“Looks like you lost the bet.”

Prince Jung and Tax Minister Kim had met up at the brothel again to talk over some plans.

“I really thought that my brother had grown fond of his wife. Guess I was wrong,” said Prince Jung. “A chest of silver will be sent to your house later at night, for losing the bet.”

Kim Min Jun smirked, and took a sip out from his cup. “Thanks. The reason I asked you to meet me here is to tell you that the Crown Prince had found evidence of our involvement in the assassination of the late Crown Prince.”

“What? How?”

“Well, he only has proof of my involvement. The Crown Prince had come to me to exchange for proof that you were the mastermind behind the assassination of the late Crown Prince.”

“And you are telling me this, because?” Prince Jung clenched his fist around the cup he was holding in his hands. “You want to give me a warning before throwing me under?”

“No, no, no. My loyalty continues to lie with you, Your Excellency,” said Kim Min Jun. “I’m telling you this so that we can get rid of the Crown Prince before he brings the evidence to court.”

“If it were that easy to get rid of him, we would have gotten rid of him during the ambush. But he came back alive and now he is untouchable,” said Prince Jung, taking a swig from his cup and pouring himself another cup of alcohol. “The only other way was to use the Crown Princess as his weakness to threaten him, and now that is out of the picture.”

“Even without my sister, there is still another way. I will lure him out of the palace to pass him the proof I have against you, and when he comes, we will have our strongest men there to ambush him.”

“How are you so sure this time will work?”

“There’s no reason for the Crown Prince not to trust me, since he badly wants proof of your involvement. I am not his target.”

“No mistakes this time?”

“You can trust me.”

***

It is the day of the lantern-lighting festival. Everyone, nobles and commoners got all dolled up to celebrate the festival on the streets of Joseon. It is a festival that is celebrated annually, and people celebrate them with their loved ones, under the fireworks before they make a wish and release the lanterns.

Taeyeon left the palace with Hui as her , under the disguise that she is just a noble lady. She was dressed in an intricate hanbok concealed beneath a simple robe, and dressed Hui up the same so that they could match.

She definitely needed a change in environment. Being cooped up in her room all day, with only Hui to accompany her, was extremely boring. She hasn’t seen Baekhyun ever since the day she cried over him. She decided that if he wants to see her, he will come to her room by himself. She is not going to talk to him until he explains himself.

Taeyeon stopped at the side of the bridge, joining the other commoners that are all lined up along the bridge with their loved ones, admiring the beautiful view of the floating candles on the river. Leaning her arms over the bridge, she felt a bit lonely, feeling like the only one there to be unaccompanied by a loved one.

Hui had already left her alone for a while as she went to buy some lanterns for the both of them. She glanced at the long queue around the stall not far away from where she was standing, thinking to herself that she is going to have to stand alone here for quite a long time before they can start lighting up their lanterns.

Heaving a sigh, she gazed down at a fully bloomed cherry blossom tree that is at the bottom of the bridge. The falling petals of the cherry blossoms along with the candlelights in the river made her feel lonelier than ever.

Then, a familiar silhouette walked past the bottom of the bridge, heading down the direction of the crowded street. She recognised him in an instant although he had a gat that had mesh curtains in front to cover his face. He was dressed in noble robes instead of the usual dark blue robe with the royal crest in front of his chest.

She quickly raced down the stairs that lead to the bottom of the bridge, and chased after him. But as she got further into the crowd, she realized that she could no longer see him. She had lost him in the crowd.

Taeyeon wanted to turn back to go back to the bridge, but it was so crowded and people towered over her that she couldn’t see where she was going. One person who walked past her accidentally pushed her in the shoulder, causing her to fall back. And another person that was walking behind her pushed her forward again.

I have to quickly get out of the streets before I get stampeded in this crowd.

She forced her way between the bodies of people to safely get out of the street. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here, what was she thinking? If she actually chased after him, what is she going to tell him? She already promised herself not to talk to him unless he talks to her first.

When she was finally away from the streets and in an unlit alleyway, she breathed out a sigh of relief. But jumped when two dark figures emerged from the darkness, with creepy smiles on their faces as they eyed her up and down.

She took a few steps backwards, her heartbeat accelerated by the second, realizing that she was backed into a corner.

“Want to be friends? Let’s hang out,” one of the greasy guys offered.

“No thank you. I am waiting for someone, and  he’s coming soon,” Taeyeon lied. Her hands tightened around her clutch, wondering if they were going to rob her.

“Really? Then we can wait for him together. Let’s grab some drinks together,” one of the men placed his arm around Taeyeon’s shoulders, pulling her close to him.

“Get away from me!” she shoved the guy away from her, causing the guy to fall towards the wall. The guy reeked of alcohol. “My husband will be here any minute, you better run away while you can!”

“Oh yeah?” The other guy reached out to touch her hair, but he was immediately hit by someone who jumped down from the top. The guy groaned on the ground, massaging his sore shoulder.

“Hyun?”

Taeyeon was surprised to see Baekhyun in front of her. She glanced up, wondering how he came down from the sky.

The other guy was about to hit Baekhyun, but when Baekhyun showed him the sword attached to the belt of his hip, he quickly backed away and helped his friend up before running away from them.

Taeyeon brushed away the imaginary dust off her shoulder, glaring up at Baekhyun. She almost asked him what he was doing here, but she stopped herself before the words left because she doesn’t want to speak to him unless he starts the conversation.

“Why did you come here by yourself? Don’t you know how dangerous it is?” he asked, looking worried and mad at the same time.

Taeyeon kept quiet, looking away from him and at the streets. She is only reminded of what he said that day, whenever she looks at him.

When she ignored him, Baekhyun sighed and quietly grabbed her hand and led her away from the alleyway. Although she didn’t want to speak to him, she willingly let him lead her through the crowd.

Baekhyun’s cold aura was even more obvious as he was dressed in black, with his face covered by the dark mesh hanging around his gat. People on the streets automatically made way for him and Taeyeon, fearing to accidentally bump into him.

When they were finally out of the crowd, Baekhyun let go of her hand and turned to her. “Go up the bridge, your servant is up there looking for you.”

Taeyeon glanced at the top of the bridge to see Hui up there, looking for her frantically.

“Are you not going with me?” she asked him.

“I have to go back.”

“Without lighting up a lantern to make a wish?”

“I don’t believe in them.”

Taeyeon grabbed his hand, stopping him from leaving. She didn’t want him to leave because this might be the only chance she has to spend some quality time with him. She knows that once they get back to the palace, they will go back to staying out of each other’s lives.

“Stay. Let’s celebrate together.”

“How about your servant?”

“Wait here.”

Taeyeon raced up the steps and reunited with Hui. She then told her to go and have fun by herself first, as she will be spending time with the Crown Prince, and they will head back together later. Hui was excited for her, so she immediately agreed and passed the lanterns she bought to Her Highness.

She returned to Baekhyun at the bottom of the bridge with the two lanterns in her hands. “Let’s write our wishes and release them to the sky.”

After both of them were done writing their wishes, they went back to the side of the bridge. They were the only people there. No one was around them because it isn’t exactly a well-lit corner. It is also not an ideal place to release the lantern because of a huge cherry blossom tree that towers over them.

“Later, someone will announce it, then everyone will release their lanterns together,” she told him. She used to celebrate this festival together with her younger brother, Kim Min Woo. The last time she celebrated was with her younger brother as well, where he wrote that he hopes that he will pass his exams and she wrote that she hoped that her family will stop forcing her into arranged marriages.

Time flies and now she is actually in an arranged marriage. Sometimes she feels glad that she rejected all those bethrotals, because she wouldn’t have met the Crown Prince if she didn’t. But after that heartbreak she went through, she wasn’t sure anymore.

“What did you wish for?” she asked him, trying to fill in the silence as they waited for the announcement. She had written that she hopes for a healthy and happy future for the rest of the year. But she didn’t get to see what he wrote down just now.

“You will see when the lantern goes up,” he replied, a small smile appearing across his face. He had taken off the mesh that covered his face earlier when they were alone, so she could see his face clearly now.

Taeyeon stared at him. It has been a long time since she saw him smile. Seeing him smile made her heart flutter. She looked away, hitting herself mentally for being so easily affected by the simplest things.

She nearly jumped when his hand came near her face. His hand reappeared in front of her with a cherry blossom petal between his fingers.

“A petal landed on your hair.”

“Oh.”

Great, now my heart is beating even faster.

Finally it was time to release the lanterns, both of them let go of their lanterns together, and Taeyeon tilted her head back to read what wish Baekhyun had made.

Baekhyun just smiled as he gazed at her, he was amused by her curiosity as she stared up into the sky, waiting for his lantern to spin towards her line of sight.

When Taeyeon finally read Baekhyun’s wish, she froze, her eyes widened with disbelief.

I wish that all of my wife’s dreams will come true.

Her breath seemed to catch in as she registered what he wrote as his wish in her mind. Her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue, betraying the surprise that had taken hold of her body.

She looked at Baekhyun to see him staring at her with a smile on his face. His eyes were filled with warmth and intensity that made her heart race.

"I already have everything I want. So I made that wish," he explained when he noticed her staring at him in awe.

In that heart-fluttering moment, she blurted out the words that had been clouding her mind.

“I think I have a deep affection for you.”

Shock registered in his eyes when she said that. The smile on his face faltered, and his expression hardened. “No. You can’t.”

Taeyeon was confused by his reaction. Maybe she was caught in the gravity of the moment, but she swore she felt Baekhyun felt the same way too when he looked at her. There was something about the way he looked at her that made her heart flutter.

“Why? What are you so afraid of?” she asked him, feeling disappointed by his reaction. “I.. I can feel that the feeling is mutual. I felt a connection.”

“Afraid?” he scoffed, tearing his eyes away from her. “I just don’t need that kind of distraction in my life. Do you want me to be dead? Assassinated? Overthrown by my brother? Because of you?”

Taeyeon was confused why he suddenly got mad, what made him so defensive about his feelings?

Her jaw clenched as she fought to contain the rising tempest.

The glint of danger that hinted at the beginning of a storm disappeared from his eyes when he noticed her jaw trembling.

“My apologies,” he quickly apologized, realizing that he was being too defensive. “Let’s pretend that we never had this conversation.”

There he goes, avoiding again.

As he turned away to leave, Taeyeon grabbed onto the hem of his robe. “Are you doing this because you believe that I could not love you?”

When he didn’t turn around to face her, she continued, “I do. I love you. I have fallen in love so deep with you that I can no longer hide my feelings for you. If you do not love me, just tell me. And I will go back to the way it was before.”

Baekhyun slowly turned around to look at her. Their eyes locked, and Baekhyun knew it was too late to look away.

“We will live separate lives in the palace. But you have to say that you do not love me first, and I will deal with my own feelings alone. I will stop.”

“Taeyeon-a.”

He said her name softly, barely louder than a breath.

“Tell me. Just tell me and I will –”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened with surprise when his lips crashed onto hers.

It was a kiss filled with innocence and wonder, a chaste connection that spoke of budding affection and unspoken promises.

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she kissed him back. His hand came up and captured her jaw, just below her ear. His fingers curled around the base of her neck, arching her head back as he deepened the kiss.

As they shared a kiss under the cherry blossom tree, the world around them seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them, lost in the enchantment of their kiss.

And at that moment, the weight that had pressed up her chest, suffocating and heavy, began to lift. It was as if the burden of heartbreak had grown wings and taken flight, replaced by hope and sweet anticipation of a love that is starting to bloom within her heart.