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He stared down at her.  This was the most ridiculous conversation he had ever been a part of.  She was sick as a dog.  Was she delirious?  Is that why nothing she was saying was making any sense?

He was suddenly very embarrassed that he had lost his temper and manhandled her.  He had never touched another woman the way he had touched this one.  He had never treated another woman the way he’d treated this girl.  He was quite ashamed of his behavior.  

She was right.  She didn’t deserve him.  She might not be very wise, but she was brave and clever.  She might not be beautiful, but there was something captivating about her, nonetheless.

“Jina.  I am sorry.  I’m sorry I tried to force you to drink the tea.  I’m just worried that you’re going to die.”

“And you’ll be blamed,” she moaned into the cold floor.  Despite having pressed her cheek against it, she was still hot.  And freezing.

“No.  I’m worried about you, Jina.  You are so hot because you’re dehydrated.  You need to drink.”

“How can I be hot and cold at the same time?”  She was shaking from the cold.  Yet her cheeks were burning up.  “Help me.  Please.  Take me back to your bed.”  She chafed at her weakness.  She felt too exhausted even to crawl over to his bed.  “Who said we must marry?” she queried miserably.

“The king.”

“Why?”

“Because you were in my bed.”

“Why did you bring me here?” 

“Because you passed out in my arms last night.  I couldn’t wake you up.  I didn’t know where your room was.  I didn’t want to leave you in the hallway to be attacked by Chanyeol again.”  He sighed.  “I was trying to keep you safe.”

She gazed up at him out of bleary eyes.  “Ha.  You failed.”

Stung, he retorted, “I didn’t want to marry you either!”

Her face crumpled then.  “Of course not.  No man has wanted to marry me.  I’m good enough for some fun in a hallway, I guess.  But no one wants to look at this face every day.”

“Stop it!  Stop putting yourself down.”

“You know I’m plain.”

He stared at her in consternation.  “Looks aren’t everything.”

She gazed up at his beautiful face.  “They sure aren’t!”

He was growing angry again.  But she was still shaking.  He bent to pick her up.  

“Will you drink the tea if I put you back in bed?”

She nodded as he scooped her up off the floor.  She leaned towards him and set her forehead against his shoulder.  Then she began to weep.  The king was going to force her to marry Jungkook.  She would have no hope of a good marriage now.  Jungkook would hate her because she’d backed him into a corner.  

That plain boy she’d been dreaming of for several years now would have to survive without her.   They would have no plain children together.  Instead, she would give birth to Jungkook’s beautiful children.  She sobbed into his shoulder.

He gazed down at her.  Why was she crying now?  

Were they destined to always be miserable with each other?  Perhaps he could convince the king to give him a hundred lashes rather than to make him marry this silly girl.

He set her on the bed and held the cup out to her.  She took it and drank it all.  Then she set the cup down and fell over onto her pillow.  

“Thank you,” she breathed before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

He headed to the kitchen to make her more tea.  He ran into Mari there.  She took one look at his face and knew something was wrong.

“Jungkook?  What is it?  What’s wrong?”

“I’m just exhausted, that’s all.  I’ve had no sleep.”

She frowned.  “Why not?”

He shook his head.  “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

“Ah.  Well, I am sorry, my friend.  But whatever it is, it’s bound to get better.”

He stared at her resignedly.  “I doubt it.”  He quirked his left eyebrow at her.  “Has it gotten better for you?”

She blushed.  Jungkook’s eyes widened as he took in the telltale staining of her cheeks.  He grinned at her as he felt his heart lifting.  

“It has?”

She nodded.  “Tae is the sweetest of men, Jungkook!  I — I couldn’t have done better than him.”  She peeked up at him sheepishly.

“I am so very happy to hear that, Mari.  Good for you.”

But he couldn’t hide the pang he felt over his own situation.  She saw it bursting from his eyes.

“Whatever it is, surely, it will get better,” she murmured.

He shook his head mournfully.  “I really don’t think so, Mari.  I’m awfully young to be consigned to misery, don’t you think?”

“I think you’re awfully young for anything to be set in stone,” she remarked.  “It will get better.”  She sighed.  “I need to take Tae’s tea to him.”

“Oh, Tae, is it?”

Again, that blush.

Jungkook smiled ruefully as a puff of humor escaped his nose.  “Good for you, Mari.  Good for you.”

Then he concentrated on boiling his own water so he could take tea to his “beloved.”