Swords in My Heart 《p.s.h》

Chapter 4: Friendship

Sunghoon smiled at Misun's words before realizing what she had just said. His eyes widened, and he planted his feet onto the stone floor.

"What?" he questioned, awaiting an answer from the girl that could possibly reveal his supposed secret about being an assassin.

Misun took a step closer to Sunghoon, leaving only a few inches between their bodies. She pierced her gaze into his tense eyes, but soon broke out into laughter.

Sunghoon stood there with his arms hanging at his sides and his posture straightening up. "I was just kidding," Misun managed to say between snorts. "I mean, unless you are an assassin, then I won't snitch, don't worry," she tried to assure with a wink. She has always struggled with winking, though, so she ended up looking as if she blinked instead of playfully teasing him. One end of Sunghoon's lips tugged into a smirk.

"If I was an assassin, you would've been dead by now," he joked, creating space between the two. "Now, goodbye, princess."

Misun waved. "See ya later, alligator." Sunghoon visibly cringed and traveled further away from the princess. Misun stared at his back as his figure slowly disappeared further into Ansford. "What a handsome guy," she sighed with her hand to her cheek.

She heard shuffling coming from behind her and immediately turned around to meet eyes with her best friend.

"Gosh, don't sneak up on people like that, Chae," she spoke to her best friend, who had a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Sorryyy, it's a habit of mine, it can't be helped. I sneaked up here earlier, but I saw a man here. You have a secret boyfriend??" Chaeryeong asked, eyes wide. Misun giggled at her words and shook her head.

"No, he was sneaking around the castle last night. I found him passed out in the library, so I figured he would've wanted a place to rest for the night. Nothing major happened between us, though," Misun explained. Chaeryeong nudged her arm. "What?" Misun laughed.

Chaeryeong sent her a mischievous grin. "Bet you wished something did happen. Like, hmm, I don't know, a little smooch," she teased.

Misun rolled her eyes, her fingers subconsciously rubbing against her lips.

"No way. He was handsome, no doubt about that, but I barely knew him. It would've been weird if we kissed. Plus, he acted very reluctantly during his stay. He was pretty shy, but I found it cute," Misun rambled, smiling as she remembered his shy speech from earlier when he was tending to her wound.

She faced Chaeryeong, who still didn't believe her. "Stop looking at me like that," Misun rolled her eyes.

"I just don't believe you. Also, aren't you proud of me? I sneaked up here without Changkyun's help, or Changkyun knowing at all," Chaeryeong announced proudly, looking up at the princess' eyes.

Chaeryeong was fairly shorter than Misun. She was a village girl from Ansford and often sneaked up onto the princess' balcony with the help of her older brother, Changkyun. She was the youngest out of her three siblings. The oldest, Changkyun, was adored by the village girls, but he paid little to no attention to them. His eyes were set on the village beauty, Nayeon. Her older sister and the middle child, Chaeyeon, was also popular amongst the village boys. Chaeryeong, on the other hand, was often forgotten. She liked to keep to herself and loved the library as much as Misun did. That was how they met.

...

The bell to the tiny library rang.

"Welcome to Cover Cove!! We have a sale right now. Each book is 50% off, so knock yourself out! But, not literally because someone took my words too seriously and had to be sent to the doctor!" the bookshop owner beamed with a smile, even after that last sentence.