[He said it resembles you, XX. Isn’t XX crazy?]
Though it might look like someone very angry, that would be a misunderstanding.
Right now, this person was extremely delighted.
To the extent that such an intense reaction wasn’t a big deal, an untimely wild apple party broke out in HwanHui’s Garden that night. Of course, apple emoticons dangled from every post and comment that went up.
[How am I supposed to eat apples now ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[XX slice up the apple]
[Teacher, my cheekbones are so high I can’t chew, is this normal?]
[I won’t let apples go (roughly grinning gif)]
[We.. don’t need.. secondary content..]
Though they said that, there were people creating secondary content in quite a similar context, so Hwan burst out in admiration.
‘Did you see? Were you watching from the side? What?’
He’d come in to save photos of Huiseo who was “like an apple” that fans would have taken, lying in bed humming before sleep as usual. That was one thing, but before these people’s runaway imaginations and talented individuals who realized them 200%, Hwan had to kneel.
Cute, exciting, and above all… heart-fluttering.
‘…The amazing ones are you all.’
He couldn’t even gauge what kind of rampage the people of HwanHui’s Garden, who desperately wished only for the day Hwan and Huiseo would become adults, would go on then.
It went without saying that his phone screen couldn’t turn off all night long.
***
In any case, since that was also an official event in its own way, annoying procedures followed afterward.
For instance, things like reports.
Of course, there was no way Hwan would handle such things, so they naturally became Huiseo’s and the public relations office staff’s responsibility.
Things like articles going out externally were entirely handled by the public relations office, but internally organizing simple impressions of participating in the event, future improvements and such… in other words, it meant Huiseo completed the content that Hwan should originally have written instead.
Someone might say that shouldn’t be done. However, it wasn’t particularly important documentation, and moreover, it wasn’t difficult or time-consuming for him, so Huiseo preferred doing it himself.
Above all, even if he forced Hwan to do it, he absolutely couldn’t tolerate the quality of something like [I thought I should eat potatoes gratefully. Potatos… Gratful….] coming out. Even if dirt entered his eyes, such a document couldn’t exist in the imperial family’s name.
Huiseo intended to take the completed report directly to the Crown Prince’s palace.
In fact, it was something he could have asked to be delivered through the public relations office or other palace staff, or handled electronically. However, there was what Crown Prince Kang had said when sending Hwan and Huiseo to volunteer, and so he wanted to say thank you or explain how it was while looking at his face directly.
“No, let’s go together! What are you two going to talk about!”
In truth, Hwan had desperately tried to follow along too.
However, coincidentally, there happened to be a summons from the Empress Dowager’s palace at that time, so it was no exaggeration to say he was practically dragged away. The reason was probably because of the recent “apple incident,” he guessed.
Normally, the Empress Dowager would have summoned Huiseo to scold him for Hwan’s mischief, but for that matter alone, there would be no way to say anything to Huiseo.
‘Really, why did he suddenly give me an apple… saying strange things…’
Huiseo shook his head, recalling the scene that made both his cheeks burn hot even thinking about it again.
In any case, that’s why he’d come back to Bihyeongak.
But unexpectedly, there seemed to be a visitor who’d arrived before him.
“Huiseo-ya. Just a moment.”
Seeing the palace staff member with a rarely troubled face unable to announce him, Huiseo came to realize that the guest inside was no ordinary important person.
‘An important person worthy of entering the Crown Prince’s palace? Who?’
Either way, today didn’t seem to be the right time after all.
Come to think of it, his own matter wasn’t that urgent, so Huiseo asked:
“Should I come back another time?”
“No, no. If you just left after waiting, he’d be upset. And…”
But seeing the palace staff member become even more troubled when he said he’d leave, Huiseo couldn’t help but show a puzzled look. She kept glancing anxiously toward the interior of Bihyeongak with an uneasy expression.
“…Is something wrong?”
To him who lowered his voice sensing something amiss, the palace staff member just made an almost desperate request to wait, saying it would be over soon, please wait.
“…Yes. I’ll wait, so don’t worry.”
Huiseo answered like that, soothing the anxious woman.
Though he thought something was strange, since they asked him to wait, all he could do was wait. However, after some time passed, the moment he confirmed the face of the person who finally opened the door and came out, Huiseo, who’d grasped the situation at once, had the area around his eyes tremble subtly.
Though it was the first time actually meeting him in person, there was no way not to know his face.
In a country with a perfectly existing Emperor, the person reigning more truly than the real Emperor.
‘The Prime Minister.’
Kim Myeonghoe.
According to what he’d heard, those who made eye contact with him all felt as if they were facing a large snake—it seemed that wasn’t an idle rumor after all. Huiseo, leaving the same impression, hurriedly bowed his head.
While silently clicking his tongue.
Because the fact that he’d personally made a visit like this couldn’t but be a serious matter. It was on a different level from when a Minister had barged into the palace over budget issues and pressured them by making a drinking scene.
He was truly a plunderer who’d come to take something.
Huiseo finally understood why the palace staff had such restless faces.
‘What has he come to take this time?’
His satisfied expression and gait as he left Bihyeongak made Huiseo and the palace staff watching him feel even more anxious. Because Crown Prince Kang’s heart, having dealt with the Prime Minister, would have burned up that much, or even more.
Huiseo, displeased by that, tried hard to hide his sour expression and stepped aside along with the palace staff.
But the fact that he, who should have passed by, unexpectedly stopped walking right in front of Huiseo made everyone who’d been thinking that at least it was over hold their breath.
“You’re Huiseo, aren’t you?”
Unexpectedly, he greeted Huiseo first.
So not only Huiseo standing before him, but the faces of the palace staff around them couldn’t help but show troubled expressions briefly. Strictly speaking, since Huiseo was also a famous figure, it was impossible not to know him. But the other party was no ordinary person.
That bastard greeting someone out of gladness? Ridiculous.
There was definitely some other scheme.
“I suppose you came to see His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
However, unable to tell exactly what it was, Huiseo, who answered obediently for now, felt him place his hand on his shoulder.
“I hear you’re also very good at studying. You seem diligent in many ways.”
At first glance, it might have sounded like encouragement.
However, judging from the force transmitted through that gripped shoulder, at least Huiseo could clearly tell that the Prime Minister hadn’t said it with such a kind intention. Though he didn’t know what about himself had rubbed him the wrong way, Huiseo thought in that brief moment:
That if he showed signs of being shaken or hurt here, he would lose.
A needless pride reared its head.
Though he wasn’t the type to cause trouble by stepping forward first like Hwan, neither was he so weak-natured as to be helplessly victimized by such blatant provocation. If it were up to his heart, he wanted to sharply brush off the hand on his shoulder and snap asking what kind of trick this was.
But that would be an amateur move.
‘That moment would feel good, but I’d quickly become very disadvantaged.’
Looking at his position or anything else, it was reality that the imperial family was greatly pushed back. So Huiseo instead smiled even more warmly and answered:
“Yes. Though I’m lacking, I’m doing my best in my own way.”
It meant to be frustrated since whatever tricks he pulled wouldn’t work.
Because sometimes an obliviously bright smiling face could be more exasperating. Had Huiseo’s intention somewhat worked? The middle-aged man with a sharp impression standing before him made a crooked smile.
As the force pressing down on his shoulder also released, though it was nothing much, Huiseo felt satisfaction just from that.
However, Huiseo soon learned why the Prime Minister had harped on about “working hard” before him. Because he continued speaking as if Huiseo’s cute antics had no impact whatsoever.
“Well, you should. Your eating, sleeping, and studying—it’s all accomplished through the people’s taxes that are like blood.”
At his last remark, a cold energy instantly descended on the faces of everyone gathered there. Though it seemed directed at Huiseo, it was clearly a statement trampling the imperial family to anyone watching. Because of that, some palace staff turned pale and endured while clenching their fists.
So naturally Huiseo’s expression couldn’t be good either.
‘Ah, so you picked a fight with me wanting to say this story after all.’
Realizing this, the corners of Huiseo’s mouth trembled with displeasure.
Words he wanted to shoot back from ‘So is that your money?’ to ‘Isn’t your salary from taxes too, ahjussi?’ rose to his throat, which was quite an ordeal. Fortunately, or should he say, before that, suddenly the door of Bihyeongak burst open with an enraged voice that rang through the Crown Prince’s palace.
“Prime Minister! Huiseo is still a young child, is he not!”
The owner of the voice was none other than Kang.
***
Setting aside the fact that Huiseo’s face briefly flushed at being called a “young child” in front of everyone.
In the end, he thought that the fact Kang couldn’t stand it and came rushing out was exactly what that sly old man wanted. From greeting Huiseo in the first place, he’d intended to use him to show off and also pressure Crown Prince Kang.
He’d fallen right into that trap beautifully.
‘…He’s not doing politics for nothing.’
In his subsequent reaction too, he knew how to casually laugh as if asking what happened and brush off the Crown Prince’s rebuke.
“It was simple encouragement, Your Highness. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Such a fan of encouragement.
Though outwardly maintaining polite courtesy, in reality it was bullshit treating Kang like a fool.
