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Chapter Text

The place where Lee Jaijin first saw the man was on the seaside of Jeju Island in winter. It was a remote place and also Jaijin’s favorite place. When he was lucky, he could enjoy the entire beach for several hours in the morning.

For sure, the sunset was more beautiful, but it was a cloudy day, and the thick clouds would not turn into sunset later this day. Jaijin was a little disappointed, and it was annoying that there was another preson on the beach. Why would someone come to grab this beach with Jaijin in such a cold and windy morning?

They stared at each other from a distance. When there’s only you and him, in between the whole sky, land and sea⋯it would become like this⋯So difficult to ignore each other. Jaijin wanted to wait for that person to leave, but after an hour ⋯Why didn't he leave? Jaijin began to think about whether he should leave first, and felt a bit want to have a cup of coffee.

Just when he wanted to go first, he saw the man standing up, but instead of leaving, that man headed for the sea and crouched down again at the edge of the tide.

"That man, isn't he going to commit suicide?" The temperature of the water wasn’t a joke, and he definitely won't want to swim.

"Hey, how are you?" Jaijin shouted at the man.

The man didn't respond, Jaijin yelled again in Japanese.

Even Chinese and English were used. No other language Jaijin could speak. At this time, he had already walked beside the person.

The squatting man looked up at him, "What?"

Jaijin was speechless, and felt so embarrassed.

Finally Jaijin said, “Coffee?"  The man didn’t speak, "I could pay." Jaijin added.

"Where? Is there a coffee shop nearby?"

"It takes ten minutes to drive. My car is there."

"Tell me how to get there, and I'm also driving." The man stood up.

So later they sat near the window of the coffee shop. After getting two cups of coffee at the counter, Jaijin stared at the man looking out of the window within the few seconds of walking back to the position.

"He looks so gorgeous!" Jaijin thought.

After sitting down, it was even more embarrassing. Jaijin didn't know what to say to a-first-met person, so they stared at each other and drank their coffee in silences.

"Are you local?"

Jaijin thought ”Thank god he speak first!“, he replied：”No, I live in Seoul, but I will stay here for a couple of months every year."

"Your accent is not like Seoul people."

"I was born in Busan, but I have lived in Seoul since I was twenty. Are you Seoul?"

"Well, I am." The man replied hesitantly.

There was another embarrassing silence, and they kept staring at each other's face. Jaijin found a unique temperament between the man's eyebrows.

"Can you let me take a picture?"

"Do you want to take a photo with me?"

"No, just you."

"Why?"

"I'm a painter and I'm good at portraits. I want to paint you. If I take a photo of you , then I would not afraid of you moving!“

The man looked sternly and he didn't want to be photographed: "Do you know who I am?"

"Who are you?" Jaijin thought we just met each other for less than a half day, and you didn’t tell me anything about you, how could I know who you were?

"I'm Eun Jiwon," the man said, and waited for Jaijin’s reaction.

"How to write it?"

The man sighed slightly, picked up the menu and a pen on the table, wrote the pinyin of the name in the blank space of the menu, and then wrote the Chinese characters.

 "Hello Eun Jiwon Xi." Jaijin answered politely, "I am Lee Jaijin." He wrote his name down like Jiwon.

Later Jiwon said that it's okay for Jaijin to paint him, but he didn’t want to be photographed, so he followed Jaijin back to the place where Jaijin stayed, and... Jiwon slept with him that night.

"Do you have a condom?"

"No." Jaijin never thought of any romance encounter on Jeju Island.

"I won’t do anything." Jiwon said.

 "Agreed, no unsafe sex." Jaijin admitted: "I have liver B. If you haven't been vaccinated or haven't got antibodies in your body for a long time, we won’t take the risk."

So they simply satisfied each other with their hands, and fell asleep on the tiny single bed in the small room.

When Jaijin got up the next day, he found that Jiwon drove away in the middle of the night, leaving only a note.

"Sorry, I have something urgent."

Jaijin thought that at least I had the painting, and he didn't expect to see Jiwon again. Later on,he found that the painting was taken away by Jiwon.

"That's what I drew!" Now Jaijin was really upset.

Two days later, Jaijin returned to Seoul. He dropped his luggage and went to his sister's house, where he waited for his niece and nephew to go home from class.

"How about Jeju Island?" Enju asked him.

"I met someone."

"Someone? How old is he? Where does he live? What does he do?"

Jaijin thought I didn't know these things: "He has very beautiful eyes, long eyelashes, a high nose, and then his brows are so damn good-looking." He gestured to his sister while explaining to her.

Enju felt despair: "Oh my stupid Oppa, what can you do if you are deceived?"

"He's gone, how could he lie to me?"

So he decided to show Jiwon’s paintings to his sister. These sketches were drawn on the morning after Jiwon’ departure.

"You painted Eun Jiwon?" Enju asked.

"Do you know him?" Jaijin was excited.

"Everyone in the country knows him! If you didn't know him before, you should know him now."

 "What?"

Enju turned on the television and switched to every news channel, and each one was full of Eun Jiwon‘s face.

"His Excellency the Marquis Eun Jiwon takes office as Regent Prince.”

"Would Regent Prince Jiwon be the next king?”

"The regent's appointment affects the general election? Is His Excellency Eun closer to the opposition party?"

"Oh! He did lie to me." Jaijin said.

Chapter Text

Jiwon woke up in the early morning. He lay there for a minute to figure out that he was now in the royal palace instead of his apartment in Yeouido Island. This was the first time he had slept more than four hours in the last three days after he returned from Jeju Island. 

Once he woke up, he couldn't sleep anymore. He picked up his mobile phone and surfed the internet. All headline news was full of the photo of him receiving the imperial jade seal at the regent's inauguration ceremony. He looked at himself within a big-fat-great Hanbok in the picture, and said: "What an idiot!"

The following comments in the news were all negative, as expected.

"How can a rogue become the king? Koko"
"Thief! He stole Prince Sunghoon's throne!"
"I don't know what happened to His Majesty the King, why choosing a divorced fool, seriously?"
"The tragedy of this country is that whoever came out of the womb first can be the ruler."
"Tell you a more terrifying gossip, he is a sodomist!"

"I really don't like this!" Jiwon murmured. He threw the cellphone aside, and it landed silently on the bedding.

He lay back and stared at the ceiling: "I don't like Hanok either." Since his childhood, he was so afraid of this traditional building because he always felt that ghosts would jump out from somewhere.

Thought of this, he sat up again, looking around at this oversized room in the dark, really worried that the palace would be haunted.

Then he saw the portrait that Jaijin painted for him in the corner.

Because he came here from the airport directly, the painting came along. He stared at the portrait and found himself looks solemn in it.

"Can't you make me more handsome?"

He felt regret for leaving in a hurry, and he didn't have the chance to get Jaijin's phone number. Maybe he could abuse his power just before his grandfather gets recovering from a cardiac stent procedure and then Jiwon will be off duty.

"I like this idea." Jiwon whispered.

Chapter Text

Jiwon really did this. Uh…, when you sacrifice and dedicate yourself for more than two months as a doll of the Imperial Household Agency (Jiwon secretly feels that he has performed much better than expected, after all, when the imperial jade seal was returned to his grandfather, did the royal palace lose any single brick or tile?), It wasn’t big a reward to get the information of “someone”. Of course, the happiest thing is that he could finally go back to be “His Excellency the Marquis” instead of “His Royal Highness the Prince Regent” (How a humble wish, he had never liked the title of “His Excellency”.) and it was so goooooooood that he could finally drive by himself again.

Speaking of this, his now in the front of the community where Jaijin lived. Since last night, he made at least ten phone calls to Jaijin, but none of them were picked up, which made him question about the information that Jang Suwon gave him. Fortunately, he got an address. It wasn’t easy to get the address, because Jaijin owns no property, and he has not moved his household registration to the renting place. Instead, his household registration is in his sister’s house, and he lives in an apartment owned by his brother-in-law. (Guess what, his brother-in-law is the owner of a listed company!).

Jiwon drove into the gate directly, and of course he was stopped and interrogated by the guard, but his own face was the best pass: "I am looking for a friend, and he lives in here."

When Jaijin went downstairs, he saw the guarding being so scared by the sudden arrival of a royal family member. It was so embarrassing that Jaijin had no choice but to let Jiwon come upstairs immediately.

"Keep the door closed, and mind the cats." As soon as they entered the apartment, Jaijin pulled a long face: "Why are you here?"

Jiwon shrugged: "I am here to apologize, I'm sorry, I was in a hurry that day." His Majesty really had a heart attack late at night, and doctors made the suggestion that he needs an urgent surgery, and then rests for several months. During this period, someone have to perform the royal duties on his behalf, so Jiwon rushed back to the royal palace at the midnight, and then later everything should have been known by Jaijin.

"I had forgotten that, it’s been a long time."Jaijin said it doesn't matter, but he really cares, and the lateness of Jiwon makes him so mad.

"I’m sorry to keep you waiting." Jiwon apologized again. "I've been a bit busy recently. You know, I've been busy… busy managing everyone." he said implicitly.

"You were not really ruling this country. This country belongs to all the people." Jaijin pointed to himself: "Civilians like me are the real owners of the country, and the royal family is only the dummy of royalists."

"Oh! So you are a republican?" Jiwon asked.

"I used to vote to political parties that support the legalization of same-sex marriage and the promotion of stray animal care policies." "In addition, I also support the idea about early decommissioning of all nuclear power plants in Korea."

"But I am a republican. That's truth."Jaijin felt a bit embarrassed, he’d never thought he would admit that he wants the abolition of royal power to a royal family member.

"I didn't expect your level of political participation is higher than mine, but why you didn't know who I am?" Jiwon added, "I mean when we were in Jeju Island.”

"It doesn’t matter Who is the king, he couldn’t affect the direction of policies in our country, as I just mentioned, he is just a virtual head of state. There is no need to know his family."

"Okay! Fortunately, my dream is the same as yours. I also agree with the abolition of the royal family. If the royal power collapses, I don't have to inherit that stupid throne."Jiwon made a face.

"Oh? I thought it's great to have a few supercars!"Jaijin is so crazy at sports cars.

"There is no such thing in the palace. We are still lighting the oil lamp at night!"   

Jaijin knew that Jiwon was joking, but he couldn't laugh when he came up with something: "You stole my painting, you have to return it back to me first."

"Stole?" Jiwon was surprised. "That's my painting, it's my face!"   

"I painted it, so it's mine." Jaijin was even more angry: "If you want one, draw it yourself!"   

"Alright, I’ll return it tomorrow." Jiwon found Jaijin has taken it so seriously and he compromised right away.

So they were good, so they did that, after Jaijin bought condoms and lubricants (After all, it’s the Lord Marquis' body.) Late after, when they were crowded in the tiny single bed, Jaijin whispered to Jiwon: "To be honest, when you were pretending that you are ruling everyone, they think you were doing well."

Unfortunately, Jiwon is the kind of person who couldn’t afford of any praise. "No, I have disappointed so many people. Since I divorced, the entire Korean media has been committed to shaping me into a disgusting old waste. During the regency period, my performance is not in line with public expectations just because I made no trouble." he said mockingly.

Chapter Text

Jiwon was soon betrayed by Jang Suwon (Suwon said: Sorry, I am paid by the Ministry of Imperial Household Affairs.) He was summoned by the eldest princess (In fact, there is only three minutes’ walk from his own apartment to his parents’ house, just like every time when he gets too much dirty clothes and needs to bring them to his mother.), He bowed his head in despair and accepted her blaming: “I thought you rehabilitated and would be more responsible after living in the palace for a few months. Why you just can’t achieve self-discipline? Hooked up with a man? You have to get remarry as soon as possible and to add offspring to the royal family! "

“Mother, I’ve told you that I would never marry again.” Jiwon replied stupidly: "It's much better to have a boyfriend than a girlfriend. At least he can't force me to marry with a fake pregnancy." This time, the princess even took out the scepter. (Such an amazing "palace-grown-up".) Jiwon got beat up pretty bad.

In the evening, when Jaijin helped him to take medicine, he was not tender at all: "Why would you talk back to your mother like that? If my mother is still alive, I will hold her every day!"

"Trust me, she didn't just raise me as a son." Jiwon said leisurely, "Which mother would set up her son to sleep with a woman, and then force him to marry with a fake pregnancy.”

"So the ex-Marquise was not aborted by your love affair. Didn't she conceive a child at all?" Jaijin asked.

"How did you know this, have you searched me on the internet?" Jiwon thought: "Who is the man stated that the king is the virtual head of country and was never interested in royal family members.”

Jaijin thought: "I have not only searched you, I have downloaded all your beautiful pictures, and some of them have been painted as portraits!" But he would never admit it, and had to shift the topic: "If the heir to the throne is gay, it will be really explosive."

"I'm not gay, I'm bisexual." Jiwon corrected him: "And I don't want to inherit the throne at all. My grandfather is still alive and well, and my uncle is still alive, and I also have a cousin! "

Jaijin murmured in his own mind: "Your grandfather is eighty. He had a heart stent operation recently. Your uncle has been sick in bed in the last twenty years. No one would expect him to inherit the throne. Otherwise, how could you be appointed as the regent prince a while ago?

In the end, he could only say, "Your cousin is pretty good, but unfortunately his inheritance ranks is behind you."

"It's hard to say. Maybe I will be kicked out if I make a few more troubles. Shughoon can do well."

They were talking about Kang Shughoon, the eldest son of the second princess, a man who came out of a fairy tale, a real prince. Although he actually just owns the title of marquis like Jiwon, but he was selected as one of the 100 most beautiful people in the world for years. There is no exaggeration to call him a prince. He has been a living sign of the royal family since his childhood, the dream lover of women all over the country. The charity foundation he runs is well-known overseas, and the number of members of his fan club exceeds all the K-pop stars.

"Why don’t we go to kiss in front of the House of Parliament now? And then I can throw all these messes up to him." Jiwon proposed.

"I don't want to be a celebrity," said Jaijin. "Well, I don't think he really wants to be a king."

"Why do you think so?"

"If he wants to inherit the throne, you had run away and gave it to him already. You took over the Regent under all the pressure, didn't you just want to protect him?"

Jiwon thought: “Oh God the bastard guessed right!” He raised an eyebrow: "My mother said she wants to meet you. It’s okay if you don't want to do it. I couldn't guarantee that there won't be a secret agent jump out when you step in the house and assassinate you.

"Do I need to kiss her hand when I meet her? I have never kissed a princess."

"You can't kiss her hand; you have to kneel down to her." Jiwon joked.

Chapter Text

Jiwon felt relieved, because even if Jaijin didn't want to visit the princess, it’s hard to say that he wouldn't be abducted at any time. It would be much more decent if he’ll be picked up by an official car and then go to the Mansion of Princess.

Preparing to meet the princess, Jaijin rejected Jiwon's offer to buy him formal suits. They sneaked into Jaijin's brother-in-law's company (Jiwon said that using the word "sneak" is too insulting! It was just no one else there at the time.): "I know there is a lot of formal clothes in the place, and the staff knows me well."

Then they were caught by the boss and his wife.

"Ahhh!" Enju first screamed, "Oh! Your Highness?"

Jiwon stretched out his left hand to stop her from really kneel down like all the ancient Korean dramas on TV. He thought, "I really hate the show Dae Janggeum…”, but Jiwon knew that Enju is the most beloved one of Jaijin. He could only say, " Mrs. Yang, I have now returned to be a marquis. You don't need to call me “Your Highness”, you can even call me Jiwon Oppa."

Then it was the brother-in-law. Jiwon and Mr. Yang looked at each other. At a glance, it was clear that Mr. YG could not bear that he was not the most honorable person within a hundred meters square. So Jiwon had to preformed his best royal practice: "Mr. Yang." Then he saw that the man leaned his right body forward slightly, and he immediately stretched out his right hand, so that Mr. YG could reach out and shake hands with him. “I have been your fan since Seo Taiji and Boys. Thank you for your great contribution to our cultural and entertainment industry in the past two decades."

Fortunately, this entrepreneur (Jaijin: cold-blooded entrepreneur!) was satisfied with the compliments, so Jiwon was not accused of stealing (What a pity! He missed another chance to be expelled from the royal family.), Then he was also invited by the couple to have a meal in the staff restaurant. Jiwon didn't quite understand why the staff who had usually met people like Kwon Ji Yong, would be so excited about the appearance of the marquis. Obviously, G-Dragon's contribution to humans is much better than the legal jobless waste such as Jiwon.

In short, it feels good to meet Jaijin ’s family, but Jiwon knew that when Jaijin enters Princess Mansion, there wouldn’t be such a harmonious atmosphere. The royal family’s spies were as good as high-level endoscopy. Jiwon was afraid that all small stains such as had been skipped several classes in middle school could be picked up. In fact, from Jiwon’s perspective, as long as Jaijin is not a serial killer or a rapist, he absolutely hopes to continue to date with Jaijin, but he knew what the eldest princess could do, and he knew that when things come, they couldn’t avoid it.

When Jiwon heard that the official car was cut off by the Royal Palace before driving into Yeouido, he was at his mother's house.

"It is the order of Her Royal Highness." Secretary Jang Suwon announced the news without emotion.

Jiwon secretly enjoyed his mother's desperate expression. The queen is the only one person that could stop the eldest princess, but why did grandmother intervene this? Jiwon couldn't figure it out.

Jaijin returned home very late that night. When Jiwon talked to him on the phone, he sounds very tired. Even Jiwon asked him how he feels about the palace, is it big or fun? and Jaijin didn't want to answer.

"You know what? No matter what happens, or what you want, I’ll always support you." Jiwon wanted to cheer him up: "I really love you; I’ll respect all your decisions." The word love was spoken out by accident, he suddenly realized that he had attached more importance to Jaijin than he thought.

"I have some things to deal with. I may not be able to meet you for the time being," said Jaijin. "Oh, it's okay, please contact me when you're not busy!" Jiwon realized that this relationship should come to an end.

"But what can I do?" 

Chapter Text

He drove to Busan overnight and wanted to see his childhood friends before everything goes in chaos, so when Jaeduck pulled up the rolling door of the store in the next morning, he saw Jaejin stood in front of him, looked tired.

"Why don't you inform me first?" Jaeduck asked, but he was actually very happy.

"I had made my mind to come here just a few hours ago, and I couldn’t stay too long." Jaijin walked in and looked around the imported car store and said: “How much is that one?” He tried to negotiate with Jaeduck: "I will soon become a celebrity, can you give me a discount? "

Jaeduck thought he was bragging, "Isn't your brother-in-law the big boss? Get the first-row-tickets of BigBang concert for me, uh..., I want the ticket of Sisitar’s concert too.”

"Sistar has been disbanded, and they are even not belong to YG," said Jaijin.

And it will be too long to wait until BigBang to leave the army. They had decided to replace it with the ticket of Black Pink concert , but Jaijin was not sure when he could buy the car. (How long will he have to wait for a Black Pink concert in Busan?)

Then he went to the university to meet his instructor. The professor accompanied him to the gallery, and told the owner that all Jaijin’s paintings that consigned for sale on commission there are not going to be sold, and Jaijin would take them away after a while.

The owner asked: "It's a pity, you have just gained a little fame in the industry. I estimate that your paintings can be double priced in the next three years. Why you stop selling your works? Are you going to give up painting? "

"I didn't say I want to give up. I just don't need to sell my work for a living anymore. I think I will not short of money." Jaijin said.

"Is that your rich relative? The one who often appears on TV?" The boss asked.

"It's the rich relatives indeed, and you could often see them on TV, but it’s not the one you thought." Jaijin explained, but he did not expect the owner to understand what he was talking about.

Chapter Text

Jiwon was sitting in the palace, almost all his families were here (except his sick uncle). They had just heard the decree of Her Highness the Queen, and the whole hall was filled with a weird atmosphere. Suddenly the second princess crying out:” No!” Sunghoon soon comforted his mother, but unfortunately the smile on his face betrayed his sincerity. Jiwon felt that Sunghoon was trying to resist the urge to jump out loud and cheer right away. In fact, Jiwon himself was eager to do this too, but he glanced at the iron face of his mother. Jiwon thought we could celebrate it later.

He couldn't help thinking of what Jaijin is doing now. After they talked on the phone three or four days ago, they hadn't contacted each other anymore, and he was so stupid that he said love first. He remembers that Jaijin only spoke slowly at the end. "After a few days, you can decide whether you would still love me!” “Shit! If we are done, I would be the one being dumped.”

Then Head of the Imperial Household Agency entered the room and announced the appearance of the big man tonight: "His Royal Highness is here!"

(Busan)

Jaeduck walked in and saw Tony eating instant noodles: "Anything else? I want to eat too."

"I'll cook for you after watching this news." Tony stared at the TV intently.

"Breaking News: The royal family's emergency press conference, the new descendant of the royal family appeared, and there is an the earthquake in the inheritance order.

On the screen, the royal spokesman read the lecture impassionedly, stating that during the Japanese invasion period, the eldest son of the former king (the father of the current king) was considered by the public to have been assassinated by the Japanese government, but was secretly protected by internal officials and escaped the palace. He lived anonymously and had descendants. Now his grandson is found by the royal family (thanks to the development of DNA identification technology). Because the grandson is in the lineal descendant male line, he will be given the prince title and surpass his two cousins in the order of succession.

"Cool!" Jaeduck sited down next to Tony, the news grabbed all his attention.

"His Royal Highness will come out and say a few words now." As soon as the spokesman withdrew from the podium during the live broadcast, all the reporters' flashes popped into the entrance behind the podium, and the head of the royal servants said clear: "Here comes His Royal Highness!", Everyone (including Tony and Jaeduck in front of the TV) unconsciously stretched his neck and wanted to see the new prince. The rhythm of the popping sound was faster. 

In flashes and more flashes, first they saw two hands holding the mobile phone, and then the man walked in quickly and he was shot inconspicuously by white light.

Jaeduck: "Fuck!"

Tony was so shocked that he dropped his chopsticks: "Isn't he...?"

On the podium, Jaijin took the mobile phone and recorded the flooding reporters and continuous flashes. He slowly took pictures from left to right, then from right to left, and said, "Wow! Daebag!"

Jaduck jumped up from his seat: "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! He's really not bragging!"

Chapter Text

After Jaijin entered the room, he first paid respectful greetings to the elder and second princess couples and then to Sunghoon and Yunzhi. Then he lowered his head and walked to Jiwon. “I'm sorry.” “I’ve made the decision without consulting you first. Actually, it wasn't my decision, Her Royal Highness the Queen decided this.” He looked up at Jiwon: "Congratulations, now you're free, aren’t you happy?”
 
Jiwon stared at him fiercely: "Are you an idiot?" His heart was twitching and felt like he was ups and downs in between extreme happiness and extreme sorrow. He felt so happy that Jaijin will stay with him forever, and felt mournful for the fact that: “I will never be able to let go of Jaijin...and also the royal court.“
 
He couldn’t explain the complicated feelings to Jaijin under these circumstances, and he didn’t expect Jaijin could understand. So he could only help Jaijin to rehearse the speeches of the later press conference (written by the Imperial House Agency) Jiwon added some easy-spoken sentences to help him to smooth it out: "Remember, speak slowly, don't hurry, this is a live broadcast, let people understand what you are talking about."
 
"I don't think I'm ready." Jaijin's face was pale.
 
"I have prepared for 40 years, and I couldn't do it well either." Jiwon comforted him and helped him to smooth the wrinkles on his new suit. "Enjoy it, you can't subvert this country."
 
Then when Jiwon saw Jaijin walking out with his mobile phone on TV, he thought: “You idiot, you are too enjoying, aren't you?"
 
"Hello everyone, I'm Lee Jaijin." Jaijin said, and there were a dazzling flash again. He thought the volume might be too low, so he said again: "I'm Lee Jaijin.” Then he took out the lecture notes, the one that had been revised by Jiwon, and began to read. Once he started, he couldn't restrain himself from speaking faster and faster, so that when he finished reading all the reporters before him were confused, he had to repeat the last few sentences: "I'm willing to dedicate myself for the country.” and then added a sentence: "Until the people don't need me." And then there were flashes and more flashes.
 
Jiwon focused on the TV and felt that Jaijin was already in a daze. However, the next part was the most horrible. Jiwon hoped that the Imperial Household Agency had already set up questions with the all the journalists. In fact, they did that in advance, but unfortunately they underestimated...

The first question was very gentle, the reporter asked about “How is Your Highness' expectations for becoming a member of the royal family.” Jaijin also answered in a very gentle tone: "When I said I will do my best to serve until the people no longer need me..., actually I was not so confident that people will need me. Maybe when I live in the palace and dress like an ancient man and a part of the tax money becomes mine... and then everyone will feel that our country becomes better. But if you are a fan of an idol, at least you can choose your favorite idol, and you can buy his CDs and go to his concert, and you can also being so happy. It’s a little embarrassing that I'll be fed by the taxpayers. I’m much older than those idols.” He finished his sentences with a shy smile.

The whole group of reporters immediately pounced on like sharks smelling blood: "His Highness, are you originally a Republican?" "Do you agree with the abolition of monarchy?" "Do you want to return rights to...

"This country belongs to all the citizens. I have always believed that when I was a civilian, there is no issue of so-called returning rights to the people. But because of blood relation, I will become people’s...It’s not precise to call me a public servant, uh... a captive pet? Well, I admire His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness Prince, and I have an obligation to assist them in performing the royal duties, but I have no intention of inheriting the throne. If there will be an amendment of law to dissolute the royal family in the future, I will be optimistic... "

"Although you are happy to see the country moving towards republic, do you realize that since you are a lineal male descendant of Lee dynasty, your appearance is absolute the greatest news to the royalists?” One journalist pointed out the biggest issue in this press conference.

"Well, I know that I am one of the only two male heirs to the royal family named Lee in this country. As people have previously argued, the royal family could be over once the male descendent of the Lee family does not exist, so when I appear, it contributes to the continuation of Lee family, and the royalists should be very happy about that,but..."

"I want to make a statement here.” He leaned intently and looked at the camera, saying word by word: “I will be the last one, I’m gay. All of the six people I’ve dated in my life were all male. I cannot get marry until same-sex marriage becomes legal in the country. However, regardless of whether I get the right to marry a man in the future, I don’t intend to have a biological child with a female in any way. I have a nephew and a niece already, and I'm satisfied with that.”

When he finished this, the entire press conference was dead. It seemed that everyone's consciousness had been fly away. Fortunately, the head of the Imperial Household Agency took the lead in restoring his soberness. He steadily announced:  “His Royal Highness is now leaving.” Jaijin took out his cell phone from his pocket and made the final two clicks to the attendee, and then left.

Jiwon laughed so hard and showed teeth: "Fuck, he is really going to subvert this country."

Chapter Text

Ten minutes later, Jiwon found a video of a press conference recorded from the podium was being circulated on the internet, and he told himself, "He is really an idiot."

The new prince’s action of posting IG had been considered trivial. The internet had been boiling all night, and mainstream media went crazy, this news surpassed the one that Korea went into the semi-finals of World Cup! After all, one is the first prince in exile, the second is the first prince to publicly support the republic, and the third is the first prince to come out...The whole world just can’t sleep!

However, none of these had been known by the new prince, Jaijin‘s mobile phone was confiscated immediately after he uploaded the video, and his IG account was also locked after a while (fortunately, many netizens made the backup.) For the following two days, he had lived a life as being house arrested, and had no one to talk to. Luckily, Jaijin has been a man of few words, so he could enjoy himself in painting!

“I’ve seen you painting it for ten minutes, but it looks exactly the same as it did ten minutes ago." Jiwon said behind Jaijin, he had imagined that Jaijin would live a miserable life with tears in the palace, but surprisingly, Jaijin looked good...liked he eating well and sleeping well.

Jaijin turned back: "I will draw it for another 30 minutes and you will still feel it is the same. You have not trained your eyes."

“I can only stay for twenty minutes.” Jiwon said, “You could sit there and continue painting, or let’s find something to do?"

(Huh, you thought the author would let them have sex!) They did go to the bed, but Jaijin was lying in bed and called Enju with Jiwon‘s cell phone: "How are you? Sister? How are my nephew and my niece? How’s Mimi? How’s Charles?"

Enju: "We are all fine! The kids were so excited, they wake up and found their uncle became a prince.”

“Didn't you become a princess too?"

“Well, Hyun Suk oppa was furious when the guards appeared in the house. He thought that the Imperial Household Agency looked down on him and felt that he couldn't protect us." Enju joked: "But it didn't take long for him to fall in love with the feeling of being surrounded by the front and back, you know how much he likes to order somebody around!"

Jaijin imagined it, and it was no surprise that the self-perceived brother-in-law would have such a response. "I'm sorry, I didn't ask you in advance if you want your son to become a king or not, I just decided to say those at the press conference."

“It doesn't matter, my husband said that he doesn’t allow my son to do anything else, he has to inherit YG."

Jaijin thought to himself that he didn't know if the company would have been ruined by his brother-in-law when his nephew grows up, “How he dare to say it.”

Enju told him that people had scold him for being a fool, but Jaijin didn't care about it: "If a person has to behave well to be a king, it is against the meaning of the monarchy. As long as people think it over, they’ll realize the concept of divine right of kings is stupid, too stupid that people like me can become a king, and then they will try to overthrow the royal power. That’s my purpose."

After hanging up the phone, Jaijin found Jiwon staring at him: "Do you think that it is very easy? The royal family can't be broken by playing a prank." He sighed: "Forget it, I can't dominate you, you are now in a higher position than me, Your Royal Highness."

Jaijin said, "Does that mean I don't need to call you hyung?"

Jiwon shouted: "You could try!" pretended to give Jaijin a kick.

Actually Jiwon was summoned by the Queen. Earlier he could not help complaining to his grandmother: "Grandma, why did you turn my boyfriend into my cousin?"

“Child, do your research! Even if he is not your cousin, you two will not be able to marry. Now the Civil Partnership Act is not scheduled to enter the parliamentary session!" She also shook her head: "Don't blame me, Your Majesty is old. He has spent all his life trying to find the offspring of his elder brother. I have to fulfill his wish!"

So Jiwon got the mission of teaching the rules of the palace to the new prince. Jiwon could not help but admire his grandmother’s wisdom. As long as she locks up Jaijin in the palace like a rose in a glass dome, she doesn’t need to worry about Jiwon could run away. However, there was one thing that Jiwon had his own opinion. The civil law prohibited marriages within four degrees of consanguinity, and it was based on the consideration of heterosexual eugenics, but Jaijin and he are sixth four degrees of consanguinity. In short, he had confidence in the citizenship of this country, as he had been secretly expecting to revise the law someday to abolish the royal family, he was also looking forward to the legislation of same-sex marriage in the future.
 
 

Chapter Text

Jiwon deeply felt that his grandmother’s plan of sending him to teach Jaijin the rules of the palace was too clever. She either had expected them to kill the other, or had expected them to break up.

When the weather was hot, Jaijin always wanted to take off his shirt like a wild person. At first time, his naked chest made the old royal maids and guards screaming in surprise, but later they got used to this and didn’t even want to pay attention to the naked body at all. And it’s indecent that Jaijin brings a small fan, if the a royal family member held a fan when he made his public appearances, it implied that the organizer had not treated the host well, and some people would be scolded for it.

"Why would anyone be punished for not taking good care of me? Shouldn't I just take care of myself?" Jaijin was always so naive.

"It ’s like raising a pet to be fat, the owner will be very proud, or watching idols to appear in a beautiful outlook, fans will be happy!" Jiwon talked back by using the "Royal Pet Theory" and "Royal Idol Theory" invented by Jaijin.

It is obvious that Jaijin is going to snatch the title of "the most nasty royal family member", which has being occupied by Jiwon for the past twenty years, the reveal of his own political tendencies was really a taboo. To be honest, aristocrats could only live like cute animals, once they showed a slight that they could think, or revealed any concern for any public issue, they will be regarded as interference of politics. Jiwon explained to Jaijin: "During my regency period, all the new acts in this country were sent to the palace and were approved by me with the imperial jade seal! The fate of the virtual head is to be rubber stamps!"

The worst thing is the discrimination against homosexuality in this society. If Jaijin is the king or regent prince, all those who dare to slander him will be prosecuted for insulting the head of state. Now the situation is extremely miserable, the confrontation between the supporters and opponents outside the palace had been completely intensified due to the appearance of the iconic man. The prince in the palace wall couldn’t be injured by the attack, however, the dark arrow could be fired at his family in the folk. Few days ago, on a live show, a guest asked the new princess’s husband in a contemptuous tone: "I heard that your children are raised by our new queen, don't you worry about letting him stay together with the children?" This person was really clever to said it without a dirty word, but he implied that homosexuals will be pedophiles. Jiwon was used to being scolded, but he felt so furious when it went to the children-the most precious nephew and niece of Jaijin, he had an attempt to arrange an assassination by imperiled household agency. Unfortunately, this is the 21st century. The royal family couldn't use the money of the taxpayers to hire a group of private assassins, Jiwon could only use his relationship with tax bureaus to let the bastard experience a tax audit.

At that time, Mr. YG did not fight back, but stood up and left the studio immediately:”I quit!" Jiwon had to admire his courage of not quarreling with people in front of the camera, but his resignation caused the live broadcast to be aborted. "I feel so proud to be your fan when I was young." Then he envied that Jaijin had the full support from his family.
  
"It's okay, Enju said that it‘s good to her husband not going to the show, and he could concentrate on producing albums of the singer." Instead, Jaijin comforted Jiwon.
 
"Oh? So can I know who's next ?" Jiwon was curious.

Chapter Text

For the first time that Jaijin left the palace, he left Seoul to go to the disaster site. Became the king’s physical condition was not capable for traveling. Jiwon hoped when the victims saw the prince appearing with the marquis, they wouldn’t be too disappointed to see the two most useless royal family members.

"They are all homeless people after the flood. You should think carefully before you speak." Jiwon reminded Jaijin, but he didn't know that such a warning was useful or not.

They were wearing shirts, suit pants, and an ugly jacket (semi-formal and friendly), followed by a large number of reporters, and came to this temporary shelter converted from the school gym (fortunately, the protesters did not follow them to outside of the capital circle, or the Imperial Household Agency and the local police worked together to successfully clear the field), the victims lived in a room built with simple partitions, you could only distinguish the bedroom and aisles by the foam mats on the floor, there was almost no privacy at all.

Jaijin chose a young couple with children to start his visit. He squatted in front of the entrance of the room, and “knocked” on the non-existing door: "Hello, is it convenient to bother?" After being invited, they took off their shoes and kneeled on the on the floor mats. Jiwon was responsible for to express the sincere condolences: “Is here comfortable? Is there sufficient food and clothes?” Jaijin was attracted by the baby who is still learning to climb: "How old is he?" "Can I hug him?" The new prince hugged the baby after he got the permission, then began to discuss with the parents about the subject of “my nephew and niece learned how to climb or walk when they were...months old.“ Another older child came over at this time: "Uncle, please eat senbei."

"Thank you." After Jaijin took it, he put the biscuit in his jacket pocket, and took out a candy from his pocket in return.

Then they visited an old couple. The old man were surprised when seeing them on their knees, they finally had to sit cross-legged. The old man also held Jiwon’s hand and wept excitedly: "Your Excellency, I was so happy when you were born, I kept the newspaper clippings at that time, I had kept it carefully until...but unfortunately, the house was washed away. " Jiwon was very shy, but after he got up and left, he asked the secretary Suwon: “Could you find another one? Try National Library, or some other places to find the old newspaper.“

Finally, they came to a classroom, which was used as nursery of the children victims. Jaijin carefully looked at the children’s paintings hanging on the wall one by one, and eagerly discussed the content with the painters. After watching it all, he went to the corner and squatted down and said to a little girl, "Could I have a look at your painting?"

"His Royal Highness, her mother is missing, and she came here for two days without saying a word." The teacher explained.

Jaijin didn't say anything. He picked up the colored pencils and drawing paper on the table, and drew a simple picture, and showed it to the little girl: "Guess what it is?"

"This is a hat!" The child next to him answered loudly.

"No! Guess again."

"This picture is so scary." The girl said, "A snake has swallowed an elephant, look! Here is the head, this is the elephant's buttocks." She stretched out her fingers to illustrate.

"Ding Ding Ding" Jaijin imitated the sound effect of the variety show, and took out candy from her pocket and gave her: "Give you a prize."

Other children rushed to surround him to ask for more candy, Jiwon watched Jaijin took more sugar out from his pocket, but he didn't gave out the Senbei he just received.

That night, the Queen made an exception to allow Jiwon to stay in the palace. In the dark chamber, Jiwon let Jaijin to cuddle on his arm: "I have a crazy thought." He whispered, "You would be a good king. "

"No better than you, hyung," Jaijin replied, "Every time you take something seriously, you can do better than anyone else..."

Chapter Text

Jiwon looked at photo of the new prince on the front page, holding a child in each arm, surrounding by more children, reading children's literature in the classroom in the disaster area, he thought: "Good model for propaganda." In the past, Jiwon would feel sick about it, (the royal court conspired with media to convey to the taxpayer: your taxes are not in vain.) But he knew how sincere Jaijin was, because he witnessed all the... How did Jaijin accompany the childern to draw and his cuffs were stained with paint, how he imitated an orangutan and pretended to catch the children...until Suwon reminded Jiwon : "Hyung, it’s time to leave.“

“Just a minute! There is no other schedule later." When Jiwon said this, his eyes were still reluctant to leave Jaijin, and he was a bit sorry that he couldn't have a baby for Jaijin.

With the fact that the new prince had been considerate and close to the people in the disaster site, his approval rates in public opinion polls had increased slightly (mainly from woman and people under 30, and the approval rates from over 40 were still miserable.), The Imperial Household Agency began to arrange some informal meetings with politicians.

The first to appear was Prime Minister Liu. The long-ruling majority party leader has a saint-like reputation, and was even nicknamed "God Liu" by the people. He respectfully greeted the prince, but Jaijin replied: "Don’t be so polite, you are a public servant elected by the people, but I... I am a pet of the country. Your status is much higher than mine.” He made the Prime Minister turn into a deer in the headlights, “Sorry, I’ve never voted to your party, but you are a good person, I think I could get along with you well.”

He went on to explain to the Prime Minister his support for the abolition of the royal family: "Everyone may respect the current king and the eldest son of the king, and do not want to play the heavy. But I am an outsider and the public has no feelings for me. If the ruling party show the support, when the king and the eldest son of the king depart from us, the royal family could be disbanded automatically, and I could just go back to be a civilian!” He added: “Of course, if the other existing royal families need some pension, we could figure out the potential solutions, but I don’t think my cousins would need financial supports, they are all wealthy."

"Your Royal Highness, allow me to remind you that according to the constitution of our country, members of the royal family cannot participate directly or indirectly in politics, so the instructions about the structure of the royal law you have just give me... Please forgive me, I cannot give you any promise." The Prime Minister Liu kindly reminded Jaijin.

"I know! But since you are here. I think at least I can make a suggestion”

The Prime Minister nodded with a smile, then there was an awkward silence.

Then Mr. Liu gained his courage to ask: “Your Royal Highness, please forgive me...If I don’t follow your instruction, what will you do with me?”

"What else can I do to you?" Jaijin answered without thinking: "I will vote for your opponent's camp, secretly, in this election."

"Oh." Liu nodded, and then said, "Your Royal Highness, please forgive me, I have to lead the whole party. Please could you understand the difficulties, it just like...“

"Like corporate culture?" Jaijin asked.

"No, Your Highness, this is like fulfilling the needs of our customers, I have to take into account the preference of our party's main supporters," Prime Minister explained.

"What is the structure of your main supporters?"

"Most of them are middle age people, Your Royal Highness, although most of the young people prefer the idea of returning rights to the people, but the turnout rate of young people in the country has not been high, so...” 

"Okay, I got it." Jaijin nodded and ended the meeting.

Chapter Text

He did escape from the palace (Jaijin said: very simple, the palace walls are so low.), and then ran to his apartment. He found the place was occupied by the boy who originally lived opposite.

"Hyung, we just moved in yesterday, and we did vlive broadcast during the move!" The door opened by the boy Jinu, who was more beautiful than a woman.

"You should called him Your Highness!” The boy Hoony was behind Jinu.
 
However, they still kindly recepted the previous householder Jaijin, and Jaijin was also happy to have a cup of tea and played with the pets in the house.

"It's amazing! I can’t believe Your Highness is in our living room." Mino jumped excitedly.

Jaijin thought “This was my living room, my apartment, and the entrepreneur is truly a cold-blooded person, I had moved away for only a short period...I knew he is a typical capitalist...” But there were still somethings that those young people could help, so ⋯

"Hi! ICs, we are WINNER, we had made the move!" "And we have a VIP today!" "Let's welcome His Royal Highness!" Applause.

"Oh ?! Is it on air now?" "Hyung, this is a live broadcast, and see... the hearts coming in."

"Hello everyone, I'm Lee Jaijin." He stared intently at the screen of his mobile phone and saw a bunch of IC messages appear one after another.

“Daebag! It's prince!"
  
"I'm dizzy, why does the prince join WINNER’s vlive?"
  
"Oh my God! The prince and WINNER appear at the same time, I feel my groupie life is complete.”

Jaijin chatted with the four boys for about 20 minutes in front of the camera. He faintly heard that the blare of police sirens was getting closer and closer, he caught the final moment and spoke out what he had thought for a long time:

"I want to tell all Koreans watching this vlive. I also think this is ridiculous, but I don’t have more power than all of you, I mean seriously. If you do hate the idea that the blood relationship is used to determine the lifelong career, don’t just scold me behind the keyboard, don’t even throw eggs to me on the site...the royal guards will block it. You just go to vote. This is fair, you have your one ballot, and I have my own one, I'm not better than you, go! vote for the party that supports the abolition of royal power, and you don't have to see my face anymore! and I won’t be your plaything anymore.”

Then the royal guards rushed in and took him away.

Chapter Text

Jiwon stared at Jaijin on the screen. He has repeatedly painted the place for half an hour, but please forgive Jiwon's talentless eyes, this painting looks really no different from half an hour ago.

Chapter Text

"Oppa, you have a visitor." When Sunghoon returned to the mansion of the second princess in a suit and a black coat, Yunzhi stopped him at the door and said: "But I want you to see this first."

Sunghoon clicked on the video and asked: "How long ago was this?"

That was about half an hour ago when Jiwon was interviewed by an online news platform. Sunghoon got goosebumps, because he knew at a glance that this was a surprise attack, and it was absolutely not been approved by the Imperial Household Agency.

"Hello everyone, I'm Eun Jiwon. Recently, I noticed that everyone seems to have forgotten that I was the founder of the royal loser. For this reason, I was quite dissatisfied, so I decided to take back the title of national bastard tonight." Jiwon said expressionlessly.

"I would like to come out to all Korean citizens that… Me, the Marquis Eun Jiwon, a bisexual, and during the past few months, after I stepped down as the regent prince, I am in love with Prince Lee Jaijin."

At this time, the reporter asked, "Your Excellency, do you have any evidence to prove  your relationship with the prince is true?"

"I can't, because he is currently under restraint by the royal court. Of course, I can't confirm my words. I don't have any photo of him on my phone. There are only some photos of the sketches of me drawn by him. It can't be considered as an evidence. Jiwon said honestly: "In addition, I know that I am notorious, and I don’t have to bet on my title to make any boring vow, but you can think about it, as the next person in the royal family's succession, such a lie is nothing good for me..."

"The only logical explanation is that I am a man who is crazy in love, and this is how he taught me." Jiwon sat a little forward in his seat and looked at the camera intently: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes." 

“Why did you have the interview? Do you want to publicly appeal to the royal court to end of the restrictions on the prince’s personal freedom? Or do you want to declare that you also support the prince's political preference that were previously open to the public?" The reporter then asked.

"Considering the upcoming polling day in two weeks, first of all, I hope that the royal court will release him after the election, but I have no intention of disclosing my political tendencies, I think the key issue of this election has been distorted because of the prince's previous speak. However, it may have blurred the focus. In addition to the issue of the royal family's preservation or abolition, there might be some other things that need to be considered by all citizens, which can be included in your reference when voting.”

"I just want to remind all those who want to hurt him, whatever inside or outside the palace. Excuse me, when you want to set him up, the person you have to deal with is me. When you want to dump him, the next person you have to face is still me. As long as the principle of the monarchy is not deleted from the constitution, you will not be able to get rid of me. I am not a new kid on the block. I have been playing these games for 40 years, and I've survived for the last 20 years that everyone has tried to destroy me. Bring it on!”

In the end, he said, "Just think about it, let us both be free, or keep playing with a rogue, you could make a choice .”

The reporter finally asked: “Your Excellency, do you suggest the royal family to expel Prince Jaijin and you?"

"I don't care," Jiwon raised an eyebrow: "I really don't deserve to be a member of them, but Jaijin... I think the royal court is not worthy of him."
 

Chapter Text

After Sunghoon saw the explosive speech of Jiwon, he met the people waiting in the room. He is the chairman of the second largest party in the congress. Compared with the ruling party, who has been trying to downplay the issue of the royal court, the second largest party has always occupied the vanguard of the royal wing, and has firmly defended the sustain of the royal family. However, this election is more special. This party announced that it would modify the royal inheritance rules in the future as non-eldest son succession. Seeing the appearance of the chairman, it was not difficult for Sunghoon to guess what he’s going to do.
 
He walked in quickly without even looked at the chairman, sat down and crossed his legs: "If you have any words, please get to the point."
 
The party leader is a distant relative of Sunghoon's father, he made efforts to enter the princess's house to meet the marquis, or the second princess invited him? In short, he immediately began to persuade the marquis to form an alliance in the final period of the election: "Since both Prince Jaijin and Marquis Eun had spoken publicly in an attempt to affect the election results regardless of the royal commandments, Your Excellency should no longer be cautious, please stand up and fight for all citizens. We have the obligation to maintain the core values of this country. If you cooperate with our party, we will fully support you in the future.”
 
Seeing Sunghoon didn’t response, he spoke in a more agitated tone: "Your Excellency, would you like to see the country fall into the hands of two dirty frits? Please could you consider it!"

Sunghoon originally lowered his head and played with the ring on his finger. When he heard the phrase "dirty frit", he raised his head displeasedly and flipped the bird to the chairman: "Has your mother ever taught you to speak politely? I'm the kind of dirty frit you just mentioned."
 
He did not wait for the party leader to return to himself from the fact that the marquis has just came out of the closet, Sunghoon stood up and shook the coat on his shoulders, and spoke in his most "royal style" arrogant tone, "You may leave now." and then went out.

Chapter Text

This parliamentary election is regarded as a "Motion of No Confidence" vs "Motion of Confidence" to the monarchy. The ruling party had experienced unprecedented setbacks. Most people thought that the main reason was to deliberately downplay or dodge the issue of sustain of the royal family during the election campaign, and intended to please both side the royalists and republican. It was not a poor strategy, based on the advantages of long-term governance and high-satisfaction polls, maintaining the status quo seemed to consolidate the votes of its main supporters. Unfortunately, they ignored that people longing for change, and underestimated the turnout rate of the young voters, which doubled in this election, and the knock-on effect it brought. In short, they still maintained the status of the largest party in congress in thrilling situations, but they no longer occupied more than half of the seats. The original second largest party, also the party that waved the banner of defending the royal power in the election, lagged behind the emerging party that advocated the abolition of kingship. The entire political situation had been reshuffled.
 
After the election results were released, Prime Minister Liu immediately held a press conference to apologize to his supporters, and promised all the citizens that they would form a coalition government and start to visit the emerging parties that have increased their seats in this election in order to seek more communication and cooperation. Therefore, the subsequent new cabinet list was not only the youngest in average age in history, but also broke the oligopoly of political power.
 
Although the prince and marquis did not subvert the country, something has happened, and you may think this country began to turn around.
 
"Your Highness, His Royal Majesty summons you."
 
After being house arrested for more than a month, Jaijin left the chamber for the first time. The head of the Imperial Household Agency led him to a ward, Jiwon and Sunghoon were also waiting there.
 
Jaijin's face was about to cry: "Has Grandpa King died?"
 
Jiwon quickly comforted him: "It’s okay." He walked to Jaijin, stretched out his arms and hugged Jaijin: "Grandpa is retired, and is now on his way to Jeju Island for a vacation, and Grandma also goes with him."
 
"Come and salute the new king!" He led Jaijin to the the front of the electronic wheelchair, and then kneeled down to his uncle, the new king.
 
The king on the wheelchair didn't move, or basically he could only turn his eyes to let the precise instrument capture the letters he looked at the screen according to the movement of his eyeballs, spelling out what he wanted to say, word by word.
 
"Rise." It took about half a minute for the word to come out of the speaker with a computer sound.
 
Then Head of the Imperial Household Agency took a step forward: "His Royal Majesty had promulgated the first imperial edict, saying that three of you should not bow to him in the future."
 
"Why didn't you mention it earlier?" Jiwon growled.
 
He ignored the marquis, and touched the remote control on his hand: "This is the second imperial edict." The computer began to make machine sounds: "Jiwon, Jaijin, and Sunghoon, my three nephews, my dad finally understand that instead of giving the country to a kid who can run and jump, it's better to give it to a calm and mature adult with a clear head."
 
 "Well, I lied to you. That coward, seeing the election results, was worried that it’s too humiliated that if he will be kicked out before he die. He soon ran away, and wanted to drag me down."
 
"I was destined to inherit the throne from the time I was an embryo. For the past sixty years, I have been a legitimate heir, not until the country is completely destroyed by you fools, as long as I am alive, why can't I become the king and enjoy the power? After all, this is the rule of the monarchy, so I firmly disagree with signing the abdication statement. Besides, I can’t even hold a pen, how can I sign it? ”
 
"But I still need someone to act on behalf of me, approving acts with the imperial jade seal, holding Princess Kate's hand to dance at the state banquet. Fuck, every dog has his day. The three of you should fight first and tell me who will be responsible for being my puppet, wow, a puppet of a puppet, what a wonderful position.“
 
"I'm done. It took me an hour to say this. It's a fucking waste of time."
 
The computer was silent for about three seconds, and said, "Do you think I can defeat Hawking and become the most famous ALS sufferer in the world?"
 
 

Chapter Text

They played rock-paper-scissors to pick the one, Sunghoon beat the other two in the first round, he cheered and ran out: "Yeah! I am the one blessed by God!"

Jaijin wanted best two out of three games, but Jiwon stopped him: "Forget it, allow me, I think I'm the smartest among us."

Jaijin echoed him obediently: "Yeah, of course you are, you have lived one or two more years than us!"

Jiwon told Jaijin that he made a call with a secret line to the Prime Minister last night. Next year, there will be a referendum about the modification of the royal law. The Prime Minister humbly urged Jiwon if he agrees that the people are the owners of the country, please could him try to find a way to let all royal family members keep silent.

"I told him with confidence that you only listen to me, please don't let me lose face." Jiwon begged Jaijin.

So Jiwon became the regent again. The first job was to hold a tremendous ascension ceremony. Jaijin suggested: "You are the commander of the the army, navy and air force, why don't you borrow few people from them?"

So they called BigBang, and also the biggest contributor WINNER (the name is so good!), Jaijin’s favorite girl group Black Pink, and even Sistar got reunited for this grand event.

Jaijin invited his "Busan car-dealer friend" to sit in the first row with lots of envoys from various countries. Jaeduck was moved to tears:”Thank you bro, I truly appreciate it.”

The regent prince moved into the palace, because Jiwon was too afraid of ghosts, he stayed in Jaijin’s chamber every night. Jaijin liked to ask him whether he should wear the tie in his left hand or the other one in his right hand every morning. “His Majesty said that I must be well-dressed in order to meet him."

"Aren’t you great to get a new job?" Jiwon was so jealous that the king had a way to let Jaijin to put on his clothes.

“I have to pay a car loan, and His Majesty is a great model. He never moves."

Jiwon knew that it was not necessary for Jaijin to be trapped in the palace with him, so he secretly thanked his uncle for making Jaijin feel that living in the palace was barely acceptable. He also secretly prayed that Jaijin could get the portrait of the king done before they are kicked out of the palace by the people.

He believes that even they leave the palace, the prince and the prince will still live happily ever after.

The end 

Chapter Text

(Busan)

Jaeduck heard the ringing of the doorbell at midnight. He looked at the clock. It was at 1 am on January 2. When he came out from his room, he saw Tony standing in the porch. “Hyung, did you order a late night supper? "

"No!" Tony answered. The doorbell rang again several times while they were discussing, and it seemed that the people outside the door was very impatient.

Jaeduck saw Jaijin‘s face from the door hole: "How did he know I live here?" When he opened the door, Jiwon was also there. “Oh no wonder."

When they were sitting in the living room (Tony didn't, he was in the kitchen tinkering with some food mixed with convenience store products...to receipt the  guests), Jaeduck asked: “Do you want to buy another new car? You don’t have to come to my house to ring the doorbell in the middle of the night!"

Jaijin took out the document downloaded from the website and showed it to Jaeduck. Jiwon explained: "He wants to register in his hometown, and he wants to get the first place. Can you two be the witnesses?"

Jaeduck took the paper, he asked Tony to bring him a pen. He couldn’t help but laughed at the Prince and the Regent while signing: "You guys just can't wait."

That document was the civil partner registration form that made them wait and wait. A few days ago, Jiwon approved the act by stamp it with the imperial jade sealin the Royal Study. Although it was Congress that passed this law, and the regent prince was just a rubber stamp, but he felt super pride to be the head of the state that validated the gay marriage.

The new law was officially implemented in the new year after it was announced. Yesterday, the New Year's Day was a national holiday. Jiwon and Jaijin first held a New Year's flag-raising ceremony in the palace. Then the Regent gave a live New Year's Day speech to all citizens. Then all members of the royal family lined up behind the bullet-proof glass and waved their hands to hundreds of people gathered outside the palace gate.

Jiwon and Jaijin saw Sunghoon waving his hands to the fans expertly, and caused a burst of shutter sound from the first row of bird-watching camera girls. Jaijin took a step closer to Jiwon: "Hyung, let’s make a finger heart!"

Jiwon resisted the impulse to curse on the New Year’s Day, and performed an expression of how to grit his teeth and smile at the same time: "Behave yourself!"

"We should take the chance to do fan service." Jaijin refered to a group of people in the crowd holding rainbow flags and "Prince Regent (heart) Prince“ banners.

Jiwon smiled and asked, "Do you mean those fans?" He pointed to a group of male fans who held the banner: "Regent Prince, please marry me!" or "The eldest  princess, please permit!" When the boys yelled and jumped because they found that they had attracted the Regent's attention, Jiwon grabbed the hand of Jaijin and kissed the prince in front of them (including millions audiences in front of TV and internet.)...

So after the national banquet that night, the two of them flipped over the wall and went out of the palace (Jiwon: Fuck, the wall is really high!), Suwon secretly helped them. (the new YG staff member said Imperial Household Agency cannot fired me twice!), Suwon drove Jaijin’s car over from Princess Mansion to let Jajjin go straight to Busan. Jiwon did not forget to bring his Bluetooth speaker and played a pop song guessing game with Jajjin along the way, and then he found out the prince was good at it. 

So they visited Jaeduck in the middle of the night, after all, Jaeduck and Jaijin had known each other for a long long time, and it was reasonable to ask him as a witness, and since Jaeduck was living with Tony, they could collect two signatures at one time.

Jiwon took the piece of paper back, and his gazed between the two people on the opposite side: "Jaijin printed an extra form. Would you two like to...? Jaijin and I could be your witnesses ."

“Yah! We sleep in separate rooms!" Tony's face turned red. 

They came out of Toduck’s house and got a bunch of Tony-sponsored convenience store food. "It's freezing outside, don't catch a cold." Jaeduck reminded them. When they came to the nearby household administration office, there were already two tents. Jaijin took out the tent (which was prepared by Suwon) from the trunk of the car and started to assemble it. Jiwon complainted: “Oh, we came to Busan so hard and ended up with getting the third place, we should stay in Seoul."

"If we were in Seoul, we wound be caught now." Jaijin's worked so hard without raising his head, he set up the tent in a short while, and it was really useful for the experience of camping with the nephew.

At this time, the people in the other two tents came out to see who were the third one. Both couples were girls. Jaijin didn't enter the tent and chatted with the girls outside. The older couple came around at about 10 o'clock last night. They married in the Netherlands a few years ago and also got a child by intrauterine insemination in US: "I want to register in Korea as soon as possible, then I can become a legal mother of the child.” They also took out their mobile phones and showed the pictures of the child to Jaijin.

The first place were a younger couple. They came on the New Year's Eve: "We watched the live broadcast of the New Year's Eve with our mobile phones. We did not miss the scene that Your Royal Highness threw the microphone when you led everyone to countdown!” Jaijin was completely overwhelmed with embarrassment.

They cooked instant noodles in a small gas stove while chatting, and Jaijin took out the ham from Tony to share with everyone. Later, they took a nap in the tent for a while, and Jiwon woke up after six o'clock. It was still dark, and there were three or four other couples waiting outside. Jaijin couldn’t sleep anymore. He started sending the cookies that Tony gave him all the way down. Some people wanted to take a photo of him, but they got cold feet when they saw Jiwon’s unpleasant face. Jaijin was a little timid. "It doesn't matter, but could you please upload it to the internet after we finish the registration? Because we sneaked out, it would be very troublesome if you reveal that we are here."

Fortunately, these gay couples could quite understand that it was not easy for the Regent and the Prince to come to this step, so they just took some pictures with pleasure: "We will edit the images before we upload them."

At about seven o'clock, Jaijin packed up his tent. A dozen people stood in the cold wind waiting, didn’t even eat breakfast. At the moment, the girl ranked first began to sing, "Oh Love ~ Why did you come so late?" Other couples joined the chorus one after another, and they were singing and singing until the sun rose, until more and more gay partners came in line.

At about eight o'clock, the staff of the household affairs office came out to issue the number in advanced. When he saw the Regent and the Prince, he was frightened, and he invited Jiwon to go into the office, although the nationwide household administration system is not connected before nine o'clock, but staying in the building will make them less likely to catch a cold.

"No need, you can do what you should do! Don't give us privileges." The Regent Prince rejected it.

They waited until the office opened at nine o'clock, and then went inside to wait for the first two couples to complete the registration, because one of them went through the procedure of adopting the child at the same time, and it took more time to wait until their turn. The staff kindly served them: "Although it is sufficient to do the registration with the document, but it’s okay for you to have a kiss here, or exchange the rings.”

Jiwon replied, "Thank you. but we don't want to kiss in public for the time being." He still regretted for kissing Jaijin in front of the camera yesterday, now the gif of the kiss of the Regent and the Prince has speared over the internet.

"We don't have wedding rings, either," said Jaijin. “Like Jiwon hong would not be suspend if his did not wear his crown! Those are just material things."

A few minutes later, they got new ID cards with the other's name in the spouse column, Jaijin said that he knows where to have a good breakfast: "Let's go for a stroll around the town, then we’ll go back to Seoul, right?" Jaijin was a bit reluctant to return to the palace right away.

"It's been a long time since we came out. I guess they had found that we blew off work. We should contact them as soon as possible after breakfast!" Jiwon kept holding Jaijin’s hand on the way back to the car: "I'm sorry! We can’t go honeymoon immediately. The next few months will be very busy. I will be busy counting and dividing the royal property and the national property, and I have to take charge of the renovation of the residence of His Majesty, His Majesty the King Emeritus and Her Majesty the Queen Emerita. The timetables are all set, so we must make all-out effort!” 

"It's okay." When Jaijin said this, he squeezed Jiwon’s hand a little. "I know you work very hard, we could go honeymoon after we move back to Yeouido!" 

"Then where do you want to go?" Jiwon asked curiously. 

"I want to go to Jeju Island and go to the beach where we first met." 

"Well, no problem." 

"Then we’ll go to the cafe shop where we had our first cup of coffee together."

"Well, okay." 

"Can I stay where I stayed last time? The same room."

 "Oh, OK!" Jiwon thought that was a single room, but it’s okay if Jaijin want it. 

"May I paint you another picture?" 

"Well, no problem." 

"Deal! I'm going to draw your naked body." 

"Yah! Lee Jaijin!"