Chapter Text
The ceremony was almost over. The presider uttered the last sentence of the lengthy ceremonial speech and closed the book. With sure movements, he grabbed the golden rope from the table and then smiled at the crowd.
This is it. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for.
Gyuri scanned the crowd and observed. There was a blanket of silence enveloping the place as the people watched in anticipation. Anyone who has been distracted before now has their attention on the scene in front of them. After all, the next step of the ceremony is the most important. One that would officially wed the pair standing before the altar.
At the front, Prince Mingyu stood with his back towards the crowd. Gyuri wondered about what he’s thinking. She wonders a lot about that nowadays. Whenever she finds the opportunity to ask him, Prince Mingyu would only offer him a smile and a quick assurance that he's alright. During her twenty years of service as the prince's personal assistant, Gyuri has grown accustomed to the changes in his mood. The prince isn't the one to tell but she can see feel it, on the seemingly prolonged silences when she’s with him--there is something bothering him.
Beside Prince Mingyu, his bride looked truly beautiful. She appeared like a centerpiece--her whole ensemble so grand that at first glance, one might mistake her as part of the lavishly decorated altar where the pair stood. Gyuri found herself worrying over her. She can almost taste the tension in the air as she moved and walked as the ceremony went on. She seemed to treat the ceremony as performance and she carried the burden of perfection on her shoulders.
The presider tied the rope into a loose knot and gestured for Mingyu and his bride. They have practiced this before with another rope. They knew exactly what to do.
The presider signalled the pair. Prince Mingyu and his bride slipped both their hands into the knot. Everyone held their breath as the pair started reciting the verse.
Gyuri leaned forward, wanting to see better. The rope started to light up. But there was only a flicker, the gold turning gray again just immediately after.
And then nothing.
“I swear on my whole being, your majesty. I even swear on the name of my whole family.”
The bride cried, clutching the skirt of her dress on her lap. The grim expression on the Queen’s face transformed into that of exhaustion. She turned from the bride to the council chief.
“Are you sure about it, Mr. Lee?”
“I am certain, your majesty. Contrary to the belief of many, it is not the rope that seals the marriage. The rope is merely an indication of the approval of the forces guiding us," he started. “It is the verse uttered by two people to each other. So even in the absence of the rope, if the words must have been uttered before to another person with the intention of marriage, then it would be considered a valid marriage.
The Queen turned to the bride again.
“You heard her Ms. Jihyo. I am asking you again. Have you married someone before?”
“Believe me your majesty. I am telling you the truth.”
The queen gave her a last look before she made her way to the seat behind her table. The queen rarely shows emotions but today, Gyuri can detect the worry etched on the lines between her eyebrows.
She sighed. “How did the public react?"
In response, Gyuri handed her the tablet containing the newly emerged articles after the failed wedding. “There’s general confusion, your majesty. Numerous speculations but no attacks yet to Prince Mingyu and Ms. Jihyo. Mr. Choi is currently preparing for the press conference.”
“Alright.” The relief was evident in her tone. “Remind him to say nothing aside from what we talked about earlier. Focus on the rope. Tell them we’re investigating the matter. “
“How about you, Prince Mingyu? Have you married someone before?” It was the council chief that brought up the question now. There was a pregnant pause. Gyuri fidgeted from her spot beside the queen and turned her attention to the prince.
Prince Mingyu was standing beside the window, gazing towards the garden. Gyuri followed his eyes. The prince was observing the people who were now on their way home. He looked deep in thought.
“Of course he has no previous marriage. To assume alone is a disrespect to the royal family,” the queen answered when the prince remained mum.
Gyuri nodded in agreement. She’s been the prince’s assistant since he was born and was always with him. She’s sure that he’s never been married.
But when she looked again at the prince, the prince was looking at him with a defeated look.
“Ms. Gyuri, remember the little daisy?”
“Hold on, Soonyoung-ah,” Jeonghan says through the mic. “It’s a little choppy. I’ll go to a better place. Give me a sec.”
Jeonghan stood up and went towards the kitchen. “Everything fine?” The head chef asked him .
“Yes! But can I stay here? The wifi’s a little weak outside. I promise I’ll be quiet. I’ll stay at the corner."
“Son, I don’t own the kitchen. Come here if you need to.”
Jeonghan hummed and settled at the corner, sitting at the edge of the bottom shelf where the pans and pots piled up. He opened the camera and announced that he’s back.
“Hyung, are you working right now? Why didn’t you say so? We could have scheduled the meeting for another time,” Soonyoung said, a worried look making it's way onto his face. Jeonghan can see the same kind of expression from the other participants in the zoom. Dokyeom, Joshua, and Wonwoo looked like they want to say something too.
“Don’t worry! I’m on a break. Let’s continue,” he said, mustering up a smile. He regretted opening his camera. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable when people worry over him. Because, really he’s fine. He really appreciates the concern but it takes effort to convince people sometimes.
“Alright hyung. Anyway, I think we can finish earlier for tonight. We’ve covered everything. Each of us will do a section in the paper. Wonwoo and I will be doing the permit and the paperwork, Jeonghan hyung and Shua hyung will prepare the slides, and Dokyeom will be presenting," Soonyoung summarized. "Does anyone have questions?"
When no one replied, Jeonghan started saying his goodbyes.
“Alright, my shift will start in a while. Shua, anything you want from the shop for when I get home?”
Joshua, who lives in the apartment next to his, shook his head. “No, my mom just got here and brought food. She prepared an extra tupperware for you.”
“Nice,” Jeonghan grinned. “Is she still there? Tell her I love her.”
“Hyung, bring some tomorrow,” Dokyeom requested.
“Well, you know what to do.”
Without losing a beat, Dokyeom excitedly performed aegyo. Jeonghan sniggered. “Wonwoo, wanna try too?
“No thanks. I’ll bring my own lunch.”
“It's okay. I'll share my lunch with you," Soonyoung offered.
“Hey, create your own zoom session and flirt with each other there," Jeonghan teased.
“Hey why is it always a big deal if it's the two of us?” Wonwoo whined.
“Because it's funny,” Jeonghan reasoned. “Why do you two always look so awkward?”
Jeonghan felt Wonwoo's glare on him through the screen and he laughed.
“Alright, alright. Don't be mad at hyung. I'm gonna go,” he said, leaving the session before the two can say anything more.
He still has ten minutes left before his next shift so he decided to check his email. There was nothing there but some notifications from various websites. There was an email from an unknown sender. He scanned it briefly, scrolling through it and going over the contents quickly. The email was signed by some random Astrean prince.
Jeonghan snorted. Is this the new Nigerian prince meme?
He deleted it, closed down his laptop, and went back to work.
Jeonghan emptied his mail locker in the lobby when he felt an arm rest over his shoulders.
“Anything for me there?”
“Ahh Shua,” he greeted. “Wait let me check,” He stacked the letters on his hands and went over them as Joshua looked over his shoulder. “Bills, bills, bills… Well you’re free to claim these as yours if you want.”
Joshua laughed, bumping his hip with his own. “if im gonna claim one of that, do not give me your electricity bill. I can hear you gaming til 4 am. Do you ever sleep?”
“Yes, I do. In class.”
“Yoon Jeonghan. Fix your lifestyle. You’re gonna age early with what you’re doing."
“Hey! Do I ever say something when you practically treat your coffee as water everyday.”
Joshua did not answer. Instead he reached over him and grabbed one of the envelopes from his hold.
“Wait, what’s this?"
Joshua took a thick beige envelope from the bunch. There was a kind of gloss to it. It clearly differed from the others in his hand, which were obviously made from cheap paper.
“To Yoon Jeonghan,” Joshua muttered the text written outside. He flipped it, meaning to open but it was tightly sealed with a purple wax.
Joshua looked suspiciously at him, “What are you up to these days?’
Jeonghan looked at the seal—a flame with a horse on each side. There was a pressing feeling that he has already seen this somewhere.
“Have you had lunch yet?”
Joshua looked taken aback from the out of place question but he shrugged, nonetheless. “Not yet.”
“Come eat at my room. Let’s open this together.”
“Yoon Jeonghan, what did you do?”
Both of them stared at the letter spread on the table. Seeing the format of the letter and the signature at the bottom, he knew that this was the same exact letter he received in the email a few days ago. The letter was very brief and straightforward. But even if that was the case, Jeonghan understood nothing of it. He has no idea what was happening.
To Yoon Jeonghan;
Greetings from the Royal Family of Astrea!
On June 16, 2004, you met with Prince MIngyu in a small park in Gangbukgu, Seoul, South Korea.
During this meeting, you have accidentally married the prince and established yourself as your royal highness’ husband.
Since this is a private matter that is difficult to discuss remotely, we are requesting your presence before our office to immediately settle this entanglement.
Immediately contact our Astrean Ambassador to South Korea, Ms. Kim Juyoung for further details. She will be ready to assist you and cater all your needs so you can meet with us in the shortest possible time.
Thank you very much.
Keep yourself safe.
“Year 2004? I was 7 years old then. What is this? What do they want?”
“They said you married their prince.” Joshua said it like he was only a breath away from laughing.
“This is crazy. What an elaborate prank,” Jeonghan breathed out in awe as he took the piece of paper from the table. He turned it around, examining it. The golden stamp at the bottom glittered against the light.
Jeonghan gave Joshua a conniving look, a plan already forming in his mind.
Jeonghan typed in the number into his phone and pressed the call button.
“No don't you dare,” Joshua sputtered. “Don’t call them. Just talk through text.”
Jeonghan held back a smile. Joshua always looked so scared when he does something like this. But Jeonghan is not someone who half-asses things. Go big or go home.
The call went through and Jeonghan waited as it rang. Sucks that he can’t recover the email anymore. He would’ve asked Wonwoo to trace the email back for him.
Finally, after a few seconds, the call was picked up.
It was a machine that greeted them. There was a short spiel introducing the office, a short notice to wait for someone to accept the call, a beep and then the start of a lounge music.
“Hey this is pretty legit,” Joshua said. Jeonghan turned to him and noticed the nervous look on his face. He grinned at him. “Relax.”
He agreed with Joshua. The sender must have really put a valid number in the letter. Even then there was an urge to trace the root of this matter and Jeonghan wanted to make sure that they weren’t involved in this. He figured there was nothing wrong with asking.
Finally, a man’s voice came through. He repeated the spiel introducing the office before he asked the reason for the call.
“Ahh, I don’t actually know why,” Jeonghan told them honestly.
The man audibly sighed. He was probably thinking that he wasn’t getting paid enough for this job. “Should I drop the call?”
"Wait," Jeonghan said quickly. He didn't exactly know what to say so he just settled for “I’m Yoon Jeonghan?”
There was a pause before a frantic. “Are you positive?”
Jeonghan hummed in response. He heard some shuffling which sounded like notebooks and folders getting moved before a firm, “Hold on, do not drop the call.”
The two looked at each other. This is strange. Really strange.
“Mr. Yoon Jeonghan. Our ambassador wants to invite you herself to a meeting but she is out in the moment. She wants to meet with you personally. Can we set a meeting with you? Since this is an urgent matter, is it possible to set it today? ”
“Wait,” Jeonghan said, thinking about what to do next. If this is still part of their prank, then this is pretty impressive. “I still have a class later, can we set it to dinner?”
“Of course. Is there a particular place that you would want to meet?
“Anywhere with a Michelin star?” He tried. He felt Joshua pinch him on the arm.
“Yes! I’ll take note of that. Any specific time that is convenient for you? We can arrange for your transportation also."
“Eight in the evening would be nice. About the transportation, I’ll take care of that myself. Just text me the details and we will be there.” Of course, Jeonghan wont ride a stranger’s car. “I can also bring my friends rights?” He would also not go there alone.
There was a slight pause before the other agreed. “That would be fine! Any other request?”
“No that’s all—oh wait. You will pay for this right?” Jeonghan had to make sure.
“Oh, of course!” he said it like it was already a given and he was stupid for asking.
“Alright. Nice. See you then.”
“Perfect. See you and have a nice day!”
When the call ended, he immediately dialed Dokyeom's number.
"Ah hyung?" Dokyeom answered. He sounded like he just woke up. "Why did you call?"
"Remember the wish coupon I got before when we had a bet? I want to use it today."
Dokyeom groaned. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"I need you to drive for me tonight," Jeonghan said. "Also, lend me five suits."