Forsaken

Chapter 6

They sat together for a while, speaking of family, until the memories became too much. Clearing her throat and wiping her eyes. "So, Little One, tell me. What is your favorite season? I prefer winter, there's just something so magical to the hush that falls over nature that time of year. Your father loved summer, he always found an excuse to explore the forest with your Jageunappa and he would get into a lot of trouble when ever summer came." She said, keeping her voice light and expression open, never letting her eyes linger on the younger for long. He reminded her of a skittish rabbit, ready to take off at the slightest misstep.

He let out a shy smile. "I like spring, there's always a new deer in the lawn when I wake up. Harabeoji left apples out at night for them to munch on while we slept, and he would wake me every morning to watch them walk around." He eyes flitting outside as if expecting one now. "Do you like Passionflower tea? The scent is always calming, and it was all I had left." He looked down, his hair falling like a curtain around his face. The sound of scuffling happening out of her vision, her guess was he had begun playing with his slippers to avoid looking at her. Giving a gentle smile, she hummed her answer and watched unabashedly as he smiled wider, taking a sip out of the cup in front of her as she watched him. "Harabeoji, taught me a lot of his methods when it came to making teas and casting magic. He didn't let me try his blood magic though, he said it was too dark and didn't want it to taint my soul." The young man turned to smile at her, his wide eyes scrunched tightly as even his nose joined the smile. She was impossibly endeared. "I mastered tea though and he always told me I made it better than him." 

"Ah, what else did your Harabeoji teach you?" She asked, her hands falling around the cup hiding her nerves as the younger traced a pattern on his tattooed arm, that was hidden under his sleeve. His hair began to dull as he sat there thinking. He stood up suddenly, making his way back into the kitchen, his mind on something else as he began moving around. 

Jeongguk grew sad, his eyes distant as he looked to the seating area she had just vacated. "He was a very patient man. We had lessons once or twice a week. He would tell me all about my Abeoji and Jaegunappa. About the silly things Halmeoni would teach the newcomers of the kingdom. He even told me about his Appa and Abeoji, and how they fell in love with the same woman. He told me about how much his Abeoji changed over time and what the man had taught him as one of the first Immortals to grace the earth. He told me about his time outside of the palace and how big the world really was. There was once that we talked about why I couldn't leave this palace and that I shouldn't be sad. We walked to the trees he made and showed me how he'd created the illusion; he told me he knew you would come back and that I would need to be understanding of you. Your entire world was shattered when-"

She cut him off with a small smile. "Ah, I see." She said, her own eyes looking to the seating area. The image of her strong and reliable father quietly sitting there as he drank tea and looked over the land, he'd been forced to hide in. "This is a lovely home, and I can feel him all around us, he's not gone." She looked around again, seeing the small touches left behind by the man.

That simple sentence seemed to perk the younger up. His smile growing and his eyes glowing with pride. He finally joined her at the table, setting out dishes she hadn't seen him prepare. The comfortable silence from before was back as they thought of the day's events. She'd been here less than a day and was already confronted with too many ghosts. She could simply stay here and join Jeongguk in his solitude, but what of her guards? What of the many Immortals she'd ran away with who were waiting for word from her? Taking a sip of her still hot tea, quieted her mind immediately. Closing her eyes and breathing in the grassy scent, memories long since forgotten playing out in her mind's eye as she lost herself for a second.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jeongguk whispered, his clear voice breaking her from her thoughts pleasantly. She hummed her answer, looking at him kindly. "That man, he's in all of my dreams and I don't know why. Who is he?"

Teileo smiled widely, "That, my dear, is Kim Taehyung. He lived with us all in the palace a long time ago. I found him hiding from his Abeoji in the woods while he was still very young. He had been stuck out there for a good month, maybe more before I found him. He was horribly sick and had cuts along his feet and arms. I never found out what happened or how he came to be in the woods, I simply brought him home. He became a member of the family instantly, I was sick when I had been his age, and I guess I found something of myself in him. He was curious and young, with an intelligent mind and quick mouth. I loved reading to him and when you were born, you clung to him. The two of you were inseparable and it was clear that you were made for each other. Tae-Tae brought out a wild side of you, and you seemed to bring him down. We joked with your father that you and he were SoulMatchs' and I guess we were right." She gave a smile, taking another sip of her tea.

The younger's eyes were blown wide, his mouth parted slightly in awe. "He's my Match?" He whispered. She gave a small giggle at his expression, unable to help herself. His doe eyes looking outside as if seeing it all for the first time. "Do...Do you think he remembers me?" He asked, his voice so small, and so unsure. It broke her heart to hear it.

"Of course, he does. He misses you greatly!" She admitted thinking of the sadness and longing in his eyes when he looked at the painting hung with care. "When you feel up to it, why don't you meet him? I know it's scary right now, but I'll be there to help every step of the way." She promised, holding her hand out for him to take. Ever since Kim Taehyung had hugged her, she'd realized just how starved for affection she was, and if Jeongguk clinging to her hand was any clue. She wasn't alone.