By Zephyria 
Sang-seon couldn’t close his mouth as he watched Min-hyeok eating his second bowl of rice. Seeing Min-hyeok eating in a dining room that was clean but showed the wear of many years felt truly strange. The food he was eating now wasn’t bad, but it was a far cry from what Min-hyeok usually ate.
It consisted of soybean paste stew with river snails, roughly sliced raw fish with red chili paste, kimchi, soup, and a few types of seaweed. That was all. Yet, Min-hyeok was more focused on his meal than ever before. If anyone from the Imperial Palace had seen him, they would have nagged him for eating without any dignity.
It was so different from the Emperor’s usual demeanor—sitting elegantly and taking a few polite spoonfuls—that Sang-seon found it absurd to watch. Min-hyeok’s daily routine involved eating stews made by artisans across several generations and raw fish sourced at prices that were hard to even calculate. Everything he consumed was always of the highest grade.
And yet, Min-hyeok, who used to pick at even those top-grade meals, was now shoveling down “servant-sized” portions of rice. Perhaps humans really do need to use their bodies and perform manual labor? Furthermore, for the first time today, Sang-seon realized that Min-hyeok was actually good at talking and joking with strangers.
“Your Majesty, you’re quite good at conversing with commoners. You usually don’t speak to people you don’t know.”
“What kind of elementary school question is that? Am I supposed to ignore an elder who speaks to me? I’m just chatting while helping out with work; why bring commoners into this?”
“It’s not that, but honestly, I was a bit surprised. You’re also very good at the work.”
“What do you mean ‘work’? Do you know what I did during winter training in the military? Back then, in that cold…”
“Yes.”
As Min-hyeok started talking about the military again, Sang-seon looked disgusted and picked up his spoon. Military service is mandatory for men of the Imperial family. This meant Sang-seon hadn’t only heard about the military from Min-hyeok. Even in a relaxed meal setting, he didn’t want to hear stories from the Emperor’s army days.
“Just eat quickly for now. You have to go back to helping after you’re done. There’s quite a bit of work today.”
“It’ll be over soon, so what’s the big deal?”
“Honestly, this was work you didn’t even have to do. Aren’t you exhausted because you made a pointless promise? It’s not like Your Majesty has little work to do; there’s a mountain of tasks waiting at the palace, yet you’ve come all the way here to suffer unnecessarily! You should have let someone else do this.”
“We’re not even overseas, so why do you keep whining about it being hard? I made the promise, so I’ll do it until a staff member is officially hired. That’s why I told you not to follow me, Sang-seon! Why do you keep following me and nagging?”
“No, does it make sense for me not to be by Your Majesty’s side!”
“If you know that, then just shut up and eat. If you say one more word…”
Min-hyeok was watching Sang-seon, who was shouting out of work stress, when he saw something outside the door and fell silent. Finding Min-hyeok’s sudden silence strange, Sang-seon turned around and followed his gaze. At the end of Min-hyeok’s line of sight, he saw a familiar young Alpha running along the beach path.
Upon seeing him, Min-hyeok’s face contorted. Abruptly standing up, Min-hyeok stepped out of the shop and stared in the direction the young Alpha was running. He was heading toward where Hae-joo’s cafe was located. In an instant, Min-hyeok recalled the image of him getting off the boat with a bright smile alongside Hae-joo. It was that Alpha who had been holding buckets in both hands, laughing while facing Hae-joo.
“Right. Those two even took a boat somewhere together. That brat.”
What was his name? He remembered the face because he had placed a friend next to the boy to keep an eye on Hae-joo’s movements. He also remembered him because the boy’s grandmother had rudely told Hae-joo and himself that they had “harsh fates.”
Anyway, just how close had they become for him to visit the cafe as if it were his own home? He was definitely on his way to the cafe. Between that and taking a boat to go play outside, Min-hyeok couldn’t help but be bothered.
∗ ∗ ∗
While cleaning inside and outside the cafe, I witnessed a slightly puzzling scene a moment ago. In the distance, a few sturdy men were moving with the village elders, carrying nets and equipment. At a glance, it looked like a perfectly normal part of daily life, but the two sturdy men were what puzzled me.
The only men of that build on this island are my brother, Seo-joo, Jin-su—who is visiting—and myself. Who were those people who didn’t look very old even from a distance? One might think I’m being overly nosy, but I couldn’t help it. Because their gait and physique were exactly like a certain person I knew.
It’s still just a guess, but isn’t there always one person anyone can recognize at a glance? For me, it was him. No matter how I look at it, isn’t that Joo Min-hyeok? I put down the burlap sack in my hand and rubbed my eyes. I had to look again in case I saw wrong. Even while doubting and rubbing my eyes, I looked at the target, and no matter how I looked, it was Joo Min-hyeok.
“There are no men with that kind of physique here… and it’s not my brother. But there’s no way that bastard Joo Min-hyeok would be here at this hour. He should be in the middle of his busiest time.”
I quickly stepped outside to get a closer look, but he was wearing a bandana, a mask, and a large-brimmed hat, making it hard to confirm his face. He certainly dressed himself thoroughly. His attire wasn’t different from the island residents who worked here, which made it even more confusing. Was it really someone else?
There’s no way Joo Min-hyeok, the Emperor, would be working like that here. At this hour, he’d be incredibly busy at the palace; there’s no reason for him to leave his duties and come here to pull those heavy nets.
“No, that’s not it. No matter how I look at it, it can’t be anyone but Joo Min-hyeok. The movements, the gait, everything is Joo Min-hyeok…”
I began to suspect if he had changed his approach. After digging into the divorce deliberation period and the events before my possession, Joo Min-hyeok had vanished without a trace. He had repeatedly shaken me up to the point of losing my soul and then retreated, and then, for some sick hobby, he hadn’t contacted me at all.
I have many questions, such as whether the divorce papers were processed correctly, but it seems he’s decided to confuse people by appearing like that. In any case, the man presumed to be Joo Min-hyeok moved quickly with the elders and had now disappeared from sight.
He really bothers me in so many ways. To forget that unsettling scene, I was cleaning the empty cafe indiscriminately when I heard the door open and someone calling me from behind.
“…Hyung. I’m here. Have you been well?”
Jin-su, who hadn’t been seen for several days, stood holding the cafe door, looking at me cautiously. When I gave him a welcoming smile, Jin-su finally stepped inside.
“Jin-su, you’re here? I was wondering about you since I hadn’t seen you in so long.”
“Were you? Are you busy, Hyung? It looks like you’re cleaning.”
“No. I was just being a bit extra. But why haven’t you visited? Ah, the start of the semester is just around the corner, so you must be busy getting ready to go back to school.”
I had enjoyed hanging out with Jin-su, but because of Joo Min-hyeok, we had parted without a proper goodbye, and I was only able to see his face today. At the time, I was quite urgent because I was worried Joo Min-hyeok would say something unnecessary in front of the boy. That’s why I sent him back with Seo-joo, and I feel like I should explain that a bit.
How absurd must it have been for him to be sent back haphazardly after a dangerous-looking Alpha appeared? Seo-joo said he got home safely, but so many things happened afterward that I couldn’t pay attention to it. I handed him a Cafe Mocha, which he likes, and we sat facing each other for the first time in a while.
However, perhaps he felt quite slighted by that parting, as Jin-su couldn’t look me in the face. I quietly waited for Jin-su, who was just fidgeting with his coffee cup. It was because he looked like he had something to say.
“Hyung, did you get home okay that day? Nothing happened, right?”
Jin-su finally spoke, giving me a faint smile. It seems Jin-su heard something that day. He wouldn’t be acting this way otherwise.
“Yeah. I got home fine. How about you? Did you get home and rest well? Thanks to you, I had fun and got to visit a great place, so I felt sorry for sending you home like that.”
“No, not at all! Why would you be sorry? Rather, I was worried about you. That’s why it was on my mind, but Hyung…”
Jin-su hesitated, unable to continue his words.
“Jin-su, speak comfortably. It’s okay.”
“…Was that person the Emperor?”
The word I expected came out of his mouth. As he finished speaking and looked at me, there was a mix of fear in Jin-su’s eyes. I had expected something to come out from the way Jin-su was treating me. Anyone could see he was more cautious than before and looked curious. Since the word ‘Emperor’ came out directly, it was certain that Jin-su had overheard our conversation.
Joo Min-hyeok and I are, how should I put it, far too careless. From the moment Joo Min-hyeok showed his face that day, this was bound to happen.
A young person like Jin-su would have seen the Emperor’s face at least once in some medium. He might have been unsure seeing him in person, but that day, I was kind enough to scream about ‘Your Majesty’ and whatnot, so there was no way he wouldn’t know. Cha Hae-joo, you idiot.
“T-then, Hyung, by any chance, are you the Imperial Concubine? I… I didn’t mishear that he called you the Grand Imperial Concubine…”
Joo Min-hyeok, you moron.
“…Jin-su.”
“You didn’t mishear.”
Huh? When a voice suddenly said he didn’t mishear, Jin-su and I simultaneously lifted our heads and turned toward the source of the voice.
“Huh? Why are you here!”
Ignoring my informal speech, Joo Min-hyeok entered the shop in the same attire I had seen earlier and strode right up to me. That really was Joo Min-hyeok! Surprised by the fact that the person I saw earlier was indeed Joo Min-hyeok, I forgot that Jin-su was there and jumped up from my seat.
“I told you. I didn’t come to the island for your business, so just accept it if you see me.”
Joo Min-hyeok stopped in front of us, holding a large styrofoam box in his hand. What is this? Why did he bring this? While I was examining the styrofoam box, Joo Min-hyeok’s gaze shifted toward Jin-su.