Sukh sat alone in his small mansion. While carefully controlling his breathing, he felt his bones begin to ache. Sometimes, depending on the weather, his old chronic pain would reoccur.
"I'm going to prepare lunch," the maid announced, placing a bowl of boiled medicine on the table. "My lord, do you have any special requests?"
"No," Sukh replied. He picked up the medicine and began to drink it when the maid suddenly reappeared in the doorway. He looked up at her.
"My lord," the maid said, a little flustered, "Chief Keme and Lady Zuni are here."
"Prepare lunch for us," Sukh instructed.
Soaking in a large bathtub with four concubines, Haneul felt utterly unhappy. Seeing the concubines smiling at him while they bathed, their voices suddenly made him feel extremely irritated. He got up quickly and stepped out of the bathtub. A servant swiftly dressed Haneul.
"Is anyone waiting outside?" Haneul asked, his voice clipped.
"No, Your Majesty," the servant replied.
Haneul turned to his servant and whispered, "I'm stepping out of the palace. If anyone seeks me, tell them I don't feel well and I'm resting."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Along the bustling street, Haneul walked to Sukh's home. He waited at the door for a while, assuming Sukh or his personal maid weren't home. So, he decided to enter the house and wait for Sukh in the guest room. But as he approached the guest room, he saw Sukh, Chief Keme, and Zuni happily having lunch together. He tightened his grip on the handle of the basket he had brought with him.
After lunch with Chief Keme and Zuni, Sukh saw the father and daughter out the front door.
"General," Chief Keme said, "when we talked about this in the past, I thought you would not keep your promise."
"I didn't expect His Majesty to announce the marriage at the meeting," Sukh admitted, looking at Chief Keme. "We'll wait to see what His Majesty has to say." He sighed. "To be honest, when I promised you, I thought Zuni would be better off marrying His Majesty than me. The security would be better."
"Father said the same thing," Zuni interjected, "but I chose you because I felt the kindness from you."
Sukh smiled at Zuni. "Thank you," he said genuinely.
"Thank you for lunch today," Chief Keme said. "We will get going."
Sukh bid goodbye to the father and daughter. He stood at the front door, watching Chief Keme and Zuni disappear into the crowd on the street.
"My lord!" The maid rushed over, almost out of breath.
"What's wrong?" Sukh asked, sensing her panic.
"My lord, your… your friend is in your room," she said tremblingly, looking at Sukh with wide eyes.
"You said he was not here," Sukh stated, a hint of accusation in his voice.
"I didn't see when he came in," the maid confessed, her voice meek.
"I'm going to check on him," Sukh said, shaking his head. "If anyone is looking for me, tell them I'm not home."
The maid replied timidly, "Yes, my lord."
Sukh went to his room and found Haneul sleeping on the bed, a basket of food on the table beside him. He sighed and walked in. "When did you arrive?" he asked, his voice soft.
"I just arrived," Haneul mumbled, opening his eyes and turning to look at Sukh. "I brought you lunch." He pointed to the basket. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes… shall we eat together?" Sukh offered, trying to defuse the tension.
Haneul sat up on the edge of the bed and smiled slightly. "I suddenly thought of a funny thing," he said, standing up and walking towards Sukh. "You never asked me out to dinner. Every time I asked you out to dinner, you always made an excuse that if someone saw us eating together in public, it would hurt my image." He raised Sukh's chin with his fingers, his eyes narrowing. "Did something happen that changed your mind?"
"Nothing happened," Sukh replied simply. He opened the lid of the basket and took out all five dishes. "Come and eat with me."
Sitting across from Sukh, Haneul said, "If I were to eat with you at your invitation, it sounds like a test for the last meal. So, you go ahead and continue to eat alone if you are hungry."
"I do want to invite you," Sukh clarified, "but you never allow me to have such an opportunity."
"Make sure you eat all the food on the table," Haneul said indifferently, his eyes fixed on Sukh. "I want all the plates licked clean."
Sukh didn't like the way Haneul was talking to him; he knew that Haneul must be on the verge of breaking down by now. He sighed and put down his chopsticks. "Right now, it's not a good time for us to talk or meet because your heart is not at ease. Let's talk when you can better control your emotions," he said gently.
Haneul stared at Sukh wildly and, with a furious sweep of his left hand, knocked all the plates on the table to the ground. "You don't want to eat the food I brought you," he snarled, "because you have already eaten with your beloved future father-in-law and wife-to-be!" He gritted his teeth, panting wildly in front of Sukh. "The good things I do for you are not as good as those your father-in-law gave you, right?"
Sukh tried his best to suppress his anger, because he knew that two angry minds could not solve any problems. He also knew that no matter whether Haneul was right or wrong, he would never challenge Haneul.
"You lied to me all my life," Haneul continued, his voice rising. "You lied that no matter where you go or where I am, you will love me, but you secretly proposed to Chief Keme's daughter behind my back!" He slammed the table so hard that his right knuckles and the newly healed skin began to bleed again. "Just now you lied that you were hungry, but in fact you have already invited Chief Keme and his daughter to have lunch together!" He laughed wildly, a deranged sound. "You will refuse to eat with me, but with others, you will sit down and eat happily with them!"
Sukh looked at Haneul. "Haneul, don't put your own words in my mouth."
"Put my words in your mouth?" Haneul repeated, his eyes blazing. "So, what I said was false?"
"No…" Sukh began, patiently. "The promise to marry Zuni was made by me, but I didn't propose to her like you said. I did have lunch with Chief Keme and Zuni, but I didn't invite them; they showed up uninvited to talk about your public announcement this morning of my marriage to Zuni." He looked at the dirty food on the floor. "I'm hungry because I didn't eat much with them."
Sukh got off the stool, picked up the spilled food from the floor, put it on a broken plate, and placed it back on the table. He started eating the dirty food while Haneul still stared at him wildly. Then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his palate. He spat the bloody food in his mouth onto his hands.
Haneul quickly got off the stool. "Open your mouth!" He looked into Sukh's mouth and found a sharp piece of ceramic stuck to the roof of Sukh's mouth. He quickly pulled it out. "Stop eating. There are shards mixed in with the food." Haneul took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the blood from the corner of Sukh's mouth. "If you're still hungry, ask the maid to make more food."
Sukh looked up at Haneul, his eyes moistening at the unexpected tenderness Haneul had shown him. He wrapped his hands around Haneul's waist, buried his face in Haneul's abdomen, and began sobbing softly. "Haneul… Haneul… I'm sorry," he choked out. "You're not the only one who was hurt… I hurt too… Maybe I hurt more than you…"
Haneul stroked Sukh's hair, then lowered his head and kissed Sukh's forehead. "Then tell me what's on your mind and don't let me put my own words and thoughts in your mouth. If you don't tell me what you like and don't like, then I'll just assume that whatever I did you like them all," he said, continuing to stroke Sukh's hair.
"I have nothing to say," Sukh murmured, still sobbing.
"Reject your marriage with Chief Keme's daughter," Haneul said emotionally, his voice a desperate plea.
"If I reject him, you lose his support," Sukh countered, pulling slightly away to look at Haneul.
"I don't care who supports me," Haneul said softly, looking deep into Sukh's eyes, "as long as you support me, that's what I want. Also, I just want you to remember that I don't just love you when I encounter difficulties but love you no matter what."
Sukh closed his eyes, repeating in his heart: 'In my darkest time, you are the only one who has been kind to me'. He opened his eyes, looking at Haneul. "Haneul, then you have to remember, no matter how much you love me, you also have to love yourself. Now that we have walked this road together, I only hope that you can be a good king for the people of Tanzang."
Haneul smiled, his face tender. "I love myself, but I love you more." He kissed Sukh's forehead. "Are we good now? Are you still mad at me?"
"I was never mad at you," Sukh replied, a faint smile on his face. "You were the one who got mad at me."
Haneul picked Sukh up from the stool and held him in his arms, Sukh's legs wrapped around Haneul's waist. Haneul snorted playfully. "Oh, my beloved, you need to do less training, you are getting heavier." He started kissing Sukh, then walked them towards Sukh's bed.