'Even if I tear them apart,' Irene thought, 'Seokjin would never forgive me.' "Omma, I—" she began. "Do it for me, honey; just think about all the wealth and happiest I'll have when you marry Seokjin." her omma replies, "I know you won't disappoint me."

That evening, Minji is drying her hair with a towel after taking a shower; she hears a knock at the bedroom door. Gently placing her towel on the vanity, she makes her way to the door to open it and sees Irene. "Irene-sshi?" Minji asks. "Is Seokjin-oppa in here?" Irene asks.

"He's in the bathroom, taking a shower."
"I need to talk to him."

"I can give him the message, Irene-sshi." Minji suggests, "It's getting late and we all want to go to sleep." "I don't need someone else to give my words to Seokjin-oppa." Irene retorts, "I can wait for him." "What's the problem, Minji?" Seokjin asks, coming out of the bathroom in his baby blue plaid pajamas. Irene immediately rushes in and grabs onto Seokjin's arms. "I really need to talk with you, secretly." she insists. "Just say it now." he replies, "What do you need to hide from Minji?"

"It's our private matter, oppa."
"Irene...."

Minji rolls her eyes at the two and replies, "If you two don't finish up, I'm going to be sleeping outside." "Go ahead." Irene replies, "We'll probably be talking all night." "I will." As Minji walks over to the bed to grab her pillow and the bed comforter, Seokjin pulls himself away from Irene's grasp, rushes over to Minji and stops her from doing anything. "We'll talk tomorrow, Irene." Seokjin replies, "I'm not in the mood to talk tonight." Irene scoffs and walks out of their bedroom, closing the door behind them. "If she wanted to talk," Minji replies, "you two could've talked and I could've—" "I'm not letting my wife sleep outside because of a private talk." Seokjin explains, "What if halmeoni hears about it?" "Seokjin-sshi...." Intentionally, he lifts Minji off her feet and carries her to the bed. As he gently lay her down on the mattress, putting her into bed, Minji's cheeks began to turn a peachy pink color at the sight of Seokjin. 'What is he going to do?' she thought, 'I hope he knows that we shouldn't...' "Seokjin-sshi...." "Are you ever going to stop saying that?" he teases, "We're not strangers anymore."

"But—"
"Am I a stranger to you, Kim Minji?"
"N-N-no—"

Seokjin takes this perfect opportunity to kiss Minji's lips, only just a quick peck. "Seokjin-sshi!" she exclaims, covering her lips after he had pulled away. "Oh!" he replies, "That's another kiss from you." Minji scoots back towards the bed frame as Seokjin approaches her like a predator. Once her back hits the wooden frame, she already knew she lost. Seokjin brushes up against Minji as one arm wraps around her slim figure and the other is resting on the wooden frame. "Seokjin-sshi—" "Only this once." Seokjin begs, "I promise we won't go too far tonight." Minji shook her head, in disagreement. "Go to sleep like a regular human." she snaps, "It'll be good for you, me and the baby." Seokjin pulls away from her, snuggles into the comforter, turns away from Minji's direction and pouts to himself. 'Go to sleep like a regular human she said.' he thought, 'Doesn't she want my affections at all?' Minji proceeds to do the same; however, Seokjin's arms instantly wrapped around her waist. "What did I say about—" "You won't let me kiss you good night." Seokjin retorts, "Now you won't let me cuddle with you under the covers."

"Fine; but only this once, Seokjin."
"Promise."

The last morning arrives on their stay at the vacation home. Seokjin's halmeoni is eating breakfast in the dining hall with Irene, her omma, and Hoseok. "Hoseok," she asks, "have you seen Seokjin anywhere?" "I believe he and Minji haven't gotten out of bed yet." Hoseok explains, "Did you want me to check on them?" "Allow me to check on them, halmeoni." Irene suggests. "No, let them sleep." Seokjin's halmeoni insists, "I'll ask someone to check on them later; they must've worked hard last night." Mrs. Bae nearly chokes on her breakfast and stares at halmeoni. "You don't think that they—"

"And if they did," Seokjin's halmeoni replies,
"would you rush up there to see if it's true?"

Seokjin wakes up from his slumber and found Minji still asleep next to him. Her hair pulled back to reveal her angelic and innocent-like face. It is a sight that he wished to have seen since their first-time. A sight so beautiful that it was almost forbidden. As he leans in to give her a morning kiss, Minji opens her eyes as soon as their nose touch. "Morning." Seokjin replies, with a smile. In a daze, Minji couldn't process the moment in her mind. Seokjin kisses her forehead and climbs out of bed to get ready. 'I must be dreaming or something.' she thought, 'I should go back to sleep.'

As everyone is scrambling to pack their luggages and head out of the door by noon, Seokjin's halmeoni pulls Minji aside into the master's bedroom. "What is it, halmeoni?" she asks, as they both sit down on the bed. "I can sense bad things are going to happen when you return to the mansion, my dear." Seokjin's halmeoni confesses, "Horrible things."

"Everything will be fine, halmeoni."
"But Minji-ah—"
"I can protect myself from those two
nasty women." Minji reassures, "And if
you know something bad is going to happen,
don't hesitate to come over."

Seokjin's halmeoni nods and can only proceed to give her a hug of farewell. "Don't worry, Minji-ah," she replies, "I will keep my end of the promise for you."

Returning from the trip, Mr. Han and his servants took Seokjin's and Minji's luggages back to their bedrooms to unpack them and wash them. "How was the trip?" Seokjin's omma asks, "Did you have fun?" "It was wonderful." Minji replies, "I wish I could stay there longer." "Maybe one day." she replies, "If Seokjin decides to move out of the mansion." "That's never going to happen." Seokjin replies, "I'm going to stay here with you and abeoji."

"Speaking of your father, he wants you to see you in his office right away."
"What for?"

"It's probably about Mrs. Bae and her daughter." his omma explains, "You might want to play it safe." Seokjin nods and heads on to face his abeoji's wrath of the day.

"Days ago," his abeoji began, "Mrs. Bae called me and told me that Kim Minji was being aggressive with her, verbally." "Abeoji," Seokjin replies, "Mrs. Bae was doing the same to Minji; why do you believe in someone like Mrs. Bae?"

"You don't need to know our history, Seokjin." he argues,
"All you need to do—"
"Answer me, abeoji!"
"Tell me the truth, son!"

Seokjin sighs heavily and storms out of his father's office, without saying another word to him. Before Seokjin's abeoji could follow after him, the office phone ranged. "Hello?" he asks, taking the call. "Your Majesty," Mrs. Bae replies, on the other line, "I've found our solution to destroy your son's relationship with that peasant." "What are you trying to say?" Seokjin's abeoji asks. "Trust me." she continues, "I'm sure this one won't fail like the others."

Seokjin enters his bedroom, closing the door behind him and crashes on his bed. 'Why can't he see that Minji isn't a horrible person?' he thought, 'Why can't he open his eyes to reality?' Hoseok comes into the room and asks, "Seokjin, how was—" "Terrible!" Seokjin exclaims, sitting up on the bed, "This old man won't listen to my words!"

"Don't you think he relies on Mrs. Bae a little too much?"
"According to halmeoni, Mrs. Bae and my abeoji had some
history when they were our age."

"Probably more than just history." Hoseok replies. "What do you mean by that, Hoseok?" Seokjin asks. "I overheard Irene's conversation with Mrs. Bae at the vacation house," he explains, "Mrs. Bae said that His Highness was her lover and that your omma stole him from her."

"And you believe that?"

Hoseok shrugs his shoulder at Seokjin. 'If it's true that abeoji and Mrs. Bae were a couple,' Seokjin thought, 'then that's why he wants me to marry Irene.' "Unless Minji was right about Mrs. Bae wanting to steal back your abeoji." Hoseok replies. "What?!!" Seokjin exclaims, "That's what Minji said to Mrs. Bae the other day?!" "Well, more like she said that Mrs. Bae wanted to get into your abeoji's pants." he confesses, scratching his head.

Meanwhile in the mansion courtyard, Seokjin's omma and Minji were having a private conversation among themselves. "What's your relationship with Seokjin's abeoji like?" Minji asks, curiously, "Is it well-stabled like my parents or is it—" "When Seokjin's abeoji and I were around your age," she began, "he didn't believe that I was pregnant with Seokjin at first; however, halmeoni believed in me."

"What about Mrs. Bae?" Minji continues,
"Why is Seokjin's abeoji so eager to make her
daughter marry Seokjin?"

That's when Seokjin's omma became silent. "Did I say something wrong?" "Not at all, dear." Seokjin's omma replies, "Memories are just coming back to me; that's all." At that moment, Hoseok and Seokjin approached the two. "What is it, Seokjin-ah?" his omma asks. "I need to talk to Minji." Seokjin replies, "It's about her and Mrs. Bae."

"What do you mean?" his omma asks.
"Minji-sshi," Seokjin asks, "why
did you say that to Mrs. Bae?"
"Because she deserves to know
the truth about her plans." Minji argues back,
"She's not doing it for Irene-sshi;
she is only doing it for herself."

"But still—" "I'm pretty Mrs. Bae already told abeoji about what I said to her as well." she continues, "He's probably talking to her right now about getting rid of me." "Kim Minji," Seokjin replies, "when will you come to realize that you aren't the only victim in your fantasy?"

"When will you realize that Mrs. Bae is—"

"Sorry to interrupt." Mr. Han replies, coming out to the courtyard, "But Kim Minji-sshi, there's someone here to meet you." Without hesitation, Minji hurries inside with Mr. Han following behind her. "Mr. Han!" Seokjin shouts, following after them, "Can't you tell that we were in the middle of something." "Who could be here to see her?" Seokjin's omma asks, "Aren't her parents—" "M'lady," Hoseok replies, "it's almost time for the meeting at the company; should we head on our way?" "That's right!" she exclaims, "Let's get going, Hoseok-sshi."

"Your guest is in the living room." Mr. Han replies, stopping them from entering the room, "Whenever you're ready, head on inside." As Mr. Han leaves, Seokjin immediately grabs a hold of Minji's left wrist, pulling her to face him. "You can't just walk away like that, Kim Minji!" Seokjin shouts, "It's considered very rude!" "Well, is it rude of me to speak out my opinion about Mrs. Bae and her daughter?" Minji asks, "Is it rude of me to protect myself and my child from the wrath of Hell you call home?"

"Kim Minji-sshi—"
"Kim Seokjin-sshi," she snaps, "I don't care if
you like Bae Joohyun-sshi or if you respect her omma;
I just want to live a normal life with my child."

"You're pregnant?" someone asks, from behind. Minji's eyes widen at the sound of the voice and as she turned around, she soon come to realize who her guest is.

"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here, Hyo-seop?" she asks.

"I didn't realize that I came at a bad time." he replies, "Maybe I should come back." "No, it's fine." Minji replies, breaking free from Seokjin's grasp, "We can still talk, but let's go somewhere else." "Kim Minji!" two familiar voices exclaims. Minji's eyes widen at their appearances and she suddenly thought, 'What the hell is going on right now?!' "Woo-yeon...Jung-hyun?" she asks, "What are you two doing here?" "The same reason Hyo-seop came to visit you." they both replied.

Once settling down in the living room, Minji briefly explains to Seokjin who her guests are. "Ahn Hyo-seop is my junior college friend, An Woo-yeon is my next door neighbor and Kim Jung-hyun is my ex-boyfriend." Minji replies, nervously. "And what brings you three out here to see my wife?" Seokjin asks. "I was told by our professor to find her." Hyo-seop explains, "She's been missing for days now." "Her parents told me to come and check on her." Woo-yeon explains, "They want to know about Minji's condition, along with their grandchild." "I wanted to know if the rumors were true." Jung-hyun replies, "I didn't think that you would end up getting pregnant with someone like him." "I remember now!" Seokjin exclaims, pointing to Jung-hyun, "Weren't you that gentlemen from that night?" "What are you—" Just then, Jung-hyun remembers that night exactly.

• • [ one week ago] • •

"Kim Minji-sshi?" Jung-hyun asks, "Is that really you?" "Jagiya~" replies his girlfriend, "why are you talking to—" "Because I am his ex-girlfriend!!!" Minji exclaims. "Yebeo, you didn't tell me—" "Of course he wouldn't tell you about me!" Minji continues, "He wouldn't tell me to any other s he's been dating for the past 3 months!!" "Stop talking rubbish, Kim Minji." Jung-hyun snaps, "You were insane back then and I thought that you would become your—" "Normal self again?" she asks, "Who said that I would return to my normal self, you son of a !" "Why I outta—" Just as Jung-hyun raised his right hand up in the air, ready to slap Minji, a stranger grabs a hold of his wrist. "Who are you?" he asks, "Why did you stop me from—" "Because she is my bride-to-be." Seokjin explains. "Omo!" exclaims Jung-hyun's girlfriend, "Aren't you Prince Seokjin?" "This is Prince Seokjin?" Jung-hyun asks.

• • [ end of flashback] • •

"You're the one who—" "Now, Kim Jung-hyun," Seokjin replies, cutting him off, "what happened to that girl of yours; why didn't you bring her with you?" "None of your business." Jung-hyun replies. "Then it's none of your business to know how Kim Minji got pregnant." Seokjin snaps, "It's only between her and me." "Hyoseop-sshi, Wooyeon-sshi, and Junghyun-sshi," Minji replies, "I'll explain—" "There's no need to explain, Minji-sshi." Mrs. Bae replies, stepping into the living room with Seokjin's abeoji and her daughter, "Everything here proves that you are nothing more than a—" "Mrs. Bae," Seokjin replies, standing up from his seat, "what are you trying to imply here?" "Your Highness," she continues, ignoring Seokjin's question, "you wouldn't want a daughter-in-law like her, would you?" "Your Excellency," Woo-yeon explains, standing up as well, "we didn't come here to ruin your son's marriage; we only came due to request from Kim Minji's parents and her superiors." "It's true, sire." Hyo-seop replies, "We have documents to prove our point of visiting." "If you would hand them over to me," Seokjin's abeoji replies, "then I will—"

"There's no need to defend this woman." Mrs. Bae replies, "It's no use." "But I can defend for her." Seokjin's halmeoni replies, appearing behind them. "Halmeoni?!" Seokjin and Minji exclaims. "I knew you were up to something." she continues, "And I still can't believe that my own son would believe in a witch like you." "Halmeoni," Mrs. Bae replies, "you don't understand; Kim Minji isn't the perfect wife for Seokjin-sshi."

"Omma, I—"
"Adeul, how many times do I have to tell you to stay
away from Mrs. Bae?" she continues,
"Have you never learned your lesson?"
"Yes, omma." Seokjin's abeoji replies, nervously.

Once Hyo-seop and Woo-yeon hand Seokjin's halmeoni the documents, she immediately dismisses them, including Jung-hyun, from the mansion. "As for your school, Minji," she explains, "I'll handle the situation; as for the letters from your parents, I'll give it you to right now." Minji takes the large envelope from her grasp and leaves the living room with Seokjin following after her. "Omma," Irene replies, "can't you give up for once; don't make this even—" "Irene!" Mrs. Bae exclaims, "Are you telling your own mother to—" "That's enough!" Mr. Bae shouts, walking through the door, "When will you stop your shenanigans?"

"Yeobo...."
"My apologizes, your Honors." he replies, bowing with respect,
"I didn't expect my wife to come and cause more trouble."

"I'm glad to see you here too, Mr. Bae." Seokjin's halmeoni replies, "I've been meaning to speak with you but it's been difficult."

Entering her room, Seokjin closes the door behind him, startling Minji. "Why are you—" she asks, turning her attention at her husband. "You don't plan on cheating with me, right?" Seokjin asks, walking towards Minji as she backs away in unison.

"Why would I want to cheat on you? I don't have
anyone else besides you."
"Three men just came to my doorstep and you're
proclaiming that you're not going to cheat on me."

Minji hits the bedside with the back of her legs and automatically sits on the mattress as Seokjin corners her. "Kim Seokjin," she snaps, "did you forget the fact that I am pregnant with your child?!" "Pregnant or not," he continues, "promise me that you won't—"

"Don't tell me that you're jealous, Seokjin-sshi."

'Jealous?' Seokjin thought to himself, 'How can I be jealous of—crap, maybe I am jealous!!' "I-i'm not j-jealous!" he exclaims, while stuttering, "W-who said that I was jealous?" "But you just stutter." Minji points out, "You never stuttered in front of me before."

"Then you must be hearing things; good night."

Seokjin backs away from Minji and darts for the door, closing it behind him. Minji, however, couldn't help but smile at his sulky and puzzled behavior. 'Maybe I should try to bring out Seokjin's sulky behavior more often.' she thought to herself, 'It's cute when he does it.' Seokjin leans up against Minji's closed door and began to wonder about his feelings for Minji. 'Could I really be jealous of Minji?' he thought,

'Throughout my whole life, I would ever show a girl that I was jealous of her;
or am I falling in love with Minji?'

• • [ end of chapter eight ] • •