Seo Haeyul was an ordinary college student who is constantly wrestling with her college work. Amidst her hectic schedule, she still finds time to do what she loves most, visiting museums. One evening, after her visit to a famous museum about the leg...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A TRANQUIL FIGURE was kneeling down beside the long body of water as the ripples of water lightly hit her drenched hands which was covered in soap. The sound of harsh scrubbing filled the air as the girl attempted to clean the stain left on a white blouse. She momentarily paused, giving herself time to recollect her strength, and continued scrubbing away.
Lost in her own world, she failed to hear the footsteps approaching her direction from a mile away. The tall figure rested on a trunk, his glowing eyes followed her movements. The wind whispered in his ears as he marched forward towards the human.
"Haeyul." A blob of soap hit Jungwon's face as Haeyul shrieked out of fear. "Who the fu-" The girl shut her mouth when the prince came into her view. "Why are you here?" She asked as her face pulled into a frown.
Jungwon wiped the sticky liquid with his hand and plunged his hand in the cold stream of water. "I expected an odd welcome, but not this." He quipped. "Who told you to sneak up on me like that?"
The prince's brow contorted, baffled. "I did not sneak up on you. You were just too immersed in your activity." He told as he stuffed his bare hands into his pocket, and Haeyul rolled her brown orbs. The latter wring the white piece of clothing and threw it into a bucket, where many other clothes were—still damp from the excess water.
"Didn't I tell you to inform me whenever you need to go out?" Jungwon said, filling the empty spot beside her. Haeyul hummed.
"I forgot." Lies. She just didn't want a company at the moment, exhausted from the amount of social interactions she had dealt with the past few days. "Then, do I need to assign someone to tell me about your whereabouts at all times?"
Her head snapped to his direction with horror clouding her eyes. "What? Like a spy?" She asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Jungwon sat silently, faintly nodding to her question. "You could say that." He spoke.
Haeyul shook her head, strongly against the idea. "That would be taking my privacy away!" Her hands slammed into the river causing the water to splash all over her dress.
"That is better than risking your safety, isn't it?" Jungwon asked rhetorically, glancing at the wet spot on her dress. Haeyul forehead creased. She wanted to fight his statement, but deep down she knew he was right. "Earlier today, one of my knights had found a centaur's footprint deep in the forest." Haeyul's ears perked when she heard his sentence.
"It was found in a mud. Judging from the direction, it's most likely Eve is in their home, in Kanyss, a place where the tallest mountains stood, and deep forests lie. Not many dares to go there because not many comes back alive—and if they do, they are usually in a brink of death." Jungwon explained.
Haeyul stared at him as if asking questions to the latter, and Jungwon understood her. "We are preparing to set off tomorrow." He told.
Haeyul, who had stopped washing the clothes a long time ago, sprung up to her feet. "Tomorrow?" She asked, her voice laced with both worry and surprise, "Shouldn't we have more time to prepare?"
Jungwon merely shook his head. "The journey to Kanyss will be long. It will take approximately 5 days for us to go there and back here. That is if nothing goes wrong." Haeyul thoughts spiraled with worry as she began planning her schedule for the trip, but it was quickly broken when she felt Jungwon pull on her arm. "Elena is packing your things already. Rather than letting your worries engulf you, you should get as much rest as you can tonight."
"Is Elena joining us?" "Yes." "Who else?" "Me, Sunghoon, Heeseung, Jake, and Sunoo." He replied composedly, contrasting with the frantic girl beside him. Jungwon couldn't blame her for reacting that way because he wasn't expecting to leave so soon as well, but Sunghoon had insisted for them to leave tomorrow at dawn. Before Jungwon could say anything, the silver-haired prince had already left the throne room.
In that moment, the ground shook lightly under their feet causing Haeyul to lose her balance. Jungwon's eyes widened as he saw a big wave of water splashed onto him, the girl beside him disappearing from his sight, devoured by the body of water. "Haeyul!"
Meanwhile, Haeyul felt her body stiffened when the chilly water bit on her skin. Her heart palpitated against her chest as she struggled in the water. She couldn't swim. She didn't know how to. An ear-piercing sound rang in her ear drums as the oxygen slowly left her ribcages. She raised her arms in attempt to reach for the surface, but the light grew dimmer as she sank deeper.
Her head pounded as she felt something snaked her waist, its tenacious grip harshly pulled her up. She gasped for air once she was out of the hell hole. Her eyes flickered to the figure behind her as they swam closer to land.
Her body collapsed on the ground as her chest climbed up and down in an unstable manner. "Haeyul," She heard the deep voice gasped, warmth travelled through her body as her small frame was hugged by a pair of strong arms. "Haeyul, can you hear me?"
The muffled words entered her ears, but she was too shaken to process his question. Jungwon cupped her face as he fixed his gaze into Haeyul's eyes which quivered in fear, unable to focus. Extending his hand, he stroked her wet hair, his freehand holding her into his embrace, hoping his warmth will stop her from trembling.
"Shhh," He spoke in a hushed voice, "you're okay. You're safe."
"You're safe with me." Both of their breathing came into a rhythmic pattern as Haeyul eased into his embrace, her eyes fluttering closed, finding peace in his hold. A part of her told herself to wake up- to get out of his embrace, knowing she will regret this later but oddly enough right now, all she wanted was to be with Jungwon who not only risked his safety for her, but he also saved her life.
Jungwon observed his surroundings, "The earthquake has stopped. We should hurry back before another strikes." He told and the girl nodded.
Haeyul climbed to her knees, standing up until her feet left the ground as her body was lifted up by Jungwon. Confusion painted her face as she sent him a puzzled look, "What are you doing?!" She exclaimed.
"You're too shaken to even properly stand, how do you expect to walk all the way to the castle?" He inquired as he walked through the forest. "How about the basket of laundry? You're just going to leave it there?" Haeyul countered, stubbornly. "I'll order someone else to fetch it later." Haeyul frowned but said nothing to rebut.
As they head back to the castle, the previous moment dawned on the brunette. How Jungwon jumped into the water without hesitation, how his eyes flickered with worry when he saw her state, how his warmth welcomed her into his embrace, and how he gently stroked her hair in attempt to calm her down.
Her heart began to thump against her chest involuntarily as her eyes stared at his face. What the hell Haeyul. She shook her head, getting rid of the image of Jungwon's cat-like eyes from her mind. She isn't going to fall for him. She hates him.
She hoped he couldn't hear her heart and her thoughts which to her delight, Jungwon didn't, too immersed in his own string of thoughts as well.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
