(Soondeok opens her eyes as she felt the warmth of Eun’s breath hit her face. She gazes up at the ceiling, her eyes wide open – she felt refreshed, recharged, energized, something she hasn’t been able to feel for a very long time. Soondeok turns her head slowly to the right, seeing Eun laying there next to her – his hair untied, his arm resting on her thigh, his mouth slightly open as he remains dreaming sweetly. A bird lands on the window sill and begins chirping away which woke Eun up.)

‘Good morning honey.’

(Soondeok whispers as Eun struggles to open his eyes)

‘Deok ah…’

‘We slept in, Oppa.’

‘Exactly, so let me just sleep for 5 more minutes, Deok ah…Captain said I can go back in the afternoon today…’

(Eun snuggles closer to Soondeok, burying his face into her body, enjoying her scent, enjoying her soft touch. Soondeok gently runs her finger down his neck to which Eun responded by flipping himself on top of his wife.)

‘Ya, Oppa, stop it~’

‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘Just because we’re still doesn’t mean you can be naughty this morning.’

‘I thought you loved it last night.’

‘Loved it, of course I did, but we’re not just “us” now, we have Ho to think of and…HECK! We forgot about him! We left him downstairs all night!’

(The mother suddenly pushes Eun over and jumps out of bed. She knew something’s off when she woke up and found herself laying there in a ‘peaceful’ house – it’s been quiet, too quiet. Still half-awake, Eun sits up in confusion.)

‘Deok ah, relax, if he needs us, he’ll cry.’

‘He would’ve needed a feed last night but I probably missed his cry since we’re upstairs, oh Oppa he must’ve been so hungry. Aigoo my baby…’

(Soondeok swiftly puts on her undergarment after pulling them out from beneath the bed – heaven knows how THAT ended up there – and flew down the stairs, rushing into their bedroom)

‘Ho-yah! My baby! Oh thank goodness you’re alright!’

(The anxious mother lets out a sigh of relief as she enters the room, seeing her baby playing with his feet in his cradle while on his fist – a sure sign of hunger.)

‘See? What did I tell ya? My boys perfectly fine.’

(Eun comes into the room as he yawns while Soondeok sits on their bed with Ho to give him his first feed of the day.)

‘Sorry sweetheart, mummy and daddy were busy last night. You’re a good boy~ Aigoo, there there, take your time, don’t choke, you’re ling too fast darling. Your eyes all red, did you cry hard last night? We’re sorry darling~~~~ It won’t happen again~’

(The husband sits next to his wife and child and yet again falls into the habit of watching his boy eat with amusing eyes.)

‘Deok ah, our little fella’s growing too fast…I feel like he’s gonna start jumping around in no time.’

‘I hope he’s gonna be a quiet one, Oppa, I can’t handle another monkey in the house.’

(Eun nudges Soondeok in protest)

‘For the record, Mrs. Baek, you’re the one who spent your early days travelling about with your father being a warrior and kicking everyone’s asses when I was the nice boy who stayed at home all day. If he turns out to be an energetic boy who runs around all the time, he got it from YOU.’

‘But YOU would’ve given him the naughty trait, no? Always going about with your pranks and such. You’re more than capable of turning the entire palace upside-down with your mischievous tricks.’

‘And who told you that?’

‘Everyone! When they tried to persuade me into not marrying you.’

(Eun throws his head back in laughter)

‘You know, I’m quite curious about what THEY have told you. Come on, shoot, tell me what naughty tricks I’ve done.’

(Soondeok frowns slowly as she thinks hard)

‘Well, I remember So Oraboni said that you once hid a mouse stuffed toy under Prince Jung’s pillow which you scared the wits out of him – the queen was not pleased. Then there’s this one time you barged into the kitchen’s storeroom and messed up the sugar and salt labels which drove the kitchen maids crazy the next day – your mother told me that by the way. The entire palace had sweet kimchi for the entire month I was told.’

‘Did they not tell you the more mega ones? Like the ones I did to His Majesty?’

‘Just the one about you dropping a bag of marbles during morning assembly after which he made you spend your entire day picking all the marbles up by yourself and had you copy one of The Classic books as punishment. Oh and there’s one when you sneaked into his study and put soy sauce into his inkstone and he wrote all his documents that day in that.’

‘Oh that’s a good one too. Actually there’s one prank that I’m still waiting for someone to find out…shhh, don’t tell anyone okay? But remember the main hall in the palace? Where all the boring ceremony and stuff takes place?’

‘Yeah.’

‘One of the pillars there is actually fake.’

‘Fake?’

‘Yeah, it actually has no structural function, it’s just THERE. They calculated things wrong at the beginning and I heard that they left the pillar there after making some architectural adjustments because they can’t be bothered removing it when the hall was built. Anyway, the thing is, the top of that pillar isn’t connected to the roof like the others, there’s a tiny gap between the pillar and the roof. So one day out of curiosity I made my way up to the top – don’t ask me how I did it – and I put something there.’

‘What did you put?’

‘You guess. Hint, I was 8 at that time.’

‘Like that’s supposed to be a hint for me…fine, don’t tell me if you don’t want to. We’re married but it’s ok to have secrets.’

‘It wasn’t much really…just a note to His Majesty, hoping that if he reads it…if he reads it…he’ll…notice mother and I more afterwards. Heck I was so in need of his attention then I’d do stupid things. But let me be frank, I can’t remember what I had written down exactly.’

‘Awww~ I find that sweet, Oppa~’

‘Well…come to think of it, I hope no one ever finds it…I even signed my name…in such ugly handwriting.’

‘You don’t have to worry about that, Oppa, I’m certain the new king will wipe out everything about us in the records…decades later, no one will even remember Goryeo’s 10^th prince ever existed…’

‘Ga!’

(Baby Ho coos to announce that he’s full, breaking the silence. Eun brings his child close to him and pats his back to burp him)

‘I won’t be like my father, I’ll love my boy every day, I’ll play with him every day…and I’ll love his mother too.’

(Eun gives Soondeok a kiss.)

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, Deok ah.’

‘You play with him, I’ll put something together for breakfast. Oh and change his napkin too, may as well give him a bath.’

‘Sure, I’ll handle it. Take your time, I’m not hungry.’

‘I AM! I spent much of my energy on our exercise in bed last night, in case you have forgotten.’

‘Hey it was YOU who insisted again and again on being on top. I did offer you my help.’

‘Darling! Don’t talk about it in front of our kid!’

‘What? It’s not like he could understand us, oh is that a burp? Good boy~ Wait…oh no, not again! Deok ah, he got my clothe dirty!’

‘I’ve been telling you, you should always have a towel ready when you burp him! I’m not gonna wash it for you, you should’ve remembered, Oppa.’

‘Well I guess I should just walk around topless today then, huh?’

(Eun puts Ho down on their bed and took off his shirt in a wiggly manner)

‘Gosh, Oppa, stop acting like a kid. Oh I don’t care anymore, you boys take care of yourselves, I’m gonna cook.’

‘Well my son! Looks like it’s just you and me now~ What say I go take out our bathing barrel now and then we can have a nice warm bath together under the sun~ It’ll be heaps of fun, right Ho-yah? Yes that’s right my little boy~ Let’s play in the water today~’