Chapter 8.

"We fall in love by chance. We stay in love by choice."

He came back as he said he would.

Summer bled into autumn and the next time Jaehyun returned, it had been nearly 5 months. Hanbyul tried not to feel insecure, she truly did.

But it was hard to stop her doubts from roaming in her mind with no one to help reel them back. Thoughts of his ex-lover from the banquet would enter her mind on occasion, while other times, thoughts of him talking up another girl in a small time would plague her mind.

It was an unhealthy process fueled even further by his prolonged absence. Perhaps it was because she didn’t know where they stood or what they even were.

Once the lovestruck haze had disseminated after he left Seasons, Hanbyul felt herself crashing down to earth hard and fast. What did their kiss mean? Were they…in a relationship?

It almost seemed preposterous for her to think that she was in a relationship with the King of the Neo Kingdom and she immediately shut down that thought. They hadn’t established anything and she was only further left with questions that had no answers until he returned.

“It’s the King!”

“Two visits in a year? It must be a record.”

Hanbyul had just been walking back from the marketplace when the wisps of the King’s return reached her ears. Resisting the urge to seek Jaehyun out, she returned to the bakery, setting her ingredients down when she heard a jingle at the door.

She knew who it was before she turned.

“The sign says closed,” she commented though a smile spread across her lips when she turned around.

“Even for the King?”

A laugh escaped Hanbyul and she quickly discarded the rest of her shopping bags, nearly running into his arms though he readily caught her in a welcoming embrace.

“Welcome back,” she murmured into his chest.

“It’s good to be back.” She felt his chest ripple at his deep voice and she repressed a shudder that ran up her spine. Stepping back, she took a good look at his face, still breathtakingly handsome, the humorous smile permanently stuck to his lips.

“You’ve gotten lovelier since the last time I saw you,” Jaehyun said, taking her by her shoulders and spinning her around, inciting a small sound of protest of “I’m getting dizzy!” He stopped spinning her and grinned, “Which I didn’t think was possible after your—”

He cut his words as Hanbyul reached up and covered his mouth with her hands.

It was impossible not to blush when he was around and the burn of her cheeks was a familiar feeling at this point. It was obvious that the five months apart had done nothing but strengthen her infatuation with him.

“Let’s not ever talk about that,” Hanbyul huffed and Jaehyun let out a low chuckle.

Did he feel the same as her? Did he think of her in their time apart to the point he felt his heart physically ache? Was she the only one feeling this way?

Then as if hit with a train, her insecurities came back full blast and her hands dropped as she lowered her eyes slightly. Jaehyun’s smile fell a bit as he saw her avoiding his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Cookie,” he started gently but she just shook her head, giving him a smile that didn’t seem too convincing judging by the look on his face.

“It’s not that…” She started before clamping shut.

Jaehyun’s fingers traced up her arm and it felt like he was leaving a trail of fire along her skin. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“It’s nothing,” she said at length.

Stubborn little thing, Jaehyun thought as he reached for her hand, lifting it to place a soft kiss to her fingers. The action prompted her to look at him with her clear brown eyes. “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be like this. As much as I think that little furrow between your brows is cute, I’d rather much see you smile.”

Hanbyul bit her bottom lip and Jaehyun saw the internal fight she was having, her every expression passing through the little ways her cheeks puffed out or the lines on her face contorted. 

“Do you know how old I am?” She finally said and the question caught Jaehyun off guard, though he recovered quickly.

“Johnny may have let it slip that you just turned nineteen this year,” he replied.

“And you’re…”

“Twenty-five.” When sh