The entourage is very big.  You can easily sees more than 20 palanquins from afar.  In them, there seats the daughters of prominent families from Jamsil, carried by their servants and slaves.  Soo Jung is in one of it.  She look past the small rectangular opening of her palanquin to see the green curbs outside.  She finds the view outside rather enticing, mother nature after all is at it's best when paired with the dim light of the sun setting.  It’s almost night now, they ought to stop their journey soon and camp out to  rest. 

They are on the way to Joseon and it’s been their 3rd day on the road already.  The representative of Joseon’s imperial household that navigates their journey said they will reach Joseon’s Forbidden City tomorrow morning.  Journey has been very hard, to the point where Soo Jung just wants to end this all and just go home.  But, she couldn’t.  She stole a glance towards Jaejoong who has been there with her throughout the journey. 


Their father somehow knew Soo Jung will cower out and run back home, so he sent Jaejoong with her to be her escort. All tributes will need an escort, to fulfill their needs and also be their guardians at the same time.  Her mother offered herself, but her father turned her down blankly, choosing Jaejoong instead.


This is a threat actually.  Her father knows how much she treasures Jaejoong.  If she runs, the one in charge of guarding her, which is Jaejoong, will get the blame.  Goodness know what they’ll do to him if she does that. 


Three days of non-stop journey has her mind filled with many possibilities.  Yes, she indeed has heard rumors about the emperor, this journey of theirs in particular has been filled with squeals and giggles about him in every night stop.  Rumors of how good looking he is, how valiant he was in wars, his wisdom, his power, his riches.  She heard it all. 


To be honest, when she first heard of those rumors, she couldn’t help but to have this one little desire to meet him by her own and see whether or not someone can be as perfect as they paint him out to be.  But now that she actually get the chance to, there is this very painful constriction in her heart. 


Will he look at her?  Will he even spare her a glance?  Will she stand out amidst all those beauties who couldn’t be any more excited to have him on their beds?  She’s nothing but a country girl really.  She’s not sophisticated.  Goodness, she can’t even put on her lipstick properly.  She’s not smart.  Nor beautiful.  She’s nothing.  Nothing except the daughter of a minister perhaps.  But even that is slipping away from her.  Her father is losing his position after Joseon defeated Jamsil, and if even that is taken from her, she’d practically has nothing!        


A lone tear escape her left eye as she stifle her sobs, praying that Jaejoong who is sitting beside her notices nothing.  She felt a cold hand making it’s way to her warm one and before she can even blink, Jaejoong grip her hand tightly in what she assume to be an act of consolation.  He noticed.


“Jae,” she sobbed as she immediately buried her face to his shoulder.  She can feel his steady breathing contradicting her wavy ones upon doing that.  He is so calm, too calm that he can almost be considered lifeless. 


Despite the idyllic and quiet air around him, Jaejoong ran his other hand along her hair before he held her securely on the neck.  “Jae, I don’t know what to do. What if they laugh at me?  What if they taunt me, saying things like what Jun Su said yesterday?  About how an ugly girl like me dares to have a dream to become the emperor’s concubine.  Jae, do I really not deserve this place?” she finally speak out her fears for the first time.  She can feel him sighing upon hearing what she said. 


Goodness, so he too can sigh?  She suddenly has this big desire to laugh.  So he too is human after all.  But then, the urge to smile is overthrown once her fears and insecurities comes back; the thoughts of being rejected and isolated in the palace.


“Run,” she finally hears him say.  Pulling back from him, she stared at his solemn face in disbelief.  Did he really said that?


“Jae?” 


“Follow your heart's desire.  Don’t listen to others,” he says calmly, his voice soft and gentle to her hearing.  “But, Jae.  They’ll kill you!  Mother, she will not let you go! She’ll kill me too.  And even if we comes back, they’ll still send us back the very next morning.  You know how much father wants this,” He has got to be kidding!  Does he not know what her mother will do to him- to them- if they comes home.  Maybe they’ll kill them both even before the Joseon officials can lay their hands on them. 


“Just stay in your friends place for a while and come back home 3 months later.  By then, father will not be able to do anything about this.  And your mother will probably worry about you too much to get angry,” he said, sincerity lingering in his eyes. 


“But- Jae, we can’t.  I mean, I know, just I can’t-”


“You want this didn’t you?” he finally caught her drift.  “You wanted him, but you’re just feeling too inferior towards the other ladies,” there was no sign of anger in his voice.  There was none in his eyes too.  And that taint Soo Jung’s face even redder.  That is her answer. 


“If so.  Just stay.  Be confident.  I don’t think he’ll emphasize much on physical feature,” he let go of her hand as he turns back to the front, back to his idle self. 


“But Jun Su said-” she tried to argue. 


“Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it,” he uses a Confucius’ quote to silence her down.  It unfortunately worked since she cannot find any other quote to counter attack him. 


She looked back to the world outside, seemingly deep in thoughts.  Jaejoong loves her a lot, she can feel that.  His feeling was magnified 1000x clearer when he asked her to run despite knowing the possible outcome of his suggestion.  She loves him too, and now she’s scared for him.  Who will protect him in the future? 


Soo Jung will be in the palace.  Their father, on the other hand, couldn’t possibly care less.  Who could he count on?  Their maids?  Their maids love Jaejoong a lot, but there’s just no way they’d go against their madame for him.  What if she uses whip again?  What will happen to Jaejoong by then?  No one would be there to put ointment to his wound anymore.  No one would cover him from the whips.  No one will protect him.


The sudden jerk of the palanquin snaps her back from her thoughts.  “What is it again?” she sigh.  She curse herself for even asking, of course it’s Jun Su cause Jun Su finds fault in everything. She knew having Jun Su and Ji Hye in front of them wouldn’t be good. 


Like come on it’s Jun Su, their never ending loud, obnoxious, grudging, annoying cousin along with his loud, obnoxious, grudging, annoying and cunning sister.  Yes, you heard right, the siblings are almost the same except for the fact that Jun Su is a little slow while Ji Hye is a little more than capable of scheming.  The high pitched sound of Jun Su yelling to someone reaches their hearing, earning another sigh from her. 


“Seriously!  You stupid nobody!  What will you do if something happens to my face?  Worse, what will you do if something happen to my sister’s face?  You expect her to go to Joseon with black eyes?” the sound of him scolding becomes nearer by the minute.  Before they knew it, the curtain of their door was snapped open and Jun Su’s very angry face greeted them. 


“What is it again?” Soo Jung asked warily, knowing very well that Jaejoong wouldn’t bother asking when it comes to Jun Su.  It’s just a waste of time according to him.


“Your bloody servant bumps to my bloody servant!  My bloody palanquin rocks and my bloody sister yelled at me!  So I yelled at them!  And now I’m yelling at you!  Teach your servants properly!  We don’t want any accidents!  How will you pay if my face over here got ruined?” he yelled threateningly. 


“Jun Su, I don’t understand.  Why are you getting angry over this small matter?  Fine, we apologize, now let’s get going.  We don’t wanna be late,” Soo jung calmly cooed.  Deep down inside, she’s cursing this good for nothing cousin of her's.  Why must it be him?  Why must he be the one to escort Ji Hye?  Why can’t it be his mother instead?  His mother, though equally arrogant, she doesn’t show it blatantly like him. 


“Of course you don’t understand!” Junsu dramatically continues, unwilling to compromise.  “You were born ugly!  You won’t understand the fear we beauties have when it comes to our faces!” 


Soo Jung swallows the bitter pill sadly as she looked away from Jun Su, offended. 


“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.  The arrogant however, has pride and ease, but both without dignity,” there came Jaejoong’s curt reply, leaving Jun Su blinking in wonder.


“W-what did you say?  Hey, don’t you go all Confucion of me!  I’m not that stupid!” Jun Su shot in annoyance. 


“It’s Confucius!” Soo Jung giggled, finally has the opportunity to shame the guy. 


“I know that!” he retorted as matter of fact.  He got quiet for a while, trying to process Jaejoong’s words.  Finally understanding, he gasp in disbelief.  “Did you just called me arrogant and prideless?!” he spat, virtual fire coming out from his nostrils.


“A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart,” Jaejoong quoted another Confucius’. 


“Did you just called me a fool?!” 

The silence is still.  No sounds are made, except perhaps the sound of hummingbirds chirping outside in that cloudy morning.  The eloquence of his writing comes to a halt as he pulls back and sits straight to ease the pain on his back. 


“Sire,” the treasured silence is finally broken.  The lean buffy man did not immediately answer the call.  He rubs the back of his neck with both eyes closed, tired and worn out. 


“What is it?” he finally replies, his voice a stern baritone, clearly not welcoming any interruption during his writing time.  “The tributes from Jamsil has arrived,” the eunuch next to him answers.  He nods to that statement softly before he resumes writing. 


“Sire,” the eunuch calls again, sounding calm even though he is shaking inside.  He’s definitely lucky for having served the emperor for many years and had gained the privilege to sometimes interrupts him without incurring any wrath.  Any other servants would’ve probably been sent out to their punishment the minute they interrupted the emperor’s favourite leisure activity. 


“What do I do?  The ritual will begin soon, and you have yet to give them their ranks, sire,” the eunuch continued.  There is a flash of wisdom lingering on the eyes of the superior man as he continued writing.  “Appoint them as the Second Class Female Attendants.  If there are some that I like, I’ll give them higher rank later,” the asked man answered curtly, not even lifting his eyes from the paper. 


“Um, I understand, Sire,” the eunuch bows. 


“You sounded curious, Hong Chul,” the emperor remarked spontaneously.  Taking that as the cue to ask, Hong Chul respectfully bows before he delivers his question, “Sire, forgive me if my question ended up infuriating you.  I'm just-“ 


“Just speak on.”


“Ah, yes sire.  I was wondering, you didn’t appear to fancy the idea of receiving those tributes from Jamsil.  You have your every right to reject them.   And you very well knows that this is their way to escape their impending death sentence.  But why do you-“ 


“Why do I accept those tributes, you ask?” there's a silence before the emperor sneered and gesture him to get out.  Hong Chul bows, question still unanswered, but he’s not going to continue asking and try out his luck.  Who knows what’ll happen to him. 


No matter what, he believes in his master.  The emperor is wise and alert.  He is unperturbed, with his every moves aligned and calculated, and this matter is definitely not an exception.  What a wise man has he grown up to.  Hong Chul nodded to himself proudly as he walk to one of his people to tell the head ritual about the rank those ladies had been given.  After that, he stood quietly near the door of the reading room, like an obedient eunuch he is.


The entourage finally reaches their destination, the door of the Forbidden City, the heaven and hell to those who shall occupy that place in the future.  The many palanquins jammed the entrance after they arrived, and all escorts and slaves that are acquainted to the ladies are required to get off since they cannot pass through the gateway.  Soo Jung automatically sobbed, burying her face in Jaejoong’s shoulder.  This time, Jaejoong didn’t do anything to soothe her.


Her cries becomes worse and worse by the minute.  Pigments of imagination flashes through her mind, imagining Jaejoong’s possible condition without her as well as her possible future in the palace.  The royal officials who waited for them in front of the door knocked on their palanquin softly and said, “If there’s any other people inside beside the tribute, please get off.  We’re going to enter soon.”  The same goes to the other palanquins.  The guards couldn't check it themselves since no other men that is not family members are allowed to lay their eyes on the emperor's women before the emperor does so himself.


The sound of men yelling to send their palanquin-bearers away is also heard.  And the palanquin was soon lifted by palace’s slaves instead. 


Jaejoong tried to let go of her grip, but she wouldn’t succumb.  “Soo Jung, let go of me,” he softly requested.  She shook her head violently, using that as her answer. 


“Soo Jung!” this time, his tone got a little higher as he tried to pry her away from him. 


“Stay with me!” she pleaded out of the blue.   She looked up to him, still not letting go.  His expression is no longer blank, it instead is replaced by that of shock and irritation.


“Jae, mother will not let you go.  You know how she is.  You know how much she hates you.  She’ll not let you off easily if anything bad happens.  Jae, she’ll hit you every single day!  She’ll use whip and iron again and this time I won’t be there to stop her!  That’s not just it, what if she tries to sell you away again?  You know how much those men in the brothel wants you, and how much she wants to get rid of you!  She’ll sell you off for 1 nyang if she can!” she pleaded, still sobbing. 


The words the old lady said when she brought him to a brothel passes through his mind.  Just take him.  He is after all the son of a slut.  A whore.  He ought to be just like his mother.


 That day, Soo Jung overheard the maids whispering about what their madame had done and the second she heard them, she sprinted to the said brothel, hugging her brother tight while yelling how much she hates her mother in public.  Since then, her mother will not do anything to Jaejoong in her presence, scared of being hated by her own daughter.  But Soo Jung knows, the second she left Jaejoong alone, her mother will come to him like an ant coming for a piece of sugar.


 “Soo Jung, get a grip of yourself.  They’ll kill you if you continue this behavior of yours in here,” he said, his annoyance unmasked. 


“Jae please, listen to me this time.  She’ll not be easy on you.  And father wouldn’t care either!  And Jae. I’m scared,” She hiccupped fragilely.  The look on his eyes softened, hints of previous annoyance gone just like that. 


“Don’t be scared.  Be confident, they’ll not judge you based on your looks.”


“Easy for you to say!” she snapped.  “You’re beautiful.  Too beautiful for a guy.  You’re even prettier than me!  You have scores of girls on your feet, why would you be any less confident!  While me?  I’ll probably spend the rest of my life here, in the corner of the forbidden city, accompanied by one mere maid who deep down inside curse her luck for being stranded with me. No one would care for me here!  I’m so ugly, even the eunuchs won’t have their way with me.  Ji Hye hates me, Soo Young also hates me!  I’ll be all alone.  And all those shits mother spouted about me going back to Jamsil and being celebrated by a party, it’s all just dreams.  Far beyond my reach.  You yourself know, only the loved ones will be allowed to visit their home.  How am I supposed to live then?!”


The two of them were quiet, him stumped at the emotional meltdown Soo Jung had just had.  


"Soo Jung, I'm sorry but you do know what will happen if a man is caught in the harem, right?" he questioned. She looked at his face, trying to guess his emotion right now. It's really hard since he's back to putting on the blank facade. In the end, she tried her luck and resort to begging again, "Please. For me." 


He kept quiet like he usually does everytime Soojung asks something he wants to but couldn't give.  This flutter her heart cause she know he's actually contemplating her request.


The palanquin suddenly moves, indicating that they are now entering the forbidden city.  This brings him back to reality and pushes her away.  "Soo Jung, I'd write you letters, I promise," Jaejoong whispers softly, not wanting to be heard by the servants who lifts the palanquin.  It was a blatant lie, no consorts are allowed to communicate with outsiders once they entered the harem.  But Jaejoong promises so anyway, as a mean to soothe her.


“Please.  Just one night!  Please!  This will be my first and last wish from you!” she clung to him tightly, leaving him no room to breathe or in this case think.    


And while on their way in, as though there was a divine intervention from up above, the linen that closes the window of their palanquin was blown by winds and Jun Su who was riding his horse to head back home conveniently saw him.  Jaejoong's fair skin and ruby lips are very distinctive even from afar after all.    Jun Su blinked to himself, utterly speechless.  That was the last thing he saw before the grand gate shuts in finality.  


"What the hell did I just saw," he asked one of the servants standing beside his horse once he manage to regain his will to talk.  The clueless servant blinked back at him, eyes diverted towards the closed gate of the Forbidden City in wonder. 


"Go and ask the people from my uncle's household if that Jaejoong already unboard that ugly Soo Jung's palanquin," he commanded solemnly despite the variety of childish words in his sentence.  Then, he train his eyes back to the gate.


“Just for one night.  I’ll try to send you back tomorrow.  Please, don’t leave me alone.  Not now,” Soo Jung begged as she gripped Jaejoong's arm in the palanquin.  His dark abyss of an eye looked at her frustratedly.  Soo Jung sobbed to herself, feeling bad for pulling him in this mess, but feeling satisfied at the same time since she gets to spend more time with him. 


“One night only.  After that, I’m gone,” he said, his tone low, not really having the liberty to choose as of now.   Not when they already entered the compound.  If he did anything, or suddenly unboard the thing, it would not be good for Soo Jung.


Little did they know, that one night of his will be more than one nights later.  And her first and last wish from him will indeed be the first and the last in this lifetime.     




Author's Note :  This is the very first chapter.  Very long, I'm so happy XDD  In case if anyone's wondering about the Second Class Female Attendant thingy, it's a ranking system I got from Qing Dynasty.  It's like this:
Empress:  Only one at a time.
Imperial Noble Consort:  Only one at a time.
Noble Consorts: Only 2.
Consorts: Only 4
Imperial Concubine: Only 6
Noble Ladies:  Unlimited
First Class Female Attendant: Unlimited
Second Class Female Attendant: Unlimited. 

So, lol, he's practically giving them the lowest rank.  And I know I mixing things up with the Forbidden City and all, but well, this is fanfic, lmao, anything can happen.  Anyway hope you enjoy.  And please give a comment, I'll write faster if you do ;)