-End-
The Doctors DaughterOne year had passed since the rebellion over the palace and the world was starting to look like it had before. With the help of the soldiers, the villagers were able to rebuild their homes and even expand their farm lands after Jongin gave up some royal land that his father had taken years ago. Their fortune was much smaller, but their people were happier than before and much more trusting of their new King who didn't just sit on his throne and bark orders all day. In the unfinished garden, where Chanyeol had once tried to kill Jinhee, she had ordered an orphanage to be built. Because of the war many children had been displaced or abandoned with no where else to go.
It broke her heart to see so many innocent children affected by the actions of some unhappy prince so she took it upon herself to try and give them the happiest life they could get. The palace walls had at once felt like a prison to her but she was hoping that it would feel like protection for them. Jinhee was making her rounds through the castle, still learning to properly fulfill her role as the Queen. When someone called for her attention she came to a stop and felt something bump into the back of her. She looked behind her and saw Chorong following close behind her like a shadow. Her niece and nephews had been formally adopted by herself and Jongin and were treated much like royalty but scholars and advisors had continuously reminded them that no matter Hakyeon or Taekwoon did, they would not be considered for the throne. Jinhee had tried to fight for them, but even Jongin agreed as it was tradition. It broke her heart but she had to go along with her husbands orders.
"What can I do for you?" Jinhee crouched down to Chorongs size so they could be eye to eye. She had been reminded countless times not to do something like that as it would make her look less powerful but when it was just the two of them she didn't want to be seen as 'powerful', she wanted to be a motherly figure to her.
"Hayeon and Taekwoon said I couldn't play with them." Chorong looked defeated as she hung her head, peaking up through her hair with large puppy eyes at Jinhee. The Queen laughed and took the girls hard, walking with her for the rest of the day. Once it was finally time for dinner, the Queen was brought into the formal dining area where a large table was filled with food that there was no chance of them finishing. It had been a long time since she had seen that much food, but tonight she had made a special request for it. Jongin came bursting in a few moments later with noblemen following after him, asking questions faster than they could take in a full breath of air. Once they were in the dining hall though, they were ushered out by the guards so only Jinhee and Jongin were able to talk. A few servants ran around as the two began to eat and a letter with a former royal seal was on it. It was handed to Jinhee as the King wasn't a big fan of paperwork and reading. She broke the seal and read the letter as Jongin happily shoveled food into his mouth, catching some of it in his now fairly impressive beard.
"My King, we have a letter." Jinhee called out as she finished reading the last sentence.
"Who could like us enough to write?" Jongin joked but Jinhee just rolled her eyes and set it down on the table.
"It's from Kyungsoo's mother." Jinhee replied and Jongin froze with the chopsticks half-way to his mouth. "Apparently she puts a curse on us and says that Kyungsoo is on his death bed thanks to you." Jinhee didn't seem as bothered by the letter as she continued to eat.
"Is that so." Jongin muttered before putting the food in his mouth. A weird silence hung over the room until Jongin swallowed his food. "I have some spies on her and Kyungsoo, they send me updates every few months."
"Why haven't you told me this before?"
"I didn't want to stress you out about it."
"Why would it stress me out?"
"Because this is maybe the fifth letter shes sent us since we won." Jongin shoved food into his mouth again to stop himself from talking. Once he saw that Jinhee was waiting for him to continue he groaned and forced himself to finish his food. "My spies are keeping an eye on them in the northern country, they're not a risk to us. They're barely getting by day-to-day. She's just mad because she is a selfish woman who isn't used to doing things for herself."
"In the letter it said she's going to try and kill our first born child." Jinhee waved the letter in the air and Jongin rolled his eyes.
"We haven't even had time to think about having children, so we have time to make plans in case that crazy woman tries anything." Jongin slammed his hand on the table, hoping it would end the conversation but Jinhee didn't care if he was the King or not, this was a full on fight.
"Well we better hurry up and make those plans because there is going to be a royal child in the palace by this time next year." Jinhee yelled back and everyone in the room froze. The servants and Jongin were all looking at her as tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. "Tonight was supposed to be a celebration, but now I find out that my unborn child has a bounty on their head." Jinhee rested her hand on her stomach. News she had been trying to keep secret for over a month now and instead of it being happy and joyous, it was instead bitter. Jongin stood up, knocking over his chair and glass that was on the table. He stormed across the room towards Jinhee and for a moment, she didn't know how he was going to react. Once he reached her side, he knelt down beside her and rested his head on her stomach.
"Please, tell me if this is the truth." Jongin whispered into Jinhee's stomach and she reached out and touched the side of his face.
"Yes it's true my King. I'm pregnant." Jinhee started crying but was smiling the whole time as Jongin nuzzled up against her stomach. After a few moments he looked up at Jinhee with a burning fire in his eyes.
"No matter how long it takes, or what I have to do, I will always love and protect both you and our future. No one, not even my own family, will be able to harm a hair on their head. I promise this with my life." Jongin brought Jinhee to her feet and the two of them held each other, causing the servants to look away out of shock. The family they had lost during the war was starting to rebuild itself and the King and Queen wouldn't let history repeat itself.
-Present Day-
"! I'm going to be so late!" A young woman was sitting in the passanger seat of a car that was weaving in and out of traffic. She was trying to finish applying her makeup in the tiny window while the man driving was screaming at other cars to move.
"Don't worry, I'll get you there with tons of time left." The man said before another curse word slipped through his lips.
"Chanyeol, watch out!" She screamed and the man slammed on the breaks before hitting the back of a car sitting at a read light.
"Sorry Jinhee, did I mess up your eye liner?" He looked over, worried that his friend would be mad as she shoved her makeup bag back into her purse.
"No it's fine. I'll just walk the rest of the way, thanks for driving me." Jinhee grabbed the door handle and was halfway out the door when Chanyeol called out for her again.
"We still going for our dinner date tomorrow?" He asked with a big grin on his face.
"It's not a date Yeollie, just dinner. I'll text you later okay?" Jinhee closed the door and walked as fast as she could down the street to a fancy resturant where her father was waiting to have lunch with her. Her father traveled a lot for his work as a surgeon so actually being able to sit down and talk with him was a treat. She reached the restirant a few minutes later and she was brought to the private room in the back. The door slid open and sitting as a large table was her father in his nicest suit with his round glasses sitting on his face. Since she was a child, Jinhee had said her father looked like Santa Claus and even after all these years he looked as just as jolly. His health has been failing him lately but to Jinhee's knowledge, it was nothing too serious. Jinhee looked at the head of the table and saw a gruff looking man in a suit that looked so expensive it could probably pay for her apartments rent for the year. She straightened out her dress and made her way into the room, making sure to greet both men formally.
"This must be your daughter." The gruff man said as Jinhee sat beside her father.
"Yes, this is my lovely Jinhee. She's a neonatologist." He boasted proudly and the other man nodded his head before looking to Jinhee for confirmation.
"Yes sir, I treat sick or premature newborns." Jinhee quietly thanks the waitress who filled her water cup and thought about elbowing her father under the table for not telling her that she was going to be meeting one of his friends.
"That's a very noble profession." The man said and Jinhee thanked him for thinking so.
"She even traveled for Africa for a year to help out down there. She's very dedicated." Her father's laughter filled the room and Jinhee felt a nervous knot growing in the pit of her stomach. It happened every time her family bragged about her work to other people, as if it made her better than other people. The gruff mans phone began ringing and he excused himself and left the room. As soon as the door closed Jinhee nudged her father and glared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me I was meeting your friend, I would have worn something different." Jinhee looked at her plain black dress and felt wildly out of place in the lavish room surrounding her. It was the most expensive thing she had owned and now she felt like it was a piece of scrap fabric.
"He's an old friend of mine, we went to university in America together. He wanted to catch up and see how I was doing in life and there was no way I wasn't going to show off my beautiful and talented daughter. Now act on your best behaviour, he's the founder of one of the biggest tech companies in the world." Her father chugged his water as he began to get red in the neck.
"Which company?"
"You know the one on the side of all of the hospital equipment? Yeah, that one." Jinhee choked on her water right before the man walked back into the room, now followed in by a handsome young man in a tailored black suit with his hair perfectly styled. He had tanned skin and sharp eyes as he looked to Jinhee who was trying to cough out the water she had taken into her lungs. "I'm sorry, she is a little clumsy." Her father apologized as he pat her on the back, a little harder than was necessary.
"I would like to introduce you to my son, Jongin. He's currently working under me at the company." Jinhee and her father stood and greeted Jonin before all four of them sat down. The two older man talked for another ten minutes as the staff members brought in the set menu food and laid around twenty dishes down in front of them. Jinhee would casually take glances at Jongin and couldn't deny how handsome he was but he didn't seem interested in her at all which was a little hurtful but a man like that must be used to being surrounded by models, not doctors. Once the food was all brought out and the staff was all gone the two men stopped talking and nodded to each other.
"The reason we brought both of you here today..." Jinhee's father started out and the two children looked at them and he nervously looked to his friend.
"We would like the two of you to be married." Jongin's father said and the room grew heavy with tension. "Before the end of the year." Jinhee and Jonin looked at both men and then to each other, realizing what was happening around them. They were being set into an arranged marriage. Both stood up, glaring at their fathers.
"WHAT?! NO WAY!"
"I can't marry this man, I don't even know him!" Jinhee cried out and pointed at Jongin who rolled his eyes.
"I agree, could you imagine what people would say if I married such a plain woman like her?"
"Plain?" Jinhee snapped at him and he scoffed.
"Would you have rather I say ugly?"
"UGLY?!" Jinhee screamed and her father begged for her to be quiet. "You're nothing special either! You wear fancy clothes so women don't have to look at your gross face."
"So childish." Jongin muttered.
"You started it." Jinhee shot back and the two of them kept taking jabs at each other. The two older men began eating and looked to each other, a little worried that maybe they had made the wrong choice but they were both too stubborn to correct themselves.
"I plan to marry for love." Jinhee looked to her father, begging him to call off the marriage.
"Who could ever love a childish woman like you?" Jongin spat out and Jinhee thought about reaching across the table and slapping him. Finally, Jongin's father slammed his palm on the table and the room was silent once again.
"You two will be married. You will join our families and bring honour to both of us. That's final. So you better get used to each other." He ordered them to sit down and eat. Jinhee and Jongin sat down in their chairs, both sure that their lives were officially over.
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And that's the end. Hope you all liked this story. It is probably my favourite one I have ever written and I'm sad to see it finally done.
“The living and the dead,
The awake and the sleeping,
The young and the old are all one and the same.
When the ones change, they become the others.
When those shift again, they become these again.
God is day and night.
God is winter and summer.
God is war and peace.
God is fertility and famine.
He transforms into many things.
Day and night are one.
Goodness and badness are one.
The beginning and the end of a circle are one.”
―
The awake and the sleeping,
The young and the old are all one and the same.
When the ones change, they become the others.
When those shift again, they become these again.
God is day and night.
God is winter and summer.
God is war and peace.
God is fertility and famine.
He transforms into many things.
Day and night are one.
Goodness and badness are one.
The beginning and the end of a circle are one.”
―
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