Cheol led Min-jun by the hand out into the courtyard. The sun warmed their skin and brought life to the late autumn day. The land might be barren but on a day like this, it was still beautiful. Cheol felt something like excitement in his heart. Tucked inside the sleeve of his scarlet robes, Cheol had hidden the pin he’d once given Min-jun. It was about time for it to be returned to its rightful owner.
They took a turn on the winding path around the estate. Min-jun’s lips parted as he laid eyes on the blooming plum blossom tree.
“Goodness,” Min-jun started. He approached the tree, and in doing so, separated himself from Cheol. For a moment, Cheol let himself admire the way the jewel tones of Min-jun’s hanbok suited him. My love. My jewel.
“It hasn’t bloomed in years,” Cheol told him, fingers flexing. Show a bit of restraint. Cheol found himself wanting to touch Min-jun more and more. Against all odds, they had been reunited. We have a chance now. They’d never have to part again.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Min-jun said.
“Like what?” Cheol asked. Min-jun wasn’t even looking at him, so how could he know Cheol’s expression?
“Shall I get you a mirror,” Min-jun snapped. Prickly as ever. Cheol wanted to kiss that pretty pout off his face. “Now it looks like you want to swallow me whole.”
Cheol chuckled, crossing the distance between them and the tree. He pressed the palms of their hands together and intertwined their fingers once more, as Min-jun let himself be trapped between Cheol and the trunk of the plum blossom tree.
“Oh?” Cheol asked.
“Oh yes,” Min-jun whispered, eyes flicking down to Cheol’s lips. “It’s quite frightening.”
Cheol kissed Min-jun’s knuckles. “Permit me to satisfy my hunger then?”
“Tch,” Min-jun said. “How polite of you. I’m not sure if I should oblige.”
“I suppose I’ll have to convince you.”
Min-jun’s fingers brushed under Cheol’s jaw, beckoning him forward. Cheol grinned. And I’m the one who looks like he could swallow him whole? Perhaps I should get you the mirror, my love, so you could see that lustful gaze of yours.
Cheol pressed another kiss to Min-jun’s lips. The eagerness in Min-jun’s response always surprised him a little. His slender hands brushed over Cheol’s chest, taking him by the collar and deepening the kiss. Cheol couldn’t help but wonder how much of that eagerness was honest?
Min-jun gasped as they parted.
“Breathless already?” Cheol cupped Min-jun’s cheek.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Shut up,” Min-jun said, as he leaned into the touch. Min-jun put a hand over Cheol’s and kissed his palm, reverence in the action. He acted like he was already in love. Cheol would be lying if he said it didn’t give some hope, despite their situation. Could Min-jun ever look at him like that without their past looming over his every action? Cheol had no doubt that even now Min-jun would claim to hate him.
But I love you. My heart overfills every time I look at you.
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“Oh,” Min-jun breathed. “By the lake. I’d thrown it at you after you told me you were leaving.” Beautiful brown eyes gazed up at him. “I can’t believe you’ve had it all this time.”
Cheol didn’t bother telling him that it had been gathering dust in some dark corner of the Palace. Not when Min-jun turned the binyeo over in his hands so tenderly.
“Put it in for me.” Min-jun had asked him the same thing when he’d first gotten the binyeo, albeit more politely. Now it almost sounded like an order. He knew Cheol could not refuse him anything. Expectantly, Min-jun turned his back to him, and Cheol exhaled a laugh.
Cheol leaned down to whisper in Min-jun’s ear, satisfaction filling him as he saw how it made Min-jun squirm. “Of course, Your Highness.”
Color rushed to Min-jun’s cheeks, coloring them pink. So, he liked being called by his title, did he now? Cheol would have to take note of this.
Cheol unpinned Min-jun’s black hair from its topknot, letting the locks unravel themselves. Gently, Cheol twirled an inky coil around his finger and pressed a kiss to it.
“I don’t have all day,” Min-jun called, crossing his arms.
“So tyrannical,” Cheol mumbled. “But, your wish is my command.”
Cheol ran his fingers through Min-jun’s hair. It was free of tangles, of course. Min-jun was obsessive about maintaining his beauty. Cheol divided Min-jun’s hair into sections and began to braid it, taking care not to tug too hard. Min-jun continued to fiddle with the binyeo as he stared at the plum blossom tree’s full branches.
“It’s like an embrace,” Min-jun whispered, in a tone that sounded as if his words had not been meant for Cheol’s ears.
“What is?” Cheol asked. He reached the ends of Min-jun’s hair, and now began to twist the braid into a tight coil.
Min-jun handed him the binyeo, shaking his head slightly. “Nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”
“Nothing, you say?” Cheol tucked the binyeo into the coil and stepped away to admire his handiwork. It was good to see he hadn’t lost his touch. Min-jun’s hands patted the coil of hair, searching for something to criticize no doubt. There was nothing to critique, and so, Min-jun could only cross his arms and let out a sigh.
“I wanted to talk to you -” Min-jun never got to finish his sentence. The head eunuch had interrupted them.
“Y-your Majesty.” The head eunuch trembled from head to toe. What was he so nervous about? “Lady Ok-jeong has just arrived at the outer Palace.”
Oh. He’d forgotten about her again. Min-jun had a knack for that. If it weren’t for his duties, Cheol might spend all day in Min-jun’s presence. It was intoxicating, truly.
“I will be there soon,” Cheol said. Min-jun hadn’t spoken a word. He wouldn’t even spare Cheol a glance. What terrible timing his servants had. Just as they were getting along.
The head eunuch scurried away and Cheol reached for Min-jun. Should he apologize? Beg for forgiveness?
“So, when is the wedding?” Min-jun asked, light-heartedly, leaning his head back against Cheol’s chest.
“I will turn her away if that is what you want,” Cheol said. It would be easier to take down the Ni family and their accomplices with Ok-jeong by his side, but he would find another way if marrying Ok-jeong meant hurting Min-jun.
“You really are a fool,” Min-jun said, twirling around on his heel. “You already have four other consorts, or have you forgotten? Why would I be upset over another wife?”
“She will be my Queen.”
Min-jun raised an eyebrow. “I knew who I was marrying, Cheol. A King must take a Queen sooner or later. That position was never going to be mine. Nor would I want it to be.” Min-jun lifted a hand and waved it in the air. He turned away from Cheol again and continued, nonchalantly. “Truth be told, if I had my way, I would’ve never become your consort either. All I’ve gotten in return are attempts on my life and schemes to have me thrown out. One of those was even by you! And the other by your own right-hand woman! Truth be told, I haven’t had a moment of peace since I got here. Yes, being your consort is quite draining, in fact.”
Cheol flinched at that. Everything Min-jun had said was true, of course. He should simply let him take his anger out on him.
Suddenly, Min-jun cupped Cheol’s face between two hands. He clicked his tongue. “Tsk. You’re so passive now. Stop looking like that, it’s making me depressed.”
“I’m sorry, my love,” Cheol said.
“I didn’t ask for an apology,” Min-jun told him, pinching his cheeks, as if to get rid of the frown on Cheol’s face. “Goodness, I was only trying to make you feel better.”
He was? Cheol’s chest warmed. How quickly Min-jun could make his entire mood shift! “Ah, you have a strange way of doing that, my love. But I suppose I do feel a bit better.”
“Well, I’ve never said I was good at it.” Min-jun sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “You’re such a crybaby.”
Cheol tilted his head to the side. “I’m not crying.”
“Whatever.” Min-jun walked away from him, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll rephrase. I don’t really care if you marry fifteen wives in the next week. I would’ve been content being your first love. The boy from the river towns, who you gave this hairpin to.” Min-jun touched the binyeo in his hair with two fingers. “It would even be alright if I was the lowest-ranking concubine in your harem with no power or status because regardless, I’d be the one you loved the most.”
Min-jun reached up and plucked one of the plum blossoms from its branch. He brought it to his nose and his eyes fluttered closed. A light breeze shifted the branches above them, loosening some of their petals. A few adorned Min-jun’s inky hair as if they were meant to be there. He looked almost peaceful then, so far from the angry man that Cheol had met months ago. Beautiful.
“I have a condition,” Min-jun announced, clever eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Anything, my love.”
Min-jun tucked the flower behind his ear, close to the hairpin. When that was done, Min-jun looked back up at him, a determined expression on his face. “Say it again.”
“Say what?”
“What you said last night,” Min-jun said, stepping closer to him. Their lips would touch if one of them leaned in. “Say that you love me.”
Was that all? The corners of Cheol’s lips curved up. His heart warmed. “I love you.”
“Again,” Min-jun said, tilting his head back a bit.
“I love you.”
“Once more.”
“I love you.”
Min-jun nodded once, satisfied. “I’ll hold you to it, so take as many wives as you’d like. Make Ok-jeong your queen. The one thing you cannot do is abandon me. I will not allow it. In fact, I forbid it.”
How arrogant. This was the only man in the entirety of Saro who could tell Cheol what to do. Cheol had to admit that he quite liked that boldness.
“In any case,” Min-jun said, flatting out the creases in Cheol’s robes. “What’s done is done. We must take responsibility for our actions, Your Majesty. Lady Ok-jeong will be your Queen. It’ll be good to have an amicable relationship with her, if nothing else.”
“But not to love her, I suppose.”
With a scheming sort of expression, Min-jun patted Cheol’s shoulder. “You catch on quickly, my King.”
My King. And Cheol was his, entirely.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please leave a comment down below!
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Min-juuuun… you’re such a good boy 🥲
Min Jun is understanding of king’s responsibilities ❤️
I still don’t like the presence of the Ok-Jeong, but it’s not so painful since Cheol has sling-shotted from determined indifference to giddy capitulation. It is a dramatic change. Is this what they were like before? No wonder he paid to forget.