Taemin sits there shaken, as Jinki's mother tries her best to comfort him. Never in a million years did Jinki think that his father would be capable of this kind of disrespect. There was no reason for his father to treat a guest in that manner, let alone someone as important to him as Taemin. The young Prince just couldn't sit there and let it happen. He had to defend Taemin's honor somehow.

"Excuse me for a moment," he says as he walks out of the dining room door.

He storms up the stairs, his resolve growing more and more pronounced in his heart with each step that he took.

"Father..." Jinki says, opening his parent's bedroom door without even knocking. "I need to talk to you."

The King is sitting on the couch, busy reviewing the itinerary for the trip he was about to go on. "I have nothing to say, Son."

"Father," the Prince insists, sitting beside him. "I think you owe Taemin an apology." 

His father sets down his papers and looks at Jinki squarely in the eye. "On the contrary, it's you who owes me an apology."

Jinki couldn't help it at his eyebrows shot up at the audacity of his father's statement. "I understand that there are very traditional factors to consider, but--"

"This is our duty, Jinki. Have you forgotten who you are? You are poised to become the King."

"I have certainly not forgotten, Father. I fail to see what any of this has to do with Taemin," he says, his voice getting a bit higher than before.

"He is not good enough, Jinki. He is not of noble blood, he is not from a prominent family, he is not educated in the correct schools... He just is not acceptable to become part of the Royal Family, let alone one day rule the country with you. No, Son. This will never do," he says, never looking up from the papers he was reading.

"You never even gave him a chance," Jinki says, shaking his head. "Be that as it may, I don't think the choice of my future spouse is up to you, Father," he says, turning away. "Have a good trip."

JInki storms out of the room and closes the door behind him. His heart is racing, as this is the first time that he had ever confronted his father about anything in his life. It felt good to stand up for his choices. But his heart breaks at the discovery that his father was not at all the highly noble man that he thought he was. Making a snap judgment about someone like he just did with Taemin was something that someone of good character would never do. He collects himself before rejoining Taemin and his mother in the dining hall.

He smiles as he opens the door to find that his mother had done a good job of getting Taemin to smile again. 

"Sorry, everyone. It looks like father won't be joining us for the rest of the evening and that's quite alright by me," Jinki says, taking his place at the table.

"I'm so sorry, dears." The Queen says, directing her apologies to the both of them. "The King... He's quite traditional in his beliefs. I think he got taken by surprise, that's all." 

"It's alright, Your Majesty... I understand," Taemin says, obviously doing his best to give a brave face. 

"I hope you enjoy the food, Taemin. I chose the menu myself, especially for you," she says with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," he says.

Jinki tries to catch Taemin's eye and it wasn't difficult to see that he was still trying to get his footing after what just happened. He needed to think of a way to make it up to the young man. 

*****

"This is beautiful," Taemin says as the two of them walk through the Palace gardens that night.

There was every kind of blossom imaginable, all kept impeccably. The lighting in the garden made it feel like they were in the set of a movie rather than the backyard of an actual home. The crisp night air was just right, and it made for a rather romantic moment between the two.

"I don't know how to start apologizing for the behavior of my father," Jinki says, hanging his head low.

"It's not your fault, Jinki... It's okay," Taemin says kindly.

"No. It is certainly not okay. It is not acceptable, and I deeply regret how disrespected you were tonight. No one deserves to be treated that way, least of all you..." Jinki says sternly.

Taemin can see that the entire thing had bothered Jinki greatly, so he takes the Prince's hand and laces it with his. This seemed to calm the Prince down, and they both smile sweetly at one another.

"I'll be fine, I promise..." Taemin says sweetly. "So... Tell me about this place. Any funny stories about you playing in this garden when you were a kid?"

Jinki crinkles his nose at the presumption. "Play? Here? And trample the gardenias? Never."

Taemin's eyes grow wide at the confession. "What? You had this big beautiful garden all to yourself and you mean to tell me that you never played in it, like ever?"

Jinki shakes his head. "No... I didn't have much time for that, anyway... My childhood had a schedule," the Prince says, matter-of-factly.

"A schedule?"

"You know... Esquestrian lessons, piano lessons, language lessons... The usual. Learning French was my favorite," he says, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. 

"Right," Taemin says. "What about at school, did you ever get to play at school?"

"Not really..." The Prince replies.

"So nothing unplanned? No running in the park? No picnics? No going out to the movies? No going to the fair?" Taemin asks, absolutely shocked.

"No, definitely nothing of the sort. Just a full schedule and the occassional important meeting with important people," he says. 

"You poor thing... I had a hunch, but I didn't know that your life had been this rigid... You didn't have anything normal," Taemin says, concern dripping from his eyes.

"Really? I don't see it that way... I've seen a lot of the world because of my stature. There are so many people who have it a hundred times worse."

"You have such a big heart," Taemin says. 

"Me?" Jinki says, surprised at the younger man's assessment.

"Sure... I've been reading up on you, you know... You help so many people with your charity work, and you get to do the things that someone like me can only dream of. My absolute favorite was you putting up that school in the province near the border, so that the children wouldn't have to walk so far to learn? That was amazing. I can't believe you did that," Taemin says, with hearts in his eyes.

Jinki smiles back. "That was my favorite too... But really, my work pales in comparison to yours..."

The retort makes Taemin laugh really hard. "I highly doubt that, Your Highness."

"No, I mean it... You've volunteered for years making a real, tangible difference in the lives of these children for nothing in return. Charity is part of my duty, Taemin... For you, it's part of your heart," he says, with total admiration in his eyes. 

The look on the Prince's face makes Taemin blush. No one had ever looked at him or spoken about him in that way before. There really was a connection there between the two of them that neither of them could explain... But they could feel it... How strongly they could.

The Prince stops and turns to face Taemin who is doing his best not to let the blush on his face be that obvious.

"Do you think I could ever be part of that, Taemin?"

"Part of what?" Taemin asks, completely transfixed by Jinki's beautiful eyes.

"Do you think I could ever be part of your heart?" 

The breath hitches in Taemin's throat at the Prince's words. He never thought that he would be in this position where a handsome, kind man such as Jinki would be professing these words to him. 

He takes both hands of the Prince, making sure that he would look him in the eyes as he replied.

"You already are."

*****

Jinki stands at the foyer of the Palace watching the convoy drive away to take Taemin home. It comforted him to stand there until he could no longer see any of the cars. Minho shows up beside him, joining him in seeing the cars off.

"Was it a good evening, Your Highness?"

"It was, actually--with the exception of Father's behavior," Jinki says, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"I heard that His Majesty didn't finish dinner," Minho says."Don't worry, Sir... Taemin seems like a level-headed man." 

"You're right... He seemed to take it a lot better than I did," he says.

"It really seems like you've found your match, Your Highness," Minho says, smiling.

That made Jinki think. Minho was absolutely right. Taemin was able to hold his own over the worst behavior that he has seen from any member of his family, and was even the one to comfort him instead of the other way around. Their conversation in the garden only confirmed that they shared important ideals and principles in life, and that there was certainly a physical connection between the two of them. 

"Minho... Get a car ready. I'm leaving right now," the Prince says.

"Where to, Sir?" he asks, quite surprised.

"Taemin's apartment."

*****

Taemin barely got into his apartment when his phone started to ring. He scoffs as he sees the number flashing on the screen. Of course Kibum wanted an update as soon as possible. 

"Yes, Kibum?"

"How was it? TELL ME EVERYTHING," he says in a voice so loud, that Taemin actually had to take his ear off the receiver.

"Well... The King doesn't really like me," Taemin says.

"What? What do you mean he doesn't like you? How can anyone not like you? You're adorable," Kibum says.

"Apparently he doesn't think I'm good enough for Jinki... He talked to me for about ten minutes and left the dinner abruptly. I've never been more embarrassed in my life." 

"Oh my God... Really? I freaking hate the monarchy. What he thinks doesn't really matter, Taemin. How about Jinki, does he think you're good enough for him?" the older man asks.

"Yeah... I guess he does..." Taemin says, smiling at their sweet moment in the garden.

"Then don't listen to that stuffy old dude and just focus on the one that has his eye on you, okay? I can't believe that happened to you. You're the best guy I know! Except maybe for my yoga instructor... He lived in India for four years, and helped feed some kids or something like that, he's pretty good too. But you're up there, Taemin... YOU ARE!" 

"Thanks, Kibum," he says with a smile. That friend of his could be really sweet in his own way. "And, hey, thanks for hooking me up with this suit..." Taemin says, finally loosening the tie around his neck. 

"I saw the picture Jonghyun took, and you were all kinds of hot... I'm so proud of myself for being able to transform someone like you," Kibum says.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Kibum could answer, there was a knock on his door.

"That's odd... Kibum, are you here? Are you and Jonghyun at my door?" 

"Why would I be at your door when I am perfectly laid out on my soft, beautiful bed? Oh my God! Is someone at your door?? Is it the Prince?? Oh my God, let me listen for the love of God!" Kibum says, excitedly.

"HOLD ON! Let me find out who it is first," Taemin says, rolling his eyes at his very eager friend. "I really doubt that it's going to be Jinki. It's probably a lost pizza delivery guy."

Taemin swings the door open and his jaw immediately drops. "P-Prince Jinki..."

The Prince was standing at his door, with two Special Agents behind him, and the most beautiful smile on his face. 

"Surprise... I hope this isn't a bad time," Jinki says.

Kibum could be heard loud and clear over the phone that Taemin held in his hand. "IS THAT HIM?? OH MY GOD TAEMIN, THE PRINCE VISITED YOU?!?! I CAN HEAR HIM!!! IT'S HIM!!!!"

Taemin turns beet red as he hides his phone behind his back. "Hi... S-Sorry about that... I was talking with Kibum..."

"I can hear," Jinki laughs. "It's late and I don't want to take up too much of your time. I really just wanted to apologize one more time and give you this..." 

The Prince hands him a coffee table book with a ribbon on it. "This chronicled that school-building project that you liked so much... There are pictures and interviews with some of the locals... I thought you might like to take a look at it and see if this is the kind of thing that you would maybe want to do together one day... I think that I would really enjoy doing something like this with you..."

Taemin takes it with his free hand and admires the gift with all his heart. "I'll read it carefully... Thank you so much. I love it already," he says, a blush coming over his cheeks for the nth time that night. "I'm such a mess. I don't even have anything to give you in return..."

"Your smile is more than enough," the Prince says, with a look of longing in his eyes. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than to take Taemin in his arms and smother him in kisses but the presence of the Special Agents made it all too awkward. 

"Good night, Taemin... I'll see you very soon," The Prince says. He clears his throat and raises his voice a little bit. "GOOD NIGHT, KIBUM."

There was a muffled squeal in the background and the sound of what seemed like Kibum returning the evening greeting. 

Taemin steps closer to the Prince and plants a soft kiss on his cheek. "Good night, Your Highness."

It was the Prince's turn to blush, as he turns and walks away with his security detail. Taemin closes the door and sighs.

"Hello, Kibum? You were right. Jinki definitely thinks I'm good enough for him."