Hwarang (ON HOLD; UNDER EDITING)

28

Su-Jin woke up in a good mood the next morning, drawing the curtains and opening the windows the second she opened her eyes.

Maek Jong let out a groan as the sunlight hit his eyes.

She sat down at the window and looked at the garden.

She was gazing at the flowers when a knock on the door was heard and Ah-ro's voice became audible.

Not waiting for an answer, she went in the room, seeing Su-Jin sitting in such a risky place made her gasp out loud.

"Su-Jin! What are you doing?"

"Relax, Ah-ro. I do this a lot, remember?", she casually stated.

"Get down from there! Ah, seriously!"

Su-Jin smiled and playfully rolled her eyes as she threw her hands up.

"Fine, fine. Calm down, will you?"

Ah-ro was now fixing Su-Jin's bed while Su-Jin was playfully bothering her.

Maek Jong let out another groan.

"And you!", Ah-ro exclaimed and pulled the blanket off Maek Jong. "Get up!"

Another groan escaped Maek Jong's lips.

"It's time to eat. And this time, the queen wants you present."

"Is eomma awake already?", asked Su-Jin.

"Yes, yes she is, and she's waiting downstairs. Now both of you freshen up and go down before the queen loses her temper."

Su-Jin went to the bathroom first to check if she looked presentable. Once she was fine with her appearance, she went down the stairs to the dining room and saw the queen sitting down.

"Good morning, eomma", she greeted.

"Good morning, child. Come, sit down and eat."

Su-Jin did what she was told and sat down beside the queen. A few seconds later, Maek Jong entered the room. He sat down beside Su-Jin and ate without saying any word.

They finished eating in silence and the queen had them go and walk around the garden, Su-Jin's new favorite place in the palace.

Maek Jong told Su-Jin that he would get something from their room and come back shortly.

Su-Jin nodded and went over to the bushes. Soon she heard something. She looked around and she saw a bush russle.

"Hello?", she asked as she went near the bush.

A small animal came out and ran to Su-Jin's legs. It had many scars and it looked very weak.

She gasped, "A puppy?"

An arrow was on its way to the animal and Su-Jin's instincts were fast enough to hold the arrow by its stem right before it hit the dog.

The dog hid behind Su-Jin as she turned around to face the one who fired the arrow. She was surprised to see Maek Jong holding a bow and arrow by the door.

"What are you doing? Did you just try to kill it?", she asked.

"Animals are not allowed here. Even I am not allowed to have an animal as company. Only horses, and, as much as I care about my trusty horse, he cannot serve as a pet.", he answered dully.

"Your point?"

"Get rid of it.", he said as more of a command than a request.

"What? No.", she said.

The queen heard the two and came into view beside Maek Jong and asked what was wrong.

"Eomma, can't I keep the dog?", Su-Jin asked her.

The queen hummed first as she thought of her answer.

"Well, fine. As long as you will be the one to take care of it. And make sure it will not go on the table and other furniture. Understand?"

"Yes, eomma.", Su-Jin nodded with a smile on her face.

Queen Jisoo nodded in return and turned to walk away. When she was no longer in sight, Su-Jin stuck her tongue out playfully at Maek Jong.

"Why do you have a bow and arrow with you anyway?", she asked as she eyed his hands.

"I will be practicing my archery skills.", he answered as he walked away.

She looked at the dog in her arms and walked in the palace to find the queen.

When she found her, she asked permission to go to Ah-ro's house. The queen had agreed. Since no one was aware of her existence yet, she was not to be kept hidden from the people.

She walked, carrying the small dog in a basket. She was wearing something that didn't show any royalty so that the people wouldn't be suspicious. People who passed by smiled at her. She recieved compliments from strangers and it certainly gave her a good impression.

"Why, what a beautiful young maiden!"

"Mommy, look! She's so pretty!"

"Wow, who is she? I've never seen her before."

She smiled as she finally reached Ah-ro's home. She saw her sitting on her porch with quite a number of people sitting in front of her.

She walked around the people and stood beside Sungmi, one of Ah-ro's friends.

Sungmi looked at Su-Jin with her eyes wide.

"P-"

Su-Jin put her index finger on her lips and quietly made a 'shh' sound. Sungmi slowly nodded with her mouth parted. Ah-ro noticed Su-Jin and excused herself from her audience. She called Su-Jin and they both went inside her house.

"So what brings you to my house?", Ah-ro asked.

"Look at this.", Su-Jin smiled as she removed the thin piece of cloth on the basket, revealing the animal.

"A puppy? Where did you get this?"

"It was in the garden."

Su-Jin also told Ah-ro what had happened back in the palace and she asked her to treat the puppy since Ah-ro was a part-time doctor and took after her father.

Ah-ro agreed to treat the puppy's injuries, but she would work on it after finishing her story to the people. They both went outside and Ah-ro sat down at the bench in front of them while Su-Jin just stood by the door. Su-Jin looked around and spotted a young man sitting in Ah-ro's yard, but he was not listening. Instead, he was staring at a plant and its leaves. Su-Jin carefully made her way to him and spoke,

"Hello there."

He turned around and smiled at Su-Jin.

"Hello, who are you?", he asked.

"I'm Su-Jin. And you are?"

"Oh, me? I'm..."

lmao cliffhanger
i'm very sorry
but i just had to
btw i'll be deleting every a/n i put here so i can make space for the upcoming chapters (which will be a lot) so yeah :)))
ily all, tysm for the large amount of reads
stay awesome!