CHAPTER THREE

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     "apa, uhmma, are you really sure?" hee-song asked her parents. she kept her eyes on the ground and bit her lower lip. tears filled her eyes, and she tightened her grip on the skirt of her dress. "yah, hee-song we need to hurry up the wedding. do you know how long it took us to actually get the date ready? and you just ran off and played maid at the palace. yes, we're speeding up the date to the wedding. it'll be held next week." her mom informed.

hee-song bit even harder on her lower lip. she wasn't going to cry. just because she was getting married and se-hun was getting married didn't mean she can't see him ever! he was the crown prince of joseon! hee-song tried to smile, and felt the tears coming. she blinked numerous times to hold them back and began to sniff, "well, as long as we have enough money for it, i will participate." she said.

all of this was a lie. she, park hee-song, was too in love with crown prince se-hun to even agree to the wedding. she looked up and gave her parents her best fake smile, "i won't run away anymore." 

    se-hun sat at his tea table. his eyes red and swollen from the tears that fell the day before. the love of his life, hee-song, was getting married to a total stranger, and here he was balling his eyes out. his eunuch shuffled in and bowed, "chona, you must get some fresh air."

se-hun wiped his eyes and gave him a very weak smile; his lips trembling at the sides, "ne, i agree." he stood up and sighed, "did princess's favorite palace maid show up today?" he asked. the eunuch raised and eyebrow, "what chona?" he asked. se-hun gave him another fake smile, "never mind. it's nothing."

se-hun walked around the palace's beautiful courtyard with his hands behind him and sighed. the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the clouds white and puffy. so why did he feel so gloomsome? dead? "oppa!" a voice squealed. se-hun turned and saw the young princess running into his arms and he hugged her. he looked at the palace maid and looked back at the princess, "where's your usual palace maid, hee-song?" he asked. 

the princess shrugged, "i was wondering the same thing. she didn't come this morning oppa." se-hun nodded and stood up, "well, do you want to join me on my morning walk?" the princess smiled and swung her hand with se-hun's and giggled, "i would love to join you."

      "yah hee-song!" a maid shouted. hee-song kept her eyes on the dirt ground and sighed, "ne?" "you can't just turn up at the palace whenever! you can't leave whenever! where were you?! the princess has been waiting for you all morning!" hee-song bit her lower lip, "i had a family emergancy and they had me stay the night." she explained.

"go, ba-li, the princess wants you." she said. hee-song nodded and bowed and quickly ran to the princess's quarters. no sign of the young spirit. she walked over to the crown prince's quarters and saw the two walking around holding hands. she smiled and walked before the two royals, "joung-mal mee-yan-heh. i had a family emergancy and turned up late princess." hee-song said and bowed numerous times.

she couldn't look at se-hun anymore. she already knew it was the real one. the one that she had lived her life with in seoul, korea for years. the one who told her he loved her. the princess hugged hee-song and squealed, "unni, oppa asked about you! see, oppa really likes you even if you two are getting married to different people." she giggled and hid behind hee-song.

hee-song's eyes contacted se-hun's and he looked away, "is that true, chona?" she asked. just for a few minutes she wanted to see if he really cared. if he really worried about her, "mee-yan-heh, i was being too caring and was wondering if you had gotten sick. that's all." he lied.

hee-song bit her lower lip and smiled, "that's okay chona. at least i have a person actually caring about my health." se-hun looked at her, but she quickly turned to the princess, "now, should we go do something fun?" she asked in a happy and perky voice when really she was hiding her pain. the princess nodded and the two walked away.

"chona, you seem to not be doing well. ever since you had waken up from that dark day, you've been acting strange. are you really well chona?" the eunuch asked worridly. se-hun rubbed his eyes that were full of tears and nodded, "ne, i'm just a little sick that's all. no need to worry." he lied and smiled. se-hun watched as the princess and hee-song walked away back to the princess's quarters pointing things out. he smiled. this time for real.

       "we've changed our minds about the wedding. it will be held in the next two days." the king announced. se-hun's eyes widened, "ABA-MAMA!" he shouted. the king glared at his son who was full of tears and shook tremendously, "we've already sent out the invitations. make sure you invite your friends too." the king said and went back to his work.

tears fell from se-hun's cheeks like rain, and the taste of wet salty water took over his mouth, but he sobbed in front of his father without a problem, "ABA-MAMA, please! just a few weeks!" he shouted and cried. the king gritted his teeth, "WHAT ARE YOU CRYING FOR?! YOU NEED A STRONG WIFE TO RULE JOSEON! DON'T YOU GET IT?! I'M DYING! YOUR FATHER AND KING IS DYING! YOU NEED TO TAKE OVER THE THROWN WITH A WISE WIFE! I'M DOING THE BEST FOR BOTH OF US!"

se-hun shouted in anger, "aba-mama," he said calmly, "i can take over the crown and then get married. please, just a few more weeks. aba-mama, a few more weeks please. please, aba-mama." he cried. aba-mama quickly sat in front of his son and hugged him, "crown prince, it's hard being a king. i just want the best decision for you." he softly said in his ear. the king patted his son's back like how he did when the boy was a baby and tears poured out from both.

"just a few more weeks. that can't hurt." the king whispered and sniffed. se-hun's tears kept on falling and he held onto his father. not the king of joseon, but that father that raised him to be strong. the father that taught him everything he knew.

       "we'll be getting married in just a week." jong-in said and smiled. hee-song smirked, "we'll see about that. either we'll be in a house together in total silence, or you'll be living in the ginsaeng house for life." she snapped and moved onto the next stand.

jong-in scoffed and he followed her, "yah, even if we are getting married doesn't mean you can speak to me like that. i'm a namin-" "and i'm a girl who just wants what's best for her family. i'm not doing this because i like you, but because it will help out my poor family that is slowly dying of evil and greed." hee-song interrupted and turned to jong-in. she put her hands on her hips and trained her eyes on his.

"if you think this marriage is a joke, why don't you stop it? i wouldn't mind if you broke it off. i'm just trying to help my family out and make them happy. this isn't a small joke to me." hee-song added and turned and began to walk away. jong-in blinked. he never really thought of the marriage the way she had.

he stared into space and bit his lower lip in thought. his heart was beating quickly, he was sweating, and his breathe was short. jong-in felt a smile curl on his lips and laughed softly to himself, "i think i might like her."

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      se-hun sat at the tree trunk again and pulled off the petals of the flower. "get married, don't get married." he repeated as he pulled them off one by one. he stopped at the last petal, "don't get married." he said and his lip trembled,  "uh-duk-hae, i'm in love with a palace maid who doesn't even like me." he mumbled and wiped another tear. he smiled and his lips, "i guess, to make her happy, i should marry." he said and threw down the stem.

hee-song hand shook tremendously as she held onto the flowers. tears fell and she sobbed quietly leaning onto the other  side of the tree listening to se-hun talk to himself. she smiled at the bright sky, 'uh-duk-hae? i can't be in love with the crown prince. i'm a palace maid. just like how i was a nerd. how can it be?' she asked in her head.

a hand grabbed her shaking hand and she gasped in shock. se-hun faced her, "what are you trying to do? do you despise me so much that you hurt me? what exactly are you?" he shouted. hee-song wiped her tears with her other hand and avoided his eyes, "let go of me. chona, please. i beg of you." she said.

se-hun pinned her to the tree, "'chona?' you don't call me by my name anymore? wae? WAE?! am i not good enough? did i do something wrong to make you hate me?! WAE, WAE, WAE?!" he shouted. hee-song bursted out crying and sniffed, "chona, you didn't do anything wrong. it's all me, chona." she replied. se-hun put his forehead on the tree on the area beside her head.

she patted his back with her free hand, "chona, joung-mal mee-yan-heh. joung-mal mee-yan-heh. please don't like me anymore. you are the high and most loved crown prince of joseon and i am, just another palace maid. please, don't think about me anymore." she said trying not to cry anymore. 

se-hun cried harder and put his head on her shoulder. "please stay like this. i want to remember you like this."  

author's notes:

i have to admit, i almost cried writing this and i am not a sensitive person. i don't cry when watching those sad korean movies and stuff, but this really made me touched. sorry that there's a lot of crying and sadness, but this is just the beginning of the relationship and it's not that deep yet. more drama will start later on. komo-oh-way-o! *bows and secretly wipes tears*