Chapter 11

"Choi Sang gong unnie I'm going to class." Chaegyeong cheerfully announced.

"But mama..."

"Unnie, I've missed a week of my classes. And the term is about to end, I've had so many things to catch up." Chaegyeong reasoned.

She has not been attending classes for the past week due to a flu that they thought she caught from someone in her class. Although she's feeling better already Shin still wanted her to take some more rest. However she missed her husband for most of the week. He has been busy with school projects and papers, that they barely have time with each other. And he seems to let her rest more than play with her. Choi Sang gong and Mr. Park have been her companion for the past week, helping her with her papers and homeworks that Shin brought home. Shin is thoughtful enough to consult her classmates regarding the lectures she has missed in her classes. Although she has to do her homeworks under the supervision and help of Choi Sang gong.

"I'm feeling better now. Don't worry, I'll be home later with Shin." Chaegyoung said and waved goodbye to Choi Sang gong and Mr. Park.

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For a moment Chaegyeong was disappointed because Shin was not waiting for her outside her classroom, when she remembered that Shin didn't know that she went to class that day. He's probably busy with his class, because he forgot to check on her. During the week that she was sick, he would call regularly just to know how she was. So she went to look for him in his classroom.

She was approaching Shin’s classroom when she heard some loud giggles from some female students, together with the distinctive laugh of Shin. She peeked at the door to see if it was really her Shin goon. And there he was with two girls sitting close to him and laughing at a joke that he said. "Hmmm those girls are familiar... omo, they're from one of my classes."

Chaegyeong didn't know that theses girls also share a same class with Shin. She was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Shin was standing in front of her.

"Chaegyeong what are you doing here?" Shin asked.

"Oh! You scared me! Don't do that."

"I'm sorry. But why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting at home?"

"Uh yeah. But I was feeling better earlier so I came to school, I don't want to miss more lectures." Chaegyeong was saying a little embarrassed for being caught peeking at her husband in class.

"Oh hey Chaegyeong, you're feeling better?" (in spanish) Chaegyeong didn't notice that the two girls also approached her.

"Uhmm si, si."

"Shin, thanks. Let's meet again tomorrow. Bye Chaegyeong."

"Okay. I'll try to finish the summary by tonight so that we could start working on the script." Shin said and waved them goodbye. He looked back at Chaegyeong and noticed that she's looking pale again.

"Tsk tsk. Look at you. You don’t looking good again." Shin grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, and put his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm okay. I think it’s just too much excitement of going back to school."

"Maybe you should start taking some western medicine."

"Tell that to Unnie. She said that its tradition for a royal to drink herbal medicines. It's not like I'm still the Crown Princess."

"Well you are my Crown Princess."

Chaegyeong looked at him curiously. She wanted to ask if he would still like to be the Taeja. But she knows that Shin was doing this not just for himself but for her as well. But now that they've been living away from the Palace, she seems to be thinking about it these past few days. What would he say if I told him that I still want him to be the Crown Prince, that someday he'll be great king. He'll probably be disappointed in me.

"What's the matter?" Shin asked after noticing that Chaegyeong's been quiet for quite sometime.

"Nothing."

"There's something in your mind, tell me."

"What were you laughing about with those two girls? And why are you meeting them again tomorrow? You said you don't have classes tomorrow. And that you'd spend the entire day with me."

"Whoah! Hold you're horses, that's too many questions." Shin said amused at Chaegyeong's outburst. "First, they're my group mates for one of my classes. Second, they're you're classmates, I get some of your class lectures from them. And lastly I'm sorry about tomorrow. Our professor changed the schedule for the submission of project, so we're kind of in a hurry. The professor asked for a special class for tomorrow."

"And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I only knew about it just now."

"No, about you being friendly with my classmates." Chaegyeong stated exasperatedly at Shin.

"Uhh..."

"And you're even flirting with them." Chaegyeong said annoyingly under her breath, barely heard by Shin.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go home, I'm hungry."

"You know I've been hearing that a lot this past week."

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The following week Shin and Chaegyeong have been busy with their school works. However Shin has more school projects than her, she was able to finish hers by the following weekend, but he still has one more to finish during the weekend. She was a bit worried about him. He might be overworking himself, not only was he busy with school stuff, but with his charity work as well. It’s good that Mr. Park was there to help him. Although she wanted to have some quality time with Shin, Chaegyeong don’t want to pressure him in spending some time with her.

So here she is trying to make a dukbokee, but with no success. She got the recipe from the internet and followed it religiously. It didn’t come out the way it should be, and the taste is far from the dukbokee that she buys outside her school. Choi Sang gong unnie was not of help this time, because this kind of food was discouraged inside the palace.

“Unnie! What did I do wrong?”

“Mama, maybe you should try again.”

“Yeh Mama. My mother used to make dukbokee, and she used natural ingredients only.” Mr. Park said encouragingly.

“Right. Next time that’s what I’ll do. Aja!” She said encouraging herself.

Chaegyeong then went to the study room where Shin was busy typing on the computer. She stood behind him for a while, then bent down and hugged him from behind.

“What?”

“When will you be done?”

“I don’t know.”

All of Shin’s attention was on the script that he was typing. But his senses once again betrayed him, they keep on telling him that Chaegyeong’s body is near him again. These past few days, he noticed that Chaegyeong was very affectionate, physically affectionate. Although he’s not complaining, it’s just distracting though. But when Chaegyeong removed her arms around him, Shin missed the warmth of her bosom against his back and her warmth breath on his neck.

Chaegyeong straightened and walked towards the door, as she wasn’t getting the attention that she wanted from Shin.

“I’m going out, going to look for Korean stores that sell dukbokee.” She said just before she left the room.

“Okay, okay.” Shin said not paying enough attention to what Chaegyeong have said.

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“At last! I’m done!” Shin exclaimed as he stretched his back, feeling a little bit sore from sitting too long. He looked at the window and noticed that it’s dark already. He checked the time and shook his head. He’s been doing his script for hours. He went out of the room and went to the kitchen. He was near the door when he heard some whispering voices. Both Choi Sang gong and Park Sang hyo went quiet when Shin entered the kitchen. Shin noticed that both were uncomfortable and can’t look straight at him.

“What? Is anything wrong?”

“Jeonha, I thought Bigoongmama was sleeping, but when I went to your room, she was not there.” Ms. Choi informed Shin.

“What do you mean she’s not there?” Shin looked at both of them seeking answers.

“Taeja Jeonha, I’m sorry, but we don’t know where Bigoongmama is.” Park Sang hyo said.

“What?”