As soon as Jiyong signed off, he started searching for Shinkyu. He checked the living room, her room, his room (as if Shinkyu would actually go in there in the first place), the dining room, even the toilet! But still, there was no sign of her anywhere. Of course, just as he was about to give up, there she was: sitting on a wooden swing in the backyard.

Suddenly, memories resurfaced. Jiyong could remember the days when he, Shinkyu and Kyuhyun used to hang out there. For some reasons, he felt fond of her as he watched her swinging gently on a wooden plank supported by only two thick strands of ropes.

“Shinkyu!” he finally called out to her, waving his arms in the air like an excited monkey.

Shinkyu’s head jerked upwards at the mention of her name. Mostly, she was surprised at the person who was shouting her name. “What do you want, Jiyong?”

“Will you go on a date with me?”

“Hah?” Shinkyu’s look of complete astonishment demands clarification from him. “You’re asking ME to go on a date with YOU?”

Jiyong nodded. “Yes, honey! Today’s the last day of our week-long holiday. We gotta make it last!” Without waiting for her reply, he grabbed her thin wrist and pulled her towards the limousine.

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It was a good thing that neither Jiyong nor Shinkyu was a loner. With the toleration of a maximum of 5 people in a room, they will surely not survive being in a crowd of 500 people.

“Wow, there’re a lot of people!” Shinkyu commented as she glanced around.

“Well, it IS an amusement park!” Jiyong said to her in reply. Still holding her hand, he smiled at her, “So, which ride do you want to go on first?”

Shinkyu smiled back mischievously. “Your treat, eh?” Seeing the prince nodding, she continued, “Well, I’m definitely not going to ask twice!” With a mighty pull, she dragged Jiyong off.

Just like any other ‘couples’, they screamed on the Turbo Jets, hugged each other tight while riding Flying Dragon, and giggled like crazy in the House of Mirrors. Jiyong also won a huge teddy bear for Shinkyu, and a few other cuddly animal toys.

The amusement park was built by Kwon-Ly Share Holdings, so Jiyong and Shinkyu had both been there umpteenth times, just not together. Now, when they explore every inch of the amusement park together, it was at least 10 times the fun!

Later, as they were walking around, Jiyong suggested that they return to the entrance area.

“So soon?” Shinkyu pouted as she looked at the sun, which was still hanging in the middle of the sky.

Jiyong didn’t reply her, but instead, he brought her over to a stage. There was a grand piano sitting at one corner. “Just listen to this song, okay?” he whispered to her softly as he made his way onto the stage. He sat down at the piano and began playing a beautiful melody. Shinkyu stared at him open-mouthedly. This was the first time she heard him playing such a nice song. No wait, scratch that—this was the first time she heard him playing the piano!

The eruption of cheers and claps from the audience indicated the end of Jiyong’s performance. He jumped down from the stage proudly. “So, what do you think?”

“It’s beautiful!” Shinkyu normally wouldn’t admit him being a tad better, but he really was simply the best.

“Good, I composed it for you,” he said.

“Really? Wow, thanks!” was all Shinkyu could say. She must have heard a finger snapping somewhere, because instantly, she changed back into her old ‘I hate you’ mood. “Are you sick or something?”

“No, why?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Oh no, Jiyong thought. He started to fidget. He clearly broke rule #7: avoid suspicions! He flashed her a sheepish grin. “I don’t need a reason to be nice to you. And I told you, this is the last day of our week-off and we have to make every second count!”

“Oh?” Shinkyu’s eyebrow shot up. “Okay!”

Whew! That was close! “Where else do you want to go?” Jiyong asked. “We probably went on all the rides!”

“Ooh! Not yet! Can we go on the Ferris Wheel before we go?” Shinkyu pleaded in sugary sweet tones. Right, Jiyong almost forgot that his wife was indeed a female.

But looking at her smile, he couldn’t say no, could he? Before he knew it, they were already in a cute little cabin attached to the wheel. Shinkyu was in awe as she looked out to the reddish sky, where the sun was already diving halfway.

“Wow, this is so breath-takingly beautiful…”

“Yeah, but not as beautiful as you,” Jiyong said. That was a lie! Really, he told himself.

Shinkyu didn’t hear his inner voice, so she just smiled.

Finally, they went back home. “You know, today was great.”

“Kind of, at least it saved me from boredom!” Shinkyu remarked.

Jiyong frowned. But at least she enjoyed herself in his presence. Things should be easier now. He owed this partially to PianoPrincess, who provided him with tips to a girl’s heart. There was the music, the flowers, the teddy bear, the chocolates, and the fun. Sure enough, it’d take much more than just a few boxes of sugar to make win her heart. But he couldn’t be too far off track now. There was no way Kyuhyun could come into their world.

As Jiyong continued to be absorbed into his on thoughts, Shinkyu looked at him thoughtfully. For the first time in about 15 years, she smiled to him. He could not notice, for he already nodded off.

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If only he had more courage, Jiyong would have already jumped down from the third storey of his parents’ mansion.

After their so-called ‘date’ at the amusement park, things were going pretty well between him and Shinkyu. But he just had to ruin it, not that he wanted to; it just happened.

They were having dinner with their parents, and Mrs Ly started asking Shinkyu about her ‘childhood friend’ Kyuhyun. Jiyong just frowned throughout the whole meal. He tried hard to not show his displease, but Shinkyu detected it.

“Kyuhyun’s a really nice kid, isn’t he?” Mrs Ly smiled at Shinkyu. “After so many years, it’s good to have him back here, isn’t it?”

Jiyong swallowed, hard. He pretended to himself that his apple juice was his anger and forced it down his throat. “Why don’t we invite him over for dinner?” Mr Kwon suggested, which at the same time, resulted in Jiyong totally spraying out the juice that was still in his mouth.

“WHAT?”

“Why not? After all, it’s been so long since you’ve last got together!” Mrs Kwon added.

‘Because he’s stealing your daughter-in-law!’ Jiyong wanted to shout. What was so nice about Kyuhyun that made people liked him so much? “Don’t you all want your appetites when you dine?”

“Don’t say things like that!” Shinkyu snapped angrily. “What have you got against him? He did nothing wrong!”

“Why won’t you listen to me? I’m your husband!”

“Well, you’re just--”

“Jiyong! Shinkyu! That’s enough! I trust you to be more matured after the marriage, and yet? You’re acting like little kids!” Mr Ly reprimanded them.

Shinkyu continued to glare at Jiyong. “I don’t want to spend my life with you if you couldn’t accept the fact that Kyuhyun’s my friend and I like him.”

“Not again, Shinkyu!” Jiyong moaned. They were getting along quite well earlier that day! And now Shinkyu was mad at him because of Kyuhyun? She should have better reasons to be angry at him for! “Whatever. I don’t want to care!” He said finally and pushed his chair away from the table before trudging off to his room.

That was how the two started bickering again. It was getting tiring, even for a hyper kid like Jiyong.

“Erm, hyung..?” Daesung spoke gently.

“What?” Jiyong snapped impatiently while furiously popping pieces of fried chicken into his mouth. He was always stress-eating nowadays. He made a mental note to go to the gym later on.

“You… are… eating--”

“Speak faster! What is wrong with you?” Out of frustration, Jiyong shouted at Daesung. He made a second mental note to apologize to him later and to remind him that it was Kyuhyun he should be blaming for the leader’s anger.

“You are eating…” Daesung gulped nervously as he shot worried glances at the leader.

“Yes, you said that already!”

Seunghyun was unable to watch Daesung’s feeble attempt at pointing out the fact to Jiyong. “Do you actually know what you’re eating now?”

“Fried chicken!” Jiyong said.

“Are you sure? Because I can only see you chewing on pieces of bones,” Seunghyun pointed out solemnly.

“ACK!!” At the same time, Jiyong had just choked on a piece of crunchy chicken bone. Seungri slapped his back while he heaved in and out repeatedly.

“Are you okay, hyung?” Seungri asked, concerned.

“Go. Get. Shinkyu!” Jiyong said as he choked on the words.

“Oh, okay!” The obediently maknae ran outside instantly.

Finally, with one last slap from Seunghyun, the bone was out of Jiyong’s digestive tract. “Finally!” He was starting to breathe normally again. Hearing voices from down the hallway, Jiyong guessed that Seungri was finally coming back with Shinkyu. He immediately lay on the floor. Youngbae, sensing Jiyong’s plan, draped a piece of cold towel over the prince’s forehead in hope that his condition seemed critical. Jiyong closed his eyes partially so that he could still see Shinkyu’s expensive designer boots moving towards him.

“Jiyong ah!” Shinkyu whispered. “Are you dead yet?”

If he had less ego he would have cried there on the spot. How heartless!! Jiyong remained still and didn’t respond when Shinkyu shook him violently. “Jiyong! Kwon Jiyong, WAKE UP!! Can you hear me? Answer me!!” From her voice, Jiyong could sense that Shinkyu was getting scared and worried.

“Seungri! Didn’t you say that Jiyong just choked on a piece of chicken bone and that’s it no big deal?”

Stupid Lee Seungri! Jiyong thought as he rolled his eyes ‘internally’. Instead of telling the truth of him carelessly choking on food, Seungri could say something more heroic, like, say; Jiyong got into an accident due to helping a cat cross the road or him falling off the building because he failed in his attempt to save a bird. Eh, wait: CHOY, touchwood!!

Seungri just lacked creativity.

“Erm, well, actually…” He looked at Jiyong questioningly. Then, he started sobbing!

“What exactly happened to him??”

The sobbing got louder and clearer. “We were having lunch in class. I didn’t have any money with me so I bought some fried chicken bones. Jiyong hyung was so hungry; he didn’t even listen to me and just gobbled up a plateful of bones. And then--” Seungri paused as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began dabbing his eyes. “He choked on a bone, and he just…”

Shinkyu’s eyes were b with tears. But Seungri didn’t stop the drama. Instead, he went over to be and grabbed Jiyong’s hand. “Wahh!!! I am so sorry, hyung! This is all my fault! Don’t die!!”

The pools of tears slowly became waterfalls as tears streamed down Shinkyu’s cheeks. She placed her hand onto Jiyong’s cheek delicately. “Don’t die, Jiyong! Did you forget we promised our parents to give them grandchildren?”

“Shinkyu, do you want to save Jiyong?” Seunghyun asked.

The prince could see Shinkyu nodding her head. Yay, she was falling for it! He thought.

“Then, why don’t you give him a kiss?” Youngbae said suggestively. “You know, like Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty.”

Shinkyu hesitated for a while, and for a minute, Jiyong thought changed her mind about saving him. But then, he felt her breath tickling his cheek, and in a split second, he shot up from his position and kissed Shinkyu on her lips! The princess was definitely taken aback. She covered with her palms. Her tears-streaked face was immediately masked over by an angry frown.

“What the heck did you think you were doing?!” 
She exploded.

“Aww, come on!” Jiyong sat upright on the floor. “I heard every single thing you just said. ‘Jiyong, please don’t die! We haven’t got babies yet!’” He continued to mock and tease Shinkyu by imitating her voice.

“Yeah, I need you so I can do THIS!” She exclaimed as she threw herself onto his body and wrestled him. “Take that!” She said as she hit him, with weak punches that could never bring Jiyong down anyhow.