ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR YOU ALL!

Look at me writing 4000+ chapters when I vowed to myself that I was keeping my word limit at 2000. 

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"What in the world are you talking about?!" Bang Chan asked, clearly very confused at his younger brother as Hyunjin clung to him for dear life. "I swear I'm not kidding Hyung! I got into my room to get some sleep and then I saw it. See?!" He frantically waved in the direction of his room, when the screaming stopped. 

"Could it be an intruder?" Hong Joong asked, peeking into the dark room. There was definitely someone there or something but no one was really brave enough to step inside and check.

Everyone was tired, tipsy and thoroughly exhausted. "Lemme go and check," Everyone turned to the voice. Jieun gently shuffled through the crowd, her eyes squinted in concentration. Like she knew a bit more than everyone did. 

"I'll come with you." Yun Hyeok followed, not even glancing at anyone. The girls quietly stepped into the dark room, the crumpled material of their dresses following behind them. "One of us should go after them," Yunho suggested, making everyone look at him. "Why don't you?" San asked, inching away from the room.

It was obvious that he was scared. And that made Risa suppress a smile thinking she wouldn't be noticed but she was. By the scared Hwang Hyunjin himself. she panicked, looking away from him. "The heck are you doing?" Ryanne hissed, clearly confused at the girl's antics.

"I would if I didn't want to rip my foot off with every step I took." At Yunho's words, Eun Kyung grimaced somewhere at the back of the crowd.  "Oh, dear!" Sana looked at him, worried. "Are you alright?" 

"Now what!" Both the Chaewons panicked beside Eun Kyung. She knew what had happened during their dance and she was worried that the prince would rat Eun Kyung out. 

"Nothing to worry about." He assured Sana. "I just rammed my toes against a very stubborn wall." He glanced at Eun Kyung giving her a knowing look as she tried her hardest to look at anyone but him. 

"I'll go," Jeongin said, half curious and half worried about the girls. Once the attention was shifted, Chae leaned closer to Eun Kyung who was still hiding. "The next time you are mad, please stay away from this guy." 

"She's right," Chaewon nodded. "Point noted," Eun Kyung ducked her head lower, embarrassed at how Yunho was safeguarding her and successfully embarrassing her at the same time.

Meanwhile inside Hyunjin's room

"Look at those paintings!" Yun Hyeok whispered, clearly forgetting the purpose of entering the room. "Eunnie, not now!" Jieun sighed, clearly not interested one bit in the Prince's chamber. 

"It's Yuriko, isn't it?" Yun Hyeok whispered as they gently went deeper into the room. "She was the only one with a bright pink dress!" Jieun sighed, already dreading the consequences of her being here.

It was a Prince's chamber. And they hadn't been in the castle for a full day. What was with this girl stirring up trouble everywhere?

"Jieunnie, stop thinking too much." Yun Hyeok consoled, clearly understanding what could be bothering her. "We'll come up with some sort of excuse or anything. But lets at least confirm it's Yuriko and not some pinkish ghost that took a liking to Prince Hyunjin."

"If that's the case, then he's on his own." The girls gasped out loud, clearly terrified at the sudden third voice. But when they whipped back, they saw the somewhat flustered and apologetic face of the youngest prince. "I'm sorry for startling you." He apologized smiling brightly, making the girls immediately smile back at him. "It's all right. What brings you here again, Your-" 

"Jeongin! Since we're gonna live at the same place, I'd like Noona to drop the formalities." He smiled before asking, "It's alright if I call you Noona right?" He smiled at Yun Hyeok. What really made Jieun admire the youngest prince was how he was very well informed of her age but showed her equal respect to Yun Hyeok. "Of course! It's fine!" Yun Hyeok answered, quickly recovering from the shock at the youngest prince calling her Noona.

"Now, shall we find this pink ghost Hyunjin Hyung saw?" He smiled, subtly taking the lead. Both the girls were touched by the respect and care he showed them. 

They found Yuriko at the furthest corner of the huge chamber, seemingly passed out. Her dress was crumpled and her hair messy as they found her, laying on her side. 

"Yuriko!" Jieun softly gasped, gently reaching for the girl. Yun Hyeok and Jeongin stayed behind as Jieun gently took the younger girl in her arms. She lay unresponsive but thankfully, otherwise fine except for a dark spot on her forehead.

"I think she got hit by something," Yun Hyeok said, examining the bruise. "Let's get her to the quarters and then we can call the doctor to check up on her," Jeongin suggested.

Jieun nodded, before attempting to lift Yuriko up. But she was a 50 kg girl attempting to pick up a passed-out 47 kg girl. Which seemed as ridiculous as it sounded-

"Can I?" Jeongin shyly suggested, making the girls exchange glances. In the end, Jieun nodded, moving away from Yuriko and letting Jeongin gently lift her up bridal style. The girls took the lead this time, moving anything out of the way that could hinder the young prince's way. 

Everyone was startled when they saw the youngest carrying an unconscious noble out of what almost everyone had deemed to be a haunted room. "Hyung..." He looked straight at Chan, who had his eyebrows cocked up in confusion. "I'll explain later but she's hurt." 

"I'll get the doctor. Take her to the living room Jeongin-ah!" With that, Momo rushed away.

Everyone gathered in the large living room where Jeongin gently placed Yuriko on one of the couches and Chae grabbed a blanket and gently covered her.

"What hit her?" Wooyoung asked, clearly confused. Jeongin sighed, before turning to Hyunjin, who looked guilty. "Hyung, you threw something in her direction, didn't you?" Seungmin asked, clearly reading the situation.

"I was startled!" Hyunjin defended, clearly still spooked. "And besides, she wasn't supposed to be in that room." Now Jieun panicked.

"It's because I pranked her into thinking she was supposed to be." Jeongin lied, looking straight into Hyunjin's eyes. "Which was wrong of me Hyung but why would you throw whatever you did at her?" 

Yun Hyeok and Jieun exchanged surprised looks but decided to not speak. Clearly whatever Jeongin was doing was to save the girls from embarrassment. "He's right, Hyunjin-ah," Lee Know agreed, "She didn't know any better and you should have had a better grip on your nerves."

Hyunjin pouted but nodded, understanding the situation. "Now, now Lee Know;" Chan intervened. "I think Innie should be scolded for playing such a prank on her. It's a human reflex to be startled at something sudden." He glanced once at Hyunjin and then at Jieun.

One look at the oldest Prince and both Jieun and Yun Hyeok knew that he had a very good idea of what was the actual story.  "Enough boys," Sana cut through the exchange. "Innie played an impromptu prank, Yuriko was at the wrong place at the wrong time and Hyunjin's a scaredy-cat. End of story."

Her words made the girls exhale softly, in an attempt to hide their laughs. The way the Kingmaker treated the boys like kids was a real sight to see. What amused them even further, was how Hyunjin and Jeongin just sulked but neither protested nor dragged the matter.

"Move aside," The doctor ushered them all away, with Momo trailing behind her. Once he was done examining Yuriko, he turned to Sana. "She's fine. The bruise is from hitting something hard head-on and that's why she passed out. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure she gets a good night's sleep and has a good meal first thing in the morning."

With that, the doctor left. "Now, you guys get to your rooms. Changbin and Felix look like they're gonna fall asleep right now." Sana smiled at the princes, who indeed barely stood straight with their eyes almost closed. 

"Noona~" Changbin softly protested, which seemed like the most adorable thing to the girls. "I need one of you to help Yuriko get to her room." She looked at the sleeping girl. "Which is upstairs."

"I can help." Literally, none of the girls was surprised when Wooyoung volunteered. This guy made no effort in hiding that he fancied this noble rather was showy about it. "Are you sure-" "It's no problem," He assured, gently lifting Yuriko up the couch.

As he walked up the stairs, holding the girl close to him. The other Princes also shuffled back to the room, with polite boys to the girls. Everyone looked at each other clearly taking the time to process what just happened.

"That was a very eventful night, to say the least," Sora said, flopping down on the couch. "You're telling me," Jina sighed, taking off her heels, and massaging her sore feet.

"Man I hope Yuriko's alright," Risa said, looking in the direction where Wooyoung disappeared with Yuriko, Sana showing them the way.

"Chaewon, you alright?" Wonhan asked, noticing the girl being quiet. Her head shot up from her lap, a smile immediately appearing. "Yeah, yeah!" She assured, "I'm fine. Just tired." 

"Aren't we all?" Jeeseun said, falling back onto the couch. Their appearance wasn't as prim and proper as it was at the beginning of the evening.  Dresses crumpled, shoes laying messily around them, hairdos either messed up or completely let down; but damn did they look absolutely gorgeous!

"I wonder-" Yeseul started, making the girls hum as a wordless indication that they are listening. "Are the upcoming weeks gonna be as chaotic as today was?" 

"Yeseul," Ryanne started. "There are 16 girls in this castle and 16 Princes. And almost everyone is searching for their potential significant others. And some of us have our eyes set on one particular person." She quickly glanced at Risa before averting her eyes. 

Risa wasn't dumb. She knew Ryanne was wordless challenging her and making it very clear that she was seen as a threat. "What she means is-" Chae interjected. "Yes Yeseul, it is indeed going to be very chaotic." 

"Or it couldn't always be this chaotic," Jieun suggested, finally calming down from the panicky and anxious state. "We don't know what's gonna happen."

"Isn't that the whole point?" Jina asked, finally speaking. "Us not knowing what's gonna happen and just going with the flow. Every two of us want to be with the same Prince. That in itself is gonna be messy."

"Not messy if we know when to back up," Hajun answered. "This isn't just about us. The kingdom is involved, the princes' choices are involved and so are their hearts. Just because we want them doesn't mean they would be wanting us to. It ultimately is on us if we're gonna respect their choices or make us and our families look bad."

"Hajun's right." Chae agreed, pushing herself to a seating position. "And honestly, why are we even worrying about any of this, this early? We have weeks before we need to make this decision. Right now, I wanna know how your dances went." 

"You're the one to speak." Eun Kyung teased, "You and Seonghwa looked already married."

"Shut up, it was nothing like that." Chae waved her off but she wasn't going to get such an easy pass. "You still have to tell us, why Prince Chan looked like he saw a ghost at the sight of you." Yun Hyeok reminded her. "I was hoping you would forget that," Chae admitted, sighing. 

"What exactly are both of your deals?" Aera asked, impatient for their back story. Chae shook her head, reaching for a glass of water. "Eunnie, did you guys date in the past or something?" Chaewon's question made her spit her water out.

"Oh, dear!" The younger panicked as Chae started violently coughing. Yun Hyeok and Eun Kyung started slapping her back mercilessly. It just felt right to do so. "Stop before you peel off the skin of my back." Chae winced, making the girls immediately retrieve their hands.

"He was my best friend when we were young. Like from the age of 7 till we were 18." "Was?" Eun Kyung asked, "You guys aren't friends anymore?" That question made Chae swallow the already rising emotions.

"We just..." She hesitated, swallowing again. "We just drifted apart. He got busy with his princely duties and I got occupied with my life."

"Man, that's sad," Sora remarked, sadly smiling at the older. "I'm sorry if I made you sad, Eunnie." Chaewon's expression made Chae smile warmly.

"ChaeChae, you didn't make me sad, kiddo. I answered of my own will. It's just a painful memory for me." She shook her head before looking around. "But now that I'm here, I'll make sure to get past that."

The girls nodded silently. Eun Kyung turned her head to peak at the corridor. "Looks like they're done. Let's get to bed."

They lazily gathered their shoes and dresses before pulling themselves up the stairs. Their tiredness was soo overpowering that they didn't have the energy to bat an eyelash at the gold and white interior of the room. Each room had two bunk beds. Jieun chose the top bunk while Yuriko lay tucked in the other. Eun Kyung and Jeeseun chose the other in that room. 

Ateez quarters...

"What happened to your shoulder?" San asked as Wooyoung took off his shirt, revealing the slightly bleeding marks on his shoulder.

"What!?" Wooyoung glanced at his shoulder before chuckling lightly. "Wooyoung-ah, what's up?!" San questioned, grabbing some tissues.

"Nothing really," Wooyoung smiled softly. "Just someone was mad and used my shoulder to take the anger out."

San sighed, knowing exactly who was being talked about. "You aren't gonna give her up, are you?"  He shook his head, as San continued cleaning the wound. "Jeez, is she a wild cat or what?! What are these scratches?!" He hissed, clearly worried for his best friend.

"I'm fine, San-ah!" Wooyoung assured, clearly endeared at his best friend's concern.  "Are you though?" San reeled back to look the boy in the eye. "It's been what? 2 years since you first saw her at a ball and you're just as smitten by her as the first day. And she won't even glance in your direction!" 

 "For how long?" Wooyoung laughed softly, "I got her attention today. I'll succeed in winning her heart someday." San released a harsh breath before slapping the bandage on his best friend's shoulder. "And what if you don't, you self-absorbed bastard?" 

"Ouch!" Wooyoung hissed, elbowing San in the ribs. "That hurts you fucker-!" San doubled over, clutching the side Wooyoung jabbed, but the smile was evident on his face. "And if I don't, then I don't." He sat beside the window, grabbing a glass of sparkling water. "But I'm not backing off without a trying."

By the looks of it, there were injuries everywhere. On the other side of WooSan's room; Mingi and Yeosang now tended to Yunho's toes which were quite damaged. 

"I can't believe you let a girl practically destroy your toes." Mingi laughed, as he cleaned the dried blood off Yunho's toes. 

"Don't remind me!" Yunho hissed at the burning feeling of the antiseptic hitting his damaged cuticles. 

"Who was that girl anyway?" Yeosang asked. Yunho was the tallest and strongest soldier amongst them and while he has had his fair share of injuries; this was one of the peculiar injuries he had.

"I'm not telling you Yeosang." Yunho glared as Mingi finally finished with his bandages. "You are gonna limp around for a while but I guess it'll heal soon enough." 

"Thanks, Mingi," Yunho smiled, before grabbing a glass of water. "Where were you the entire time during the ball? I didn't even see you." He looked at Yeosang, who seemed engrossed in his phone. 

"He was dancing with the girl in the gold ballgown," Mingi said, making Yunho look at Yeosang for confirmation.  "Her name's Yeseul," Yeosang said, not bothering to look up from her room. "Oh-" 

"You were dancing with her the entire time?" Yunho inquired, kinda intrigued at how unbothered Yeosang looked.  "Yeah well." He shrugged, "I enjoyed her company." 

Mingi and Yunho exchanged looks before Mingi fired at Yeosang. "Man, you don't even enjoy our company!" "Yeah sure, Mingi!" Now Yeosang finally looked up, giving his friends a judging look. "That's why I've been living with you guys for all these years."

"Yah Yeosang-ah!" Yunho looked at him, all serious. "Do you like her?"  "Mingi, I met her like 4 hours ago. How can I like her soo soon? I just enjoy her company for the time being." Yeosang sighed, shaking his head. "And you're the one to speak?! You were all laughing with the girl in the pink dress."

"Who?! Wonhan?!" Mingi asked, a smile breaking out on his face. "Well, she's a funny girl, so I was laughing like I was supposed to laugh." Yunho and Yeosang stared at Mingi like they were very confused at his antics.

"I don't know-" Yeosang burst out, abruptly ending the conversation. "It's hardly been a day and we're here; overanalyzing everything. I'm off to sleep." 

He shook his head, tousling his hair up before pulling the blanket up to his chin and refocusing on his phone.

"Am I the only one who got injured during my ball?" Yunho tilted his head. "Right you are." Yeosang nodded,

"Hyung, we are proud of you for your achievement," Mingi said, grabbing the closest plushie and making it clap. Yeosang burst out laughing as Yunho threw a pillow in his direction. "Shut the fuck up!"  Mingi dodged, laughing.

Stray Kids Quarters;

"I'm not gonna lie, I liked the ball." Lee Know started, wiping his head with a towel. "Really, Hyung?!" Jeongin asked, his eyes fixated on his gaming switch. "Yeah, it was good." 

"We got to see Noona after soo long." Somewhere at the back of the room, Chan stiffened at Felix's words. 

"Yeah, that's true. I'm so glad Sana Noona called her here," Seungmin agreed. "Yep. It's been what; 5 or more years since we last hung out with her." 

"She looked soo pretty!" Hyunjin added, "Especially when she was dancing with Hanie,"

"Who'd she dance with after Han?" Changbin asked, looking up from his phone. "Seonghwa Hyung." Felix answered, "She hung out with him for the rest of the time." 

"Seonghwa Hyung really likes Chae," Changbin added, making all heads turn to him. "How do you know that?" Lee Know asked, very curious.

"Seriously?!" Changbin questioned back, "You think anyone doesn't?! Seonghwa Hyung doesn't really hide it. And besides, this is not the first time they've met."

"What do you mean?" Chan asked, making all of the boys' pause for a few seconds. "Hyung, Seonghwa Hyung often used to visit Chae's house as a kid. His father and Uncle general have been close friends."

"I know that Changbin," Chan interjected, "My dad was a part of that friendship too. But I never knew that Seonghwa and Chae met?"

"Hyung, that's because his visits started after yours stopped." Unknowingly, Changbin hit a sore spot for Chan. His friendship was Chae. That now was destroyed to bits. Why'd she have to ghost him for all these years? What did he do wrong?

"Okay enough talking for one day;" Lee Know interjected, reading the situation all too well. He knew Chan inside out and knew how much of a sore topic Chae was for him. "I'm sleepy too," Hyunjin announced, leaving for his room. Chan, Changbin and Jisung shared one room. Lee Know, Hyunjin and Felix shared one and the youngest; Seungmin and Jeongin shared one room.

"Yongbok-ah, let's go to bed." Lee Know grabbed the younger boy's arm. "But Hyung I wanna play a bit more." Felix pouted, holding onto his gaming switch.

"Bok-ah, no! Your eyes are barely open." Lee Know insisted, "You can play tomorrow." 

In the end, it resulted in Lee Know dragging Felix into the room by his arm as the younger sat tight, doing nothing.

"Hyung, let's go to bed," Changbin said, making Chan shuffle over to him, resting his face on Changbin's broad arms.  "You miss her, don't you?" Chan sighed against Changbin's arm before nodding. He missed his best friend, the Chae who used to make him have some fun despite his uptight title. To Chan, Chae felt like a fresh breath of air. 

And it had been 5 full years since Chan has had his fresh breath of air.  "She's here Hyung," Changbin consoled. "You guys can still fix things. You have all the time." 

"I sure do hope so, Bin." They entered the room, switching the lights on. "Damn Hannie, you must be deep asl-" Chan and Changbin exchanged horrified looks as they found Han's bed empty. 

Seeing that he was missing from the commotion, they assumed he had fallen asleep early. And did not think much of it. But he's not here.

"Where'd he go?!" Changbin asked, loudly. Well, loud enough to catch Lee Know's attention.  "Where'd who-?! WHERE'S HAN JISUNG!?!" Lee Know yelled, instantly realizing that the Quokka Prince was missing. "Okay, no need to yell." Chan massaged his temples, clearly stressed.

At the other side of the castle, Chae shot up on her bed. "What's going on?" Yun Hyeok asked, startled by the sudden movement. 

"Where's Haeun?" She looked at Yun Hyeok, her pupils shaking. "What do you mean, she's right here-" 

Wave silenced, as she saw the bunk bed under Chae's empty. "When was the last time you saw her, Wave?!" Chae asked, her voice shaking now.

"At the ball, with Prince Han." "God Damn it!" Chae flung her covers aside, before grabbing a jacket. "Chae, wait!" Yun called, "I'll come with you. Let's check the other rooms first." 

"Lee Know, is he picking up?" Lee Know shook his head, his phone to his ear. Chan sighed before grabbing the nearest jacket. "He's not in any of the other rooms." Changbin walked into the room. "Lee Know, call Sana Noona if we don't call you in the next 20 minutes. This guy I swear-" Wearing his slippers, Chan walked out of his room, with Changbin following close.

The entire castle was drowned in darkness, as Chan and Changbin barrelled down the stairs. It was past midnight, so where could Han be? He'd never been out this long, and wherever he went, at least one of the boys knew. As they passed the corridor, they heard hurried footsteps down the staircase that led up to the nobles' quarter. 

Chan and Changbin paused, half scared and half curious as to who was out this late. Chae appeared at the top of the stairs, holding a small candle stand, for light. In the soft candlelight, her worried face was clearly visible. Behind her, appeared Yun Hyeok, looking around. 

"Where could she have been?" Yun Hyeok asked, looking around. "Haeun isn't the type to just disappear and that's what is worrying me," Chae spoke, her voice shaking in anxiousness.

They were gonna dash past but Changbin called her. "Chae!" Chaewon's head snapped in his direction. For a split second, her eyes met the ones that were her favourite pair of eyes. 

"Changbin..." She breathed, swallowing. "Why are you out? What's going on?" He asked, clearly sensing something was wrong.

"Haeun, she's nowhere to be found," Chae said. "Haeun too?!" Changbin asked, exchanging looks with Chan. "What do you mean 'too'?" Yun Hyeok asked, "Who else is missing?!" 

"Han..." Chan answered, not quite looking at anyone but Chae. He was taking in her features after such a long time. The same sharp almond eyes, long wispy bangs and those full cheeks. She'd changed soo much but yet somehow, looked the same.

Chae turned to look at him, their eyes finally meeting after 5 whole years. All air was knocked out of Chae's lungs as she finally, properly looked at him, after all these years.

It was like someone had exploded a bomb of emotions inside her. Anger, sadness, pain, longing, love and every other emotion she could name was exploding inside her. Her best friend stood less than 5 feet away from her and despite having the urge to just crash into his chest just like the old times, what was more was the feeling of hurt. Her mind took her back to the day they fell apart. They fell apart to an extent where they felt like they were never gonna reach each other, ever again.

'Just wait for me, okay? I'll be there." He smiled at her, making her clap her hands in excitement.

'You promise, Channie?!' She extended her pinky finger. 'I promise, Wonie' He conjoined their pinkies, sealing the promise. 

She felt her chest tighten as she stared into his eyes. For two sweet seconds, Chan thought she would talk to him or at least give him a smile but she just stared at him before looking away.

That shattered Chan's heart. Being punished was one thing, but when you get punished without knowing what you did wrong; that was simply torture.

"One night's sleep!" A shiver went down Chan's spine as he heard Sana's gruff voice. "All I asked for was one night of sleep." She descended the stairs, standing in between the four people. 

"Did he pick up your calls?" She looked at Chan, making him shudder. "No, Noona. Lee Know's still trying to get ahold of him." Chan answered, swallowing. Changbin just shrunk to the darkest corner, not wanting to be in Sana's line of sight.

"What about you Chae?" She turned her attention to the girls. "No, Eunnie." Chae shivered, as she felt  Yun Hyeok clutch the material of her jacket. "I will hang these two upsides down!" Sana announced, slamming the screen of her phone, before walking away.

Instantly, the 4 of them huddle to one corner, trying to be as far away as they could from Sana.

"She still hasn't changed?!" Chae asked, clearly terrified. "Nope!" Changbin answered, his usually loud voice now reduced to a mere whisper.  "What are you talking about?" Yun Hyeok asked. "Do whatever you want to do, but don't wake Sana Noona up once she's asleep. If you don't want your eardrums damaged." Chan explained, gulping.

"HAN JISUNG! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU!" Sana's voice was loud enough to send echoes throughout the whole palace. "We aren't getting sleep anytime soon, are we?" Chae asked, cringing at the volume. "Nope," Chan said, ducking his head behind the girls.

Angry Sana scared everyone-

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