Once they arrived at the palace, KyuHyun bid farewell to his sister as they parted ways in the grand hallway of their home.  He headed straight for his bedroom in the west wing of the entire estate.  All he wanted to do now was go straight to his room and take a nap on his nice king-sized bed.  When he got to his room, he saw that the wooden oak door to his bedroom was slightly ajar.

Opening the door even wider, he saw the brush of long silky black hair at the corner of his eyes.  Startled, he turned and saw his youngest sister, Yoon Hae emerging from his bedroom corner area.

"Yoon Hae, what are you doing in my room?" KyuHyun asked, tossing his book bag on his bed.

"Oppa, sorry...I was looking for a calculator to do my math homework." The twelve year old girl responded, looking somewhat reluctant. 

He eyed her suspiciously.  "Here, take this one." He pulled a graphing calculator out of his own backpack and handed it to her.  "Just return it after you're done using it."  He instructed.

"Of course, oppa.  Thank you." She thanked him before leaving him alone in his own room.

"That little schemer.  What is she up to?" He pondered aloud.  Out of his five sisters, the young Cho Yonn Hae was known to be very conniving and really nosy - even though she was only twelve years old.  She knew things that people didn't because she loved to eavesdrop on palace conversations.  Only knowing her for about a year and a half only, KyuHyun could tell what kind of person she was already.  She didn't really try hard to hide it at all.

As he sat down at his desk, all he could think about was Han Hyo Joo.  She truly was the most sweetest person that he had ever met.  When he was with her, he felt that he could look at her all day and breathe in her sweet coconut scent.

He sighed deeply as he leaned back in his chair; he let his thoughts go back to thinking about the ring.  What was the significance of the ring? He wondered as he heard footsteps approaching his door, followed by three soft knocks.

He stood up from his chair and straightened out his shirt.  "You may enter."

His door opened as a man in a black and white penguin suit approached him, carrying a silver tray with a black cordless phone on it.  "Your Highness, you have a call."

"Thank you Hwa Jin." KyuHyun thanked him as he took the phone from the tray.  The butler bowed to him before leaving the room just as quietly as he entered.

"Hello?"

"KyuHyun?"

"Oh, hey Tae Jun," he greeted his friend.  "Why'd you call?"

He sighed.  "Just wanted to call and ask if you wanted to hang out or something.  I am bored out of my mind." Tae Jun sighed once more.

"Love to, but I am beginning to have one of my splitting headaches again.  I'm going to have to reject your invitation and rest a bit." KyuHyun replied.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be.  I'll see you in school tomorrow." 

"Have a good rest.  Goodbye then."

KyuHyun bid his friend goodbye before hanging up the cordless phone and placing it on his desk.  He went over to his bed and sniggled in under his soft, thick covers.  Once under his covers, he fell into a deep, serene sleep.

* * * *

Flashback

" 'Park Shin Hye.  Lives with her grandfather and grandmother' - you live with your grandparents?  Where are your parents?"

"They died when I was five years old, Your Highness." She answered.

"You do work study at the school - cleaning classrooms, hallways and serve lunch?  You also have a morning paper route.  My...you are a very busy young lady, aren't you?"

Not knowing what to say, she slowly nodded, still not daring to look at the queen right in the eyes.

"Hm...I see.  Miss Park, you know why I ask to see you, don't you?"

For the first time, Shin Hye looked up and met her eyes; her eyes that held all of the anger in the world for her.  She shook her head stiffly.  "No, Your Highness, I do not know why."

The queen scoffed as she stood up from her chair.  She started pacing back and forth in front of Shin Hye.  She was dressed in a beautiful, colorful traditional Korean hanbok; one that was grand enough for the queen.  "As if you don't know why.  Miss Park, at least give me a little bit of credit.  Tell me, what are you doing with my son?"

"W-What are you talking about, Your Highness?" Shin Hye was alarmed now.  Her cheeks were starting to grow warm under the intent glares of the queen.

The queen walked behind her sturdy desk,  pulled out a manila envelope from her desk drawer and threw it on the coffee table in front of where Shin Hye was sitting.  "Explain yourself."

Shin Hye felt her heart coming to a stop as she saw the pictures that sprawled on the table before her.  They were pictures of her and KyuHyun - holding hands and playing around at the park.  KyuHyun, of course was in disguise.  He was wearing a black beanie, huge glasses and street clothes.  Knowing that they were caught, she quickly got down on her knees and bowed low to the floor.

"I-I'll take whatever punishment you see fit.  Please, don't blame KyuHyun for this.  Really...we didn't plan for any of this to happen.  We just...like each other very much."  Shin Hye hung her head lower until it was only a couple of inches away from the ground.

"Why would I blame KyuHyun, my only son?" The queen turned and stared straight at her.  "He is the future king of Korea and he will marry the one most suitable for him.  In this case, it is definitely not you.  You are not up to his standards." She pointed one stern finger at her.

"There is only one thing that I want to say to you and you better listen carefully." The queen continued.  "I want you to stop seeing my son - stay away from him."

Tears threatened her eyes as she tried to blink them back. She could hear her own heart shatter into a million pieces.  The ache grew so strong that it pained her to just breathe.

"What do you want?"

"Excuse me?"

"I am willing to give you whatever you want in exchange that you do not see my son anymore." The queen crossed her arms across her chest. 

"You'll give me whatever I want?"

The queen nodded.  "Just say the words."

"I want the one I love and the one I love his KyuHyun.  I want to spend forever with him.  After hearing what I had to say, can you really give me what I want?"  She asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot."

"Well, unfortunately I cannot stop seeing KyuHyun."

Her Majesty uncrossed her arms.  "Are you sure about your decision Miss Park?  Tell me something, Miss Park  - you love your grandparents, right?  You wouldn't want anything...bad to happen to them, am I correct?"

Shin Hye couldn't believe her ears.  She couldn't believe that the queen of Korea had to use such evil measures to get her way - even threatening the lives of people.

"You...h-how could you be so cruel?"

"Easy.  I have power.  Now Miss Park, make your decision wisely."
 

End of Flashback

Playing with the silver chain around her neck, Shin Hye slipped her finger in and out of the ring that hung from her neck.  She shook her head, trying to get rid of the memory.  She had been sitting in her room, trying to do her homework for the past hour or so.  The only thing she accomplished was writing her name on the paper.  Having enough of her homework, she threw her pen down and walked over to her closet.  Opening the door, she withdrew a shoebox from the back of her closet.  She brought the shoebox over to her bed and sat down on it.  Without hesitation, she opened the box and took out its contents.  Her tears came uncontrollably as she recognized the neat handwriting on the worn out notebook paper.

Shin Hye

Guess what? I got an 'A' on my chemistry final!  Thanks to you.  I really want to say thank you for all your hard efforts in helping me pass.  I could not have done it without you.  Really.  I guess it was fate when I ran into you in the hallway that day.  So to celebrate, I want to take you out to dinner.  Meet me at 8:00 tonight at the front gates of our rose garden.  See you!

Yours Always,
Q
 

She smiled at the blue and yellow rainbow that he drew at the bottom of the paper.  In the rainbow was a red 'A'.  She laughed heartily.  Closing the first of my many letters that KyuHyun wrote to her, Shin Hye remembered their dinner that night perfectly.  She would have never guessed that after that night, the love between them would soon blossom into something so much more than either could ever imagined.

Putting the letter back in the box with the rest of her memories of him, she was about to pick up another letter to read, but dropped it immediately back in the box.

She had told herself repeatedly that she couldn't anymore.  If she started to let herself think about KyuHyun, the more she would start to miss him.  The more she missed him, the more she would realize that she couldn't let him go.

"Ma Dong ah..."

Quickly closing the shoebox, she shoved it under her bed and went to her grandmother's small bedroom next door.  She opened the door and the lights.

"Grandma..." she walked over to where her grandmother was on the floor, trying to sit up.  She kneeled beside her.  "Grandma, I thought you were sleeping already."

"Ma Dong...Ma Dong..." her grandmother repeated over and over as she turned and look up at Shin Hye.  "My sweet Shin Hye.  I miss my Ma Dong so much I can't sleep."

"Grandma, just go to sleep, okay?  If you go to sleep right now, tomorrow we will go see him, okay?  Come on, lay down."  She helped her grandmother back down on the mattress as she pulled her blanket up to her chin.  Shin Hye stared down at her grandmother's closed eyes as more tears stung her eyes.

She quickly wiped away her tears and turned to look at the frame photo on the short, legged desk.  It was a picture of her grandparents, taken by her one beautiful morning at the park last year.  More tears stung her eyes as the image of her grandparents began to blur.

She missed those days - the days when nothing in the world could ever make her sad or angry.  The days when she had the greatest feeling in the world, the greatest feeling that she thought no one could ever take away from her.

She looked down at her grandmother once more.  Ever since her grandfather passed away four months ago, her grandma had never been the same since.  She had been wounded already when Shin Hye's parents died, but now she was constantly in pain.  It caused her grandma to stop working entirely, leaving the finance and everything to Shin Hye to deal with.  She knew exactly how her grandma felt - missing her loved one dearly every single day; the constant sharp pains stabbing her chest as a remind of what was lost.

Shin Hye turned off the light and closed the door behind her.  She returned to her own safe haven.  After KyuHyun's accident, she'd refused to step outside her bedroom.  She felt so guilty and took blame for his accident.  If only she didn't argue with him that night; if only she would have just listened to him that night; if only she'd stayed with him instead of running off in the rain, he'd still have his memories.

Turning off her own light, she went over to her bed and tucked herself in.  Fearing that sleep wouldn't come easily as it used to, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take over.  She lay there with her eyes closed as sharp images of KyuHyun flashed intensly behind her closed eyes.  She squeezed her eyes tightly as tears fell from them and stained her pillow.

* * * *

I really want to thank every one of you for reading my story.  And yes, I've posted this fanfic on other websites before but never finished it.  But I decided to now, while rewriting bits and pieces here and there!  Thanks for the wonderful comments. Enjoy!