Chapter #13:

       The Conflict.

The next morning when Haejin woke up, Baekhyun was nowhere in sight. The only sign that he came home last night was the slightly ruffled and messy bedding he left behind. The door to the washroom was slightly ajar which made the air of the room, slightly humid. She allowed a yawn to slip past her lips and rubbed her sleepy eyes; leaning towards the far left edge of the couch, she peeked inside the washroom to see whether he was there or not.

He must have taken a shower a while ago.

She thought to herself when she found the place empty and dropped back on the couch with a sigh. A small yellow note, peeking from the corner of her pillow made her frown in confusion.

What is it?

She took hold of the note and made herself comfortable. Turning the piece of paper around, she examined it carefully and then unfolded it hesitantly; almost curious to know, what was written inside it.

“This is the only time; I am letting you drool on my couch. Next time, find another place.”

Haejin shot up from her place with a horrified gasp and furiously rubbed the corner of her mouths. A small blush of embarrassment covered her cheeks, as she released an unattractive groan. For a second, she marveled over his neat and beautiful handwriting, but that only lasted until his beautiful words registered in her mind.

“That infuriating piece of !” She cursed out loud and read the note again.

How can someone be such a jerk?

Getting off the couch with a scowl, she threw the note in the dustbin and glared at it for a whole minute. She decided to finally move away from it when she realized that her gaze was not enough to burn the offensive paper and started making her way towards the washroom. However, she stopped in her tracks when she remembered the small note of apology she had written for Baekhyun.

Did he already read it?

Sprinting towards the bed, she hastily tossed the blanket away from the bed but was caught off guard when her husband’s strong scent filled her senses making her halt in her actions. It was a pleasant odor; with a mixture of his natural scent and the expensive perfumes he uses. It was so warm and pleasant to take in that it made her feel safe. Not aware of what she was doing, Haejin brought the blanket up to her nose and sniffed it slightly. His masculine scent overwhelmed her. It evoked thousands of feeling inside her, making her feel befuddled.  She felt like she was being engulfed by the whirlpool of emotions around her. The small bubble of ecstasy that she built for herself didn’t last long when she soon came back to her senses and repulsively swatted the blanket away from her hand.

What the hell, am I doing?

The young Princess glared at the blanket as if it had burned her; as if, it was the most detrimental thing she had seen and encountered in her whole life. Sighing to herself, she plopped her down on the bed and closed her eyes for a small fraction of the time to collect her thoughts. The note she had placed along Baekhyun’s pillow last night wasn’t there; which only meant two things. It was either, he had read it or the note got misplaced before he got to have his hands on it. To be honest, she wasn’t sure which one, she wanted to be true. She may have written the small note in the heat of the moment, but after that, she regretted it almost immediately. Still, for some reason she left it there. Mourning to herself, she opened her eyes again and roamed them around the spacious room. It wasn’t a girly room at all. The walls were painted black and the windows were endowed with black curtains as well. The theme of the room and its furniture was eerily dark; which for one reason or another didn’t surprise Haejin. The room screamed that it belonged to someone like Baekhyun. Her gaze finally settled on the familiar looking paper, placed carefully on the bedside table. It was neatly folded and there wasn’t much text visible, still, she could tell it was the same note she had left for Baekhyun. Letting out a shaky breath, she took hold of it and unfolded the paper in a fraction of a heartbeat- already expecting the worst.

“I was serious about you drooling on my couch.” It was written right under her small apology, in his same elegant writing. To her astonishment, it didn’t annoy her like earlier. The small smile that dominated her lips was the living proof of it. It was like a truce between them; indicating that they have no more hard feelings for each other regarding the particular incident.
“That Jerk!” Haejin exclaimed with a chuckle and shook her head. She felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. The guilt had been eating her up from the moment those dreadful words left her lips and she wanted to do nothing more than to take them back. It was good that her husband gave her a chance to seek for his forgiveness. They were not on good terms and she wasn’t sure that they ever will be- still there were some limits to everything. Her hate for him has a limit too. He forced her into marrying him; he may have hurt her a lot of times, he may have neglected her feelings, but she had to admit that her life here was way better than her life back at the Moonlight Kingdom and she owe it to him- whether she likes to admit it or not was totally up to her.
…….

Next few days passed by in the same manner. Baekhyun would be gone for the whole day by the time she woke up and returned late at night after she had slept. There were not any encounters between them, save for that one time she woke up in the middle of the night to use the washroom and saw his exhausted figure sprawled on the bed. The upper half of his body was supported by the bed while his legs dangled down in a careless manner. Her husband had immediately opened his closed eyes when he noticed movements in the room and sat up straight in his place with his arms supporting the whole weight of the body. They both might have stared at each other for minutes in silence – she wasn’t sure – before Haejin cleared awkwardly and made her way towards the washroom with a racing heart. She hated it! The kind of effect he had on her. All he had to do was stare at her with those intriguing, beautiful blue eyes, to make her feel emotions that were so intense and frightening; to make her heart palpitate in an abnormal manner. It seemed like he wanted to say something to her, but held it in, as if he was afraid to voice his thoughts out. It was a strong and weird moment they shared and she was sure, it would linger in her mind for long.

She could see that he was busy; extremely busy. It won’t take a genius to notice that. The exhaustion and fatigue were visible on his face. It was the first thing she noticed while she was taking in his disheveled form. Baekhyun had done some really cruel things to her, he was a heartless guy who didn’t care about the other’s emotions; she knew it, she had experienced it. Still, she can’t deny the fact that she really admired his sincerity with his family and Kingdom. Her father was right to want her husband, as the King of Moonlight Kingdom and she hated to admit that. The young bride may not admit it out loud, but she felt a pinch at her heart when she saw the dark eye bags under his eyes. She may not admit that, but deep down she wants him to stay at home and give her some time. Haejin knew that it was stupid to want that since she hates him, yet she can’t help it. They were married and like any other girl she just wanted some attention from him; the attention she despised and hated. It was all so confusing. She knew the moment they had a time alone, they would be fighting. The hate they have for each other would be visible in their eyes, but still due to some twisted reasons she wanted him to be here. She wasn’t alone, not at all. Her brothers-in-law always made sure that they bothered her 24/7 still Baekhyun’s absence left an emptiness inside her. Should she feel that way when she claims to hate him? These all thoughts were buried in the deepest corner of her mind, something she wanted unconsciously and wasn’t aware of.

Stupid Jerk! He is always making me feel weird things.

Baekhyun closed the door of the closet softly and made his way towards the dressing table with a brown blazer draped over his forearm. His raven locks were dripping; small droplets of water slowly falling on the white dress shirt that he had neatly tucked in his light blue jeans. While arranging the cuffs of his shirt, he lazily gazed up in the mirror and stared at Haejin’s sleeping form on the couch. A small smile graced his lips unconsciously when he recalled the memory of last week, where he had caught her drooling on his couch. He was sure that his wife would have been mortified by the fact that he had caught her in such a position, and felt slightly disappointed that he wasn’t there to see the expression of embarrassment on her face along with the cute blush that always seems to cover her cheeks. Placing his blazer on the edge of the table, he passed his hand through his hair and reached out for the piercings he had placed there last night.

Yesterday night, he had visited Mr. Jung again, in hopes that he would have changed his mind, but the old man was as stubborn as ever. He had again tried to evoke him, but the eldest Prince knew better than to let his words get to him. He didn’t want his brothers to get involved in this matter and he was sure if he returned home battered again, they won’t take it well. He had made much progress, but at the same time, he was unsatisfied with it. There were a handful of kidnapping cases that happened after his wedding; which scared him. He was afraid that they would get out of hands. The foundation is trying to be, as discreet as they can, but still, their keen eyes and strict supervision had managed to catch two more of them. It wasn’t that difficult to corner them; actually, it was quite easy; which didn’t settle well with the Prince for some reason. Like Mr. Jung, those two were intent on not revealing the smallest of the detail about the foundation which made the Prince impatient. It seemed like they were stalling the matter as if they knew what he was planning and were buying time to stop him. Even the prospect of it, made him work harder than he already does. There was no option, other than stopping that foundation if he wanted to make sure that the Kingdoms under him are safe.

……..
 

“Are you going home early today?” Baekhyun whirled around to see Minjoon; who was leaning against the door frame of his office with a smirk gracing his features. The eldest Prince gave his friend a playful scowl and continued collecting his things.

“Yeah, I am.” His answer was short and brief. He didn’t want to possibly say something that would make his friend smugger than he already was.

“Finally! It had been two weeks since your marriage and all you have done is stay in this stupid office.” Minjoon complained and lifted his body off the frame.

“What is so wrong about it?”

“Everything!” The bodyguard exclaimed incredulously and flailed his arms in the air. He was sure that his friend was crazy. How could Baekhyun even ask him such an obvious question?

“You are ing married. Don’t you think Haejin deserves some of your time too?”

“Spending time with me would be the last thing she wants.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes at his dramatic bodyguard and got up from his seat in hopes of getting away from the craziness.

“Is that your excuse?”

“Excuse me?” The eldest Prince turned towards Minjoon with a raised brow and waited for the other to elaborate.

What the hell is wrong with him?

“You like her,” Minjoon stated with confidence and narrowed his eyes at the crown Prince; daring him to deny his statement.

“You are crazy.” Baekhyun won’t be Baekhyun; if he backs out like that.

“Then why do you have her picture on your phone?”

“I have her picture on my phone?” The Crown Prince looked at his friend confused and snatched his phone away from him; which was unsurprisingly unlocked.

“First, why do you have my phone? Second, why the hell do you know my passcode?”

“I was bored, so I decided to download Candy Crush on your phone.”

“That still doesn’t explain anything.” The eldest Prince deadpanned and glared at his bodyguard with accusing eyes. Minjoon gave his friend a dorky smile and straightened up in place while clearing his throat, it seemed like he was going to explain a full proof plan.

“Well, you see downloading it on my phone won’t be fun.” He started and let out a nervous chuckle when he noticed that the Crown Prince was not convinced at all.

“Besides that, I wouldn’t have got to see all those adorable photos.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you have my pass code?”

“It’s not hard to figure out that your passcode is Tao’s birthday. We all know he went all diva on you last time because you forgot it.” Baekhyun cleared his throat awkwardly when he heard that and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly.

“It’s a smart move on my side.”

“It’s a low move and I am going to tell him.”

“He should be happy that I am making an effort.” The eldest Prince replied with his usual poker face and smirked when the other scoffed in disbelief. Shaking his head at his friend’s childish behavior, Baekhyun finally opened his gallery and was yet again not surprised to find hundreds of pictures of his friend, six pictures of Haejin and thousands of pictures of Sehun. He deleted all the pictures of Sehun and his friend except one and kept all the pictures of Haejin; not noticing the sly smile his friend was giving him. However, his eyebrows shot up when he saw Vivi’s pictures too.

“What is this ugly thing doing on my phone?”

“Are you calling me ugly?” Minjoon asked with a gasp and looked genuinely offended.

“The adjective would suit you too, but I am talking about this thing!” Baekhyun replied with the roll of his eyes and his phone towards the other.

“Aww~ he is so cute.” Minjoon coed, clueless to the way his friend’s eyes were twitching.

“Why don’t you let the Dog breed you then?” The bodyguard stared at the Prince dumbfounded; not sure whether he heard the other right or not.

“I don’t have a reply to that.”

“Wait- Sehun won’t approve of you, as his Vivi’s wife.” Baekhyun continued with his usual cocky smirk and snickered under his breath when the other guy looked at him with mortification.

“If anyone is going to be the wife here; it’s going to be Vivi!”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Dude! We both are dudes!” Minjoon added and nodded his head as if he was trying to get the point across his own mind too.

“That’s the only problem you have?” The Crown Prince asked calmly.

“What do you want from me?” Minjoon cried out in frustration and set his seething eyes o