There was no way Ji-hwan would venture into the palace again.
The moment he got home, he had told his servants not to receive another visit from a king. He would spend the rest of his days incognito, a common noble, never seeing Lee Seong-min again.
But fate had other plans.
It came three days later, in the form of palace guards on his doorstep.
"The king has invited you in person."
Ji-hwan's gut was churning. He had thought that Seong-min would forget him after their short encounter. But the king had demanded to see him again.
And a request by the king personally was not something that he could refuse.
So, once more, Ji-hwan stood in front of the throne.
Seong-min watched him with great attention, his black eyes unreadable. The interest in them had not faded. It had, if anything, intensified.
"You disobeyed my summons," Seong-min stated.
Ji-hwan's face was poker-faced. "Your Majesty's time is wasted on a man like me.".
Silence. Then—Seong-min smirked. Smirked.
"That is not your decision to make."
Ji-hwan swallowed hard. This was a risk.
Seong-min had been distant from him in their past life—cold, aloof, dismissive. But this Seong-min was not. Interested. Inquisitive.
And Ji-hwan had learned, too painfully, that once Lee Seong-min made up his mind.
He never let it go.