.thirty eight.

After breakfast with Eun's family, the other princes and the King left the table to continue with their day. Eun and Minji lingered just a bit longer, per Minji's request, since she didn't want her former flame to stop and interrogate her. Though she couldn't see him, she could feel him staring all through breakfast, brooding bitterly in his seat. Minji ignored it all and kept absoolutely quiet by her husband's side. Jung pretended to walk off but waited for them in the hallway to observe the two as they passed him by. Eun helped Minji out of her chair and she grabbed into his arm for support. The two walked together into the palace from the court yard area. They had to cut through the inside to get to the front gates in order to return to their home. 

Minji smiled proudly at him, her husband who in that moment had gone from being a little boy to being a man who was willing to defend her in front of anyone including his own father who was the King. "You were so brave back there, oppa. Standing up to defend me in front of his majesty." She pointed out, her feet feeling awkward and even wobbly. Now that she couldn't see the world before her, she felt insecure taking even a few steps forward. But she knew Eun wouldn't let her fall. Up until now, he had been nothing but good to her. Probably because he felt sorry for her. But Minji appreciated it anyway. 

The little prince coughed awkwardly, admitting to her in something of a whisper so that only her ears would hear it. "That was me on the outside. On the inside I was shaking."

She let out a light laugh. "Still, its the thought that counts. I appreciate it."

As they passed a row of stone pillars on their way out, Jung walked out from behind one of them suddenly, startling the tenth prince in his tracks, which had been the complete opposite of how he had acted in front of his father not even an hour earlier. Now he was the vulnerable little boy again. As Minji felt her husband stop, she stopped as well, and she didn't know who or what was in front of them until she heard Eun's pouty whine giving the information away. "Jung-ah...you scared me." He brought a hand to his heart. He had momentarily forgotten that he was mad at his younger brother, and that because of him Minji was now blind. Meanwhile, Jung had gotten off without even a scratch. As he recovered from his initial scare, his eyes narrowed into thin slits as he glared at his brother. 

When Minji heard his name mentioned she lowered her head in shame and she shrunk closer to her husband's body. 

"Hak Soon..." Jung called to her, his voice full of hurt.

He couldn't bear to see them together. But what hurt more was that she was actually happy without him. It was like she didn't need him anymore. He was easy to discard. 

Minji tried to ignore him and said to her husband, leaning even more close to him, trying to shield herself from Jung's view. "Let's hurry up and get home, Eun-ah. I'm tired and I want to lay down." She tried to keep her steps secure and firm, without showing any signs of faltering. Her eyes trained ahead as though she could still see. She didn't want Jung to know that she was blind because she knew he would blame himself. 

Eun nodded and led Minji around Jung. The fourteenth prince watched them both walk away, but he didn't follow after them. He wanted to chase after her, but he knew that if she had already been punished once, the king would probably punish her again if he saw them together.

They arrived back at their home to Eun and Minji's families waiting for them. They had made their way into their home and were drinking tea together as they sought their arrival. Eun bowed a greeting for them, informing them before sitting down with them, "I'll come back and sit with you." He said, and Minji couldn't help but notice how he sounded absolutely burdened. He was only eighteen and the last thing he wanted was a family reunion in which he would have to talk to them and listen to old stories. "Hak Soon-ah is tired and she wants to get some rest. Please excuse us."

Minji shook her head, refusing to leave now that she knew they had guests. "I'll have tea with them too."

Eun nodded his head and led her to an empty seat in the room, taking a seat next to her. There was small talk in the room, with Eun staying mostly quiet. Though they had only been married for the better of a day, Minji's mother asked how things had been going. Minji gave them vague details, not having much to say to them anyway. 

As the conversation moved onto something else, Eun saw the way Soon Deok shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Han was sitting next to her, being the same amount of fidgety, but his had more to do with excitement. 

"We're just here to give you two the good news." Her mother explained with a smile lining her lips. After a moment, she continued with excitement. "Han talked to your father and has asked for your sister's hand in marriage." Two brothers marrying two sisters. Their families would be in laws twice, for Minji and Eun, as well as Soon Deok and Han.

Minji was at first speechless, not knowing what to say. When she found the words, she said them as cautious as she could. "Oh...I'm so happy for them."

In a sense, she was partially happy for them. Han loved Soon Deok, was absolutely devoted to her and Minji knew he would stop at nothing to make her happy. But she also felt bad for her sister because like her, she was going to get married to someone she didn't love. 

Their parents informed that they were set to get married shortly after Soon Deok's eighteenth birthday. Then they'd be moving into the same plot of land where the rest of Eun's family lived. It was a closed off area, hidden behind tall wooden gates, one of the biggest homes in Goryeo. The house was already being built on the other end of their land. 

Changing the subject one more time, Eun's mother asked them a question that made the two of them uncomfortable and took them off guard. "So...when do you plan on having your first child?" 

-

Eun had started stuttering like crazy, not knowing what to say. For one, he didn't know how to make a baby. Now he was expected to give his mother some grand children. 

Hoping to satisfy her and prevent her from pushing the topic any further, the tenth prince assured her they would get right to it, to which Minji responded by almost choking on her cup of tea. A part of her told her though, that he wasn't well informed on how to make another human being with someone else. He had once told her that he suspected it happened through kissing a woman, which was utterly incorrect. He was so innocent and Minji didn't have the heart to correct him. 

Her father, General Park, wasn't too thrilled at the idea of them having children straight away, even though his wife was beaming at the idea of being a grandmother already. "I think they still have a lot of time for that. They don't have to start now." He said, a look of alarm on his face as he coughed awkwardly. "After all, Prince Eun is eighteen. He's already officially a man. But my Hak Soon is only fifteen, she's still a little girl. How can we expect children to give birth and take care of other children?" 

Soon Deok bit down on her lower lip and kept her head low. She might soon be having nieces and nephews, whose parents would both be two of the people she loved most. It was a happy notion, if one didn't know the details of their relationship, if one didn't know that Minji was married to the boy that her sister loved. 

Eun's mother quickly took the general's reasoning negatively. "General, are you trying to imply that my son isn't good enough for your daughter? Or that he abuses her? I'll have you know, my son is a prince and if anything, your daughter is lucky to have him."

General Park bit down on his tongue, so as not to disrespect her. But he wanted to stand up for his daughter. At the same time, he understood that his words could have easily been misunderstood and that she was only trying to defend her son. Before anymore arguments could break out in the once unseemingly hostile room, Minji decided to calm the tides by taking Eun's hand in hers. Smiling at everyone in the room, she informed them, "It is up to my husband's wishes. If he wants to have children right away, then that is what we will do. But that is for him to decide, not for my father or his mother."

He had been kind enough to stand up for her at breakfast with his father and brothers, the least she could do was to stand up for their relationship in front of her family and his. To show them that they should stay out of their marriage and leave the decision making up to them. 

Things became friendly again in a matter of minutes and the hostile environment died down. Soon, promises were exchanged about planning the next best wedding in Goryeo and everyone cleared out of the tenth prince's home. 

As the last person left, Eun's mother, who had been pleased at filial and loving wife behavior Minji had displayed during their visit, Minji sighed and sank back into her seat on the couch. She was exhausted. Between them having breakfast at the palace and then their relatives imposing on them unannounced with news of Han and Soon Deok's wedding, Minji felt like she wasn't given any time alone in the first day of being a married woman. It was only a bit past noon and she was already done making any efforts for the day.

Eun noticed her exhaustion and offered to help her. "Do you want to go to the bed room and rest now?" He asked her hesitantly. 

Minji heaved another sigh, as she suddenly felt burdened, having to talk to her husband about serious matters. But she knew it had to be done. Otherwise she wouldn't be comfortable living with him as a married couple. Not if he pitied her the way that she knew he did. He probably cared about her, or he wouldn't have still married her after everything that happened. But there was also pity. He felt bad for her, and it was the reason he wasn't being his arrogant self anymore. Or at least, that was what Minji thought.

"Eun," His name rolled off her tongue awkwardly. She was allowed to drop the honorifics now that they were married, but it felt strange. She had never called him anything other than the Shrimp Prince before. Calling him by his actual name, and his actual name informally, was something she didn't think she could get used to. When she knew she had his attention, she continued, "If you and I are going to work out as a married couple, I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Anything." He quickly nodded his head, attentive as to what she might say next.

"Don't fuss over me, or treat me any differently just because I'm blind now." Her words were unshaken, yet underneath there was a tone of a plea under them. She just wanted to continue living her life like a normal person. And the Minji who wasn't handicapped was always fighting, arguing, and bickering with Prince Eun. She didn't want him treating her any different just because she couldn't see. "Just be the same Prince Shrimpy that I know. Be that arrogant little boy that I love so much."

Eun gulped in surprise. "You love me?"

He was suddenly reminded of something Baek-ah and Won said to him long ago, when Hak Soon first came back from out of town. That she probably had a crush on him. But hearing her say that she loved him now was a whole different thing.

She nodded her head. "You've been a great friend to me, Eun. I swear that I love you."

His expression dropped and he found that he was far more disappointed than he ever thought he would be. 

Friends.

He and Park Hak Soon were only married as friends.

-

has his transition of falling for minji already commenced? who knows. only me.

i was going to update this yesterday. but i went out to run some errands with my mom. then i went to work and since i close on saturdays i got out at 4am. then i came back home and slept until 8am.

then i went to knotts with my sister, her husband, my cousin and my cousin's boyfriend. i was a fifth wheel but idc bc when i hang with them they never make me feel that way.

anyway, i just got home so i thought i would finish this.

thank you for reading. i hope you like this chapter.

-clary