Warning: Light sensitive content in this chapter

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Tae-eul's Neighbourhood

Her last day at the police station didn't drag on longer than necessary and they have some time before meeting Na-ri and Eun-sup at The Alley. They decide to take a stroll around her neighbourhood and enjoy the anonymity they would both lack once they return to the Kingdom. Tae-eul has walked these paths thousands of times, often on her own and occasionally with her dad or her friend. She seldom lingers because she always has somewhere else to be. But doing it with Lee Gon today feels entirely different. Two people going in the same direction together, while observing the world around them through each other's eyes. They have commented about the most mundane things they see along the way and laughed at things only the two of them find funny. If this is what it's like to be married, Tae-eul thinks she'd quite enjoy it.

When they pass by the supermarket, she asks to go inside. There is something she has wanted to do for a long time but hasn't the chance.

"Are we buying food?" Lee Gon is curious about the stop.

"You can say that."

"But we are making dinner for your dad in the Kingdom."

"Wrong… you're making dinner for my dad in the palace, I'm just gonna eat. I'm not here to buy meat or vegetables." She pulls him toward the fridges where all the frozen treats are and eyes them for a while. She then spots the one she wants and triumphantly leaves the store with the treat and Lee Gon in toll. He wears an amused grin as they head toward her home through the park, hoping queenship would not smother her childlike innocence.

She squeezes his hand to signal for the park bench. Once they are seated, she takes the Ssang Ssang Bar out of the bag.

"You said I didn't share my ice-cream with you." She peels the wrapper off to reveal a twin chocolate fudgesicle.

"I've been meaning to make it up to you." She splits the bar and hands him one half. "Here, let's tap and start licking it the same time." She giggles while showing him what to do.

Lee Gon remembers feeling slighted that day when she shared the treat with Kang Shin-jae without a second thought. He wanted that kind of closeness. Lucky for him, although it had taken quite a while, he got something way better.

He lets out a few hearty laughs as he mimics Tae-eul and tries for the first time something he never got to experience as a child.

"It's good, isn't it?" Seeing Lee Gon has already finished his, she scrunches her nose and offers him the remainder of hers.

He takes a bite and then kisses her nose. "It's sweet like you. I love it."

"This is me following my new Rule No.1." Her fudgesicle nearly done. "You can count on me to always share with you. Everything. No holding back."

"When I left the police station earlier, I was actually pretty excited about starting my new life in the Kingdom. I can't say what kind of queen I will become, but I'm going to do my best and learn as much as possible." She feeds him the last bit of her fudgesicle before continuing, "But I don't want to be Lee Gon's adorable pet. What I really want is to be Lee Gon's partner. I am not asking for power. I just want to be the one you can always come to, the person you can be completely honest with. Why this is my first rule."

"You have always been that for me, no matter which world we're in, mhmm." He leans in to kiss her properly on her lips. "You have my word, Queen Jeong Tae-eul."

"Can we have this ice-cream every week to remind us about sharing?" He says trying to keep a straight face.

"Are there Ssang Ssang Bars in the Kingdom? I can't see Lady Noh stocking these in the Culinary room even if you have something similar there. Maybe we just need to sneak out every week to buy treats." Tae-eul has determined she can't be without fried chicken and chocolate fudgesicle all at once.

...

There is a class going on in the dojang when they get back to her place and they quietly sneak inside her room. Tae-eul is going to fill a small suitcase with items she wants to bring to the Kingdom. Lee Gon notices for the first time the multicolour glow-in-the-dark stars she formed on her ceiling of the Gemini constellation, an obvious remnant from her teen years. In fact her entire home is like a mini museum of Tae-eul's life, the reason he loved to hang around here the first time he set foot in the Republic.

"What if we met when we were teens?"

"Mmm, were you just as handsome or were you super awkward?"

"I was never awkward!"

"I don't believe you. Teenage boys are all awkward. You wouldn't have been able to resist me though, silky long hair, bright eyes and all."

"I like the confidence. But how do you know I didn't already have a girlfriend?"

"Did you now?" Her tone is suddenly a mix of challenge and seduction. "Why don't you finish what you started last night and see if I'm not better than any of the other girls?"

She moves to lock her bedroom door and his arms encircle her tiny waist before she is even able to turn around. "How would you like to convince me?" He whispers into her ears while trailing kisses from the side of her face to her long neck and then along her clavicle.

The day is warm and her room feels a bit like a tropical paradise. Her slightly moist back is quickly stripped of covering and his piercing eyes turning darker with the shade of desire that always sets her off.

His tongue is now tickling her sternum and crossing between her breasts while keep his hands protectively behind her back to keep her from falling. Her hands are in a frenzy removing his shirt as she stumbles backward towards her small bed.

He laughs and she blushes when her bed frame squeaks in harmony with their grinding. She is never more thankful for the constant sound of kihap throughout every Taekwondo lesson.

Her hair sprayed in contrast to her cream coloured pillow and her hands in tight grip of the bedsheet, she lets out several low moans before his body collapses on top of her with a louder groan.

She holds on to him with her hands moving instinctively up and down his back as they both breathe heavily in the aftermath haze of their own bubble. Tae-eul is close to tears, thinking back to the many nights she lay in bed wishing he was with her, wishing he would make love to her – and she's never had the pleasure of it until now.

They don't know when they managed to untangle themselves enough to quietly cuddle in her bed.

"Do you think I can take the flowers with me?" She raises her eyes to the dried blue delphinium he gave her a year ago hung upside down from her small wall lamp.

"We can try but there's plenty more where those came from." He tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"But these ones are special…" They remind her of the promise to always find each other, just like how these blue flowers found their way back to her room after she thought they were lost forever.

"If we can find a box big enough to hold them, I'd carry it back and have someone in the palace preserve them with a casing." If he was able to find his way back to put those flowers in her hands, it wouldn't be any more difficult to get those flowers across their two worlds again. "You know I will always want to give you what you want."

...

4:50 p.m. The Alley

Tae-eul texted Eun-sup the night before to meet her after work today. But he isn't there yet when she walks into the tea shop with Lee Gon.

Na-ri searches her brain for when she has seen this man beside her friend.

"An-nyeong, Tae-eul. Who are you with? I know I've seen him before…"

"Ah, Na-ri, meet my fiancé." The tint of shyness in her voice makes Na-ri chuckle.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Lee Gon."

"Did you say fiancé, Tae-eul? You didn't even have a boyfriend… oh wait a minute, you were the man with the white horse! And you left the horse in the yard for almost two days… everyone was asking questions back then."

"Well, Na-ri, Lee Gon and I have actually…"

"What's all this commotion, yeobo?" Eun-sup is intrigued by the animated conversation the group is having as he arrives.

"Tae-eul is just introducing her fiancé to me. Fiancé, you know!" Wide-eyed, Na-ri announces the news to her boyfriend.

"What?"

"Right, we'll explain… but why don't you two get us a table, and I'll order tea for us." Tae-eul shoves the two men towards the seating area.

"Give us two brown sugar milk tea please. You can make Eun-sup whatever he likes."

Na-ri has just caught sight of the sparkler on Tae-eul's left hand.

"Oh my god!" She covers her mouth with both hands. "Your ring is beautiful! Let me see."

Na-ri lifts Tae-eul's hand higher for closer examination. "Your boyfriend's got great taste… and money! This must have cost him more than a hundred million won. I once saw a similar ring when I was in…"

Oh dear, all those zeros again. "You meant to tell me I have been walking around with two year worth of my salary on my finger?"

"I don't know how much you make… but sure, sounds about right?"

"Oh crap…" Tae-eul realizes she will also be following that 'nothing I own is cheap' motto from here on.

...

"What are they talking about that makes Na-ri so excited?" Eun-sup turns his attention away from Lee Gon when he hears his girlfriend's fit of laughter. "Tae-eul looks happy too… So you two are really engaged?"

"Yes, she has only just agreed a couple days ago."

"Ah, ah, ah… you came to see me at work not long ago, didn't you? Was it April? Did Tae-eul tell you to find me at the NIS?"

"Yes, that was me." Lee Gon nods. "She said I should meet the friend she has had since she was four."

"Here are our teas. Na-ri will bring yours…" Tae-eul sets the drinks down and tells Eun-sup.

"I just remember your boyfriend and I have already met, a couple months ago…"

Once Na-ri joins the group, Tae-eul and Lee Gon tell them the same cover story they told her squad in the morning.

"No wonder Tae-eul was never interested in any of the guys we tried to set her up with." Na-ri quips.

Lee Gon puts his large hand over Tae-eul's. "So there were other guys?" He asks amused.

"Don't listen to them… I don't know what they're talking about."

"Tae-eul only has eyes for you." Eun-sup winks at the couple sitting across from him. "Have you talked to your dad? What did he say?"

"I asked Instructor Jeong for his blessing last night." Lee Gon smiles bashfully.

"Will he move with you, or will he stay?" Na-ri chimes in.

"He doesn't know yet. We kinda surprised him… so he is gonna have to think about it. I'm hoping he would decide to move…" Tae-eul explains.

"What about your squad, and Chief Park?"

"I resigned this morning. Lee Gon went with me to the station and they all met him."

"You're leaving tonight? Why so soon? You're always around, I can't imagine you not being here." Eun-sup

"You two look so good together and I'm very happy for you. But why do you have to be so far away?" Na-ri is obviously conflicted.

"Lee Gon has his family and his business there. In comparison, it just makes more sense for me to move." She is basically telling the truth. "We'll come back later to visit…"

"But Na-ri and I will miss you so much!" Eun-sup gets up and puts his arms around both Tae-eul and Lee Gon.

"I'll miss you too…" Tae-eul pats Eun-sup's outstretched arm and feels the sting of her own tears threatening to spill over.

...

Notes:

This chapter is fluff by design to follow Chapter 10's heavy emotions.

Despite the sugar high, Tae-eul felt the need to reiterate her new Rule No. 1 before leaving the Republic for good. That theme will come up again and again when we see Tae-eul establishes her life in the Kingdom in later chapters.

Were Tae-eul's goodbyes what you expected? Curious to know...