#youngwook

The last time Maia had tried to scale the palace walls, it had been while she had been trying to escape her wedding. At the time, Youngwook had been waiting for her in the tree above and had given her a look, which had sent her climbing back down. Now, he was giving her a boost as the two of them tried to run away from the king. The king who was throwing another ball that seemed to have every person Youngwook had ever slept with, and every person that wanted to kill him.

No one could really blame the king; most of them were royals of neighboring countries, or at least of noble blood. They needed to keep a peaceful relationship with those countries. But, that did not mean Maia and Youngwook were in any less of an uncomfortable position. A position that was made even worse by Prince Junwoo being invited. Prince Junwoo who was more than eager to steal Maia away from Youngwook. Prince Junwoo who was well respected by the king and now had only half of one eyebrow.

“I cannot believe you did that. He was just showing me a book.” 

She didn’t even mention the fact that Youngwook made it very clear at the beginning of their marriage that they could see other people as long as they were discrete. Admittedly, she had a tiny error in judgment as well. One of which involved one of Youngwook’s exes ending up dunked in water. 

Maia did not expect for her to end up married to a prince, but fate had other ideas. Really, she should have known that pretty of a dress was going to come with a price. But, she had been blinded by Mijung’s promise that it was enchanted and would prevent anyone from recognizing her. Mijung was the only one of her stepsisters she liked, which only made it worse that she had left home many years ago. Still, Mijung had shown up the night of the ball and had given Maia an offer she could not refuse. Yoojung and Nari had managed to go to the party. Why couldn’t Maia? So, Maia had let Mijung do her magic (which was apparently part of her trials to become a full fledged fairy godmother). 

To be fair, no one could have seen what happened through out the rest of the night coming. Maia had danced with the prince and he had been charming, but there was nothing to dictate that it was special to anyone but Maia. She was not delusional. She knew he had plenty of women hoping to marry him and Maia was not one of those girls. But, she wanted to be. And that might have been the end of it, had Maia not spotted Yoojung screaming at a poor servant. Before Maia quite knew what was happening, she had accidentally set her stepsister’s hair on fire.

Of course, no one else understood what had happened Prince Youngwook had. He had seen her and had laughed the entire time. He was magical himself, though no one aside from some trusted servants and his family knew it. His mother had also been a witch, so he quite knew the signs of someone who just used magic. His father and stepmother quite hated magic, as it reminded both of them of his departed mother. So, naturally, Youngwook decided then and there he would marry that girl.

Maia, who despite being a witch was not a mindreader, saw the clock and began to run. Her shoe fell on the grounds, but she did not stop for a moment. Magical or not, her family would kill her if she arrived after them. 

Youngwook, for his part, tried to catch up to the mysterious maiden. Unfortunately, she was fast. He spent the next month trying to track down who the shoe belonged to through every spell he knew. Finally, it led him to a dilapidated household which had once been a sign of greatness. 

Finding out Maia was poor should have made him run back home. Instead, Youngwook laughed again. His father was going to hate that he was going to marry a poor witch. However, the king had said Youngwook could marry anyone he liked at the ball as long as he finally picked someone. So, he did.

Maia for her part, had been climbing out the window to her room. Her stepmother and stepsisters had not taken well to finding the other shoe in her room. She did not intend to land right in front of the prince, but clearly, her intentions were never a part of what fate wanted for her. 

Youngwook smiled above her, holding the shoe. He held his other hand out. Maia hesitated a moment before taking it. But, considering the world she lived in before, marrying a prince couldn’t be any worse. 

Maia knows Youngwook has caught her staring at him when his head whips around. She catches herself before she falls backwards into the ground, but it makes a scene. She clears her throat as Youngwook is clearly battling a lost battle against not laughing. Maia’s entire face flushes. Maybe there is some kind of spell that will cost her to combust into flames. It seems preferable to what is currently happening. 

She realizes this has happened before. Back when they were on Splash, Splash Love, before they had even done a scene together, she had stared at him as such. Of course, Tommy had always been her favorite in Triton, but she was not blind or deaf. Youngwook had a voice that could melt the coldest of hearts and resembled a fairytale prince. He was too beautiful to be approachable. She had been an utter mess trying to figure out how they would do a scene together. Now, here they were, co-stars on yet another drama and her having slept at his place multiple times.

She cleared her throat. She was not supposed to be doing this at an awards show. Anyone could see. She knows she is probably not going to win, but she is sure Triton will. She bites her lip and tries to figure out how she is going to face Youngwook tomorrow, on set. He is going to be so smug.

She is wearing the dress he told her would look good on her. However, it takes her a second to realize another pair of eyes are appreciating the outfit. The maknae of G.Host, a group that just debuted this year under her company, strikes up a conversation with her. Suddenly, glares are boring into the guy’s back, though he does not seem to notice. Maia clears her throat. 

“Thank you, but I’m-” 

[hojun to wookie monster]: so you’re saying i can’t sleep with jason???

[hojun to wookie monster]: js this would seriously fix a lot of your problems

Maia did not plan on burning off half of Yoojung’s hair. Somehow, she had found herself muttering beneath her breath and Yoojung was suddenly not going to be promoting for a while. At least, not without a wig. It had not been a purpose; instinct had overcome her. She had watched Yoojung place her hands on Youngwook’s shoulder, had watched her giggle at whatever funny comment he had made, then absolutely lost it. Now, she was pacing back and forth in her dressing room; thankfully, Yoojung seemed to think it was a side effect of some very flammable hair products. Her assistant and company had fawned over her, making sure she was okay. The pit in Maia’s stomach had only grown. Yoojung was not a good person, but Maia was not the type of person to take that kind of vengeance. 

She sighed. Maia could have handled Yoojung doing a commercial with Youngwook; she was a professional. Still, she knew Yoojung had only come down to set rub it in Maia’s face, under the guise of discussing her ‘project with Youngwook’. Now, she was avoiding Youngwook and Yoojung. The door opened to her dressing room and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “I’m almost ready I swear.”

It was a testament to Maia’s personality that the morning after Youngwook invited her under false magical pretenses, she made him breakfast. She didn’t cook often, as she was the youngest in the household. Her grandparents or parents usually took care of the meals. The last few years she had little time to practice between schedules. Still, between potion making and a general ability to follow meticulous instructions, she knew enough to keep Youngwook from starving. Maia also needed to make up for his present, which she had haphazardly placed on her side of the bed. 

She debated grabbing the present from his room; after all, what did you get the man who had everything? Maia ended up settling for a little lion, sowing a crown on his head. She even tied a bow around it. Maia didn’t have the guts to give it to him as his party tonight, among all the lavish gifts his friends were getting him, but she figured he would at least be polite, if teasing. She placed his breakfast egg toast sandwich on a plate and wondered if it would be best to run like a coward now that she had made him breakfast. Maybe there was a spell she could use to make herself forget this entire idea.