“How can he be still sleeping? I mean it’s not like we gave him anything that causes drowsiness!”

Do Jungsoo asked her brother, whom were standing by the door of the patient’s room with her and watching the sleeping soldier.

“Maybe he needed more sleep. That’s what soldiers are like. They lose sleep for days, and have to work despite it is day or night.” Kyungsoo explained.

Jungsoo nodded in silence. “I don’t know why oppa, but doesn’t he look so sad? Just seeing him sleep soundly like that makes me feel sad for no reason.”

Kyungsoo glared at his sister. “Stop being ridiculous and go boil those roots I brought just now. Abhuji said he needs them by noon.” He added grumpily. And the girl walked away without arguing with him.

What’s there to feel sad about this punk? He can bed any girl in the city whenever he wants and has all the wealth along with him to seduce women until he dies. It’s the girls who get fooled by him that should be pitied.

He sighed at his own thought and left the room closing the door behind him.

Baekhyun woke up when it was almost noon that day, and he walked out of the chamber, rubbing his sleepy eyes and looking around the foreign looking garden which he didn’t actually notice the day before. The first thing which caught his eyes was the girl sitting on the wooden bench in the middle of the garden, plucking some unfamiliar looking leaves from their stems. She looked up and a smile graced her lips, turning her eyes into crescents.

Baekhyun returned her smile with a slight upturn on his lips and made his way towards the bench. “Are you learning to be a nurse?” he asked while taking a seat on a corner of the wooden bench.

She shook her head. “To be a physician like appa and oppa.” She answered proudly. “Ah, I just assumed that because you nursed me last night.” Baekhyun explained. And he got a smirk from the girl as the reply. “Nursing is also a part of being a doctor. A doctor is not just someone who diagnoses your illness,” her words faded away as she suddenly came up with another thought and her eyes widened. “Oh, do you still have fever?” she leaned forward and placed her palm on his forehead suddenly, without any warning.

Baekhyun went still. The girl didn’t notice how his eyes checked her out, and she tilted her head thoughtfully and took her hand off his forehead slowly. “It’s still there... but it should have gone down by now...”

“It’s because of the wound right?” Baekhyun asked. “It won’t go down until the wound starts healing. Your medicine hasn’t completed their job yet so my fever won’t go down.” he said airily.

The girl gaped at her. Baekhyun gave her a light chuckle. “This is not the first time I got shot. And this is not the first time I got shot on the same arm and same spot as well.”

Jungsoo took in a deep breath, and changed her expression to look serious again. “You need to rest then. You can’t walk around until it’s all better, so go in and stay put.” She snapped in a know-it-all manner.

Baekhyun chuckled again. “I don’t have time to stay put young Miss. I’m going to leave right now. Where’s your dad? I need to meet him before I leave.” He stood up from the bench.

The girl looked alarmed, and stood up at once. “You cannot ride horses with that injured arm! Don’t be stubborn and get the rest of the treatment finished as well!!!” she sprang at him.

Baekhyun couldn’t help smiling and giving in to this childish behaviour of the girl whom he met less than twenty four hours ago, yet was stirring up odd feelings inside him with every single movement she made. “Then, can you bring a guard from the district judge’s office so I can send a message to the capital?” he asked her. “Sure!” she threw aside the bunch of twigs in her hand and vanished into the house calling her mother. “Omma! Let’s go to the judge’s office!!”

* * * * * * * *

The day before, in the palace

Although he wanted to stay right beside Seora after bringing her to the castle, Chanyeol couldn’t disobey the king when he asked to keep her beside the queen for better security. So he had to leave her with the queen, and return to the Hunter’s brigade’s barracks to get himself some sleep as well.

He woke up the next day to find both his captains gone out of the capital taking a group of soldiers with them, and the vice captain who served as the second officer to Baekhyun, informed him that his two friends wanted him to stay in the palace and take care of his wife’s security while they catch the culprits and return. So Chanyeol decided to stay in, and the first thing he did after washing himself up was running to the queen’s palace to meet his wife. There she was, ready to have breakfast with her highness, and he was invited join them for the meal.

“Your highness, if you excuse us, can I take her out with me for a while?”

Chanyeol asked his sister as soon as they finished having breakfast. The queen nodded with a smile at once. “She’s your wife and do you have to take my permission to take her out?”

Chanyeol bowed to the queen with a slight smile and walked out of the queen’s residence, and Seora followed him soon after.

“Did you sleep well?”

He asked the girl who was walking beside him in silence, and as he didn’t get an answer, he looked at her while walking. “It was hard to sleep to be honest. One thing I’m not used to this environment, and also it’s hard to forget what happened yesterday.” She mumbled.

Chanyeol got closer to her so that his hand brushed against hers, and soon entwined his fingers with hers, holding her hand securely in his. “Let’s go, you can stay with me as I’m free for the day.” He led the way, and they went to the soldiers’ barracks where Chanyeol spent the previous night.

The place looked totally foreign to the girl. She had never stepped into a soldiers’ barracks before, and she looked around the room which was completely finished in wood from roof to the bunk beds, all the other furniture, to the floor. “You sleep here when you stay in the palace for a several days?” she asked. He nodded and pointed to the upper bed of the bunk bed placed right at the half open window. “That’s my bed up there. And this is where Baek and Sehun sleep, Baek on the upper on and Sehun on the lower one.” He then pointed at the bunk bed beside the entrance. “But Baek has to sleep on the lower one if he shows up drunk and wasted. But it rarely happens as he never shows up drunk in the palace.” He said with a light chuckle. And he turned back to the girl. “Wanna have a seat up there?” he asked, pointing up at his bed.

Seora nodded happily, and Chanyeol led her to the wooden ladder at on corner of the bed. “Let me help you climb up-”

The girl suppressed a smile, and stepped on the ladder, and within two seconds, she was up on the bed even before he had gotten himself to help her, and was looking down at him with a grin. “I’m a pro at climbing trees and ladders remember?” she said cheerfully. Chanyeol shook his head with a smirk, and climbed up the ladder himself to kneel on the bed beside her. “Since you said you didn’t get good sleep, have some sleep here.” He stated casually.

Seora widened her eyes at him. “But... I guess it’s prohibited to bring women in here, let alone sleeping. Aren’t I right?” she asked.

The general smirked at her. “They won’t come in now. It’s their morning training session. So now you...” he shoved the girl forcefully to lie down, and leaned in with another smirk, propping one elbow on the mattress at her side. “Just stay here because I tell you to do so.”

The girl was utterly shocked with the moved he made for the very first time, and her face turned red in an instant. Just then, the door to the barracks opened, and the vice captain of the brigade stepped in.

His eyes caught the couple on the bed at once, and his jaw dropped in horror, and he held up both his hands in front of him apologetically. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry captain! I...I mean General! I’ll leave the room! I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!” and before even Chanyeol could utter a single world, the soldier ran out, closing the door with a bang.

Seora turned her head from the closed door back to Chanyeol, and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. “Gosh it was so embarrassing! How can you work with them after this?” she asked hiding her reddened face.

Chanyeol grinned to himself, and slowly pulled away her hands off her face. “It’s not like I brought here someone else’s woman. You’re my wife and no one has any say in what I do with you!” he declared nonchalantly, making her face colour deepen again. “Now tell me,” he leaned another bit forward, hovering over her and looking into her face as his smirk faded away. “You’re going to stay here for a while with me aren’t you?” he asked, lowering down his voice to a murmur.

She pursed her lips and nodded, not sure how to keep her posture with the close proximity he was in. But he didn’t seem to mind her uneasiness, as he moved himself to her side and lied beside her properly. He placed his head on the hard pillow, and spread out his arm and patted o