POV: Hae Na Ri
Jenny walks down the hallway towards me, hands clasped at the front.
"It's past breakfast time. You can only be served tea till lunch," she says.
So that's how Mrs. Kang takes her revenge.
I am not cut out for palace politics.
"Forget it. I am going out." I come back to my room and take the small white bag from yesterday, hanging it on my shoulders. I had been given some money on Hajoon's orders. I have some left.
Jenny is still waiting outside. Her eyes dart to the corner of the hallway cautiously. "Hae Nari'sshi, you should take the stairs from now on."
Oh, so my status has been further demoted. "Did His Majesty say that?"
"It's Mrs. Kang's orders."
"Alright." I start in the direction of the elevators.
Jenny hurries after me. "What are you doing?"
"Taking the stairs."
"It's not that way–"
"It is," I say as we come out in front of the elevators.
Two are empty and one is coming down from the second floor. I understand why Mrs. Kang wants me to avoid this way. "Look, names and titles are just constructs humans made. Now this elevator, this was not always called an elevator. Someday someone named it. So we can–I can name elevators stairs now."
Jenny doesn't look convinced. "That's not how it works…"
"That's exactly what I am telling you–"
The elevator doors ping open, interrupting my brilliant explanation of a philosophical concept that a better audience would have definitely appreciated.
It's Ryu Hajoon.
Accompanied by Sunwoo and another man who looks vaguely familiar.
"Your Majesty." I say coldly, giving a bow that doesn't last as long as Jenny's.
He is in a periwinkle highneck sweater and white khaki trousers, hair styled in that young Leonardo DiCaprio way. Hands clasped behind his back regally, he comes out of the elevator with the other two people in unhurried steps.
His face is composed but something flickers behind his eyes at my sight. Is he taken aback because he told Mrs. Kang to have me take the stairs?
People like him have their underlings take the fall while maintaining a good image.
"Ah, Sang Tae'sshi, this is Hae Nari. She is Writer Park's assistant and she will be staying here for a while to assist with the biography," Hajoon introduces her. "And of course you must know him. This is Chief Royal Secretary Yoon Sangtae."
I now recall having seen this man in pictures with Hajoon online. I bow and greet him cordially.
"I thought you didn't want to do it. The biography. I wonder what changed your mind?" Yoon Sangtae's meaningful glance in my direction doesn't go unnoticed by anyone.
He has a friendly face with deep smile lines. In his mid to late 40s perhaps. Dressed in a neat three-piece suit. He looks like an immaculate person with cluttered drawers at home.
"You misunderstand." My tone is too polite and detached. I glance coldly at Hajoon once. "I am just an ordinary person. I don't have the power to affect the decisions of someone like His Majesty."
Hajoon looks at me, a frown forming on his face. I avoid eye contact with him.
The reason people are called numbers here, it's quite simple.
With robot-like expressions and names, people lose their human status. It's psychology. Like in that Hannibal movie–I forgot the name–the father keeps calling his kidnapped daughter by her name while addressing the kidnapper on TV. He was reviving her human status, trying to make him see her as a person, rather than an object.
Ryu Hajoon wants to make people around him objects. He is afraid of humans.
Yoon Sangtae glances at us, as if sensing the darkness hovering in my mind. He clears his throat. "You must have worked with Writer Park a long time for him to trust you with this assignment. He's a particular person, a perfectionist."
Sunwoo doesn't seem easy with the Chief Royal Secretary interacting with me. She speaks before I can, "He hired a freelancer for a while."
I can see Hajoon staring at me. I ignore him coldly.
But wait. Why am I feeling so small? It's an alternate world. At least in this world, I can live differently.
If I also feel this way, I would also become a number. This place already has enough of them.
Sunwoo tries to usher the Chief Royal Secretary towards Hajoon's study, but I clap my hands together with enough force to sting.
They stop.
"It's because he liked my fantasy webnovel 'I Transmigrated as a Frog and Got Married to the Demon Crown Prince'." I beam at Yoon Sangtae's friendly face, suddenly feeling a burst of energy. "So Writer Park recruited me to work with him." I lean in a little. "Actually, it was my depiction of the frog as a woman that impressed him."
"That is…unexpected." He blinks in puzzlement. It's one of those looks Steven gave me. "I wonder where I can read that novel? Its name is leaving an impression on me too."
Unexpectedly, I see Hajoon suppressing a smile, the corner of his lips twitching up.
"I am good at this naming thing. I hope Writer Park lets me name His Majesty's biography too," I say.
"That will be…fun," Yoon Sangtae replies, considering it.
I look up dreamily. "That Time I Reincarnated as a King and–"
"Nari'sshi, I think you were going somewhere?" Sunwoo cuts off my name suggestion rudely.
"Oh yes, I was." I beam at Yoon Sangtae again. "I met a woman who looks just like my friend in–let's say–another life. I will be going then."
At least I know one person in this world, outside of this palace.
I deliver a quick and deep bow to Hajoon and get in the elevator. I don't know why Sunwoo's eyes are shooting daggers at me.
Only Hajoon is smiling softly. Our gaze connects briefly just as the doors closes.
☆★☆★☆★☆
POV: Ryu Ha Joon
"Never in my 46 years of life–8 girlfriends and 2 wives–have I seen such mood swings from a woman!" Mr. Yoon exclaims as soon as the elevator doors slide closed.
"Me neither," Hajoon stares at the closed elevator doors, pondering over this. She clearly woke up in a bad mood, like yesterday. The mood swings are her trying to cope with it.
"You don't have enough experience with women to say that," Sunwoo says to him.
"Do you want to be beheaded?"
"I was merely stating a fact, Your Majesty."
However, Mr. Yoon is still at it. "She is an interesting person, isn't she?"
"Yes, quite interesting," Hajoon says and Mr. Yoon fixes him with a gaze full of scandalous accusations. He can see digital newspaper headlines gleaming in his eyes.
Hajoon laughs and they move on, towards his study. He knows Mr. Yoon doesn't buy the biography writer assistant nonsense. Especially not after his incredible first conversation with Nari. It's just a formality, a pretense on each side.
"I go on a vacation for a month and there's a young and beautiful woman living in the palace. I don't remember any precedent," Mr. Yoon says, awed. "Is Shinja okay with this?"
"What do you think?" Hajoon asks in return, answering in a way.
Sunwoo's stern and frowning face also gets Mr. Yoon's attention. He turns to her. "I suppose you don't like her either?"
She only huffs in response.
"Why? Doesn't this mean the chances of His Majesty's bloodline ending with him have gone down slightly?"
Hajoon opens the door to the study, scoffing at them. They are the ones creating hurdles in his dating life, then act like it's his fault.
Sunwoo takes out her tablet, typing in the pin. "They are still fairly high. His Majesty has plenty of excellent options. It's the position of the queen after all."
"Yes, but His Majesty has to find those options 'quite interesting' to fill that position." Mr. Yoon quotes him, acting like a gossip column writer looking for scandals everywhere.
Hajoon knows what excellent options Sunwoo is referring to. He sits in his chair and glares at them from behind the desk. "You both are fired. Go find new jobs."
He receives apologies in unison.