Gyeongbok Royal Palace, 1512

“Lord Shin, I hope you like these special delicacies that have been made by the best cook in Jonseong”

Lady Seohyun tried to control her tones. Emissary From Ming Dinasty paid a visit to Jonseong. She had to be careful since this was about the relationship between two countries. She knew they didn’t come here merely for building the friendship between Jonseong and Ming but something else. Even a little mistake could cause a war, that’s why she looked so nervous. It should be Queen Min who welcomed them but since the Queen had been often neglecting her duty as a Queen, Lady Seohyun temporarily became a substitute. Yes. A substitute. The word that starting to be hated slowly  by the concubine.

“So it is just a rumor that purposely been exaggerated, isn't it?”. The man his own long beard while staring at Lady Seohyun.

 “What do you mean Lord Shin?” She asked carefully

 “I heard that Queen Min of Jonseong was really scary. But from what I am seeing today, the Queen is so kind, delicate, and has such an angelic voice. She also can speak our language fluently” he complimented her. Lady Taeyeon, courtlady who served Lady Seohyun told him “Excuse me, Lord Shin. Please forgive me to interrupt. But the lady who's sitting in front of you is Lady Seohyun. She is King Cho’s concubine”

The emissary looked a bit shocked yet angry “Oh, so she isn’t Queen Min? Where is she? Do you know who am I in Ming Dinasty? The previous emissary that came here before, his position in the court is far below me, was welcomed by Queen Min. Does Queen Min think of me not worth enough to meet her?”. Other courtladies seemed scared to the sudden raising voice from the man except the concubine. She still looked so calm. She had known that emissary from china always intended to make some troubles since decades but luckily Jonseong always managed to act cool with them.

“Lord Shin, please forgive us but Queen Min today can’t manage to meet you because she isn’t in the palace right now. I am sorry that it is just me who welcome you but please don’t misunderstand. We will treat you even better than previous emissary. You must be anticipating the drinking time with King Cho, right? We will give you the best rice wine we ever make” said Seohyun to convince him.

Lord shin nodded agreeing “Is that so? But still I want to meet her. I am just curious, Lord Yu, the previous emissary came back home to Ming with fear on his face. I’ve never seen him scared like that in thirty years”

“But even if you meet her, she can’t talk to you because she has been mute since three years ago” a courtlady spoke up out of the blue.

“Hyorin!!!” Lady Seohyun shot a glare to the courtlady.

“(Oops) I... I am sorry” the courtlady bowed deeply to the chinese man.

Lord Shin lifted an eyebrow “Mute? Is she sick?”

Seohyun bowed to him “I am sorry for her manner, my Lord. Here, how if we play Janggi¹? I heard, your skill is no joke. Your strategy is the best in playing this kind of game. Just take this as a prematch before competing with King Cho.” she said for distracting him about Queen Min’s topic.

The man nodded and his long beard again “Sound good. In our country this game called xiangqi. But please tell her, Ming has quite enormous medicines that can cure any disease. Just let me know what kind of disease she has. We will send the sure cure for her”

Seohyun nodded with a kind smile “Ye…yes my Lord. You’re so kind”. She ordered Taeyeon to bring them Janggi’s board then played it with Lord Shin. Actually, she was really good with this kind of game. She was the one who taught Kyuhyun. But for Lord Shin, she had to suppress her skill a bit to please the emissary then taught him some tricks to defeat King Cho. But the man’s skill did no joke. He was really good that made Seohyun starting to show her real skill. But there was one thing that made her unable fully concentrating. She had a hard time to hold back the urge not to ask that thing to the chinese man.

“Lord Shin, can I ask you something?”

Lord Shin’s eyes still attached to the Janggi’s board to think about his next strategies but he didn’t sound too annoyed with the sudden question “What is it?”

“Wh…why is Lord Yu scared to Queen Min?”

~.~.~.~.

King’s chamber

“Did the meeting with Ming Emissary go well?” King Cho asked eunuch Kang about Lady Seohyun meeting with Lord Shin.

“It went pretty well, Phea. At first, Lady Seohyun made him a bit angry because he wanted Queen Min who welcomed him, but Lady Seohyun managed to light up the mood by playing Janggi with the emissary” The man reported. The King sighed in relief because that meeting could effect the result of their deal tonight. If the emissary didn’t have a good mood, their diplomatic relationship would be worse and disserve on Jonseong side “That’s good then. Now prepare for my meeting with him tonight”

“But Phea, there is one more thing”

“What’s that?”

“Lord Shin still insists to meet Queen Min before coming back to china. He wants to know the person who made the previous emissary went home with fear and swore to not comeback to Jonseong ever again”

~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback

“””””””””””

When they first met, Ming emissary said that Lee family was very famous in China and it was a honour to finally meet Queen Min. Lady Yuri acted as Queen Min translator for Sungmin replied that she was worried that her humble background might tarnish Jonseong nation's good name. The Ming Emissary said that Queen Min was too polite. Queen Min told that the Ming emissary had come to Jonseong in such a far journey that was long and hard then invited them to discuss this further.

Kyuhyun didn’t surprise about Lee family's popularity after all. That’s why he let Queen Min accompanied him to meet the Ming emissary. The conversation seemed going well until the Chinese man said his request. “1000 Guan of gold?” Kyuhyun asked Lord Yu. He’s not sure with what he just heard that the Chinese man asked a tribute from Jonseong more than before.

The short man nodded “Yes, you know the trade road between two countries become unsafe lately. Too many robbers who acts violent. I heard there were robbers from Jipangu²Country too. We need to strengthen our security to prevent any big loss. Beside, we must engage to have a long and  friendly relationship between Ming and Jonseong, right?”

After hearing what the emissary meant, Sungmin who sat beside Kyuhyun told the Chinese man “But this is different from our last agreement two years ago, Sir. Jonseong only will pay a tribute to Ming with 400 guan of gold. Not more”. 

Kyuhyun managed to keep his calm then asked "If we will render this 1,000 guan of gold, what will Ming Dynasty render to us in return to.

Lord Yu replied along with smirk  "The Great Ming Dynasty will give Jonseong a fraternal unity"

Kyuhyun was thinking deeply how to deal this dickering session without igniting a war. For Jonseong , 1000 guan of gold surpassed even that national production output. He sent an eye signal to Sungmin to not act reckless but the latter seemed quite stubborn. “Sir, we still have enormous troops who’s ready to protect Jonseong with their live. When the time comes as we need Ming’s help, we will let Ming know. But for now, we can manage our security by ourself. You know Jonseong's armour have the best quality, right?” she said calmly before taking a sip of her tea.

Lord Yu seemed to dislike the statement “So you refuse our offer about fraternal unity?”

“It’s not like that, Sir. We would love for us to become true one day. But for now, we don’t really need that. I think Ming should give more concern about their own internal war issues in china rather than worrying our condition”

Kyuhyun stared at Sungmin in shock. Lady Yuri seemed to doubt whether she had to translate what Sungmin said or not. “Lady Yuri, please translate this!” Sungmin asked. Lady Yuri took a glance to King Cho to ask an agreement. Kyuhyun was ready to command her to not translate that but when he saw the Queen’s eyes, he decided to let lady Yuri to translate it.

That’s understandable if Lord Yu was upset on Queen Min for being so direct and rude. He threatened “Do you wish to see the Ming Army trampling Jonseong to make you come to your sense? I will report all of this to Ming”

Sungmin made her voice more firmly “If Lord Yu come to Jonseong as an envoy is to threaten military invasion then I will treat this discussion on the implication to declare a war on each other and  Lord Yu must be fully aware that when a country is being issued by the declaration of war, the general reaction is 1^st to slaughter Ming emissary of the foe country and then behead your head to your colleagues to sent back to your country as a trophy, how would it be?”

“My Queen!!” Kyuhyun warned her in a low voice.

“You...you... think I will afraid with your threat?” Lord Yu stuttered

Sungmin took a sip of her tea then smiled “As you know, we have plenty skillful swordsmen who can cut your little brother down there into five in an instant as a souvenir”. Lord Yu was taken aback from Sungmin’s threat for a second.  The Ming emissary then laughed which making Kyuhyun and Sungmin got surprised with the sudden reaction “Wow, what an outstanding female that your country has, King Cho. She is a black pearl of Jonseong. I will convey this to my Emperor that in the far Eastern sea where Jonseong lies; there is a worthy of  Ming’s fraternal unity and long lasting friendship as ally of Ming Dynasty”.

After that, the Ming emissary left and apologized if his words were harsh and had offended Queen Min in anyway, he asked for Queen Min’s forgiveness. Sungmin thanked the emissary with her gratitude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of Flashback

“”””””””””"""""

As he recalled those memories, Kyuhyun silently admitted that Sungmin had an excellent negotiation skill. Seohyun might be really smart about that kind of thing too and had a comforting aura that could please every people around her. But there was one thing that only Sungmin had which Lady Seohyun would never have.

That was Sungmin’s intimidating charisma.

Kyuhyun sighed then turned to Eunuch Kang “where is Sungmin now?”

~.~.~.~.

Lady Seohyun walked to visit the King. She remembered what Lord Shin said to her “He didn’t tell anyone in china but when we had a drinking session in his house, he leaked out everything. He swore he would never come here ever again hahahaha… Eventhough she can’t speak mandarin, I have to admit that she is really smart. I respect her and really want to meet her. I heard her foxy eyes are really pretty too”

Lady Seohyun paused her step for a moment. She sighed and realized that she was standing in front of Queen pavilion “I envy you, Queen Min” she whispered then walked away.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Meanwhile,

She finally gained consciousness after collapsing in hours since that morning. She found herself laying in someone’s room. The room wasn’t pretty big but she felt the mattress was comforting. She removed a small towel on her forehead and found herself wearing another clothes. She tried to get up. Her eyes were wandering around to search someone who brought her here. Her eyes were locked at a certain figure direction. A woman who’s busying herself applying some make up in front of a mirror. She also saw a gayageum rested gracefully beside the dress table.

Her back figure and her pretty pointed fingers reminded Sungmin of someone as exactly the same as the one she saw in the forest this morning. The woman seemed to notice Sungmin through her mirror. “Oh you finally awake. How do you feel? You got a bit of fever when I found you but the last time I checked, your temperature quickly became normal again. You have to lay down to take a rest more. What’s your name by the way?”

She looked amazed for a second. The woman whom she’s seeing was really pretty. She found the woman’s voice was really soothing too. She wondered if the woman could also sing. Sungmin rarely complimented people. Once she complimented someone’s appearance, it meant that someone had an outstanding look.

She said her name. For a moment, she forgot that she’s mute. “Huh? What?” the woman asked with questioning look. Noticing something was wrong. The woman clenched her right hand, blew a hot air few times from then attached it to her ear. Then she removed some hair to the back of her earlobe to make sure that she could hear clearer. “Can you repeat it again, Agashi? I think I can’t hear clearly because of my hair”

Sungmin saw some paper and writing tools on a table not so far from her. She took one then wrote 'I am mute'

The woman’s eyes grew bigger “Oh, I am sorry”

The Sungmin wrote again. She drew her name. Sungmin

The woman nodded “My name is Heechul but everyone here often call me Heenim but when I am in action form, you have to call me Lady Heehee. Oh.., I am sorry. I forget that you can’t talk”

Sungmin dunked her brush into the tint box then wrote Very pretty

“Pretty? Me?”

She smiled and nodded continuously. The woman smiled in proud “Of course!!  I am pretty. I am even prettier than that special gungyeo. Ah I mean that concubine. Ah, wait….wait…wait… You’re not one of that Lady Seohyun’s fan, are you?” the woman looked to have suspicion on Sungmin.

Sungmin shook her head hardly Like hell I am a fan of her. Heechul sighed in relief “That’s good. So you won’t report me to the police”. Sungmin frowned and tried to say why.

“Of course because I call her a and do you know who spread a rumor about Seohyun the concubine get an athlete’s foot³ so she can’t show her leg even when she's taking a bath?” Sungmin shook again.

Heechul came closer and whispered “That’s me. So shhhh… don’t ever talk… oh sorry again, I mean write about this to anyone. Understand?”

After hearing that, Sungmin couldn’t help but laugh. She laughed like it's the first time in her life. When Heechul saw Sungmin’s wide smile, the older couldn’t help but also smiled and giggled together with her. Heechul thought she had never seen any woman or even all pretty gisaeng in this country had such an adorable smile like Sungmin.

“Hey, You looked dressed well when I found you. Where are you fro…..”

A sudden noise interrupted their unique conversation. Heechul caught a glimpse of figure tried to steal the fruits from her precious tree. She rushed toward the terrace “Yah, fishy!! Don’t steal my apples. I am trying hard not to pick them all until the day they become red enough to take!!!”

The man got startled and lost his balance. He fell down from the tree. “Awww, don’t shout like a grumpy cat!!!! Look, I slipped down because of you. Thanks God that I didn’t fall with my head first”

He walked to the terrace of Heechul’s room then saw Sungmin. “Woah! Hyung, she is cute!! What’s her name? Hello!! My name is Donghae” he said excitedly. Heechul threw a paper fan straight toward the younger face then yelled “Yah!! I told you to call me Nuna, you bastard !!!!!”

The young man whose name’s Donghae was ready to block Heechul's punch, but he felt nothing as Heechul’s hand paused on the air before him. Heechul then turned to Sungmin whose mouth was hanging open in shock. Heechul quickly realized that He accidentally let out his original manly voice. Yes, he’s a MAN.

He placed his right fingers to his lip then whispered to himself  “Oops. I’ve been caught again”

===================

Back to the present time

===================

“Hahahahahahahaha……” Donghae laughed hardly while rolling on the floor, hands holding his stomach.

“Shut up, Donghae” said Jay to the younger while he himself biting his lower lip to prevent him laughing toward the vocalist. He knew that after this ended, Donghae would definitely go through a Heechul's hell and he didn’t want to experience it ever.

The unsensitive Donghae laughed out loud over his hyung’s bruise left eye “You look like a panda, Hyung!!! Panda!! That monkey boy should punch you on the right eye too”. Heechul shot a silent death glare to him, made the younger got scared all of a sudden and finally realized that he was talking too much.

Then Heechul eyes turned back to the two kneeling figures in front of him. Beside him, sat his manager, Yuri, seemed so frustrated over the incident because she had to cancel M&D schedule tonight due to Heechul bruise because it's not something that could be covered by any make up. She gasped “What we should do now. Aach, I am going crazy!!”

Heechul yelled “Blame it to this Anchovy, he is the one who punched me!!” he pointed at Eunhyuk.

Eunhyuk pouted “I said I am sorry. I thought you wanted to him because I saw he laid unconsciously and you touched his face like a ert”

Heechul grithed his teeth “Hello!! He is a man. Why I must him in the first place. You monkey? And I am telling you I am not officially ert !!!”

Sungmin who knelt beside Eunhyuk speaking out “Please don’t curse him like that. I am the only one who have the right to call him a filthy monkey. That’s all my fault who fainted in front of you”

Eunhyuk pouted more to Sungmin “Hyung, he only said monkey. Don’t add ‘filthy’ to make it worse. You’re so mean” but Sungmin ignored Eunhyuk and kept looking at Heechul.

Heechul pointed a finger toward Eunhyuk “Yah, you know who I am, right? I am space big star Kim Heechul. I notice you have a name tag as an auditioned fellow on your shirt. You know with only a few words from me,  I can send you to jail and I swear your dream becoming a star here will be scattered into pieces” he threated him.

Eunhyuk gulped in horror. Sungmin quickly defended him “Please forgive us. I will do anything. I will pay all for the treatment too”. Heechul was eyeing Sungmin. He came closer and touched Sungmin’s chin. He smirked “You really want to do anything? This is really not about money, brat...”

“Hey, please remove your hand from him!” Eunhyuk was kinda looked annoyed with Heechul's action. “Hey, easy man. I still don’t forgive you about this” Heechul pointed at his own bruised eye.

“It’s okay Hyukkie. What do you want?”

Heechul smirked again “Become my personal assistant for two weeks. For FREE”

Eunhyuk eyes grew bigger “What? Hyung! Don’t agree with that. He will order you around” he protested. Sungmin stared to Eunhyuk. From other people views, they looked like holding a conversation with telepathy since they weren't saying anything but staring to each other.

‘Eunhyuk, if you object his request. You will lose your dream as dancer and rapper. Your hardwork will stand out for nothing”

‘But hyung how about you?’

Sungmin raised an eyebrow ‘who do you think I am?’

‘Lee Sungmin’

‘And you think I let people ordering me around?’

This time, Eunhyuk was the one who smirked. Heechul looked puzzled “Hey, what are you two doing? Hurry decide it!”. Sungmin answered him “Okay, deal. Two weeks”. Heechul smirked devilishly then took his wallet and gave Sungmin a card “Here, our dorm address. You have to come here at 7 am. Don’t be late!” he said.

Sungmin eyed the taller for a moment. He barely remembered about his dream when he fainted. But he’s sure that he did see Heechul but the latter dressed up in woman clothes. Heechul who's ready to come back home noticed the chill from his back then turned around to face Sungmin “Yah, what are you staring at? As you know, I won’t give you my signature even if you beg for it”

“Ummm.., can I ask you something, Heechul-shi⁴?”

 “What?”

“Are you a transgender???” Sungmin asked bluntly.

Everyone, except Sungmin, was gawking. And for the first time, Heechul collapsed  not because of exhaustion.

TBC

¹ Janggi : Korean Chess

² Jipangu : another name of Japan

³athlete’s foot : fungal infection of the skin that causes scaling, flaking, and itch of affected areas.

⁴ -shi : particle -shi is usually used after a name for calling someone whom you recently know or haven't been close yet in similar social standing. Mean Mr or Miss. A honorific form.

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