“They are almost here; look alive,” Sophia, Madisen’s mother, turns to her daughter that can’t keep up with her large strides.

            “Wait for me mama!” the nine year old calls. “Where are we going?” she asks, finally catching up to her mother.

            “We are meeting King Hwon, Queen Haesoo, and their son Hyunjin again; like last year,” she adds, hoping her daughter will remember the same time of year but about a year prior. “Next year we’ll be going to them instead of them coming here again.”

            “Ohhhhh,” the young princess exaggerated the word. “Why do we meet them every year again?”

            “One day, when you’re both older, you will marry prince Hyunjin,” the queen smiles.

            “Why? I do not want to be married,” the nine year old pouts.

            The two women walk outside the front entrance to see a vehicle pull up to the base of the staircase they stand at the top of briefly. Sophia starts to descend the staircase and Madisen quickly follows behind her mother to greet the guests.

            “Good to see you again Sophia,” Queen Haesoo greets with a small curtsey. Sophia and Madisen curtsey in response.

            “It’s lovely to see you again as well,” Sophia speaks for herself and her daughter. “Madisen,” she turns to her daughter, “say hello to prince Hyunjin.”

            “Hello prince Hyunjin,” she curtseys as she does what she’s told.

            “Hello princess Madisen,” he bows to her in response. “Nice to see you again,” he says through gritted teeth. His parents told him to be nice and friendly but he found it difficult to be that way with someone he hardly knew.

            The remainder of the visitation was spent trying to get Madisen and Hyunjin to spend time together but they would spend all their time hiding from each other; both being extremely shy with new people. Their parents thought they were getting along quite well though, thinking they were playing a game of hide and seek every day. They were unaware of what would happen the next year when Madisen and her mother would visit and stay with Hyunjin and his parents.

-

            The prince and princess to be married one day grew another year older and were once again brought together to meet and get better acquainted. Princess Madisen was now ten years old and prince Hyunjin was now nine.

            The visit was the same as the previous year; the prince and princess tried as hard as they could to avoid each other when their parents said they should go off by themselves.

-

            Every year was the same; neither child really wanted to be with the other but every year around the same time they were brought together and reminded that they would be married.

-

            “Madisen, what are you doing? You are not ready yet?” Sophia asks her daughter, still sitting in bed in her pajamas. “Get ready immediately! Hyunjin will be here later today.”

            “I do not want to meet him again. Every year is the same; you force us together but you do not even see that we simply do not like each other,” she whines slightly as she thinks about having to see Hyunjin again later that afternoon.

            “Nonsense! Please get ready darling,” Sophia pleads slightly. She never realized just how hard it was to have an eighteen year old until moments like these. Sometimes having a teenager was just too difficult but the queen endured.

            Madisen complied and finally got dressed in a nice dress her mother picked out for her and met her mother at the front entrance to watch the gate; a tradition since she was eight whenever King Hwon, Queen Haesoo, and their son came to visit them.

            The adults greeted each other as they met again, all seeming good friends unlike their children. “Hello Hyunjin,” Madisen spoke, annoyance clear in her voice as she curtseyed and lowered her head. Hyunjin silently bowed to her in return, not looking at Madisen’s face.

            When he looked up at Madisen’s face again, he had a different reaction that the previous year and all the years before that since the first time they had met. “H-hi,” he stutters out. He was left speechless. Madisen looked completely different than what he could remember of her and he couldn’t find it in his heart to hate her like he did every time he thought of her. The two had never gotten along well so it was natural for them to basically hate each other, especially when they were reminded that they would one day be married against their will. But Hyunjin didn’t hate her anymore but in fact, now he liked her.

            He thought she was beautiful and every memory of them together reminded him of the years they spent together trying to hide from another and how she was not what he remembered. He remembered her being as shy and quiet as he was and that they had a lot more that that characteristic about them in common with the other.

            “Hyunjin,” he looked up at Madisen’s mother. “Why don’t you accompany Madisen and take a walk around the gardens?” she suggests and Hyunjin can’t help but feel a little excited to spend time with her alone.

            “But mother,” Madisen protests. “The gardens are enormous,” she complains. “It takes forever to walk through them,” she pouts.

            “Then I suggest you get started,” her mother speaks firmly. Hyunjin silently thanks her. He doesn’t know where the sudden crush came from but he doesn’t mind at all. In his mind, if they have to be married anyway it’d be best if they at least had some positive feelings towards each other.

            Hyunjin approaches Madisen and extends his elbow to her. “Shall we milady?” he asks her and she sighs in response. Madisen wraps her hand around Hyunjin’s arm and starts lightly leading him to the garden he’s been to multiple times since he’s met her.

            When they were away from their parents, Hyunjin decided it’d be best to start a conversation instead of walking in awkward silence with each other. “You look beautiful today,” he compliments the princess.

            “What’s up with you today?” Madisen stops walking and she speaks less formally like she would in front of her mother. “What have you done with the Hyunjin I know?” she raises an eyebrow.

            “I don’t know what you mean,” he tilts his head slightly as the two now face each other.

            “You usually insult me in some subtle, teasing way,” she speaks. “Where did the compliment come from?” Her voice sounds as if she’s almost offended by his compliment because it wasn’t teasing in any way like she’s use to hearing whenever the two meet.

            “I’m tired of us not getting along,” he sighs. “I’d really like it if we could actually get along and be friends because we have to be married then it’d just be better if we were friends instead of enemies,” he confesses his thoughts. “Did that make sense?”

            Madisen sighs and starts walking again. “I guess you’re right,” she agrees. “It’ll be hard to forget the teasing though,” she tells him.

            “Hey, if we can put it behind us now and start getting along that’s fine by me,” Hyunjin smiles at her.

            Madisen would never voice her thoughts but she’s still skeptical and a little against the arrangement to marry Hyunjin; one of the main reasons being that he is a year younger than her. She does not know why it bothers her so much but for some reason it upsets her a little bit.

            Maybe it was because he used to be so immature when they were younger that she feared she’d always have to take care of him but after their brief meeting today, she does not feel that way anymore. In fact, she can only think about how nice it would be for the two of them to finally get along.

            Time passes and Madisen and Hyunjin spend their time in the garden properly talking and getting to know each other since they had not done so in previous years.

            “You two are finally here,” Queen Sophia laughs to herself as she greets the now young adults on the opposite side of the garden from which they started their walk.

            “We were catching up your highness,” Hyunjin bows to her slightly.

            “We have some news for you both,” King Hwon speaks as he and his wife approach the group of three.

            Hyunjin and Madisen exchange a look before shrugging. “What news?” Madisen asks.

            “We have decided that you two will be married next year after Hyunjin turns eighteen,” Queen Haesoo tells them.

            “We are going to be married next year?!” Hyunjin and Madisen speak at the same time.

            “I did not think we would be married in a year,” Madisen speaks quietly to herself. I do not know how to react to this news, she thinks to herself. This is unexpected.