Garden of Joy C7

Chapter 7

Had anyone seen that flustered moment just now?

Heeseo seemed to be worrying about exactly that. His startled eyes darted hurriedly around him. As they were just about to depart for school, a black car waited nearby, ready to take them. Several members of the security detail stood around it, but when Heeseo glanced their way, all of them had their backs turned. Judging by their lack of reaction—

…They didn’t hear anything, right?

Thinking so, Heeseo let out a small sigh of relief and immediately tried to pull his captured hand free.

“First, this—”

“Hm? Why? Did something happen?”

But Hwan, already catching on, shamelessly put strength into his grip and resisted. Contrary to Heeseo’s intentions, the two of them ended up continuing a very literal tug-of-war for a moment longer.

Desperate to escape this awkward situation as quickly as possible, Heeseo’s face inevitably filled with flustered panic. To the point that he even forgot to use the polite speech he’d been careful to maintain outside, only realizing it belatedly and correcting himself into an odd mixture of tones.

“What do you think you’re doing, in front of everyone… yo?”

“Is it fine if it’s somewhere people can’t see?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

This kind of clingy behavior between them wasn’t anything new, but with so many eyes around, it was still troublesome. If misunderstandings arose, or pointless rumors began to circulate, it wouldn’t be good for the imperial family—or for Hwan. At least, that was how Heeseo saw it.

That was why he was so restless, worried someone might see. Yet the real problem was that Hwan didn’t seem to understand Heeseo’s feelings at all. That infuriating face, smiling lazily, showed no sign of stopping the teasing. If anything, he looked like he was actively plotting how to get even closer.

At that point, it was hardly strange that Heeseo resorted to this again.

“Your Highness.”

Calling him in a firm voice, Heeseo let out a long, heavy sigh at the end of it.

Naturally, it was deliberate.

He felt bad about recreating yesterday’s situation, but if they started struggling again like before, Heeseo had no chance of winning. It was a cowardly tactic, but he believed this was the only way to make Hwan back down on his own.

Unfortunately, unlike yesterday, there were several things Heeseo had failed to account for.

First of all—as already mentioned—Hwan was a completely different person today.

He was far too energetic.

In other words, he wasn’t someone who would wilt at the sound of a single sigh. On top of that, Heeseo’s ears, once again quietly flushed red, were another problem. Heeseo himself didn’t realize it, but it was far too honest, far too unbearably cute.

As a result, Hwan’s playful smile only deepened.

…This isn’t going how I planned.

That realization briefly crossed Heeseo’s face.

Hwan watched him with eyes curved in gentle amusement.

Jung Heeseo, flustered right in front of him—such a sight was rare enough to be a delight. That pleasant feeling filled Hwan’s chest to the brim, and he tightened his grip on Heeseo’s hand even more, pulling it up against his own chest and holding it firmly, as though he had no intention of letting go.

Caught like that, Heeseo’s fingertips—and the eyes looking up at Hwan—trembled ever so slightly. This was truly troublesome. The way Heeseo bit down on his reddened lower lip for a moment seemed to say exactly that.

But in the end, what couldn’t be done simply couldn’t be done.

The conclusion Heeseo reached was, after all, the same as always. Letting out a small sigh, he gathered his fleeting agitation and placed his captured hand against Hwan’s chest.

Then he pushed him away. With cold words.

“Of course I remember it clearly. Including what Your Highness said about doing better from now on.”

“I did.”

“And yet, I don’t understand your actions right now.”

With that, Heeseo deliberately brought up the very words Hwan had spoken in anguish the day before—I’ll do better. Yes, it was petty. He couldn’t deny that. But just like before, he told himself it was unavoidable if he was to rein in Hwan’s completely loosened reins.

What Heeseo hadn’t expected was that even with that resolve, it would fail so utterly.

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”

Hwan asked with a face so open and untroubled it was almost shameless.

Does he genuinely not understand? Or is he teasing me?

That uncertainty was why Heeseo couldn’t immediately continue. In the meantime, Hwan pressed on without hesitation.

“I’ll do better. For you.”

This wasn’t teasing—it was sincere. Heeseo was certain of it from the look in Hwan’s eyes.

Somehow, from the moment Hwan had suddenly insisted on holding hands despite claiming he’d do better yesterday, it had felt suspicious. Now it was clear: that hadn’t meant he’d do better as a prince at all. Feeling his head heat up, Heeseo pressed a hand briefly to his forehead.

Well—if one were extremely generous, at least “doing better” was still doing better. But—

This early in the morning, in the middle of a parking lot, where everyone can see.

Was this really “doing better” for him?

Heeseo didn’t voice it aloud, but his face cycling through red and pale shades made his thoughts obvious. Meanwhile, Hwan looked utterly delighted, seemingly incapable of reading the situation at all.

“Just say the word. I can do anything you want. Should I hold your hand again, like yesterday?”

That damn hand.

He must have sulked during the ceremony he hadn’t attended, gotten scolded by the elders, and ended up dejected—so Heeseo had indulged him a little last night. The side effects of that indulgence, however, were far worse than expected.

Heeseo had planned to be lenient for a while, even up to just moments ago. But now, that was no longer an option.

“Do you really think all I want is something as trivial as holding hands?”

At that sharp question, even Hwan—who had been fooling around without restraint—finally looked flustered.

“Huh?”

“You said you’d do whatever I wanted.”

“Well… yes, but—”

“Fine. Then let’s start with getting full marks on today’s English vocabulary quiz.”

“…English vocabulary quiz?”

What was that?

Hwan stared blankly, stunned. Before he could even realize that calling hand-holding “trivial” had hurt him a little, confusion crashed over him like a wave.

Wait—why? How did it suddenly come to this?

He hadn’t even known there was an English vocabulary quiz today. He hadn’t studied for it, not even a little. And now she wanted full marks? A bead of sweat slid down Hwan’s spine.

“Heeseo, that’s, um… well….”

For the first time, the ever-confident, sly Hwan was at a loss for words.

Having fully reclaimed control, Heeseo didn’t try to pull his hand free this time. Instead, he reached toward Hwan and slowly brushed his fingers down the neatly tied tie at Hwan’s chest. But what truly stunned Hwan was what Heeseo said next, in a prim, composed tone.

“They say a man’s word is worth a thousand gold pieces. You promised—so I may take it that way, yes?”

“You—”

Hwan was speechless.

This kid—what on earth has he been watching?

Were historical dramas this provocative these days?

As Heeseo’s lips curved upward into a dangerously alluring smile, Hwan’s heart thudded violently in his chest. Watching him, Hwan felt an inexplicable urge to clench and unclench his hands over and over.

Terrifying kid.

Was this what they meant by a beauty that could topple a nation?

It was a good thing he didn’t own anything of value. Otherwise, in the blink of an eye, he might have handed over his house, his land—perhaps even the clothes he was wearing. The thought made him dizzy.

So even though he hadn’t known about today’s test at all, agreeing without hesitation didn’t seem like a problem.

“Yeah. I can do it.”

Seeing Heeseo smile like that, he figured he might as well try.

Of course, desperately flipping through vocabulary in the car afterward and nearly getting dizzy from it was… perhaps a little—no, quite a lot—undignified.

All that glitters is not gold.

It was a thought that crossed Hwan’s mind every time he went to school, but never had it fit the situation so perfectly as now.

No matter how dire the imperial family’s circumstances truly were, what appeared on the surface was dazzling beyond measure. The sight of several black cars, including security vehicles, gliding smoothly through the school gates looked like a scene straight out of a film.

At the center of it all were Hwan and Heeseo.

The official name of their destination was the Imperial Academy of Higher Education.

It was one of the institutions the imperial family had ambitiously established to nurture future talent across various fields, regardless of region or class. That sounded grand, but in practice, one could think of it simply as a high school for students who were particularly good at studying.

Of course, there were a few students—like Hwan—who counted as special exceptions.

To add a bit more explanation, while the school was formally coeducational, in reality the classes—and even the buildings—were separated by gender. In terms of daily life, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Hwan and Heeseo attended an ordinary boys’ high school.

That was good news for them—especially for Hwan.

Though being a prince wasn’t considered all that remarkable anymore, if one had to say, boys tended to treat him a little more casually. And even if others showed interest, Hwan himself paid little attention to anyone but Heeseo, which may have discouraged people from getting close.

In any case, thanks to that, Hwan enjoyed what could be called a relatively normal school life.

The only issue was that the path into the school building was always a little noisy.