Her Prince / BTS Namjoon x Original Character

Chapter 4

The following day, Yeona had left before the sun rose. She knew that the training grounds would be pretty empty so early in the morning. She dug out one of the old training outfits she wore while training with her father and put it on before fixing her hair. It wasn't uncommon for women to train, but very few did, So she wanted to draw as little attention to her appearance as possible. As soon as she entered the gate, she was greeted by the owner. He knew right away who she was and welcomed her with a huge smile.

"It's about time you finally came back," He said as he shut the gate behind her.

"I didn't think you'd remember me," She said honestly.

"How could I forget the little girl who would follow her father here every day begging him to teach her?"

Yeona smiled at the memory. Every morning starting at the age of five, she'd hurry up, get dressed, leave a note for her mother and then follow him. It took him about three months to agree, even though she had already started practicing while he and the other men trained. The owner had given her a bamboo sword and shortened one of the dummies so that she could have something to do.

"I have something for you," he said as he stepped inside a storage building, "Your father was going to give these to you after they got back as an early birthday present." His voice was almost silenced as he moved things around and dug through boxes. "But he died before he could, and you never came back." He stepped out of the building with two bags and handed them to Yeona. "Every day when I open that gate, I hope to see you standing there. Some days I lost hope. But I knew you needed time, and you'd be back whenever you were ready."

Tears came to Yeona's eyes as she opened the first bag. Inside was a sword. She could tell by the look of it that it was one that her father had made. The cord that wrapped around the handle and the one hanging from the case was a mixture of her favorite colors. Towards the bottom of the case were two butterflies, one blue and one purple. She wiped her face and took a deep breath before opening the second bag. This time she let out a laugh at the memories of her dad trying to teach her how to shoot an arrow. He eventually gave up in frustration and had one of the other men teach her. She was still pretty young when that happened, so the fact that he had made her a bow and arrows let her know that he knew she'd be able to do it one day. The owner, who had walked away so that she could open the bags, returned with a cup of water and a handkerchief. He stood beside her as she shed one last tear and cleaned herself up.

"Shall we see if I remember how to sword fight?" She asked, standing up and taking a deep breath.

"I'll get the bamboo swords." He gave her a small smile and motioned her towards the dummies.

The two hours that Yeona spent at the training grounds left her with a clear mind. Now all she needed to do was focus on her work. She tapped her fingers on her desk as she stared at the bags in the corner of the office.

"We've nearly finished a couple of the blades already," Uncle said as he stepped inside, "All we need are your designs, and we can continue. I see you went to the training grounds today." Yeona looked at him, confused. She had arrived and changed her clothes before he got here this morning. How could he have known?

"Those purple bags in the corner," he said, pointing to them. "I remember your father searching for months to find the right color."

"But how did you know I was at the grounds?" She asked as she reached for her notebook to update the order status.

"The owner is my brother, remember? He and I had talked about what to do with them."

She had forgotten about that over the years.

"We both knew you'd be back eventually. You always loved it there, and truthfully, you were better than almost all the men."

Yeona sat back in her chair and smiled at the memories as he left. She let out a sigh as she looked at the bags again. There was no way she would be able to sit in the shop and come up with ideas to customize the swords. She needed fresh air and less noise. The sound of the men working and the people talking on the streets was too much for her mind to handle today. She stood up, grabbed her sketchbook, supplies, and her two bags. After stopping by to tell the men she was leaving, she headed home to find Kaira. The two women prepared some food for a picnic and headed towards their favorite hill just outside of town.