"Where to, miss?"

"To the stars,"

--------------------------------------

"Okay Minghao, I love forests and the night, but I don't like it when those two are combined." Gaeul half-whispers as she tries to catch up with Minghao's pace, who was dragging her by the hand deeper through the tall trees to god knows where. Heavens, she couldn't believe Minghao actually snuck into the women's dorms just to force her to sneak out with him.

Minghao shushes her, "Try to be quiet, slowpoke. The guards might hear us." Gaeul wondered if there were actually guards who wanted to patrol deep in the forest. They had escaped through the royak garden and climbed over the fence into the forest. This was not thrilling at all. Gaeul baked about ten baskets of sourdough, and she wanted to question why Minghao still had the energy to even do this.

Barefoot, the earth beneath her toes felt slightly damp and gentle on the feet, leaves and twigs crackling as they walked. Gaeul wonders if Minghao was barefoot too, since it wasn't fair if she was the only one. 

For five minutes, they walked in complete silence, letting the sounds of nocturnals and crickets greet them as they got through. Soon the earth and leaves were no longer felt underneath her feet, replaced by a grassy surface. It was dark, but Minghao must've been to this place often to be skillfull enough to walk this far in the dark.

"Careful, it's a cliff." Minghao tells her, somehow managing to find a lantern behind the several rocks situated there. Gaeul raises her eyebrow, "I come here often, alright, don't question the lantern."

As Minghao tries to light the lantern with the matches he brought, Gaeul walked further to the edge of the cliff and craned her neck, discovering that it was the blue sea underneath. There was gigantic rocks not far away from them, some formed several caves.

"That's the Mermaid Cove," The light from Minghao's lantern seemed to light up the wide space, and Gaeul could properly see what was around them, "The mermaids live there. They're forbidden to go out at night, though. The pirates are out to capture them if they do."

Gaeul nods, holding her nightgown down to avoid the wind from blowing it.

"Oh come on," Minghao clicks his tongue, disapproving the fact that the wind had blown his light off. He sighs and lies down on the grass, limbs sprawled out as he stares up at the sky. Gaeul joins him, a few inches away.

"Welcome to my hideaway." Minghao announces proudly, Gaeul's gaze following his index finger which he pointed up towards the sky, "See that? That's the Andromeda constellation. You could see Pisces on the right, and there's also supposed to be-"

"Cassiopeoa and Phoemix, I know." Gaeul cuts him off, staring up at the constellations, "I learnt about them when I was in school."

"You're quite good." He turns to look at her.

"Knowledge is key," Minghao snorts.

"So you haven't answered my question," Minghao places his hands behind his head, and turns to continue staring at the sky, "why you came here."

"It's something ridiculous, though." Gaeul replies. Minghao would laugh at her. Anybody would laugh at her. If Hoshi thought that she was insane enough for doing this, what about other people?

"I won't judge." Minghao tells her.

Gaeul spares a glance at Minghao to see if he means it, and she sighs.

"I asked the Crown Prince to turn the Man in the Moon into a human." Gaeul answers, not the slightest bit of waver in her voice.

Minghao's eyes widened, and he actually got up from his lying state, "You're serious?"

Gaeul groans, "This is why I don't want to tell people."

Minghao shaks his head, "No, I mean, like — that's amazing." He looks up to face the Moon, and then continues to look at Gaeul.

"The prince is going to turn him into a human on his coronation day," A faint smile forms on Gaeul's lips.

She could almost imagine it happening. There would be a huge crowd watching, and Junhui would allow the clouds to form a stairway to the Moon. A Man would descend, as the light from the Moon and the Stars illuminated his arrival. Gaeul would see his characteristics come to life; from his doe eyes to his speckled skin, just like seeing a character from a book coming to life.

Everyone would be gobsmacked when they witness something like that happening for the first time in their lives. The Man in th Moon would leave them breathless, for he was breathtaking himself.

"It's amazing Junhui actually agreed. You didn't bribe him, did you?" Minghao squints his eyes.

"I'm much smarter than to bribe him," Gaeul stated, lifting her hair to adjust her long hair, "It might sounds stupid, but I guess I just fell in love with the Moon. Weird, right?"

"Honestly, of course it is. I think you're insane." Minghao bluntly confesses, but surely Gaeul had no right to fight his statement since what he said was true. A girl and the Moon? In love? What baloney."

"But I respect you for going out of your way to do this," Minghao continues, scratching his head, "Not just anyone would be willing to do this. You're chosen, I guess, for being able to see the Moon."

Maybe, the Man in the Moon chose her.

"You're quite strong huh," Minghao utters, getting up to pull the grass one by one, "It's not easy coming here. You're giving up a lot of things. The real world, especially. I'd say you're insane for giving up on your life in your world. By the time you return, you might become older, a granny, even. The duration of days and years here are different."

"I know that." Gaeul says, sighing, "I don't have any regrets, though. My little brother became a Lost Boy, and I have nobody in the real world anymore. My mother passed away, and they took away basically everything from me."

"I didn't want to be weak anymore. I didn't want to cry again everytime I lost something; just like how I lost my brother and my mother. I told myself that I had to start being strong, stop relying on other people, or the Man in the Moon. This was my  decision, and I knew that I had no regrets coming here." Gaeul speaks, taking the tiny white flower Minghao had handed her and placing it behind her ear.

"We don't live forever, so I want to make my life meaningful. This decision was a way for me to get rid of my misery. It was my choice to be strong." Gaeul goes on, though she doubts if she even had the right to call herself strong anyway, "I was a little timid towards people before this. But look at me now; escaping the palace and lying down here, and talking to you openly. This feels amazing. I'm happy I went out of my comfort zone."

Minghao just shrugs, "Good for you, I guess."

Gaeul raises her hand and looks at the full moon that were between her fingers. Jisoo was nowhere to be seen. But she knoes he was up there, staring down at Earth.

"You should've seen the Man in the Moon. Sad is an understatement; he's beyond lonely." Gaeul's gand forms a fist, and she places it on her heart, "Yet he's still out there listening to people whom he knows can't see him. He's still out there guiding the moonbeams for people of the Earth. He's kind at heart."

Minghao snorts, "You're so whipped — it's gross." He gets up and brushes the back of his pants, picking the lantern up with him as he turns around to leave.

"Oh shut up Mingh- hey, wait for me!"

☆☆☆

"Seungcheol, tell Jeonghan to get the tea going. Tell him to put some lavender in it, will you?" Junhui orders, immediately followed by a bow by the butler and the shut of a door. Gaeul barely remembers why she was in the Prince's office.

Gaeul stares into the distance for a second or two, trying to recall what she had been doing for the past few minutes, or maybe even hours. She questions, "Did I fall asleep?"

Junhui puts on his gold framed reading glasses, "Your roommate found you unconscious in the pantry, and I called for you, so here you are, resting in my study."

Gaeul shifts in her seat, "It's not something I should be doing, though. I'll get back to work. Thank you for your care, Your Highness."

"Sit down, I need to talk to you," he reaches for a familiar piece of paper placed on the coffee table and undfolds it, "Dear Man in the Moon." He starts reading.

Gaeul started feeling uneasy as he continued, "This is the letter that will reveal the change that you will be facing in one week's time. The Crown Prince has promised me to turn you into a human on his coronation day, and we will meet very very soon." The poor girl finally realizes what was actually happening, scrambling for the letter, "Give it back- hey! Don't read that!"

Junhui, who was barely on his tiptoes, continued, "In this dreamlike moment, all my hopes have been answere-"

The door to his study creaked open, revealing Seungcheol who tried to hide his very confused face. He coughs, "Your Honour, Jeonghan informed me that we ran out of tea leaves." Seungcheol (thankfully) interrupted the scenario, causing Gaeul to sigh in relief. Junhui folds the letter and places it back inside his coat pocket.

"Seungcheol, you interrupted the moment," Junhui pretends to be sulking, while Seungcheol remained static. Although deep down, he might be rolling his eyes.

"Tell Wonwoo to get some tea leaves from the garden." Junhui orders him again, and with a flash, Seungcheol gets moving.

Junhui sits back on the velvet sofa, staring back at Gaeul, "Now back to you. Tonight, I'm about to go see the Moon. Well – not exactly – I have a servant that will inform him about his transformation. So this letter," he holds the paper up with his gloved right hand, "I'll give it to him."

"Wait – may I write another one? The words in there are too embarrassing, I wrote it on a whim-"

"Oh stop, you, it's not like you don't mean it when you said you love him."

Gaeul blushed. Junhui seems amused.

"How did you manage to find the letter?" Gaeul asks out of curiosity. She remembers dreaming of Jisoo; and she woke up after the dream and wrote the letter out of longing, "You couldn't have sneaked in; could you?"

"It was in your pocket," Junhui replies, shrugging, "I can't help myself from reading love letters, especially one from someone who fell in love with the Moon. Absurd."

"Don't insult who I fell in love with-"

"Is there a reason why you love the Man in the Moon so much?"

Gaeul looks up from the book to see the Prince walking towards her, with another bunch of books in hand.

"Do you need a reason to fall in love with someone?"

"Well – no – but like, he's not a human," the Prince says, sitting on the velvet library seat, "He lives miles away from you; out of your universe."

Gaeul was starting to get annoyed, but she knew she shouldn't be. There was nothing wrong with the Prince asking her about being in love. He's admitted that he's never been in love with anyone before, so Gaeul thinks that's fine.

"That doesn't matter. Love breaks boundaries, Your Highness," Gaeul walks up to him and shoves the book she was holding towards him, "You should learn from all these romance novels you own, it's actually surprising."

Junhui was so flustered; it wasn't his fault he liked romance novels. His mother used to own tons fo them, and they were all over the library. He remembers reading those books rather than studying; it was actually really entertaingin and embarrassing at once as he remembers the old times. Then there was this other kid who often gave him books; they were classmates once, and Junhui learnt that he was the son of a pirate. They often went to the real world to smuggle things, so the kid always brought new romance books for Junhui from the real world. It was strange how love could be written in so many books with different storylines and words.

The thing is, Junhui couldn't really recall who that kid was and why they both drifted apart.

"You'll find someone one day." Gaeul assures him, patting his back, "Ooh, I might give you a hint. He's working somewhere in the castle-"

"Your Honour," Seungcheol interrupts again, standing by the door with tightened facial muscles as if he was about to lose it. "Wonwoo doesn't know how to differentiate curry leaves and tea leaves."

☆☆☆

Gaeul got back to work soon, although she felt slightly tired from all the ruckus that the Crown Prince had caused. Well, ot wasn't exactly a ruckus; she had to wait until he was ready to leave. She neatly placed the letter inside an envelope and for the first time sealed it with an embossed stamp, something that she never expected she had a chance to do. Junhui sent her off then, telling her to get back to work.

It was even more tiring when she realized Minghao was nowhere to be found in the kitchen. Perhaps he went out for a while to get supplies, Gaeul thought at first, but realized it was no longer a correct assumption after realizing that he hasn't returned to the kitchen the whole day. She kept waiting, and even saved some of the last bits of scones for him just in case he returned. But it was getting late, and he was nowhere to be seen.

It made her really anxious when she (thankfully) even managed to carry out dinner duties all on her own. Luckily, there weren't much orders coming from the King tonight, exceot the fact that the Prince's younger brother had asked her to make doughnuts, something she introduced to the royal family weeks ago. Minghao hated them at first, saying how the classic doughnut shape is somewhat not creative at all. He grew to love them after like, three tries, Gaeul catching him in the kitchen making some for himself when she went to get her apron that she left in the middle of the night. And so, the royal family came to love it too.

Now that Gaeul's thought about it, she's never met the Queen or the King before. Not even the Prince's younger brother. But that didn't really matter to Gaeul. The clock on the wall starts cuckoo-ing; it was already one in the morning and Minghao still hasn't returned.

Gaeul walked back to her room in a state of wobbling as she was half asleep, envious of Yewon who was already snuggled up in bed and snoring away.

The next morning, after putting on her usual flats and tied up her hair into a bun, Gaeul rushed to the kitchen as soon as she realized she overslept for two hours, frantically running through the halls as she greets the other castle workers. She runs into the Royal Composer by accident, causing him to drop all his music sheets onto the carpet. Gaeul apologized as she had no time to stop and pick those flying papers up, speeding away. Meanwhile, the composer grumbled.

Minghao was in the kitchen, lifting bags of flour that he brought in from the pantry.

"You're here!" Gaeul exclaimed.

"And you're late," Minghao comments, huffing as he threw the heavy bag of flour onto the wooden chair, "Get to work, you missed breakfast duty."

Gaeul crosses her arms, "You've no right to get mad at me, where did you go yesterday?"

"I had some errands to run," Minghao replies calmly, turning his back against her and continues to repeatedly sprinkle the surface of the counter with flour and kneading it, "today too."

"Aw what?" Gaeul slouches, dreadful expressin on her face, "You're going, again? What's this errand for? Maybe I should come along and help? You know, we could get jobs done quicker-"

"You stay in the kitchen. The prince wants sourdough and blueberry jam today. It's your turn for jam duty."

Gaeul absolutely hated jam duty. Have these people never figured out a way on how to make artificial jam? It was frustrating; having to go out to the garden to handpick the fruits and mash them, mix them with sugar, maybe honey too. It didn't seem like much, but Gaeul simply hated going to the palace's large garden. The other day she got lost and left Minghao to work alone by accident, preparing for what she would do if she doesn't find a way out. Until Wonwoo started yelling at her for picking the berries that were barely ripe.

But she still went anyway, rattan basket hanging from her arm. Knowing the fact that going to the garden wouldn't be so hard anymore since she's met Wonwoo, it wasn't that bad. Besides, she was actually excited to tell Wonwoo the difference between curry and tea leaves.

"Did you know?" Wonwoo asks her all of a sudden, amidst dragging the bag of soil inside the enormous greenhouse. "I'm actually a fairy."

Gaeul almost spits her tea.

Wonwoo stopped for a second, "What – you think it's funny?"

"No, of course not."

"Well, I guess it's pretty nice to be a f-"

"It's hilarious."

Wonwoo chased Gaeul out of his garden. She still got the blueberries though.

"Hey, do you know where Minghao's been these days?" Gaeul questions, popping a blueberry into her mouth. She relished the sweetness of the blueberry, fresh from the garden. "He hasn't been in the kitchen that much. I'm a little worried."

Gaeul waits for Wonwoo to finish plowing the soil, straightening his back. Gaeul would like to see Wonwoo in his Garden Fairy form one day; perhaps he would look like Seungkwan? Maybe he could shrink smaller into pixie size?

"Minghao's up to no good sometimes, you shouldn't really meddle with his business." Wonwoo replies, throwing his garden utensils to the side. Finally the gardener gets to sit down after a long while of bending, "I don't really know him, but he used to be famous for working with Hook."

"With Hook?"

"Yeah, but he wasn't the bad guy, though. Boy was just unlucky; got roped in for some reason."

Gaeul chewed on her bottom lip. Was that the answer behind his disappearance? To go and see Hook? Gaeul doesn't like to listen to other people's perspective of him; she wanted word from Minghao himself. Gaeul knows too well that he wouldn't answer him even if she asks many times. The fact that he would dodge the question also meant that he might be hiding something, and Gaeul probably had no right to meddle into his business, but she was just genuinely worried of him.

"Anyway, just don't overdo things, alright. You gotta live your life like me sometimes," Wonwoo suddenly gets up, a signal that he was about to leave, "I live my life in patience, watching these babies of mine grow." He points to the cabbages. Gaeul just rolled her eyes.

----------------—------------

Henlo my break is over and school starts tomorrow rip me

Sorry for the long wait!! I got an adrenaline rush today. I wrote a lot.

I hope you all have a nice day!

- cee ♡