Taemin wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing incessantly. He groans as he picks it up, with one eye open, to see who it was.

"Kibum..." he says with a groggy voice.

"You need to come to work," he says in a really frantic voice.

"I have the afternoon shift today, Kibum..." he says, turning over in his bed.

"I know that, but I can't handle this on my own right now. I really, really need you to come in. Jonghyun has already been helping me but we're still in over our heads! It's really crazy. Please, please come in," he says, as he hears the clink of saucers and cups in the background.

"Huh?" Taemin sits up, utterly confused. Things are never this busy at the cafe. For as long as he had worked there, it had never once been busy at all. "What do you mean?"

"Just get over here, Taemin! I'm dying," Kibum says, dropping the call.

The younger man scratches his head in confusion, not really understanding what was going on. From the sound of Kibum on the phone, it looked like he had to get there as soon as he possibly could.

Taemin gets out of bed and doesn't even bother to go in for a shower, putting his work clothes on. In no time at all, he ready to head out the door. He grabs his coat and his sling bag, opening his front door and almost falling over in surprise.

"LEE TAEMIN!" someone screams in his face, as dozens of flashes go off in his face.

He closes the door as fast as he could, stunned from the shock of reporters just outside. They start to knock and ask questions through the door of his apartment. 

"Taemin, how does it feel to be chosen by the Crown Prince?"

"How long have you been hiding your relationship with Prince Jinki?"

"Have you started planning the Royal Wedding?"

The young man panics and clutches his jacket in his hand. They had found where he lived. What in the world was going on?

He picks up his phone and calls the one person he could think of to help him.

"Hello, Minho? What's happening?" Taemin says, his voice trembling. "There are reporters outside my door and I can't leave for work... They're asking me all these questions and I don't know what to do!"

An audible sigh comes over the phone. "They got there early..." Minho says. "We're actually on our way to you, Sir. I'm with a couple of Special Agents. We'll take you back to the Palace until we get all this sorted out."

"The Palace? No, Minho. I need to get to work. Kibum and Jonghyun need my help," Taemin says.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question for now, Sir. The media isn't exactly behaving the way that we had expected them to... You've become somewhat of an overnight phenomenon..."

"I'm sorry, what?" Taemin says, still clinging to his jacket in the middle of his hallway.

"The people's interest in you is unprecedented, Sir. There is no way that we can get you to the cafe because there is a crowd of people waiting for your arrival there."

"Wait, what are you saying? There are a few people in the cafe? Because of me?" he says, in complete disbelief.

"A few is a little bit of an understatement, Sir. Please stay put where you are, Taemin, and we'll be sure to keep you secure," Minho says, his voice sounding urgent.

There was nothing else that he could say in response. "O-okay... I'll be waiting right here," he says as he puts the phone down. 

People? The media? Fawning over him? If not for the reporters outside his door, he wouldn't have believed a single word of it. He knew that his world would change, but he didn't know that it would become a complete circus.

The young man goes up to his window and peeks from behind his curtain. There were news vans lining the street and people waving flags right outside his building. The minute that he peeked, a loud cheering could be heard from the crowd below. Taemin darts back into his room and feels his heart start to pound. He had become some sort of celebrity.

"Oh my God," Taemin says, trying to take deep breaths to calm down. 

His phone rings once again and he was so relieved to see that it was Jinki. 

"Jinki..." Taemin answers, tears forming in his eyes.

"Taemin, are you alright? They just told me about what happened. Minho is coming over as soon as he can. Is everything okay?" he asks, concern dripping from his voice.

"There are reporters right outside my door, Jinki... I'm so scared," he says, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on his fiance's voice to calm himself down.

"I'm so sorry... No one thought something like this would happen. Our countrymen seem to really adore you..." he says. 

"I never thought that adoration could be so scary..." Taemin says.

"I really hope mine isn't," the Prince answers, teasing him. This brings a smile onto the young man's face as he remembers the complete bliss that he was in with his beloved the night before. He looks down at his hand and sees the beautiful ring that he was presented with. It told him that no matter what was going on, he belonged to someone. He belonged to Jinki.

"No... You're perfect," Taemin says, feeling ten times better.

Their conversation is interrupted by an urgent knock on Taemin's door. 

"Sir, it's Choi Minho. It's safe to come out now," he says from behind the wood.

"Minho's here..." Taemin says, still clinging to his phone for comfort.

"Okay, that's a relief. I'll see you soon, Honey. Take care okay? Minho will keep you safe... I love you," Jinki says.

"I love you," he says, finally putting the phone down and safely opening the door to his apartment.

*****

The trip to the Palace was such a frenzy. They had to push their way through the reporters and the crowd that formed outside his building. Taemin was trembling as Minho and the Special Agents flanked him. Once he was in the car, he was able to look around at the madness and he was stunned. There were tons of people there waiting for him; just for him.

"What is this, Minho?" Taemin asks, his eyes wide with amazement.

"Fame seems to have found you, Sir," the older man says, directing the convoy to start their journey back to the Palace.

Taemin's face grows pale at the realization... He was from being an inconspicuous member of society to one of the country's most recognizable faces, literally overnight. His hands are shaking as he dials Kibum's number... This wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation at all.

"Where are you??" the older man asks.

"I'm so sorry but I can't make it. Minho came by and I'm on my way to the Palace now. It's so crazy, Kibum! There were people and reporters outside my apartment," Taemin says.

"You don't have to tell me that! They're over here, too! Crap, looks like we're going to have to make do. Wish me luck!" Kibum says, ending the call. 

The young man takes a deep breath as he sinks into the soft leather of the car seats. He couldn't believe this was going to be his life now. 

*****

Jinki was waiting for him at the foyer once he arrives at the Palace, ready to greet him with a big embrace. Taemin runs into his arms and nuzzles his face into the Prince's neck, the older man's scent bringing him immense comfort. 

"Are you alright?" The Prince asks. "You seem so shaken... How bad was it, Minho?" he asks his friend who came in behind Taemin.

"We have our work cut out for us, Your Highness..." Minho says, as he fixes his tie. Dealing with the media had always been his forte. He loved the challenge that this complication would bring. "If you'll excuse me, Sirs, I have to make some calls."

"Of course, Minho," the Prince says, never letting go of Taemin. He takes his fiance's hand and leads him to a room in the Palace that he had never been before--the breakfast nook. "Come, Mother and Father have been quite worried..."

They walk hand-in-hand, with Taemin still trying to calm himself down.

"You have seen everything, Jinki... It was chaos! They were everywhere... If it wasn't for Minho--"

"Actually, we have seen it... Sort of. You're all over the news," Jinki says.

"What do you mean?" 

They arrive at the royal breakfast nook with the King and Queen already seated and in the middle of their morning meal. The King was reading the day's paper, with Jinki and Taemin's picture plastered all over the front page.

"Good morning, dears..." The Queen says cheerfully. "It's been quite an exciting morning, hasn't it?"

Taemin automatically bows at the sight of his future in-laws and greets them respectfully. "Good morning, Your Majesties... And yes, it really has..." 

The young man's heart was still racing, as he has yet to discover the scope of what was really going on about him in the media. 

"You should eat, Taemin. Sit down and eat something," The King says, gesturing at the empty chairs beside him. 

The pair sits down, but is immediately distracted by the sounds coming from the television behind the Queen.

"Oh my God," Taemin says. "That's my third grade teacher."

His eyes are transfixed on the television set as person after person from his past and present appear, giving interviews. They talked about how they knew Taemin and about their experiences with him--no matter how insignificant. Apparently, the details of his life was now news-worthy. At the end of the segment was a shot of the cafe. Taemin gasps as he sees the amount of people waiting to get in their normally deserted place of work. There was a queue of eager people that s all across the street. No wonder Kibum was panicked.  

Jinki reaches out and grabs Taemin's hand as his eyes grew wide at the television screen.

"I'm so sorry about all this," the Prince says. The young man was too shocked to even say anything in response. 

"It's rather unusual, Taemin... Really, it is. In all my years, the country has never been this interested in any member of the royal family. I think your addition really is a good thing. It revitalizes the monarchy... Makes us more relatable and modern..." she says, taking a sip of her morning tea.

"I really would have to agree," the King says. "I've already had multiple calls from different heads of State congratulating the both of you on your engagement. It's extraordinary."

"I... What about my family?" Taemin asks. 

"Don't worry, sweetheart. They were safely escorted back to the province this morning and there are Special Agents assigned to them for the time being, just in case," the Queen says. 

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty..." Taemin says, feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

"This is a complete circus..." Jinki says, rubbing his temples with his hands.

"I know... Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do for long..." the Queen says.

"What do you mean, Mother?" Jinki asks, concerned.

"Well, technically, Taemin is still a commoner. It would be fine to assign some agents to him and his loved ones for a short while, but something like that cannot be sustained... The laws just forbid it... Something about it being a frivolous expense," she says.

"Unfortunately, she's right... A citizen can't be showered with so much resources without a threat to their life, and despite him being a celebrity now, that's all there really is to it..." the King adds.

"Oh dear... I'm so sorry, Your Majesties, but what about my studies? The safety of my family and friends? Surely, my life shouldn't stop because of this... With all due respect..." Taemin says.

"He's right, Father. If public interest is going to stay this way, he's going to need certain protections. I'm really not comfortable with just letting he and his family be until he becomes an official part of the family... That could take months, and who knows what could happen in that time?" Jinki says.

"Unless..." the Queen says with a mischievous look on her face. She shoots a look at the King who smiles back at her instantly. The two seem to have hatched a solution with just one look at one another. 

"How would you both feel about moving the wedding up?"