……Chapter 6…..

That first kiss was the gateway to many more over the next few years. They would often sneak a kiss to the other’s cheek or flawless lips chastely when alone. The garden became their little hideaway from palace life. No longer did Taemin want to read in the courtyard when he came to visit, he wanted to read in Jinki’s secret garden. He still liked holding hands but he found what he liked a bit more was letting the future king pillow his head on his lap while he would pet through Jinki’s raven colored bangs as he read poetry to him under what is now “their” tree. If The Prince ever fell asleep in the younger’s lap Taemin would peck his lips to wake him up and whisper “Wake up my sweet prince”

But as happy as everything seemed between the young lovers during the time frame they 1^st confessed and had their 1^st chaste kiss; there once was a moment of worry between them a few months before Jinki’s coming of age ceremony, the weight of the world seemed to be on Taemin’s shoulders after he had worked all week alongside his father; the reality of their fates sunk deep into Taemin’s thoughts. The same went for Jinki…not only thinking about their “professions” they both had been thinking about their relationship and what they should do about it as things progressed…

……

Taemin looked like he had a lot on his mind as they arrived to their special spot and sat in the garden. “Taemin, are you okay?”

“I’m nervous. I’ve been thinking a lot lately of what our lives entail once we get older.”

Jinki hummed softly “Same here.” Leaning up against the tree and half on the younger, trying to snuggle and give him comfort.

Taemin mumbled at first but his voice began to tremble as it grew stronger “I know we should tell your parents about us. What we are doing... our love... is illegal. We have been together for a long time and we never asked them first and that in itself is also against the royal regulations even if I was a girl and when they find out you’re courting someone without permission and that that someone is me, a boy… I’m scared hyung-nim. Our type of love is not… for a lack of a better word “natural”... Isn’t it forbidden? I cannot bare you children for you to continue your bloodline, if you ever choose to marry me; how will that work? If your parents do agree to our courtship and the kingdom’s subjects agree too, well, courting you is one thing if the kingdom accepts but how accepting will they be if you choose to marry me, a man?  Will they tell us we have to never see one another? Will I be forced to break up with you and see you marry a woman?...  I am not a lady. People won’t be as accepting even if your family will be, which I doubt..Suddenly I feel scared, lost and nervous, hyung. And once we officially date (if we are allowed too) everyone will know who I am, not just my villagers. I was raised to be a governor of my own town not a whole kingdom. Bottom line, we are males and I am not royalty. If something goes wrong or people do not agree with our union we will bring shame upon our families, your kingdom. I wouldn’t shame you and ruin your name and reputation hyung.” Taemin lunged forward onto the prince’s chest and cried openly “Oh my, what have we done? We shouldn’t have confessed. This is just teenage love and you’ll change your mind. You won’t want me.” Taemin panicked “I’m still your friend, Forever, Jinki-nim and nothing will be awkward between us, I promise but let’s burry our feelings for the sake of the kingdom: fix this before it goes too far! Before we bring dishonor to your family. I will always protect you and your family name. I will do the right thing and love you from a far my sweet prince. Please forgive me.”

“Taemin, please don’t say that. We both loved each other for years but only recently said it aloud this past year. We have every right to say it aloud.  I regret nothing. I love you. I do not care if I continue a bloodline or not. So what if you can’t bear children.”

“Hyung, you are the future king of SHINee Kingdom! How can you say that? Our parents will not approve. I have to run a village and you have to rule everything. We can’t do this.” Taemin pulled out of his hug and stood up dusting off his hanbok and tossing his braid behind his back and brushed his ebony bangs from his forehead; Jinki was in shock, he blinked with mouth agape and in Taemin’s mid bow he finally uttered “Taemin what are you saying? Don’t you love me?”

“Yes, with all my heart.”

“Then we will figure this out. I will take care of everything. I do not want to lose you. I cannot lose you. I can’t be King without you by my side.”

“We are males, hyung!”

“What is the point of being a prince, a king, if I can’t have what I want? I want you! I’ve always wanted you. I love you, don’t you leave me like this.”

Taemin felt guilty “But hyung I’m tainting your family name. I’m not leaving you, prince Jinki.”Taemin looked away and saw in the distance the palace roof peeking through the trees. “I’m saving you and your royal family name.” The younger wiped at his wet lashes, trying to hide his tears from the man he loved.

“Stop it! You’re not tainting anything. You’ve blessed me with your heart, Taemin.” Jinki stood up, spun the younger around and hugged him tightly.  “I love you” he murmured over his shoulder. “Please Taemin don’t do this. I need you. Let me talk to my parents. I want this; I want you.” There was a moment of silence as they held on tightly... A tear rolled down the prince’s plump cheek, Jinki’s deep handsome voice sadly whispered softly “Who will take my yellow flower?”

Taemin murmured sadly “A beautiful woman” as he pulled out of the hug gently.

“No, no. I don’t want that. I will talk to my parents right away! I grew up with you and I plan on growing old with you as well.”

“But, Jinki, what if?”

Jinki thumbed over Taemin’s damp cheeks “Shh, Taem.” he pulled him into a hug again and rubbed his back. “I can’t bear to think of that. I will keep us together, Taemin. I promise. We have to make this work.”

Taemin murmured “I won’t hate you if you marry a wo-“

“Taem, please.”  The brave prince finally found out he was afraid of something: A life without Taemin, he couldn’t bear the thought.  “We must be brave. Trust in me. Even if I have to wait until my parents pass on to be with my ancestors in heaven so I can be with you, then I will wait. In the end we will be together.”

“Neh, hyung.” Taemin sniffled.  “I will trust you, I will be brave. I love you. I’m sorry I doubt. I will wait until the end of time if I have to too.”

“It’s understandable, don’t be sorry my love.” Jinki knew the dangers... they both did.

They stayed there as long as their schedules would allow, embracing one another in comfort amongst the sister flowers of the Emerald fields. ….They were eventually able to reclaim their nerves by the time they departed each other’s company. For the time being they felt a peaceful calm….Unbeknownst to the young lover’s the ancestors were on his and Taemin’s side… for the flowers, where they had been hugging, connected to the spirits in the sacred Emeralds Fields and the heavenly royal ancestors had heard and felt their pure love, thus they put the world in Jinki and Taemin’s favor… 

…………….

The next afternoon studying the many things a man becoming king has to learn, Jinki put down his writing brush to take a break and glanced out the window feeling the weight upon his shoulders of what’s to come once his father passes away…… Maybe it was his coming of age party that was coming up soon that was making him think of it suddenly. One thing for sure his life had gotten more hectic and busier as he got older. ..Taemin…Taemin was also on his mind amongst the countless other thoughts stressing him about growing up the heir to the throne. Would his parents and the people be ok with him falling in love with a magistrate’s son and not someone’s daughter? How will he even tell his parents? And what would their reaction be? It seemed every day more than ever people were commenting how he would inevitably become King of the SHINee Kingdom. His father was a good King; he truly cared for the people and had a gentle soul, a peaceful man; a man that could persuade with his words not with a sword. He was skilled in the art of defense though, excellent marksman in archery and very swift with his sword. The King ruled with the thought: war only to defend and protect his people but never as conqueror. His mother was, the most elegant Queen with a heart of gold. A woman of few words since she understood the power they held but that didn’t stop her from telling a small joke here and there behind closed doors of the palace. He was a good combination of both his parents’ whom he loved dearly. Lee Jinki was intelligent, a sweet caring soul, strong physically and mentally with a good sense of humor when the time called for it.  Would he really be a good King? Will he ever be ready to rule the kingdom? He wished he could write a law right this very instant that would outlaw his parents from dying.……. As he was day dreaming his mother came in to the Bihyeongak (The Study of the Crown Prince) and sat on the floor next to him as her two ladies in waiting stood at the door.  “Son? Is it heavy? The burden?”

She always seemed to know what was on his mind. “Mother, how do you and Father handle it all? I don’t think I can? The weight of responsibility is indeed heavy.”

“You can. I have no doubt about it. You just have a lot on your mind, son. But if you can’t, get a wife. Who do you think does most of the work in this kingdom, sweetie” She giggled. “I do of course.” She winked. “So all you need is someone that can rule with you so you are not alone. Share the responsibility.”

The prince lowered his voice so the ladies of the court could not hear. “Mother, I do not want a wife.”

She tilted her head in confusion.  “You don’t?”

“I want a royal spouse. I already choose one.”

“Did you now?” she continued on in a hushed tone as well “It’s Taemin isn’t it?” Jinki’s eyes widened; she smiled then stated simply. “I’ve suspected you might want to ask Taemin’s hand one day; you both seem really close. And I approve. I like him. He would be a great son-in-law. You have to ask the king to court first though.”

The prince couldn’t believe his ears; that went easier than he thought it would. “You, you know I like Master Taemin? And you approve?”

“Yes, of course. He is the Magistrate’s son and is very wealthy so he has status, he is a student of law and politics and intelligent, graceful, and kind. He matches you very well. He would make a great co-king. Hmm, do we call it co-king?” she giggled.

Jinki chuckled awkwardly. “Royal spouse I think.” He shrugged for he had just made that up on the spot.

“That sounds like a mouthful” She teased but then asked seriously.. “Have you told him of your feelings or were you waiting until you court one another to tell him you like him? And if and when you do court him, you should prepare him of the possibility of marriage because Taemin would inevitably be taking my seat when you take your fathers and my Job is not an easy one. And he wasn’t raised to be a Queen, I mean King. You’ve spent your whole life preparing, he hasn’t. That might cause him a great deal of stress to spring it on him.”

“I’m not springing my feelings on him he already knows I like him. We are already a couple, mother.” he blushed as he accidentally confessed but then his eyes widened yet again and bowed quickly were he sat, asking for forgiveness for breaking the rules by not asking permission to court beforehand. She nodded her head letting him know it was alright; she had figured they were, she didn’t need a woman’s intuition to know he hadn’t asked due to his gender and that Jinki would be afraid of how she and the King would react to the issue.  He continued “So marriage, he knows it is coming one day. But I never asked him directly about it, if he wanted to or not, never talked to him about marriage and what that will entail either, well not really..we talked about asking for permission to court yesterday though..But I have time. I’ve been thinking about asking him to marry me at his own coming of age ceremony.”

 “That’s a few years away. Are you sure you want to wait to ask? You could ask and set the date for years later.”

Jinki smiled cutely “I want to do it on his special day so he will always remember it.”

“Well, that does give you 3 or 4 years to plan it out. But my son, he will remember it no matter when you do it.” She smirked and returned her voice to a normal level “You are too adorable to forget.” she pinched his cheek, embarrassing him in front of her maidens.

Blushing and touching his cheek he murmured “Mother.”

The queen giggled.  “I don’t care that you are almost 20 and going to be a man in a few weeks or the Prince. I can do that, I’m your mother, the queen; I can do what I please. I out rank you.” She teased and leaned in and kissed his cheek.  “I think I should spend time with him. Subtly show him the ropes of what I do.” she winked. “Who better to teach young Master Taemin about the Queendom than the Queen herself?” She smirked kindly. “He will be ready to receive his yellow flower and ready to take my seat.”

Jinki smiled sweetly holding back thankful and joyous tears “Thank you mother.”

She hugged her son and whispered “You’re welcome Prince Jinki.” She pulled out of the embrace, patting his hand comforting him that all would be okay. “So I will take this as your formal request to ask The Crown permission to court Young Master Taemin?”

Jinki bowed where he sat as he answered the queen; he realized he never did ask, he only informed her; he humbly replied “Yes, your highness.” He sat back up and took a deep breath before proceeding, professionally giving his formal request as stated by Royal Law.  “May I please formally request to court Master Lee?”

She smiled with a nod “I’ll speak to your Father tonight and inform him of your decision to officially enter a courtship with young Mater Taemin. Then you may tell Taemin you like him officially.  We’ll have to set up a meeting with his parents 1^st before you court. We’ll have to figure out how to pass down our bloodline also..That is going to be tricky. You are both males. But you do have our blessing; we will handle everything for you so there won’t be a problem when the time comes for a proposal. The king and I have talked about it before just in case, so we slightly have a plan for this, uncharted territory.”

“You..You have?”

“Like I said we thought it might come to this so we prepared ourselves. Now we must prepare our kingdom’s laws and our kingdom’s people”

A little misty eyed, the crown prince felt relieved, Jinki bowed gratefully and apologetically, “Thank you mother for everything. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about us sooner.”

She bowed to the crown prince “It’s my pleasure to secure the future king’s happiness.” She was about to stand when she added “Oh, one more thing before I go…I will give you some advice. There is a time and a place for everything: To talk, to play, to act, to fight and when not to and of course there is always a place to love amongst it all. Give him all your love; make time for him even if you are busy when you marry. People of our regal station in life must let the people see what they need to see and be who they need you to be. For example, if they need a smile in scary desperate times, you give them that smile, the hope. But once in the palace always show your true self to Taemin especially in those desperate times or else you will lose yourself.  And another tip, if you love the people of our kingdom they will love you. Be brave, my prince. You will be a great King one day especially if Taemin is by your side making you stronger, so you have nothing to worry about. And most of all know that you have the king and I’s blessing.” She gracefully stood up and said her goodbye’s and departed to retire to her private quarters.

Jinki sighed and committed her words to memory….Before the prince fell asleep at the end of the day he wrote in his diary his plans on asking his boyfriend to be his spouse in the few short years and other happy overwhelming emotions about what had just transpired. He couldn't wait to inform Taemin he would be allowed to court him like they wished. The prince fell asleep with happy thoughts of Taemin; they replaced all his burdening thoughts of future responsibilities he had earlier.