Story of A Prince

Chapter IX

Ji Hoo stopped first at a shopping mall. By the awestruck expression on his date's face, he had rightly guessed that she had never been to a mall before. After all, it was pretty rare for a mafia princess to turn up at a mall and buy things.

"Where are we?" Ja Rin asked, when she had finally found her voice. "Oh... a shopping mall?"

"Yeah. You haven't been to one before right?" He smiled when she nodded mutely, took her by the hand and led her through the sliding glass doors.

"Oh my!!" Someone carrying an armload of pink and white boxes crashed right into the Princess.

"Are you alright?" Ji Hoo quickly helped her to her feet, glaring daggers at the other girl...
...who turned out to be a rather familiar face.

"Oh! Ji Hoo! Are you here on a date? I apologise, I really didn't mean to ruin your time here," she said, apologising profusely, before smiling at the now steady younger girl. "Hello there. I'm Gu Jun Hee, elder sister of Ji Hoo's friend Jun Pyo."

"Hi... I'm Ja Rin." The girls shook hands, and Jun Hee pulled her dongsaeng into a hug.

"Well. I must be going. Take care of Ja Rin, Ji Hoo." Jun Hee smiled and left the mall.

"Sorry. She likes butting in like that, it's just like JunHee noona," Ji Hoo sighed. "Anyway, come on. There's lots of stuff to see, as it's your first time."

They walked on into the different aisles, and Ja Rin slowly drifted off towards the shoes, while her date had been inspecting some neckties.

Ji Hoo very nearly panicked, when he found that in the two minutes he had taken to choose a good tie, his date had disappeared. Quelling the panic in his throat, he walked around hurriedly, until he caught sight of a gold and brown wave of hair. Approaching her quietly from behind, he found her looking at a beautiful pair of shoes. They were black leather combat boots with straps, and three inch heels, and a very exquisite design.

"Do you like that one?" Ja Rin turned around, a little startled out of her reverie, and then smiled.

"They're beautiful." He took the shoe which she hadn't taken from the shelf, and inspected it.

"It's pretty strong too. You've got a good eye for shoes, Ja Rin. Here, take them. Let's look around a little more, see if there's anything more you like." He smiled down at a now blushing Ja Rin.

"Hey... uh... we can't get these! They're really expensive... and I can't pay for these because I haven't really saved up for it," she said softly.

"You're not paying for those," Ji Hoo cleared. "I'm the one taking you on a date, I'm paying. Got it?"

"But they're really expensive!" She protested.

"I'm the Prince," he grinned at her, glancing at the price on the shoes. "Fifteen hundred Won is... nothing, Ja Rin. I'm buying you these shoes, as well as anything else you like. Understand?"

"Okay, I got it, Goldilocks!" She laughed amusedly then, cradling the shoes in her arms.

Ji Hoo steered her towards the clothing aisles. "Come here a moment. I want to choose an outfit for you, something that is more... like you."

Curious as to his idea, she waited as he held up a few different sweaers, jackets, furs and skirts up against her, but ended up rejecting all of them. After nearly an hour, he grinned victoriously.

"Here. Go try these on," he urged, piling up some clothes into her hands, nodding at a trial room

She gasped at his choices. The first thing that fell into her hands was a slim black jeans that was wear resistant, and had cute silver chains around each of the front pockets. There were three chains from one end to the other of the back too. Then came a sleeveless purple top, that fit snugly around her when she zipped up the side. It was satin in the inside, and very comfortable. The last clothing item turned out to be a black leather-satin jacket, with thick fur trimmings all the way from around the neck to all the way down the zipper, as well as two rings of fur around her sleeves. It was comfortable and still roguish. Ji Hoo had really chosen something like her. She put on the combat boots and stepped out shyly.

"Wow." Ji Hoo retaught himself how to breathe, before smiling approvingly at the Princess.

"Is it that good?" She teased. She liked what he had chosen, and also all the pampering.

"It's perfect. Do you want to look around more?" He asked, when she changed and returned.

"Not today, I guess." She was about to put back the clothes on their racks, but he interrupted her.

"We're buying those too, not just the shoes." He took everything from her, and got a trolley. "So. Shall we go aand pay for these first, then?"

She nodded, almost a little too eagerly, and followed. It had been a great date so far, and she was more than curious as to what awaited.