After taking a quick shower, Taeyeon knocked onto Sungmin's room. 

"Come in~" she heard a female voice, which belongs to Sunny as soon as she found her looking after Sungmin. 

"Oops, am I disturbing?" Taeyeon giggled as she closed the door behind her. 

"Aish, he's sleeping." Sunny rolled her eyes.

"So...how is he? Has the bullet been taken out?" 

"He's doing fine. He fainted when he had an absurd amount of blood loss though..." 

"Not to worry, he will wake up soon. Besides, someone's keeping him alive."

"Oh please Tae don't be like the others." 

"I'm stating the facts. Well if there's anything wrong just inform me." 

"Sure. Goodnight Taeyeon ah~" 

"You too Sunny." 

Taeyeon winked at her sister before she headed to her own bedroom. She gasped when someone grabbed her waist from behind, the moment she entered her room. She turned around and groaned as she looked at Wooyoung. 

"Yah! It's time to sleep for god's sake! I need rest Wooyoung ah." she removed his arms around her waist as she faced him. 

"Sorry, I just wanted to scare you." he chuckled.

"Well you failed since I didn't scream." 

"Fine you win~" 

"Well...aren't you going to sleep?" she asked.

"I am! Can't I sleep here with you?" he waggled his eyebrows.

"ERT! No way!" she pushed his chest away. 

Wooyoung pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I don't trust you and your erted thoughts just yet. Who knows what you'll do to me." she stuck her tongue out. 

"Gosh, just you wait then. We'll be officially together soon enough~" he winked. 

"Yeah, whatever Woo. Go to sleep I'm tired!" she dragged him outside and slammed the door in front of him. Thank god, I can finally sleep! Taeyeon dropped dead on the bed out of exhaustion. 

Early in the morning, Taeyeon woke up as she changed into her dress and made her way towards the dining room.

"Good morning your highness." Kyungsoo bowed.

She bowed her head slightly. "Good morning Kyungsoo ah. Where's Jisoo?"

"He's in the kitchen. I would like to inform you that there's someone looking for you in the living room."

"Someone? Who?"

"He's an old man, wearing gold-rimmed glasses."

Oh...must he appear now? Taeyeon frowned. "Alright thank you, Kyungsoo."

She walked out of the dining room and skipped towards the living room, finding a familiar old man sitting on one of the sofas. He smiled as he noticed Taeyeon glancing at his direction.

"Taeyeon-ssi."

"Good morning Sooman-ssi." Taeyeon bit her lip, slowly took a few steps forward, facing him.

"Let's talk at the balcony." he stood up and walked to the open balcony with Taeyeon following behind him. Silence overwhelmed between the two as they stared at their surroundings.

"It's time for him to pass over the necklace." he sighed.

"But Sooman-ssi...is there really a need for Taecyeon to leave?" 

He nodded. "He has done his part in the Solitaire. He rescued all of you and defeated the Kings. Mission accomplished. Now, he has to go back to where he belongs."

Taeyeon could barely breathe as tears were about to fall anytime. "He belongs here, he belongs to us. He's part of our family."

"I know that Taeyeon-ssi. But we have no choice. Someone from the outside world may be worried for him if he doesn't go back. And I'm telling you right now that he needs to go back no matter what. He has to deal with some of his problems first before he can welcome him to our family. Now don't be too selfish Taeyeon-ssi. We can't be selfish." he explained.

Taeyeon wiped her tears away as she couldn't control herself from sobbing. "It's just unfair that he couldn't join us like how the rest did..."

Sooman smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come back or maybe not, since his decision is all up to himself. He's special for some reason Taeyeon-ssi. A lucky gentleman indeed."

"Are you sure he'll come back...?" she sniffed.

"It's all up to him. I'll come back again tomorrow to send him back. Actually I wanted to send him back today but since you cried, I'll give all of you one last night to be together. Spend your day wisely!" Sooman bowed at Taeyeon and strolled to the gates as he left the Palace.

"Time do flies. Now I get why good times don't last forever." she sighed and looked up at the sky, praying for this day to be a good one.

After a while, she quietly strolled back to the dining room, delighted to see everyone engrossed in their own conversations.

"Taeyeon ah! Good morning~!" all of them greeted her with a grin on their faces.

Taeyeon bowed as she smiled and sat at her seat, next to Wooyoung. "Good morning everyone~"

She went over to Sungmin and Sunny. "How are you Sungmin ah?" 

"Better than ever. Sunny nagged a lot last night." he shot a glance at her.

"Hey! I was trying to wake you up and my naggings really did work~" 

"Alright Sunny ah. Let him eat." Taeyeon went back to her seat. 

"Morning sunshine." Wooyoung smiled mischieviously as he looked down at his plate.

"Morning." Taeyeon rolled her eyes as she faced Yoona instead. "How's your sleep Yoong?"

"It was good unnie. How about you?"

"Good until someone disturbed me in my room last night." she glared at Wooyoung.

"Ha! I guess you were unlucky unnie." Yoona giggled.

"Yah! Why are you ignoring me for her?!" Wooyoung interrupted the two.

"Calm down Woo. Don't disturb the two young ladies. Manners please?" said Taecyeon.

"Thank you Taecyeon. If you're not co-operating with me, I can ignore you all day Mr Jang."

Wooyoung blushed and kept quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry Taeyeon ah."

"Good. You know how to apologize." she winked.

Out of the blue, Junho asked a question. "Hey guys...what are we going to do today? Are we going to train or..."

"For god's sake Junho we're done dealing with the Kings!" Chansung nudged him on the arm.

Taeyeon smiled as she had everything planned out in her intelligent mind. "Well, I have some plans for today for all of us actually."

"What is it Taeyeon ah?" Jessica asked.

"Hmm. I'm planning that we'll hang around at the carnival at noon and I have a little surprise for all of you when we get back to the palace. In the meantime, all of you can do your own things before 4pm. Questions?"

"AGREED!" all of them nodded as they cheered when they heard that they were going back to the carnival. As they have finished their breakfast, everyone dispersed to their own directions. 

"Taecyeon..." Taeyeon mentioned him to come over. 

"Umm...I'll meet you later Taec, I'll just be in my room." Yoona let go of his hand and left the dining room quietly. 

"Yes, Taeyeon-ssi?" 

"Come and sit. I need to speak a word with you." 

Taecyeon sat beside Taeyeon and waited for her to speak. Taeyeon swallowed hard as she forced herself not to stifle a sob. 

"Taecyeon. As you know, you have a necklace when you came here at the Solitaire right?" 

Taecyeon showed Taeyeon the necklace that he had been hiding under his shirt. "This?"

"Yes. Taec, I'd like you to pull yourself together alright?"

He nodded. "Okay."

"It is...time for you to return that necklace to us." 

"Umm...sure?" he was about to take it off his neck until Taeyeon held his arm. 

"Taecyeon...it's about time that you have to leave us. Leave the Solitaire and go back to your own world..." she croaked. 

He rose his eyebrow. "What? I need to leave? Why?" 

"You have done your part here as a Soldier, you saved us all and we defeated the Kings. The Solitaire is now in peace. Your time here is almost up and it will be your last day here in the Solitaire. You'll have to...leave tomorrow." Taeyeon controlled herself as she could hardly speak to him face to face. 

Taecyeon looked away as he blinked his eyes. I remembered an old man that brought me here for an adventure. I guess my time here is almost up. The old man must've wanted to change my own attitude and personality. It all made sense to himself since he knew he couldn't be here forever as he only needed to change himself into a better person and the old man just succeeded. He also thought about his parents and he couldn't be too selfish to stay here, not caring about them. 

"Taec? Are you okay?" Taeyeon poked his shoulder since Taecyeon has been in a daze for quite a while. 

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine." he smiled. 

Taeyeon was taken aback as she expected him to complain but he didn't. "You're not astonished?" 

"I was sent here for a reason. Because I had a very messy and troublesome life. I was lazy to do anything, disobedient towards my parents and I was pretty lousy at work. When I came here, I knew that I should be disciplined and I really did change. Thinking back then, I was still childish...causing my own father to be upset with me. I'm just glad I had an opportunity to be here, I mean not like anyone from the outside world can enter the Solitaire." he giggled. 

Taeyeon listened to him and smiled while hearing his thoughts. "From a bad boy to a polite gentleman." 

"I'll miss you guys. I'll miss you Taeyeon ah." he grabbed her hand and flashed a smile at her. 

"Come here you." Both of them stood up and hugged each other. "I'm honoured to be the first one to hug you goodbye. So I'll not hug you tomorrow anymore." Taecyeon laughed along with her.

"You're much like an older sister to me. How old are you Tae?" 

"I've been living here for decades and we don't age here in the Solitaire. I mean, we immortals not the mortals. But if you would like a specific answer then...I'm 23 if I would live in the outside world." 

"In that case, I'm your older brother then! I'm 24 in Seoul. You know where that is right?" 

"Of course. The old man who brought you here, Sooman-ssi, shared a lot of stories about your place. It's kind of fascinating." 

"Live there then." he joked. 

"I wish I could. But I have a kingdom to take care of." 

"I'd like to live here too. I mean you guys are here and I don't age! That'd be awesome." 

"Okay, calm down Taec. I'll have to tell them about this. Don't worry, I promise that this day will be well-spent. Right now, you have someone to take care of or should I say, deal with before you leave us." Taeyeon sighed.

He sighed and pinched his temples. "It'll be hard for her to cope. I could say the same to myself." 

"Be strong Taec. I'll see you later." 

Taecyeon hugged Taeyeon before she left the dining room. He closed the door behind him and heard soft chatterings in the living room. 

"Yah where is Taec?!" he heard someone saying his name. 

"Yes?" Taecyeon passed by the living room, started to see all the Soldiers huddled in one secluded corner on the floor. 

"Taec! Come here!" Jay signaled him to join their conversation. 

"What is it?" Taecyeon whispered and sat in between Nichkhun and Wooyoung. 

"We're doing a little surprise for the Queens!" Chansung replied. 

"Wait, so all of you are planning onto something?" 

"Yeah." they said in unison. 

"Look, this is a top secret among us Soldiers. No one must hear us out." Junsu reminded. 

"So what's the plan all of you are talking about?" Taecyeon questioned.

"We're going to propose to the Queens today during the celebration that Taeyeon planned." Nichkhun whispered as quiet as he can but loud enough for Taecyeon to hear. 

"WHAT?" he almost shrieked. 

"Calm down Taec. We're planning on marriage later on." Jay snickered. 

"Besides, we discussed about this at times and we're sure that we would like to be together with them for a long time. I'm sure they're ready too! I mean we faced a lot of obstacles already. And so we fell in love while we were preparing for the war." Junho 

"You guys confessed to them?" Taecyeon asked out of curiosity. 

"Gosh you missed a lot Taec!" Wooyoung shook his head. 

"Sorry, I was a bit agitated when Yoona was away remember? So...who did I miss?" 

"You missed out all of us actually. So you're the only one left who hasn't confessed right?" Yonghwa commented. 

"Duh, I confessed in fron't of her before she could kill me with her spade." 

"I missed that out then! I was with Tiffany during that time." 

"Huh? Tiffany?" Junsu eyed on Yonghwa.

"No that's not it hyung! It's because Taeyeon noona-" 

"Yah! How dare you call my goddess noona?! Don't make her sound old." Wooyoung blurted out. 

"Eh? But...Taeyeon-ssi...is older than me..." 

"What are you talking about Wooyoung ah? Taeyeon is older than you too." Taecyeon swatted him on the shoulder.

"Really? I didn't know that myself..." he blushed.

"So I was saying that, Taeyeon asked Tiffany and I to guard the entrance of the castle...so yeah." Yonghwa face-palmed himself. 

The guys laughed while they discussed about their plans since they cracked up some jokes in between. They planned on how to approach the Queens and some cheesy actions they've randomly thought of. After much consideration, they high-fived with each other and shook hands, basically wishing them the best of luck later at the party. Some Soldiers went back to their rooms while some looked for the Queens. 

"What's taking him so long?" Yoona groaned.

"I can't believe you're getting impatient Yoong ah! You've always been patient!" Yuri clapped her hands and giggled.

"Is Taeyeon unnie really THAT fun to chat with?" she crossed her arms.

Yuri nudged her on the shoulder and gave her a sinister smile. "Someone's getting jealous..."

Yoona slapped Yuri's shoulder as she denied.

"Oh come on Yoong don't deny." 

Suddenly, the two got alert as soon as someone knocked on the door. 

"Come in." 

It was Taecyeon and Yoona's eyes twinkled gleefully. Yuri got up and bowed to him. 

"Am I disturbing?" he asked.

"Oh no! I was just about to leave. I'll go look for Nichkhun now. Bye Yoong!" Yuri rushed out of the room and slammed the door, leaving the two behind.

Taecyeon took off his shoes and sat beside Yoona on the bed. 

"What took you so long?" 

"Aww, someone's missing me." he pinched her nose. 

"I'm being serious Mr Ok." she glared.

"I talked with Taeyeon and then got into another conversation with the guys. I'm sorry you waited long. I'll make it up to you later on." 

"What about later?" 

"I have...a little surprise for you." he grinned.

"What is it?" 

"You'll have to wait. Now, let's take a nap until 3." Taecyeon got himself ready on the bed as he pulled the covers over him.

"What? Are you kidding me? Take a nap?" 

"Why not? Unless you want me to leave you alone. Come on, let's take a nap. Please?"

"Aish. Alright fine."

Yoona laid her head down the pillow and closed her eyes obediently. Taecyeon smiled as he observed her sleeping, removing strands of hair from her face. I'll miss you. He sighed as he drifted off to sleep. 

"Yoona wake up." Taecyeon tapped onto her shoulder lightly.

Yoona rubbed her eyes and searched her surroundings. "Why? What time is it?"

"It's 3.30pm. Get up and get changed. I'll head back to my room and I'll meet you downstairs."

Taecyeon left the room immediately while Yoona was still half-asleep. She got up and took out a white blouse and a brown skirt as she got dressed properly. She closed the door behind her and walked along the hallway. She noticed that all of them were chatting in the living room. Taeyeon looked up and found Yoona going down the staircase. 

"Yoona, come and join us. I have something to say to all of you quick." Taeyeon sensed that Taecyeon wasn't there just yet, thinking it was time to reveal his leave. 

"Come guys, I have something to say so gather around." she sat on the sofa while the others obeyed. 

"As you may know, it is time for Taecyeon to return his necklace to us..." 

The Queens definitely know what she meant and their jaws dropped immediately. 

"I'm sorry to say that...Taecyeon will have to leave us tomorrow." Taeyeon looked down as she bit her lip. 

"WHAT?!" all of them gasped. 

"No way! He can't leave us!" Nichkhun couldn't believe what Taeyeon had just said. 

"He can't go Tae! He has to stay!" Wooyoung protested. 

"Taecyeon hyung is like the one who started this...I mean...he saved us!" Junho added. 

The Soldiers started to protest against Taecyeon's leave while the Queens remained silent. Yoona couldn't believe it herself. She hate to admit the fact that she knew he was going to leave them one day but she didn't expect it to be too sudden. 

"Guys. You have to promise me that this day will be memorable for him before he leaves" Taeyeon reminded them. 

"Sooman-ssi...this is just unfair..." Yoona mumbled to herself while Yuri comforted her. 

The complaints died down once they heard footsteps along the hallway. Taecyeon was oblivious to his surroundings and found it strange when everyone was looking at him.  

"Is there something on my face?" he placed a hand over his cheek and rubbed it gently. 

"Nope! Let's go guys!" Taeyeon said, giving an eye-signal to the rest. 

"Ah...yeah! Let's go Taec!" Jay grinned as he grabbed Jessica's hand nervously. 

"Well what are we waiting for then? Nobody's missing right?" Taecyeon looked around. 

Taeyeon smiled, standing up and walking towards the door. The rest of them followed hastily while Taecyeon and Yoona were at the back of the group. She held his hand tightly, not caring whether he bothers or not. He got startled with her grasp but ignored it since he sensed that she was anxious. You must've known that I'm leaving soon. 

______________________________

OOPS. I guess I'll save all the 9PM lovey-dovey moments for the next chapter because...I need to include the part where Taecyeon has to leave soon :'(((( ISN'T THAT SAD? well...of course this has to be mentioned in the story >.>'' Oh well~ the next chapter would be the celebration night, some OTP moments ;) and Taecyeon's return to Seoul! *CRIES* okay PPYONG~ 

*I SUPPORT SUNGMIN & SUNNY TO BE TOGETHER ON WGM AND IF POSSIBLE, I HOPE PD-nim WOULD INCLUDE TAECYEON AND YOONA AS WELL LOLLL~!* :D