The Dead Groom's Bride

A Private Date

Ling Ling laid on her back on the grass savoring the warmth of the sun filtering through the canopy of the leaves. Junjie laid beside her, he had taken off the extra layer of his robe, letting some sun soak in his skin.

They watched the waterfall a good distance away, soothed by the violent water falling and clashing on the standing water beneath.

Junjie opened his eyes and smiled lazily at Ling Ling. "The sound of the waterfall always soothes me, this had been my favorite place since I was little, my personal escape."

"Do you usually bring women here?" She said mockingly popping up to her elbows, she pictured Junjie with different girls each time and regretted it right away. It only made her jealous and upset. Now why would she purposely upset herself like that?

Junjie pointed toward the sky blocking the sun from filtering his eyes. "No, not always, Ling Ling. You're the first one."

"Do you lie like that to all the girls as well?"

Now, she's just punishing herself. Ling Ling hated herself for being so negative, but those insecure words ushered out of her lips helplessly and she couldn't help it. She must have feared him so bad that she's trying to convince herself she's not special.

But she is, Ling Ling was very much special to Junjie.

He smiled and sat halfway up twisting a look at her. "No, Ling Ling. I don't lie, and I don't bring women with me to the most private places."

"Ah, I must be the luckiest girl alive. Imagine, a very handsome prince and a commoner, I feel like I'm inside a fairy tale story."

Junjie plucked a strand of grass that got stuck on Ling Ling's hair. Heat burn her face as his finger brushed her face.

He blinked while his fingers lingered at the tip of her long dark hair. Ling Ling had let her hair down, so she can get comfortable while laying down.

Ling Ling sat up so that she may face him. Their knees touching each other as they knelt on the grass. She licked her lips, her heart fluttering inside her chest so quickly that it felt like a hummingbird was trapped inside her rib-cage.

"Close your eyes." He said, and she obeyed. Fingers grappling onto the grass.

The grass crunched as Junjie rose up to his knees. Ling Ling braced herself at the brush of his lips on her cheek, and then, on the other. He pulled away and she was left breathless, still feeling the lingering sensation on his soft lips of her cheeks.

"Do you still think about the other man?" He asked hesitantly but bravely.

Her smile dropped. Now why would Junjie ruin this romantic time they just shared?

Although she had thought about Bolin occasionally, the time she spent with Junjie was much much more than the short time she was with Bolin, of course, she might've known Bolin all her life but she also knew how he was when he was alive.

He might've harbored some unspoken feelings for her, but he also enjoyed other women at the same time. While Junjie on the other hand, appeared strangely out of nowhere to whisk her feet away.

"Sometimes." Ling Ling admitted honestly, worriedly.

Junjie's breath caught in his throat. His finger brushed on her face again, "you know, I wish you would had been a sacrificial bride to me, that way I could just easily claim you and be done with it."

Her eyebrow rose, "you mean you haven't done anything like that before?" Jealousy hinted her voice as she remembered the stories of beautiful maidens sacrificed to Junjie only for him to turn them away.

"No, usually the right one will appear out of nowhere."

"Like magic?" Ling Ling murmured a bit sardonic, magic had been the main thing about Junjie as though he lives and breathe it. Born by it.

"Yes. My father told me my mother came to him out of nowhere and he knew right away she was the one." He swallowed his breath and gaze at Ling Ling tenderly.

"Kinda like how you appeared out of nowhere talking nonsense about time travel, disregarding my royal rank and claiming I was your stalker." He laughed at the memory. "You had me when you said, I couldn't refuse you even if I want to. I thought right there and then I must bring you home with me."

"So, I was amusing to you?" Ling Ling scowled. "We're you going to make me your personal jester?"

"Oh but, Ling Lling. You mastered that position already." He grinned.

"Junjie..." She moaned affectionately and smiled, "you'd been trying to take me home with you the first time we ever met."

"Well, have I not been successful?"

"Your palace is as big as my town, there's a difference."

"Don't you live in the same roof as me?"

Ling Ling bit her lip, "there's a large difference between a roof and a palace, Junjie. You don't have me...yet."