#;royal

this month had been taxing on shiah, to say the least, and in times like these there weren’t many people she turned to to actually open up about this stuff. heck, barely any of the girls had known shiah had been seeing someone. one of the few who actually knew about it was jisoo, and so with the remnants of the emotional turmoil she had been through, along with the pressure of the evaluation they had just faced, shiah felt the only person she could really turn to and rely on a little was her. 

“hey.. you busy right now?” she had managed to catch the girl at the end of training hours, though her usual cheery demeanor was fairly diminished. “i... sort of need someone to talk to. if you’re busy that’s fine! i just... yeah, i need someone right now, and you’re one of the people i thought of.” she hoped jisoo would be open to listening, but if she wasn’t that was fine. everyone had their own things to worry about, so shiah would understand. 

@americanmockingbird

“I know.” Alfred looked out over the city beyond his castle walls, leaning on the stone of the window for a few solemn seconds before turning back towards her. Tomorrow all of this would be his to control, he’d be handed more power than most knew what to do with, and it would be his responsibility to bring prosperity to his new kingdom. Groomed from a young age to rule as he was, Alfred knew he would be well prepared to accept the crown, but it didn’t ease the nervous excitement coiled in his belly.

But for tonight he didn’t want to think of any of that.

Pulling her closer with a smirk, his hands explored her hips gently but firmly. “Let’s not talk of it. Tonight I’m just a prince, whatever comes tomorrow isn’t of any consequence just yet.”

Tonight, he really looked tired. Chiara watched him from the separate side of the window, not watching the city, just him. Her cute little prince.

They shouldn’t be doing this.

Chiara was just a woman from a tiny noble family, and because her father saved his father’s life out in the battlefield, she got to be raised in the court. Still, she was never supposed to marry him and never will. Yet, here they were, hiding in one of the palace towers.

When he came back, pulling her in. “That’s true.” Chiara slipped her smaller arms around him, brushing her fingers through his hair. “I’m still curious why you wanted to meet tonight. You know people are looking for you?”She teased him, as she pressed herself closer to him. 

the day is tough, after all is said and done, but she didn’t expect the night to be worse. she figured the initial shock and pain from the break up would start to ease and maybe she’d be emotionally exhausted and be able to sleep because of it. boy, was she wrong. a year and a half, gone just like that. 

on the one hand she gets it, and that’s why she didn’t give seulgi a hard time over it. shiah was just as ambitious, and she knows seulgi had been training for longer than she had. the desire to make sure everything goes right was something shiah more than understood. it just... sucked. she didn’t want to feel like she wasn’t worth fighting for, or that it was so easy to be dropped at the sight of debut, but... well, that’s kind of how she felt. what made all of that difficult was how well she understood the reason behind it. how could she be mad when she couldn’t blame her? heartbreak was easier to deal with when she could be angry about it, that’s how she dealt with toshi leaving her out of nowhere. this was rough, because she couldn’t be mad, so she didn’t know how to cope, and it was driving her absolutely insane. 

why kangjoon was the one who came to mind to turn to, shiah didn’t know. maybe it was the long lost crush she had had on him once upon a time, maybe it was the fact that she used to vent to him about toshi, past lovers, so her mind landed on him. either way, everything was a blur, and suddenly she had her phone on her ear while she laid in her bed and his ringtone playing through the ear phone as the call attempted to connect.

“pick up, please... oppa, pick up...”

shiah was a little partial and attached when it came to jisoo. they had shared some pretty private information in confidence, and had helped each other in training too. if shiah had to list some girls she wanted to debut with from the royal trainee roster, jisoo was definitely on that list and one of the ones who came to mind first. of course, debuting with her was out of shiah’s control, plus she was certain just about everyone would want to debut with jisoo. with those looks and that voice? whatever group jisoo ended up in would be popular, without a doubt. 

she couldn’t help but wonder what jisoo thought about royal as a whole though. shiah knew when she was first scouted by them that it had been a surprise. she had been auditioning for trc, a completely different company, so thoughts of joining royal were nowhere to be found. but then it happened and in the audition it just felt right. she had gone through a lot of ups and downs, however. there were times she was convinced she would never renew her trainee contract with them, and there were times she couldn’t even dream of being anywhere else. 

she decided it would be a good idea to check up on the other girl and how she was feeling about everything. it was all very stressful, and sometimes it was good to talk to someone who understood. “hey you.” she greets warmly, shooting her a smile. “how are you holding up? anything you need to talk about?” 

training was tough on the body at times, and shiah in particular knew just how hard yoojung had been working these days in her training. she had seen the progression with her own eyes, and shiah couldn’t deny how proud of yoojung she was. that was why she had decided to treat her and reward her efforts with a little spa day. besides, there was nothing like an excuse to spend time with her and bond with her. anyone working that hard was bound to debut at some point. it was likely they could debut together. 

shiah scans over the menu of items and packages they could do, one hand tucked in the pocket of her plushie robe. “hm.. we could do massages? or the sauna? they have hot stone therapy too, and facials. what would you like to do first?” she looks to the younger girl with a soft smile. it had been a while since shiah herself had been here, but she was glad she was here with yoojung. “we’ll do whatever you think will help you relax the most. you deserve it.” 

luxe's promotions had ended, which was a sad thing since shiah loved monitoring their performances and learning their songs and routines, but it meant they would be around the royal building more often now. with them winning first place on a music show, shiah was more excited for them than ever. she had truly become a fan of them, along with looking up to them as her sunbaes. so, naturally, knowing they’d be around, she prepared little gifts for each of the members in case she ran into them.

today was a lucky day, for she finally ran into one of them. xayah and her hadn’t been best friends or anything, but shiah had definitely come around and gotten rid of her preconceived judgments of her after getting to know her. she had really grown to like her and become her fan, so she was more than happy to give her her gift first. “sunbae!” she calls from down the hallway, skipping along to catch up to her. once caught up, she bows a few times to show her respect before grabbing her little prepared gift box with some face masks, vitamin gummies, a refillable water bottle, and some ginseng drinks. “congratulations on your first music show win! i prepared a gift for you to celebrate. please rest well!” 

with less than a month away from her contract’s end, shiah didn’t have much else on her mind. she had managed to find a way to balance her trainee life with the rest of her life, but she knew any shot at debut was ways away. she had made a home in royal though, and she really couldn’t see herself anywhere else. she just hoped they wanted her to stay another two years, but was she ready to spend the next two years waiting for debut? she needed a challenge, and things had just gotten easier in recent months for her. 

so many thoughts were swimming through her head, and yet she couldn’t settle on what she truly wanted. she could always go back to modelling, maybe even go to school for fashion design. she wasn’t much of an actress but she could always give that a try too, or be a back up dancer. she had options, all of which she was sure her dad would support, but still... which option was the right option?

things only complicate further when she sees seonho in the halls at royal, and she can’t help but stop him. “seonho!” she figured it might be easier for him. he was young, he could still do school while training to be an idol and it’d be fine. for shiah, it wasn’t as easy. she was older now, an adult. still, his thoughts might be helpful. “so... contract renewal is soon. do you know what you’re gonna do?”