.

"I don't understand." Soon Deok pouted, looking at the little bird in her hands. "Did he want to eat it alive?"

"Unnie..." Minji started with a sigh. "Maybe you should've just not killed it in front of him."

-

so i have about an hour before i have to go do some stuff and then go work out at the park. i have to go pick up my check, deposit my check, put gas in my car, and then go to the park. tomorrow i have to go to work, which i honestly don't want to because my job is a nightmare. but i'm looking for other jobs. so that should be fun.

i have applied to buzzfeed and iheartradio today. so hopefully i hear something back soon.

i want to work at something i have a degree on. not the job i only applied for while i was in school and needed money to buy kpop albums and other necessities. 

-clary