he intensely stares at your young face, locking eyes with you for a moment, before he hears someone with a familiar voice next to you

"ah! SOMI!" his attention is diverted towards her as he wraps her up in his arms, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning her around in the air

princess jeon somi is basically his kid sister, the only royal daughter in the royal kingdoms younger than him

and like a sister, she dislikes affection from her older brother

"jaCKSON!" she swats her arms on his back as he gently sets her down on her feet

in addition to you and somi, there's royal assistant jiwoo, who tsks her tongue at jackson

jackson formally bows to all of you, thinking you're another visiting royal, "excuse my behavior, somi, jiwoo. I wasn't aware you were entertaining another royal, excuse my behavior, princess..."

but instead, he sees the hem of your skirt hit the ground, looking up to see you curtsy to him, "I am (y/n), a tutor to the princess"

jackson is taken aback, "a tutor?"

you stand up quickly, your eyebrows knitted together in offense, "I am an educated woman, is something wrong with that?"

"n-no!" jackson immediately backtracks, "I think knowledge i-is beautiful! and everyone should be allowed to learn more about the world and the fact that you are a tutor is amazing! I didn't mean anything negative at all, there should be more people like you, eager to learn and teach, thank you for passing on your wisdom"

"oh," now you're taken aback, "uh thank you" 

he's smiling at you warmly and your cheeks tint themselves a light pink as jiwoo clears her throat, "prince jackson, the other diplomats are meeting in the study right now"

"right! I'll get going! I'll see you both later, somi, (y/n), excuse me" he bows and jiwoo directs him towards the study

you're still frozen when somi glances at you, a smirk on her lips, "(y/n)? you alright?"

"huh? yes!" you beam a smile at her, "let's start our lesson! today is all about economics, the mathematics and logistics behind the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services!"

you couldn't stop smiling to yourself as prince jackson's words echoed in your mind

later that night at dinner, the table is filled with much laughter and smiles thanks to jackson's colorful storytelling about his adventures all around the world

when all the heads of royalty and the visiting diplomats leave the room for bed, you usually stay behind and help clean up with the kitchen staff

and you're surprised to see the visiting prince helping some of the elder ladies, "prince jackson, shouldn't you be off for bed?"

"I will be, after this" jackson carefully stacks the placemats and folds the linens as you set away the candles and the metal trays, "and you don't have to call me 'prince jackson,' just 'jackson' is fine"

you nod, "pri—jackson, do you always do this?"

"this? of course, I don't think doing simple things like cleaning up or housework is 'beneath someone's station,' as others have referred it as. my mother always taught me good manners, I just want to do right by her and myself"

you lead the way into the kitchen, "(y/n), how did you start tutoring somi?"

you launch into the story of being scouted at your university, being the only female tutor well-versed in many of the school's subjects

jackson's in awe of your intelligence and knowledge, so he prods you with more questions about yourself

he ends up walking you to your room, the game of 1 million questions sadly coming to an end as he kisses your hand and bows goodbye to you

your heart has never beat this fast bc of a simple gesture

the next morning you and somi finish a morning lesson, there's jackson outside the door 

he offers to take you both out on an adventure in the somi's kingdom, but bc somi is busy with her other princess duties, it's just you and jackson roaming around

somi's texting you nonstop bc she's bored with everything but she's also keeping an eye on you two bc she has a feeling that someone likes someone and bc she wants to be in the loop

you and jackson dress casually with only jackson's guard watching you from close distance

jackson offers to buy you various foods, but you don't want him to spend money on you

he buys it anyways bc "he wants to eat it" but gives it to you anyways as he runs away from you to prevent you from giving it back to him

he likes walking with you into the open markets and bookstores, following behind you as you wander in and explore things on the shelf

at the end of the day, jackson walks you to your room again and kisses the back of your hand, leaving you grinning madly as you shut the door

somi: so how was your date? [10:23pm] 

you: it wasn't a DATE [10:28pm]

you: but I had a very good time:) [10:28pm]

somi: (Y/N)!! [10:30pm]

somi: how much of a good time, huh?? ;)))) [10:31pm]

you: soMI [10:32pm]

on days when you’re not available or out of town, jackson eagerly awaits your return he spends his time split between conducting diplomatic business, walking around the city square and helping ppl, or sulking talking to somi

somi: (y/n), you should come back tonight [9:12pm]

somi: jackson keeps asking me what time you’re coming back and keeps moping when I say I don’t know [9:13pm]

"sooo somi," jackson's avoiding eye contact with her as he asks her about her plans for the day, which is nothing but lessons with you, "would you, uh, mind if I sat in on your lesson with (y/n) today?"

she crosses her arms with a small smirk, "why? don't you have any meetings or appointments to get to?"

"no, not today, I have nothing planned" 

he secretly cleared his whole schedule

he quickly shakes his head "I just want to… to get to know what normal palace life is like! I want to see what a day in the life of jeon somi is like"

"mhmm sure" 

somi is 110% sure he's only going to lessons bc he wants to spend time with you, but she don't say anything else

you're writing on a chalkboard as they both slip in quietly behind you, "somi! you didn't forget your language book right?" she hums innocently as you turn around and you're caught off-guard, "ah—jackson! w-what are you doing here?" 

you're easily flustered by his appearance in the study room

"I just wanted to sit in on your lesson with somi, if that's alright with you, but I can leave if I'm—"

"n-no no! you're fine, you can stay, just don't distract somi" he nods and takes a looks at somi's book, "or me" you mumble under your breath

somi disguises a "too late" with a cough, having heard your mumble

but you switch into tutor mode and start the first part of your language lessons

jackson is v attentive during your lesson, watching you with intrigue and curiosity and waiting to ask a question or two at the end of your lecture 

when your back is turned and somi is working on a worksheet, jackson helps fill out the answers for her

"don't think I didn't see you helping somi with the answers" you say out loud to him as somi takes a restroom break

"I don't know what you're talking about" jackson's just simply smiling at you whilst sitting on your desk

"I know you can speak multiple languages, but you should let somi learn mandarin on her own"

he starts saying something in mandarin about helping you but then he switches to cantonese

you don’t know much cantonese, only the alphabet and some basic greetings

but you can infer that it’s something about him and you

"huh? what did you say?" you move closer to jackson, but lean back against your chalkboard

jackson's eyes go wide, "you don’t understand?? I thought you knew everything though!!"

honest to god, he does think you know everything, that’s how highly he thinks of you:)

"I don't know everything, but I did know that was cantonese" you remark to him, "what did you say again?"

"oh nothing important,” he says, "maybe I can give you lessons... in cantonese, I mean" he quickly adds

"well, I wouldn't mind that at all" you say, a small smirk on your lips

he tilts his head closer to you, keeping eye contact with you until you notice his eyes dart to your lips

romantic tension is buildingggg!!

jackson's leaning in so close till somi opens the door to the room with a shout, "back! am I interrupting anything?"

jackson retracts away and shakes his head, "no, nothing!" 

you turn around and pretend to wipe something off the board, hiding the small frown on your lips, "let's begin again"

when you let the two royals out of your lesson, somi teases jackson in the hallway, "you like (y/n), admit it!"

"somi, not so loud—"

"I saw that whole exchange between you two before you guys noticed me! you said tried asking her out in cantonese, jackson wang, admit it! you like (y/n)!"

"okay, okay! shhh!" he cups his hand over her mouth until she agrees to keep quiet

somi agrees to keep her mouth shut, but she decides to help play matchmaker with you two

"royal ball?"

"yes, you are invited as a guest under my name to next week's ball" somi states, flipping the pages of the novel

you narrowed your eyes in confusion, "it's for potential suitors to mingle around and ask for a person’s hand in courtship, all eligible bachelors and bachelorettes will be there"

somi agrees to dress you up and everything, more excited for her plan to commence than anything

on the night of the ball, after somi helps you get ready, you spot jackson coming out of your tutoring room, closing the door behind him as he jogs up to you

"wow, (y/n)! you look—" jackson has this look of amazement and delight in his eyes as you twirl around in the spectacular gown, making you forget about asking why he was in your tutoring room

seeing you look so beautiful almost makes him forget that he’s not the one escorting you:’(

the jeons arranged the pairings and they probably set him up with a royal princess

but when the announcer reads off the next pairing to go down the stairs together, "miss (y/n) (l/n) of the jeon family, escorted by prince jackson wang"

somi nudges jackson with a smirk, "you’re welcome" 

you and jackson lock eyes and you both begin to walk towards each other, wide smiles on your faces

he kisses your hand as he bows deeply to you, "ready for tonight, princess?"

you blush at the affectionate title as you curtsey and place your hand in his, "ready, my dear prince"

jackson continues to lead you around the ballroom, your arm threaded thru his and his hand firmly set over yours as he introduces you to everyone there

many of them assume you’re an adopted daughter of the jeons or that you’re jackson’s girlfriend or that you’re a princess from a far off kingdom or that you’re the woman jackson is courting aka jacksON’S GIRLFRIEND

so you give them a pleasant shock when you tell them you’re somi’s tutor, "it’s just... you’re so beautiful, and you’re just a tutor?" they all say backhandedly

you plaster on a fake smile on your lips, "I firmly believe that one’s beauty isn’t found in their appearance, but rather in the knowledge and wisdom they share. being ‘just a tutor’ isn’t a role one should take lightly, as they say ‘knowledge is power’"

jackson loves how composed and poised you are, even when you’re absolutely seething inside

he glares at everyone who doubts whether or not you should even be here at the royal ball

you impress everyone with your elegance and grace and intelligence and fluency in multiple languages

and jackson’s absolutely delighted to have the most amazing woman on his arm

he then introduces you to his groups of friends who happen to also be the other princes from the neighboring kingdoms

princes jaebum and mark keep to themselves and enjoy your company, watching jackson stare at you in amazement as you make conversation with them and him

prince jinyoung adores you, as he finds your intelligence a breath of fresh air when you mention something from the same novel he finished reading

princes bambam and yugyeom each ask you for a dance with them but jackson just pulls you away from them and into another dance with him and only him

jackson doesn’t like sharing you

dancing with him is easy, it feels like second nature being with him

he LOVES being this close to you and being able to wrap his arm around your waist

he spins you around so much that it makes laugh so hard and it leaves you super dizzy, so you gotta lay your head on his shoulder;)

he leaves to get you water when you spot somi talking to her fifth potential suitor across the floor and something clicks in your head, "jackson, why aren’t you talking to any of the other royal women tonight? you’ve spent this whole evening with only me"

"what’s wrong with that?" he shrugs

"but isn’t this night for courtship and marriage proposals?" 

"mhmm" 

you’re still very suspicious, "shouldn’t you be courting someone? or asking for their hand in courtship tonight?"

"I was planning to ask someone special but—" 

"but what...?" you wait for an answer, but jackson bites his lip till his expression changes

"wait! close your eyes" you close your eyes as he begins to pull you along, "wait, actually not yet, follow me first"

jackson leads the way back up the stairs, back to in front of a very familiar room, "and we are outside my tutoring room because...?"

he opens the door and on your board are cantonese characters written on the board with different sized blank lines next to a bubble that says ‘jackson’s cantonese lesson #1’

you look to jackson, "what is this?"

he smirks, "my very first cantonese lesson with you, and for the first exercise, you have to translate this phrase from cantonese" he taps a cantonese dictionary on your desk, "use this and solve the riddle"

"why must I do this?"

"just do it!!" he excitedly nudges you towards the board and you melt at his smile

after a while, you manage to figure out what each character means and build a phrase from it

especially with jackson helping you turn to the right page and everything

"‘could I take/have your a hand in a courtship?’" you stare at it for a minute, repeating it over and over bc something about the phrase seems off??

"oh wait, let me fix it!" jackson adds things to your translation, changing it to read "‘dear (y/n), may have your hand in courtship? -sincerely, jackson’"

"and the answer is..."

you’re too busy wrapping your arms around jackson to answer