The Grumpy Prince (1/1)

Yesung woke up early that day. First thing that he did upon waking up was to prepare himself for his meeting with Yuri. He took a bath, freshened himself up, and then rummaged in his closet to find the perfect clothes to wear. Minutes later, he almost could not recognize his bed anymore for it was all covered with his clothes. After several outfit changes, he finally settled with a shirt and a brown jacket paired with black pants. He faced in front of the mirror and fixed his hair. “Today is the day.” He said to himself. “I must tell her this.” He picked a notepad from his bedside table and turned it to the page where he had written his ‘script’. He read it again as if proofreading it. He almost could not sleep last night thinking of the right lines to say. For this is not one of the plays or musicals in which he starred wherein he could just ad lib  whenever something goes wrong. This is the real thing. And he could not afford to commit mistakes. Everything must be perfect.------------------------“Perfect!” Seohyun smiled as she smelled the freshly-cooked food. She tasted it and she could not help but be proud of herself. It not only smells great but it’s also delicious. They say that a way to melt a man’s heart is through his stomach. Let’s see if it’s true then. The sweet aroma from the kitchen awakened Kyuhyun from his slumber. He walked to the kitchen and found Seohyun busy cleaning the countertop. She tied her hair up, gathered it in a bun, and secured it with a hair clamp. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kyuhyun staring at her. “Kyuhyun-oppa, feeling better now?” She asked him but he never responded. Honestly, he had never felt so much better today. He finally had a complete rest but his stupid pride hindered him from saying a simple “Thank You” to her. Feeling ignored, Seohyun thought of a way to catch his attention again. “Oppa, why don’t you fix yourself first? Your hair is a bit untidy,” she chuckled when she noticed his already ruffled chestnut brown hair got a lot messier. Kyuhyun ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s always been this messy,” he commented.  Nevertheless, he went to the comfort room to fix himself while Seohyun was preparing the table for breakfast. “Seems like you are more comfortable calling me oppa now.” Kyuhyun said when he went out of the comfort room. With a towel in his hand, he wiped his face dry and then put the towel over his shoulder. “Why? Do you want me to call you Master instead?” Seohyun asked as she put the final touches on her table arrangement. “Okay Master, just wait a little. I am still setting the table.” She looked up, waiting for his reply but he just turned his back against her. Kyuhyun noticed that there was no toneof irritation or sarcasm in her voice. It is so much different from how she called her the past few days when he obliged her to call him Master. “Oppa is already fine.” Kyuhyun finally said. The reason why he wanted Seohyun to call him Master was to annoy her. Now that she was not getting irritated anymore, it has already lost the whole point. “Why is she acting so nice?” Kyuhyun wondered. He opened the refrigerator to get a drink but he was surprised to see what was inside of it. “What did you do?!” Kyuhyun asked. “Oh, those?” Seohyun pointed to the several food containers inside the refrigerator. “I just noticed that you have a lot of instant foods stored so I decided to go to grocery to buy you real food.” Seohyun explained. “I prepared them all last night and early this morning.” She added with a proud smile. Kyuhyun picked one of the containers. He looked at them and he had observed that each container had a post-it note attached to it which contained instructions on what to do with them. “Those are good for a week. If you find it hard to follow those instructions, you can just call me. I can be your cook… for a fee, of course.”She said while placing the plates and bowls for the two of them on the table. Kyuhyun stared at Seohyun in disbelief. He put back the container in the refrigerator and closed it. “Why did you do that?” he asked as he behind the table. “Because eating too much instant foods is not good for the health. Those contain a lot of preservatives and MSGs and other unhealthy stuff.” Seohyun put the dish at the center of the table. “You know, to be able for someone to be healthy, you need a balanced amount of nutrients…” Kyuhyun knew where this was going and before Seohyun could continue with her lecture of calories, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, etc., he raised his hand to halt her. “I got it already. Eat healthy. Is that your message?” Kyuhyun said nonchalantly. “Grumpy.” Seohyun muttered. “What did you say?” Kyuhyun asked sharply. “Do you know Grumpy?” Seohyun said as she took the seat in front of him. Kyuhyun shook his head. He had absolutely no idea who the heck Grumpy is. He wondered if it was the name of her pet but why would she bring it up. Kyuhyun did not have the time to listen to her petty stories. “Grumpy is one of Snow White’s seven dwarfs. They are Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, and Grumpy.” Seohyun recited while counting with her fingers as she mentioned each name. Kyuhyun gave her a quizzical look. Seohyun was completely acting strange now. Does she expect him to be amused by her fairy tale stories? He’s already twenty-three years old, for God’s sake. “Among those seven, Grumpy is the only one who is mean to Snow White.” Seohyun continued. “He is very ill-tempered and easily irritated thus, the name Grumpy.” “And so?” Kyuhyun asked while stifling a yawn. “What does that got to do with me?” Seohyun looked at him. “Don’t you realize? You two are very much alike.” “So you imagine yourself as Snow White and I am your Grumpy?” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and sniggered. Afterwards, he stood up. “With a height like this, you only compare me to a dwarf?” he retorted. “Then don’t be grumpy.” She replied. “Why can’t I just be the prince?” he asked with the same expression as that of an annoyed child. Seohyun thought that it was very cute. “Because a prince knows how to smile.” She chuckled. “Like this.” She drew a smiley in the air and gave her most cheerful smile. Kyuhyun then forced a smile. Seeing that cynical smile, her lips curved down. “You should smile genuinely… cheerfully.” Kyuhyun gave up. “I already forgot how to smile like that.” A gloomy expression spread in his face as he sat down. Seohyun knew he was lying. She knew he could do it just like the last time; he just did not want to do it.  “The food is getting cold. Let’s eat. I am starving,” he said.   Seohyun opened the cover of the dish. “Presenting… the star of the table… Ta-dan! Dukbokki!” “You’re too happy.” Kyuhyun said after he saw Seohyun’s enthusiastic presentation of the dish. “Why? Is being happy prohibited here? Oh! I got it now.” She put her two hands together as if she discovered something significant. “That’s the reason you always have a scowl in your face.” Kyuhyun balled his fists on thetable. If only he did not owe her for taking care of his sick self, he would have pushed her out of the door. She really was starting to get to his nerves but he just ignored her. He then took his own serving of the dish. “What can you say about the taste?” Seohyun leaned forward and pointed at Kyuhyun’s plate. He wanted to eat peacefully but here she was trying to make a conversation. Was it not enough for her that she annoyed him with that remark of hers and now she’s here disturbing his supposed-to-be quiet eating time? “Don’t you have your own taste buds?” Kyuhyun snapped. She could sense her ropes of patience slowly snapping into two but she has to maintain her composure. Is this what they call a Herculean task? He was even colder than the glaciers in the Antartica. At least those glaciers can be melted by global warming but him, she could not think of any world phenomenon that could melt his heart. Was she just trying in vain to achieve her goal? But she knew she was not the type of person that easily gives up. “I just want to know if you think the same way too.” Seohyun said. Both of them looked at each other wondering if that sentence had a double-meaning. Is she just talking about the food or was she referring to something else deeper inside herself? Neither one of them knows.-----Author's notes:Thank you for subscribing and for your comments. I am sorry this is a short chapter. I don't want you guys to keep waiting so I cut this chap (It is supposed to be longer) plus I also have to organized my ideas for the continuation of this.  Hopefully I will be able to update this week. A short preview of what would happen next: Yuri will finally meet Kyuhyun. Leeteuk will start his investigation and Victoria's background will somehow be revealed.