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The characters, events, and scenarios depicted in this book are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to real events is purely coincidental. The narrative is a work of imagination and should not be interpreted as reflecting real-life situations or individuals.
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Living in Dubai feels like there's nothing wrong in life, especially if you're swimming in money. Ever since I've been living in Dubai, my life feels like I'm lying on a cloud with no stress, no worries. Everything has its time, and I have time for everything I want to do, and what I enjoy most is running.
Running is something that not only frees my soul but also gives me the peace of mind that I'm still free, unlike many others in my weight class. That's why I love running, to see how free I am and how much I enjoy my life.
And all this lasted until yesterday.
I followed my usual route until I reached a restaurant terrace where I always buy some water so I went in as usual and found an old friend I hadn't seen for a while, Hyu Soo, or at least he surely recognized me.
"Good heavens, Joseph??" He stood up with his mouth open as if God himself had appeared.
"It's been a while, Hyun" I hugged him.
He was the kind of friend who, even if you hadn't seen him for ten years, it felt like you had seen each other every day, as if no time had passed.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you, my friend." He hugged me even tighter.
"Were you worried about me, perhaps because Afghanistan—"
"No, no, don't talk about that. Come, sit down," he led me to a table where, to my great surprise, four beautiful girls were sitting.
"Goodness, you didn't say you had such beautiful daughters," I said completely seriously. Hyun and I are 33 years apart, so I assumed they were probably his children.
Suddenly, he burst into laughter.
"If I had daughters, they'd probably be your wife by now." He slapped my shoulder. "Guess what, I've become the manager of a small Kpop group."
"That's wonderful, but first introduce me to everyone, then you can talk about yourself," I laughed.
"Well, they are Lunar, from right to left, Sora, Mina, Jiwoo, Haneul. Girls, this is my very dear friend Joseph Carter." We shook hands, and they were quite surprised when I switched from English to Korean.
"What are you doing in Dubai, Hyun?"
"Oh, you speak like it's your native language now," He was surprised, and the girls nodded in agreement. "Actually, we finished our European tour and came here to rest for a few days."
I was completely sinking in the awkwardness of the situation, tour and no idea who they were.
"Haha, your reaction is really cute," He laughed.
"Wait, you sing 'la la la love me honey honey honey'?" My voice wasn't exactly the most distinguished, as the girls burst into laughter.
"Yes, Joseph, that's us," said Sora first, whose aura indicated she was the leader among them.
"I admire you girls, what you do is a hundred times harder than anything I could ever do. The constant criticism, the paparazzi, the stress, one misstep and people lose their minds. You're strong, and I hope you continue like this. With the old fox behind you, you'll surely achieve things no one else has and I would keep saying beautiful speeches, but I have to go"
"Man, that was something else you really made me emotional." said Hyun. "It's quite rare to hear such things, isn't it, girls?" They nodded, smiling.
"I'm very sorry if I made you girls' wonderful faces wet with tears of amazement."
"Well, go on, get out of here," Hyu pushed me playfully, while laughing.
"Are you in a hurry?" Haneul, who looked like a cute white bunny, asked with a gaze that almost hypnotized me.
"Unfortunately, yes, I was actually out for a run, so I'll wrap it up. Well, goodbye."
"Hold on before you leave, give me your number or your Instagram or something, because I can't reach you anywhere.
After we exchanged contact information, I was about to leave when the blow, which always hits me in Dubai, came.
"Joseph!" The familiar female voice that always catches me off guard.
"Well, you don't need to hug me so much, Amina."
"You have a girlfriend and didn't even tell me?" Asked Hyun
"Let me introduce you. This is Sheikha Amina bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, and this is Hyun Soo, an old friend."
Hyu was so stunned and his mouth was left open.
"Stand up, girls, in the presence of Her Highness."
"Oh, please don't, but it's a little confusing that you're such beautiful girls and friends of his. If I remember correctly, you said you were busy all week."
"You're right, I was running when I met them." Despite my smile, her expression wasn't exactly approving.
"Hm, yes, well, anyway, I'm glad to see you, and next week you will be mine. Goodbye."
As she left, Hyu immediately jumped on the topic.
"Wow, are you serious with Her Highness?"
"I'm just close with her family." My statement made him even more shocked.
"The ruling family? The richest and most influential in the world?"
I had to quickly switch to Spanish to make sure Hyun understood our promise we made years ago.
"Hyu don't forget the promise."
"I'm sorry, but this really shocked me."
The sudden language switch and serious tone caught the girls' attention.
"Well,goodbye, girls."
Barely arriving home, Hyun was already messaging me on the voicemail.
'Joseph, I have an invitation for you to a small event. I will send over the details later.'"
With that message, I knew that the quiet and monotonous life I wanted had come to an end.