-10-
The Doctors DaughterJongin and Jinhee had been in the carriage for a few hours and a word was not spoken between them. He had pulled out papers and was studying the latest news from the North. The people were especially poor in that region and were falling to criminal activities to try and survive but they were no longer sticking to their areas and were starting to leak into the main land. What worried Jongin the most was, as he marked parts on a map of all the current locations being attacked, it seemed that they were making a direct line towards the palace.
Eventually Jongin felt his stomach growl from hunger and he looked up from his papers and saw Jinhee looking out the opening, staring at the world passing by them. He bent down and pulled a silk wrapped box from under his seat. With an easy tug of the fabric, a beautiful lacquered box was shown and Jongin felt slightly guilty for ruining the hard work of his servants but he was hungry so he opened the box and saw that they had packed it full of snacks. Figuring that Jinhee might be hungry as well, he grabbed on of his favourite snacks which was a large shrimp wrapped in rice and fried.
"Eat." Jongin shoved the food at her face and Jinhee initially flinched but put on a small smile and accepted the food. He felt clumsy as he lowered his hand and began munching on the food. When he noticed she wasn't eating, Jongin thought maybe it wasn't good enough for her and felt an anger rising in his chest. He had given her his favourite food, why wasn't she eating it and enjoying it like he was?
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?" He asked and Jinhee awkwardly looked from him to the shrimp in her hand that she was being very careful to hold by the rice part.
"I'm allergic to shrimp your majesty." Jinhee confessed and Jongin felt like a fool. Instead of apologizing he ripped the food from her hand and shoved it into his mouth so it bulged from his cheeks. Jinhee chuckled and went back to staring out the window only to be nudged with the large box of food that he had in his hands. She bowed slightly and went for the rice cake that had been rolled in sugars. Jongin noticed that when she ate something she liked she would do a little shake of her head as if she were dancing.
"Are you allergic to anything else?" Jongin asked and Jinhee explained that she almost everything in a shell made her sick and it was then that he remembered watching her pick around the clams and muscles on her plate at their wedding dinner.
"Ah...right..." Only then did it dawn on Jongin that he knew nothing about his wife and they were supposed to spend the rest of their lives together. Seeing the relationship between his mother and the King he figured that was the way it was supposed to be but Jinhee looked much weaker than his mother which made him want to more. If she was to be his wife then she had to be strong enough that no one else could bring her to tears.
"How's your mother?" Jongin asked and Jinhee just stared at him with an odd expression on her face. He cleared his throat before shoving more food in his mouth to try and ignore the awkward silence.
"She is fine, she cares for princess Kyungsoon most of her days." Jinhee reached over and grabbed another rice cake. Jongin figured that it might be the only thing she eat in the box so he purposefully ate around them and let her munch on them during their travels.
"Your father passed away right? How did it happen?" Jongin thought the question was harmless but as he looked to Jinhee he could see that the question had hurt her deeply and once again felt like a fool. He had never been alone with a woman this long and didn't know how to carry a conversation. When he was with Chen or his other friends it just flowed naturally so he never learned how to converse with others.
"My mother passed away when I was a child." Jongin threw out in the open and Jinhee seemed shocked. "She was pregnant with third brother. I was five when she died so my brother Sehun must have been two." Jongin nodded his head as he thought about the facts. "It was so long ago that I can't really remember her voice anymore. Every once in a while, in the middle of the night when I can't seem to sleep, sometimes I swear I can hear her calling out my name but I know it can't be." Jongin rubbed the back of his neck and looked over to Jinhee who was listening intently with a serious expression on her face. He had never told anyone that about his mother and he wish he hadn't as they sat in silence again.
"My father had been injured in the great war, protecting the King. It was his noble act that brought us into the palace grounds." Jinhee finally spoke up and now it was Jongin's turn to listen. "He had a bad leg after that and after one terrible winter he got very sick and his leg troubled him more and more until one day..." Jinhee's eyes glazed over as she stared off into the distance, reliving the day as if it were yesterday. "...he just didn't wake up." Jinhee choked out the last bit and Jongin recognized that look on her face. It was the same one he saw when he threw her pendant into the pond when they first became engaged.
"Was the pin...a gift from your father?" Jongin knew the answer but he felt a sharp stabbing in his heart when he saw her nod her head. She turned away from Jongin and tried to quickly wipe a tear from her face without him knowing but of course he saw. He handed her a silk napkin and she thanked him for it before turning her back to him again. His pride was too strong to apologize but internally Jongin promised to make it up to her one day because he knew that if anyone ruined the gifts his mother had given him, he would kill someone.
"What's your favourite colour?" Jongin awkwardly sputtered out as he closed the snack box and ruffled the papers in his hands again.
"Excuse me?" Jinhee sniffled and tried to pull herself together as she looked back at Jongin who was pretending to look at the papers. He had a lot of work to do in regards to the army and their next move on the people to the North, but he was getting interested in Jinhee.
"Mine is red." Jongin nervously gnaw on his lower lip as he wondered if Jinhee would be open to talking to him. He knew that the start of their partnership had been rough but if they could be friendly with each other he would prefer that then being enemies.
"Green." Jinhee muttered and a smile pulled at the corner of Jongin's lips and he had to fight back the large grin he wanted to have. All he could think about was how wonderful she would look in green with her pale skin and dark hair. For the rest of their journey, the two told each other their likes and dislikes, Jongin hitting hard that he hated people who lied and Jinhee telling him about her fear of water. After several hours together the two were laughing and the papers were forgotten on the bottom of the carriage with an unopened letter with the word 'URGENT' written on the back which Jongin had not read yet.
The two reached Heiryung's home and Jinhee was gobsmacked when she stepped out of the carriage. Two large wooden doors opened and the newly wed couple stepped into a beautiful home with lush gardens and birds chirping that neither of them had seen before. Heiryung had only arrived a short time before them but she had changed her clothes and came out to greet her guests with a large smile on her face. Jinhee was whisked away by some servants that would help her freshen up and change into some new clothes. Jongin tried to keep her by his side as he wasn't the most social person around but his sister forced her away and now Jongin felt very lonely.
"I know it is not as large as the palace but I hope it will suit you brother." Heiryung looked to Jongin who nodded his head in approval. It's true, the home was tiny in comparison to the palace but it was much more beautiful and for the first time in years Jongin felt like he could finally take a full breath of clean air. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he felt like a child. "Don't worry about your wife, she will enjoy a relaxing soak and be brand new when you're reunited for dinner." Heiryung and Jongin walked around for a short while, talking mostly about the warm weather and the trip to her home. Three children were ushered out, followed closely by their elderly nanny and they bowed deeply to Jongin. "These are your nephews Hakyeon and Taekwoon and your niece Chorong." Heiryung went to her children and stood by the eldest Hakyeon and looked to Jongin, she was clearly very proud of her children and the wonderful people they were growing into.
"Nice to meet you." Jongin said to them and once again they bowed. This was the first time he had ever met them as he had always stayed in the palace and children were kept at home so they wouldn't upset the King who hated nothing more than uncivilized children. They were pushed away by the nanny and once again the siblings were left alone. "If it is alright with you I wish to see my wife." Jongin said and the word felt foreign on his tongue but figured he had to grow used to it over time.
"Don't be silly, you have the rest of your life together. My husband wishes to spar against you; he think's he is a young man still. I will go and check up on princess Jinhee and make sure everything is to her liking." Heiryung pointed Jongin in the direction of her husband and the sparing grounds he had specially made in case any of the young princes had come to visit them which was once in a blue moon. Baekhyun had been a few times over the last couple years but the other brothers always claimed to be too busy to visit. Heiryung was going to use her time wisely and get close to her brother and his wife so she made her way towards washing quarters with her personal servant right on her heels.
"Is everything prepared Joohyun?" Heiryung asked as they stepped into the large room where Jinhee's new clothes were folded neatly and waiting to the side. On the other side of the room was a large natural hot spring and they could see the back of Jinhee's head as she soaked in the comforting water.
"Yes mistress." The woman replied and a smile spread on Heiryung's face as she slipped out of her clothes.
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I'm allergic to coconuts T_T makes it super hard to eat halo-halo
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