Crafting The Lust

✨18✨

He couldn't believe in his own eyes... couldn't believe in reality. His body couldn't move for a while, senses getting blanked and his breath almost blocked at his lungs. "Di-did Seonghwa left me?" His voice trembled, each heartbeat felt  burden for him.

He was so stupid, how could he just trust someone who just met him for a brief and asked him to be friends in another second.

Felix couldn't find any way to leave the trap of this betrayal, never ever. He was stuck in the middle of a place where the life of a human was non-existent.

Felix's heart pounded erratically, each beat a reminder of the betrayal that had left him stranded, alone, in this desolate place. The emptiness around him seemed to close in, suffocating him under the weight of his shattered trust. A hollow ache settled in his chest as he replayed Seonghwa’s promises in his mind—each word now twisted and bitter.

"Why did I believe him?" he whispered, his voice carrying no strength, only despair. The mask he wore, once a playful disguise, felt tight and suffocating now, pressing down on him like a reminder of his foolishness. His vision blurred, and he felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Not here, not now.

With a shaky breath, Felix forced his body to move, step by agonizing step. Every part of him wanted to crumple to the ground, to give up and let the forest swallow him whole. But a stubborn, defiant spark deep within urged him forward. His hand clenched around the bag Seonghwa had left him—an anchor of painful memories and the only connection he had to the palace, however bitter.

"Think, Yongbok," he murmured to himself, his voice barely audible. "There has to be a way out. You can't stay here forever."

He scanned the forest around him, looking for anything that might guide him, but the trees loomed dark and unfamiliar, their twisted branches reaching out like shadowy hands. Fear gnawed at him, twisting his stomach into knots as he stumbled forward. Each step felt heavier, as though the forest itself was dragging him back, feeding off his despair.

But he couldn't stop. Felix had to find a way out, had to make sense of why Seonghwa had done this. Was there something he missed? A sign he'd overlooked?

Yet, as he moved, that faint glimmer of hope began to fade, replaced by an all-consuming loneliness. For the first time in a long while, he truly felt the emptiness of being abandoned.

As Felix stumbled through the dense forest, his mind drifted to the memory of another day in a jungle much like this one—a memory of the king, Hwang Hyunjin. The king's face appeared in his mind, sharp and commanding, eyes cold with the resolve of a man who knew no mercy, who ruled without kindness. A cruel, ruthless ruler who would never spare anyone for their weakness.

And yet… Felix could still remember the warmth of that heavy blanket the king had draped over him, the way it had shielded him from the cold of the jungle night. He hadn’t been expecting any mercy that day. If anything, he'd been ready to face Hyunjin's indifference. But instead, the king had covered him, his actions gentle and silent, as if he wanted nothing in return.

"What kind of man does that?" Felix muttered, his voice trembling in the silence of the forest. The memory filled him with a confusing mixture of anger and longing, stirring something deep in his chest that made it hard to breathe. He knew he shouldn't trust anyone, especially someone as heartless as Hwang Hyunjin. But somehow, in that quiet moment, Felix had let his guard down, had almost felt… safe.

Now, Seonghwa's betrayal hit him even harder, twisting his heart as he remembered the trust he'd placed in the king's aide. He had believed Seonghwa's promises, his soft-spoken reassurances. And yet, here he was, abandoned. Alone. Trapped in a forest that was as silent as it was suffocating.

Felix shook his head, trying to rid himself of the king's image, but it clung to his thoughts, a thorn he couldn't remove. Even now, as he stood lost and helpless, he could almost feel that fleeting warmth, a warmth that he knew he didn't deserve from a man as ruthless as Hyunjin.

"Why… why did you do that?" he whispered into the emptiness, as if somehow, Hyunjin could hear him. "Why did you show me kindness, only to leave me to people like Seonghwa?"

But there was no answer, only the stillness of the trees and the ache of loneliness settling deeper into his heart. In that moment, Felix realized that he couldn't fully hate the king—couldn't fully forget the small act of compassion. And despite every ounce of bitterness inside him, he knew that part of him still clung to that memory, that warmth.

As Felix's heart pounded, he continued forward, hoping, just maybe, that somewhere, he might find the strength to survive this betrayal.

﹏

"The painter ran away?"

The news spreaded ears to ears till it struck with the ears of king. That let him stood in disbelief, at the doorway of the painter's chamber. All messed up, scattered colours, ruined paintings, teared canvases, and nothing that belongs to the painter.

The king, Hyunjin stood there as if he was taking it in, he was trying to believe it that the painter has actually ran away. Everything was in front of his eyes yet still he couldn't believe in his own eyes. His hands clutched tightly, immeasurably, jaw tightening while eyes filled with a rage.

The soldiers surrounding him as if they had been waiting for his next command.

"I may have gone so easy to him, that he forgot his place, didn't he," he whispered to himself, in gritting teeth. His expression changed into a faint almost a scary smirk, in disbelief.

"My king," the queen softly called him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, her expression were concerned, "I know you are dissapointed but I think that painter wasn't that good as I expected, I no more desire for my painting to complete." She said with a reassuring tone, her eyes soft in a hope that could melt Hyunjin's rage.

Hyunjin chuckled under his breath, almost sounding as a demon had awaken from the years of sleep, "bring him to me as soon as possible, if you don't want your head to sever," his body was shaking with the anger. The soldiers bowed almost instantly, "As you say your majesty," they immediately held their weapons.

Queen Anna stepped a little forward with a startled expression, "Your majesty, you don't have to do it, since I no more desire for my painting, the painter is useless and he ran away because he probably don't want to do it and saving his life from your fear..." All her reassurence fell into deaf ears as Hyunjin didn't listen, didn't even bat an eye on her, turning his heel inside the painter's chamber.

"I need to observe something here, you may go," he ordered the queen. Anna wanted to say more but didn't dare when she knew her husband wasn't in right mind, so she just bowed to him and left.