Your Majesty {NamJin}

fourteen

Seokjin screamed at the sight of the arrow right underneath Rinji's heart, bellowing foul curses to the shooter. Tearing off the belt of his robe, then taking the whole thing off completely, he began to work. If Rinji's life was going to end here, it wouldn't go without a struggle.

He carefully slipped the arrow from her chest, hissing at the wound. Rinji moaned incessantly, obviously in pain. Seokjin pushed the bloody folds of Rinji's dress aside to place his robe onto the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hold on, Rinji. Stay with me!" Seokjin panted, trying his best to hold back the tears that sat in danger of falling from his crystal chocolate orbs.

"S-Samchon," she grunted, coughing strongly in the grass.

"I-I guess I got my wish t-then..." she began, with a low chuckle.

"Don't talk like that," Seokjin whispered, beginning to sob for his dear friend. "Help! Somebody help!"

"Samchon..." she coughed again, blood pooling all over the back of her dress and the grass. The arrow had shot through her flesh, piercing her body fully. Seokjin continued to plug the wound in front, even though he knew there was little hope for his friend.

"Samchon...t-too late...s-stop..."

"Rinji, you will survive this! You're going to be okay!" Seokjin screamed again, letting his cries and frustrations echo throughout the once quiet forest.

Relying on the last burst of strength she had, she took Seokjin's hand and smiled, looking into his eyes.

"I love you, Samchon."

"I love you, Rinji!" Seokjin squeaked, now weeping fully.

"I will always be here with you...in spirit..."

With a smile on her young face, Rinji closed her eyes for the last time.

With a red box containing a light meal in his hand, Namjoon set out to find Seokjin in his room, knowing that to summon him would tire out what little energy he had. No one had to be too smart to know that Seokjin was immersed in grief and drowned in his sorrows, wallowing day after day in his sadness. It had only been three days after Rinji's death, after all, and the two were inseparable.

But Namjoon knew that Seokjin hadn't eaten out of pure melancholy, and knew that he too would wither away if he continued to grieve like this. He asked that no escort should trail him when he went to see Seokjin -- he had to help the noble alone.

Not bothering to knock on the screen, he slid the door open and found Seokjin kneeling on the ground and staring off into space. The black robes he wore billowed on the mat beneath him, and sagged in areas around his waist. Seokjin had become a fragile, cracked piece of glass. He wasn't just suffering grief, he was grief.

"Seokjin," Namjoon said, close to a whisper. He wasn't really calling to Seokjin; it was more like a call to his spirit, a call for the spirit to return to his body and give Seokjin life again. When Rinji died, it was as if Seokjin's soul had left him, trying to keep Rinji's from leaving her body.

But she had already crossed to the other side.

"Seokjin," Namjoon began again, sliding the screen door shut behind him. He kneeled in front of Seokjin, who continued to stare right at him as if he weren't there. He stared through him.

"I understand your pain, love, but you can't torture yourself so."

Seokjin's red, tear-filled eyes were set on Namjoon's. "What is the torture? I don't feel a thing," he said, cracking in his voice constantly.

"Seokjin-ah," Namjoon said, setting the box down and taking both Seokjin's hands into his. "Look at yourself. You're weak, your robes can't fit you anymore. You haven't eaten in days. You can't keep on like this."

"I have no choice," he said, too weak to hold back the tears.

"Seokjin-ah...do you blame yourself for Rinji's death?"

"It should've been me."

Namjoon leaned forward and began to untie the belt of Seokjin's robe.

"What happened to her was not your fault. You did everything you could to save her. She can rest peacefully in heaven because of you, do you know that?"

Pulling Seokjin into his arms, Namjoon cradled the young man like a child, tracing the outline of ribs that were beginning to show. "Let me take care of you, Seokjin," he said, planting a small kiss on his forehead.

Seokjin closed his eyes and allowed his protector to hold him, feed him and lay him in bed. Namjoon covered his body in a few blankets, slowly running his hands over Seokjin's back.

"I won't leave you, Seokjin. I'm staying right here with you."

To Namjoon's surprise and happiness, a tiny smile graced Seokjin's lips in gratitude to him.

"Chomin, you're a real rebel, you know that?"

"Shush, or you'll be sent straight back to that mountain prison."

Sura stifled a giggle as she ran with her friend down the mountain trail. Holding his hand with one of hers and holding her dress up with the other, she jogged to keep up with her savior. Smiling at Sura, Chomin kept a steady pace with her until they reached a clearing a good distance away from the mountain palace.

"Now..." Sura began, panting and trying to catch her breath. Chomin wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiling at the lady.

"What is my payment to you for my rescue?"

Chomin smirked, pulling Sura to the ground and kneeling over her. "This," he said, making his way through her dress and rubbing a finger over her private area.

"In broad daylight? You really are a rebel," Sura laughed, spreading her legs.

"You aren't saying no."

"Hurry up then, before I do."