Chapter 4

It's been a good five days since Shi-Jin has been appointed the new Captain of the Royal Guards and of these five, three days they have spent training—and for Mo-Yeon, it hasn't been the best days of her life. Her body is aching, her back sore, her mood foul from all the attitude Shi-Jin throws her way. But if there's one thing Mo-Yeon is tremendously good at, apart from studying, it's never giving up. If she fails at the end, then so be it. At least she will not go down without a fight.

Her relationship with Shi-Jin hasn't exactly been smooth either. Most of the time, they would bicker at each other endlessly, draining Mo-Yeon's energy even more than the practice. Sometimes, it seems a switch would suddenly flick and serious Shi-Jin is back, with wise words and no-nonsense comments. And just like that, he also goes back to hurling teases towards Mo-Yeon in a flash.

Working with Myeong-Joo hasn't been this exhausting since Myeong-Joo was only always reprimanding her and you kind of get used to that. But with Yoo Shi-Jin, it's different every minute, every hour. It's like he's on an even worse PMS mood swing that me, Mo-Yeon thought. She closes her eyes and remembers snippets from the last five days.

xxxxx

"How…many…more…of…this…are…we…doing…?" Mo-Yen tries to ask in between heavy and quick breaths as they continue jumping and clapping with Jumping Jacks.

"As long as you can!" Shi-Jin replies, not nearly as tired as his student. "We're measuring your stamina with Jumping Jacks, the method of the strong and cool people."

Mo-Yeon thought about speaking her mind, how she thinks the Jumping Jack is more like the method of the elementary kids, but she thought it would cost too much energy considering she was in the middle of all the jumping.

A few more Jumping Jacks and Mo-Yeon stops, out of breath, resting her hands on her knees. Shi-Jin clicks his timer and goes into a halt. "That was quick! I guess we have a lot to work on here."

Mo-Yeon nods, unable to speak. Strands of her hair were sticking all over her face since all the jumping has undone the loose ponytail she has come in. Shi-Jin approaches her and picks up the ponytail from the floor. He positions himself behind her and starts combing her hair with his fingers, reaching for the loose strands from her face. Mo-Yeon was taken by surprise by his sudden action and tries to yank her hair weakly from his grasp.

"Ew! I'm all sweaty, don't touch me!"

Shi-Jin ignores her and continues to fix her hair. He pulls her hair in a tight bun on top of her head. Mo-Yeon turns around to thank Shi-Jin, who she notices was smiling.

"There you go," he says, examining his work. "It's better when your hair's like this so I can see all of your beautiful face."

Mo-Yeon feels a little flushed and she punches a laughing Shi-Jin on the shoulder.

xxxxx

It's been two hours since they started and Shi-Jin demonstrates exercise form number seventeen, which he calls The Invisible Chair.

"Invisible what?" Mo-Yeon asks, already too tired to laugh but her tone dripping with the intention to make fun of his naming all their exercise forms.

"Invisible Chair. Because it's like you're sitting in one!" Shi-Jin beams proudly.

Mo-Yeon looks incredulously at him, not holding back the chuckles and snorts. "That's lame, even for your standards!"

Shi-Jin throws a scowl at her. "You can laugh now but the Invisible Chair will make you cry in pain later." He continues. "Doctor Kang, please stand properly, feet together, and hands crossed on your chest like this."

Mo-Yeon follows his stance, which reminded her a bit of a mummy sleeping in his Sarcophagus. Seems the apt metaphor for her training, she thought.

"Bring down your body like this," Shi-Jin's right foot steps slightly to the right, his legs folding as if falling into an invisible chair. Simultaneously, his arms uncross and stretch out in front of him. "Hold it for eight seconds, and then go back up with an exhale."

Mo-Yeon tries to copy Shi-Jin's demonstration and as she did, she felt her legs wobble and give away under her in just three seconds. She lands a huge thud into a floor, disappointed.

She was half-expecting Shi-Jin to laugh at her mockingly for her weakness but she is surprised that he rushes to her side, asking if she feels any pain in her legs or lower back. For a second, her eyes meet Shi-Jin's, which she noticed looked softer and kinder than usual, but she was quick to pull away from him.

xxxxx

Mo-Yeon is seated on the floor, her legs folded underneath her in a Lotus position. Shi-Jin is seated across her, his eyes closed and his body unmoving. Mo-Yeon hears Shi-Jin's deep and almost inaudible voice fill the room as her eyes remained closed. "A great cool down after intense physical training is a long and quiet meditation. We'll hold this position for thirty minutes."

"Mhmm," Mo-Yeon replies softly.

Silence quickly settled into the room that Mo-Yeon could hear the wall clock's hand tick. She lets herself get absorbed into the rhythmic and steady tick of the clock, inhaling and exhaling in calculated intervals. She feels the darkness circle its arms around her, drawing her to her own heart's beating, which was quick but weak. An image starts to form at the back of her mind but she lets it go, unable to focus on the image, just like a camera trying to adjust its lens in vain. The sound of her heart fades until all she can hear was nothing.

Mo-Yeon opens her eyes and notices that she was already lying on the floor, with Shi-Jin meters away from her, busy fixing the shelves. She picks herself up from the ground and her shuffling causes Shi-Jin to look her way. She notices a smirk creep on his face. Alas, she fell asleep.

"Good morning, Your Sleepy Highness," Shi-Jin teases.

Mo-Yeon bites her lower lip in embarrassment and dusts her jogging pants. "Are we done for today? I think I'm going to head to my room."

Shi-Jin nods at her, still trying to keep the laughter from escaping his lips.

"Thank you for today, then." Mo-Yeon says hurriedly and runs out of the door, heading quickly towards her room. She lets herself in and bolts for her dresser, a loud sigh escaping her lips. Her hands fly to her face in embarrassment, remembering Shi-Jin's evil smirk.

"I was tired, okay!" She tries to reassure herself. Her eyes then slowly meet her own reflection at the mirror before letting out an angry outburst. She sees writing on her forehead in black permanent ink, which read: I <3 Yoo Shi-Jin.

xxxxx

Mo-Yeon tries to clear her head. She is currently soaking in a warm bath filled with bath salts and lavender to soothe her aching body and she's trying to focus on the temperature of the water and the fragrance of the bath oils to keep her thoughts from racing. Training with Shi-Jin hasn't been the hardest but since her body never was used to physical activity, just the tiniest bit of training pulls all the wrong muscles. I will take tomorrow off. I need a break from his smug face, too.

Shi-Jin knocked on Mo-Yeon's bedroom door but there's no answer. I wonder if she's still angry at me for drawing on her face after falling asleep in the middle of meditation, he thought. He pushes the door open and he finds the door unlocked. He makes a mental note to remind her to keep it locked at all times.

"Doctor Kang?" Shi-Jin calls out to her. He surveys the room and no sign of Mo-Yeon can be found. No sound was coming from any corner either. He makes his way to her bathroom to snoop around and finds the bathroom door slightly ajar. He pushes the door slightly and Mo-Yeon's head immediately snaps back to him. He sees Mo-Yeon submerged in a huge marble tub directly across the door.

"Are you crazy! Why are you in here?!" Mo Yeon shouts angrily and tries to throw a bar of soap at him. Shi-Jin immediately dodges and hides behind the door frame. He never meant to catch her taking a bath; he just mindlessly wandered and curiously went through an open door, after all.

"I've had enough of your ugly face for today, Yoo Shi-Jin!" Mo Yeon continues to shout at him. "And you shouldn't be here in the first place! I will call my guards!"

"There's nothing much to see anyway, is there?" Shi-Jin laughs, his back pushed against the door frame, hiding from the seething Mo-Yeon.

"You're a horrible, horrible, old man, do you know that?" Mo Yeon cries at him and Shi-Jin sees more bars of soaps, loofah, and even slippers fly out the door, maybe in hopes that one item catches him. For fun, he sidesteps back to the open door just in time for Mo Yeon to throw a bottle of bath soap. He catches the bottle just in time with both hands, like catching a baseball, and winks at Mo-Yeon before going back to cover behind the door frame.

He hears Mo-Yeon grunts in frustration.

"Tell me that wasn't pretty cool," Shi-Jin teases her.

"No, it wasn't. Go away!" Mo-Yeon snaps back at him.

Shi-Jin plays with the bottle in his hands, shifting the weight from his right to his left and then back. Lavender, huh, that's how she always smells like. Shi-Jin clears his throat for Mo-Yeon to hear clearly and asks in a more serious voice, "Seriously though, tell me, are you finding the training too hard?

Mo-Yeon hears the sincerity in his voice and stops thrashing her arms irritably around the water. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't want you to feel too burdened by your trainings, that's all. You look terribly tired today. Please tell me if you need me to moderate the training for you."

"Not really," Mo-Yeon hesitates. "I mean, they're actually pretty easy already, right? I feel like it's my body, not your training program, really."

"To each his own, right? I just want you to not hate training. I always loved training; her majesty the late Queen Ah-In did so too. So if we're doing something that's on a level that's not very comfortable for you, tell me honestly. You don't need to push yourself."

"Aren't trainings supposed to push my limits?"

"You're not training for the army, Doctor Kang. It's all just self-defense and basic physical training, after all." Shi-Jin adds, just to lighten up the mood, "Look at it as keeping yourself from getting fat."

Mo-Yeon reaches for her bathrobe and slides it on. She then climbs out of her tub, leaving trails of water as she walks towards the bedroom. She walks pass Shi-Jin, who is still comfortably leaning on the doorway. She feels Shi-Jin's eyes follow her as she takes a seat in front her dresser. "No, it's fine. Maybe I want something that will test my limits."

Shi-Jin walks towards her and leans at her dresser, his body facing hers. He feels a little conscious about Mo-Yeon's lack of clothes but tries to keep it to himself. He reaches out to her and cradles a few strands of her still wet hair with his hand. "Why do you push yourself this hard, Doctor Kang?"

Mo-Yeon looks away from him, her hair sliding from his fingers. She bites her lower lip. "I'm the Queen now."

"I understand what it feels like, trying your hardest to impress others, to impress yourself," Shi-Jin says quietly.

Mo-Yeon stays silent and this time, starts playing with her hair.

"You can always talk to me, if you ever feel like it. No seedy comments. I will just listen, I promise," Shi-Jin adds.

"Thank you, Captain."

Shi-Jin releases the breath that he's unconsciously been holding and a small smile steals into his lips. "I'll be taking my leave then. I'll see you at dinner. Myeong Joo and Dae-Young will be there." Shi-Jin lifts himself from the dresser and he's out the door.

Mo-Yeon watches Shi-Jin gracefully make his exit before she goes back to her walk-in closet to get dressed. She hasn't sat down with Myeong-Joo in a while because of all the training she and Shi-Jin has been doing so she hopes it's going to be a nice dinner. She walks alongside the clothes hanging in her closet, the tips of her fingers lightly skimming the hangers. She then starts pulling out dress after dress, pausing for a minute before discarding it on the floor.

Her mind floats back to Yoo Shi-Jin just inches from her face from five days ago as she examines a white coat dress. I'm sure he's going to tell me I look like my grandma wearing this uber formal dress to dinner, she thought, and tosses the dress to the floor. Not a peplum dress, too, that's too bright for dinner. This lacey dress looks a little racy to me, no, maybe not this one.

Dress after dress gets discarded and the pile behind Mo-Yeon grows before she hears Min-Ji calling from her bedroom. "Min-Ji, in here, please!" She calls out to her.

Min-Ji walks in and tries to conceal her horror at the disarray Mo-Yeon has caused in her closet. "Did you need my help looking for a dress, Your Highness?" She asks hesitatingly.

"Maybe?" Mo-Yeon rests her hands on her hips and looks pleadingly at Min-Ji.

Min-Ji smiles and approaches what's left of Mo-Yeon's closet. Mo-Yeon watches her go through her clothes, pausing every once in a while, before Min-Ji finally fishes out a royal blue pleated dress with a faux double-bre^sted design. Mo-Yeon holds the dress up and examines it.

"It's unusual for you to take this long in picking your clothes, Your Highness. I wonder if you'd like to go shopping tomorrow?" Min-Ji asks, concern oozing from her voice.

Mo-Yeon laughs nervously, shrugging off Min-Ji's comment. "Just a slow day, that's all. This looks fine to me, Min-Ji, thank you so much."

"I'll start looking for shoes then." Min-Ji chuckles and bows down as she heads towards where the shoes are stacked.

Mo-Yeon absent-mindedly puts on the dress, approaches Min-Ji, and automatically wears the first pair of pumps Min-Ji has pulled from the rack. She was on her way to the door when she doubles back and peeks through the door to the walk-in closet. "Would you like to eat dinner with us, Min-Ji?"

"I've finished dinner, Your Highness, thank you," Min-Ji responds, her hands full of dresses she's already going to start sorting out and putting back on the closet.

"I'll be at the dining hall, then. Sorry about the mess!" Mo-Yeon waves at Min-Ji and marches towards the dining hall, just a tad bit restless.

xxxxx

It's been a month since Shi-Jin was sent to Great Britain and frankly, he's enjoying the new sights, the new food, and the new people. He's been corresponding frequently with Seo Dae Young and Myeong-Joo—although less frequently with the very busy Myeong-Joo—and has been telling them all about Great Britain.

Shi-Jin sat comfortably on his bed as the time on his laptop read 10:05 p.m. He opened his mail and quickly read through Dae Young's new e-mail.

Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you, it's been very busy here at Urk. The Crown Princess is arriving this week and the whole Kingdom is preparing for it. A lot of the guards are very excited too—but don't tell Myeong-Joo I said that. If you're interested I'll send you a photo of the Princess when she arrives but I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see her face all over the news in a few days anyway.

Also, I've been worrying for a couple of days now. Doctor Song Sang-Hyun has been suspiciously frequenting the Queen's chambers. It doesn't look romantic in any way, no, I would have been more at ease if it were like that. But no one has been saying anything, even Myeong-Joo knows nothing—that, or she has been keeping things from me. But don't tell her I told you, maybe it's just been very tiring for Her Majesty with all the preparations for Mo-Yeon's return. But I don't know, man. If you were here, I'm sure you would have figured this out by now.

Hope you can fly back for a couple days.

Shi-Jin read Dae-Young's e-mail a second time before closing his laptop and setting it back on his bedside table. He tucked his arms under his neck and stretched his legs. It's just been a month but Shi-Jin found his work with the British Royalty surprisingly fulfilling. He has made a couple of new acquaintances, too, to keep his mind from thinking too much about Urk. But as he lay in his bed, he thought that it would have been nice if he was there enjoying all the festivities happening for the Princess' return. It would have been quite interesting to meet her, finally.