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Oh, no! She had liked having sex with the King!
No, no! No! That can't be!
He was a heterosexual man, thank you very much. That was just a fluke, Kim So Yong acting through this body. That was it. That was all that there was to it. It had nothing to do with those dark embers shining upon her, setting her on fire.
No, no, none of that. Don't go on that train of thought, brain. Focus!
She slapped herself on the face, hoping that the burning and the pain would distract her wandering thoughts. No such luck, though. She kept seeing flashes from last night popping up every time she closed her eyes.
And then there was that declaration from the King. What was that? Why had he done that? He was confused enough already, the King didn't have to add that sentimental nonsense on top of all that sexuality crisis.
Not that she was having a sexuality crisis. She was a man! A very heterosexual one. She liked girls! He was Jang So Yong— and, oh shit! He was now confusing their names even inside his head.
That's what happened when two lives inhabited the same body: things got confusing. He didn't know what was lingering from Kim So Yong's dreams and desires, and what was his own. It was frustrating.
They had been a little off last night from the alcohol. Even if he could admit to himself that he enjoyed it, he couldn't really tell if he enjoyed it because he thought he was doing with it Hong Yeon or if it was Kim So Yong soul's manifesting or if he maybe he wasn't as straight as he previously thought.
Too many variables. He couldn't work with that.
He needed to have a controlled environment to test his theories, that was the scientific method. That's what he needed to do.
And if the thought of having Cheoljong on his bed again made them shiver in ways that had nothing to do with apprehension, it was her business and her business only. He had no hidden agenda on this, she just had to test those theories, okay?
He supposed they would need a lot of alcohol to deal with these theories, so he regretted their own resolution of not involving one single drop of it this time. It was going to be a pain in the ass, she just knew it. But no outside variables were allowed.
After some consideration, she decided that now that the message exchange fiasco had been revealed, she should take advantage of the fact.
She sent a message to the King saying they needed to talk and figure out some stuff. They were purposefully vague on the message, too ashamed to put into words what their real plan for the night was. And this in itself he would count as Kim So Yong's fault, he had never been ashamed of sex before, quite the opposite.
He also never had sex with a guy before.
Well, except if you count last night... But it was technically still that woman's body. So did it really count? No. It didn't. That's why they were going to do the testing.
He needed to know.
He didn't know what exactly he needed to know and he was a little fearful of what he might come to know after this, but it was too late now, the message had been sent.
He had no problems with dudes or girls doing it back in his original century. People gotta do what made them happy, etc. It's just... He had never thought that he would enjoy it. He definitely had a few menages with girls and had enjoyed that but it was a very different thing. Very different mainly because he was the only man involved in those.
Jang So Yong, oh, crap, not this again!
Jang Bong Hwan. Bong Hwan. He could tell when a man was handsome — and Cheoljong was one of those — but she never had looked at any man before and thought about kissing them or doing anything beyond that. She liked girls!
Oh, no. His thoughts were spiraling out of control and going back to the same topic over and over again.
Shit! She lost track of time by doing all this useless thinking and hadn't got ready to receive the King yet. She needed to set the mood for tonight, to erase the other variables.
Was over thirty still an acceptable age to have a sexuality crisis? It probably was.
Ok, ok, breathe in. Breathe out. You got this, Jang Bong Hwan! You've had sex hundreds of times before. If sex was a sport, you'd probably be a champion at it. You got this!
This pep talk to herself, unfortunately, was not helping at all. He hadn't been this nervous since his first time. Scratch that, he probably wasn't this nervous even back then, he had been too excited about it to be nervous.
The King walked in interrupting their thoughts. He seemed worried, expression subsided and controlled. Maybe that talk they had had that morning caused an unintentional effect of leaving all of them in a pensive mood.
"My Queen," he greeted.
She was going to blame that flip her heart just did in an undiagnosed heart condition. It was possible! It had nothing to do with how the King's voiced sounded when he said those words. Nothing at all.
Her excuses were starting to get flimsy even for herself and that wasn't a good sign. Maybe he should've had put that into consideration before inviting the King to her room.
"What is that you want to talk about?"
She stared at him, searching for a way to approach the subject. Blunt honesty had been her go-to move since she got into Joseon. If it was working or not it was debatable, but it was the best course of action available at this point: Be direct. Throw off the adversary. Use those precious extra seconds to think of something else.
Yes, that was a good plan.
"Sex."
The King's eye widened for a fraction of a second and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before a sound finally came out, questioning them: "My Queen...?"
"You can remember last night better than me, you don't have to act all prude! The thing is: I don't remember much of it and I need some new and less questionable data to process everything that's going on in here—" She made vague gests around her chest and head. "So, get going, take your clothes off and lie down. C'mon, move!"
The King opened his mouth again. Closed it again. Without much ceremony, he started to take off his outer robe. Good to know he was eager too.
Not that Jang Bong Hwan was eager for it! She just wanted to test those theories. That's all. No heart racing inside her chest and heat building up in her lower belly. No, no, no, none of that.
They started to take their clothes off as well, wanting to do something with their hands before they could blurt anything else to the King.
Before they could take off her inner undergarment, the King approached them. He touched their elbows and made them look at him. They were now too close to those eyes that were burning up with desire, pupils so wide they had trouble seeing beyond it.
They pretended it didn't turn them on to feel this wanted.
"Are you sure? Last night was one of the best nights of my life—"
You bet your ass it was! He was a gold medalist at sex!
"—but after our conversation this morning, I didn't think you'd want to see me again so soon, much less in your room."
"I called you here, didn't I?" She challenged.
"You did. And I'm happy about it. I just don't want any more misunderstandings between us."
"You want a fresh start then."
"A what?"
"A fresh start, you know? When two people that had disagreements decide to look past them and start their relationship again as if they've never met before."
The King smiled, wide and honest and so freaking bright. Who gave this man the right to be this stunning? They would have words with whoever was responsible for it.
"As usual, my Queen is very wise. That's exactly what I want! To start again with you. Erase all the hurtful things we did and said to one another in the past. But is it truly possible to do such a thing?"
This guy! She had told him to strip and lie down and he was here trying to talk about feelings! That was not what she had planned for the night and it was counterproductive to the fact that she did not want to talk or think about feelings. At all.
"Sure, why not? People do it all the time. Now shut up and get on the bed. I didn't call you here for talking."
The King smiled once more, too soft and mushy for her taste, so she rolled her eyes. This guy was too sentimental. How could he be a king if he was soft like that?
Where was the guy that bombed himself to get the reign under his control? He wanted to have sex with that guy, not this one that kept looking gently at them as if they were something precious.
The King sat in the bed, looking up at her, his eyes crinkling in contentment and she had to stop herself from thinking about his words to her that morning, that love declaration that seemed something out of a k-drama. How had his life become this?
Oh, yes, he had died. When people died they were supposed to find peace or enlightenment or something other than this. His life only got more complicated after death. He didn't recommend it, 1 star out of 10.
Wanting to get it over with, they pushed the King down onto the bed and straddled him. No time to waste, theories needed to be proven and all that.
When had this room become so hot? She would kill for an air conditioner right now.
She grabbed and opened the King's undergarment, sliding it down his arms, touching his biceps on the way. Damn! Cheoljong had some big guns! All that secret martial arts training was really paying off. She felt those muscles some more, rubbing it up and down, squeezing it to test its strength.
Curious, she finished sliding the fabric down until most of his abdomen was exposed. Again: damn! Not even with his super strict regime of going to the gym five days a week he had managed to have a six-pack like that in his other life. They were a work of art, very impressive.
You know, from one dude to another. Nothing else.
However, it was hard to pretend it was nothing else with the way the King just moaned under her. Control yourself, Cheoljong, you're a king, not a teenage boy!
And where is that air conditioner? Would she need to invent one herself? Because they would!
"My Queen—" He pleaded in a tone that was more suited to be in a porn movie than coming out of the mouth of a king.
He wouldn't be so worried about it if their body hadn't responded to that in earnest. Their body was betraying him! That wasn't fair!
Well, it was too late to back down now. Jang Bong Hwan was not a coward. He made sure to kiss the King to try and shut him up. Just for that reason and nothing else. It had nothing to do with how inviting those full pink lips were. Nothing.
It indeed made him shut up, so she counted that as a win.
__________
The deed was done.
Unfortunately, it had been good. So good that they had done it again as soon as the King was apt for it. And she came three times. Three times! That certainly was one advantage of borrowing that body. No refractory period either, what a blessing.
In her mind, she knew being on the receiving end had to be good, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have made so many women happy in the past (or the future, depending on how you look at it). But he still was somewhat surprised to notice that he had enjoyed it. Very much. There even was irrefutable proof of it all over the sheets.
They mentally apologized to whoever would be cleaning those sheets in the morning. She hoped it wasn't Hong Yeon, the girl was too innocent to see such things!
And if she was slowly palming that six-pack once more, it was only out of jealousy and some nostalgia. He missed his own muscled abdomen.
"I like this fresh start," the King said against her forehead as she was plastered over his chest, blissfully exhausted.
She snorted. Yeah, she noticed how you liked that, my King.
"What?" Cheoljong asked, voice hoarse and just above a whisper.
"I'm really good at this, of course, you liked it. Cooking and sex, those are my specialties," she gloated.
The King shook his head. Then, he started to laugh and she felt her head moving on his chest. It wasn't that fake one he used when he was pretending to find something funny. It was a real one, that made his whole body shake, and he embraced her closer. Which, by the way, was not possible, since they were already as close as two people could be.
Stop trying to prove that two bodies can occupy the same space at the same time, my King! That fellow Newton already said it couldn't.
... But, considering he was Jang Bong Hwan living in Kim So Yong's body, maybe that law was stupid.
You don't know what I've been through, Newton!
"Yes, you are, my Queen. I've tasted both your food and your body and I can attest to that."
For no reason whatsoever, she felt herself blush. She would blame being so close to another body like this. It made the temperature too warm for his taste. Inventing the air conditioner was her next priority.
Despite the heat, they couldn't bring themselves to move apart from the King. It was comfortable, okay? Don't judge him!
He kissed their forehead, sweet and brief, before saying: "I'm glad we forgot no-touching and got to a fresh start. This is much better."
She felt him smile. And it was just a reflex that made her smile too. Like what babies do when they see someone smiling. Just a reflex.
"Goodnight, my Queen."
"Goodnight," her voice was so saccharine that he had to hold back from vomiting at their own words.
Honestly, Kim So Yong, stop embarrassing us!
Thinking better of it, they were feeling this comfortable and sleepy right now solely due to the extenuating exercise they had done that night, and it had nothing — absolutely nothing! — to do with the fact that they were cuddling with their King.
Uh... Weird. When he became their King instead of just that annoying King?
Whatever! He was too tired to think right now, they would have to think about that in the morning, though. But only after a long and restful night of sleep. Maybe they could even tire themselves in the morning again if she was feeling like it.