since i've been writing and watching too much gore stuff i need to cleanse my mind with some fluff :')

anyways yeAh

—

       3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"what was the call about, auntie?" hyori questions as she leaned back onto the kitchen counter. hyori, jaeyoung, and miyeon were all by the kitchen as jaeyoung was showcasing her new recipe she had come up with when mrs. kang informed them about the phone call from the palace.

mrs kang chuckled as she clasped her hands together, indicating that it was good news.

miyeon, who was busy snacking on the newly baked cookies jaeyoung made, hummed as she studied mrs kang's gestures. "you look excited, mrs kang! did something good happen with the phone call?"

mrs kang nodded, "the royal family has asked us to cater their grand ball again!"

jaeyoung's mixing came to an abrupt stop upon hearing the news mrs kang said. her fingers around the wooden spoon as she slowly poked the unfinished batter, "r-royal family? us cater? grand ball!?" her eyes went wide as her voice squeaked.

miyeon was beyond happy to hear the news, "really!? that's great!" she smiles widely, eyeing her best friend, "super great!"

"right, jaeyoung?" miyeon smirked, an playful aura surrounding her which made jaeyoung grow more nervous than she already was.

"do i have to go?" jaeyoung raised a brow at mrs kang, literally ignoring her friend's question making the latter gape at her in shock.

mrs kang hummed, "well, we're supposed to go anyways so i don't know what's holding you back."

hyori eyed the girl, "don't you want to enter the palace?"

the thought bothered jaeyoung a lot. a lot of things were blocking her from entering the palace. for one she knew it was a whole new world there, another was seulhyo, and lastly the royal family. doyoung's words caught her off guard last time.

what did happen last time? jaeyoung gripped tightly onto the wooden spoon, what's going on in the palace.

"yah," jaeyoung snaps out of her trance, looking up at hyori. "you're distracted, anything wrong?"

jaeyoung clears her throat, her grasp on the spoon loosening, "it's nothing." she forces a smile before slowly walking out the kitchen, "that batter makes good brownies." she mutters, pointing at the bowl she left at the table. "i'll be going out for a walk." and with that, she left the bakery.

miyeon frowned, hopping off the counter, "i'm gonna–"

the girl was cut off when mrs kang stopped her from going any further. miyeon glanced at the baker as she shook her head, "leave jaeyoung alone for awhile. it's what she needs." mrs kang said and all miyeon could ever do was stare at the exit, slumping her shoulders.

jaeyoung huffed, walking around the village. "i haven't done this in weeks."

taking a breather, the girl strolled the sidewalk, glancing upon different shops along the way. she had totally no idea where she was going, all she knew was she wanted to get away for now.

an antique shop met her gaze making her come into a halt, staring at the shop for a bit. "this looks interesting." she mumbles as she pushes the door to the shop open, welcoming her in.

eyes roaming around different antiques, slowly landing on the counter where an old man stood. white hair, squinted eyes, spectacles, and an old fashioned suit. "oh, hello." the man utters, noticing the new presence in his shop.

jaeyoung smiles at him, bowing a bit, "hello."

the man coughs as he continued wiping the dusty counter, "it's quite surprising to see a young lady in here, i rarely even get a costumer these days."

jaeyoung frowns, "why? i think your antique shops is great."

the man sighs, giving jaeyoung an small, yet sad, smile, "well, people your age these days find it a bit hard to appreciate old relics i suppose?"

jaeyoung pouts and looks around, trailing her fingers onto some old books, "i suppose..."

"i'm jeon minhyuk, the owner of lost and found." the man introduces himself softly.

jaeyoung grins, turning around to face minhyuk, "it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is min jaeyoung."

"oh?" minhyuk hums, "you're a min?" he chuckles, "i find it hard to meet a person who's last name is min, all i know is the min dynasty."

jaeyoung pursed her lips, "i've heard that before... but where..."

"min dynasty is queen hera's bloodline family, jaeyoung-ssi."

jaeyoung nods, "ah... no wonder i didn't know."

minhyuk chuckles, "you don't like history?"

jaeyoung shakes her head, "it's not like that... i just don't know about heraphany and like he royal families living in it." she said sheepishly making the old man stifle a laugh.

"but you like books don't you?"

jaeyoung nods her head, "yes! i love books."

"i figured. you keep staring at them for a while now." minhyuk pointed out and jaeyoung immediately retracted her hand from the bookshelf.

"you can look around while i'm cleaning around here, there's isn't much to see other than old things of course."

"no, it's okay, i find them interesting." jaeyoung said with a small smile.

"glad you appreciate old things even if they don't have value anymore."

"actually, old things mostly have higher values than new ones. these are the past of course, they are important."

minhyuk fought back the urge to smile at jaeyoung's words and remained silent for a bit before clearing his throat, "wise words, jaeyoung-ssi."

"there are more things you can find by the back, maybe something can catch your attention." minhyuk stated.

the girl nods and left the front desk, venturing in another part of the store. she found herself roaming the back part, curious to find anything that would catch her interest.

looking around here and there, she came across a stack of story books. "this is amazing." she gawked, a huge smile creeping up her face. "these are the old fairytale's i've been talking about to miyeon!"

she crouches down, analyzing each book. "tragedy 2001?" she tilts her head as a certain book caught her attention, "there's a book... about the princess."

she bit her bottom lip, reaching out for the book slowly. as soon as her fingers touched the old book, chills ran down her spine, causing her to let go of the book as it dropped onto the ground with another.

sighing she grabbed the book, stopping a bit to notice the other. "the village girl." she reads the title.

a sense of familiarity hit her as she chuckled a bit, staring at the second book, "i remember this. mrs kang used to read me this book to bed, never thought i'd come across it again here."

the front door bell rings causing her to avert her attention. she heard muffled voices and thought that maybe it was just a customer.

averted her gaze back onto the two books she smiled, "i guess i did find something here."

"oh! jaeyoung-ssi! did you find something?" minhyuk exclaims as the girl came back to the front desk.

she nods with a smile, placing down the books she found over the counter. minhyuk glances at the books, "hm, old tales i see? ah, the story about the princess, i guess this somehow caught your attention, huh?" minhyuk said.

jaeyoung didn't even notice the two guys standing beside her. one of them leaned over to take a peak of the book, "oh? it's been so long since i read that book." the guy said.

the girl raised a brow and looked up to the guy, flinching upon seeing his face, "j-joshua–"

the guy tilts his head, a smile forming, "lady jaeyoung! nice to meet you here!"

joshua's companion hummed, "you know this lady?"

joshua nodded, "she's the lady."

minhyuk clears his throat, "jaeyoung-ah! they are minseok and joshua, they come to visit often when they are off duty."

minseok scrunches his nose, "tutoring and assisting princes is hard, dad."

minhyuk grins, "you enjoy it anyways, don't you?"

joshua clasps his hands, "lady jaeyoung! this is jeon minseok, minhyuk's son."

jaeyoung bows slightly, "it's nice to meet you, sir."

"eh?" he chuckles, "no need to be formal with me, lady. i'm off duty anyways."

"it's getting quite dark, jaeyoung-ah, you should get home soon." minhyuk utters as he pushes the books towards jaeyoung.

jaeyoung nodded silently, grabbing the books, "i'll stop by every now and then–"

"oh, and you can call me uncle!" minhyuk exclaims, "feel free to come here."

jaeyoung hums, "i will!" she grins, waving at them.

"i'll go now, it was nice meeting you." jaeyoung told the two guys before leaving.

as soon as she stepped out the shop, she let out a deep sigh, "an assistant to the princes and a royal guard!?"

—