………Chapter 31.…….

The weight of world seemed to lighten its load on King Jinki’s shoulders he was finally able to breathe comfortably now that his kingdom had been resorted. It had been one month since their coronation; he didn’t feel as burdened anymore and ruling thus far seemed easier than he thought it would. Partially due to Leeteuk being gone and most importantly and the major reason he felt he could breathe and rule easier was because of the man that was literally made for him: Taemin…

Jonghyun’s family was instantly reinstated to the palace after the coronation and was given Leeteuk’s old private quarters he use to use when he visited. Mr. Kim smirked happily and fully accepted the two Kings gift with a formal bow as he tried to contain his giddiness. Jonghyun how ever was hesitant about it. He privately asked Jinki if it was the right thing to do; was Jinki doing it to out of some sort of revenge and anger towards his cousin because if he was he didn’t want the new living space if Jinki’s actions were tainted with hate. And informed his hyung he should not carry spite in his heart; his parents wouldn’t like that. But Jinki chuckled “Thank you for caring for my soul; its fine no anger in here.” the King patted his heart. “Only love, Taemin makes sure of it. I’m giving it to your family because you are an Angel. You and your family have gone through a lot; your parent’s loyalty is rewarded with this room. Oh and did I mention you are an Angel? ” He winked and turned to walk away but then looked over his shoulder and added “oh and Jjongie, Your bed has the red silky sheets you like so much.”

Blinking excitedly Jonghyun smiled from ear to ear “Really?”

Jinki smiled and giggled “Yes now go take a nap.”

Just then the Queen passed by and playfully teased “If he still had a tail it would be wagging”

The King laughed and walked away to carry on with his regal duties as did Taemin after smiling cutely at his husband and leaving Jonghyun to nap in his posh bed.

Amongst the many duties they had their first day back Jinki and Taemin had asked an artisan to skillfully craft a new kayagum from the finest wood. It took about a month to make but once it was finished King Jinki presented the instrument to Jonghyun during dinner one evening and while the royals dined Jonghyun graced them with his talent, a happy tear could be seen in the former puppy’s eyes at hearing the beautiful notes he had missed producing with his kayagum as he plucked the strings and sang for their highnesses……… 

……

It had been 6 months since his wedding and 3 months since they had become humans again. Jinki had mourned his parent’s properly. It took him a few days after their coronation though to get use to the idea of sleeping in his father’s Chambers after his parents had passed away in there. Taemin of course spent the night with him the first time he used the King Quarters, comforting his husband through his grief. Taemin also helped him by planning a trip for all five of them to visit Emerald Fields to where they had been saved by the ghost of Queen Eunsook. Once there the five men had made a lavish bouquet from the surrounding abundance of flowers and placed it in the clearing where she had appeared to them. Everything looked differently with human eyes. The tall grass and flowers didn’t seem so scary and didn’t tower all around them, for it only came up to their shins and in some areas of the holy garden it came up to their knees. Sitting encircled by heaven’s yellow flowers, with his husband and best friends, Jinki was secretly hoping his parents’ sprits would appear to him here; for a moment he and Taemin both felt as if there presences was near… but they did not appear or so it seemed at 1st….King Jinki and Queen Taemin were correct in sensing their presence for invisible to their eyes King Onew and Queen Eunsook were indeed there. If they showed themselves they wouldn’t be able to stay long, so to enjoy Jinki and the boys longer they had to stay unseen as to not drain their heavenly energy.  Jinki’s father’s spirit had a hand on his shoulder and his wife had her right hand on Taemin’s shoulder; the late couple watched over the five young men with warm proud and loving smiles as the boys conversed. Their heavenly touch upon their shoulders helped heal Jinki and Taemin’s emotional wounds. Onew and Eunsook conveyed all their love and support and all the other things they wish they could say face to face to them. Taemin looked to his husband feeling their presence stronger than before and in his heart he sent a message privately to Jinki that they were here in spirit behind them. Their hearts connected since their consummation Jinki heard and felt Taemin’s message loud and clear; King Jinki smiled to his royal souse acknowledging he felt his parents too then aloud Jinki said “Thank you umma, appa.” The invisible royal angels smiled, and shed a happy tear knowing they were felt. His parents could rest peacefully knowing their son would be ok, and was being taking care of…..The angels stayed as long as they could watching over the boys but in the end Jinki and Taemin felt the sprits fade and soon vanish. But Jinki and Taemin weren’t sad, there was a peaceful joyful feeling remaining. Jinki was truly blessed by their love… The band of brothers had a lovely time and were able to replace the bad memories with new ones and appreciated life and each other more than ever as they held the private remembrance for King Jinki’s parents in the center of Emerald Fields.

……

Jinki would never get back their 1^st three months of marriage that was taken from them but over the past 3 months since they returned to the palace Taemin and Jinki always found time to spend quality time with each other even if their days were filled with busy schedules. Before they knew it life had returned to normal…….

Taemin and he were taking a leisurely stroll around the palace grounds holding hands; He glanced to his beautiful husband in his handsome shimmering aqua hanbok. Jinki sighed again, he felt calm not only from his kingdom back in safe hands but because of him: the man he loved by his side in every way imaginable: His partner in personal matters like romance and love and professionally, the man he shared his heart with, his love and life and throne: Taemin. Besides his subjects Taemin meant the world to him. He murmured softly as he admired his profile “Taemin”

Turning his head to face him Taemin smiled cutely and chirped “Neh hyung”

Jinki smiled handsomely a dimple appeared on his right cheek; he sighed softly again and dreamily said “I love you.”

“Aw, I love you too.” He pecked his cheek thinking they were alone but of course something’s never change. Their three best friends had been playfully stalking them and came running up to them and tackled the Queen just like old times as soon as they witness the chaste kiss “Taeminahhhhhhh!”

“Stop that.” startled as always when they jump on him Taemin laughed and jerked then teased “I think you all have some left over residue from the poison lingering inside you because clearly you all forgot I am 20, and an adult now”

In private they were always so playful; Jonghyun laughed so hard he cried as Kibum fell into Minho and laughed into his shoulder “So cute.”

Jinki snickered happily: everything was back to normal; life was perfect and he loved it.  “Hello” Jinki greeted the grown men that were laughing like teenagers.

“Jeonha” They bowed then waited for Taemin to feign being upset and pout. They giggled then addressed him too “Jeonha”

“Pabos” Taemin rolled his eyes cutely; Jinki laughed again then asked “So what brings you all to this side of the palace. We were on our way to have a private lunch in the Queen’s garden.”

“We know.” They beamed

Jinki and Taemin glanced at each other then back to them. “Okay why are you all smiling like that?”

“We have a surprise for you.” Jonghyun grinned and grabbed Taemin’s hand “Come Taem, Bum grab Jinki. Minho make sure they don’t peek.”

“I’m on it, Jjong.” Minho said firmly as he pulled two silky bandanas from his sleeve and covered their eyes then Jonghyun and Kibum lead the couple away with Minho following behind the four of them.

After a few minutes of what sounded like walking over wooden planks to the blind men they were stopped and told to sit. Jinki and Taemin sat down carefully as a whiff of freshly dried paint hit their senses as a soft breeze graced over them.  Kibum ordered “Minhoah, remove the blindfolds.”

Jinki and Taemin found themselves sitting in a new gazebo in the Queen’s Garden with their brothers smiling softly at them. Jonghyun spoke first. “Every day since we have been returned to our human forms the three of us have come out here. In honor of what the five of us have gone through together we have built you this. No one will ever understand what we went through, or our bond.  I looked everywhere for the wood, Kibum got the paint and Minho got the tools. And as a team, as brothers we built this for you with our own hands, no servants helped us.” Jonghyun looked to the advisor and let him take over.

Kibum said “Let this be a place you remember your parents happily. This Gazebo is also for them. A thank you to them for letting us be a part of your lives. And especially to the Queen, your mother, for saving us in Emerald Fields.  I did research in the royal library and I found out the exact spot your father purposed to her. It was here.” Kibum walked to the side of the gazebo and pointed to the yellow flowers below at the base of the tree that was right outside the structure. “You purposed to Taemin under a tree, your father did the same but over here, near the back of the garden.” Kibum paused as they all looked up to the ceiling where they heard the tree’s leaves gently dance along on top of the roof of the gazebo due to the long braches above the gazebo. “Just below is where he gave his flower to the young lady who would become his queen.” Jinki stood up, Taemin followed suit. They locked hands and together looked out and below and smiled where his parents sat many years ago. 

Minho broke the peaceful silence last “Hyung, Taemin. This is a plague I had made.” he pointed to a metal sign that was welded to one of the columns of the gazebo “It has your parent’s names, dates of birth, proposal and wedding dates and of course the years of their reign and a few nice words about them. It also has your dates as well.”  

There was a moment of silence as Taemin and Jinki gently smiled while reading over the plaque. Once they were finished they turned towards their friends who were standing behind them; the eldest King wiped his misty eyes and said softly “Thank you” Jinki sighed “Mother loved sitting in the gazebos back here and she would love this one very much.” Jinki and Taemin looked around at the bright colorful paint. Pearl aqua of course being the main color used and the five individual colors that represent the each of them were striped along the edges of the wooden roof, were aqua covered just about everything else.

Jinki thought to himself: no wonder his dad proposed in this section of the garden: it was stunning. Their friends continued taking turns talking while the Kings admired the gazebo and the amazing view of the landscape form its open sides. “At night when you were asleep we would work on it. We may be angels now too but we didn’t want to damage the flowers just in case so we stayed on the path and then extended it until we reached this spot. Plus we are fully aware even though we are angelic we are not royalty; this garden was meant for your royal family line only and we respect that thus we were very respectful in not touching the scared surrounding flowers and shrubs if we didn’t have to while building this.” “Nothing has been built in the garden since the 1^st royal couple centuries ago.” “We thought Taemin and you deserved your very own spot since you two were specially chosen by heaven and we didn’t think the heavens would mind us building this for you two and your parents on this sacred soil. We promise only to come back here from now on only if we are invited. This place will remain for you two only unless you say otherwise.” “We had twin golden dragons carved into the ceiling if you look above you. It’s not as elaborate as the one in the throne hall but it’s still really beautiful.” “Oh and there is the SHINee diamond carved into the backrests”  Jinki had ran his finger tips over the carving then looked up once they stopped talking…

Speechless Jinki and Taemin were overwhelmed; they reached out with open arms and embraced their bothers. After a long peaceful silence The King murmured “We love this and appreciate this more than you know.”

Jinki felt that same warm feeling of his parent’s souls watching him; a moment later Taemin felt it too. The married couple slowly pulled out of the hug and looked at each before slowly continuing turning their heads to look over their shoulders behind them and out into the garden’s hillside. There was a faint gasp heard from the leader; Jinki’s lips curled up into a soft smile as a tear rolled down his cheek as he faced the serene garden. The almost inaudible inhale grabbed the others’ attention and they looked out into the majestic landscape. After a respectful bow they gathered in a line with arms either around someone’s lower back or draped over someone’s shoulder as they all witnessed King Onew and Queen Eunsook’s apparitions staring proudly at them with loving eyes and tender smiles, downed in heavily white hanboks standing amongst the millions of brightly colored angelic flowers in the distance. Jinki was overjoyed to finally see both his parents again together; they looked breathtakingly handsome and as magnificent as ever, healthy and in no pain unlike the last time he saw his father. … The late Crown couldn’t stay long in this realm for they had showed themselves but it was long enough for Jinki to feel rejuvenated and stronger than ever and know everything was going to be alright…No verbal words were spoken but many things were said or rather felt as the five young men gazed at the regal angels standing before them. In that moment not just the two kings but all 7 were connected peacefully; If there were any lingering feelings and or words left unsaid between them, they were said then in the most mystical and beautiful angelic way. Taemin tilted his head, and rested it lovingly on his husbands shoulder. They smiled happily sensing love, pride, pure honest joy, relief, and closure and a new beginning…..

According to Kings’ Jinki and Taemin’s diaries it was the last time King Jinki ever saw his parents. It was a nice official goodbye and although their bond was already airtight legend says it had brought the five young men even closer. While other officials and scholars and historians focused mostly on writing about his years as King, Kibum made sure to write down everything from the moment Jinki was born, by interviewing those who were there, to what he witnessed himself: Jinki being poisoned and captured to his almighty return that was blessed by the heavens; and of course he took the honor of chronicling Queen Taemin’s amazing life as well. Kibum had been memorizing everything once they had been poisoned, he always had a great memory and loved learning, he had an eidetic memory which made it easier and fun to chronicle his highness; he already knew this information was going to be put in King Jinki’s chronicles about their reign and as soon as he got the chance he took out his ink and brush and sat at his writing table…  

Modern day historians say that they’ve read legends about the Male Kings having two heirs of their own. According to what they found in old scrolls King Jinki and Queen Taemin had found twin babies in the Queen’s garden one afternoon while they were having a picnic. They spotted two young babies crawling about the angelic flowers. King Jinki picked up the little baby girl and she curled her fingers around his pinky, just like he had done to his father when he was born; and just like King Jinki, she didn’t let go of her father’s pinky finger either. Taemin had picked up the boy and it smiled at him. It’s hard to read Taemin’s diary for its so old but it appears that his heart and Jinki’s thumped in just the right way that gave them the knowledge that the twins had regal angelic blood and were from up above: their own little angels a gift from god. Naturally King Jinki wanted to adopt them right way as did his husband but Queen Taemin tired for weeks to find their parents because it was the right thing to do just in case but no one ever claimed the adorable children. People wondered how they got there: Did someone sneak into the royal garden and abdomen them or were they really sent by the heavens. No one truly knows but those who have faith, like Jinki and Taemin, believed the heavens indeed sent the children to them. Rumor has it the twins resembled the two male kings which would be biologically impossible unless the heavens had played apart.

As scholars chronicled the crown prince’s life and his long journey into becoming King his story was already being spread across the land through oral story telling by those who witnessed the coronation. Jonghyun had written and performed many plays over the years about the angel crown prince who married the magistrate’s son who turned out to be an angel as well and how they both grew up to be the most respected kings of the land; and plenty of songs about their family history and their strong love story.

In the end things get lost over time or worse simply forgotten or ignored. Their diaries give us a lot of detail and insight into what truly happened but over time the ink has faded from the hanji, the oral stories died out over the centuries. And the documents that do remain…well, maybe people have grown cynical and jaded and lost the faith the Angel Queen Taemin had restored, that such things could have really happened. And that leaves us where we started this tale, due to the nature of this story it seems like only a fairytale. So what do you believe; Is it all real? Or just a fairytale myth?... As epic of a life the Crown Prince had it’s up to us to remember and never forget our history. There are some people that still believe and know the truth though; you can spot the true believers and descendants of the ancient SHINee Kingdom to this very day for they’ll still be wearing pearl aqua and the royal diamond emblem amongst the other people of our modern time with pride. 

If we wear that aqua and or the diamond emblem we are strong and can make it through anything for the heavens smile upon us like they did the angelic Kings and their three best friends. By wearing our kingdoms colors and by keeping their memories alive with our faith in them we make Kings Jinki and Taemin proud. And if I was able to start this story with “once upon a time” then there is only one way to end it… We are the descents of the subjects of SHINee World; we are the Shawols and as long as we never forget the shining 5 and all they went through to protect us then if this is just a fairytale then our beloved King Jinki and Queen Taemin will forever live “happily ever after.”

This story is 125,163 Words long... The longest thing I have ever written.  

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Dedicated to every Shawol