Minho was in the middle of coordinating the many things needed for the pre-Ball dinner happening tomorrow night, when he is surprised by the incessant ringing of his cell phone. He takes it out of his pocket and doesn't recognize the number on the screen. He taps the screen and carefully brings it up to his ear.

"Choi Minho," he answers cooly.

"Minho! Hi! It's Taemin, Prince Jinki's, uhm, friend? You gave me your number before... Is it a bad time to talk?" 

Minho chuckles at his interesting introduction.

"Oh, hello, Taemin... How can I help you?"

"I was just wondering how the Prince's schedule was like? I wanted to surprise him with something, and I really need your help..."

The older man smiles at the thoughtfulness of the young man. He could tell by the sound of Taemin's voice that he was really hoping that Minho could give him a hand.

"Well, today is pretty much filled but there are a couple of hours that are free tonight for his dinner, 7:00-8:30. Is that too soon?"

A sharp breath could be heard over the phone. "Tonight? It's not much time, but I guess I'm going to have to make it work... Do you think you can let me in the Palace and lure him into the garden for dinnertime?" 

Minho couldn't help but smile. He had no idea what Taemin was planning, but these two were completely adorable.

"Of course, Sir. I'll send a car to pick you up at your home at 6:00 and I'll introduce you to some of the staff to help you set up whatever you have in mind."

"Can you make it 5:00?" Taemin asks shyly. "I'm sorry to be so demanding... But I really want to make this special for him... Is that okay?"

"It's not a problem at all. If it will make the Prince happy, I'm all for it."

"You're the best, Minho! I'll keep in touch. Thank you, thank you!!" Taemin says, dropping the call.

Minho returns his phone in his pocket and smiles. This romance is surely going to bring some excitement back into the Palace, and he couldn't be happier about it.

***** 

Jinki's parents sit quietly together in silence at early morning breakfast before the King's trip to the border.

The older man was still upset about he and Jinki's confrontation and the Queen was equally upset about his behavior. The King quietly reads the paper as he sips his morning tea. The coldness continues until the Queen couldn't take it anymore.

"Really, last night's behavior was uncalled for," she says.

"I don't suppose that you spare me another lecture?" The King replies.

"Jinki had every right to be upset with you. I'm so disappointed. Taemin was nothing but sweet and polite. You didn't even take the time to get to know him beyond what you wanted to see," she says.

"Darling, do you remember when we wed? You and I were very civil towards each other, but I know that it took you years before you could accept our union."

"What's your point?"

"The point is, we didn't marry for love! At least not at first! This new-fangled concept that Jinki is trying to push forth is just not acceptable. There are traditions to uphold. Duty comes first," he says, finally putting down his paper.

"And what about being a father?" The Queen says, her eyes pleading with her husband. "You should have seen how happy Taemin's presence made Jinki. I've never seen him like that in all his life. He was glowing. I understand that you are concerned about the crown, but what about your son? You are King, but you are a father first..." The Queen says, reaching out to touch her husband's arm. "Jinki is happy... If you push him to do what you want, he's going to resent you for the rest of his life. Are these traditions worth losing your son over?" 

The King is silenced by the Queen's observations. Of course she made absolutely perfect sense. He loved Jinki more than anything else in the world. All he ever wanted was the best for him.

"Give Taemin a chance... He's a smart young man, with a big heart for the people. He may not be the traditional choice, but I really think that he can do a good job ruling with Jinki... And I can see that Taemin cares for him. He really does. Get to know the young man. At the very least, I know it would make Jinki happy. Please, sweetheart... I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart..."

He takes a deep breath and takes every word in. "Let's see when I get back from the border."

*****

"Kibum! Kibum, Kibum, I need your help..." Taemin says as he excitedly comes in for the morning shift. He was giddier than usual and this intrigues the older man to no end. "Pleeeeaaase pretty please, with cherries on top, could you please help me cook some stuff this afternoon?"

The older man's face lights up. "Cuisine. Of course. You've come to the right person. What kind of food do you need? Italian? French?"

"Corndogs," Taemin says with a huge smile on his face.

"You want me to cook what?" Kibum says, rolling his eyes.

"Corndogs, popcorn... I saw this thing on the internet for homemade cotton candy... Churros, those spiral-y fried potato things on a stick... All of that," Taemin says, taking a piece of paper and writing it all down.

"Okay, is there some sort of event at the hospital? Why all the kids' food? Can they even eat that junk?" Kibum asks, wiping down the counter of the cafe.

"No, it's for Jinki!" Taemin says, skipping towards the back of the store to put his apron on. 

Kibum follows him with a dead-pan look on his face. "You're going to feed our Crown Prince, the future King and ruler of the country... Popcorn?"

"Why not! Kibum, I don't even think he's ever had it before. He's going to be thirty soon. He should know what popcorn tastes like!" Taemin says, pleased with himself.

"Okay, fine. I'll give it to you. This is a cute idea. What exactly do you have planned?" 

"Nuh-uh. Those are for Jinki's eyes only. You already know too much. Just help me cook before my shift ends, kitchen slave!" Taemin teases, waving a spatula in Kibum's face. 

"Don't start with me, you brat, or you'll never get any of my help," Kibum says, snatching the kitchen tool away from his hand.

"Of course, I will... You love me," he says, cheekily. "And I'll never tell you anything about me and Jinki if you don't."

"Freaking annoying..." Kibum says, rolling his eyes. "Give me the damn list!"

*****

Jinki slumps in his chair, totally exhausted by the days events. Since the Ball and his birthday were nearing, he had to do his Princely duty of doing the media rounds and giving dozens of interviews. Everyone found it fascinating how the Prince was going to choose his future spouse and it made for good entertainment fodder. This was probably the part of his life that he hated the most--but he had to do it. He was just glad that he was done for the day, and have a quiet dinner to himself.

In the quiet, his mind immediately drifts to thoughts of Taemin. His smile, his hair, the sound of his voice filled his mind and the most challenging part of the day was to keep himself from gushing over him in the media interviews. He had to keep it quiet for now... But at least he had his thoughts.

He takes his phone from his pocket and checks it for the nth time. Taemin didn't really text him much today, and he found it a bit odd. Maybe he was busy at the cafe. The Prince didn't want to be overbearing and be the one to text first since he had been constantly visiting him the past few days. He didn't want to scare the young man away. But man, did he miss him.

Minho comes in to check on the Prince and remind him of the activities for the next day.

"Sir..."

"Minho, please tell me there is nothing more planned for this evening..." Jinki pleads.

"None, Sir, except for dinner..." Minho says, closing his clipboard and deciding to go over tomorrow's schedule in the morning instead.

"Thank God... I am so tired..." he says, putting his hands on his temples.

"Actually, Your Highness, there is one more thing that your mother has requested for you to do today... It's for the party tomorrow night..." 

"What is it?" he sighs.

"She wanted you to check the layout in the garden if it was to your liking, since the reception area will be transferred there for the meantime."

"Alright..." he says, groaning as he stands up. "Better get it over with so that I can finally end my day. Thank you, Minho. I'll tell you what I think in the morning. Get some rest yourself."

"Thank you, Sir," Minho says, a big smile on his face, knowing exactly what was waiting for the Prince when he gets there.

*****

Taemin nervously fixes the details in the garden for the nth time. He had been slaving away for the last couple of hours but he still wasn't content at what he was seeing. The Prince had always been the one to keep surprising him and this was the first time that he had done something special for the royal. He wanted everything to be perfect.

He puts his hands on his waist as he looks around and sighs. Looking at his creation, he could say that he was pretty proud of himself for pulling this off in such a short amount of time. He just wished that the Prince would like it as much as he did.

He was startled when a familiar voice behind him speaks up.

"Taemin?"

The young man whips around and puts his hands high up in the air. "SURPRISE!" The smile on his face only grew bigger as the Prince looked around in awe.

"Oh my goodness... Did you do all this?" Jinki says, his eyes wandering around every single element in the garden that Taemin had prepared.

There were colored lights put up all over the garden, strewn together with a mixture of streamers everywhere. In the middle of everything, there was a picnic spot, filled with all the yummy treats that he and Kibum prepared earlier in the day. Off to the side, there was a collection of every kind of board game that one could think of, ready to be played by the pair. It was Jinki's own private kid's party. He had never seen anything like it before.

"Yes, I did... Kibum helped... And so did Minho! Do you like it?" Taemin asks, hopefully.

Jinki's face was filled with wonder as he walked towards Taemin, taking his hands in his. "This is wonderful, Taemin... I don't even know what to say."

Taemin beams at Jinki's reaction. "It was just that last night, you were telling me that you never got to go to the fair or the movies, or play around, or do any of the normal stuff that everyone does growing up... So I thought I would bring everything to you!"

Taemin takes Jinki's hand and leads him to sit down at the picnic blanket, excited to feed him some of the food. "Are you hungry?" 

"Famished," Jinki smiles.

"Good, because I made every kind of junk food I could think of. I know you're really conscious of what you eat, but there are no diets tonight, okay?"

"Alright. No diets," Jinki he says, no longer being able to hide the excitement in his heart. The Prince is a proper color of crimson. He can't believe anyone would go through all this trouble to make him feel this special. It only made him like Taemin even more.

"So, what do you want to try first?" Taemin asks. 

Jinki eyes the food surrounding them and is intrigued by a yellow oblong shape on a stick. "What's that?"

"I had an inkling that you've never had this before. It's a corndog. It's basically a hotdog encased in fried bread." Taemin says, reaching over and handing one to Jinki.

The Prince takes a bite and his eyes grow wide with delight. "It's good!" he mumbles, with his mouth full.

"There's so much more for you here..." Taemin says. "But first... Wait here."

The young man stands up and comes back with a cake in his hands, filled with lighted candles. The Prince's heart skips a beat as he sees the birthday cake meant just for him. 

"What's this?" he asks, his face glowing with happiness. 

"I figured, your birthday is coming up and you're going to have to celebrate it with so many people... Like, the whole country... I just wanted a celebration for the two of us... Is that okay?" Taemin asks.

"It's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," Jinki says, beaming. "Wait!" he says, as he takes his phone out of his pocket. "Let's take a picture. I want to remember this forever."

The pair kneels closer together, posing for the camera. Jinki admires the picture on his phone as Taemin nudges the cake towards him.

"The candles are burning, birthday boy... Make a wish," he says with a smile.

"It already came true."