Sleeping With The Enemy

The Sales and Purchase Agreement

A tall youth stared out of his window. A few small pimples were scattered over his cheeks but most pimples normally disappeared by themselves after a day or two. Head Court Lady Noh always peered up at his face in the morning and sighed in deep disappointment whenever a pimple appeared. She always peered up at him now. He had a sudden growth spurt at fourteen years old and his uncle and Lady Noh told him that at eighteen years and eight months of age, he was now taller than his father had been. The thought made him sad. In his memory, his father had been the tallest and kindest man.

Today was the first week of his first summer break from university. He had completed middle school and high school in four years instead of the usual six. The rush to get through his schooling made him sad. He was already different from all his classmates that it was hard to fit in. To be unable to be a permanent part of a cohort was necessary so that he could finish schooling as soon as possible. All his studies were tailor made for him in preparation for his role as King.

The problem was, Lee Gon was already King. The worst part? He had never been ready for it. On the sturdy wooden table behind him was a single framed photograph of him at ten years of age with his uncle, the Prince Buyeong and Head Court Lady Noh. That photograph had been taken eight years ago, a year after his father died. He still had nightmares. Some nights, he could smell the blood as fresh as if it had just been shed but when he concentrated hard enough, he couldn't recall the sound of his father's voice. It was unfair. Given a choice, he was sure he never wanted to remember the smell of fresh blood.

There was a loud knock on the door of the study followed by the unmistakable sound of a basketball being dribbled. Gon smiled. He had looked forward to this ever since he returned from Oxford University.

"Come in."

"Pyeha!" A fifteen year old teenager dribbled the basketball into the study with flair. "How was England?"

"What happened to your hair?" Gon asked his best friend as they exchanged a hand clasp and half-hug. Even though Yeong was four years younger, well, 3 years and 3 months to be exact, Yeong was the only one who was at Gon's side through the years. Due to Gon's rushed schooling, there wasn't many that could make the same claim. It wasn't their fault either. Gon had no wish for anyone to come close to him.

"Eomma thought it was time to change my hairstyle. The bowl cut went and now I'm more handsome than you are. I've been keeping the bowl cut for your sake, hyung. You can't have your future Unbreakable Sword looking better than you, Pyeha. Come to the house for dinner tonight? Eomma sent me to ask you," Yeong said.

"Yes, of course. I'm sure your father already told Lady Noh," Gon grinned. There was no escaping dinners with the Jo family. He had been away for nine months for his first year at university. Gon had insisted on doing a double major – Mathematics and Political Science. Some adjustments were made for him personally, so he had one-to-one lectures with the Dean of the School of Political Science. It was good to learn about World History and Politics. The most important thing about learning history was to learn how NOT to let history repeat itself.

"Want to shoot some hoops together?"

"Yes, sure. Give me ten minutes, I'll get changed."

"Alright, I'll see you at the court." Yeong dribbled his ball out of Gwangyeongjeon to the dismay of the court ladies that he passed by.

Gon quickly changed into his jersey. Out of habit and given the fact that he had been away from Corea for nine months, he rummaged in his study drawer just to check whether it was there. It was. The mysterious police ID from that bloody night. His saviour had dropped it right where he lay unconscious. The plastic on the ID was turning yellow with age. Yet, the strange thing was, the date of the ID was from the future. He wondered who this Jeong Tae Eul was, to be able to walk through the axis of time to save him from being shot by Lee Lim's followers.