Author's Note: The parts written in bold means that it's in Japanese and the rest is in Korean.

________

A few weeks passed since Taemin confessed to the Prince. They had grown even closer to each other every day they spent together. Taemin was practically staying in Jongin's room. And that's where he woke up, with Jongin tightly hugging him from behind. The Prince removed Taemin's long hair from his neck and slowly pressed a few kisses here and there. Even though they've been having moments like this almost every morning for the last few days, Taemin still enjoyed every second of it. He enjoyed it a lot. Jongin's lips on his neck felt so good that it almost made him dizzy. Taemin turned around and gave the Prince a quick kiss. The latter ran his hand through Taemin's hair and pulled him for another kiss, lingering it as much as he could until they were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door. Taemin huffed and pulled away.
"Your highness, can I come in?" Minho asked from behind the door.
"Yes, Minho, come in." Jongin said. 
Minho entered the room and bowed to the Prince. "I'm sorry to interrupt, your highness, your father said he wants to see you as soon as you wake up."
Jongin frowned. "My father? Is everything alright? Didn't he say why?"
"He just said it's important."
"Oh... Alright then, I'll go." 
Minho bowed again before he opened the door and left. Jongin turned to Taemin. "I'm sorry, baby, I guess I have to go."
"It's okay, Jongin, I'll wait for you in my room then." Taemin smiled.
"Okay, I'll try to come back soon." Jongin pecked his cheek and got up from the bed. He put on his clothes and left the room for his parents' wing.

...

"Good morning, father. You asked to see me?" Jongin bowed.
"Yes, Jongin, sit down." Suho said with a smile.
Jongin sat down next to his father. "Is everything alright, father? Minho told me it was important."
"Yes, it is. I have good news for you, son. I talked with your mother a while ago and I've come to an agreement with the Japanese emperor."
"An agreement?"
"Yes. You know our Empire hasn't been quite stable these last few years. And the Japanese Emperor offered to help us out."
"But... What do I have to do with this, father?"
"Let me finish, Jongin. You remember the day I took you with me to see the Emperor, right?" 
Jongin nodded.
"Well, he said he liked you a lot and he would like you to be his future son-in-law." Suho grinned and patted his son's shoulder.
"W-what? Father, I..."
"I know it's a bit sudden. But don't worry, son. I heard his daughter is a really beautiful young woman. I suppose I will get very pretty young children."
Jongin scoffed. Just the thought of marrying someone other than Taemin made him disgusted and his father was even talking about children. "But, father, I already love someone else. I can't marry her." 
Suho furrowed his eyebrows for a moment then smiled again. "Ah, that concubine your mother mentioned. Well, that won't be a problem, Jongin. The more, the merrier, right?" the Emperor chuckled but Jongin didn't seem amused by this, at all. "Oh, come on, son, you can have as many women as you want. You are a handsome and strong young man. Besides, I already gave my word to the Japanese emperor. You can't make me break a promise now, can you?"
"Well, you could have at least asked for my opinion before promising anything."
"Listen, son, I didn't want to put it this way but this is a political matter. If marrying a princess sounds so bad to you, then consider yourself sacrificing yourself for our empire, hmm? But I'm sure you will like her, I have seen her and she is indeed very pretty. Believe me, I know what's best for you." Suho smiled and got up. "Oh and she is coming today to our castle. She is currently on the way from Japan. You can ask your mother about the details. I have work to get to right now."
Jongin watched his father walk out of the room. He was dumbfounded. He had never thought his father would do such thing to him. He got up and walked to his mother quickly. Jongin burst the door open, startling the queen.
"You knew about all of this, mother, didn't you?"
Taeyeon told her servants to leave the room, then got up and walked towards her son. "You talked to your father, I guess."
"Yes, I did. Now, you have to find a way to fix all this because there is no way in hell that I'm going to marry her! How could he do that to me without even asking for my opinion?!"
"Jongin, calm down. I can't fix anything, your father already decided. I can't do anything. And the girl is already on her way to Korea. It would be inappropriate for us to send her back now, wouldn't it?"
"I don't care, mother! I will not marry her! I thought we already talked about this! You know that I love Taerin. I thought you accepted that already. Am I not allowed to live my life the way I want to?!"
"Stop yelling, Jongin! I don't have anything to do with this. I even told him that you're in love with another girl already but he said it didn't matter. We can't do anything now. But it's not that bad anyway. You still have Taerin with you, right? It will be the same. Nothing is going to change."
Jongin closed his eyes and released a deep sigh. "This is not fair, mother." he muttered before he walked away. He had to tell Taemin about this. But how was he supposed to do that? What will Taemin think about this? 

...

"Oh, you're back. So, what happened with your father?" Taemin asked with a smile when Jongin entered his room. The latter kept silent, he didn't know how exactly he was going to tell Taemin what happened.
"Jongin? What's wrong, baby?" Taemin asked, starting to get worried.
"Sit down, Taemin. I have something to tell you." Jongin said, but it sounded almost like a whisper. He was kind of scared of Taemin's reaction because he didn't want to hurt him. Ever.
"Is it... bad?" Taemin raised an eyebrow and sat down on his bed.
The Prince sat next to him and took both of his hands in his own. "Well... Yes. It's bad."
"What is it? Did they find out about us?" the boy asked nervously.
"No, no... I... Listen, I got absolutely nothing to do with this. I just learned about it myself. My father... He... He had an agreement with the Japanese Emperor about some political stuff and the emperor wants me to... marry his daughter." Jongin muttered in a low voice.
Taemin hesitantly removed his hands from Jongin's grip. "... W-what? What does that mean? I... I don't understand." he finally managed to ask.
Jongin closed his eyes and gulped hard. "I'm so sorry, baby. But I tried everything. I talked to my parents but they just won't listen to me. My mother said father already decided so I can't do anything now. A-and... the girl is on her way here now."
"Did you really not know about this?" Taemin asked, his eyes started watering already.
"No! I swear, Taemin, I just learned about this. I wouldn't want to marry anyone other than you anyway. Taemin, you know very well how much I love you. Please believe me. It makes me feel so bad that I can't do anything about this."
One tear rolled down Taemin's right cheek. "What will happen to me when she comes? Will they kick me out?"
"No, of course not! We'll still be together like we used to be. I swear to god, I wouldn't even go near her, Taemin. I'm not interested in girls anyway. You are the only one I want. Please don't be mad. It's not my fault. They didn't even ask for my opinion." Jongin started crying too.
"I... Are you sure it won't affect our relationship? I don't think I would stand a chance with a Princess. A-and if she falls in love with you, what if she does something to... us. I mean, she's a Princess and I'm just... Taemin, a nobody."
"What? Where is this coming from? Yes, you are Taemin, but Taemin is definitely not a nobody. Taemin is the person I love the most in the world. You're everything to me, Taeminnie. It won't affect our relationship. And don't ever think that she's better than you. You will always be better than anyone else for me."
Taemin suddenly started sobbing, he couldn't control his emotions anymore. He hugged the Prince tightly and buried his face in his chest. "I love you... Please, don't... don't leave me."
Jongin quickly hugged him back and his long hair. "I would never leave you, Taemin. I promise we'll be together until the end, baby."
Taemin looked up at him with puffy, swollen eyes. "Promise me you'll never have feelings for her."
"Of course I won't! Even thinking about it is disgusting for me." Jongin wiped the tears off of Taemin's face and kissed his forehead gently.

...

A few hours later, Jongin and Taemin went down to the garden. It was the only place Taemin could go to while being away from people's eyes at the castle. 
"I heard Sehun-shi is coming today." Taemin said.
"Yeah, I haven't seen him since the day I met you."
"Um... I haven't talked to him that day. Is he nice? Do you think he would like me?" Taemin tilted his head and Jongin laughed.
"Gosh, you're so cute. Why wouldn't he like you? He's nice, don't worry. And he knows you're a boy so there's no need to pretend around him."
"Oh, great then. But when is he coming?" Taeemin asked.
"Jongin hyung! Hi! It's been a while." Sehun grinned as he walked towards them.
Jongin got up and gave him a quick hug. "Hi, Sehun."
Sehun looked at Taemin and bowed slightly. "Hi, um... pretty boy." he chuckled.
Taemin smiled and bowed back. "My name is Taemin."
"Oh, nice to meet you, again. You already know I'm Sehun, right?"
"Yes, Jongin told me a lot about you already." 
Sehun smirked and eyed both of them after they all sat down. "Jongin, huh? I thought I was the only one allowed to call him Jongin. I've been wondering what happened between you two all this time."
"Sorry, Sehun but he's closer to me than you are now." Jongin chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So, have you done it yet?" Sehun smirked again.
"Done what?" Taemin blinked.
"You know, the thing." Sehun laughed.
Jongin's eyes widened. "Yah, Oh Sehun! Mind your own business."
Taemin blushed when he realized what they were talking about.
"Oh, come on, have you done it or not?"
"Sehun, stop it, you're embarrassing him." 
Sehun laughed. "Aw, and I was wondering why his cheeks turned red all of a sudden. Just tell me later then, hyung, okay?"
The Prince sighed. "You're so annoying, you know that?"
"I know." Sehun grinned. "Oh, right! What's that thing about the Japanese Princess? Is it true?"
Both Jongin and Taemin's smiles faded away. "It is. It's just an agreement my father had with the Japanese Emperor." Jongin muttered.
"And you're okay with it?"
"Of course I'm not! Father only told me this morning and I tried talking to him and my mother but they said there's nothing I can do now. The Princess is already coming today."
"Oh... That's bad. How could he do this to you?"
"I don't know, Sehun. Let's just hope that she'sagainst this marriage too so we can find a way out of this together."

...

In the evening, the Princess arrived to Korea and everyone in the castle was called to welcome her. Taemin stayed with Sehun as Jongin was dragged away by his mother to greet the Princess. 
Jongin faked a smile as he saw a girl walking towards the gates of the castle. 
"Jongin, haven't I told you that you should dress up properly tonight?" the Queen whispered in her son's ear.
"You forgot that I don't give a damn about tonight or whoever's coming tonight. I'm just here because it would be rude of me not to greet her."
"Jongin, don't-" Taeyeon stopped when she saw the Princess already in front of her with some of her servants carrying a few bags behind her. The girl bowed with a smile. "Hello!" 
"Oh, hello, Princess! Can you speak Korean?" the Queen asked, surprised.
"No, just little bit. I am Princess Aiko." she bowed again, grinning at Jongin who was trying to keep a fake smile on his face.
"Oh, your Korean accent is so cute! And you are very pretty! Welcome to our castle." 
"Thank you, your majesty." the Princess smiled shyly.
'Pretty, my ... Taeminnie's so much prettier.' Jongin thought to himself. "Hello, Princess Aiko." he bowed slightly.
"Prince Jongin! I so glad finally meet! I heard so much about Prince Jongin!" Aiko exclaimed happily.
Jongin pretended to laugh. "Yeah, I heard a lot about you too."
The Queen cleared awkwardly. "Alright, let's go inside. Princess, everyone's waiting for you."
"Oh, thank you." Aiko smiled and followed Jongin and his mother inside.
"Princess Aiko! Welcome to our castle and our family!" Suho said as soon as he saw her.
"Thank you, your majesty." the Princess bowed and she was invited to sit with them at a big table full of various kinds of food.
Taemin was watching with Sehun from afar. He cringed when he saw the Princess smile at Jongin even though he knew the latter wasn't even looking at her. "Well, she is pretty." he muttered to Sehun.
"Nah, don't worry, dude. Jongin only wants you. He's not into girls." Sehun reassured him and Taemin sighed.
"I promised your father we will take very good care of you. I hope you like it here." Suho said to Aiko and she nodded quickly.
"Yes! I like it a lot! And food very delicious. Thank you."
The Queen chuckled. "You know, Jonginnie can speak Japanese and he could teach you Korean too." 
"Oh, really? Prince Jongin speaks Japanese?" Aiko grinned, looking at Jongin in amazement.
Jongin laughed awkwardly. "Uh, yes... Hello, Princess Aiko. My name is Jongin. Welcome to our castle."
"Oh, thank you! Please teach me Korean. I would like to be able to speak your language. My father told me so much about you. I couldn't wait to meet you. But you look even more handsome than I imagined! Oh and can I call you Jongin oppa? I learned this word before I came here. Father said you are older than me so I should call you oppa." the Princess grinned and batted her eyelashes innocently at Jongin.
Jongin chuckled nervously and glanced at Taemin at the other side of the room. "Um... yeah, sure."
"What the hell are they talking about? What's that Jongin oppa thing?" Taemin whispered to Sehun.
"She asked him to teach her Korean. She said he looks more handsome than she imagined and she asked if she could call him Jongin oppa." Sehun translated to him.
"What the... Aish... I need to learn Japanese so I can understand what she's saying. And why is she even talking like that? Does she think she's cute?" Taemin scoffed.
"Taemin, don't mind her, just look at Jongin hyung. He looks like he's about to vomit every time she starts talking. It's obvious he doesn't like her. Stop worrying that much."
Taemin huffed and kept silent.
"Listen, I have good news for both of you. We started preparations and your engagement will be next week!" Taeyeon said happily. 
Jongin's eyes widened. "What?!"

_____________

Author's Note: Omg I'm so sorry it's been two months :o it's just that I couldn't focus on this with Taemin's comeback and all so I just started writing this week. I'll try to keep updating regularly from now on.

The title of the chapter , I know...

I hope you liked the chapter though. Please tell me what you think ^^

Oh, and I don't know much about Japanese stuff so if there's an anime/manga character or someone famous in Japan called Aiko, it has nothing to do with the one in the story. It's just a character made up by me.

Oh, right, I wanna tell you guys about this. The fact that Kai is dating Krystal WILL NOT prevent me from writing Taekai fics. I will keep writing Taekai until I'm old and dying. lol And I still believe in Taekai like I did before. Nothing changed. We still don't know the real truth behind the Kaistal thing but I am not against it. I am really happy for Jongin if he is really dating her. Kai is my second ultimate bias after Taemin but him dating hasn't and will never be a problem for me. I just want him to be happy. Doesn't matter how or with who. He is human and he's free to choose who he wants to date. Alright, I should stop now because this is getting longer than the actual chapter lmao

THANK YOU GUYS FOR WAITING SO LONG. I promise I won't take that long to update in the future. Unless Taemin suddenly decides to have another comeback and kill all of us all over again 2 weeks after his promotions ended. lol Bye~!