~ a lily among thorns~

"im fine"

Nari sat angrily on the floor, leaning against the side of her unkempt bed. There she'd been sitting for an hour, thoughts racing through her mind without ceasing. She was resentful towards Suho's unthinkable feelings, resentful towards the murderous royal family who seemingly showed no remorse for their wrong-doings, but mostly resentful towards herself. Having spent months in Hwarang for the sole purpose of finding the king, all she had discovered was the fact she couldn't keep a secret, she couldn't control her feelings and she couldn't look after her own family.

In frustration, Nari let out a scream, her cry echoing eerily in the empty room around her. Tears rolled down her cheeks once more, her sobbing becoming more like a weekly habit than anything else. As the echoes met her ears, her mind suddenly flicked to a familiar event on a hill top.

"Did you hear that?! Mouse is a girl!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Don't worry! No one can hear us up here! Get it off your chest!"

"I'm a girl..."

"Louder!"

"My name is Nari and I'm a girl!"

"That's better!"

Nari smiled as she remembered the special memory she'd shared with Yeo-Wool. Her tears dried as she pondered over how lucky she was to have him as a friend. That day-out he'd taken her on really had made an impact. She felt warm inside as she remembered the dress and hairpins he'd gotten her. Her hand slipped under the bed, feeling for the gifts she'd hidden there. The familiar silky fabric met her fingers, and she pulled the bundle out into her lap.

"Thank you Yeo-Wool," she voiced aloud, holding the present up to look at.

She let the dress slowly unfold itself, revealing its elegant beauty.

"I really need to try this on sometime," she thought to herself, concluding it would have to be a place outside of Hwarang.

After taking in the robe's charm, she folded it back up neatly, placing it under her bed once more. All that was left in her hands were the two hair pins that had appealed to her so intensely. The alluring lilies that dangled from the edges of the pins made her beam affectionately as she was reminded once again of her Father.

"I love you."

The simple phrase left her lips. Although she had said it many times to him as a child, never did she mean it like she meant it now. Her heart ached for him to return some day, although she knew the chances were slim. Sighing, she ran her finger over the hairpins one last time, ready to put them aside. However, slight bumps in the side of the objects caught her attention and she held them up to her eyes for inspection. With furrowed eyebrows, she spied letters carefully indented on the side of one pin.

"What on earth...?"

Looking closer, she managed to read the engraved writing.

Come.

"Come? Does this have some sort of meaning?"

Nari picked up the other pin of the pair, checking to see if it too had letters inscribed on it. Sure enough, the word "the" was chiselled intricately into its surface.

"Come the? What does this mean?" Nari wondered, placing the pins on the ground beside one another. "Come the...Come the..."

Suddenly, Nari came to a realisation. Hurriedly, she pulled out the coin that had been sitting in her pocket and placed it in between the two hair pins.