Chapter XXXII
1552 Words
서른둘번째 왕관 (32)
A knock on the door from the house of Pyo was heard. Mrs. Pyo turned her head on the door as she kept on stirring the soup she’s making. It was already evening in Jeju and she’s preparing for their dinner and wasn’t expecting any guests at this hour. “Yeobo, can you please look at the door? Someone’s knocking.”
“Ah, yes, Yeobo,” Mr. Pyo responded as he put his tools down (because he’s currently fixing his old motorcycle’s engine), wiped his greasy hands using his face towel, and went to the door.
“Who is that?” as soon as Mr. Pyo opened the door, his expression changed from a neutral one to a surprised one.
“Abang!” (*Abang is the Jejudo version for Appa means father)
“Jae Kyung? Is that you?!” Mr. Pyo face was filled with happiness as he hugged his niece back. It’s been three years since Jae Kyung visited them in Jeju. “Jae Kyung, my baby girl! Yeobo, Hyung Won, Jae Kyung is here!”
From the kitchen and from the second floor, Mrs. Pyo and Hyung Won went out to see Jae Kyung and Mr. Pyo hugging each other.
“Omo, uri Jae Kyungie!!!”
“Jae Kyung-noona!”
“Eomeong! Ashiya!” (*Eomeong is the Jejudo version for Eomma means mother, Ashi is Jejudo version for Namdongsaeng means younger brother)
With teary eyes, Jae Kyung accepted their hugs. “We missed you!”
It’s been three years since the last time she saw her uncle, auntie, and her cousin who she considered as her own family. After what happened to her in Ilsan years ago, her mother’s brother, Pyo Ki Soo, decided to adopt her and live with him in Jeju which she’s thankful for it because she’s grateful that they showered her with so much love as if she’s their own daughter and even supported her to her schooling and even to achieve her dreams.
When she graduated from high school, she decided to study in Seoul since she knows that there’s a huge opportunity for her if she studied and work there as a journalist. At first, Mr. and Mrs. Pyo was against it since Jae Kyung is still young and they’re afraid of the possible dangers in the capital but since Jae Kyung is a resilient type of kid who doesn’t and never gives up, they just let her go.
“My dear baby girl, you should’ve told us you’ll visit so we could prepare decent dishes for you!” her auntie s***h adopted mother, Mrs. Pyo said as she cupped Jae Kyung’s face lovingly. “Aigoo, uri Jae Kyungie looked so pretty!”
“Ah, that’s not it Eomeong,” Jae Kyung chuckled. “Jaldo gomapsudayang, Eomeong~ ah, wait! Hyung Won-ah, I bought treats for you from Seoul.”
With sparkling eyes, Hyung Won accepted the gift bag from Jae Kyung. “Waah, jaldo gomapsudayang, noona!”
“You’re welcome!”
“Ah, but first, we’ll get inside first so we can talk,” Mr. Pyo offered as he opened the door wider.
“Ah, before that… abang, eomeong, I’d like you to meet someone. He’s with me…”
“Eh? Who was it?” Mrs. Pyo couldn’t help but ask, obviously curious.
Jae Kyung looked at her left side and moved to the side where her uncle and auntie were standing. She, then, bowed which made Mr. and Mrs. Pyo frown in confusion.
Suddenly, Prince Yi Eul appeared in front of them. They even saw the bodyguards meters far from them. Prince Yi Eul smiled and bowed at them. “Annyeonghasuda. Penananheouggwa? Bangapsuda.” (*This is two Jejudo forms of Hello. It has another meaning means ‘Are you at peace?’ and ‘Bangapsuda’ can be used as Nice to Meet You and Hello in Jeju dialect)
As expected, Mr. Pyo, Mrs. Pyo, and Hyung Won were shocked when they saw the person in front of them. They were so shocked that they didn’t know who’s going to break the silence between them.
Seems like there’s no one to break the silence si Jae Kyung interrupted. “Ah, Abang, Eomeong, he is—”
“You-You are the Crown Prince!” Mrs. Pyo exclaimed. She even gasped when she noticed that she said it loudly so she nudged Mr. Pyo and Hyung Won to bow their heads. “A-Annyeong hasibnikka, J-Jeonha. We-We didn’t expect that you’ll come here, in our humble home.”
Prince Yi Eul smiled and bowed at them as well. He, then, looked at Jae Kyung who slightly shrugged her shoulders.
“You’ll be going to visit my foster family in Jeju? Are you serious?”
Prince Yi Eul raised his head at Jae Kyung and put the newspaper he’s reading down. They’re currently in the royal house of Yi and Jae Kyung is on her break from her training and thankfully, she’s quite improving thanks to someone who actually nagged on her. She looked like a bratty princess in her bright pink and white hanbok while talking to the former. “Of course. It’ll be a big shock if Queen Jang Eun will suddenly summons them, right? We also have to formally talk about it to them before Queen Jang Eun will summon them to talk about the wedding. And of course, you said that they may or may not know that you’re the Kim Jae Kyung that got engaged to me, right? Since, you know, only your name just got published in the article and not your photo.”
“Yeah,” she slowly nodded. “To be honest, they just knew that I work as a journalist in a newspaper publishing but they didn’t know that I’m working in The Seoul Times—well, maybe my brother knows about it since he’s the one who loves to surf on the internet, though.”
“For a daughter who has a loving foster family, you’re too secretive to them,” Prince Yi Eul smirked at her. “To the point that you didn’t even mention to them about your workplace.”
“Yang!” Jae Kyung exclaimed. “Arang musingeoheolti?”
“Oh, using a Jeju dialect at me, huh?” Prince Yi Eul stood up. “Well, might as well learn a few of your dialect from your hometown before I’ll go there.”
“You can just use Standard Korean to them, though. They understand it,” Jae Kyung said. “But do we really have to visit—I mean, I do really have the intention to visit them since it’s been three years since the last time I visited them but do you really have to come with me?”
“Of course. As I said, It’ll be a big shock to them if Queen Jang Eun will suddenly summon them, right? And it’ll be a shock for them if they’ll know to other people that their daughter suddenly got engaged and will soon marry not just an ordinary man,” Prince Yi Eul took a step towards Jae Kyung and lifted her chin. “Not just an ordinary man. Their daughter is going to marry the Crown Prince of South Korea.”
“Uh, technically, fake marrying the Crown Prince of South Korea for the sake that he’ll not gonna marry that Gong Cho Rong.”
“Exactly.”
“Ugh, I’m honestly too tired of saving your ass, Your Highness.”
“But yeah, here you go again.”
“For the sake of my book debut, that’s why.”
“It’s a win-win for us, though.”
Jae Kyung stared at him in the eyes. “Do we have to do this to so much extent? It’s not like we’ll be married forever. After six months, we’ll be going to divorce, though. It’ll be a real hassle to lie to everyone around us.”
Prince Yi Eul suddenly went silent and as soon as they heard the door behind them opened, he gave her a light kiss on the lips as his half-lidded eyes stare at Queen Jang Eun’s royal secretary. “We have to, darling.”
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Pyo. I am Crown Prince Yi Eul, your daughter, Kim Jae Kyung’s fiancée,” Prince Yi Eul introduced himself with a smile. His bodyguards, then, went to them with luxurious gifts in their hands. “And I came here to personally and officially ask your daughter’s hand for marriage.”
Mr. and Mrs. Pyo and Hyung Won looked at Prince Yi Eul then at Jae Kyung in such shocked eyes. “G-Gi?” (*In Jejudo dialect, this means “Really?”)
I don’t want to lie to the people who adopted me and love me with all their hearts but… Jae Kyung awkwardly smiled at them. “Gi.”
“Ehhh???”
Hyung Won couldn’t help but gasp. “M-My sister… my sister is going to be a princess?!”
Jae Kyung and Prince Yi Eul stared at each other, totally forgetting about the little commotion in front of them.
Six months… just six months… and this will be over and our lives will be back to normal.
- Writer
