"..." His brain has stopped working as he fully digested her words; he wasn't too different from a porcelain doll in that moment, with how empty his head felt. Still staring at her blankly, Dokja asked her to repeat herself once more.
"Umm..." He was obviously shocked by what she said, but she gazed into his eyes again, pleading, "Please be my fiancé, Sir Dokja."
Kim Dokja blinked slowly, the cogs in his mind started turning again, coming back to life. "But...why me?" he asked. There was a pause before Lady Jiwon began to explain herself. She told him of how even though she was the true successor to Min County, her brother and the county's counselors sought to take the title away from her.
While Lady Jiwon had fought to prove herself as a capable leader to inherit the Min County as its proper heir, her advisors wouldn't accept her until she could acquire a husband. While she admitted that they don't know each other that well and there was a slim possibility he'd accept, given his love for Lee Seolhwa, she chose him because he seemed to be a decent man from their encounter at the night market.
Silence fell over the both of them as Sir Dokja took his time considering her words. As it stretched on, Lady Jinwon became more and more self-conscious.
"I'm very sorry for pressuring you so suddenly, Sir Dokja, if you d---, ."
"I accept your proposal."
Bracing his arms at the table, Dokja looked her dead in the eyes "I will be your fiancé, Lady Jinwoo" It was now Lady Jiwon's turn to be taken aback, she had no idea that Kim Dokja would accept her marriage proposal so easily.
In Dokja's eyes, it was a win-win situation for them both. Not only would he be helping Lady Jinwoo and gain connections to the Min County, but this was his chance to finally dispel the rumors about his relationship with Lady Seolhwa.
Lady Jiwon was speechless, even though this was her desired outcome.
"Is there something wrong, my Lady?"
She was silent for a while before asking, "...Why?
Confusion crossed Dokja's face, "What do you mean, 'why'?"
"It's just that... your feelings for Lady Seolhwa," she exclaimed in a panic, slightly yelling, "I'm not asking because I'm not satisfied with your answer, but…"
Dokja sighed internally. Before he had naively thought that simply accepting Lee Seolhwa's rejection would stop the rumors. He should've known that it would mean nothing if the public would still speculate on their relationship anyways..
"Well, you could say that I was in love with her before..." Lady Jiwon gradually lifted her head and noticed that Kim
Dokja was looking outside the window, wistfully "But not anymore..." he ended.
She hesitantly questioned, "Can I ask why?" while Kim Dokja crossed his arms and hummed.
Kim Dokja gazed at her, somewhat bemused. "Well, let's just say that I've moved on from her. Why, did you want me to harbor feelings for her despite having you as my fiancé?"
When he said this, her head shot up and she vigorously shook her head, her hands waving in front of her. "Of course not!" she exclaimed, then quickly lowered her hands and groaned.
"Well I suppose I was just surprised. I'm very grateful you accepted my offer, Sir Dokja…"
He looked aside and shrugged; there was a lengthy pause before either spoke again. They started discussing how their marriage arrangement would be set up, including the current state of the Min County, the resources each of them would be receiving from their respective households, how they should inform their families of this development, and so on. They came to the agreement that if either of them were to fall in love with another person,
the two would simply split up, though Dokja had proposed that more for Lady Jiwon's benefit. The two of them continued to talk about those matters until Kim Dokja excused to use the restroom, leaving Lady Jiwon at the table.
--
As Dokja looked at his reflection in the mirror, he still couldn't believe the person that stared back was really him.
He put his hand on his cheek. His skin was soft, but it was primarily because 'Kim Dokja' was obsessed with taking care of his looks while he courted Lee Seolhwa. On the other hand, in his original world he developed eyebags and rough skin from constantly working overtime and reading web novels late until the night. Kim Dokja thought about it some more as he washed his hands.
Behind him the restroom door opened, and Dokja glanced over his shoulder to see who it might've been… and immediately regretted it. It was the protagonist bastard, again. Did god hate him? Kim Dokja closed his eyes, tamping down his ensuing headache.
Joonghyuk, perhaps feeling generous today, silently went to the sink next to his as washed his hands, not bothering to acknowledge the other occupant. While he could leave, Dokja couldn't shake off the feeling that Joonghyuk was just trying to get his guard down, and would attack him as soon as his back was turned.
So, Dokja just looked back down at his hands and watched as the water ran past his fingers, too nervous to do anything else until the prince left.
Though as he waited, Dokja couldn't help but sneak a few glances at the prince. For the first time since entering this world, Dokja saw Joonghyuk donning casual attire, only wearing a long-sleeve black button up and black pants. Even then, it didn't hide his attractiveness, especially when it came to his body.
Dokja could still see his muscles bulging from his clothes, and his face was like a well-made painting. Damn, the universe really had its favorites doesn't it.
"What."
He didn't know when, but Joonghyuk started gazing back at him in the mirror. Dokja was startled and was abruptly brought back to reality. Caught red handed, he could feel his ears turning red.
"W-What?," Dokja squeaked out.
The prince inquired again. "You were staring at me." Turning off the water, he crossed his arms and leaned against the sink.
He said, "O-, W-well of course I'm gonna stare at the guy that tried to murder me that last time we met!" Dokja rushed to shout, trying desperately, and failing to compose himself.
Unlike him, Joonghyuk's response was swift. "Hmph, don't pretend as if you haven't done the same, you've been through this before anyway. Besides," he turned to look Dokja in his eyes, "You were staring at my chest the entire time."
"..."
Joonghyuk didn't take his eyes off of him. The room was so silent that you could hear a needle drop, the only sound being Dokja's sink still running.
Until he exclaimed, "Of course I wasn't! What the hell's going on in that head of yours!?".
"Why are you staring at me, then? Are you thinking of trying to poison me"?
"What! No, I'm not! Stop putting words in my mouth, I already told you I didn't do it!" He couldn't believe what Joonghyuk was saying, and was rapidly going from flustered to agitated as the prince started hurling baseless accusations at him.
Joonghyuk merely shrugged his shoulders, uncaring as he turned his back and started walking away.
"Don't misconstrue my actions, the only reason why I'm not attacking you right now is because Lee Seolhwa is insistent on your innocence, I still won't believe any of your words until there's proof" Joonghyuk added, exiting the restroom.
Kim Dokja was left standing there in a daze, his jaw ajar. As the haziness from his mind faded and lucidity returned to his mind, he blinked, and shook his head. Turning off the sink and checking himself over in the mirror to see if his face was still red, he left the restroom. As he was walking back to his table, he glanced over at where the prince was sitting and saw Yoo Mia, who was talking energetically to Yoo Joonghyuk.
Huh, all things considering, that was probably the most amicable interaction they've had up to this point. He was about to look away when Yoo Mia's eyes met his own. It seemed like catching him off guard ran in the Yoo family.
He hesitantly waved his hand at her, but she just rolled her eyes at him before facing her brother again. Well then.He merely scoffed and continued making his way back to his table.
When he approached, Lady Jiwon was drinking tea and gazing out the window. As soon as she heard his footsteps, she turned to face him and put her teacup down. He smiled at her.
"I'm sorry it took me so long..."