Bits and pieces of spring made their initial advent in the Kingdom of Choson about a month ago and have since taken their full form. What has been an exceptionally harsh and dour winter has at last been driven away and replaced with a milder and exceedingly more pleasant climate filled with warmth and abundant sunshine. 

Days have become longer, rich green leaves of plants and trees— which had been barren for months— have begun to regenerate, and several kinds of pretty and delicate flowers have come to blossom.

While on his afternoon walk, Baekhyun admires all that Spring has bestowed upon the Royal Palace. While winter provides the palace with a certain charm and beauty that is quite noteworthy, the allure soon wears off and one is left to patiently anticipate the colors that come with spring. At least, that is how Baekhyun feels. 

As the Crown Prince traverses through the East Palace garden he chances upon a swarm of people buzzing about the all too familiar peach tree. Mainly a few servants who seem to be plucking its blossoms that now embellish its branches.

He also finds the Crown Princess in a state which is rather unusual, yet not entirely outside of the possibility of unexpected things that the said princess may engage in. In this instance that unexpected thing being her hanging from a branch of the peach tree while kicking her feet in the air. From the looks of it, she seems to be having a jolly time.

Her lady-in-waiting, however, does not share her amusement as she looks up to her mistress with concern. “Mama, please, come down.” Madam Choi urges. 

Unsurprisingly, the Crown Princess ignores her lady’s-in-waiting request and continues on with her eccentric choice of entertainment.

Baekhyun can only chuckle and shake his head at his consort’s antics. He is convinced he's been deceived. There is no way the Crown Princess' age exceeds that of his own.

“Choha!” Mura greets the Crown Prince with glee upon noticing his presence. 

“What are you doing, Sejabin?” 

“What does it look like I'm doing?”

“It looks like you’ve gone mad.”

Mura laughs. “Come, join me, Choha.” She then uses the momentum of her body to swing back and forth. This causes the branch within her grasp to shake vigorously and a flurry of the pale pink peach blossom petals to break apart and fall, as a result.

“Uh… I’m afraid I must regretfully decline.” Baekhyun felt no such regret. The idea of hanging from a tree for no reason isn't nearly as amusing to him as it is to the Crown Princess.

He instead chooses to longingly watch the other as she gets showered with the falling petals while she hangs beautifully from the branch as if she, herself, were one of the blossoms— the most majestic one of them all that Baekhyun wishes to pluck and keep for himself.

Mura decides she’s had her fun. She releases her grip on the branch and her feet meet the ground. She brushes off her hands before walking up to the Crown Prince. 

Baekhyun shakes his head. “You are such a child.”

Mura simply shrugs and giggles in response. 

Baekhyun smiles softly and stares fondly at her in silence. 

“What is the matter?” Mura asks, a little unsettled.

She has noticed much change in the Crown Prince, as of late. He behaves differently these days. He speaks differently. He even looks at her differently. Much like he is doing now. Like his gaze could pierce through her soul, and it never fails to invoke a strange sensation in her.

Baekhyun’s eyes travel up to the crown of her head. “You have petals stuck in your hair.”

“Oh.” Mura proceeds to brush off the petals when the Crown Prince catches her hand.

“Don’t. They look pretty on you.”

A flush creeps across Mura’s cheeks. She withdraws her hand from the other's grasp. 

Baekhyun’s eyes fall on Mura’s fingers and a thought crosses his mind. “Sejabin, may I ask why you do not wear garakji?” 

Garakji refers to a pair of rings worn exclusively by married women.

“I believe every bride receives a pair with the rest of her wedding gifts. You were given a pair of your own, were you not?”

“Uh... perhaps. I have never been much too keen on wearing jewelry, hence I never sought them out.”

Baekhyun nods. “I see.”

The two awkwardly stand in silence for a moment.

“So," Mura speaks up. "I’ve been told the royal kitchen intends on using these blossoms to make wine.” 

“Yes, it is something of a tradition here at the palace, done every spring when the blossoms have come to bloom fully.”

“I am quite intrigued. I can’t say I have ever had wine that has been made with blossoms of peaches.”

“Oh, then we must change that. Peach blossom wine is a delight that must be experienced. Once it is brewed and ready for consumption, let us enjoy it together.”

Mura smiles and nods in agreement. 

 

 ╚══ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══╝

 

 

Two weeks later.

 

Mura is on the verge of losing her consciousness to sleep when an odd sound pricks at her ears. She briefly opens her sleep-laden eyes to make a quick survey of her room which is only illuminated by a dimly lit lamp which is enough to discern if something was amiss. It wasn't. Thus she closes her eyes back in order to get on with her sleep. 

After a brief pause, the sound returns. Mura ignores it at first, choosing to concentrate on her attempts at sleeping, however, the sound persists. Positively vexed, she sits up and looks around again in order to catch the source of the sound. It doesn’t take long for her to realize someone is gently tapping on her window from outside. Confused by who could possibly be doing such a thing at this hour, Mura shuffles to the said window and opens it, ready to chastise whoever’s on the other side. 

“What is the meaning—”

“Shh!”

“Choha?” Mura sees the Crown Prince standing outside of her window.

“Shh,” Baekhyun hushes her again. 

“Mama?”

Both Baekhyun and Mura hear one of the night shift maids call out for her mistress from the corridor outside of Mura's chamber. 

“Mama, I thought I heard you speak. Do you require any assistance? Shall I enter the chamber?” The maid asks.

Baekhyun shakes his head at the Crown Princess as a silent instruction for her to not let his presence be known. 

“No, it is fine. I shall sleep now, so rest easy.” Mura shouts to her maid before turning her attention back to the Crown Prince. “Choha, you better have valid reasons for loitering before my window in the dead of night like a troubled spirit,” she whispers. 

Baekhyun lets out a quiet chuckle. “Come with me,” he whispers. 

“To where?”

“Somewhere.”

“At this very moment?”

“Yes, at this very moment.”

Mura eyes the other warily. “I’m not certain if it is a good idea…”

“Whatever happened to your sense of adventure, Buin?” Baekhyun teases. 

It used to make Mura cringe internally— the other addressing her as buin—-  which he has now made a habit of calling her in private. But she has since grown accustomed to it. Although from time to time Mura finds herself wondering why the Crown Prince suddenly insisted on addressing her so intimately. And this isn't the only thing as the Crown Prince has been giving her many things to wonder about with his recent actions.

“I still very much retain my sense of adventure, I’ll have you know,” Mura declares.

Baekhyun smirks. “Then you shall have no qualms about doing as I say.”

“Which is to blindly follow you to an undisclosed location on a promise of a late-in-the-night adventure?”

Baekhyun’s smirk stretches wide into a brilliant smile. “Precisely.”

Mura can’t help but huff out a small chuckle. 

Baekhyun leans forward over the window sill. “What do you say, my dearest Buin?”

“You vex me so much, do you know? Move now, I cannot possibly expect me to leap over you.”

Baekhyun quietly chuckles before moving aside, allowing his consort to climb through the window and join him outside. 

As Mura quietly closes the window from outside, Baekhyun picks up a lantern and a ceramic bottle from the ground.

“What’s in the bottle?” Mura inquires, as she follows the Crown Prince while they inconspicuously leave the grounds of their residence. 

“Peach blossom wine.”

“Oh, don’t mind me then.” Mura attempts to take the bottle from the other’s hand but the other quickly pulls it away from her reach. 

“Patience, Buin, patience,” Baekhyun says with a smirk.

Mura simply scoffs. “Why do you insist on not telling me where exactly it is we’re going?”

“That is because I do not know it myself.”

Mura frowns. “So, I sacrificed a truly pleasant slumber for the great unknown? Marvelous.” 

Baekhyun only chuckles. 

They traverse through the East Palace garden, eventually reaching the familiar scarlet wooden bridge over the nearby lake.

“This should work just fine.” Baekhyun sets the lantern down and perches himself in the middle of the bridge.

“So this is your idea of a great big adventure?” Mura remarks disappointedly before taking a seat next to the prince. 

“To be fair, I never made claims of a great adventure. Furthermore, isn’t any amount of time spent with me intrinsically an adventure?”

Mura scoffs. “What nonsense? Give me the bottle.” She snatches the ceramic vessel from the other’s hand and takes a whiff of the content inside of it. A sweet aroma embraces her senses. “I must say, it smells divine!” She then enthusiastically takes a sip of the floral wine. “Mmm, tastes divine, as well!"

“Had I not promise it was a delight?” Baekhyun reminds.

Mura hums and nods as she gulps down another sip. “Indeed you had.” When she directs her gaze at the Crown Prince, she catches him staring at her while his head rests over his arms and knees. "What?"

"It is such a rare sight to see you with your hair down, but it is quite the treat when I do get to see it." 

Mura finds herself running her fingers through her long tresses. 

"It's a shame that such lovely locks should have to be bound at all times. I much prefer them untethered."

So does Mura, but as a married woman, she is required to have her hair pinned in a bun. The only time she is allowed to leave it free is during bedtime. Mura ignores the flattery so openly given by the Crown Prince and the way it makes her giddy. She takes one more sip from the wine bottle before passing it to the other. "You've changed, Choha."

Baekhyun swallows the liquid in his mouth before looking at the other. “How so?”

Mura shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know… you’ve become bold, for one—- sneaking out of your quarters in the middle of the night and drinking wine on a bridge unattended— quite naughty of you, I must say.”

Baekhyun laughs.

“You are definitely far more amiable and agreeable than you were when we first became acquainted.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes. You were painfully taciturn.”

“Painfully?” Baekhyun emphasizes, offended. 

“Yes, painfully. And gravely somber at all times.”

Baekhyun chortles. “Well, I suppose I have you to thank you for bringing out a more ‘amiable and agreeable’ side to myself.”

“Yes, I shall gladly take the credit if it is the case.”

“It is,” Baekhyun says in an earnest tone. 

Mura offers a small smile. Baekhyun then hands her back the bottle. 

“Although it isn’t all positive if I’m being honest,” Mura says after taking a sip. 

“No?”

Mura shakes her head. “I have come to find recently that you have an odd sense of humor that often engenders a sense of discomfort.”

Baekhyun is taken by surprise by that statement. “Really? You are saying I make you uncomfortable?”

“As of late, yes.”

“You must know that saddens me to hear. How do I make you uncomfortable?”

Mura ponders over her response. “Never you mind. Forget I even said anything.”

“Oh, you can’t do that? You can’t lure me in then leave me in suspense. It is nothing short of cruelty.”

“How dramatic of you.”

“Come now, Buin, enlighten me. How do I make you uncomfortable?”

“You do not make uncomfortable, per se. It’s only…” Mura struggles for the right words. “Sometimes, not all the time, of course… on rare occasions, you tend to say things that I find— how shall I say— I find to be a bit odd.”

“Like what?”

Mura explores her chest of memories to find an example. She then reminds the other how they were in the library a few days ago and she had caught the other staring at her instead of reading his book. When Mura had asked him why he had been staring, he answered with, “I am being distracted by your pretty face.”

A sudden deafening silence takes over the conversation with the exception of the crickets chirping in the background before Baekhyun explodes into a roaring laugh.

“Shh, you will alert others of our whereabouts!” Mura shouts in a whisper. 

Baekhyun tones down his laughter. “That made you uncomfortable?”

“Of course. It is such an odd thing to say to someone,” Mura argues.

“But you’re not just someone. You’re my consort. I should think it is a perfectly fine statement to make to one’s consort.”

Mura frowns. “You tease me, Choha, and I do not care for it." 

“It isn’t teasing.”

Mura gives the other a chiding look.

“All right, maybe it is a little bit of teasing.” Baekhyun then smirks. “But trust me when I say it is more of an attempt at wooing than teasing.”

Mura thinks she heard it wrong. “I beg your pardon?”

Baekhyun chuckles. “I am trying to woo you, Buin.”

Mura falls silent, speechless by the unexpected admission. She swallows the tension in . Then there’s the matter of her heart.

Badum. Badum. Badum.

A mischievous smirk etches upon Baekhyun’s lips that suggests to Mura that the other is simply teasing her… again. She almost fell for his tricks. She reaches for the other’s cheek and pinches it harshly.

“Ow!” Baekhyun yelps.

“This is precisely what I had meant. You say such ridiculous things to tease me and it is not appreciated!” Mura says while pulling at the other’s cheek. 

Baekhyun manages to take a hold of his consort's hand, preventing it from assaulting his cheek further.

Mura tries to draw back her hand, but the Crown Prince has his fingers clasped around her wrist. “Choha?” She struggles to free it from the other’s tight grip. 

“Buin, do you know what the garakji represents?”

Mura finds it rather peculiar that the Crown Prince should bring up the topic of garakji of all things at this very moment. “I do not. Now, please, let go of my hand.” 

“It is meant to represent a harmonious marriage. I should think our marriage is quite harmonious, won’t you agree?”

“I’m afraid, currently, the harmony of which you speak is slowly but surely depleting, and it shall continue to do so unless you release my hand at once.” Mura retorts as she writhes her wrist within the other’s grasp.

Baekhyun chuckles amusedly. “At ease, Buin. Might you kindly allow me a moment with your hand? I promise not to bite.” He offers a playful smile.

Mura huffs petulantly before relaxing the captured hand. 

Maintaining his hold of the other’s wrist, Baekhyun slides his free hand into the inside pocket of the sleeve of his other hand and pulls something out.

Mura squints her eyes in order to discern the object the Crown Prince has fished out of his sleeve. She isn’t kept in suspense for long as she watches the other push down a pair of rings over her forefinger. 

Garakji. 

Baekhyun releases the other’s wrist, opting instead to place a tender hand beneath the other’s fingers while gently brushing his thumb over the newly placed rings. “I had them custom-made for you. I’m glad they fit perfectly.”

Mura finally manages to reclaim her hand and she proceeds to study the rings closely. They seem to be made with silver with small flower details ingrained in them. 

“They are peach blossoms… the flowers… in case you were wondering." Baekhyun helpfully informs. "I had requested peach blossoms specifically because they remind me of you. They are bright, full of color, and symbolize purity— just like you.” He explains. “And just like you, they hang from the branches of peach trees.” He chuckles at his own joke. 

Mura is speechless. She is unable to utter a single word. She isn’t quite sure what she should say.

“Do you not like them, Buin?” Baekhyun’s spirits deflate at the possibility.

It takes Mura a moment to reply. “No, they are lovely, Choha. It’s just unexpected. You need not have troubled yourself with such a gift.” She keeps staring at the rings.

“Well, I thought it is only fitting for a wedded woman such as yourself  to don the garakji.”

Mura looks up at the Crown Prince.

“So our marriage may continue to be harmonious,” Baekhyun says with an earnest smile. “I’m aware you are not keen on wearing jewelry, hence I had hoped if the rings had come from me personally— if they possessed genuine thought behind them— you may be compelled to wear them. Consider them an extension of my fondness for our propinquity.”

Mura lowers her gaze bashfully. “I see. Thank you. This is indeed very thoughtful of you.”

“I should be most obliged if from hereon you were to wear them daily. Can you promise me that?”

Mura presses her lips together before nodding shyly.

Baekhyun smiles, pleased.

Mura continues to keep her gaze down, staring at the rings. 

“You know, if a husband perishes before his wife, it is custom that one of the two garakji rings be buried with him while the other remains with the wife as a show of devotion.” Baekhyun states. 

Mura looks up at him quizically. Does the Crown Prince expect the same? 

But Baekhyun doesn’t add anything further regarding the statement. He then goes on to change the subject.

For the remainder of the time, the two stay there on the bridge, drinking and conversing about various things before eventually retiring to their respective chambers.

 

 ╚══ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══╝

 

The next day, Mura sits in her chamber, lost in thought while fiddling with the garakji bands on her forefinger. Why did the Crown Prince suddenly gift her with the rings? And the mentions of a harmonious marriage confused her further. What she and the Crown Prince have is a harmonious friendship. Yes, in the eyes of others and the law they are indeed married. However, the pillars of their relationship are built upon a strong friendship. Hence, it is peculiar that, as of late, the Crown Prince spares no opportunity to constantly remind her of their marital ties. But what’s even more peculiar is the fact that deep down Mura herself felt a certain kind of giddiness swirl within her when the Crown Prince had put the rings on to her finger. She was deeply touched by the gift. And how can she not? When it is evident the Crown Prince had put forth much thought and sincerity behind it. 

Mura lets out a petulant whine. “He is driving me mad!”

Janshil, who has been busy stowing freshly laundered clothes of her mistress into the cabinets, directs her attention to the said mistress. “Who is?”

“Choha!”

“Oh,” is all Janshil says before resuming her task.

“He’s been behaving so strangely, spewing drivels--- all in order to tease me to no end, I'm sure. And then… then he dares to present me with such a well thought out gift.” Mura raises her hand to display the rings on her finger. “What is the matter with him?”

"What is the matter with you?" Janshil poses a question of her own.

Mura stares at her maid in confusion.

Janshil lets out a sigh. “Truly, I have never met another as oblivious as you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Mama, even a child could tell that the Crown Prince is trying to court you.”

“C-court me?” Mura is rendered baffled. Her rhetorical question is followed by an incredulous laugh. “Ya, Janshil-ah, has your mind left to rot somewhere? Court me? The Crown Prince? What nonsense!” She then remembers how the Crown Prince himself had joked about trying to woo her. Are they all together in this, playing an elaborate trick on her?

“He compliments you at every opportunity; he constantly seeks your company and clings to you; he goes above and beyond to please you and keep you happy— if those aren’t the actions of a man trying to court a woman he desires then explain what else could they be?”

“Well…” Mura tries to think of an explanation. “H-he cares for me—”

“Precisely—”

“As a friend,” Mura emphasizes. “As a confidant. Not to mention, he relishes teasing me because admittedly I am an easy target.”

Janshil gives her mistress a look of mild astonishment. “Mama, do you know what is the most common courting gift men give to maidens they are interested in?“

“I do not think I do…”

“Garakji,” Janshil informs.

Mura takes a quick glance at her garakji before looking away at anything but her maid. “Well… p-perhaps… you’re wrong in this instance. I'm sure this is nothing but a friendship gift.”

“So you’re suggesting that a pair of matrimonial rings that are fundamentally meant to represent a loving union, were simply given to you by the Crown Prince as a token of the close friendship he shares with you?”

“Y-yes?” Mura does not sound very convincing.

Janshil sighs in defeat. If her mistress chooses to live in ignorance then so be it. “If that’s the case then why does the gesture trouble you so?”

Mura shrugs. “It doesn’t,” says the person who’s been racking her mind over it since the night before. 

Of course, Janshil isn’t convinced. “If you say so. Well, do you require anything of me at present?”

Mura shakes her head.

The maid then excuses herself and leaves the chamber. Once she leaves, Mura’s eyes fixate on the garakji on her finger. The words of her maid calling it a courting gift echo in her mind. She hastily takes them off and places them on the small floor desk before her as if the rings are possessed by something occult.

Mura chews on the nail of one of her thumbs while gazing longingly at the silver rings. Strangely she misses the feeling of them on her finger. So, she decides to stop thinking too much and puts them back on.

 

╚══ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══╝

 

 

 

 

A/N: Tell me what an idiot Mura is without telling me what an idiot Mura is.