.thirty five.

The very next morning at dawn, Minji was woken by the sound of pebbles hitting her window. She got out of bed sleepily and walked towards the sound, sliding the window open to see Jung standing outside in the dimly lit morning. He was dressed in his peasant clothing which he usually wore when he'd go out into the village to run errands for the king. A leather bag was slung over his shoulder and he glanced from side to side every couple of seconds, as though he were hiding from something, or trying not to be spotted. His voice, when it finally came, reached her in a low whisper. 

"Hak Soon..." He called her name slowly and breathlessly, sending butterflies to flutter in her stomach. To think that in just a few days she would be marrying none other than his brother, a boy who had never shown an interest in her and was only marrying her because he thought he could not find someone to marry him. It tore through her heart because Jung was the one she wanted to marry, not Eun. Soon Deok wanted to marry Eun, but of course, things did not work perfectly that way. Instead it was a mess that was putting two brothers against each other. Minji was thankful it had not done the same to her and Soon Deok, as she had grown to love her as a sister. 

"Oppa, what are you doing here?" She wondered, her voice in a whisper as well. 

She rubbed the traces of sleep from her tired eyes and started combing her fingers through her hair. There he was, looking handsome and flawless as ever, while she probably looked horrendous with her bed hair. Little did she know that even after having just woken up, he thought she was absolutely stunning. He had looked forward to waking up with her each morning and seeing her just like that. But now that she was marrying his brother, it would likely never happen.

"I can't just stand by and watch while his majesty marries you off to my hyung." He informed her, matter-of-factly. 

Minji was a bit surprised that he had gotten into her house so easily without being spotted, since it was a military family home and there were guards everywhere. But she had also seen him easily climb the tall walls of the palace, let alone would he be able to climb the walls of her house. 

When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Run away with me. I can take you far away from here so that we can be happy. I've already arranged for a contraband boat to take us to Japan."

From the start, Minji could think of a million different things wrong with his plan. They were teenagers and neither of them had any work experience. They couldn't just move to a whole new country and expect to survive. They didn't even speak the language. Then there was Hajin, who was Minji's one connection to her true self from the present. She didn't want to leave her behind. She also knew they couldn't hide from the king forever and there would surely be consequences if they were found. These thoughts raced through her mind and she was quick to voice her concerns to the boy who had once been engaged to her. 

"It would never work." She pointed out to him with a frown lining her features. The sparkle of excitement in his eyes died in an instant. He really thought Minji would be on board with his idea. But he was impulsive, would try anything if it meant that she would stay by his side, while she was level headed. She saw the logical side of things and realized there was a realistic chance they would perish if they went through with his plan. "You're a prince and they would search until finding us. Besides, neither of us knows how to do anything. We have no useful job skills. You lived in a palace coddled all your life and I was the same, since I am a noble. We would probably die in the first three days."

"No, we wouldn't. I promise." Jung tried to reassure her with a shake of his head. "I can learn to provide for us, just give me the chance to prove it to you. I've already secured a job as a fisherman in Japan, and a cottage in a forest--"

Minji was moved by his dedication, but again could only see the negatives to it. It wasn't that she didn't want to go with him. She just wanted to avoid him any trouble by them running away. "You don't know the first thing about fishing..." She almost felt like she wanted to face palm herself. He was trying so hard to prevent that wedding, genuinely trying. But there was not much he could to. The King was the ultimate authority in Goryeo and he had decided that Minji would marry Eun.

"Jung..." She tried once again to talk some sense into him.

"You don't have to decide now." He stopped her before she could continue. "The boat will be available until the day of your wedding to Eun." Minji was dismayed as she caught the disdain he now held in his voice towards his brother. "If you decide you want us to run away together too, meet me at our secret place the morning of the wedding. I promise you won't regret it."

-

With just three days before the wedding, Minji tried to appeal to Eun for mercy. 

"Why don't you reconsider our marriage?" She asked him. But the tenth prince refused to budge. "My sister said she would marry you."

At the mention of her sister, Eun crinkled up his nose, once again telling her that he wanted to marry someone he knew. He had also pointed out that he would not betray Han like that. Han liked Soon Deok and wanted to marry her. By now, word had gone around the kingdom that an offer was on the table for Soon Deok's hand in marriage. Eun's mother and grandfather were absolutely thrilled to have the luck of marrying both of their sons to good families. There was also word floating around that his grandfather was starting construction on a second house on his plot of land, this one for Han and Soon Deok.

The house, however, would be on opposite ends of his land, as Eun's mother had learned from the King that Soon Deok had at first wanted to marry Eun. She wanted to keep them as far apart as possible.

"You don't mind betraying Jung though?" Minji asked.

Eun heaved a sigh, frustrated that he had to explain it to her yet again. He wished she would just understand and accept that she was going to have to marry him. "I already told you. Jung can easily find someone else. I've never had such luck. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm not as bright as my brothers."

Minji started to roll her eyes at him, but stopped herself short when she realized he was being absolutely serious. In his young teenage mind, he had his insecurities because he saw that he was different from his brothers. He was smaller than them, even smaller compared to his younger brothers. He was the runt of their family. But he was also childish, and apparently not very good at academics.

"When I manage to finish reading one book, my brothers have already finished three." He informed her bitterly. This was one thing she didn't think would bother him, as he only seemed concerned with playing and having fun. But she felt for him, she really did. "I've never been a person of any talents, especially not with women. The only way I was able to get a woman to marry me was by getting his majesty to force her into it. I would never be able to find someone to marry me, on my own." He explained, obviously talking about her and the fact that she wanted to marry Jung, but was getting to marry Eun instead.

"Look Eun," She started with a sigh, placing a hand on his shoulder.  When she did, his shoulders slumped and his head dropped low. He didn't want to lock eyes with her because he didn't want to see what he heard in her voice--pity. "I know we had our differences from the start. But now that I got to know you, without constantly being at each other's throats, I realized you're actually a good guy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Any woman would be lucky and happy to have you."

"Then why don't you want to marry me?" He wondered, his eyes searching for hers.

His question caught her off guard. Many times she thought that he didn't like her, but there were other times where she felt like he did and was at times seeking her approval. 

"Because I'm in love with Jung." She replied to him honestly.

-

With just one day before the wedding, Jung asked her to come out to their secret place. Minji was reluctant, but she decided to go, as she knew she would never have the opportunity to do that again. People would talk, and no doubt have negative things to say if they were to see her walking side by side with Jung while being married to Eun.

When she arrived, Jung was sitting on the large boulder that overlooked the water. As he heard her footsteps, he turned towards her and smile wide. But it was a sad smile because he knew what was coming. In less than twenty four hours, Eun and Minji would be married.

He jumped off and cut the distance to her, pulling her into his embrace and lingering just a bit more than he normally did.

Minji closed her eyes and melted into his arms, taking in his scent for one last time and hoping to remember it forever. The warmth of his arms, and the calming sounds of the water below. She wished they could really run away and have no consequences. But Minji had heard from Hajin that the king had made a threat towards Jung. If he even dared to interfere in the wedding, he would be severely punished. Running away was a form of interfering, and Minji feared for Jung's safety. Because of that, she preferred to go through with the wedding.

"I don't want you to get married to him." He said, his voice full of emotion as he held her in his arms.

"I know." She nodded, burying her face into his chest. She could feel already that a wave of tears was approaching. The last time she would get to embrace Wang Jung as his girlfriend. Next time they'd see each other she would be his sister in law. "I don't want to do this either. But I want you to be safe and well. I love you too much to see anything bad happen to you."

"Lets run away--" He tried once more.

"No, Jung." She said firmly. Though in the back of her mind, she was slightly wavering. But she had to be strong. "I'm going to marry Eun."

He heaved a sad sigh. Although he had far from given up on the idea of running away with her, he wanted to enjoy a last moment with her at their secret place without any arguments. He pulled away from her slowly, just enough to look into her face. Her eyes were glazed over with tears and her lips were that beautiful shade of pink that he loved.

Without thinking it any longer, he leaned in, his lips connecting with hers.

If she was to only be his for that brief and fleeting moment, he wanted to make the most of it and he wanted to remember it forever.

-

i literally had no time to edit this.

so sorry for any misspelling or anything that just doesnt make sense. i wrote this in an hour. but i have to get going because im going to the park (chanyeol) with my cousin to do some jogging. 

i hope you're all having a wonderful day or night. thank you for reading!

-clary