Chapter 1 recap: Jordan convinced Phelia to take a break from work. They drove to get iced drinks and took a walk down an unknown alley which led them to a magic store owned by a mysterious saleswoman, Madame Cyprine. Phelia returned home after work and she immediately started writing the first chapter of her new fiction entitled "Chef of Sun Yang" about a spoiled prince who, for the first time ever, got satisfied by a traditional Korean dessert called Sikhye made by a unexpected visitor who was then hired to become the next royal chef.
Modern Prince
Written by: Michele Hii
Chapter 2: Single Forever?
I killed the engine of my blue Ford Escape. I stared at the cloudy sky for a moment before getting a text from Jordan.
Jordan: Sorry! I'm still stuck in traffic! Jz give me 5 more min!
Me: Ok, I'll wait in my car.
Cloudy days made me think about my past. A flashback of my college days automatically came to me.
"Do you think we can make it?" a 20-years-old Jordan Matthews asked.
"Huh?" I looked from my mess of papers on the table.
"You know...that we'll be working for Disney."
"Jordan, we just need to have confidence! Like they said, a dream is a wish your heart makes." I smiled reassuringly.
"I know, I know...but Disney is a top-notch company. And we're just...college students."
"Jordan, we'll have to go through a lot more before we can make it happen." I sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"You can't possibly get what you wanted instantly. After we graduate, we might have to go through a few jobs first,somewhere lower than Disney, before we can be recognized to be a part of Disney. Who knows, we might end up being janitors at the basement, or mail people for the staff."
"Inspired by Monsters' University, huh?" Jordan giggled.
"My point is...we at least have to land somewhere before we can go forward to a higher position, and eventually reach to our dream career. Look at Mike and Sulley! They got kicked out of university and ended up being mail workers, but then one day they got offered honorary positions to become scarers! We can be just like them!"
Jordan laughed some more, but his eyes were glued to the scribbles of our script-in-progress.
"One day...just one day..our story about our dear character finding the magic key that can unlock the sacred chamber of an abandoned kingdom...will be turned into a Disney film, right?"
I smiled wider and pat on his shoulder, "You're absolutely right! Besides,the reason why we major film and animation here in UCLA is to learn and master the skills that will be needy for our dream workplace."
Jordan smiled back,"You and your motivational speech. Somehow I think you've watched a little way too much Disney movies."
"Hey!" I snapped, pushing him gently with my left hand, "You're a Disney freak too, that's how we become close friends since first semester."
"Yeah yeah I know." he winked.
"Phelia? Phelia? Phelia!" a familiar voice muffled from the window followed by knocking sounds on the window. I turned to my side and saw Jordan making the loudest noise as possible to wake me up from my nostalgic ride.
"There you are, Mr. Snail." I teased.
* * *
"All right! So one iced Vanilla latte and one roasted bubble milk tea. That'll be $7.35 please." the girl at the counter said.
Jordan was about to pull out his wallet when I quickly shoved my credit card right in front of his face.
"Nu-uh! It's my turn to pay!" I said.
"You sure?"Jordan raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, besides you've paid for mine yesterday."
"That's fair." he smiled, "Unless I don't have to go through the pay-the-bill fights with your sisters."
"That's the Asian way of settling the bill." I laughed, We're influenced by my Korean father and Chinese mother, so we pretty much either do rock-paper-scissors or tug-of-war with the bill holder."
"Ah...I see." Jordan chuckled.
We sat by the window and took a long first sip of our drinks. It was a good thing the workers had pulled down the blinds. I wouldn't want to be toasted again by the sun's rays.
"So...have you found him yet?" Jordan asked.
I hated when he popped that question. Every single time!He had been to a lot of dates and he dumped a couple of his girlfriends back when we went to college together. He even introduced me to his guy friends but they were all not my type. One of them wanted to be a circus clown. I wasn't down for that. If I had to give you a better reason, that would be because...none of them stirred me. None of his friends interested me. I guessed I couldn't find my kind of guy in this world.
""Nope." I bluntly answered, "Why do you even ask?"
"I'm just asking." he shrugged, "I hate seeing you being lonely."
"What are you talking about? I have my family here in LA, and of course you."
"I mean, I hate seeing you being single."
"Jordan..." I sighed as I sipped my drink to stop talking.
Jordan fiddled with his phone for forty seconds before shoving a picture of a new guy on the screen right in front of me, "I've made friends with this new guy at the golf club. He's from London and..."
I grabbed his hand and pushed it down so that his phone landed safely on the table, "Jordan, really, I don't need you to help me get a guy. I'll find one of my own, okay?"
"But all your life, you've been so busy with your job."
"Technically, two jobs. Animation and writing."
"Exactly! You get so distracted easily that you're lacking on your social life."
"Jordan." I laughed, "It's okay. I'm okay being single. I just haven'e found him yet. You know, someday my prince will come."
Jordan took a big gulp of his boba before suddenly looking at me with a serious face, "What kind of guys do you like?"
"I thought I've already told you many times." I replied, "I like guys who are awkward, humble, and funny."
Jordan took another long sip before looking back at me, "What about me?"
"Huh?"
"Am I...awkward, humble, and funny?"
My mouth formed into an 'O' for a few seconds, "Well...sort of..."
"What do you mean...sort of?"
"What? Are you saying I should give you a try?" I blurted.
And then, I saw something out of his character. His cheeks were red.
"Jordan, I..."
PLOP!
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the cafe grew tensed. I turned my back and saw a man lying motionlessly on the floor near the counter.
"Oh my gosh! Somebody fainted!" I gasped.
"Hurry!" Jordan said and rushed to the victim. I followed after him and knelt down. I held one finger under the man's nose and leaned my face on one side close to his.
"He's not breathing." I frowned.
"I wonder why is he wearing this costume." Jordan commented, "It's pretty hot in LA."
"Quick, loosen and unbutton his Hanbok." I ordered.
"Hanbok?"
"The outfit he's wearing. The top consists of thick layers so you have to remove them."
"I'm on it." he nodded and searched for the ribbons to untie and the buttons to open. I helped him removed the outer jacket as well as the inner layers except for a white long-sleeve undershirt.
"He's still not breathing." I checked, "I think I have to do CPR."
I was about to inhale deeply when suddenly a jet of water splashed onto the man's face. I looked up and saw Jordan holding an overturned coffee cup.
"What the heck?" I snapped. I was interrupted by the sudden coughs coming below me. The man opened his eyes and looked at me blankly, "What happened?"
"You fainted, sir." I replied. I hurriedly grabbed a napkin from a customer's table and handed it to him.
"Ah,,,I see,,,thank you." he cleared his throat. As he was about to get up, he stared at his opened clothes in surprise,
"What happened to my hanbok?" he gasped. He immediately covered himself with his layers.
"We had to unbutton your clothes, sir, otherwise we won't be able to save you from breathing." Jordan explained.
"You dumped a cup of water onto him!" I hissed.
"Hey! At least it worked!" Jordan smirked.
The man buttoned back his clothes and stood up with his face wiped dry.
"Thank you, peasants, for saving me. Now if you excuse me," he tugged the collar of his magoja (outer jacket of his hanbok), "I have to go back to my kingdom."
"Kingdom?" a customer raised his eyebrow.
"What the hell is he talking about?" another one snickered.
"Anyone knows where is the way to Sun Yang kingdom?" he raised his voice.
I froze. Sun Yang...that sounds familiar!
Jordan suddenly pat him on the shoulder, "Sir, I think you hit your head pretty hard on the floor so we're taking you to the mental hospital."
"What's a mental hospital? Is that where a witch doctor works at?" the man cocked his head to one side.
"Witch doctor? Wow, sir, you sure have woken up from a very long dream!" Jordan threw his head back as he laughed.
"Jordan, maybe I should just take him home." I chipped in.
"But he's talking thrash, Phelia." Jordan argued, "Trust me, he needs to get back to his senses."
Stupidly, I had nothing else to say but to follow him dragging this poor, lost puppy to the nearest psychiatric institution.
* * *
Wait, how does he know about Sun Yang?
I watched from behind as the man walked beside Jordan. His head turned here and there, looking like a little boy wandering around the world for the first time.
Did he peek at my notebook?
I opened my Chanel handbag to see the coal-coloured book sandwiched between my ruby wallet and my detox water bottle. He couldn't just sneak by when I talked with Jordan at the cafe. I thought he just arrived at the queue and fainted there.
Once we arrived at the mental hospital, a psychiatrist immediately took us in. His eyes went up and down at the man's blue and gold hanbok and chuckled, "Nice costume you got there. Having an early Halloween party?"
"Halloween? What in the Sun's core is that?" the prince asked.
The psychiatrist let out a laugh that even the patients at the waiting room could hear him.
"All my life, I've never heard of such a line." he hooted.
Jordan sighed and took a step forward that made the doctor jumped a little, "Mr. Hopkins, we saw that he passed out on the floor at a cafe earlier. He must have hit his head on the floor and now he thought he is a prince from an imaginary kingdom."
"Ah...that reminds me of an Archies comic when Veronica got hit in the plane's bathroom and became a cowgirl..or is it a matador...from a novel she read." Mr. Hopkins nodded.
"Does that actually exist?"
"Well, yes, to some people." he answered.
Hmm..that might be a possibility. But how does the man know about Sun Yang kingdom?
"Come! Have a seat, Mr..." Mr Hopkins paused as he looked at the man, "What's your name?"
"Joo Yoon, prince of Sun Yang." he sniffed.
J...Joo Yoon?
"Okay..." Mr. Hopkins jot down a piece of line paper attached to a clipboard, "And do you remember what happened before you passed out?"
'Joo Yoon' tapped his chin and replied, "I faced 500 chefs from all of Korea and chose this girl with a special dessert to become the next royal chef. And then I went to bed. And then...the next morning, when I woke up, I found myself not on my bed but on hard cold concrete in this...strange...place. I have no wonder how did I got here. I was supposed to be in my palace."
What in the world...could it be...
I froze and remembered what Madame Cyprine from the Kaboom store told me about the notebook.
"If you write something that comes from your biggest dreams or desire, that notebook will grant your wish."
"Just be careful what you wish for, that's what I meant."
Now I remember! I wished that the character was real while writing the first chapter, and it DID happen!
"Oh my gosh..." I exclaimed under my breath.
Without thinking, I grabbed his wrist and strutted out of the door. Jordan had a puzzled look but he followed after us.
"Sir, did you just say...Sun Yang...kingdom? As in the kingdom of the solar sphere?" I gushed.
"Yes, exactly! Do you know where?" his face lit up.
"Where and what the hell is Sun Yang?" Jordan asked.
"It's in Korea," I answered, "but it's not what you thought it would be."
"What do you mean, peasant?" the man questioned.
"It...it's just that..," I caught Jordan staring with the same confused expression as this man in the expensive-looking traditional clothing.
"Jordan, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I said and dragged the man off to my car which was parked a few feet away.
"Wait, huh, where are you taking him? To the airport?" Jordan shouted.
"I'll call you, okay?" I yelled and pushed him into the passenger seat of my car. I didn't even look back at him because my head was clouded with panic.
"What is this?" the man turned his head here and there in shock.
"Just hold on tight." I replied, reaching out to help him with the seat belt. He looked as if he couldn't breath with the strap over his chest. I started the engine and drove off, hoping to get to my house as soon as possible.
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