Chapter 17 –– Golden Card

On their behalf, Yujin moved forward and showed a golden card at them. The staff suddenly apologized and asked the trio to follow him.

“Right this way.”

He led them to a private space upstairs, with walls made out of glass. The interior could not be seen from outside, but the people from the inside could see what was outside. The staff then showed them one of the empty tables in the private room and asked them if they wanted to sit there. Yujin nodded and the trio sat down on that table.

“If you are ready to order, please just press the button and our staff will come right away.”

The staff then left the three of them on their own.

Curious of what happened, Haneul asked Yujin.

“What did you do? How did we get a table?”

“Well, you could say that––”

Yujin then showed them his card, bragging.

“–– I know this place very well.”

Yujin showed them a golden VIP card. He was a loyal member of this bar, who also happened to have branches in other parts of the nation, including one near the Royal Residence. He also simultaneously admitted that he went to bars more often than they thought.

“Right. Of course you do.”

Xiaohui gave him a sarcastic remark. Knowing Yujin’s personality, none of them was surprised.

The three of them then called the staff to order some drinks and snacks and enjoyed the night.

After drinking several bottles of alcohol, the three of them became drunk. The only one who was not fully drunk was Yujin, due to his incredible tolerance to alcohol.

“It’s SO hard being a Premier, you know!?!?” Haneul suddenly shouted out of the blue, while holding a glass on his right hand.

Yujin took the glass from his hand onto the table, so that he wouldn’t spill the drink. He also told Haneul to keep his voice down, since people couldn’t know that the Premier was here.

Meanwhile, Xiaohui was hugging Yujin. Yujin tried to separate himself from him, to give himself some space, but Xiaohui was super clingy and kept getting closer to Yujin.

Yujin was suddenly reminded to a memory when they were in the academy. As the oldest–– and the most tolerant to alcohol–– he had always been the one to take care of them after they became drunk. He was used to Xiaohui getting clingy and touchy after he became drunk, as well as Haneul becoming more chatty and kept ranting to the rest of the night. He felt nostalgia all of a sudden.

“Why, Haneul? What happened?” Xiaohui asked, curious.

“Remember when I told you about the Divine State years ago?”

“Yeah. What about it?” Yujin asked.

“The Holy Monastic trained me this morning, and guess what? I still can’t do it!”

“Whoa, still!?” Xiaohui shouted.

Yujin glared at Xiaohui, for being insensitive.

“Sorry. I mean, how? Didn’t you spend years training that thing?” Xiaohui rephrased his question.

“I know!! I don’t understand why I still can’t do it even after all these years.”

Yujin and Xiaohui listened closely to Haneul’s concerns. This was the main goal of tonight’s party, to get Haneul to talk and release his stress. He couldn’t keep anysecret when he’s drunk.

“I mean, the Lord Commander keeps praising me for my combat skills and fyx mastery. I also understand and speak the ancient tongue ANDmemorize the Holy Scripture by heart, so I don’t get why I lack in spirituality.”

Haneul was frustrated. He always tried to do everything perfectly, just as he had been told all his life. Yet, this one particular task was somehow more challenging than anything he had ever faced. Not because it was difficult, but because he didn’t seem to be making any progress from all his training.

“Maybe you’re not suited to be a Premier? Haha,” Xiaohui commented.

Yujin glared at him once again. Xiaohui became really insensitive when he got drunk.

“You know maybe you’re right.”

Haneul suddenly felt disheartened. Not because of Xiaohui’s comment, but because he also felt that way sometimes.

“When I read about the accomplishments of previous Premier(e)s in the book of record, I can’t even come close to any of them. Even this morning, the Holy Monastic told me that Premiere Tianming reached her Divine State at the age of 15!”

Haneul kept ranting about the troubles he had on his mind. Looks like all those expectations that he bore on his shoulders were finally taking a toll on him.

“Maybe you’re right, Xiaohui. Maybe I’m the worst Premier of all time.”

Haneul gulped another glass of alcohol. He tried to subdue his sadness with it.

Yujin glared at Xiaohui, with an expression saying “see, this is your fault.”

“You know, maybe you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, Haru.”

Yujin pated him and asked him to stop drinking, since it could only make him feel worse.

“I mean, I understand you. Maybe I don’t bear as much burden on my shoulders as you do, but I doreceive a lot of expectations as the Crown Prince. People expect me to be just like my father–– the King–– but I can’t be like him. In fact, I don’t want to be like him.”

Yujin was the firstborn son of the Horahua Royal Family. He would be the one to succeed after his father–– the King–– after he turned 25.

Unlike Yujin, his father was a very stern yet wise man. He always saw the bigger picture and thought about the consequences of his actions, unlike his son. As one of Temple Members, the King was always thinking of the good for his citizens first before himself.

On the contrary, Yujin was a very carefree and nonchalant individual. He lived his life by what he felt right, not by what other people were telling him. He only listened to the people he respected and cared the most and not caring the opinions of people who didn’t even know him on a personal level. This didn’t mean that Yujin was a completely irresponsible person, since he still carried on his duties as the Crown Prince just as he expected. He just hated how he had to sacrifice a part of him by keeping a low profile in order to maintain his reputation which he didn’t even care.

Yujin saw what keeping a good reputation in front of the media all the time did to his father. Outside of political affairs, his father had difficulties expressing himself without having to think about the consequence it might bring, no matter how insignificant it was. It made him extremely constrained and restless. In this sense, Haneul was somewhat similar to Yujin’s father, but not to that extreme.

“I don’t want to be someone who has to think all the time about what I do and how it affects others. I know I’m not perfect, and I’m not trying to be. I’d rather face the consequences than to feel afraid all the time.”

Yujin said something that Haneul had never thought before. All his life, being a Premier was all he ever was. He never thought that he could just be “Haneul” without being “the Premier.”

“You said that, but here you are, disguising and wearing this” Xiaohui commented.

As always, Xiaohui always had some witty yet snarky remark.

“Well, I do this not for myself. We do this for him. So, it’s different. It’s not like I don’t care about people around me. I still respect him and what he wants us to do.”

On the outside, Yujin might seem like an irresponsible and spoiled brat. But truly, all he wanted was just to be free. He knew that being a royalty was a privilege, but sometimes, he felt as if it was a curse.

“So, don’t think too much and relax, Haneul. We’re still young, we’ve got a whole life ahead of us.”

Yujin embraced Haneul, putting his arm around him. He also did this to Xiaohui, doing an older brother gesture.

“Huh. Said the guy who’s about to have his coronation in a few months.”

“Sshhh! Don’t remind me that!”

The trio laughed hard. After being cheered up by his brothers, Haneul felt a lot better.

Currently, it was 9 in the evening. The later it was, the more crowded the place became. However, this didn’t really affect the VIP corner, since it could only be accessed by golden card members.

Xiaohui excused himself from the boys to go to the toilet downstairs, on his own. Downstairs, there was a dance floor with a DJ playing some music. To get to the toilet, Xiaohui had to pass through the dance floor.

Right when he was walking, someone yanked his arm and opened his hood.

“Xiaohui?”

Even with a disguise on, he was still recognizable.

“Dasom?”

The two Sacred Guards of the Temple met at the bar, by coincidence.