Chapter Text
Morning sunlight comes through the leaves, turning everything gold and shadow. This corner of the palace garden has been forgotten. The royals don't come here. The gardeners avoid it.
Except Yunjin.
She's crouched by the hedge with her sleeves pushed up, dirt under her nails. There's a piece of bread in her hand and she's making those clicking sounds, the kind you make when you don't want to scare something.
"Come on," she whispers. "I know you're hungry."
The kitten's watching from under the bush. All bones and messy fur, but the eyes are alert. She saw it a few days ago behind the kitchen sheds, getting chased off by guards. It ended up here after that. The weeds and quiet must feel safer.
She gets that. This place feels safe to her too.
The kitten inches closer. One paw, then another. Its nose goes, testing the air. Almost there, but not quite.
"She only comes out for milk."
Yunjin jumps so hard she nearly falls over. The bread goes flying somewhere into the bushes. She spins around, heart racing.
There's a girl on the path. The leaves and morning light frame her like a painting. She's dressed plain, nothing fancy, but the way she stands gives it away.
The Second Princess. Chaewon.
Yunjin's brain completely blanks. "I..." She bows, way too fast and stiff, almost losing her balance. "Your Highness. I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would come here, I..."
She's still got bread in her fist. Well, squished bread now. And there's dirt all over her sleeves. Grass stains on her knees. She probably looks like she's been rolling around in the bushes.
Because she kind of has been.
Chaewon walks closer. The leaves crunch under her feet. "Don't," she says, soft. "You'll scare her away."
Yunjin straightens up fast, her face getting hot. The kitten's already backed up deeper into the bush, watching both of them now.
"I've been feeding her too," Chaewon says. Then she just kneels down right there on the grass. Like it's the most normal thing in the world. She puts down a small bowl. "She likes milk better than bread."
Yunjin stares. A princess. Kneeling in the dirt. Right next to her.
"Oh," she says. That's all her brain can manage right now.
The kitten doesn't need more convincing than that. It creeps out and starts drinking.
They both watch. The quiet isn't exactly uncomfortable. Just weird.
"I didn't know anyone used this place," Yunjin says after a bit. Her hands find her shirt hem automatically. She's done this since she was little, when she gets nervous.
Chaewon's eyes catch the movement. "No one does. That's why I like it."
"Does she have a name?"
"No." Chaewon's voice goes somewhere else for a second. "Naming things makes it hurt more when they leave."
Yunjin turns to look at her properly. The princess seems far away even though she's right there. Like she's figured out how to care about things without holding on too tight. Her fingers are messing with her sleeve even though her face looks completely calm.
The wind picks up and Yunjin brushes hair out of her face. "That's funny. I name everything."
Chaewon looks at her, confused.
Yunjin smiles. It's small but real. "When I name something, I get to keep it. Even after it's gone, you know?" She reaches toward the kitten, who's sprawled out in the sun now. "Nothing really disappears that way. Not completely."
Something changes in Chaewon's face. It's tiny, barely there, but Yunjin sees it. Like a crack appearing in glass.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Chaewon asks quietly.
"Maybe." Then Yunjin grins. "But it also means I had a slipper named Captain Slips when I was seven. He was very brave."
Chaewon blinks at her. Then she laughs, this surprised sound that seems to catch even her off guard.
Yunjin looks way too proud of herself. "See? Names are important."
"You're ridiculous," Chaewon says, but she's smiling.
"And yet here you are." Yunjin nudges her. "In the dirt with me and a cat who's about to be Princess Fluffypaws."
"At this rate, she's going to earn that name," Chaewon says, watching the kitten roll over.
"Say the word." Yunjin winks. "Or take your time thinking about it."
"Maybe I will."
Chaewon actually settles down into the grass now, like she's planning to stay. She doesn't seem to care about the dirt getting on her dress. The kitten purrs between them, round and content.
Chaewon glances at what Yunjin's wearing. Old linen, faded and worn, sleeves rolled up past her elbows, dirt everywhere. Nothing about it belongs anywhere near the palace. But somehow it suits her. Like she's not trying to be anything except herself.
"Do you work in the gardens?" Chaewon asks.
"Yeah. I'm not important enough for indoor work." Yunjin shrugs. She doesn't mind though. Gardens have always made sense to her. They remind her of home, of the tiny garden her family had. Working on the royal gardens feels like an honor. She never really wanted to work inside anyway.
"You make that sound bad."
"Isn't it supposed to be?"
Chaewon stares past the hedges like she's looking at something far away. "Sometimes I think about what it would be like to just go somewhere. Anywhere. No one telling you what to do. No ceremonies. No one watching everything you do."
"Okay, but have you ever swept leaves for five hours in the middle of summer?" Yunjin actually shivers remembering it. "It's really not that great."
Chaewon almost smiles. "Okay, fair point."
Quiet again. Yunjin can feel Chaewon's eyes on her.
"I could bring milk next time," Yunjin says, not quite looking at her. "For the kitten."
Chaewon meets her eyes when she finally looks up. There's this pause, just for a second, before she speaks. "You could just come. With or without milk."
That catches Yunjin completely off guard. She blinks a couple times, then smiles. Small and careful. "Yeah," she says, quieter now. Not unsure. Just trying not to get her hopes up too much.
"Then..." Chaewon starts to say something else but stops. Whatever it is gets stuck halfway. She doesn't finish and maybe that's okay.
When Yunjin walks away from the garden later, there's a name starting to form in her head and this warm feeling in her chest. She's already thinking about when she can come back.
Then she stops.
"Wait." She turns around. "Should you even be talking to me? I mean, I'm just a gardener."
It hits her all at once. Everything she just said and did. How she completely forgot about formalities and ranks and all of that. Chaewon's a princess. And Yunjin just spent however long teasing her like they were friends.
What if she's annoyed? What if this was it?
But Chaewon just smiles. Her eyes say something she doesn't put into words. Something like, please don't change.
Because for once, someone's looking at her like she's just a person. Not a title or a role or an expectation. Just Chaewon.
"You're only asking that now?" The amusement is there in her voice but there's something softer underneath it too.
Yunjin opens her mouth but nothing comes out.
They look at each other for too long. The moment stretches out between them, full of things that might happen.
The kitten makes a sound.
It breaks whatever spell was happening. Reminds them the world's still there. Its purr fills up the quiet.
The wind comes back, warm against their skin. Chaewon's hair lifts and moves with it, catching the golden light. Some of it brushes against Yunjin's face, so light she barely feels it.
But she doesn't move. Can't move.
Everything goes still. The wind, the light, her heartbeat suddenly way too loud.
She wasn't expecting much today. Just another quiet morning in her favorite spot. Then Chaewon smiled and something in Yunjin stopped. Not dramatic or anything. More like that moment before a storm when everything goes quiet and you don't know why you're holding your breath.
She doesn't have a name for it.
Just this feeling that something's starting.
It takes almost a week before she goes back.
The sky's all purple and gold when she finally gets there, the day cooling off. The garden looks exactly the same. Overgrown and quiet and waiting.
She walks slower than normal, holding a bowl of milk carefully. She tells herself it's for the kitten.
But she knows better.
She didn't mean to stay away so long. First there was work. Then she started second-guessing everything. And maybe she got scared of what it meant if Chaewon was serious. If she actually wanted Yunjin to come back. Princesses don't need gardeners hanging around, right? Even if Chaewon seemed different. Even if she didn't seem to mind.
But here she is anyway.
She comes around the hedge and stops.
Chaewon's there.
She's sitting in the grass with a book open on her lap and the kitten curled up next to her. Like she's been there for hours. Like she belongs there.
Yunjin's chest goes tight. Has she been coming here every day? Waiting?
She takes a step forward and Chaewon looks up.
"You're early," Yunjin says.
Chaewon's face is hard to read for a second. Then it softens completely. "You're late."
She doesn't say "for days" but Yunjin hears it anyway.
"I know. Work was crazy." Yunjin looks at the kitten instead of at Chaewon. It's easier. "The roses were being dramatic. Someone had to deal with them."
"Did it work?"
"They're less angry now." Yunjin smiles even though her heart's doing something weird. "So that's something."
She puts the bowl down slow and careful. The kitten's ears move.
The silence after that feels heavy.
"I meant what I said," Chaewon says suddenly. "You don't need to bring milk as an excuse."
Yunjin's breath stops for a second.
"I kept coming back," Chaewon continues, softer now. "But you weren't here."
No blame in her voice. Just honesty.
Yunjin's hand grabs onto her sleeve, holding tight. She does that when she needs something to hold onto. She's scared of what Chaewon's saying. Scared to hope it means what she thinks. Because words like that from a princess, they could mean everything or nothing at all.
"It's not that I didn't want to come," Yunjin says, barely above a whisper. "I just wasn't sure if I should."
"What about now?"
Yunjin looks up properly this time.
Chaewon's wearing a different dress today. Simpler. No fancy details or jewelry. Just plain fabric.
It was a choice, Yunjin realizes. She picked that on purpose.
"Now I'm here," Yunjin says.
And she doesn't look away.