Only You

What About Me?

*growl*

"Excuse my stomach, I haven't had a bite since breakfast." The King reached for his glass of water and took a sip, hoping to calm his stomach until the weekly Friday meeting with the PM was over. They still had a few stacks of reports from the Cabinet meeting that was held on Tuesday to go through, which would take them at least an hour, if not more.

PM Koo stopped flipping through the stack of reports she was looking through and suggested, "Should we stop here then, Your Highness? We can continue the report after lunch."

"Great, I think I'll get the Royal Kitchens to make some tteokbokki. I've been thinking about it since this morning." Just the thought of it made him salivate. Lee Gon had never been a fan of spicy food until recently, but lately, all he could think about was how to add a spicy kick to every meal. Usually, it was his wife that had the penchant of adding spice to most foods like jjampong or kimchi jjigae. In fact, the spicier the better.

He had asked once, why she liked her food to be so spicy. She had answered in all honesty that it was a stress reliever when the food had a little heat to it. For him, he had never understood how inflicting pain on one's tongue could be a pleasurable experience.

Strange. Perhaps, he had been too stressed lately.

Immediately, he knew once the tteokbokki had arrived when its smell preceded it into the room. His eyes never left the plate as it was laid out on the table. Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he took a deep appreciative whiff before taking a bite. Chewing carefully, the next few bites seemed to settle his hungry stomach growls into a happy rumble.

The King was so hungry he hadn't noticed that he was the only one in the room who was eating. PM Koo had been observing him with a slight smile on her face, "I didn't know you were that hungry, Your Highness."

Clearing his throat, he countered, "Why aren't you eating too, PM Koo?" She gestured to the place of steaming hot sweet potatoes and a small plate of kimchi in front of her in answer.

"Is that all? Is this some sort of trend I don't know about - sweet potato and kimchi?" Chuckling, the Prime Minister gave a graceful shrug and said, "No, but a woman's got to keep up appearances. I want to look good when I take over the world." She gave the King a sly wink as she said the last line.

"Take over the world eh? I'd have to keep an eye on you then."

She turned to Captain Jo who was standing in the corner, and beckoned "Captain Jo, why don't you join us? I've got more sweet potatoes than I can handle, plus I'm sure you must be hungry as well." Looking at the King for permission, the bodyguard only sat down at the table once the King gave his nod of approval.

Armed with an extra plate, Captain Jo speared a sweet potato and ladled some kimchi onto his plate. "I didn't know this brand was also available here." He cast an inquiring glance at the King and pointed to the packet of kimchi that was on the table.

"Here? What do you mean by that, Captain?" The puzzled look on PM Koo's face made the King panic slightly, though he was trying his best not to show any outward reaction to the comment. This was one of the things he had been worried about since Captain Jo and Eun-Sup changed places. Eun-Sup was chatty and personable, but unfortunately, that meant that he was more prone to slip-ups.

To find out more about Lee Lim's whereabouts in the other world, Lee Gon had sent Captain Jo to Korea for 2 days while Eun-Sup was supposedly at a work seminar. In actuality, Eun-Sup had taken 2 days off work, so that Captain Jo could go about Korea without having to pose as Eun-Sup. Meanwhile, since Captain Jo rarely took vacations or time off work, Eun-Sup had to be a very convincing stand-in.

Which was not the case at the moment.

Changing the subject, the King confessed, "I've been feeling like eating spicy food lately. Do you think it's normal?" He gave a sweet smile to the Prime Minister, hoping that she took the bait.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it, Your Highness. I didn't think you were a fan of spice before..." He gave a small sigh of relief. PM Koo turned quiet, seemingly in thought, while nibbling on her sweet potato and kimchi meal combination.

Crisis averted. For now.

"I think the Queen's tastes must have rubbed off on me. Speaking of which, I should probably get some for her. " Calling for one of the palace maids, he instructed for a second serving of tteokbokki to be sent up to the Queen's chambers once she had completed her lessons for the day with Court Lady Noh. He smiled as he tried to picture his wife's reaction to the small surprise.

Thinking about it, it was also strange how his wife didn't seem to be having any cravings at all. From what he had gathered from pregnancy books he had read, cravings were a common experience among most expectant mothers. Meanwhile, the only person with changed tastes was himself-

"That's a good idea, Your Highness. She and the baby must be-"

The next words were drowned out by some loud coughing as Captain Jo's mouth was abruptly stuffed with a medium-sized sweet potato. The King looked over at PM Koo who was shocked and clearly confused at what she had just witnessed. "Uh- I think what he was trying to say was that 'she and her MAID MAY BE just going up to her chambers right about now.' Right, CAPTAIN JO? " Lee Gon's eyes locked with Eun-Sup's, urging him to stay quiet and just follow his lead.

Mouth still occupied by the sweet potato, Eun-Sup just nodded in reply. Puzzled at the duo's out-of-character behaviour, PM Koo just stared for a moment before she collected herself again. "Well, now you've made me curious about how good the tteokbokki here must be. Do you mind if I order myself one for later, Your Highness?"

"Be my guest."

The King shook his head, clearly glad that PM Koo hadn't cottoned on to what Eun-Sup had almost let slip. Prior to the official announcement, no one else was supposed to know about the pregnancy yet. He wanted to make sure that Lee Lim was well and truly out of the picture. Knowing what he had done and what he was capable of, he wouldn't put it past him to try something again.

Eun-Sup had managed to dislodge the sweet potato from his mouth and was staring at the plate of tteokbokki in front of the King with longing in his eyes.

"What about me?"