Only You

The Queen's New Clothes

Tae-Eul walked into the dressing room, only to find numerous racks pushed up against the walls. From coats to dresses, shoes and accessories - nothing was spared. It seemed as if someone crammed the whole womens' section of the departmental store into the room. Well, she wouldn't have been surprised if someone actually did.

*ahem*

She turned around to find her husband leaning against the doorway, arms folded against his chest. He looked so sexy at that moment, even dressed casually in a light grey turtleneck and charcoal-coloured cardigan.

"Are we going somewhere? I didn't see it on the cleared schedule today." The Queen had made it a habit to check what the cleared schedule was for the day. If there was anything that she needed prior preparations for, usually the PR Team made arrangements in advance - a few coordinated sets of clothing for her to choose from, along with a brief of the event and things to take note of.

As far as she remembered, she only had some classes today, and her husband was supposed to attend a pre-Cabinet meeting with the Prime Minister in the afternoon.

"I've cleared both our schedules for the day. I want to bring you out-" Before he could finish his sentence, Tae-Eul put a finger on his lips. "Please don't tell me it's going to be like the last time?" She was reminded of the time when her husband surprised her with a visit to Korea recently. It was almost a disaster, but fortunately, they were able to explain everything to her father and Eun-Sup without any incident.

Lifting her finger off his lips, he took her hands in his and led her further inside, stopping in the middle of the room. "Let's go on a date. It can be anywhere you like."

"I also brought you some clothes." With a grand sweeping gesture, Lee Gon indicated the spread before them. "I even picked some of them myself. I know you don't like what the PR Team sometimes sends you." He seemed proud of his selection. Rifling through the racks, he pulled out a few coordinated sets to show her and put them on an empty rack to their right. What she saw definitely seemed like what she would have picked up for herself, so she gave him some brownie points there.

"Why are there so many clothes, though? There must be a whole store's worth here." For a date, this seemed way too excessive. It looked like there were enough outfits to last her for a whole year.

"They're your new wardrobe, my heart. Since they came early, I wanted you to choose an outfit for our date before they kept the rest of the clothes."

"Why do I need new ones? Honey, I like my current clothes just fine." The Queen looked down at herself. Sure, she was still in her pajamas, but she liked to think her usual style was classic enough for queenly duties. Neutral colours like greys or browns never went out of style, and the simple lines and cuts made coordinating easy enough.

"I'm just being prepared. From what I read, the baby is now the size of an avocado."

Shooting her a pointed look at her abdomen, Lee Gon teased, "At the rate baby is going, you're definitely going to need some things for when you get bigger." He gave her slightly rounded bump an affectionate rub and placed a quick peck on her cheek.

"And whose fault was it?" She shot him a mildly annoyed look, though inwardly she was touched at his display of thoughtfulness.

Leaning in closer, her husband whispered cheekily, "Well...If I remember correctly...You liked it too-"

Blushing, Tae-ul rushed to cut him off what he said before he could elaborate more. "I'm going to ignore what you just said." Busying herself by looking through the racks, she continued to flip through the wide selection until her arms were filled with a handful of apparels and their matching accessories.

Not caring about who heard them, her husband declared, "Then maybe I need to do it again. How could you forget such a magical night-" His pouty face almost seemed comical if not for the fact that they were in a room full of other people like the palace maids and one of her stylists. A chorus of muffled coughs and gasps followed the shocking statement by the King.

"Shhh, aren't you going to keep quiet?!" She rushed over to the King and covered his mouth with her left hand, as her right arm was currently overloaded with her selections. If she could have gone any redder, she would have turned into a tomato.

*mmph rrwfh vrgh* His mouth moved under her palm, his words muffled.

"You promise not to say something weird again?" At his nod, Tae-Eul carefully removed her hand and balanced the clothing selections more equally in both arms. Unfortunately, her wish of not having the whole palace know about their supposed bedroom activities was short lived.

"I mean, we could do it again. For um, research purposes. I need more data on your kisses..."

At that, the Queen practically sprinted out the room, leaving behind a room of very flustered palace staff and a King who was grinning from ear to ear. "Wait, you forgot my selections!" Grabbing them off the rack, he chased after her, but not before making a parting remark.

"My heart, do you need help getting dressed? I am very good at buttons!"