Sunlight was streaming through the curtains of the modern hotel that they were staying at, when Jeong Tae-eul started opening her eyes as she lay in bed, clutching the warm comforter to cover her body. The weekend is almost over, she tells herself. Gon is still asleep on his side with his free arm gently embracing her, and her bare back against his chest.
They've been exploring new worlds every weekend for more than two years now and each time, has been a different experience. It's been exciting to go on these adventures with Gon. They've formed habits and rituals, and make a good team like any other couple who have spent two years together in a relationship. The only difference is that unlike other couples, their dates consisted of going through portals of time and space.
They were approaching the 3 year anniversary of their first meeting at Gwanghwamun Square and Tae-eul was thinking of a gift to give to Gon. During their first year, she cooked a really special dinner—which was a challenge since she was not as good of a home cook as Lee Gon, who is quite capable of preparing gourmet food for himself. Last year, she put together a cheesy album of a few memorable places they've been to so far, taken secretly with her phone camera. But as this third year was stretching out, there was something that Tae-eul wanted to ask Gon but was afraid of what it would mean for them.
There was no doubt in her mind that they were meant for each other and deeply in love. But she was starting to feel like it was time to look forward to more than just their weekend time-travelling adventures. Tae-eul doesn't have a lot of female friends in the Republic of Korea to confide in except for Nari and her colleagues at work to talk about what she felt. Besides, how could she open up anyway about her Secret boyfriend from a parallel world? But for once, she wished she could share her thoughts with someone who could understand—other than Lee Gon—so she could make sense of her rising self-doubt if moving between worlds on the weekends was going to be good enough for her... forever.
Her mind has started to frequently drift to the thought of children too. She thought about Eun Sop's siblings who by now are in elementary school, and wondered about motherhood itself and the idea of becoming the Queen of Corea. It would be nice to hold a baby or two of her own. She was now in her early thirties, a period when many modern women her age were starting to settle down and have families with their significant others. In the past two years, she pushed these thoughts of future possibilities away from her mind, partly because she thought that she didn't need those experiences to be happy with the love of her life; but also partly because she felt it was futile to want more than what the universe could give them. Wasn't she supposed to be perfectly satisfied with balancing her career as a Detective in the Violent Crimes Division in the Republic of Korea and just be his girlfriend on the weekends, free from the responsibilities and intrusiveness that would fall on her lap as Lee Gon's Queen?
Tae-eul admits quietly to herself that she's beginning to resist the limits of her present reality; but at the same time, she's also worried about the high price of leaving everything behind and possibly causing unintended consequences in the wake of her departure. She thought about whether Gon could reasonably pull strings to create a believable background story about her to satisfy what would be a massive public curiosity—and scrutiny--about Corea's Future Queen. But most of all, she thought about how leaving her father alone in order to be with the love of her life, would be too steep of a sacrifice. That guilt weighed far more on her mind than taking on the duties of a Queen. Who would take care of her father as he grew older? He was only in his early 60's.
Tae-eul started feeling a little sad when she realized the scale of the invisible wall that separated her and Gon. Her thoughts were interrupted a few moments later when he was starting to wake up. Gon nuzzled his face in Tae-eul's hair. He gave her a hug from the back and kissed the back of her head, before he pulled her closer to him. "Good morning," Gon said in a muffled voice with his eyes still closed. Tae-eul, awakened too by his familiar kiss, set aside her thoughts for now about the future and let this Sunday morning linger a bit more.
***
After they got out bed and had gotten dressed so they could check out of their hotel room by noon, Taeul plopped down on the beige couch in their room while she packed her things. "What would you like for our anniversary?" she asked Lee Gon who was seated opposite her on another similar couch.
"That's... a good question..." Gon open-endedly replied. He was looking at Tae-eul who was busy folding her clothes and putting away a small set of toiletries that she bought for the weekend inside her trusty backpack. Tae-eul on the other hand didn't really think much about what she had asked of Gon until she started to notice the silence that followed after he spoke. They looked at each other thoughtfully after she closed her bag since they both knew what the answer was.
Lee Gon has asked her this question several times, playfully and seriously, if she could marry him and be the Queen of Corea. And each time, Tae-eul tried to make a joke or deflect the question, preferring not to give a straight answer. "Let's just live for today," was what she told herself and what Gon had come to accept. They were happy and that was all that mattered. They were just getting to know each other back then when they started crossing worlds. But after almost 3 years of time-travelling and weekend hotel stays, she knew she couldn't avoid the question any longer. The more they travelled together, the deeper their love had grown. And that deep love naturally needed more room to grow.
"I love you," Tae-eul said as she offered a little smile to Lee Gon.
"I love you too," he replied.
Tae-eul looked at a blank space on the floor and bit her lip. "Have you ever thought how we could make it work? Us, I mean... how we can be together?" she asked, timidly.
"I've thought about it, and actually have a little bit of a plan in mind..." Lee Gon said calmly but who was just as surprised by her response. He has been thinking of a plan for quite some time. But he knew he needed Tae-eul's commitment first to the idea before he could move forward.
"If I said 'Yes', um... what do we do next?"
"So... are you finally saying, 'Yes'?"
Lee Gon's heart skipped a beat.
"I think so..." Tae-eul said nervously but with more certainty in her voice.
Her answer was always going to be a yes—how could it not be a yes? But it was always the consequences of that 'yes' that gave her second thoughts. She would be Queen of a country whose citizens were fiercely devoted and protective of their young King--a king who had grown up with the trauma of being a witness to his father's tragic and awful death. This was not going to be an easy "Yes" by any means. But she knew in her heart this was her answer, no matter what universe they were in and what title or lack thereof that Gon had to his name.
Lee Gon didn't want to tease her further in case she doubted herself and changed her mind. He knew he had to act quickly and not let the moment pass. He let out a relaxed smile and reached for a very small box that he had been carrying for so long, inside his coat. The box was old and covered in black velvet. He wanted to do it right. Once he had the box in his hand, he stood up and then sat down beside Tae-eul. He reached for her left hand from her side to bring it forward between them. He then opened the old velvet box to reveal a large, single 2 carat diamond on a platinum ring band. It sparkled beautifully in the light and was a relatively simple ring whose appearance did not render any hint of history to the observer that it was once owned by a Queen. But to Gon, this ring simply belonged to his mother.
Carefully, he placed and slid the ring on Tae-eul's finger and asked the question he's asked so many times before. He knew her answer would be a "Yes". It was always just a matter of when he could actually take out this small priceless box from his coat.
"Will you marry me, Tae-eul?" Lee Gon asked with all the love that he had.
And with equal certainty, she looked at the ring as Lee Gon put it on her finger, before staring into his eyes and said the words that no longer held her back. "Yes, I will marry you, Lee Gon."
Lee Gon gave her that familiar, boyish smile when he heard her reply. He had always wanted to hear her say 'yes' and now she finally said it. He felt victorious. Tae-eul, on her part, had seen that smile a million times before, but at this very minute, she saw how incredibly happy Gon was, sending her heart soaring with joy and affection. Slowly, Gon came for his prize and reached for her cheek with his hand, bringing her face closer to him so he can kiss her passionately in return.
***
Tae-eul woke up from a long nap, hugging her body pillow to ease the discomfort of being a pregnant woman who could give birth between now and a few more weeks to go. It was only 3pm and she thought about grabbing an afternoon snack from the kitchen, while waiting for her husband to come home from a scheduled engagement.
It was a more than four years ago when she and Gon decided that they would get married and Tae-eul would live in his world. However, actually becoming Queen didn't happen overnight. They both knew that they first had to prepare for the challenging work ahead of them, particularly how to win over the people of Corea and how to care for Tae-eul's father.
But long before Gon had proposed with his mother's engagement ring, he had already done some homework on his own, unbeknownst to Tae-eul when they were still dating. He learned about what eventually became of Luna while he did his research about Kang Hyeon-Min, Sin Jae's true name in the Kingdom of Corea. And he knew that if he were to invent an acceptable and believable identity for Tae-eul, he must begin with the woman who resembles her in Corea. Fortunately, Luna's life as a young orphan provided the luck that Gon needed.
He learned that Luna—whose adopted name is now Goo Seo Kyung—had biological parents who died in separate instances. Her father died when she was very young through a mugging incident leaving his wife and daughter to look after themselves. Unfortunately, Luna's mother succumbed to cancer before her 6th birthday and she remembers little of that time. She was declared an orphan of the state and was passed unto the care of the country's facilities until she escaped and lived a life of petty crimes to survive, before meeting her kind adoptive mother in the public market.
Gon thought about building on the idea that Tae-eul was Luna's twin, and they were separated when the latter's father died. As a result of her mother's financial hardship raising twins, Tae-eul was left in the care of a childless couple. Gon had to look for people who have already passed away in the present—that way they can no longer be questioned by the Press---but who could pose as that a childless couple in the past, and preferably living in a small, isolated part of the country somewhere. After searching through public records, Gon found the perfect candidates and used the power of the Manpasikjeok to go back in time to make them agree to certain things in exchange for small gold bars he brought a long with him on such trips. He would make them sign adoption papers, school records, and whatever else he could use to plant Tae-eul's identity in the past.
Gon felt guilty about forcing something that wasn't true and was concerned that the god of the Manpasikjeok would come for him and his transgressions of wanting to alter the past for his own and Tae-eul's personal ends. But he consoled himself that he wasn't harming anyone by exchanging or taking lives. He was just creating a story to protect someone he loves.
Once Tae-eul said yes, he sought the services of a PR firm who would be sworn to secrecy on how to craft a plan, bringing Tae-eul gradually to national consciousness but limiting the effects of an intrusive press that had always hounded Royalty the world over. They planted random sightings and obscure, unclear photographs at first along with headlines like, "King Goes on Date with Mystery Woman". They worked on her present identity and a story on how they first met. She was a girl from the countryside who tended the family farm. They met online and in-person when Lee Gon went to be by himself in solace to study math.
Tae-eul for her part, started coming over to Corea on weekends. Gon shared with Lady Noh his plan to marry the woman that he loves, and asked if she could give her Princess Lessons and teach her the ways of the palace and how to go about future Royal Engagements on the calendar.
Meanwhile, Gon knew that the Press would never be satisfied with blurry photographs for long. But that would also mean Luna's, or rather Goo Seo Kyung's life, would be upended as well. He planned for them to meet, with Kang Hyeon-Min in tow, before the situation and demand for photographs got out of control.
Jeong Tae-eul was aware of the plan and the role she had to play in it, by pretending to be Luna's twin--a secret that she now had to keep for the rest of her life. But she was also looking forward in preparing to meet Sin Jae, whom she hasn't seen in years. Their first meeting as a group of 4 in the palace was awkward. They had all been together under different circumstances in a past that no longer existed except in the memories of Gon, Tae-eul and Yeong. They had more palace meetings and over time, and Tae-eul and Luna grew to appreciate their secret sisterhood. Tae-eul never had any sibling, and Goo Seo Kyung always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with her older sister, Seo-Ryung. Seo Kyung thought it was nice to discover that she had a sibling—and a twin at that—who was a lot more nicer to her and could genuinely be friends with. Besides, she was going to be the future Queen. She was looking forward to more visits to the palace to see her new sister and friend.
And then of course there was the issue of Tae-eul saying good-bye to her old life and introducing her new one to her father. Lee Gon came over to the Republic to visit and have meals with her so that her Dad could get to know her boyfriend. After they established some rapport, she told him the truth about the other world. Tae-eul could not simply bear to leave her father alone in Korea to fend by himself. So her Dad had to be brought to Corea to live with them there also in secret. They bought a non-descript apartment near the palace where he could stay independently. They began to prepare to say good-bye to their life in Seoul and sold their apartment and taekwondo school, taking only things they can carry with their hands, over several trips. Tae-eul also had to quit her job and train her replacement. She gradually had to say good bye to friends, Eun-sop and Nari; and Chief Park and other work colleagues whom she promised she will all visit one day. But for now, she and her father have decided to move away.
Planning and executing this blueprint for their future happiness was stressful and challenging for both Gon and Tae-eul, but most of the burden fell on her. Gon tried to protect his future wife as much as he could. She was not used to being exposed to public scrutiny and pressure. At the same time, learning the ways of palace protocol can also be frustrating for someone who lived a middle-class life and was used to making her own money to support herself. It was a different kind of life, but one nonetheless she had to endure—and embrace—as her fate as the future Queen. Tae-eul knew it was not going to be walk in the park. She learned how to cope with intrigue, malice and a sometimes unforgiving social media; as well as the mumblings of the Corean elite who snickered at her commoner background. They were feeling a little betrayed that the future Queen was not one from Corea's most distinguished Chaebol families. Like father, like son they supposed. Lee Gon's mom was a commoner herself, a scientist, with no wealth or title other than a Ph.D.
Tae-eul leaned, argued with, and loved Gon more fiercely throughout the process of preparing for a life of Royalty. But she was also appreciative of new friendships made with Hyeon-Min and Soo Kyung; and Yeong and Seung-Ah. She found her loyal tribe of people she can confide in, as she unburdened herself from her invisible crown as a Queen-in-waiting during the times she spent with them.
Eventually, the Official Engagement and a date for a future Royal Wedding was announced. The public's acceptance and excitement was well in place after over a year and a half of hard work, and Gon and Tae-eul could not have expected a better outcome sometime at the beginning of their fifth year together, when they were both officially, husband and wife before God, and King and Queen before country. When Tea-eul was walking down the aisle, Gon thought of his parents in the afterlife and his beloved Uncle Prince Buyeong, and hoped they would be proud of him.
***
Gon entered the kitchen where the staff was busy preparing for dinner to look for Tae-eul. He found her in the pantry, holding a small plastic bowl of fruit, while looking for more snacks to eat. "What looks good?" Gon asked his wife as he sneaked inside the spacious room.
"I think I'll just settle for a granola bar..." Tae-eul said as she faced her husband and stretched out her hand to offer him the bowl she was holding so he could carry it for her. Gon planted a kiss on her lips. He missed his wife for the day since she was supposed to join him originally, but happy that she could now take her maternity leave and not have anything planned in her calendar in the next several months. He was also looking forward to having some paternity leave for a few weeks after their baby is born to spend some quality time as a new family. They walked back together to their residential wing in the palace in slow steps as she cradled her bulging pregnant belly.
"Look, he's moving..." she said as she pointed out to her husband the visible subtle movements in her tummy as she was sitting down on the sofa to finish her granola bar and fruit bowl while watching a movie. Gon had just taken a shower and changed his clothes to a simple t-shirt and pajamas. He called a butler and asked if they could have their dinner in their private quarters so that Tae-eul wouldn't have to make another long waddling walk to the dining room. Gon sat beside his wife and put his hand on her stomach to feel his son trying to create movement. It felt weird feeling him and seeing him move in his mother's belly.
Eventually, the baby movements tapered off when Tae-eul finished eating. Gon lovingly put his arm around his wife as she leaned on him while engrossed in the movie she was watching. He felt happy and content coming home everyday. And he wanted to take it all in before they become sleep-deprived first-time parents. They haven't thought of a name yet for their son, but they still had plenty of time.