Traze refuses to get up. She doesn't want to do anything. More specifically, she doesn't want to see the face of the guy who just made her heart race for unknown reason after seeing him again at the camp last night. She still remembers very vividly in her mind what happened at the train tracks. And last night, the way he stared at her makes everything even more puzzling to her.

"Patricia Zenith Collins, are you just gonna stay there in bed all day?" She hears her bestfriend asking her but she ignores her and pretends to be asleep.

"I know you're not sleeping, Traze. What the hell is wrong with you?" Izzy raises her voice and throws a pillow at her.

"Hey!" She finally answers back. "I'm not feeling well."

Izzy arches a brow at her. "Really now? May I just remind you that you were the one who wanted to go in this camp? You practically begged me to come with you and now you're just gonna coop up in bed to do what? Also, the prince is expecting you to participate in the events. He gave us all tickets for this, remember?"

She groans silently, sitting up in bed. "Fine. I got your point."

"So you're coming now?"

"Jamming again?"

"Lyric writing," Izzy says excitedly. "I heard they invited a famous composer."

She lets out an exhale. "Of course they did."

"I'll go ahead. I better see you there in a few minutes." Izzy throws her another glare before shutting the door behind her.

Traze drags her weight out of bed and proceeds to the bathroom to wash up and change clothes. The only thing that's in her mind at that moment is to avoid Taeyong at all cost.

****

Well, the guy that she doesn't want to see is not there so she's relieved. But she sees his brother, Mark on the corner with another guy who looks the same age as him. She isn't really focused on what the mentor is talking about so she just scribbles on her notebook.

Just then, someone pokes her shoulder from the back. She ignores it the first time because she thinks it's just Izzy fooling around, but when she looks over her shoulder, she sees the face of the second prince, smiling at her. "Patricia," he mumbles, his dimple showing subtly.

"Your Highness... J-Jaehyun, sorry I thought you were-"

He chuckles silently. "That's alright. I see that you're quite busy." He points at her notebook and she quickly closes it in embarrassment.

"That's... that's nothing."

"Hey Jae, what do you think about this?" Someone suddenly says next to him, showing him his notes.

She remains quiet as the guy talks to the prince so casually as if they've known each other for a long time. When Jaehyun turns back to her, she looks away, pretending she wasn't staring at him.

"Sorry, that was my friend, Ten." He flashes a smile which she returns back. "You're not paying attention to the mentor, are you?"

She purses her lips, thinking of an alibi but can't think of any. "I'm not really in the mood for it."

"You wanna do something else?" He suggests all of a sudden.

She looks at him in question, but she doesn't hesitate to stand up and follow him. The mentor didn't bother telling them off because she's with the Prince and he can easily get away with it.

She silently follows Jaehyun's lead as he walks towards the entrance of a walking trail. "Are we hiking?" She asks him.

He stops and turns to her. "It's not really uphill. Just a bushwalking track. You don't mind, do you?"

She gulps down, shaking her head. Hiking is definitely on her list, but she didn't expect she'd do it with the prince himself. She steadies herself as she prepares to spend the next few hours alone with him.

The whole time they're walking, Jaehyun just snaps photos of the view around them, which she really has been wanting to see. She knows that he's fascinated with photography and now she's seeing it for herself. "It's really nice out here," she comments.

Jaehyun raises his phone up to his face and focuses it on her. When she turns to his direction, he quickly presses the button, capturing her. He chuckles, looking at the photo he just took.

"That's..." She stops, preventing herself from swearing at the prince. "Why did you take a photo of me, Your Highness? I wasn't ready."

Jaehyun continues to smile widely. "Did you know that the best photos are those that are taken when the subject is directly looking at the one behind the camera?"

She pauses, not really getting what he means. "Just please... I'm not really camera-friendly. I probably look like a monkey in that photo."

Jaehyun chuckles, nodding. "A cute monkey."

She exhales a breath and just lets him mock at her photo. It's not really mocking when he just called her "a cute monkey" at that. At least, she gets to see him laughing now. It's the first time she's seeing him that way. She has memorised his smile and laugh by watching him on the screen, but seeing it personally is a totally new and fluttering experience for her.

As the track gets longer, she suddenly feels herself getting exhausted. She knows that it might be dangerous for her if she continues walking so she stops. "Can we... take a break?"

Jaehyun quickly moves closer to her. "Are you alright, Traze? Do you want to go back now?"

She catches her breath, trying to gauge herself. "Are we nearing the end of the trail?"

He checks his phone and nods. "It'll probably take another half an hour. Will you be alright?"

She inhales and exhales and repeats the cycle for a few seconds before standing up again. "Let's go." And as soon as she says this, her vision suddenly forms a tunnel until it completely blacks out.

****

She doesn't know how long has it been since she passed out. But when she wakes up, her head still feels a bit heavy. She's now back in their cabin which is still empty. The last thing she could remember was hearing Jaehyun's voice telling her "please be alright." She can't believe she passed out infront of the prince again. If that's the case, then he must be the one who carried her.

Closing her eyes, she contemplates on going back to sleep. When she stretches her left arm up, she notices that something is stuck on the back of her hand. Seeing it reminds her of the time she was in the hospital. She remembers that it's the thing they use to administer her medications. True enough, she looks up and sees the bag of clear fluid hanging on top of her bed which is connected to the one in her hand.

Sighing, she carefully uses her other hand to check her phone and sees a few messages from her sister and friends.

Chelsie: "I just went to get some food. Be back in a bit!"

Kun: "Rest well, Traze."

Taeil: "Feel better quick."

Doyoung: "Don't go hiking again!"

Izzy: "Let me know when you wake up. I don't want to disturb your sleep. Btw, someone has been waiting for you at the front porch for hours now. He won't budge."

At that, her eyes instantly shoot up in surprise. She wonders if Jaehyun is still there outside their cabin. She shakes her head. There's no way he'll still be there.

She forces herself to get up to check for the prince just in case. She takes the bag of fluid with her, pushing the pole beside her. When she opens the door, someone is sleeping with his head resting on his arms on the table. But she recognizes him right away. He's not the prince.

Her immediate thought is to go back inside and pretend she never saw him. But when she finally takes a step back, the wooden floor creaks, creating a sound and waking him up. He lifts his head up, tilting his head and seeing her. "Hey," Taeyong says in his raspy voice. "How are you feeling?"

She gulps down, not wanting to speak. But he suddenly retorts again, "What were you thinking going up hiking?"

She blinks at him, confused at his sudden outburst. "What?"

He clenches his jaw before answering her. "Is it that too difficult for you to stay still?"

She scoffs, still not getting why he's suddenly acting like that. "Why would I do that? What are you even doing here? If you hate me so much, why do you care? Just bugger off, will you?"

He lets out an exhale. "Damn it, Traze! Did you really think I would be here if-" he gets cuts off when someone appears at the steps.

"Sorry, am I interrupting you?"

She darts her gaze to the prince and forces a smile. "No, Your Highness." She glances at Taeyong and rolls her eyes at him. "He was just about to leave."

Taeyong scoffs, glaring at Jaehyun. He doesn't say a word anymore and throws one last look at her, which she ignores.

"Patricia, how are you feeling?" The prince asks, when Taeyong disappears from their sight.

"I'm alright now. Thank you for bringing me back here."

Jaehyun moves closer to her and hands her a lunch box. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to come with me. This is for you, by the way."

She accepts his present and bows at him. "It's not your fault, Your Highness. And thank you for this."

"Are you sure you're not in pain anywhere?" He asks again, his face registers worry.

She shakes her head, smiling. "I think I just need a rest."

He nods. "Let me know if you need anything. Also, have you thought about it?"

She pauses, trying to process what he just said. "I'm not sure what you mean by that, Your Highness."

"The one I wrote in the letter I gave you. Please think about it Patricia."

When Jaehyun leaves, she immediately tries to remember about his letter. He wants her to accept his proposal of going to Eton. In return, her mum will stay in the Palace and be given less workload than before. It's like the best deal anyone can ever have. It still feels surreal to her but she doesn't want to accept it and let other people think that she's using her connection with the prince to get all that.

"I know what you will say, Patricia. But, don't ever let anyone deprive you of your happiness in life just because you gave in to other people's insecurities," is what the prince wrote in the last part of his letter. Maybe it's time for her to finally do so.