Chapter 3: Everyone Likes Rumors, Right?

Chaerin was busy punching numbers into the cashier when I walked up to her. She noticed the soft stifling noises beside her and looked up. "Hey. Finished your project yet? It's due on Monday."

I slowly shook my head, and then the impact of her words hit me hard. My eyes went wide with realization. "Shit! I had forgotten all about the write up about Hamlet!" I sighed tirelessly, drained from the thought of burning my precious sleep to write some crappy write-up about Shakespeare's tragedy of a revengeful prince. "Damn you Shakespeare for writing so much crap."

Chaerin laughed musically, grabbing the recently printed receipt out from the register. "Hey don't hate on him. I love Romeo and Juliet." She replied, patting me on my back comfortingly. Then, her eyes twinkled in amazement when it glazed the scene behind me. I raised a questioning brow and was just about to turn back to see what had caught her interest when she roughly pushed me away, grabbing the remote on the other end of the barista.

She turned the volume up for the small television screen hanging from a pillar, and the newscaster's firm voice flowed into the room, disrupting the peaceful ambiance of the classical music playing softly in the background.

"Crown Prince Kwon Tae Hyun held a press conference yesterday at the Seoul's blue house where he held a memorial for his father, King Jaesuk. It was also then did he address the burning question that citizens of Korea had been pondering over the last few weeks: the succession of the throne."

The scene changed on the screen to blue house, the national flag lining up in the background, the glorious prince stood on a brown podium, clad in a fine expensive gray suit.

Camera flashed rapidly from the news pool and reporters pushed each other around barbarically while they held out their recorders, shouting a string of different questions. The prince held out his hand, signaling a request for a silence and the reporters persistent questions died down while they waited patiently for his answer. I could see the eager reporters' eyes bulge and their hands shaking from excitement for the much-awaited answer.

"I am only twenty, much behind my years, studies and experience to even think of myself a king yet. With that said, my mother, Queen Consort Jang Soo Yeon and grandmother, Queen Dowager Han Mi Kyung, would step in as my regent for the time being until I am deem to befit a king. I hope that you would continue to support me and give your utmost loyalty to the royal family. Thank you for your kind attention."

Chaerin squealed in happiness beside me, her eyes dreamy and awestruck as we watched the prince exit the stage while being bombarded from various reporters demanding more answers. He politely ignored them, strutting through the pathway that his bodyguards had made.

She turned to me when she placed the television on silence once again, "Oh god, he is really so gorgeous! I can't help but get flushed up every time I see him on television, he's just so dreamy."

I rolled my eyes at her naivety. I couldn't blame her though; the crown prince was probably one of the most attractive men in all of Korea. He was the definition of a perfect man having wealth, power as well as irresistible looks and charms.

I decided to join in the topic and entertain her seeing that there was no customers in the shop currently. "Well, the late king and the queen were both blessed with astounding good looks. So I guess the genes was passed down." I laughed, fondling a spoon in my hand out of boredom.

She stopped for a moment to ponder over something and grabbed me excitedly. "Have you heard of the rumors lately about the royal family?"

I stared at her pensively, smiling. "No, what's up?" I asked, excited to momentarily escape my boring world and get lost in a more exciting one. Everyone likes rumors, right?

"It's was rumored that the crown prince will get married this year!" Chaerin exclaimed, clapping her hands together in glee.

"Oooo," I cooed, sharing in the contagious excitement. "And let me guess, the will the bride-to-be be someone named Kang Chaerin?"

She nudged me playfully. "The rumor has merit though! If he were to succeed as king, wouldn't he need to have a crown princess in order to do that?" She exclaimed, her heart beating in frenzy over the thought. I could tell that she was having weird love images in her head.

What Chaerin said piqued my interest. It was true that one of the criteria of ascending as king would be to have a queen consort in order to produce a royal heir. The Korea constitutional monarchy was every strict on tradition and laws from what I have heard from Chaerin.

"Yeah, but he isn't going to succeed as king yet. Didn't you hear?" I reminded her, grinding some coffee beans to make a cup of latte for the both of us.

"That's exactly it!" She shrieked. I flinched at the pitch of her voice and my eyes glazed over her excited expression filled with sparkles. I didn't get what she meant and tilted my head slightly in amidst of my confusion. Chaerin was always a loyal hard-core fan of the royal family. Well to be exact, she was a die-hard fan of the beloved crown prince. She practically swoons over him.

Sensing my confusion, she grabbed my hand again, shaking it hard and causing me to spill a few coffee grinds on the floor. "Don't you get it? They probably can't stay as his regent for that long, I would say few years top! During that time he would need to find a suitable crown princess, yes? They would probably select a crown princess soon, seeing that they need to train her in ways of the royal household and so on!"

I scratched my head, trying to keep up with the confusing traditions and ways of the imperial palace. I hadn't paid much attention to them, though I do respect them like every other typical Korean.

"So... you're trying to say that the crown prince is going to get married soon?" I concluded in the end and Chaerin nodded her head vigorously.

"Tch. Getting married at such a young age? I wonder what the royal family is thinking." I shook my head in disapproval and pressed the green button on the coffee machine, the thick dark brown aromatic liquid flowed down into two coffee cups. It had just only been a few months since the king passed away and the royal family was already finding a bride for the prince. How distasteful.

"I wonder if he already has a girlfriend." I murmured casually, making conversation.

"I don't think so! It was never on the news and reports. But all I am saying is that we must look our best these days. Who knows? Maybe the crown prince would catch a glimpse of us and fall head over heels." She joked, immediately holding up a silver tray and examining her flawless complexion. When she finished, she handed me the silver tray while I stared at it unexpectedly. "Here, take this and go put on more blusher. Your cheeks are really pale today."

I denied her strange offer, laughing silently inside — sometimes when she got too caught up in the moment, she tends to do really quirky things. "Thanks, but there's a mirror in the bathroom. Anyway, I am not interested in the crown prince. I have DongHae remember?" I smiled softly at the thought of my boyfriend of 6 months, my first love and my very first boyfriend.

We met one fine summer day, at a local neighborhood bookstore. Being disadvantaged due to my petite height and my unwillingness to change my comfortable sneakers to painful high heels, I had a hard time grabbing a book from the top shelf. Yeah, the cliche 'help the distressed girl and get her to like you' kind of story. As fate would have it, I found out that he was studying at the same high school as me. Things started getting heated up between us and we ended up a couple.

Chaerin groaned and sat on the counter, placing the rejected tray beside her. "Yes yes, Shin Donghae, your beloved little boyfriend that you have to be so faithful to." She replied sarcastically and pouted. "You are no fun."

With a swift movement, she jumped off the counter and leaned in close to my face, her wide eyes narrowing down as she continue to glare at me. "You know..." She said with a soft voice, yet with steel threading behind it. "First love never works out."

I sighed in relief, relaxing from my awkward tense stance. Chaerin could be quite scary sometimes, she overreacts on just about anything. I have told her countless of time to get a hormone check, but I guess her peculiar mood swings was due to the fact that she was from the drama club.

"Yah!" I shouted at her, shocking her. "Don't do that, you're scaring me."

She pouted again. "Hey! I am just looking out for you as my duty as best friend! It is tested and proven all around the world! Don't you watch dramas huh? First loves always ends in heartbreak!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her statement. I finished pouring the steamed milk into the thick coffee liquid and placed the coffee cup down on a porcelain saucer, pushing it to her. "You never know." I smiled, challenge teemed in my brown eyes. "Drink up before your dad finds out we are slacking off again."

"There's aren't many customers today, he probably won't nag when he come by to spot check on us later. I want to watch a movie later. This is boring." She crossed his arms across her chest like a defiant child.

I picked up my coffee cup and smiled faintly, the strong bittersweet aroma engulfing my nostrils. I sighed in delight and took a sip of the hot latte, leaning back on the counter.

"Well knowing, your dad, he would probably scream at us saying 'there is always something to do, mop the floor or something. If it's clean, mop it again to be sure'." I tried to mimic Mr. Kang voice, which I believed was successful because Chaerin started to choke on her coffee as she tried to hold back laugh.

"Yah! You ok?" I instinctively placed my coffee mug down and ran to her, patting her back.

The ringing of bells interrupted us halfway and we both spun to the door to meet the customer. A tall customer strode into the diner, wearing a black shirt, black pants and a black cap. His head was lowered when he took a seat at one of the tables.

I let out an inaudible sigh. Chaerin nudged me to go forward, "Go do your job, miss tardy."

"Well, time to stop worrying about what happened with other people's lives and worry about my own boring one," I said quietly with a small smile, grabbing a menu and quickly making my way to the new customer. I didn't want him to wait.

If only I had known that my meeting with this customer would end my boring life, perhaps I would let him wait just a little longer.