Elysian - Woosan

Twenty four

Roughly two weeks since Yoohyeon was executed when Yeosang found himself in front of her grave.

They were at least civil enough to give her a burial, he supposed.

Frankly speaking, Yeosang hadn't felt anything about this. He didn't know her like that to feel sad or whatever.

But he knew she was innocent, at least in his eyes. Loving someone should never be a crime. It was unfair. He remembered the conversation they had had on the day of the ball. The only conversation they ever had.

("You know, your prince scares me sometimes."

Yeosang heard a soft voice and turned around to find Yoohyeon...was it? She was looking somewhere behind him, eyes unfocused. In her hand was a glass of wine and her mouth was curled up in a barely visible smile. Looked quite painful.

"Wooyoung?" Yeosang barked a laugh. "He's harmless, really. He prefers keeping his impassive facade, though."

Yoohyeon lips twitched as she watched something behind him with a frown.

"Doesn't seem like it." She murmured.

Yeosang turned around, searching along her line of gaze. There they were. Dancing, bodies pressed against each other. He could see Wooyoung's trembling hands from where they were resting on his husband's chest. He looked away and levelled her with a stare.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, not bothering to specify. He didn't need to. He had an inkling of what the crown prince meant to her. Yoohyeon swallowed, a bittersweet smile stretching across her lips. Looked more like a grimace, Yeosang thought.

"It did, at some point. It still does but I have come to terms with it. Or at least I think I have." Her eyes held no grudge or resentment as she looked at Wooyoung.

They looked hollow and empty. Yeosang stayed silent. He took another sip of his wine.

"Do you resent Wooyoung?" He asked stupidly. Yoohyeon finally looked at him with raised eyebrows. He raised his eyebrows. What a stupid thing to ask.

"Do I?" She whispered more to herself than to him. Her face hardened for a second then softened again. Yeosang wasn't sure if it was real but it might've been the alcohol getting to his head.

She shook her head again.
"It doesn't matter. San was never meant to be mine. Royalty would never love their servants. People who were below them."

Yeosang froze. He wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol, her words, or her tone.
"People like us." She added quietly.

Yeosang clenched his fists as Mingi's face flashes in his mind. He didn't want to imagine that he'd end up like this. His heart was hammering against his chest, he was breathing too fast.

"H-hey, don't say that. Love is love. Love goes beyond ranks and titles." Yeosang muttered, desperately trying to reassure her (and himself).

The words felt strange on his tongue and he wanted to punch himself for saying them.

"It just happens. and nothing can prepare you for it." Yeosang breathed, his skin burnt where Mingi was touching him, just moments ago.

His eyes met Yoohyeon's who seemed to have been calculating Yeosang's words carefully in her head.

"It's not fair," She said, her voice so quiet that Yeosang almost missed it. She stared ahead again, eyes clouded over. "They're right. I'm nothing."